B5SB -Chapter 238 The Swap

“Xiaohan, over in Kun City, can you visit patients in the afternoon?”

Wang Guixiang furrowed her brows as she curiously asked Gu Yihan, who was drinking water.

Hearing this, Gu Yihan paused mid-sip, put down her cup, looked up at her, and shook her head. “I don’t know either.”

She had never visited a patient before, so she wasn’t aware of any customs or taboos.

“Um… in the provincial city, visiting patients is usually done in the morning,” Wang Guixiang said, scratching her head awkwardly.

She didn’t know the exact reason—she had only heard from the elders at home that customs vary from place to place, so she asked Gu Yihan out of curiosity.

Sister Min, on the other hand, had been coaxed into going shopping with Gu Yihan and Wang Guixiang to prepare a visit for Hu Shan.

She had spent the entire morning fretting over the money she would spend, holding in all her frustration.

Now, hearing that they didn’t even know visiting in the evening was inappropriate, she almost couldn’t hold back her laughter.

Visiting patients at night implied that the patient was near death.

If they went to see Hu Shan after work at this hour, her parents would probably chase Gu Yihan and Wang Guixiang out with sticks.

Imagining them being kicked out of the crowded courtyard for visiting Hu Shan in the afternoon, she couldn’t help but let out a little laugh.

Gu Yihan and Wang Guixiang, chatting nearby, noticed Sister Min’s sudden laughter and both looked over.

Wang Guixiang hadn’t been at the textile factory long and didn’t know Sister Min very well.

Gu Yihan looked at Sister Min grinning like a fool, and curiosity flickered in her eyes.

Sister Min, still smiling, finally met the eyes of Gu Yihan and Wang Guixiang.

Gradually, she composed herself to avoid giving them any wrong idea.

“Yesterday was my birthday,” she said with a smile. “I couldn’t help but laugh thinking about the surprise my family gave me.”

Gu Yihan listened skeptically. Sister Min’s laughter always seemed mischievous—there had to be something up.

She exchanged a glance with Wang Guixiang and gave a perfunctory, “Mm.”

It wasn’t even five o’clock yet.

Sister Min tidied up while reminding Gu Yihan and Wang Guixiang in an excited tone, “We’re about to get off work. I’m going home to get some money to buy things at the supply and marketing cooperative.”

Gu Yihan wasn’t in such a hurry. She leisurely packed her things, having already decided not to visit Hu Shan today.

Sister Min grabbed her bag and went to the door, turning to give Gu Yihan and Wang Guixiang repeated reminders. “We’ll meet at Hu Shan’s place!”

Wang Guixiang’s gaze stayed on Gu Yihan. She gave a perfunctory, “Got it.”

“Xiaohan, shall we go to the cooperative now?”

Gu Yihan locked the office door and glanced at Wang Guixiang. “Guixiang, I’m not going today.”

“Not going?” Wang Guixiang stopped, tilted her head, and said, “But Secretary Min told us to meet at Hu Shan’s house.”

Gu Yihan walked toward her bicycle, answering, “Sister Min won’t go either.”

With Sister Min being so stingy, her insistence on this timing surely meant something was off.

Seeing Gu Yihan quicken her pace, Wang Guixiang didn’t have time to overthink.

She jogged alongside her. “Xiaohan, whenever you go, we can go together, okay?”

“We’ll see!” Gu Yihan didn’t give a definite answer; she needed to check with Lu Huailin first.

She needed to find out if there were any particular customs for visiting patients in Kun City.

Wang Guixiang watched Gu Yihan’s retreating back, fuming. She was impossible to get close to!

At the entrance of the family compound

“Xiaohan.”

Gu Yihan’s bike was suddenly blocked by Lin Yifei.

She tightened the handbrake, looked at him in surprise, and smiled, “Leader Lin, do you need something?”

Lin Yifei’s gaze fixed on Gu Yihan, eyes full of deep affection. He opened his mouth as if to ask if she remembered him.

Then he forced a bitter smile. How could she possibly remember him?

Their lives had never intersected.

If not for Qiao Shuhui, Gu Yihan would have been his wife, and they would have had a pair of clever, adorable children.

Gu Yihan lifted her eyes suspiciously at Lin Yifei, wondering if something was wrong with him, staring at her like that.

Instinctively, she pushed her bike a little further away.

Looking at Lin Yifei, she asked puzzled, “Leader Lin, if there’s nothing you need, I’ll be off.”

Seeing Gu Yihan’s reaction, Lin Yifei lowered his gaze, feeling a sharp sting in his heart.

After a moment, he adjusted his emotions, looked at Gu Yihan indulgently, and smiled. “Xiaohan, did you have a strange dream?”

Gu Yihan frowned and gave him a sidelong glance. She could confirm—this man was crazy.

Whether she dreamt or not had nothing to do with him.

“Leader Lin, I have things to do. I’m leaving.”

With that, she didn’t look back and pedaled toward the courtyard.

“Leader Lin, were you whispering something to Leader Lu’s wife?”

A curious army wife had seen Lin Yifei talking to Gu Yihan and stepped forward to ask.

Lin Yifei glanced at her expressionlessly and walked away.

The army wife muttered at his retreating figure, “So arrogant! Still not as good as Leader Lu.”

Back at Gu Yihan’s home, She parked her bike, took out some pork belly from her bag, and handed it to Grandma Gu in the kitchen. “Grandma, here.”

“Buying meat again?” Grandma Gu weighed the pork, easily a pound.

Gu Yihan changed the subject. “Granny, I’ll go back to my room first.”

Grandma Gu waved her off. “Go ahead.”

Half an hour later

Grandma Gu tidied the dining table.

Gu Yihan kept Haohai company.

When Lu Huailin returned, he scooped up Haohai, who was playing with his wife, and glanced at the table: stewed potatoes with meat and scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

“Wife, you bought meat?”

Gu Yihan served rice while answering, “I saw some, so I bought a little.”

Lu Huailin, assuming she got it from the black market, frowned. “Wife, that place isn’t safe. Don’t go next time.”

“When we’re off, I can buy it,” he said.

Gu Yihan was momentarily stunned, then laughed. “Alright, next time you buy it.”

She was a little worried too. There was still plenty of meat in her space—consuming it this slowly would take too long.

“Huailin, when is the best time to visit patients in Kun City?” Gu Yihan asked while eating.

Lu Huailin looked at his wife amusedly. “Usually in the morning.”

Gu Yihan nodded.

Raising an eyebrow at her, he asked, “Who’s sick?”

Gu Yihan: “Hu Shan. A colleague said she had a miscarriage.”

Lu Huailin pursed his lips and said nothing more.

A miscarriage might be a blessing in disguise for Hu Shan.

When He Shengli investigated Secretary Jiang, he also looked into his cousin, Hu Shan—a woman who had her own misfortunes.

Her husband, Cheng Bo, had a childhood sweetheart who was also pregnant, around the same time as Hu Shan.

They were waiting to swap the children after birth.

Cheng Bo planned for his childhood sweetheart’s child to inherit Hu Shan’s family property.