After being separated from my family, I became a darling of the military region thanks to my medical

Winters in Qingyun County are bone-chillingly cold.

A jeep with military license plates, kicking up dust, came to an abrupt stop at the dusty entrance of the county hospital, as bicycles and pedestrians swerved to avoid it.

The car door opened, and a foot wearing a black calfskin ankle boot landed first.

Immediately afterwards, Ye Zhen emerged.

She wore a beige wool coat, its crisp cut clearly indicating it was a high-end item you couldn't even find in the provincial capital's department stores. Around her neck was a dark blue plaid scarf that Gu Zheng had insisted on giving her, making her small, delicate face appear even whiter and more translucent. In this dusty, cinder-strewn place, she stood out like an orchid forcibly transplanted from the snow.

"Wow! Whose daughter is this? She looks like a movie star in a magazine!"

"Look at those leather shoes, tsk tsk, they must cost me three months' salary!"

At the hospital entrance, several nurses in bulky cotton-padded coats were passing by with lunchboxes, their eyes fixed on Ye Zhen, whispering among themselves. Their eyes held a mixture of envy and curiosity.

Ye Zhen ignored the probing gazes. She raised her head and glanced at the three-story red brick building in front of her.

Most of the plaster had peeled off, revealing the mottled cement underneath. The words "Qingyun County People's Hospital" on the wooden sign at the entrance had turned white from wind and rain. The air was filled with the smell of cheap disinfectant mixed with coal dust.

This is her new battlefield.

"Sister-in-law, everything is here." The bodyguard, Xiao Wang, who was seeing them off, pointed to the five large wooden crates that had been unloaded from the trunk.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work. You can go back now," Ye Zhen said in a cool voice.

Gu Zheng originally insisted on delivering it himself, but she stopped him. If that living devil were to come, the hospital director would probably be so frightened that he would stand at attention and salute on the spot, which wouldn't be funny.

After Xiao Wang left, two people walked out of the hospital's office building.

The man walking in front was around fifty years old, wearing a faded Zhongshan suit with two pens tucked into his pocket. He had gray hair, a stern face, and deep, knife-like nasolabial folds. His gaze was scrutinizing and critical.

This is Dean Zhao Haifeng.

The slightly younger, slightly overweight man following behind, wearing thick-rimmed glasses and rubbing his hands together as he walked, was Hu Dazhi, the vice president in charge of business.

"Are you Dean Zhao and Vice Dean Hu?" Ye Zhen stopped, nodded slightly, took out a letter of introduction from her bag and handed it over. "I am Ye Zhen, here to report for duty."

His voice was clear and cool, neither humble nor arrogant.

"I am Hu Dazhi, and this is Dean Zhao Haifeng," Hu Dazhi introduced with a smile.

Zhao Haifeng didn't accept the letter of introduction, nor did he even take his hand out of his habitual position behind his back. He looked Ye Zhen up and down, his gaze landing on her spotless leather boots, and let out a barely audible snort.

Just as Vice President Lin said on the phone.

Last night, Lin Weiguo called his home directly. His voice was filled with helplessness and heartache: "Old Zhao, my adopted daughter is so arrogant. She's climbed up the social ladder and doesn't recognize us poor relatives anymore. This time she's going to your place, ostensibly to provide support, but really just to gain experience and prestige. After all, we raised her, so you have to take good care of her for me."

Zhao Haifeng hates two kinds of people the most in his life: those who get in through connections and ungrateful wretches.

Unfortunately, Ye Zhen in front of him possessed both qualities in his heart.

"Comrade Ye... right?" Zhao Haifeng deliberately omitted the word "doctor," his tone curt. "Leave the letter of introduction there. Now that you're here, you should understand the situation in Qingyun County. This place is not like Beijing; there's no heating, no Western food, and you even have to fetch hot water from the boiler room yourself."

Ye Zhen withdrew her hand, her expression unchanged: "I know."

"You know nothing," Zhao Haifeng cursed inwardly. He had seen plenty of these high-ranking officials' daughters-in-law; they would be crying and begging to go back to the city within two days.

At this moment, Hu Dazhi's attention was completely drawn to the five large wooden crates on the ground. He circled the crates twice, staring wide-eyed at the familiar German markings and military seals on them.

"This...this is?" Hu Dazhi pointed at the box, his voice trembling.

Zhao Haifeng frowned, looking disgusted: "Bringing so much luggage? Comrade Ye, our staff dormitory only has single beds, there's no room for so many clothes and bottles. This is a hospital, not a department store."

"It's not clothes," Ye Zhen said calmly.

"If it's not clothes, then what is it?" Hu Dazhi couldn't hold back any longer. Like an old bachelor who had just seen a stunning beauty, he tremblingly touched the lock of the box. "This size...this packaging...could it be..."

Ye Zhen walked over, deftly opened one of the boxes, and lifted the lid.

"Whoosh!"

The winter sun shone into the box, reflecting a cold yet captivating metallic sheen.

The surgical instruments were neatly stacked, each one gleaming with the unique texture of high-quality steel. On top of them sat a portable electrocardiogram monitor, tightly wrapped in shock-absorbing foam.

Hu Dazhi gasped sharply, nearly choking to death.

"My goodness!"

He rushed over without regard for his image, picked up a pair of hemostatic forceps, and handled them as carefully as if he were caressing a lover's hand.

"This is a German Aesculap! The feel, the bite force... oh my god, and this monitor! You won't find another one like it in the entire county... no, in any of the counties under the city's jurisdiction!" Hu Dazhi was so excited his face was flushed. He turned to Zhao Haifeng, his voice rising eight octaves, "Old Zhao! A god of wealth! The main hospital has brought us a god of wealth!"

