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

Sun Dechang propped himself up in bed, staring at the Zhou couple, his chest still heaving violently.

Do you know why I'm here?

Li Shufen was so frightened that her lips trembled and her head shook incessantly.

Zhou Guoan's face turned pale instantly, and he shook his head in bewilderment.

"I'll tell you."

Sun Dechang pointed to his left chest, his voice low and deep.

"My heart started acting up at the end of last year. It was dull and painful, I couldn't breathe properly, and I had to stop after walking just a few steps."

"I've been to Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Xuanwu Hospital. I've had a ton of X-rays taken and taken handfuls of medication. The doctors there have all been honest with me, saying that my condition is complicated and that conservative treatment would just mean waiting to die. If I want to live, I need to have bypass surgery."

"But there are very few people in Beijing who dare to have this bypass surgery."

"I've been queuing here for three days."

Zhou Guoan swallowed hard; his throat was so dry it felt like it was on fire.

"Queue, queue for what?"

"Please register for the number of that scammer you're talking about."

Li Shufen's ears were ringing, her legs went limp, and she nearly slid off the folding chair and onto the floor.

"I won't go to the provincial capital, I won't go to the capital, I'll just shamelessly wait for her here."

Sun Dechang's voice became louder again.

"Because the best doctor in all of China who can perform this surgery is Dr. Ye Zhen."

"You're telling me she's a fraud? You're telling me she's a liar who disregards human life?"

"You don't even know who they are, yet you dare to come here and spout nonsense at length. Where's your shame?"

Li Shufen's face was now completely white.

There wasn't a trace of color left on her lips, and her hands were gripping her knees, her nails digging straight into her flesh.

Zhou Guoan was so startled that he shrank back, his back hitting the back of the folding chair, the chair legs scraping against the terrazzo floor with a screeching sound.

"Chief, we, we really don't know!"

Zhou Guoan's voice was dry, like he was chewing sand, and his tongue was tied in knots in his mouth.

"have no idea?"

Sun Dechang sneered, his eyes glaring at him.

"You dare to spew nonsense without even knowing anything? Your son is fortunate enough to learn real skills from Doctor Ye Zhen; that's a blessing your Zhou family has accumulated over eight lifetimes. And you dare to criticize her as just a young girl?"

Just as he finished speaking, Sun Dechang suddenly groaned and clutched his chest.

A crisp clang rang out.

The secretary slammed the thermos flask on the table, rushed to the bedside, supported the director's back with one hand, and reached for the small medicine bottle on the bedside table with the other.

"Director, please don't get agitated. The medicine, the medicine is here."

Sun Dechang pushed away his secretary's hand, his fingers trembling as he poured out a small white pill and placed it under his tongue.

He closed his eyes and gasped for breath for more than ten seconds before his breathing finally became smooth.

The secretary took the opportunity to turn her head, her eyes wide open.

"Are you all still standing here like wooden stakes?"

The secretary spoke in a low voice, her words squeezed out between her teeth.

"The bureau chief's heart bypass surgery is scheduled for the next two days, and Dr. Ye Zhen will be the surgeon. If you continue to cause trouble here and make things worse for the bureau chief, will you compensate with your entire family's life?"

Li Shufen was so frightened that she trembled and jumped up from the folding chair.

"Let's go, let's go now."

In a panic, she grabbed Zhou Guoan's arm, and in her haste, her shoulder slammed hard against the corner of the bedside table.

She slid the old plastic bag containing apples and malted milk powder off the counter with a flick of her elbow.

The crease at the bottom of the plastic bag, which had been washed several times, suddenly burst open.

Four bright red apples rolled out of the hole, first hitting the floor tiles one after another, then rolling towards the ward door, bouncing twice after crossing the threshold, and rolling all the way into the corridor.

Li Shufen no longer cared about the good apples; she grabbed Zhou Guoan and fled outside.

The two stumbled out of the ward, and Zhou Guoan even tripped on the threshold and almost fell to the ground.

The secretary, her face ashen, followed him to the door, grabbed the doorknob, and slammed the door shut with a bang.

Before closing the door, he didn't forget to throw out a harsh remark.

"If you want to try to curry favor by visiting someone in the hospital, take a piss and see how much you're worth first."

