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

The noise in the hall gradually subsided, like the receding tide.

Only a few traces of that exhilarating, blood-pumping heat lingered in the air.

Zhou Hai held the banner like a newborn grandson, carefully cradling it in both hands, as if afraid the wind might blow off even a single strand of the gold thread. He jogged back to the dean's office, gently spreading the banner on the desk. He looked at it from left to right, finding it more and more beautiful with each glance, his old face beaming like a blooming autumn chrysanthemum.

"A peerless hero...tsk tsk, those four words carry real weight!"

Zhou Hai sighed, took out a new eyeglass cloth from the drawer, and carefully wiped away non-existent dust from the edges of the banner. "Xiao Ye, this thing is more prestigious than any medal issued by the ministry. A gold cup or a silver cup is not as good as the people's praise. This sentiment cannot be faked."

Ye Zhen sat on the sofa opposite him, holding the pair of cloth shoes with multi-layered soles in her hands, her expression calm.

"How's it going in Qingyun County?" she asked.

The scene was too chaotic just now, and Director Yan Hua hurriedly left with his people, saying that he had to rush back to the county to take charge of the overall situation. She didn't even have time to ask a few more questions about the current situation in Lanniwan.

Don't worry.

Hu Dazhi answered her.

"Director Yan is decisive. On the very night that batch of special medicine arrived, she organized a task force to distribute the medicine door-to-door and supervise its use. The water source has been sealed off and disinfected, and new deep wells are being drilled. With County Party Secretary Zhang personally in charge, Qingyun County is poised to win this battle."

Hu Dazhi spoke of it casually, but Ye Zhen knew that behind it were countless sleepless nights and perhaps countless families finding a way out of their desperate situation.

Ye Zhen took the kettle, and the scalding heat from her palm warmed her heart through her veins.

"That's good." She lowered her head and took a sip of water, a hint of a smile finally melting away the coolness in her eyes. "It wasn't a waste of time."

At this moment, Zhou Hai finally took his eyes off the banner and looked at Ye Zhen with eyes full of love and pride.

"Alright, this morning's been exhausting, more tiring than performing surgery at National Taiwan University Hospital." Zhou Hai waved his hand, shooing them away like ducks. "Go back and rest. I'm going to find the best frame for this banner and hang it in the most prominent place in our institute's history museum, making those old guys green with envy!"

……

On a winter evening, the sunlight is thin.

The honeycomb briquette stove inside was burning brightly, and the unique smell of coal smoke mixed with the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes instantly kept the cold air outside out.

Gu Zheng was wearing a fitted military green shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his muscular forearms. He was squatting by the stove, using tongs to turn the sweet potatoes on the stove lid over.

Ye Zhen sat on a small stool, still holding the pair of thousand-layer soles in her hands.

They were a pair of very ordinary black cloth shoes, with the soles densely stitched and the stitches fine and even, showing that a lot of hard work had been put into them.

"It's a bit ugly, but it's sturdy," Gu Zheng commented after glancing at it.

"Not ugly."

Ye Zhen gently stroked the shoe's surface with her fingers. "These are the most expensive shoes I've ever worn. In ancient times, generals went to war with a 'ten thousand people's umbrella,' and these are my 'ten thousand people's shoes.

Gu Zheng smiled, a roguish glint in his eyes on his usually cold face. He reached out and, ignoring the soot from just touching the coal, gently pinched Ye Zhen's cheek.

"Alright, General Ye. From now on, you can keep these shoes as a keepsake, and I'll still carry you on my back."

"It's not like I don't have legs." Ye Zhen slapped his hand away, glancing disdainfully at the black ash on his fingertips. "Dirty."

"It's no use looking down on me, we've already got our marriage certificate."

Gu Zheng didn't care at all. He used the tongs to pick up a sweet potato that was roasting until it was dripping with oil and turned it around in his hand to cool it down. He was thick-skinned and the heat was nothing to him.

He patiently peeled away the charred outer skin, revealing the golden, soft, and glutinous sweet potato flesh inside, steaming hot and emitting white smoke.

"Here, it's not hot anymore." Gu Zheng handed the peeled sweet potato to Ye Zhen's mouth.

Ye Zhen took a bite, and the sweet, soft, and chewy texture exploded on her tongue.

"Is it delicious?" Gu Zheng stared at her puffed-out cheeks, his eyes looking at her like he was looking at a little piglet he had carefully raised.

"Mm." Ye Zhen nodded.

"As long as it tastes good." Gu Zheng picked up another unpeeled fruit and took a bite. "Honey, I wanted to ask you this in the car earlier. Although Zhao Guozhu's surgery was successful, the basic surgical foundation in China is still too weak. Even if you work yourself to death on the operating table, how many people can you save by yourself?"

Ye Zhen swallowed the sweet potato in her mouth, and her eyes darkened.

This is exactly the question she's been thinking about lately.

In this era, compared to developed Western countries, we are more than twenty years behind in terms of equipment, concepts, and talent pool. She is a sharp blade, capable of achieving breakthroughs at single points, but to change the overall environment, we need an army.

"I want to build a center."

Ye Zhen looked at the flickering flames in the furnace, her voice soft but firm, "A modern surgical center integrating clinical practice, scientific research, and teaching. It needs not only the best equipment, but also the most advanced training system. I want to turn my 'blind operations' and 'intuition' on the operating table into replicable data and standards."

"Like the training corps in our army?" Gu Zheng understood immediately.

"Yes." Ye Zhen turned to look at him, "But this requires money, and it also requires policy, very significant policy."

