Life in siheyuan era

These past few days, Liu Junling had been feeling incredibly depressed. Shen Lanyin had been missing for nearly four days, since Sunday afternoon.

Her good friend Shen Lanyin had vanished without a trace, and rumors were rampant in the hospital. Liu Junling became the primary person everyone sought to verify the truth.

But she was also eager to know the answer, and to that end, she found Chen Shuying. However, the only response she received was, "Lanyin's aunt has returned to Beijing and asked Lanyin to accompany her for a few days."

Liu Junling knew that Shen Lanyin had an aunt, and even knew that her aunt, uncle, and their family of three had gone to the Northwest. Chen Shuying's explanation should have been plausible.

But the fact that Shen Lanyin hadn't told her was a loophole, and what had happened on Sunday at noon had already spread like wildfire throughout the hospital.

A big incident had occurred that day at noon. It was said that staff members from a high-ranking leader's office had conducted a surprise investigation of Shen Lanyin, Zhou Zhiyuan, and Hao Zhiwen.

This news was shocking, but many people had witnessed it firsthand. The doctors and nurses on duty originally didn't know anything, only that a leader had brought several people who wanted to talk to Shen Lanyin.

At the time, they had avoided the situation, but things blew up after Zhou Zhiyuan arrived. Some doctors and nurses had personally seen Zhou Zhiyuan choke a young soldier, point a gun at another young soldier, and shout that they were "KMT spies."

Later, they learned that these people were actually staff members from Office L. Finally, they saw Shen Lanyin and Zhou Zhiyuan holding hands as they went downstairs.

This story spread widely within the hospital, and many versions emerged.

The first version was that the high-ranking leader's wife had taken a liking to Shen Lanyin and wanted her to become her daughter-in-law. So, she sent staff members to conduct an investigation and later took away Shen Lanyin and Zhou Zhiyuan.

The second version was that Shen Lanyin was two-timing. The high-ranking leader's wife learned of this and was filled with righteous indignation, so she sent staff members to investigate them, just to clarify one thing: "Who do you choose?"

This version was a bit bizarre, but it was still more normal than the third version.

The third version was that Zhou Zhiyuan had beaten up the high-ranking leader's bodyguard. Then, the high-ranking leader's staff members wanted to talk to Zhou Zhiyuan, but when they couldn't find him, they came to find Shen Lanyin. It just so happened that Shen Lanyin was with Hao Zhiwen, so they spoke with them separately.

Afterward, Zhou Zhiyuan arrived, using the alias Lin Guigui, and beat up two more of the high-ranking leader's bodyguards. Thus, the two sides became mortal enemies. The high-ranking leader sent out many experts, cast a dragnet, and after a fierce battle, finally captured Zhou Zhiyuan, who was using the alias Lin Guigui, and took Shen Lanyin away as well.

These three versions emerged from numerous versions after a day of elimination. The audience was divided into the older generation and the younger generation, with the gossipers in between.

The older generation believed the first version, that the high-ranking leader's wife sent staff members to investigate Shen Lanyin and Zhou Zhiyuan.

The younger generation believed the third version, believing that Zhou Zhiyuan's kung fu had reached the level of a master. They imagined the scene of fighting against the many experts sent by the high-ranking leader, giving rise to many schools of thought, which eventually converged on the three mainstreams: the invincible fist and foot school, the shadowless light body school, and the inner strength master school.

Then, they jointly researched a question: "Why did Zhou Zhiyuan use the alias Lin Guigui?"

This question had no basis and was difficult to speculate on, so they came to ask Liu Junling. But how would Liu Junling know why Zhou Zhiyuan used the alias Lin Guigui?

She herself was already depressed to death. She went to Hao Zhiwen to inquire, but seeing his hesitant expression and fearful face, Liu Junling's heart immediately sank. The possibility of Shen Lanyin and Zhou Zhiyuan being taken away was very high.

