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

Luckily, there was no one opposite him, otherwise, if Gu Jianguo had spat out that mouthful of wine, it would have been like "a celestial maiden scattering flowers."

He didn't bother wiping the wine stains from the corner of his mouth. He stared wide-eyed at the receiver in his hand, then turned to look at Ye Zhen, who was calmly drinking her soup, as if he had seen a ghost.

His facial expressions were quite a sight: turning red and white in turns, finally settling on an almost comical look of shock.

A British nobleman? Bringing his own equipment? Begging and pleading to be this girl's assistant?

He understands each word individually, but how come it sounds so fantastical when put together? Is this some kind of grand opera?

"Snapped!"

He slammed his chopsticks hard on the table.

At the head of the table, Old Master Gu puffed out his beard and glared, "What are you staring at? What's the big deal? So what if they're foreigners? They have to respect experts too! We weren't afraid of them on the battlefield, and now on the operating table, we can still make them submit! What do you call that? That's called skill!"

Grandma Gu lovingly placed a large piece of braised pork into Ye Zhen's bowl, gently scolding, "Zhenzhen, don't mind your second uncle. He just got a bit slow in the army. Come on, eat more meat. Surgery is very taxing on the brain. Look how thin the child is; there's barely any flesh on her wrists."

"Thank you, Grandma." Ye Zhen looked up, smiled gently at the old lady, and obediently ate the meat.

Gu Jianguo: "..."

So I'm the only outsider here?

"Second Uncle, wipe yourself clean." Gu Zheng handed over a tissue, a mischievous smile playing on his lips, as if he had expected this. "Who said that foreign monk could chant sutras? It seems that this foreign monk has to travel a long way to worship our true Buddha in order to learn the scriptures."

Gu Jianguo ignored his nephew's teasing, took a deep breath to calm himself down after being attacked by his parents, and then said "Wait a moment" to the person on the other end of the phone.

Then, with a complicated expression, he handed the receiver to Ye Zhen, his tone unconsciously carrying a hint of awe he had never shown before, and his back straightened slightly involuntarily:

"Zhenzhen, it's a call from the Zhao family. They said... they replied from England."

Ye Zhen put down the soup bowl, wiped her mouth, and calmly walked over to take the phone.

"Hello, this is Ye Zhen."

On the other end of the phone, Zhao Lan's mother, Liu Xiumei, spoke, apologizing and pleading, lowering herself to the dust.

Ye Zhen listened patiently, her face remaining calm and composed, though her eyes brightened slightly.

"Aunt Zhao, you're too kind. Treating the sick and saving lives is a doctor's duty. Uncle Zhao was just worried and confused. As a father, his choice is only natural. Don't take it to heart." Ye Zhen's voice was clear and calm, exuding a reassuring power. "Since you agree to the plan and there are no problems in England, then bring Lanlan over tomorrow. However, I must say beforehand that this surgery is still very risky. I will do my best, but I can't guarantee anything."

"We believe you! We believe you! As long as you're willing to take the call, we'll do whatever you say!" Liu Xiumei agreed repeatedly on the other end of the phone.

After hanging up the phone, the room was deathly silent.

The silence lasted less than two seconds before it was shattered by two screams.

"Sister-in-law! You're amazing!"

Gu Linlin's face flushed with excitement, and she jumped up from her chair, her eyes sparkling. She wanted nothing more than to rush up and hug Ye Zhen's leg. "That's a British knight! Someone our professors tremble at the mere mention of his name, and now he's going to be your assistant? Good heavens, if I tell anyone back at school, won't those arrogant PhD students' eyes pop out of their sockets?"

Even the usually quiet Gu Yue was filled with admiration, nodding frantically like a chick pecking at rice: "Sister-in-law, from now on you're my idol!"

The two little girls were chattering away, their eyes practically overflowing with stars.

