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

Ye Zhen's handwashing motion froze in mid-air, the water gushing over her slender, white fingers.

In the chilling smell of disinfectant, the man's words were like a bomb dropped into a calm, deep pool, the aftershocks of which have not yet subsided.

I'll take on all your troubles.

How arrogant and unreasonable!

In both her lives, she carried her own burdens, using a scalpel, ten times more effort than others, and a heart hardened by hardening.

She doesn't need anyone to "pick her up".

Especially this dangerous, domineering, and deep-thinking man in front of her.

Ye Zhen turned off the tap, took out a towel, and slowly and meticulously dried her hands, wiping every joint with care.

She turned around, meeting Gu Zheng's unfathomable black eyes, and said in the standard doctor's tone to a patient, "Commander Gu, your main task is to follow the doctor's orders and recover well. Don't worry about me."

"Your affairs will affect my attending physician. Affecting my attending physician means affecting my injury." Gu Zheng returned the words she had used to shut him up during the day verbatim, speaking with righteous indignation, "Therefore, your affairs are my affairs."

This is absurd logic.

Ye Zhen felt a throbbing sensation in her temples, a feeling of exhaustion she never experienced even after working continuously for twenty hours on the operating table.

She took a deep breath and decided to cut to the chase: "I appreciate Commander Gu's kindness. Deputy Commander Li's father's surgery was successful, and Lin Weiguo can't cause any trouble for the time being. Once your leg recovers, I will also leave here. Our relationship is purely that of doctor and patient."

"Leave?" Gu Zheng's brows furrowed instantly, the smile in his eyes vanishing completely, replaced by a dangerous look that suggested his sore spot had been touched. "Who gave you permission to leave?"

"My decision to stay or leave is none of anyone's business." Ye Zhen met his gaze head-on, refusing to budge an inch.

"Ha." Gu Zheng chuckled angrily. He sat up straighter on the bed, his entire aura changing. The commanding presence he exuded on the battlefield poured out. "Ye Zhen, you saved my life. We soldiers believe in repaying kindness. Do you intend to just walk away like this, treating me, Gu Zheng, as an ungrateful wretch?"

He leaned forward, his voice low and seductive: "Or are you scared? Scared that if I really get rid of all your troubles, you'll never find an excuse to escape from me again?"

Ye Zhen's heart clenched as his words burned her.

She discovered for the first time that verbal exchanges are more difficult to control than a scalpel.

Just as the air in the ward felt so thick it seemed to solidify, a knock sounded on the door.

Dean Zhou led in a middle-aged man dressed in a cadre uniform, who looked agitated. As soon as the man entered, his gaze locked onto Ye Zhen, and he rushed to her, his eyes red-rimmed.

"Dr. Ye! Miracle Doctor Ye!"

The visitor was none other than Deputy Commander Li's secretary, who had come on orders from his superior to express his gratitude to his savior.

"Dr. Ye, this is a small token of our leader's appreciation. Please accept it!" the secretary said, taking out a thick kraft paper envelope from her briefcase. Judging by its thickness, it must have cost at least several hundred dollars.

In the 1980s, when the average monthly wage was only a few dozen yuan, this was a huge sum of money.

"No way." Ye Zhen didn't even look at it, took a step back, and said firmly, "The hospital has rules against accepting red envelopes."

"Oh dear Dr. Ye, this isn't a red envelope, it's money to save a life! It's a token of our leader's appreciation!" the secretary exclaimed anxiously.

Dean Zhou also tried to smooth things over, saying, "Xiao Ye, it's not good to refuse Deputy Commander Li's kindness."

Ye Zhen shook her head again, her attitude leaving no room for negotiation: "Rules are rules."

Looking at her stubborn and unyielding demeanor from her hospital bed, Gu Zheng's eyes lit up with a smile once more.

Okay, I have principles, and I don't love money.

This is how he should be.

Seeing this, the secretary broke out in a cold sweat. Finally, as if she had made up her mind, she slapped her thigh and took the envelope back.