Feeling that something was terribly wrong, Liu Junling went to find Chen Shuying. Looking at her worried eyes, she absolutely didn't believe her statement and secretly believed the third version.

At this time, she was helpless and had no choice but to pray.

This state continued until midnight tonight. Liu Junling, who was on duty, heard news that Deputy Director Chen had suddenly brought his future daughter-in-law to the hospital and went straight to the military ward to arrange a room.

It was said that Deputy Director Chen was all smiles, walking as if a gust of wind.

Upon receiving the news, Liu Junling rushed out of the outpatient building and saw two military trucks heading straight for the inpatient building. One after another, agile figures jumped out of the trucks and quickly carried two stretchers out of the truck beds.

She saw this figure; Zhou Zhiyuan seemed to be asleep.

And the person lying on the second stretcher was actually Shen Lanyin, who even waved to her, appearing to be in good spirits.

But Shen Lanyin only had time to wave to her. Several soldiers hurriedly carried the two stretchers into the building, and Liu Junling, who was following behind, was stopped by two soldiers.

After more than an hour, Shen Lanyin came out accompanied by Shen Jue, Chen Shuying, and Fang Nan. She only said one sentence to her, "It's okay, everything is over, we'll talk tomorrow." After saying this, she got into Shen Jue's car and left.

Shen Lanyin would talk to her tomorrow, but Liu Junling didn't want to wait. Zhou Zhiyuan hadn't come out yet, and the guards at the door had been withdrawn.

But when she came to the fifth floor, she was stopped again. The tone of the two soldiers on duty was still firm, "No one can go up without Director Zhang's order."

She only wanted to know what had happened. This doubtful heart tormented her for half the night, and she waited in the duty room at the courtyard gate from six o'clock in the morning.

Shen Lanyin came after seven o'clock, carrying a thermos bucket in her hand and a cloth bag in the other. She had never seen her in this image before. She immediately rushed out of the room and asked urgently: "Lanyin, what happened?"

"Come with me." Shen Lanyin replied lightly, casually responding to her colleagues' greetings, and not caring about the strange expressions on their faces.

She didn't know about the three versions, so Liu Junling was about to explain to her, "Lanyin, there have been three versions circulating these past few days..."

Liu Junling explained in detail, and Shen Lanyin replied faintly, "All three versions are wrong. I've been with Zhou Zhiyuan these past few days."

Hearing this answer, Liu Junling exclaimed in shock, "Together day and night?"

"Yes, together day and night."

"What happened?"

"Would you believe me if I said nothing happened?"

"Of course not."

"That's right, then."

"What's right?"

"You don't believe it, and someone else doesn't believe it either, so this matter is over."

"What matter?"

"You'll know in the future. It's not good for you to know now."

As they spoke, the two walked up to the fifth floor. Liu Junling noticed that the on-duty soldiers had been withdrawn, but two fully armed young soldiers still stood guard at the door of this ward. Following Shen Lanyin, she was able to enter the ward.

Inside, she saw Shen Lanbo exercising, looking like a leisurely white crane. Seeing her enter, he stopped and greeted her.

Liu Junling called out "Brother Shen," and then saw Shen Lanyin place the thermos and cloth bag on the cabinet before leaning over to touch Zhou Zhiyuan's forehead.

Shen Lanbo immediately said in a deep voice, "Don't touch him."

Shen Lanyin withdrew her right hand and said softly, "He must be very hungry."

But Shen Lanbo's tone was still very serious, "Grandpa Xie said to feed him if he wakes up hungry, but if he doesn't wake up, let him sleep and don't disturb him."

As he spoke, Shen Lanbo walked to the cabinet and unscrewed the lid of the thermos, but Shen Lanyin immediately said, "There's a bowl in the bag. Pour out a bowl and quickly cover it."

Hearing this, Shen Lanbo looked at her, chuckled, and said, "You're really favoring outsiders. You only care about him and not your brother."

"I care about you too," Shen Lanyin replied, then said, "Talk to him when he wakes up. Has he made up his mind?"