In this era dominated by a planned economy, setting up such an extraordinary center was as difficult as climbing to the heavens.

Gu Zheng remained silent for a moment, then swallowed the remaining half of the sweet potato in his hand in a few bites and patted the dust off his hands.

"Regarding policy..." Gu Zheng narrowed his eyes, a glint of shrewdness flashing in them. "As long as your skills are good enough, so good that even foreigners have to admit defeat, so good that the country feels it can't do without you, policy will naturally make way for you."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the red rotary dial telephone in the living room suddenly rang loudly.

"Ring ring ring—"

The telephone ringtones of that era were shrill and piercing, like a death knell.

Just as Ye Zhen was about to get up, Gu Zheng pressed down on her shoulder: "Sit down, I'll go."

Gu Zheng walked over and picked up the receiver.

"Xiao Ye! Is Xiao Ye here? It's Zhang Guohua!"

"Uncle Zhang, it's me, Gu Zheng." Gu Zheng replied lazily, "My wife is eating roasted sweet potatoes. If you need anything, just tell me."

Zhang Guohua's voice was tinged with excitement, "The approval is in! This time it was a special approval from above, a green light all the way! The date for my trip to West Berlin to attend the European Congress of Cardiothoracic Surgeons has been set—in just three days!"

Gu Zheng raised an eyebrow and looked at Ye Zhen.

Ye Zhen obviously heard it too. She put down the sweet potato in her hand, took out a tissue to wipe the corner of her mouth, stood up and walked over.

Gu Zheng handed her the receiver and casually tidied the stray hairs at her temples.

"Dean Zhang, this is Ye Zhen." Her voice was calm, and she instantly switched to work mode.

"Xiao Ye!" Zhang Guohua took a deep breath, his tone becoming more serious than ever before. "This trip to Germany has changed in nature. It was originally just an academic exchange, but because of the 'minimally invasive' concept we've been working on recently, plus the video of your previous heart surgery, the Ministry of Health is taking it very seriously."

"This trip isn't just about learning, it's about 'showing our mettle'!"

Zhang Guohua paused, his voice carrying a hint of ruthlessness, "Those foreign devils have been holding us hostage with our imported equipment. They either refuse to sell or sell outdated equipment at exorbitant prices! They think Chinese doctors only know how to take pulses and make soup, and don't know how to use sophisticated instruments at all."

"The ministry specifically requested that you bring the videotape of Zhao Guozhu's minimally invasive neurosurgery! Adding that to the previous heart surgery, that's two atomic bombs!"

"Xiao Ye, listen up. This time, we don't need to give anyone face, and we don't need to hold back. We're going to show those arrogant Europeans that when it comes to wielding knives, when our ancestors were scraping the bone to remove poison from Guan Yu's body, they were still picking fruit from the trees!"

Ye Zhen tightened her grip on the receiver.

She could sense the frustration and longing in Zhang Guohua's voice. It was the anger of a backward country in the face of technological blockade, and also the expectation of generations of medical professionals who wanted to stand tall.

"clear."

Ye Zhen replied with only two words. Concise and powerful.

"And one more thing!" Zhang Guohua instantly switched to his nagging father mode, "It's cold in Germany, even colder than in Beicheng! Make sure you've prepared warm clothes, and all the usual medicines—for colds, diarrhea, and traveler's diarrhea. Gu Zheng is your bodyguard and your logistics guy; let him do the heavy lifting. You keep an eye on his hands!"

After hanging up the phone, the room fell into a brief silence.

Ye Zhen turned around and looked at Gu Zheng.

"Did you hear that?"

"I heard that." Gu Zheng's lips curled into a playful smile. "Atomic bomb, 'Show Your Sword,' and we'll teach those foreign devils a lesson. Uncle Zhang has been holding this in for many years."

He walked up to Ye Zhen, his tall figure looming over her, carrying a reassuring sense of pressure.

"We're leaving in three days." Gu Zheng looked down into her eyes. "Are you scared?"

"What are you afraid of?"

Ye Zhen smiled faintly, her eyes flashing with a light sharper than the edge of a scalpel. "The medical community in West Germany is indeed at the forefront of the world. They have the best equipment and the best medicines."

She paused, her tone revealing an air of domineering arrogance.

"But they don't have me."

Gu Zheng was taken aback for a moment, then burst into a hearty laugh. He grabbed Ye Zhen by the waist and pulled her tightly into his arms.

"Yes! This is my woman!"

Gu Zheng kissed her forehead heavily. "Then let's go! To Germany! Let those foreigners see what mysterious power from the East is all about."

Ye Zhen pushed against his hard chest: "Let go, you smell like sweet potatoes."

"No way." Gu Zheng acted like a rogue. "What's wrong with the sweet potato smell? This is the taste of home cooking. When you get to Germany, you eat sausages and pork knuckles every day. You won't even have anywhere to smell this flavor if you want to."

Gu Zheng looked at Ye Zhen, who was now displaying her sharp edge, and his Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.

Damn.

The way this woman focuses on her career is fucking sexy, a million times better looking than any movie star.

"young married woman."

"Um?"

"I think……"

"Don't even think about it." Ye Zhen interrupted her mercilessly. "Go pack your luggage and bring the book 'Postpartum Care of Sows' that you wanted to take with you to keep you entertained on the plane."

Gu Zheng's face instantly darkened: "...That's tactical camouflage! Can't you give me some face?"

"You earn your own face." Ye Zhen said with a half-smile, "Like this trip to Germany, you have to fight for your face."