He solemnly took out a small red notebook from his inside pocket and handed it to Ye Zhen with both hands.

"Dr. Ye, since you're not accepting payment, the Li family will remember this favor!" His voice was firm and resolute. "This is our commander's private phone number. From now on, throughout the entire military region, no, throughout the entire North City, if you encounter any problems you can't solve, just call this number! We, the Li family, will go through fire and water for you, without hesitation!"

The weight of those words is more than ten thousand times greater than those few hundred dollars!

This is tantamount to giving Ye Zhen a get-out-of-jail-free card at the military hospital!

Dean Zhou's gaze towards Ye Zhen had shifted from admiration to looking at a national treasure. This girl not only possessed extraordinary skills, but her character was also remarkable!

After seeing off the profusely thanking Secretary Li and the beaming Dean Zhou, the ward returned to silence.

Gu Zheng leaned against the headboard, lazily raising his chin like a large dog seeking praise: "See, I told you, I'll take on your troubles."

His matter-of-fact manner made it seem as if Deputy Commander Li's secretary was someone he had recruited.

Ye Zhen clutched the red booklet that could change her fate, her emotions a jumble of emotions. She knew that once this favor was owed, it could never be repaid.

Gu Zheng, however, clearly did not intend to give her the chance to slowly "pay back".

He waved to Xiao Wang, the guard standing at the door.

Xiao Wang immediately stood at attention and strode in.

"Commander!"

"Go," Gu Zheng said firmly, "and speak to Dean Zhou. Get Dr. Ye's official onboarding procedures completed today. Also, didn't the hospital allocate a batch of expert apartments a couple of years ago? I remember the one next to the guesthouse, the south-facing apartment on the third floor, was reserved for an older expert, but he was transferred and it's been vacant ever since. Go and ask how we can get Dr. Ye a place there."

Xiao Wang was stunned.

My God! This isn't the leader showing concern for his subordinates; it's more like a grand wedding procession being carried straight home!

That expert building is reserved for senior professors with full professorships and significant contributions. Not to mention Ye Zhen, a "temporary worker" without even a permanent position, even a doctor like Zhao Tiancheng might not qualify even if he works until he is forty!

"Did you understand?" Gu Zheng's voice deepened when he saw him in a daze.

"Yes, sir! Mission accomplished!" Xiao Wang jumped in fright, saluted, and turned to run, afraid that if he was even a second too slow, the commander's gaze would pierce right through him.

Ye Zhen froze completely.

If what Secretary Li gave her earlier was a "protective charm," then what Gu Zheng is doing now is directly nailing her future to the ground with reinforced concrete! Nailing it to this hospital, right under his nose!

"Gu Zheng!" She called him by his full name for the first time, her voice filled with barely suppressed anger. "What right do you have to make decisions for me?!"

"Just for this." Gu Zheng stretched out his leg, which was in a cast, and tapped it lightly on the edge of the bed, making a dull thud.

He looked up, his usual nonchalant attitude completely gone, replaced by an unprecedented seriousness and focus in his dark eyes, like a magnet that seemed to draw her soul in.

"Ye Zhen, you gave me my life. According to the customs of our hometown, a life-saving grace should be repaid with one's body."

Ye Zhen's mind went blank with a buzz.

To... to repay him with one's body?!

"I don't need it." She practically spat out those words through gritted teeth.

"You need to." Gu Zheng interrupted her, his tone domineering and unreasonable. He stared at her, at her cheeks flushed with anger, and at her clear eyes that seemed to say, "Stay away from me."

He suddenly smiled, a smile that carried a hint of triumphant cunning and an intense, unyielding possessiveness.

He slowly and deliberately dropped his final bombshell, the sound not loud, but it exploded in Ye Zhen's ears like thunder.

"Besides, if my grandfather knew that the future matriarch of the Gu family was still living in a temporary dormitory at the hospital..."

He paused, admiring her face, which turned deathly pale and was filled with shock and disbelief, before leisurely finishing the second half of his sentence.

"He'll come himself and break my other leg."