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

Dean Zhou's voice boomed like a thunderclap in the silent corridor.

The sneer and mockery on Zhao Tiancheng's face froze instantly, then shattered inch by inch, leaving only a ridiculous astonishment.

His mind went blank, a complete void.

A miracle?

Dr. Ye?

This Ye Zhen?

Lin Wan was struck dumb, and her carefully maintained delicate expression almost crumbled. She clenched her palms tightly, the intense pain barely preventing her from losing her composure.

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

Zhao Tiancheng reacted the fastest. After the initial shock, he immediately concluded that Ye Zhen must have gotten incredibly lucky, like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse!

His eyes darted around, and he immediately put on a proud expression, took a step forward, and naturally tried to put his arm around Ye Zhen's shoulder, putting on the airs of a fiancé.

"Dean Zhou, you flatter me too much. Although Zhenzhen doesn't have much experience, she's obedient and willing to learn. With my guidance, she can usually help out quite well."

That was a very skillful way of speaking.

He not only claimed the credit for himself but also portrayed Ye Zhen as a lowly "assistant," thus confirming their "intimate relationship."

Lin Wan immediately followed suit, her eyes reddening, her voice filled with grievance and relief: "Yes, I'm relieved that you can help Tiancheng. Tiancheng has been working on this surgery for several days without sleep."

Some of the nurses around, unaware of what was going on, looked at Zhao Tiancheng with admiration.

Look, Dr. Zhao is not only a highly skilled doctor, but he also takes such good care of his fiancée from the countryside. He's such a good man!

However, the way Dean Zhou looked at them was as if he were looking at two complete idiots.

He frowned, looking utterly bewildered: "Guidance? You're going to guide me?"

He pointed at Zhao Tiancheng, then at the operating room, raising his voice eight octaves: "The entire surgery was recorded! Even if you brought in a general surgery expert from the military hospital, they'd have to respectfully call Dr. Ye 'teacher'!"

Dean Zhou took a step closer, his words sharp as knives.

"You're qualified to give guidance? You're not even qualified!"

boom!

The phrase "Are you worthy?" was like a resounding slap across Zhao Tiancheng's face.

Burning pain.

Zhao Tiancheng's face instantly turned red, then green, then white, as if a dye shop had been opened.

The surrounding gazes shifted from admiration to amusement and disdain.

"Pfft!"

Someone couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Ye Zhen didn't bother to move an inch from beginning to end; her eyes, which had just been removed from the operating lights, still carried a hint of indifference. She watched the two clowns jumping around in front of her as if she were watching a clumsy farce.

She only reluctantly lifted her eyelids after Zhao Tiancheng was thoroughly humiliated.

"Since it's been brought up," she said, her cool gaze sweeping over Zhao Tiancheng's multicolored face, "let's get straight to the point."

She paused, then spoke each word clearly and distinctly, striking everyone's ears.

"Comrade Zhao Tiancheng, your surgical skills are so poor that you can't even recognize the most basic hemostats."

"I am very worried that this kind of business acumen will affect the intelligence of future generations."

"I'm announcing this engagement. From now on, we'll have no further connection in our own marriages."

What?!

It wasn't Dr. Zhao who wanted to break off the engagement; it was she, Ye Zhen, who "divorced" Dr. Zhao.

Everyone was stunned.

Zhao Tiancheng was so angry that he trembled all over, feeling that he had been insulted the most in his life!

"Ye Zhen! You...you're asking for trouble!"

"Sister, how could you do this!" Lin Wan finally found a chance to interject, tears streaming down her face like a broken string of pearls. "How could you be so heartless! This marriage was arranged by Mom and Dad, and you just cancel it like that? Where do you think the Lin and Zhao families are supposed to put their faces? Tiancheng didn't look down on you, but you..."

While crying and complaining, she quietly moved closer to Zhao Tiancheng, creating the image of a kind younger sister who was "standing up for you".

The surrounding crowd began to whisper, and the tide seemed to be turning again. After all, in this day and age, "filial piety" and "reputation" can be deadly.