Gu Jianguo rubbed his hands, feeling a little embarrassed, and awkwardly cleared his throat: "Um... Zhenzhen, your second uncle's attitude was bad just now, and he spoke a bit harshly. You know, your second uncle is a rough man, and he's worried about his old comrade's child's life, so please don't take it to heart."

He was truly convinced. In this family, there weren't many people who could make a military commander like him bow his head and admit his mistakes, but his niece-in-law was one of them.

"Second Uncle, we're family, so let's not be so formal." Ye Zhen sat back down in her chair and picked up her chopsticks again. "Besides, your concerns are valid. This surgery is indeed difficult, even though I only have a 70% chance of success."

Gu Zheng held Ye Zhen's hand under the table, his fingers gently caressing her palm, his eyes full of pride and doting affection.

He raised an eyebrow, his soldierly swagger returning: "Honey, shouldn't we put on a bit of a tough front? We can't let that old foreigner think we're easy to talk to. How about we give him a hard time? Like, make him stand at the door for half an hour first?"

"You need to maintain a certain air, but you can't scare people away."

Ye Zhen suddenly turned her head and looked at Gu Zheng with an extremely serious expression, even more so than when they were discussing the surgical plan.

"Gu Zheng, you'd better control your temper and be polite to that Williams."

"Why?" Gu Zheng was taken aback, looking displeased. "Have you forgotten how he treated us in Germany? He was so arrogant back then, constantly causing us trouble, and I had to appease him?"

Ye Zhen tapped the rim of her bowl with her chopsticks, looking utterly disappointed, and said with a pained expression:

"Are you stupid? Do you know how much foreign exchange a set of imported artificial blood vessels and matching sutures costs? That's several thousand US dollars! The kind with the anti-thrombotic coating is practically unavailable."

Everyone in the room was stunned. Several thousand US dollars? That's enough to buy a decent courtyard house in Beijing!

She paused, a shrewd glint in her eyes, like a nimble housekeeper rapidly calculating the numbers on an abacus:

"Lanlan's family said they would sell their house to pay for her medical treatment, but even if they did, the foreign exchange they got might not be enough to buy these top-of-the-line medical supplies. Now there's a sucker... no, a kind-hearted international friend who not only brings his own materials but also delivers them to our door for free. This isn't just a foreign monk; this is clearly a walking money bag, a gift of foreign exchange certificates!"

The more she talked about it, the more she felt this deal was worthwhile, and she even started calculating on her fingers:

"Besides, experts of this caliber would definitely carry the best equipment with them when they go out. Our hospital is even short of decent non-traumatic hemostatic forceps right now. If we could 'borrow' a couple from him..."

The table was deathly silent.

Gu Zheng stared with his mouth agape at his wife's calculating and meticulous manner, as if she wanted to calculate even the price of someone's underwear. He swallowed the "no" that was on the tip of his tongue.

"puff!"

I don't know who laughed first.

Immediately afterward, Old Master Gu burst into hearty laughter, tears welling up in his eyes. Pointing at Ye Zhen, he said to Grandma Gu, "Look! Look! This is a true expert at managing a household! This awareness—no wonder she's a daughter-in-law of the Gu family! Forget about saving face; getting the benefits into your own pocket is the real skill!"

Looking at his niece-in-law, who had just been as aloof as a flower on a high mountain but was now meticulously calculating how to "get something for nothing" from foreign goods, Gu Jianguo suddenly found this girl extremely pleasing to the eye.

That's right!

She is neither arrogant nor humble, and she knows how to cherish foreign exchange and keep foreign goods for her own people. This is what makes a good wife—down-to-earth and with a broad perspective!

Gu Zheng was taken aback at first, but when he saw his wife's "miserly" little face, his heart softened completely.

He put his arm around Ye Zhen's shoulder and laughed, "Okay! Whatever my wife says! As long as he brings enough stuff, I'll carry his bags, no questions asked! This deal is a steal! It's fucking a steal!"