Lin Xiaoxiao served the meal and handed it to Zhou Huaian, then pushed the money back toward him. "I still have some money left, you keep it for now."

What she wanted most at that moment was to take a shower and change her underwear. She could tolerate dirty outer clothes, but going two days without changing her underwear was truly testing her limits.

Zhou Huaian seemed to read her mind. Softly, he said, "There's a staff bathhouse in the back.

You can shower there, but it might have limited hours. You should ask the nurses for the details."

After speaking, he lowered his head somewhat awkwardly and sipped his fish soup in silence.

He really wasn't good at interacting with women. Since leaving home to join the army at seventeen, he'd been surrounded by men, accustomed to crude jokes and blunt banter.

Everyone was straightforward and rough around the edges. A man of few words to begin with, he had no idea how to talk to girls.

Lin Xiaoxiao, however, burst into laughter, her eyes curving into cheerful crescents as she gazed brightly at Zhou Huaian. Ah, this man is just too adorable—so perceptive, observant, and thoughtful!

A sudden impulse to claim him as her own popped into her head, but she quickly checked herself: That wouldn't be right. After all, he originally belongs to someone else, and it's that other woman Zhou Huaian cares about.

She pulled up a stool, sat down, rested her chin in her hands, and looked at him with a smile. "Okay, I'll go ask in a bit. After you finish eating, change out of your underwear, and I'll wash it for you."

Zhou Huaian didn't reply, too embarrassed to respond to her offer.

After the meal, Lin Xiaoxiao washed the dishes and went to the nurses' station to inquire. The staff bathhouse opened at 5 p.m., and was only for hospital employees and military family members. But because Zhou Huaian was well-known and respected at the hospital, Lin Xiaoxiao was allowed to use it as well.

Once again, she found herself benefiting from his status. Happily, she went out and bought a new set of cotton underwear. After washing it, she hung it near the stove in the nurses' lounge to dry—it would be ready by shower time that afternoon.

After hanging the clothes, she didn't hurry back to the room. Instead, she struck up a conversation with two young nurses in the lounge.

Lin Xiaoxiao was pretty, outgoing, and easy to talk to. Combined with the girls' admiration for Zhou Huaian, they were especially warm and welcoming.

They chatted about sweater patterns, the movie showing at the cinema, and the latest trends in the provincial capital.

What surprised Lin Xiaoxiao the most was that she had assumed these nurses graduated from proper medical schools, but these two had only attended short-term training programs.

Noticing her surprise, one nurse asked curiously, "You're from the city, right? Didn't you hear about the last batch of short-term medical training recruits early this year?"

"Ah," Lin Xiaoxiao replied, "I didn't really know about that, so I didn't notice."

The other nurse laughed and said, "It's not that unusual, really. I've heard that some doctors in town used to be veterinarians—they went around treating animals, and now they're treating people."

Lin Xiaoxiao was speechless. By that standard, with my skills, I could totally work as a doctor here.

She hit it off especially well with a nurse named Liu Mei, and they ended up making plans to go shower together.

That afternoon, the bathhouse offered another culture shock for Lin Xiaoxiao: a plain room with a row of showerheads along the wall, where everyone stood showering openly under the spray.

Clutching her basin, she froze in the doorway, unsure how to step inside.

Liu Mei grabbed her arm. "Sis, let's go change over there. We need to hurry, otherwise it'll get crowded soon."

Lin Xiaoxiao hadn't expected the bathhouse to be like a public toilet—without even a single partition. But compared to staying dirty, she decided to just brace herself and wash up.

Liu Mei, unmarried and unselfconscious, began undressing without hesitation. After a moment's hesitation, Lin Xiaoxiao started undressing too.

"Sis, that birthmark on your back is so pretty!" Liu Mei suddenly exclaimed, staring at Lin Xiaoxiao's back.

Lin Xiaoxiao was momentarily confused. "What birthmark?"

Liu Mei pointed to a spot on her right shoulder blade. "Here—there are two red marks that look like plum blossoms. So beautiful!"

Then Lin Xiaoxiao remembered—the original owner of this body did have a twin plum-blossom birthmark there. Strangely enough, in her previous life, she'd had a birthmark in the exact same spot, though it was black. Later, because she thought it looked unattractive in backless dresses, she'd had it covered with a tattoo of two plum blossoms.

The tattoo design turned out to be identical to this birthmark—a curious twist of fate.

Liu Mei was still marveling. "It's so pretty, it looks like it was painted on!"

Lin Xiaoxiao joked, "Maybe I'm a plum blossom fairy who descended to the mortal world. That's why I have such a beautiful birthmark."

To her surprise, Liu Mei nodded earnestly. "Sis, maybe you are! You're so pretty, like one of those fairy maidens from New Year's paintings. We all think you're the most beautiful."

Lin Xiaoxiao couldn't help but laugh at her seriousness. "You're such a flatterer! Come on, let's shower before I get too embarrassed."

Giggling, the two went to shower together. Having company, plus her own strong sense of composure, helped Lin Xiaoxiao relax, and she washed up calmly.

After her shower, she felt completely refreshed, every pore tingling with comfort.

As they walked back, Liu Mei chattered away, inviting her, "They're showing a movie in the auditorium tonight at 8:30. Do you want to go together?"

Lin Xiaoxiao shook her head. "I can't, I need to stay in the room with him."

Liu Mei nodded repeatedly. "I almost forgot! But Captain Zhou is really amazing. I heard from the head nurse that once when he was brought in, he was covered in blood—there wasn't a patch of unhurt skin on him. The surgery took a full day and night."

Lin Xiaoxiao was shocked. "He was that badly injured?"

"Yes," Liu Mei said admiringly. "And Captain Zhou never made a sound. He's a real hero in our eyes! And you have no idea how many female doctors and nurses have a crush on him."

Lin Xiaoxiao thought of Xiao Yan. Yeah, no kidding—even now there are female doctors interested in him.

Although Zhou Huaian was somewhat reserved, he was handsome, polite, and humble, with a compelling presence that made people want to look at him, to understand him, to care for him.

So it was only natural that others liked him too.

When she returned to the room, Zhou Huaian was leaning against the headboard reading. To Lin Xiaoxiao's surprise, he was holding a book in a foreign language.

She was tempted to ask: Can you actually understand this?

Quietly, she put away her clothes and sat down by the bedside table, glancing at the cover. It was a book about weapons.

She wasn't particularly interested in the topic—just curious. "Is your English very good?"

Zhou Huaian shook his head and picked up a dictionary beside him. "I look up words I don't know. A senior colleague gave me this book. It has detailed explanations of weapons from various countries. It's quite valuable as a reference."

Lin Xiaoxiao thought, I actually know all these. But then she reminded herself that the original owner was supposed to be uneducated. If she claimed to understand, Zhou Huaian would surely become suspicious again. Better to keep pretending I don't understand.