The dull thud of doors slamming echoed down the corridor.

"Old man, it's over."

"If the director holds a grudge about what happened today, how am I supposed to live in the Light Industry Bureau from now on?"

Zhou Guoan remained silent, his face ashen. His lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word.

He lowered his head in despair and saw two red apples with broken skin lying alone on the terrazzo floor of the corridor.

It was bright red.

He sighed and resignedly bent down to pick it up.

But just as his knees bent, the tendons in his waist, which had been stretched for too long due to excessive tension, suddenly became unresponsive.

A sharp, tingling sensation shot up my tailbone to the back of my head.

He gasped, grimaced, stuck out his buttocks, supported himself on his thigh with one hand, and reached shakily for the apple that had rolled to the base of the wall with the other.

My fingertip just touched a bit of the apple peel.

From the corner of the corridor, a series of very regular footsteps could be heard clearly.

That was definitely not the work of just one or two people.

The alternating steps of rubber soles and leather soles on the terrazzo surface were crisp and rhythmic, conveying a sense of disciplined authority.

Zhou Guoan, still in that comical pose with his butt sticking out, stiffly and slowly turned his head.

Around the corner of the corridor, a dazzling expanse of white suddenly appeared.

The young man at the very front of the group was wearing black-rimmed glasses.

Zhou Guoan saw that face clearly.

It's Zhou Ming.

At the same time, Zhou Ming also saw the person in front of him clearly.

His steps stopped in the middle of the corridor, and the dozens of people behind him seemed to have been paused, standing still in perfect unison.

Zhou Ming's gaze swept over his father's comical back as he bent over to pick up something, then moved to the red apple that had rolled to the ground, then over his mother's disheveled appearance, and finally landed on his father's hand that was frozen in mid-air.

"dad?"

The call reached Zhou Guoan's ears.

Zhou Guoan's back is completely injured this time.

The suppressed tingling numbness instantly turned into excruciating pain. He screamed in agony and his body slumped to the side.

He landed hard on his bottom and fell to the ground.

The apple that her fingers had just grasped slipped from her grasp and rolled away, all the way to the front of the line of people in white coats, right at the feet of one of them.

The man was wearing a pristine white lab coat, with a slender and thin frame, straight shoulders, and a cold aura.

She lowered her head and casually glanced at the rotten apple at her feet.

Then, she raised her eyes, her gaze calmly sweeping over the ridiculous scene in the corridor.

Ye Zhen's gaze lingered on this farce for less than two seconds.

She slightly raised her eyelids, took a long stride, and stepped directly over the rotten apple blocking her way.

Without even giving him a second glance, he went straight to Sun Dechang's ward, raised his hand, and pushed open the door.

Then, dozens of young medical students in white coats followed her and filed past Zhou Guoan.

One, two, three. Twenty.

Every young person who passed by glanced at the ground unconsciously, their gaze shifting subtly between Zhou Guoan and the rotten apple before quickly looking away and continuing on their way.

No one stopped.

Not a single person uttered a single question.

Zhou Ming stood frozen in place, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down twice with difficulty, his fists clenched at his sides, then relaxed weakly after a moment.

He bent down, picked up the apple that was lying at his feet, walked up to Zhou Guoan, and reached out his hand.

"Dad, get up."

Zhou Guoan stared blankly at the hand his son was offering.

There were still paint splatters on the back of my hands from yesterday's painting of the bungalow, and a thin callus had formed on my palm.

He grabbed his son's hand and was pulled up.

His lower back was throbbing with pain, but right now, he only felt a burning pain on his face.

Zhou Ming shoved the broken apple into his father's arms, his voice low.

"Please sit in the corridor and rest for a while, and don't wander around."

After saying that, he didn't look at his parents again, resolutely turned around, and quickly caught up with the line that had already entered the ward.

The long corridor suddenly became empty.

Only Zhou Guoan and Li Shufen, looking dejected, remained.

"Old man."

Her voice was so faint it seemed to dissipate in the wind.

"Wasn't that the female doctor who led our Mingming on rounds just now?"

Zhou Guoan slumped against the cold wall of the corridor, closed his eyes in pain, and banged his head against the wall again and again.

"At this point, is there even a need to ask?"