Zhao Haifeng was also taken aback by the box of things.

But he quickly came to his senses, and his expression became even more unpleasant.

In his view, this further confirmed Ye Zhen's status as a "connected person." How could a young girl in her early twenties mobilize such valuable resources? Wasn't it because of the Gu family, or her connections at the main hospital?

Using national resources to pave the way for themselves and save face.

In Zhao Haifeng's eyes, this behavior was nothing short of corruption!

"Nonsense!" Zhao Haifeng snapped, his face dark. "Dean Hu, watch your image! You think a few pliers can bribe you?"

Hu Dazhi clung to the monitor, refusing to let go: "Old Zhao, this isn't just about a few pliers, it's about lives! With these, our orthopedic surgery, which has been suspended for half a year, can finally..."

"Those are supplies from the main hospital, not Ye Zhen's personal dowry!" Zhao Haifeng interrupted Hu Dazhi, then turned and stared coldly at Ye Zhen. "Comrade Ye, quite generous indeed. But let me make this clear: good equipment doesn't equate to good medical skills. Scalpels are for saving lives, not for showing off."

Ye Zhen looked at the dean who was full of hostility towards her, feeling somewhat confused.

She didn't explain or introduce how to use the equipment as Hu Dazhi had expected; she simply closed the lid of the box calmly with a soft "click."

"Dean Zhao is right," Ye Zhen said calmly. "Equipment is inanimate, but people are alive. Put these things into storage."

This unyielding attitude made Zhao Haifeng feel like he had punched a cotton ball, making him even more frustrated.

He had already planned that if Ye Zhen was arrogant and conceited, he would criticize her on the spot; if she tried to take credit for the supplies, he would righteously refuse. But why was this girl like a dry well, without a ripple at all?

"Since Comrade Ye is so enlightened," Zhao Haifeng narrowed his eyes and pointed to the row of low bungalows behind the administration building, "then let's start from the basics. I see in your file that you are skilled in surgery, but our county hospital's surgery department is currently fully staffed and we don't need anyone."

Hu Dazhi grew anxious: "Old Zhao! How come the surgery department isn't short-staffed? Old Li just retired last month, and now we don't even have anyone who can perform appendectomies..."

Zhao Haifeng glared at Hu Dazhi, who shrank back and dared not utter a sound.

"Young man, you must guard against arrogance and impetuosity." Zhao Haifeng put his hands behind his back, adopting a businesslike demeanor. "The medical records room over there has been a backlog of medical records for ten years, it's a complete mess, and we're in dire need of someone with a meticulous approach to organizing them. Comrade Ye, you can go there first. That job is easy."

Organizing medical records?

Why send an expert from a higher-level hospital to provide support in a rural area to sort through waste paper in a moldy warehouse?

The doctors and nurses who had gathered to watch were stunned. This wasn't training; it was exile, a blatant humiliation!

Everyone thought this delicate young lady from the capital would turn on her on the spot, or cry and call home to complain.

Hu Dazhi was worried for Ye Zhen. Old Zhao was so stubborn that once he got angry, not even nine oxen could pull him back. Wasn't he just pushing talent away?

However, Ye Zhen simply patted the dust off her coat.

"Okay." She didn't even frown. "Where is the place?"

Zhao Haifeng was stunned.

His prepared repertoire of "revolutionary principles" and "organizational discipline" instantly choked in his throat.

"It's...it's on the second floor," Zhao Haifeng stammered.

"Thanks."

Ye Zhen turned around and waved to the still-stunned onlookers: "Help me move these boxes to the equipment department's warehouse. I need to sign the storage slip myself."

After saying that, she didn't even glance at Zhao Haifeng again, and headed straight for the second floor. Her back was straight, and her steps were composed, as if she were not going to a dusty archive room, but to a throne about to be ascended.

The wind whipped up the hem of her dress, making it flutter.

As Zhao Haifeng watched her retreating figure, the unease in his heart grew stronger. This girl... how come she's so different from the "vain and frivolous" person Lin Weiguo described?

"Old Zhao..." Hu Dazhi leaned closer, looking at Ye Zhen's retreating figure, then at the several large boxes, his face full of pain. "Wasn't this a bit too harsh? Making her eat dust? What if the main hospital investigates..."

"Investigate what?" Zhao Haifeng retorted, forcibly suppressing the slight unease in his heart. "Jade must be carved to become a gem! If she's real gold, she'll shine even in the archives! If she's just scrap iron, she'll rust there, saving her from harming people on the operating table!"

After saying that, Zhao Haifeng turned and left angrily.

Hu Dazhi sighed and quickly told people to move the boxes, muttering, "What a pity..."

……

Archives.

The door lock was rusty, and Ye Zhen had to use a lot of effort to open it.

The moment the door was pushed open, a musty smell mixed with dust hit me.

The last rays of the setting sun slanted in through the cobweb-covered windows, and countless dust particles danced in the beams of light. Rows of wooden shelves were piled high with yellowed brown paper bags, some of which had already fallen to the ground, like abandoned graves.

This is a forgotten corner.

It is also the central hub for all hospital information.

Ye Zhen didn't feel wronged. On the contrary, a very faint smile appeared on her lips.

Zhao Haifeng wanted to trap her here, but little did he know that for a top doctor, the medical records database was the real treasure.

Ye Zhen walked to a table covered in a thick layer of dust, stretched out her slender fingers, and gently wiped the surface.

My fingertips were covered in grayish-black dust.

"Organize medical records?" Ye Zhen murmured to herself, a sharp glint in her eyes. "Then let's start from this moment and give this hospital a 'full checkup'."