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

Ye Zhen's heart pounded wildly, but she managed to suppress it with the self-control she had cultivated over two lifetimes.

She quickly looked away, but that burning gaze remained like a branding iron, still fixed on her, making the skin on the back of her neck tingle. The air in the ward, far from being relaxed after the disheveled departure of the Lin father and daughter, instead had an indescribable, sticky feeling.

The man's protection was like a pebble thrown into a frozen lake, creating ripples that spread outwards, leaving her somewhat at a loss.

She is best at dealing with scalpels and bullets, not this kind of unprovoked, possessive kindness.

To break free from the almost suffocating awkwardness, Ye Zhen reverted to her most familiar facade. She lowered her eyes, picked up her medical record folder, walked to the bedside, and spoke in a completely emotionless, businesslike voice: "Lift your leg, move your ankle. I need to check your peripheral nerves and blood circulation."

Gu Zheng didn't move, his dark eyes still fixed on her, swirling with understanding and a hint of mockery. "Dr. Ye, you haven't answered me yet."

"Answer what?" Ye Zhen pretended to look through the records, but her gaze couldn't really focus on the paper.

"Those two, father and daughter, are here to cause you trouble, aren't they?" Gu Zheng used a statement, not a question.

Ye Zhen paused almost imperceptibly with her pen, without looking up: "My private matters are not within the scope of a doctor's consultation."

"But if you get into trouble, it will affect my attending physician's work." Gu Zheng's fallacies came one after another, spoken with righteous indignation, "That falls within my scope of consultation."

Ye Zhen finally looked up at him, her eyes cold as ice: "Commander Gu, do you still want to continue your rehabilitation training?"

Threats, it's that tactic again.

Looking at her feigned composure, though a faint blush lingered at the base of her ears, Gu Zheng's anger, fueled by the Lin family father and daughter, inexplicably dissipated. He chuckled softly, the vibrations of his chest carrying a magnetic quality, deep and pleasant. "Continue, of course continue. My leg is entirely thanks to Dr. Ye."

Just then, the ward door was suddenly pushed open with a "bang".

The person who rushed in was Head Nurse Liu, her face full of anxiety and panic, and she could barely control her voice.

"Oh dear Dr. Ye! Something terrible has happened!"

Head Nurse Liu rushed over and, seeing Gu Zheng present, forced a low voice, but the burning urge in her tone was unmistakable: "I just went to the hospital office to deliver some documents and overheard people talking. They said Vice President Lin personally went to see President Zhou to thoroughly investigate your qualifications!"

She stamped her feet anxiously, her voice low and strained, "The rumors outside are horrible! They're saying you're just a barefoot doctor from a remote mountain village, without even a proper medical license. They're also saying that the surgery you performed on Commander Gu was pure luck, a gamble with his life! Lin Weiguo's point is, if this gets out and damages the hospital's reputation, the entire military region hospital will be held responsible!"

In the 1980s, the hospital staff was diverse, including top students who had graduated from regular medical schools, as well as many who had been promoted from military medics or local "folk doctors." Qualifications and background were two insurmountable obstacles.

Lin Weiguo's move was insidious and vicious. Instead of openly attacking Ye Zhen's successful surgery, he targeted the most fundamental aspect: her "medical practice qualifications." These days, once the charge of practicing medicine without a license is established, not only will you be unable to stay in the military hospital, but in serious cases, you might even be used as a negative example and held legally accountable.

Head Nurse Liu was so anxious that blisters appeared on her lips: "Lin Weiguo is trying to use public opinion to force Dean Zhou to fire you from our hospital! Dr. Ye, you have to think of something!"

Ye Zhen listened, but her face remained expressionless. She simply picked up the blood pressure monitor in silence and began to measure Gu Zheng's blood pressure, her movements still methodical, as if the storm outside had nothing to do with her.

"One hundred and twenty, eighty, normal." She recorded the values, her voice steady.

This girl's stubbornness left Head Nurse Liu completely bewildered. What was her heart made of?

Gu Zheng, lying on the hospital bed, had his smile completely turn cold.

He gave a wink to Xiao Wang, the guard standing guard next to him. Xiao Wang understood and immediately slipped out quietly. A moment later, he returned, leaned close to Gu Zheng's ear, and repeated the increasingly exaggerated and unpleasant rumors circulating outside.

As Gu Zheng listened, his slender fingers tapped lightly on the bed sheet, one tap after another. The unhurried rhythm carried a sense of impending danger and oppression.

"What a Lin Weiguo." He murmured the name softly, but it made the room feel a few degrees colder.

He looked up at Ye Zhen, who was intently wiping the metal head of her stethoscope with an alcohol swab, her serious expression as if she were handling a sacred object. The slander and defamation from the outside world seemed utterly ineffective in leaving a trace on her heart.

But he knew she wasn't indifferent. She was just used to using her toughest shell to bear all the storms alone.

An unnamed anger mixed with an even stronger heartache surged violently in his chest.

His people, the people he personally brought out of the mountains to protect, when did it become the place for these clowns to point fingers?

He instructed Xiao Wang, "Go to the command office and bring me my set of A4 report paper and Hero brand fountain pen, the whole set."

Although Xiao Wang was puzzled, he immediately replied, "Yes!"

Soon, a report with a bright red heading and a shiny pen were placed on the mobile hospital bed table in front of Gu Zheng.