Ye Zhen suddenly tilted her head slightly, and the tip of her nose twitched gently.

Looking at Lin Wan, who was crying so earnestly, she suddenly asked a completely unrelated question.

"The scent on you is like 'Friendship' brand face cream mixed with a hint of 'Pechoin' osmanthus fragrance, right?"

Lin Wan was taken aback, then nodded subconsciously: "Yes...yes, sister, what does this have to do with breaking off the engagement...?"

"It's nothing," Ye Zhen interrupted her, turning her gaze to Zhao Tiancheng, whose expression had become somewhat off. "It's just that Comrade Zhao Tiancheng also has this mixed fragrance on him."

She paused, her eyes turning icy, like a scalpel dissecting the veil of hypocrisy.

"I just came back from the countryside and don't know the customs in the city. So... my sister-in-law and future brother-in-law can be so intimate as to share the same perfume?"

These words, though spoken silently, instantly silenced the air.

What do you mean by "influenced by what one sees and hears"? What do you mean by "not disliking"? What do you mean by "kind younger sister"?

Everyone present was shrewd; who didn't understand? They'd gotten themselves into this mess!

Instantly, all the gazes directed at Lin Wan and Zhao Tiancheng turned into expressions of utter contempt and ambiguity.

Lin Wan's crying stopped abruptly, her pretty face draining of color in an instant, turning deathly pale. She never dreamed that the "detail" she was so proud of would become irrefutable evidence exposing her lie!

Zhao Tiancheng wished he could disappear into a crack in the ground.

Ye Zhen didn't bother to look at them again. She turned around and made a request to Dean Zhou, who was already dumbfounded, her tone leaving no room for rebuttal.

"Dean Zhou, I need a private dormitory room with a private bathroom. Also, I don't want to see these two people again."

She pointed to the petrified couple behind her and added:

"Dirty".

"No problem! Of course, no problem!" Dean Zhou snapped out of his daze and immediately waved his hand. "Head Nurse Liu, you go and arrange it yourself! Make room for Dr. Ye in the best single room in the specialist building! Go now!"

"Yes!" Liu Hongmei looked at Ye Zhen with starry eyes. After receiving the order, she left as fast as the wind.

Zhao Tiancheng stood frozen in place, watching helplessly as Ye Zhen, surrounded by a group of medical staff with awe, straightened her back and walked towards the other end of the corridor.

The woman he had thrown away like trash now evoked in him an unprecedented sense of humiliation, and... a twisted desire to conquer her, to drag her back into the mire and ravage her again.

Lin Wan stared venomously at Ye Zhen's retreating figure, her hand secretly slipping into her pocket and tightly gripping a hard card.

That was a special pass for the military compound's family quarters.

Ye Zhen, you just wait! This is the Lin family's territory! I can get you up here, and I can make you fall down again!

……

Half an hour later, at the experts' building.

Liu Hongmei enthusiastically handed Ye Zhen a brand-new brass key.

"Dr. Ye, this is your room. It faces south and has the best natural light! The bedding and washbasin are all new! Please see if you need anything, and I'll get it for you right away!"

"Thank you, but no need," Ye Zhen said, taking the keys and expressing her gratitude.

Just as she was about to open the door, a deep, magnetic voice, yet with a hint of the roguishness characteristic of soldiers, suddenly rang out behind her.

"Dr. Ye, you save lives on the operating table, but 'kill' people off the operating table. Your expertise is quite broad."

That voice... sounds familiar.

Ye Zhen paused, then slowly turned her head.

Not far away, around the corner of the corridor, a man in a hospital gown was sitting in a wheelchair.

He was tall and imposing, and even sitting down, he exuded an imposing aura. His face was sharply defined, strikingly handsome, though his complexion was somewhat pale. His deep black eyes were fixed on her, their gaze filled with inquiry and a hint of mockery.

It was the man she had pulled back from the brink of death in Heishan Village.

Gu Zheng.

He looked at her, his thin lips curving slightly, and slowly spoke.

"I just don't know if Dr. Ye will treat my illness?"