Chapter 19: This Matter Cannot Be Rushed

Around nine o’clock, Gu Yan’an walked into the operating room on his own. The anesthesiologist administered intraspinal anesthesia, and about ten minutes later, Director Qin entered with Lan Mo and a nurse, all having changed into sterile gowns.

Preoperative preparations, including disinfection, were assisted by the nurse. Lan Mo’s main task was to pass instruments like scalpels and hemostatic forceps to Director Qin.

There were three small pieces of shrapnel embedded in Gu Yan’an’s left calf. Director Qin removed two of them, while the remaining piece was lodged superficially in the flesh. He directly instructed Lan Mo to extract it.

Lan Mo was momentarily taken aback, clearly not expecting Director Qin to give her a hands-on opportunity midway through the procedure. Naturally, she didn’t miss it.

Her movements were swift, and her technique was no less proficient than Director Qin’s.

Seeing Lan Mo perform so well, Director Qin smiled and said, “Handle the hemostasis and suturing as well. I’ll keep an eye on you.”

Lan Mo nodded and continued her work, deftly stopping the bleeding. After ensuring there were no oversights, her fingers flew as she swiftly sutured the wound.

Director Qin looked at Lan Mo in astonishment. The younger generation truly was formidable. Was she really just fresh out of her internship? It didn’t seem like it at all.

Not only was her speed impressive, but her surgical knots were also perfectly executed. He had mentored interns before whose suturing looked as if it had been chewed by a dog—wounds misaligned and flesh even slightly everted…

“Comrade Lan, you’re quite remarkable!”

Receiving Director Qin’s praise, Lan Mo simply smiled. In her eyes, neurosurgeons and internal and external medicine doctors were the truly skilled ones. What was she in comparison?

Suturing wounds was a minor task, merely a matter of practice making perfect. In her past life, she had performed numerous cesarean section surgeries.

If a wound wasn’t sutured well, the mother’s abdomen could end up looking like it had a large centipede crawling across it. However, in later cesarean surgeries, cosmetic incisions were used, and the outermost layer often didn’t require suturing or suture removal.

Gu Yan’an’s surgery was highly successful. Director Qin left the remaining tasks to Lan Mo and changed out of his sterile gown to leave the operating room.

As a leading authority in the field of orthopedics and the pillar of strength for the Orthopedics Department at their First People’s Hospital, he was extremely busy every day.

…

While Lan Mo was steadily occupied with her work, Lan Ziwan was now facing a headache.

Lu Qiming had exhausted all his connections but still couldn’t secure a temporary worker position for Lu Yaoyao. Meanwhile, the neighborhood committee staff had come to hold a mobilization meeting for them.

“Yaoyao, it looks like you really will have to go to the countryside this time.”

Seeing that even her father couldn’t arrange a job for her, Lu Yaoyao realized she might have to agree to marry Li Zhijian.

“Mom, my classmate Li Zhijian used his connections to inquire about a temporary position at the cotton textile mill for me. However, buying this job costs six hundred yuan, and as a temporary worker, the monthly salary is only eighteen yuan.”

“Six hundred yuan? That would use up more than half of our family’s savings. Can we ask them to lower the price?”

“It can’t be lowered. Besides, I promised him that if he secured the job for me, I’d start seeing him.”

Lan Ziwan slammed the table and exclaimed, “What? He’s just helping you find a job, not paying for it. Why should he get to be with you?”

Tears welled up in Lu Yaoyao’s eyes as she said, “Mom, I don’t want to go to the countryside. I’ve already agreed to it.”

Frowning, Lu Qiming asked, “Yaoyao, do you really know him well?”

“Dad, he’s my middle school classmate. He’s currently a temporary worker at the machinery factory, and his father works in procurement at the supply and marketing cooperative. His mother doesn’t have a job.”

“Did you try to find out how much bride price their family is willing to offer?”

Lu Yaoyao nervously twisted the corner of her clothes and said, “Dad, he said if I agree to marry him, his family will give me four hundred yuan in bride price, along with a sewing machine and a wristwatch.”

“Why isn’t there a bicycle?”

“Li Zhijian and his father each have a bicycle…”

Lu Qiming fell silent. Logically speaking, the bride price offered was quite decent, but finding a job for Yaoyao would cost six hundred yuan, meaning their family would still need to come up with two hundred yuan.

“Dad, do you agree? If you do, I’ll ask them to send a matchmaker over to propose.” After saying this, Lu Yaoyao looked at Lu Qiming with eager anticipation.

Truthfully, she wasn’t that keen on marrying Li Zhijian, but if she didn’t marry him, her only option would be to go to the countryside.

Going to the countryside meant hard labor, and who knew when she’d be able to return to the city. She might even end up marrying a farmer.

Rather than that, it was better to just marry Li Zhijian. He might be a bit short, but his family conditions were good.

