Chapter 122: Return to Chasu City

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

Zhang Fan was now leaving to go back to Chasu City. His parents really didn’t want to see him go, but there was no helping it. Zhang Fan’s mother wiped away her tears as she watched Zhang Fan’s car disappear off into the distance.

“You’re so stubborn! I’m going over to live with them once Little Rock has a child. At that time, you can stay here by yourself!” said Zhang Fan’s mother to her husband.

“What do you know? You have more hair than sense! They’re not even married yet. Why should we go over there and get in their way? If they don’t return this year for New Year’s, after Jingshu goes to Shanghai University, we’ll go over there to Chasu City to stay a few days, and meet Shao Hua’s parents as well as discuss the matter of their marriage. Sigh! This little brat!” Zhang Fan’s father grumbled.

“What’s wrong with Little Rock? Isn’t it nice that he purchased a new home for us to live in? When would I ever get to live in a new home just by staying with you? I’ve had enough of living in this poorly insulated apartment!”

“Just look at you, I didn’t say that it wasn’t a good thing. Why be like this!”

“Make your own meal for lunch! I’m going to check out the new apartment home!” Zhang Fan’s mother threw down her apron and was about to leave.

“You should take the bike. It’s quite a distance.”

“Mind your own business! I’m taking the bus!”

Zhang Fan crossed the Yellow River and went through the Wushaoling tunnels again. For his first stop, Zhang Fan stopped at Wei City. This time, Zhang Fan intended to take a full week on the road so that they could go to all of the nice scenic locations and tourist spots in the area, letting Shao Hua and his sister properly have some fun before he returned to Chasu City. Over the last couple weeks, they had been so busy, preparing for the college entrance exam and then buying a new home.

There weren’t that many tourist spots in the northwest. Everyone was a northwesterner, so there wasn’t anything much different about the people. The biggest tourist spot that shouldn’t be missed was Mogao Grottoes. It was a rare cultural gem in the Gobi Desert.

There was a tremendous amount of cave art in the Mogao Grottoes, which included all sorts of stories from Buddhist scriptures, mountain and river scenes, drawings of pagodas, buildings, and other structures, drawings of flowers and nature, drawings of various Buddhas, along with drawings of the Chinese people hard at work and so on.

This was artistic work involving more than 1500 years of history, from the Sixteen Kingdoms period to the Qing Dynasty, showing cultures from different times and how they changed over the years. It was all quite grand and beautiful. Among all the cave art, you could even discover how ancient Chinese artists had used elements from Iranian, Indian, Greek, and other countries’ art in their own art, leaving behind evidence of Chinese civilization and art’s development. The cave art from different generations would have different drawing styles.

The tickets for entering weren’t cheap! There were also countless tourists. There were also foreign tourists, along with tourists from Taiwan and Hong Kong. Zhang Fan immediately started regretting how much he had paid. He felt that he didn’t really understand anything he saw here as he knew very little about Buddhism.

However, Shao Hua and Jingshu viewed everything with great interest. They followed their tour guide for the entire way. It probably wasn’t an easy job being a tour guide for the Mogai Grottoes, as the tour guide had to constantly talk on such a hot day in the desert. This job would easily make one’s throat go hoarse.

On the third day of the road trip, Zhang Fan arrived in Shanshan City. The cantaloupes here were the sweetest and best in all of China. Very few non-northwesterners would know about this place. The melons truly were so sweet. Jingshu ate so many that her lips cracked the next day, and she almost cried from the pain.

However, Shanshan City was too small, so they only ate some cantaloupes and didn’t stay long here. Zhang Fan continued driving west. In the afternoon, they reached a city which was famous for its grapes. Although it wasn’t the right season for grapes yet, Zhang Fan felt it would be regrettable not to go take a look.

On the fourth day, Zhang Fan returned to Raptor City. Jingshu was astonished to see quite a few foreigners with blonde hair and high nose bridges, feeling as if they were in another country. They also visited Mount Tianshan along with Tianshan Heavenly Lake.

Shao Hua purchased several things for Jingshu in Raptor City. “You’re going to college soon, and Raptor City is a big city where you can find almost anything, so it’s best to prepare these for you here. This way, you won’t be lacking anything when you go.”

Shao Hua purchased a new laptop and cell phone for Jingshu. Although Jingshu was currently using an Apple iphone that had been a gift from Wang Qian, Shao Hua purchased the newest edition iphone for Jingshu, so Jingshu’s iphone became Zhang Fan’s new phone instead. Shao Hua also purchased a new suitcase and bookbag for Jingshu.

The two women went shopping for the entire day. They already had a good relationship, and it improved even further after today. “Sister-in-law! Sister-in-law!” Jingshu was getting really close to Shao Hua.

The group then went to Sayram Lake, which was rumored to be tears shed in the mortal realm by the gods! It was a rather unique scenic location as two different provinces’ governments both claimed to have administrative privileges here.