These words were inexplicable, and Liu Junling didn't understand.

Shen Lanbo looked at Shen Lanyin, then turned to look at Liu Junling, and snorted softly, "You two were together for three days and three nights. Mom and Dad and I believe that nothing happened between you two, but others won't believe it. If this kid doesn't take responsibility, I'll beat him up."

These words made Liu Junling blink in surprise, suddenly realizing that the situation had reversed, and Shen Lanyin seemed to be the proactive one.

Liu Junling was puzzled and definitely didn't want to go home to rest. She accompanied Shen Lanyin to find Director Liu.

Director Liu didn't even ask and instructed Shen Lanyin to rest for another day and officially start work tomorrow.

Afterward, facing the curiosity of her colleagues, Shen Lanyin's answer was the same as Chen Shuying's, "My aunt came back to Beijing and asked me to accompany her for a few days."

No one believed this answer, but Shen Lanyin said so, and they could do nothing about it, so everything returned to normal.

After finishing all this, Shen Lanyin returned to her normal life and came with Liu Junling to the pavilion in the small forest.

In just three days, there was no trace of the remaining snow at the foot of the pine trees. Small grass sprouts emerged, and the withered yellow pine branches were replaced with a green coat.

A warm spring breeze blew, with no trace of coldness.

Looking at the scene before her, a relaxed smile appeared on Shen Lanyin's face, and she slowly sat on the wooden railing and said in a low voice, "I know you have many questions, but some things are classified as top secrets and cannot be said."

"Of the three versions you mentioned, the first version is basically correct, but Zhiyuan and I were not taken away, but..."

Saying this, she paused for a moment and continued, "This is a top secret. I can only tell you that the two of us have been together for these three days. That Chief's wife definitely knows. She won't let me be her daughter-in-law, so I said this matter is over."

Hearing her speak so easily, Liu Junling asked worriedly, "But what about your reputation...?"

Without her needing to continue, Shen Lanyin replied briskly, "I know my own mind. I like Zhiyuan, and the next step is to marry him. What harm does reputation do to me?"

"Fang Xiang and Hao Zhiwen..." Liu Junling reminded her.

Shen Lanyin smiled and said, "I have no feelings for Fang Xiang, I only have a good impression of Hao Zhiwen, but the one I truly like is Zhiyuan."

Hearing her be so clear, Liu Junling asked in confusion, "What did you want Brother Shen to talk to Zhiyuan about?"

Hearing this question, Shen Lanyin restrained her smile and said slowly, "I don't know what this guy is thinking. These past few days, he has taken care of me wholeheartedly, maybe because he likes me, or maybe because I am his brother's sister."

Hearing these words, Liu Junling was extremely curious and asked in surprise, "You two were alone together for three days and three nights, and nothing happened? Were you with a group of people?"

Hearing her question, Shen Lanyin said quietly, "Just the two of us, and we were always in the dark. This guy held me to keep me warm, carried me on his back to walk, but the truth is that nothing happened."

After saying these words, she immediately realized that something was wrong and quickly added, "I wouldn't let anything happen even if he wanted to."

This answer exceeded Liu Junling's expectations. They actually stayed in the darkness for three days and three nights. Zhou Zhiyuan even held her and carried her on his back. Liu Junling needed to digest this.

After pondering for a while, she said in a low voice, "You two were in the darkness, and you still like him. If he really wanted something to happen, it wouldn't not have happened."

Hearing this statement, Shen Lanyin opened her mouth, but then closed it again.

Liu Junling continued, "Zhou Zhiyuan should also like you. Otherwise, he wouldn't obediently listen to your teachings. In this situation, if he doesn't want something to happen, does he have a physiological problem?"

This question made Shen Lanyin a little dazed, "Could it be that he is not very gentlemanly but has a physiological problem?"

This was a guess, but Liu Junling was certain that Shen Lanyin was about to enter a state of half-belief and half-doubt.