Chapter 38: Wen Ran, Tonight I Invite You to the Movies.

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The smile had not yet faded from Wen Ran’s face when she turned around and saw that it really was Shen Nanzheng.

Shen Nanzheng strode over, took Xiaozhi’s little hand, and looked at her. “What a coincidence. Do you work at this hospital?”

“Yes, what a coincidence indeed.” Wen Ran felt a little flutter of excitement. “You two know each other?”

Shen Nanzheng explained, “They are the wife and child of a fallen comrade.”

“Oh!”

Wen Ran had known for a long time what Xiaozhi and his mother’s relationship with Shen Nanzheng was. She had realized it as soon as she learned that Xiaozhi’s full name was Sun Qizhi.

In her memories, by the time she married Shen Nanzheng, Xiaozhi had already been a teenager.

Because his father had died when he was very young, he had been forced to grow up early.

He could have become an outstanding soldier, but he was led astray by a group of delinquents and set foot on a path of no return.

Now, however, he was only six or seven years old—clever and adorable.

She was willing to guide him, so that he might walk the right path in this life.

As for his mother, Wu Xiumin, she had been mentioned in the novel, but since she was nothing more than a passing character—not even important enough to be called cannon fodder—there had not been much written about her.

Wu Xiumin stood up. “Nanzheng, you’re so busy. You didn’t have to come over.”

“I was passing by,” Shen Nanzheng replied tersely.

Hearing how familiarly Wu Xiumin addressed him, Wen Ran felt a little uncomfortable. But when she heard the aloof way Shen Nanzheng answered, she thought she must be imagining things and interrupted, “You two talk. I need to get back to work.”

Xiaozhi held out his little finger. “Sister, we haven’t sealed our promise yet.”

Sister?

Shen Nanzheng’s temple began to throb. This was the second child to widen the gap between him and his wife in terms of seniority.

It was one thing for a teenager to call her “Sister,” but this six-year-old brat ought not to be doing it.

After all, the boy had called him “Uncle” ever since he was little.

He lightly flicked Xiaozhi on the forehead and corrected him. “Don’t call her ‘Sister.’ Call her ‘Auntie.’”

Xiaozhi was left with a head full of question marks.

Pouting, he said, “Why should I call her ‘Auntie’? ‘Sister’ is right.”

“Call her ‘Auntie,’” Shen Nanzheng insisted.

Wen Ran frowned. “Don’t make things difficult for him. Let Xiaozhi call me whatever he likes. I don’t mind.”

“I mind.”

Shen Nanzheng genuinely minded. He did not want their nine-year age difference to become a difference in seniority.

Wen Ran was speechless.

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Wen Ran wanted to burrow into the ground. Why was this man taking one form of address so seriously?

With so many people watching, he looked ridiculously childish.

Wu Xiumin had been through enough to recognize at a glance that Shen Nanzheng treated Wen Ran differently. A sudden unease stirred in her heart.

Shen Nanzheng called her “sister-in-law,” though she was actually only a year older than him.

Previously, since Shen Nanzheng had never shown any interest in women, she had not thought much of it. But now that he had suddenly taken an interest in a young woman, she felt a crisis looming.

These days, she and her son depended on Shen Nanzheng’s care most of the time. She had even foolishly imagined that the reason he had remained unmarried for so long was that he already had someone in his heart.

And since Shen Nanzheng had so little contact with women, perhaps that person was her.

She had thought this more than once. Even if, in the end, various obstacles kept Shen Nanzheng from marrying her, she would still have been happy.

But when she saw the way Shen Nanzheng looked at Wen Ran, she seemed to hear the sound of her own heart breaking.

She dug her nails into her palm and said, “Nanzheng, it’s only a form of address. Do you really care that much?”

“I do.”

Shen Nanzheng remained as concise as ever.

He turned and coaxed Xiaozhi. “Listen to Uncle. From now on, call her ‘Auntie.’ I’ll fold you a little pistol out of newspaper later.”

“Really?”

Xiaozhi’s eyes lit up at once. Though he still could not understand why, he obediently called out to Wen Ran, “Auntie.”

The corner of Wen Ran’s mouth twitched. “Auntie it is, then. I’ll come visit you later.”

She hooked her little finger around Xiaozhi’s, sealing their promise.

Without looking at Shen Nanzheng, she hurried off to give the next patient an intravenous drip.

Shen Nanzheng was secretly delighted, though his face remained perfectly solemn, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.

He had always been a man who kept his emotions hidden. That was what gave a leader his authority.

It was only whenever he saw Wen Ran that he could not help talking more, while his expressions became noticeably livelier as well.

His gaze followed Wen Ran’s retreating figure. Finding it too painful to watch, Wu Xiumin cleared her throat twice. “Nanzheng, go take care of the discharge formalities first.”

The moment she finished speaking, Shen Nanzheng had already walked off in Wen Ran’s direction.

Wu Xiumin’s hand was still pointing toward the opposite side, frozen in midair.

...

She stared at their retreating figures, somewhat dazed.

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While Wen Ran was administering an intravenous drip to a patient, Shen Nanzheng waited outside the room.

He was waiting solely so he could say a few more words to her.

Ruan Ling did not know that Shen Nanzheng was waiting for Wen Ran. As she walked out of the ward with Wen Ran, she said, “Third Brother said the cinema is showing the color feature film The Flower Girl tonight. I begged and pleaded until he saved two good seats for us. Let’s go together after work!”

Wen Ran suddenly felt the temperature around her drop. She glanced at Shen Nanzheng from the corner of her eye and declined, “It’ll be too late. My mother will worry.”

“It’s fine. We’ll go tell your mother first. After the movie, Third Brother and I will take you home together.” Ruan Ling shook her arm. “Oh, come on, go with us! You know how hard it was for me to get these tickets. Third Brother only agreed to help after hearing that you wanted to go. With that awful temper of his, he wouldn’t have gotten them for me otherwise.”

Wen Ran did not want to disappoint her friend. More importantly, she wanted to see the movie too!

Since Ruan Ling had put it that way, Wen Ran had no reason to refuse and agreed.

Just then, Jin Baoli arrived with two more movie tickets.

“Wen Ran, let me treat you to a movie tonight.”

Wen Ran was speechless.

She smiled. “What a coincidence. Ruan Ling just invited me to a movie tonight too.”

Ruan Ling held up her tickets. “You’re a step too late!”

Jin Baoli pointed to her own tickets. “I bought good seats.”

“So did I.” Ruan Ling pointed to the tickets in her hand.

When they compared the seats, they discovered that all four were together.

It was an astonishing coincidence, as though someone crossing a river had happened upon a ferryman waiting for them.

There was no need to argue anymore.

Both women had only been thinking of her, so Wen Ran promptly said, “The three of us will go together. It’ll be more fun with company.”

“These tickets weren’t cheap, and I still have one left here.” Jin Baoli felt a little pained at the thought of wasting a ticket.

Ruan Ling shot back, “Didn’t you say you had more money than you could spend?”

Jin Baoli rolled her eyes. “Even if I have money to spare, I don’t want to waste it.”

Shen Nanzheng, whom Wen Ran had been deliberately ignoring, seized the opportunity to speak. “Comrade, I’ll buy your ticket.”

Wen Ran was speechless.

Jin Baoli was speechless.

Ruan Ling was speechless.