Lan Ziwan was deeply conflicted. She didn’t want her precious daughter to suffer in the countryside, but the thought of her daughter marrying so young at only eighteen troubled her.

After much deliberation, Lu Qiming said, “Yaoyao, I’ve been running around these past few days, wearing my legs out and even losing several packs of cigarettes, but I still haven’t managed to secure a job for you.

Since your classmate can help you find a job and his family conditions are decent, tell him to come propose tomorrow! Delays can lead to complications—it’s better to settle this quickly.”

“Okay, I’ll go find him this afternoon.”

When Li Zhijian learned that Lu Yaoyao’s parents had agreed to their marriage, he took two days off in a row.

On the first morning, he went with his parents and the matchmaker to Lu Yaoyao’s home to propose. After the formalities were completed in the afternoon, he took Lu Yaoyao to the civil affairs bureau to get their marriage certificate.

Late marriage and late childbirth policies hadn’t been implemented yet, so women could get married as soon as they turned eighteen.

Early the next morning, Li Zhijian went to the cotton mill and bought the temporary worker position for Lu Yaoyao.

Once Lu Yaoyao’s job was settled, the two families consulted someone to pick the nearest auspicious day to hold their wedding banquet. From finding a job to getting married, it took less than half a month for Lu Yaoyao to transform from a young girl into a young married woman.

Ever since Lan Ziwan was driven out of her home by her own mother, she had no intention of contacting her family. Naturally, the Lan family remained unaware of Lu Yaoyao’s marriage.

While eighteen-year-old Lu Yaoyao was already married, twenty-year-old Lan Mo remained single.

As soon as Gu Yan’an’s surgery was completed, Director Qin completely handed over the patient, Gu Yan’an, to Lan Mo.

That afternoon, Lan Mo went on her rounds to check on Gu Yan’an’s postoperative condition.

“Comrade Gu Yan’an, you just had surgery this morning. Why aren’t you lying down to rest?”

Gu Yan’an smiled and said, “I was waiting for Doctor Lan to come! Doctor Lan, thank you so much today for helping remove the shrapnel.”

“Don’t thank me. Your surgery was performed by Director Qin. I only did what I was supposed to do.”

“Well, I should thank Doctor Qin, and I should thank you too. Here, this is for you!”

After saying this, Gu Yan’an pulled out a rose made from ginkgo leaves from under his blanket and handed it to Lan Mo.

Lan Mo’s face flushed instantly. In both her lifetimes combined, this was the first time she had ever received flowers.

Weren’t men in this era supposed to blush at the sight of women?

This Gu Yan’an is so smooth, could he have traveled here from modern times?

“Doctor Lan, take it quickly. This isn’t a bun, and it doesn’t cost money either.”

Hah, indeed it doesn’t cost money, but can flowers be given out so casually?

Lan Mo asked in confusion, “Comrade Gu Yan’an, why are you giving this to me? I think the flower in your hand is quite special. You should take it back and give it to your wife.”

Gu Yan’an shouted inwardly, I’m giving it to my future wife!

“Doctor Lan, I don’t have a wife for now… You said it’s a special flower, and special flowers should naturally be given to a special you!”

Lan Mo understood—this Gu Yan’an wanted to pursue her. His lines sounded so familiar!

Were people in this era all as bold as him? They had only met a few times, and he was already giving flowers.

Lan Mo also knew that so-called love at first sight was merely being attracted to looks. Perhaps what he liked was just the original owner’s appearance.

Ah, if she didn’t have this appearance…

As for Gu Yan’an’s appearance and his sturdy physique, Lan Mo was quite satisfied too, but this satisfaction was purely from an appreciative perspective.

Lan Mo didn’t respond or take the flower. Instead, she looked at Gu Yan’an’s leg and said, “After the anesthesia wears off, your wound might hurt a bit. Remember not to let it touch water! If you have any other issues, you can send someone to find me in our doctor’s office.”

“Alright, thank you, Doctor Lan. This flower…”

Lan Mo smiled mischievously, “This flower, you should give it to your little cousin instead. He’s worked hard taking care of you!” After saying this, she turned and left the ward.

As soon as Lan Mo left, Yang Wei beside him burst into laughter, “Cousin, if you couldn’t give away the buns, that’s one thing, but you spent half a day making this flower, and you still couldn’t give it away. Seems like your charm isn’t quite there, huh?

My mother always says you’re outstanding, with good looks, a great family background, and very popular among female comrades in Jingshi. How come Doctor Lan doesn’t see any of that?”

“Shut up! Doctor Lan isn’t one of those shallow women!”

“Hah… Cousin, since you plan to pursue her, you should at least tell her about your family situation first! Didn’t you ask Director Qin to help arrange a match? Why hasn’t it started yet?”

“Director Qin said this matter can’t be rushed; it needs to be taken slowly!”

“……”

……