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

In Gu Zheng's home in the family quarters of the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital, the radiator occasionally made a muffled "click" sound, making the room even quieter.

After taking a shower, Ye Zhen stepped barefoot onto the slightly rough wooden floor. She wasn't wearing that stiff military shirt anymore; instead, she had changed into a loose white cotton nightgown. Her long, wet hair draped over her shoulders, and the top two buttons of her collar, which she always buttoned meticulously, were now undone, revealing a section of her swan-like, slender neck.

Her gaze fell on the hand-drawn calendar on the bedside table, her slender fingertips lingering on a circled date for three seconds.

Tomorrow is my ovulation period.

As a top-notch doctor who could accurately dissect heart valves even after working continuously for twenty hours in his previous life, calculating these physiological data had become almost instinctive.

Gu Zheng's suicide note before he left, and his madness that night, were like a thorn stuck in Ye Zhen's absolutely rational logic.

"Luckily, that day was a safe period."

She murmured to herself, her voice so soft that only she could hear it. Her fingertips withdrew from the calendar, unconsciously curling up, her nails pressing against her palm.

A stack of medical records lay open on the desk, the top one labeled "Alice" in German on its title page. Ye Zhen's gaze passed over the bed and landed on that name. She remembered the little German girl lying in Charité Hospital in Berlin, waiting for a nickel-titanium alloy stent to save her life, and she also remembered the parents of sick children outside the "Heart of China" Foundation, clutching stacks of small bills soaked with sweat, their eyes filled with despair and hope.

Getting pregnant now is tantamount to scattering sharp nails on the runway of your career takeoff.

The Huaxia Heart project has only just begun, yet the initial list of children diagnosed nationwide already fills a notebook. Siemens equipment has just arrived, and she is waiting to train the first batch of radiologists to operate it proficiently; thousands of children are queuing up, waiting for her to pull them back from the brink of death.

Now, she is the helmsman of the great ship "Heart of China".

If she becomes pregnant at this time, it means that for at least a year and a half, she will not be able to go into the catheterization lab or undergo sophisticated cardiac interventional surgery under X-ray.

For the thousands of children lining up on the brink of death, this year and a half was the difference between life and death.

The door creaked open.

Gu Zheng, still steaming from his recent shower, burst in, his short, wet hair giving him a wild look. He strode over, spread his arms, and pulled the slender figure into his embrace from behind. That body, still carrying the smell of gunpowder and blood, now only exuded a clean, soapy fragrance and burned with body heat, ruthlessly dragging Ye Zhen away from the cold numbers and heavy responsibilities.

"Wife, what's the big deal? Your face is practically glued to the calendar."

Gu Zheng rested his chin on Ye Zhen's slender shoulder, his warm breath brushing against her neck, sending a shiver down her spine. His chest pressed against her back, as solid as a wall, isolating her from all the outside world's disturbances and creating a world from which she could not escape.

Ye Zhen closed the calendar; the soft clatter of the pages closing sounded like a sigh. Her voice was steady, devoid of any emotion: "Fortune telling."

"Whose fate are you predicting?" Gu Zheng laughed in a completely irreverent manner, his voice hoarse from a recent shower, brushing against her earlobe in a low tone.

"Gu Zheng, I have something to tell you." Ye Zhen didn't lean into his arms as usual, but gently patted the back of his hand, signaling him to let go.

Her voice was quiet, carrying the solemnity one would only hear on an operating table.

Gu Zheng keenly sensed that something was amiss. He dropped his playful grin, pulled up a chair to sit opposite her, and took her slightly cool fingertips in his large hand: "What's wrong? Did someone at the hospital upset you? Or is that Zhao Degong causing trouble again?"

"Neither." Ye Zhen shook her head, then took a small blue and white cardboard box from the drawer and gently pushed it in front of Gu Zheng.

Those were rubber sleeves issued by the family planning office.

The small blue and white cardboard box was placed boldly on the table, with the words "Honorable Family Planning" printed in red on the side, which stood out conspicuously under the dim yellow table lamp.

"Honey, what does this mean?" Gu Zheng pointed at the box, his voice a little muffled. "We've only been married a short time. Are we already talking about family planning?"

"Gu Zheng, we need to take precautions against contraception in the next year or two," Ye Zhen interrupted his reverie, her eyes clear and firm.

The heat on Gu Zheng's face instantly subsided, his brows furrowing into a deep frown. He looked at the small box, then at Ye Zhen, his voice filled with undisguised disappointment and confusion: "Wife, I want a child of ours. And, about Grandma..."

"I know Grandma wants to hold her great-grandchild, and I know you like children."

Ye Zhen stood up, picked up the list of sick children from the table, which was wrinkled from sweaty hands, and handed it to Gu Zheng.

"Take a look at this. This is the list of critically ill patients identified this week. The youngest is one year old, and the oldest is only seven or eight. They are all waiting, waiting for that life-saving surgery."

Gu Zheng glanced at her suspiciously, then picked up the paper with his large hand.

It wasn't some complicated medical report; it was just a handwritten list. The handwriting was neat and elegant, as was Ye Zhen's usual style, but the content on it was so heavy it was suffocating.

"Li Xiaoya, 3 years old, Tetralogy of Fallot, frequent hypoxia attacks, located in the mountainous area of ​​Zhangjiakou."

"Wang Tiezhu, 5 years old, ventricular septal defect with severe pulmonary hypertension, located in rural Baoding."

"Liu Dezhi, 8 months old, transposition of the aorta, three critical condition notices have been issued..."

The writing filled two entire pages. Behind each name were the age, the illness, and the date that could be the end of their life at any moment.

Gu Zheng's fingers were rough, his fingertips covered in calluses from years of handling guns. He held the thin piece of paper, feeling a burning sensation in his palms. Just looking at those names, he could imagine the broken families behind them, and the desperate eyes of those parents.

"These children are all in line."

Ye Zhen's voice was soft, carrying a calmness born of exhaustion. She walked to Gu Zheng's side, her fingertips tracing the list.

"The Siemens machine just arrived; it's currently the only equipment in our country capable of performing cardiac interventional surgery. Interventional treatments are performed under X-ray. I was standing right next to the radiation source, being exposed to the radiation."

She stretched out her long, slender, fair hands and waved them under the light.

"That thing kills sperm and eggs, it's devastating to the embryo. Once I get pregnant, in order to prevent the child from being deformed, I have to get off the operating table immediately and stay far away from that machine. Once I'm off, it'll be at least a year and a half."

Gu Zheng opened his mouth, about to say "Then let someone else do it," but swallowed the words back.

He recalled the time in Wild Wolf Valley when a young soldier named Erhu broke his leg. It was Ye Zhen who rushed over and worked under a microscope for several hours to save it. He knew the current state of medical care in China.

Ye Zhen stared into his eyes, which were frighteningly clear: "Among interventional doctors in China, I'm number zero. If I retire, will half of the one or two hundred children on the waiting list still be alive by this time next year?"

Gu Zheng fell silent.

He is a soldier, and protecting his country is his duty.

Meanwhile, his wife was using a scalpel to fight against death on another front.

The room fell into a deathly silence.

After a long while, Gu Zheng let out a long sigh. He neatly folded the list, put it back on the table, then picked up the small blue and white box and gave a bitter smile.

"I really didn't expect that after marrying a wife, I would have to compete with the country for her."

He looked up, most of the grievance in his eyes dissipating, replaced by a deep tenderness and helplessness. He reached out and pulled Ye Zhen to sit on his lap, but without a trace of romantic intent, he simply held her close.

"Honey, you've given me a political lesson," Gu Zheng said in a muffled voice, burying his face in her stomach. "Fine, I, Gu Zheng, am not that ignorant. This child... let's not have it for now."

Ye Zhen's heart softened. She ran her fingers through his stubble-like short hair and gently massaged it: "Have you been wronged?"

"I truly feel wronged. I dream of having a daughter like you." Gu Zheng raised his head, his eyes slightly red, but he forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. "But you're right. You're a great doctor, your hands are for saving lives. If I were to let you put down your scalpel and go home to have children for my own selfish reasons, not only would the parents of those children not be able to live with themselves, but I myself wouldn't be able to get past that either."

He picked up the small box, tossed it around in his hand a couple of times, as if he had accepted a difficult task.

"Alright, from today onwards, this will be my 'battle discipline.' We will respond to the national call to delay marriage and childbirth, and promote healthy births and upbringing."

Looking at his feigned ease, Ye Zhen felt a surge of warmth in her heart. She knew how much courage and understanding it took for Gu Zheng, the only son in his family, to make this decision in an era where the concept of "many children, many blessings" was deeply ingrained.

"Once the first batch of trainees graduate, once someone can take over my job," Ye Zhen said, cupping his angular face in her hands. "I'll personally give you a 'birth certificate' then."

"You said it yourself, there's no joking in the military." Gu Zheng's eyes lit up, then he regained his cheeky attitude. "If I don't make you have a whole football team of kids by then, I'm not Gu."

"Okay, I'll do as you say."

That night, no fierce battles or dramatic clashes took place.

Gu Zheng turned off the light, and the two lay side by side on the not-so-spacious double bed. He stretched out his strong arm for Ye Zhen to rest her head on, and gently placed his other hand on her waist, a protective gesture.

The cold wind howled outside the window, but the room was warm as spring.

Gu Zheng listened to the even, long breaths of the person in his arms, his eyes open in the darkness, a helpless yet doting smile curving his lips.

For the sake of those children he had never met, and for his wife's grand dream of building a strong medical nation, he had to compromise.

However, having such a wife who cares about the world is worth it.