Gu Zheng picked up the pen without hesitation, the tip scratching across the paper. He was focused, his jawline taut, completely devoid of his usual nonchalance and roguishness, as if he had returned to the iron-fisted commander issuing orders in the command post.

He is writing a report.

The title is: "A Detailed Report on the Encounter with Danger and Rescue Process of Comrade Gu Zheng, Commander of Unit 761, in Heishan Village".

Ye Zhen glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. She saw that his handwriting was vigorous and powerful, full of the iron-blooded sharpness of a soldier, and every word exuded an undeniable power.

The first half of the report is an absolutely objective and detailed review of the events.

"...During the pursuit, I was shot in the chest and leg and fell off a cliff. Due to the torrential rain, I suffered hemorrhagic shock and open pneumothorax, and my vital signs were critical. Under these circumstances, Comrade Ye Zhen, a villager from Heishan Village, remained calm and made use of the limited resources available at the scene..."

Every word was a breathtaking description. He meticulously recreated the surgery that took place in the wilderness using the most professional and rigorous military report language. By writing this, he not only proved Ye Zhen's innocence but also used his military status to provide the most authoritative endorsement of her miraculous medical skills.

At this point, Gu Zheng abruptly changed the tone of the report, transforming it from a rigorous military report into a... emotionally charged personal reflection.

"...In the final stages of my consciousness, all sounds and lights from the outside world blurred. The only thing that sustained my will was Comrade Ye Zhen's calm and composed gaze. That light dispelled the darkness before my eyes, allowing me to persevere to the very last moment. Her hands were the most steady hands I had ever seen. In the stormy wilderness, she stitched not only my wounds but also the dying embers of my life. Without her superb medical skills, which transcended the understanding of the times and the limitations of the terrain, I would have already sacrificed my life for my country. Therefore, as the commander of Unit 761 and a witness to this incident, I offer the highest level of assurance regarding Comrade Ye Zhen's medical skills and ethics. She is a truly deserving medical talent, a hero who saved the lives of the People's Liberation Army soldiers!"

After writing the last word, Gu Zheng put down his pen, read the report from beginning to end, and a smug smile appeared on his face.

He handed the report to Xiao Wang: "Send it to Dean Zhou's office immediately. Also, make twenty copies and find a way to 'accidentally' have an extra copy in the offices of the heads of each department."

"Yes, sir!" Xiao Wang took the hot report, saluted, and ran off as if he were carrying a bomb.

In Dean Zhou's office, Zhou Hai was extremely worried about Lin Weiguo's petty tricks. When he saw the report, personally signed by Gu Zheng and stamped with the bright red seal of the 761 Unit Command, he was completely dumbfounded.

He was first shocked by the surgical procedure described in the report, a miracle that even medical textbooks dared not describe. Then, when he read the latter half of the report, with its emotional and straightforward language, the over-fifty-year-old hospital director couldn't help but rub his forehead, feeling both amused and exasperated.

This isn't a report! This is clearly a love letter that brat wrote to Dr. Ye! And it even has an official seal on it, as if he's afraid the whole military region won't know!

"Nonsense! Utter nonsense!" Dean Zhou cursed, but his hands moved swiftly. He picked up his dean's seal and stamped it heavily at the end of the report with a "bang," placing it alongside the army's red seal.

"Since he's a hero, he deserves to be widely publicized! Post this report in the most prominent place on the hospital bulletin board! Let everyone learn from it!"

In an instant, the entire military hospital was in an uproar.

That report, which resembled an official document, spread like wildfire throughout all the departments.

"My God! Opening a chest with bare hands? Stitching blood vessels in a dilapidated temple? Is this even humanly possible?"

"Quick, watch the second half! 'He stitched up my dying flame of life,' my god, even King Gu has such a tender side?"

"Now who dares to call Dr. Ye a barefoot doctor? He's clearly a living saint who saved the King of Hell! Vice President Lin's face has been slapped hard..."

In his office, Lin Weiguo looked at the copy of the report that his "well-meaning" subordinate had brought him. He was so angry that he trembled all over, his face turning from blue to purple. He smashed his beloved purple clay teacup on the ground with a loud crack.

In the surgical office, Zhao Tiancheng also saw it. When he read the sentence, "Her hands were the most steady hands I had ever seen," Ye Zhen's slender, fair hands, which contained boundless strength, involuntarily appeared before his eyes. When he saw the sentence, "stitched up the flame of life," an indescribable bitterness and jealousy welled up in his heart, making his teeth ache.

He curled his lip and muttered under his breath, "Glib talker!"

Inside the intensive care unit, an eerie calm prevailed at the heart of the storm.

Gu Zheng handed a copy of the report to Ye Zhen, his chin slightly raised, like a peacock desperately spreading its tail feathers during courtship, his eyes filled with "Praise me quickly."

"My 'medical checkup report' also included a 'reputation checkup' for you. Dr. Ye, are you satisfied?"

Ye Zhen took the still-warm paper and her gaze fell on the nauseatingly sentimental words in the second half, especially the phrase "stitched together the flame of life."

She remained silent, picked up the red pen on the table without saying a word, and wrote two words lightly but firmly next to that shocking sentence.

Then, she pushed the report back in front of him.

Gu Zheng looked down and saw two elegant yet sharp characters—it was none other than—

Imaginary conjecture.