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Chapter 12: Chapter 12 Married Couple Housing
"?" Tong Yao blinked, it took her awhile to scratch out a piece of memory from the original host. Si Chen indeed sent a picture, but the original host was furious then, so she directly threw it away without looking. At this point, she could only admit, "I was so resistant to arranged marriage that I didn’t even look."
The original host was born in a big city and had received higher education, so she naturally repelled against arranged marriage. But she had no way to resist, if it were in the 21st century, probably Tong Yaohui’s force wouldn’t work.
That being said, if the original host would have seen Si Chen’s looks, she might have agreed, after all, Si Chen was much more attractive than the idle Jia Qing.
Si Chen listened quietly to Tong Yao’s words and didn’t say much. He stood up and said, "This is my bed. You rest first while I apply for a couple’s room. I’ll help you move after I finish work in the evening."
He then picked up the lunch box on the table and walked out.
Tong Yao: "..." Just like that?
This man is too easy to fool!
There was only Tong Yao left in the room again. She got up early in the morning, and she was indeed a bit tired. She lay down on the bed and fell into a light sleep. In a strange environment, she was awakened by a conversation.
[Liu Gensheng is in Li Nuanchun’s room again, closing the door during daylight with Artemisia burning inside, it’s suffocating]
[The wall is about to collapse, Li Nuanchun’s husband is still unaware, he only cares about treating other people’s diseases, he should take a look at his own problems, quack doctor]
Without opening her eyes, Tong Yao knew it was the mosquitoes in the room gossiping about the affairs of the residents. It seemed like some doctor had a problem, and his wife was having an affair behind his back.
In the past two days, Tong Yao had heard lots of private secrets, and she was no longer surprised, so she didn’t care.
At 4:30 in the afternoon, Si Chen’s figure appeared on time at the door. He had taken off his white coat and was wearing a shirt in light gray. Without saying a word, he picked up Tong Yao’s clothes bag and led her out, "The couple’s room is ready, I’ll take you there."
This came so soon, wouldn’t that mean they had to sleep together at night?
Tong Yao felt her palms sweat with nervousness, yet, she unconsciously followed him down the stairs.
The hospital’s single men live on the fourth floor, women live on the third floor, and couples live on the second floor. The arrangement was mainly meant to facilitate married couples with children. Other hospital staff hadn’t finished work yet, and there was no one on the fourth and third floors of the residence. They didn’t encounter anyone while they were walking down.
Si Chen’s couple’s room was at the very end. Many people are superstitious, saying living in the last room of a building is inauspicious. Because of that, the room was vacant, and as soon as Si Chen opened the door, a strong musty smell came out. Spider webs covered the room, and the corners of the room were full of peeled wallpaper and dust.
Aside from an old bed of unknown age in the room, there wasn’t even a table or chair. Tong Yao frowned as she looked, and it seemed that Si Chen too hadn’t expected such a scene. He held his mouth and stood at the door for a while.
"You go back up and rest first, I’ll clean up."
He put the bag in his hand at the corner of the corridor, and then went downstairs. In no time, he brought half a bucket of water. Seeing that Tong Yao was still standing at the door, he didn’t say anything. He rolled up his sleeves expressionlessly and began to clean.
Tong Yao watched him work like a supervisor. Whatever handsome people do, they always look handsome, even when holding a shabby rag there was a sense of art. He busied himself for more than an hour. Si Chen carried water several times, and his back was sweaty, but he finally cleaned up the room.
Although the cleaned room was not luxurious, it was much better than the houses in the countryside.
There was a balcony that looked like a school building outside. A rope spanned from the south to the north, meant for drying clothes. After observing for a while, Tong Yao suddenly realized a critical problem and unconsciously complained: "There’s no bathroom, how can anyone live here?"
Si Chen’s fingers twitched slightly with the rag in his hand, and he calmly and indifferently said, "The bathroom and the washing room are both on the first floor."
After a pause of about one or two seconds, he added, "Shared."
Tong Yao was just unconsciously making a complaint, she didn’t really mind. She knew that this was the current condition of the hospital, and nobody can do anything about it.
After all, for ordinary people of this era, having a bathroom and washing room in their living place, even if they were shared, was an extremely comfortable residence.
Sounds of children’s laughter came from behind, Tong Yao knew, it should be the relatives of the doctors living on the second floor who brought the children back from outside. She didn’t want to deal with these neighbors yet, so she hurriedly entered the room.
Si Chen glanced at her and didn’t say a word. He took the washbasin and walked out, and then a woman’s loud voice rang out at the door, "Oh! Dr. Si, is your wife here?"
"Hmm." Si Chen nodded.
The woman wanted to look inside the room with her child, but Si Chen closed the door. The woman glanced at Si Chen’s basin in disappointment and said weirdly, "Oh my! Dr. Si, you really love your wife. Even doing women’s work. My husband only complains about being tired when he gets home, doesn’t even hold the child, let alone help with housework."
The woman’s name was Chen Yanmei, the wife of the hospital’s vice director. She was in her early forties. People usually call her sister-in-law. Because her husband was the vice director, she felt superior and didn’t put others in her eyes. Whenever she saw something uncomfortable, she liked to talk weirdly.
Everyone was used to it, and no one wanted to argue with her because of her status.
"I have to move things, I’ll go down first." Si Chen didn’t pick up the woman’s words, he found an excuse and went downstairs directly.
Chen Yanmei liked to gossip. She hadn’t heard that Si Chen’s wife was coming before, and suddenly she appeared here. She was a bit curious about what kind of wife Si Chen had chosen, given that he even refused the daughter of the dean. She was just about to push the door and go in, but her son in her arms burst into tears.
She only had this son at nearly forty, both she and her husband treated the child like a treasure. The child only learned to walk when he was two years old, and they still hadn’t weaned him from breastmilk even though he was over three years old. The crying of the child made her heartache, and she didn’t care about Tong Yao anymore, she quickly went back to her room with the child.
As the crying faded away, Tong Yao let out a sigh of relief. This woman seemed nosy from talking, and Tong Yao was not someone who liked to suffer losses. It wouldn’t be good to offend people on the first day, so it was better to avoid contact.
Si Chen quickly moved all the things from the fourth floor, made the bed, and let Tong Yao go in and rest, then went to the canteen and brought back a takeout box. At this time, except for the doctors and nurses on duty, everyone else had finished work, and the residence had become lively.
The whole corridor was filled with the smell of food. Each kitchen here was shared by two houses. There were a total of eight rooms and four kitchens. Children were playing in the corridor, and adults were cooking. Somehow, the news had spread that Dr. Si’s wife had arrived. When they saw Si Chen bringing back a lunch box, Li Nuanchun, who was about to enter the kitchen, greeted him.
"Dr. Si, are you getting food for your wife? The canteen has Braised Pork today, you can get some for your wife to try."
Si Chen nodded in response. 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝖔𝔪
