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

The starlight in Gu Zheng's eyes was almost overflowing.

He liked her like this, like a little wildcat that was cornered but still showed its claws, calm, fierce, and every hair on her body said "Don't mess with me".

"Speak." He leaned back, relaxing completely and adopting a listening posture, but the interest in his eyes grew stronger.

"First," Ye Zhen extended a finger, fair and slender, yet carrying an undeniable strength, "we are partners, not husband and wife. In public, I can cooperate with your acting. But in private, we must maintain our distance. There must be no physical contact, and you must not interfere in my private life."

She emphasized the words "physical contact" very heavily.

Gu Zheng's gaze lingered for a moment on her slightly pursed, somewhat stubborn lips, and his Adam's apple bobbed imperceptibly.

"Sure," he readily agreed, then added with a slight smile, "Married in name only, comrades in reality. No problem."

Comrades?

Ye Zhen sneered inwardly. The meaning of "comrades-in-arms" in the 1980s was far richer than that in the 21st century.

She didn't dwell on the wordplay and continued, "Secondly, I have absolute professional freedom. I decide my own patients and surgeries. You and your so-called 'family' behind me cannot interfere with my work in any way. I can live in that specialist apartment, but that's the hospital's recognition of my abilities, and it has nothing to do with you."

She had to distance herself from her job and this sordid deal. Her scalpel was sacred and inviolable.

"Okay." Gu Zheng nodded again, the smile in his eyes almost solidifying. "Your operating table is the cleanest place in the North City Military Region Hospital. Anyone who dares to dirty it, I'll personally break their neck."

He spoke these words casually, yet they carried a chilling, bloodthirsty aura.

Ye Zhen's heart skipped a beat.

This man always manages to say the most beautiful "love words" in the most domineering way.

She steadied herself, raised her third finger—this was her bottom line, her escape route.

"Third, the term is one year. After one year, regardless of whether your grandfather's 'wish' is fulfilled, our cooperation will automatically terminate. You must take responsibility for eliminating all the impact this 'marriage' has had on me and restoring my innocence and freedom."

The smile on Gu Zheng's face finally faded a bit.

He stared at her, his dark eyes like a deep well, as if trying to suck her in completely.

"A year?" he repeated, his fingers tapping lightly on the sheets, resuming that heart-pounding, dangerous rhythm. "Okay."

Just as Ye Zhen was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she heard him slowly utter the second half of the sentence.

"However, Dr. Ye," he changed the subject, his tone becoming somewhat mocking and roguish, "what if, I mean, what if, within a year, the old man wants to hold his great-grandchild? Well... you can't expect a wounded soldier like me to undergo 'asexual reproduction,' can you?"

boom!

Ye Zhen's cheeks instantly turned bright red, as if they were on fire. The redness spread from her ears all the way down her slender neck.

Thugs! Military scoundrels!

In both of her lives combined, she had never heard such outrageous words!

"That's your problem!" she practically spat out the words through clenched teeth.

"Yes, it's my fault." Gu Zheng nodded readily, knowing when to stop, but his dark eyes were full of a smug, mischievous smile. "So, as a comrade-in-arms, shouldn't you help me think of a solution?"

Ye Zhen stared intently at him, her chest heaving. She knew she had fallen into his trap. This one-year deadline had been made precarious by him with a shameless assumption.

She turned abruptly around, her back to him, her voice icy: "The terms are settled. Now, I'm going to work."

Watching her almost fleeing figure, Gu Zheng chuckled softly, the vibration in his chest causing the wound on his leg to ache slightly.

But he doesn't care.

The prey is already in the cage; though it's still baring its teeth, it can't escape.

"Xiao Wang!" he called out.

The bodyguard, Xiao Wang, rushed in: "Sir!"

"Go, call Uncle Fu here." Gu Zheng's eyes regained their commander's sharpness. "Have him take Dr. Ye to the specialist building now, immediately. Hand over the keys, the property deed, and all the paperwork to Dr. Ye."

He paused, then added, "Tell him this is a direct order. Before sunset today, I want to see Dr. Ye comfortably settled into the best house in the North City Military Region. Anyone who dares to stop him, anyone who dares to utter a single unnecessary word, tell him to just say my name."