Sayram Lake’s water was blue, dark blue, and deep blue. The sky had zero pollution here, and the lake water was absolutely clean. Resting on the grass by the lakeside and inhaling the fresh scent would make you feel like you were in a fairy realm. In the morning, mist would cover the lake, and if you shouted, echoe would constantly reverberate, making you feel like you were alone in the world!

The group then arrived in Chasu City. “Sister-in-law, this place is so beautiful. It doesn’t seem like we’re in the northwest at all. It seems more like Switzerland, which I’ve only seen in pictures.”

“It’s beautiful, right? There’re even more beautiful places. Take a rest for two days now that we’ve arrived. If your brother doesn’t have the time, I’ll take you to see even more beautiful places. The grassy plains here is just like what you can see in paintings,” Shao Hua told Jingshu.

Zhang Fan and Shao Hua had returned. Zhang Fan had driven a lot slower on the return trip, so none of them was that tired this time. Shao Hua’s parents had long since reserved a restaurant to welcome Jingshu. Although Jingshu was only a teenaged girl, Shao Hua’s parents still viewed her arrival with great importance because this was the first time that a relative of Zhang Fan was coming over to visit.

Jingshu was quite polite during the meal. However, she kept referring to Shao Hua as “sister-in-law”, which made Shao Hua’s father feel a mysterious wrenching pain in his heart. Jingshu was also quite a foodie who had a much bigger appetite than Shao Hua. She really enjoyed all the food here.

S Province and the border province were both in the northwest, and S Province didn’t really have any local specialties. Zhang Fan simply purchased some lily flowers for Shao Hua’s parents, along with some local smokes and wines from S Province.

Later that night, Zhang Fan was going to have Jingshu stay in his apartment with him, but Shao Hua stopped that idea. “You need to work during the day. It won’t do for Jingshu to be by herself for all that time. She should come live at my place instead. She can stay in my room. This weekend, I’ll take Jingshu to visit Swan Lake. If you don’t have the time to join us, I’ll sign us up for a tour group.”

“Okay.” Zhang Fan wouldn’t be able to ask for any more vacation time anytime soon. He and Shao Hua would also need to help send off Jingshu when she started attending college later.

Zhang Fan was going to rest for two days and then go back to work, and since he had returned to Chasu City, he needed to tell all his friends. He had purchased many dried lilies to gift to everyone. They weren’t very expensive, but represented that Zhang Fan hadn’t forgotten about anyone. Li Xiao was coincidentally in Raptor City at this time, so he wasn’t able to give her any lilies.

It turned out that Wang Qian wasn’t at home right now, either. She had gone out on a vacation together with some friends. Zhang Fan found himself with a large number of lilies that he wasn’t able to give away! Since Chen Qifa had gone to the trouble of sending him so many gifts all the way from Kuake City previously, Zhang Fan wanted to personally go to Kuake City and thank Chen Qifa later.

Meanwhile at Kuake City Hospital, Superintendent Zou’s rule was almost over as he was retiring soon, but due to his upcoming retirement, Superintendent Zou was now acting more brazenly than ever. He even began to accept bribes for the doctors’ study programs placements, causing everyone in the hospital to curse him.

The only part Superintendent Zou was smarter about than the previous Superintendent Batu was that Superintendent Zou wouldn’t take any major bribes. All the money he took would be in small amounts. Although his behavior was quite shameless, it was also quite safe for him. It was also the superintendent’s right to determine which doctors got to go on what study programs. Thus, even if others had complaints, they could only complain without being able to do anything about it.

Chen Qifa was quite depressed about staying at Kuake City Hospital. He hadn’t managed to obtain a spot to go on a study program to Bluebird City Hospital. “Teacher Zhang, do you think that I should leave Kuake City? If things really aren’t going to work out here, should I think about going somewhere else to work? It’s really impossible to do anything here. Superintendent Zou has sent every single surgical patient of ours to other hospitals for so many months now. He only sends the doctors who give him gifts out on study programs. Anyone who doesn’t gift him anything won’t have any hope of going on a study program at all. Even the director of general surgery was unable to go. He was so angry that he had a huge argument with Superintendent Zou.”

“Do you have anywhere else to go first? If you can’t stand things there anymore, you should think of what else you can do. Also, when is Superintendent Zou retiring?”

“He’s retiring sometime later this year. I’m getting older as well, and I’m still only a resident doctor now, so I feel awkward about job hunting. I want to maybe try a private hospital, but I can’t make up my mind.”

“I’ll also help look out for job opportunities for you. What about Vice Superintendent Shi Lei? He isn’t doing anything at all?”

“I don’t know. He’s been traveling to Chasu City every day for some reason. Just a few days ago, he also asked me to help contact you!”

“We can talk about this next time!”

Quite a lot of personnel had quit working at Kuake City Hospital over the past few months due to Superintendent Zou’s rampant mismanagement. This included the other medical students Guo Qiliang, Juma Bieke, and Wang Sha, who had all joined Kuake City Hospital together with Zhang Fan and Li Hui when they first arrived. Although Kuake City Hospital hired many new intern doctors to make up for the loss of personnel, the loss of the more experienced doctors couldn’t possibly be made up for by any number of intern doctors.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep