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

On the third floor of the Ministry of Health building, the south-facing office was well-heated, and a thin layer of condensation covered the windowpanes.

Secretary Xiao Chen stood in front of the large mahogany desk, holding a folder in her hands, speaking in a flat, monotonous voice, like an emotionless machine reading a prepared statement.

"Minister Li, the 'Heart of China' project is indeed special in nature. According to the ministry's regulations, it involves the allocation of medical resources across provinces. It must first go through the preliminary review of the Medical Administration Department, then be transferred to the Ministry of Civil Affairs for qualification review, and finally have the flow of funds registered with the Ministry of Finance..." Xiao Chen pushed up his glasses and turned a page. "This whole cross-departmental signing process will take at least three months."

The leather swivel chair behind the desk faced out the window, its back to Xiao Chen. The tall back of the chair obscured the man's figure; only one hand could be seen resting on the armrest, a sample copy of the newly delivered "Internal Reference" held between his fingers.

The room was so quiet it felt heavy, with only the clock on the wall ticking away.

The hand tightened suddenly, crumpling the thin newspaper and making a crisp sound.

The photos in the newspaper were black and white, with coarse printing dots and a grainy texture that was almost unbearable, yet the chilling and passionate feeling they evoked penetrated the paper and seeped right into one's bones.

As dawn broke and the morning mist still lingered, hundreds of bicycles were lined up neatly in the square, like an iron army ready to charge at any moment.

On the steps, the young female doctor, wrapped in a heavy military overcoat, was bent over at a ninety-degree angle.

Below the steps, there were hundreds of raised aluminum lunch boxes, and an open corrugated cardboard box with red paper attached.

The caption didn't use any fancy words; the bold, powerful font read: "A Childlike Heart in Breakfast Money."

"Director Li? The main hospital is still waiting for a reply. Do you think we should ask them to complete the application materials first..." Xiao Chen didn't hear a response, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue.

"Snapped!"

A loud bang.

The stack of documents was slammed onto the table, the teacup lid bounced up and clattered, and tea was spilled all over the table.

Xiao Chen was so frightened that he shuddered, and the rest of his words got stuck in his throat.

Vice Minister Li turned his chair around, his face ashen, the veins on his neck bulging with each breath. He grabbed the crumpled internal reference document and shoved it directly under Xiao Chen's nose.

"Three months?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a barely suppressed tension, "Open your eyes and look! Take a good look at what this is!"

Xiao Chen shrank his neck, his eyes darting nervously across the newspaper.

"This is the breakfast money for over a thousand university students! It's life-saving money they painstakingly saved from their meager savings!"

Vice Minister Li abruptly stood up, his chair clattering as he slammed it against the back of his leg. Pointing to the photos in the newspaper, his fingers trembling with effort, he said, "Those children are eating cold steamed buns in the dead of winter, those terminally ill patients are counting down the seconds in the emergency room, waiting to die. And now you're talking to me about procedures? About joint approvals?"

"By the time you guys finish stamping everything smoothly, it'll be too late!"

Spit flew everywhere, spraying all over Xiao Chen's face, but he didn't even dare to wipe it off.

Vice Minister Li grabbed the red secure telephone on the table, his fingers flying across the dial, the clicking sound particularly jarring in the deathly silent office.

"Please go to the airport reception area!"

The moment the call connected, Vice Minister Li's roar nearly lifted the roof: "Pass down the word! All officials at the bureau chief level and above, bring your official seals and come to my office for an on-site meeting within ten minutes! Anyone who dares to be even a minute late will be dismissed on the spot! Let them go home and take care of their children!"

The microphone was slammed back onto the landline, and the busy tone was cut off before it could even ring.

The entire Ministry of Health building, this massive bureaucratic machine, was given a severe blow by this phone call.

Chaos erupted immediately in the corridor. The rapid clatter of leather shoes and the slamming of doors opening and closing filled the air. Several department heads, who usually strolled with measured steps and protruding bellies, were now rushing upstairs, buttoning their top buttons and clutching their official seal boxes tightly, as if afraid that if they were a step too slow, they would be stripped of their positions.

Ten minutes later, the conference room door was locked.

The room was filled with smoke, and the ashtray was soon overflowing with cigarette butts.

Vice Minister Li sat in the main seat, with the internal reference document spread out in the center of the conference table.

"I don't want to hear about difficulties, nor do I want to hear about rules." His gaze was like a knife, scraping across the face of everyone present. "This girl, leading a group of students, has done what we're supposed to do. If we grown men sitting in these positions can't even stamp something quickly, we might as well skin these students and give them our uniforms!"

No one dared to utter a sound; only heavy breathing could be heard.

After a long while, the director of the Medical Administration Department stubbed out his cigarette, grabbed the official seal on the table, and slammed it into the inkpad.

"The Medical Administration Department has approved it; special permission is granted!"

With a muffled "bang," the bright red stamp landed on the blank document paper.

That sound was like a starting gun.

"The Finance Department has no problem; the special account will be opened immediately, a special case handled with expedited processing!"

"This is Lao Zhang from the Ministry of Civil Affairs. I just spoke with the ministry on the phone. The formalities can be completed later; I'll bring the official seal and come over here to handle the paperwork on-site!"

Normally, a document would take half a month or even a month to travel through the process, but now it's being passed around like a relay baton at this conference table.

Review, sign, and affix seal.

Before the bright red ink had dried, the next stamp fell heavily, a testament to the authority granted and the weight of conscience.

Three hours.

In just three hours.

A top-priority document, numbered "卫字[198X]001号", was freshly produced. At the top of the document, the three bright red seals of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the Ministry of Finance stood side by side, like three mountains, supporting the red cardboard box in the cold wind.

The document defines it as a key national-level medical support project.

The directive consisted of only eight characters: "Handle this as a special case and provide full support."

……

Beicheng Military Region General Hospital.

Zhang Guohua sat in his office, surrounded by the contents of that red cardboard box.

One-cent and two-cent coins, greasy banknotes, and even a few crumpled grain coupons. The whole room was filled with the distinctive sour smell of old banknotes and the metallic stench, a mixture that was not pleasant to smell, but Zhang Guohua felt a lump in his throat from the smell.

He was smoothing out a 50-cent banknote and pressing it under the glass plate.

"squeak--"

A sharp screech of brakes came from downstairs, followed by the slamming of a door.

Less than two minutes later, the office door was pushed open, the door slammed against the wall, and plaster fell off the wall in a flurry.

The office director rushed in, sweating profusely, without even knocking, holding a manila file folder high in his hand, as if he were delivering a victory report from the front lines.

"Director Zhang! It's approved!"

The director, panting and with trembling hands, handed over the file folder. "Just arrived! A national-level project! Vice Minister Li personally oversaw its progress; all procedures are waived! Funds will go directly through a special channel!"

Zhang Guohua stopped what he was doing.

He slowly stood up, wiped his hands on his white coat, and then solemnly accepted the document, which was still warm.

He pulled out the official document, and the three bright red seals stung his eyes.

"Okay...okay!"

Zhang Guohua took off his glasses, his rough fingertips tracing the document number. His voice choked with emotion, as if a long-burdened stone had finally been lifted, "The country hasn't forgotten us, hasn't forgotten those children!"

He lowered his head, looking at the pile of loose change on the table, then at the official document in his hand.

On one side is public support, and on the other is national strength.

The fire has finally been lit.

……

Where the sun doesn't shine, shadows always grow.

In the southern part of Beijing, deep within a hutong (traditional alleyway) slated for demolition, the air in a semi-basement apartment with a sign that reads "Billiards Entertainment Center" is so foul it's nauseating.

The smell of cheap tobacco, the dampness of the moldy basement, and the lingering stench of feet mingled together. The dim, yellowish incandescent light bulb overhead was covered in fly droppings, and with the vibrations of passing cars on the street above, the bulb swayed and cast dappled shadows.

Beside a pool table in the corner, Wei Peng held a cue stick in his hand, his face so gloomy it looked like it was about to drip water.

His once crisp military overcoat now hung wrinkled and crumpled on his body, with grease stains on the collar. A layer of dark stubble appeared on his chin, and large dark circles hung under his eyes; there was no trace of the former scion of a wealthy family.

Ever since Gu Zheng forced him to run naked in Shichahai, he has completely lost his place in the "compound kid" circle.

Wherever he went, people would point and whisper behind his back, covering their mouths and snickering. Those former cronies who used to fawn over him now avoided him like the plague.

He could only stay in this smoky, chaotic place, hanging out with a few low-level thugs, and pretending to be a big shot with his remaining savings.

"Brother Peng, it seems that crazy guy Gu wasn't bragging. His wife is really amazing."

A young man with dyed yellow hair next to him threw a newspaper on the billiard table, wiping the cue tip with chalk while clicking his tongue and exclaiming, "Look at this, even the newspaper is praising him. 'A childlike heart,' 'A living Hua Tuo,' tsk tsk, his reputation is almost as good as Lei Feng's."

Wei Peng's hand, which was wiping the golf club, suddenly stopped.

He raised his head, his eyes revealing a sinister and ruthless look.

He grabbed the newspaper; it contained a collage of photos of Ye Zhen receiving an award in Berlin and bowing in the square.

The woman in the photo is aloof and noble, revered by thousands, like a radiant being. And him? He became the laughingstock of the entire city, forced to wait until no one was around to go out, like a rat in the street!

Jealousy gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake.

"Sizzle—"

Wei Peng slammed the half-burnt cigarette butt onto Ye Zhen's face, which was covered in newspaper.

The cigarette butt made a slight burning sound, the newspaper turned yellow, then black, and finally burned a charred hole in it, which landed right on Ye Zhen's face. Sparks flew, burning his fingers, but he seemed oblivious.

"What childlike heart?"

Wei Peng gritted his teeth, his voice barely audible, "It's nothing but buying people's hearts! She's a doctor, why isn't she staying in the hospital treating patients? Why is she leading thousands of college students out of class to go into alleyways? What is this? This is neglecting her duties!"

"But..." the blond-haired man shrank back, looking at Wei Peng's contorted face, "He was doing a good deed..."

"Doing good deeds?"

Wei Peng sneered, and swung his cue stick out with a loud "smack," knocking the white ball off the table.

"A student's primary duty is to study! Thousands of people gathering in the square for some kind of oath-taking ceremony... if this were to escalate further..."

He paused, tossed aside the half-broken golf club in his hand, and a malicious glint flashed in his eyes. He knew the rules of the game all too well; some labels were more deadly than murder.

"This is tantamount to establishing an independent kingdom! It's inciting unrest! It's disrupting the normal teaching order of universities!"