"Yes!" Xiao Wang accepted the order and ran off.

Half an hour later, Ye Zhen was "invited" by Butler Fu to the downstairs of the expert's building.

This is a three-story Soviet-style red building with a separate courtyard, standing out among the tenement buildings and family compounds of the 1980s.

"Dr. Ye, this is it. The one on the third floor, facing south, with the best natural light." Butler Fu respectfully gestured for us to enter.

Just then, a middle-aged woman wearing a floral polyester shirt and sporting trendy curls walked out of the building carrying a basket of groceries. Upon seeing Butler Fu and Ye Zhen, she immediately raised her chin, her eyes filled with scrutiny and disdain.

"Hey, Lao Fu, bringing people to look at the house? Who's this girl? An intern who got in through connections?" The woman was Wang, the wife of Section Chief Liu of the Health Department. Relying on her husband's little power, she always acted arrogantly in the hospital.

She had her eye on this empty expert building for a long time, and had been pestering her husband for months, just waiting for the old dean to give his approval.

Butler Fu maintained his composed demeanor: "Sister-in-law Wang, this is Dr. Ye Zhen. From now on, she will be the owner of this house."

"What?!" Sister Wang shrieked, dropping her vegetable basket with a "thud," spilling several potatoes. "Her? A mere young girl who hasn't even grown up yet, what right does she have to live in the specialist ward? My husband, Lao Liu, has worked for the hospital his whole life and hasn't even been allocated one yet! This isn't the rule!"

"This is a joint decision by Dean Zhou and Commander Gu." Butler Fu's voice wasn't loud, but the words "Commander Gu" sounded like a mountain pressing down on him.

Sister-in-law Wang's face paled, but she remained defiant: "Commander Gu? Which Commander Gu? What right does he have to manage hospital housing allocations! I don't believe it! Unless you produce the documents!"

She was just throwing a tantrum, trying to make things worse and embarrass Ye Zhen.

Ye Zhen frowned, about to speak.

"Documents?" A crisp, clear voice came from behind them.

Xiao Wang had followed us unnoticed. He was carrying a file bag, from which he pulled out a transfer order stamped with the hospital's official red seal and another, even more alarming, military seal, and threw it directly at Wang's wife's face.

"Look carefully! This is the highest-level transfer order from the General Hospital of the Military Region! To introduce Comrade Ye Zhen, a special medical talent, special approval has been granted for her to move into the No. 1 courtyard of the Expert Building! Do you have any objections?" Xiao Wang's young face was full of murderous intent, and his eyes had the look of a soldier who had been on the battlefield.

"Say one more word, and I'll have you and your man summoned to the military police station for questioning on charges of 'obstructing the recruitment of key personnel for the military region'!"

Sister-in-law Wang was terrified by the order and the words "discipline patrol." Her legs went weak, and she almost collapsed to the ground. She stared at Ye Zhen, her eyes wide with disbelief, as if she had seen a ghost.

Just what kind of incredible background does this little girl have?

Butler Fu ignored her and respectfully took out the key to open the heavy wooden door.

"Dr. Ye, please."

Ye Zhen stepped into the room.

The house is spacious, with three bedrooms and a living room. The floors are waxed wooden floors, the windows are bright and clean, and all the furniture is provided, even brand new bedding has been laid out.

A faint scent of ink lingered in the air.

She followed the scent and looked toward the largest desk in the center of the living room.

On the desk, a set of brand-new, still-smelling hardcover books was neatly stacked. Ye Zhen's pupils suddenly contracted.

Those are not books from China.

Those are original English versions of "The Principles of Schwarz's Surgery," "Campbell's Orthopaedic Surgery," and "Nelson's Pediatrics"... all of which are the most advanced and cutting-edge Western medical masterpieces of this era! In China, let alone buying them, very few people have even heard of them!

On the cover of the top book, there was a note with Gu Zheng's flamboyant handwriting.

"The 'dowry' for the future matriarch of the Gu family."

"I'll upgrade your operating table. I'll protect your world."

Ye Zhen picked up the note, her fingers trembling slightly.

This man...

He never gives you a multiple-choice question.

Instead, they simply packaged up the best things in the world and presented them to her, leaving her no room to refuse.

She seemed to be getting deeper and deeper into this spider web.