Mu Nanshu summarized with a choked voice, "Actually, I'm a bit slow. I'm not really suited for studying abroad. My aptitude can't handle such intense competition..."

Lu Cheng said with a laugh, "But didn't you still make it through?"

"Still, I got in through a talent program, and learned the research skills well."

It's definitely good to pursue a master's or a doctorate, but actually completing it isn't easy.

Medical schools in the United States are very selective and the tuition is high. Many medical students have to take out loans, and some even face the risk of not graduating.

"And yet, you made it through, too, graduating with average grades, average research output, and simply getting a diploma."

"I only dared to think about rushing back and lying flat, never getting caught up in the rat race again!"

"I should live the life of an ordinary person; the hustle isn't for me." After Mu Nanshu finished speaking, she wrapped cilantro, garlic paste, and xiaomi peppers around tripe and put it in her mouth, puffy cheeks beginning to chew...

Lu Cheng, on the other hand, said with a light chuckle, "Do you find me annoying? If back then I had thought things through a bit more clearly, invited you to come to Han City for graduate school, maybe you wouldn't have needed to go abroad."

"Or, if I were more sensible, sucked up to a research group to get a couple of papers during undergrad, we might have graduated together by now."

Mu Nanshu shook her head, "Even so... When I was studying abroad, I had only one thought, no matter what, I must stick to the choices I made, couldn't be willful afterward and waste my parents' money."

"Studying abroad comes with high expenses and no national subsidies; it's really quite expensive. At least now, I couldn't afford it." Mu Nanshu's tone was very calm.

"As for the past."

As Mu Nanshu talked, she tossed the ordered kelp sprout into the classic spicy hot pot.

"What I remember most clearly are K121, k1125, and the better trains being z25, z225."

"The longest time required was fourteen hours and fifty-seven minutes; the shortest was eight hours and fifty-two minutes."

"High-speed train tickets were also expensive... Every time, you would message me around six in the morning saying you'd arrived at Jiaxing Station, and actually every time I'd set a five o'clock alarm..."

"Get up, wash up, then rush to catch the six o'clock subway. Back then, I was carefree, just thinking about playing without a care in the world..."

"But you were the one who always bought my high-speed train tickets."

Mu Nanshu looked up, "Lu Cheng, were we being a bit greedy? Back in college, we wanted to play together, hoped everything would go smoothly for postgrad exams, and wanted to choose a pretty good school."

"It seems like we didn't take those competitors seriously."

The past shared by Mu Nanshu and Lu Cheng wasn't particularly remarkable, there were no grand declarations or vows...

Simply put, they were classmates since fifth grade, then middle school, high school, and their parents knew each other, they were often traveling back and forth during college.

Apart from the obstacle of distance, there wasn't much resistance.

Mu Nanshu's parents were familiar with Lu Cheng's family and knew Lu Cheng well, even now, they occasionally gather during holidays.

Mu Nanshu's parents never told Lu Cheng anything like not to date Mu Nanshu, only asking him if he knew why Mu Nanshu hadn't called them in a long time...

Lu Cheng's grades weren't bad; in fact, both sets of parents believed his grades and abilities were significantly higher than Mu Nanshu's.

Of course, Mu Nanshu wasn't bad either...

Lu Cheng sighed, "Yeah, back then, aside from studying, we just thought about having fun."

"I thought high school entrance exams could be overturned by scores, that the same rules applied to all exams."

"The saying 'a young idler, an old beggar' aptly describes me."

Mu Nanshu looked up and said, "But actually, wasn't studying all we could do?"

"Looking back, what do undergraduates from medical schools really know? Without family support and resources, which research group would take you in?"

"So, in fact, the cost was predetermined. We just didn't fully understand it, and without much experience or family support, if we tried again, the result would be the same."

"Of course, if we lowered our choices a bit, maybe things would've been much better."

"Fudan Affiliated Hospital is quite exclusive. The college's undergraduates have a huge advantage during the second round."

"I don't have any publications either... Ah, it's meaningless to talk about this now..."

"It's not that bad now, at least you're still a bit optimistic..."

Mu Nanshu made a joke looking at Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng didn't speak; at that moment, he just felt reassured hearing Mu Nanshu's long-missed chatter, rather than seeing the 'calm' and 'stranger' she embodied the last time he saw her.

It's that kind of 'all is as it should be' reassurance!

So Lu Cheng didn't reply immediately.

Seeing Lu Cheng silent, Mu Nanshu suddenly looked down and said, "My dad said if I'm willing, working at a city-level hospital or at Union Hospital is all the same."

"Anyway, wherever I work, he will buy a house for me there. They are quite good to me."

After hearing this, Lu Cheng pulled a straight face, took a big gulp of iced water, calming his stomach and spleen with the chill, and then said:

"You work at city-level hospital?"

"Isn't working at a city-level hospital a waste of talent for you?"

Given Lu Cheng's understanding of domestic city-level hospitals, the environment was certainly unsuitable for a research-oriented talent like Mu Nanshu.

"What waste? My current dream is to just lie back."

Mu Nanshu once again put down her chopsticks, speaking in a soft voice, "Lu Cheng, those messages I sent you weren't meant to urge you to climb higher, I just..."

"I just wanted to say, I... am actually very ordinary."

"It's not like I'm insisting you break through any Cyan Cloud Ladder, to go anywhere..." Having shed the shy demeanor of a little girl from back then, Mu Nanshu spoke these words and felt relieved, lifting her head.

"I privately reached out to Xiangzhou People's Hospital, and their stance is that if I'm willing to return to Xiang Province, even if there's a penalty fee, that unit could cover it for me." Mu Nanshu urgently poured out all these words she wanted to say.

After returning home, Mu Nanshu feared Lu Cheng would feel inferior, so she found another way to tell him there's still a path where he could become very excellent.

In fact, Mu Nanshu didn't really mean for Lu Cheng to go down the "Cyan Cloud Ladder," she just wanted to express that the 'gap' between them isn't large.

She simply wanted to say that graduating was difficult for her; she was just an ordinary girl who had poured several years into her studies, who 'disappeared' just to graduate!

Even so, she delayed her graduation, she was really just a very ordinary girl who has known Lu Cheng for a long time...