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

It was a little past ten o'clock at night.

The lights on the third floor of the Ministry of Health office building were still on.

Vice Minister Li was clutching a military green enamel mug in his hand. The lid wasn't on properly, and tea had spilled onto half of his sleeve, but he didn't notice.

The call was from Director Fang of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The overseas line was very noisy with a lot of static, and the conversation lasted for twenty minutes, with interruptions.

But he heard every single word clearly.

The US motion was repealed.

Andrei made a transoceanic phone call to provide assurances.

The Royal College of Surgeons chartered a plane to fly to the north of the city.

Dr. Mahler decided to personally travel to the North City to present the founding committee appointment letters.

The WHO summit endorsed it, and it was passed unanimously.

Vice Minister Li placed the teacup on the table, but it didn't stay on. The bottom of the cup hit the edge of the table and slid down, bouncing twice on the terrazzo floor. The lid flew off, spilling tea leaves and hot water all over the floor.

He didn't pick it up.

When the secretary pushed the door open, he was resting his hands on the table, his shoulders shaking.

"Vice Minister, are you alright?"

"fine."

Vice Minister Li looked up, his eyes red-rimmed. He rubbed his face twice, until his cheeks were flushed.

"Xiao Liu, pick up Gu Zheng from his house."

The phone rang four or five times before Gu Zheng's bodyguard, Xiao Wang, answered. Xiao Wang's voice was clear and alert.

"Hello, Vice Minister Li! The Commander and Dr. Ye are both at the hospital. Dr. Ye is giving a training session to the intern tonight, and the Commander went to pick her up. She probably won't be back until eleven o'clock."

Vice Minister Li was stunned for a moment.

The world's leading cardiac surgeons were in an uproar over her surgery; a silent battle had just been fought at the Geneva ballot table; and she herself was teaching interns late at night in the hospital.

He hung up the phone.

"Xiao Liu, connect me to the duty room of the North City Military Region General Hospital."

On the other end of the duty room was a young soldier with a crisp voice.

"Duty Room of Beicheng Military Region General Hospital"

"I am Vice Minister Li from the Ministry of Health. Please help me find Dr. Ye Zhen."

The young soldier jumped to his feet, the chair leg scraping against the concrete floor.

"Vice Minister Li! Dr. Ye is in the demonstration room on the second floor of the teaching building right now. I'll send someone to fetch him immediately!"

"Go ahead, I'll be waiting."

The demonstration room is located on the second floor of the teaching building.

The lights were blindingly white, and the fluorescent tubes occasionally crackled.

Six folding tables were arranged in a row, with sponge models and needle holders placed on them.

Ye Zhen stood beside the third table, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, holding a 4-0 thread in her hand, demonstrating to an intern whose hands were trembling like leaves.

"Watch closely. Insert the needle at a 90-degree angle, and when you pull the needle out, rotate your wrist inward by 30 degrees. It's not your whole arm that's moving, just these three fingers."

She stitched three times on the sponge, the stitches arranged as neatly as if measured with a ruler.

The intern's eyes widened.

"Teacher Ye, could I reach your speed in ten years?"

"If you can't reach that level after ten years of training, it means you're not suited for this profession."

Ye Zhen handed the needle holder back to her.

"Let's go again. This time I'll only look at where you're applying force with your right hand."

Hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor. The soldier on duty jogged over, stood at attention at the door, and took a breath.

"Dr. Ye, Vice Minister Li from the Ministry of Health called urgently. He's waiting for you in the duty room on the first floor."

Ye Zhen placed the silk thread in her hand on the table.

"Keep practicing. I'm going to take this call, I'll check back when I get back."

She left the classroom, walking at a moderate pace, along the corridor for more than twenty meters, then went down one floor of stairs and entered the duty room.

The microphone was placed on the table.

She picked it up.

"Vice Minister Li."

The voice on the other end of the phone was filled with barely suppressed excitement, and it was also very nasal.

"Xiao Ye! Great news! Director Fang just sent back from Geneva."

"The Americans' motion has been overturned, Andrei testified for you, and the British chartered a plane to fly to the north of the city."

He took a breath.

"And also—Dr. Maheler will personally come to North City to present you with your appointment letter; the WHO unanimously approved the summit's official endorsement!"

After listening, Ye Zhen fell silent for a moment.

Something else was on her mind—the intern had used the wrong position on the second knuckle of his right hand, and she needed to correct that when they got back.

"Understood, Vice Minister Li."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"That's...that's it?"

"Just prepare the summit however you see fit."

Ye Zhen switched hands to hold the microphone.

"Vice Minister, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"you say."

"A large number of international experts will be coming to Beicheng during the summit, which will put a lot of pressure on security. I have already spoken to Gu Zheng about it. Unit 761 will take over the defense of the main hospital, but there may not be enough people for traffic control and foreign affairs reception."

The excitement on the other end of the phone turned into seriousness.

"Don't worry, I'll coordinate all of this. I'll hold a coordination meeting with the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs first thing tomorrow morning, and we'll provide as many people as needed."

"it is good."

Ye Zhen hung up the phone.

The soldier on duty sat in the corner and couldn't help but glance at her a few more times—what was Dr. Ye's expression before answering the phone, and what was her expression after hanging up?

The same.

She turned and left the duty room, went upstairs, and walked back to the demonstration room the same way.

Push the door open and go inside.

The interns were engrossed in their practice when they heard the noise and all looked up.

Ye Zhen walked straight up to the intern from before.

"Hold it up so I can see it."

The intern cautiously lifted the sponge model.

Ye Zhen took it and looked at it closely.

"The second stitch exit point is half a millimeter too high. Remove it and start over."

The intern went to have the stitches removed with a pained expression.

Another intern leaned over and whispered, "Teacher Ye, was that phone call something particularly important?"

Ye Zhen picked up another sponge model and squeezed its elasticity.

"There is nothing more important than you learning to tie a proper surgical knot."

She placed the model in front of the intern.

"Come on, you practice too."

The lights in the demonstration room were white and steady, and the northern city outside the window had already sunk into the quiet of the night.

The interns were engrossed in their practice. Ye Zhen walked back and forth between the tables, correcting their hand postures one by one.

His steps were neither hurried nor slow, and his white coat swayed at his sides.

It was no different from any other ordinary evening.

Around 11 o'clock, Gu Zheng appeared at the door of the demonstration room.

He wore a military overcoat, collar open. One arm was resting against the doorframe, the other crossed over his chest.

Ye Zhen looked up at him.

"Are you here to pick me up?"

"Let's see when you remember you need to sleep."

The interns all stood up at attention.

Gu Zheng waved his hand.

"Sit down, sit down. If your teacher Ye doesn't leave, I'll just carry him away."

Ye Zhen put down the thread cutters in her hand.

"That's all for today. We'll continue tomorrow at 2 PM. Take the sponge model back with you, and everyone will practice 300 stitches."

"three hundred?"

"Not enough? Five hundred."

The interns quickly retreated, clutching the models.

The corridor quieted down, with only the hum of the overhead fluorescent lights remaining.

Gu Zheng walked in, grabbed Ye Zhen's coat draped over the back of the chair, shook it open, and draped it over her from behind. His large hand went down the collar and buttoned it up one by one, making sure not to miss the top button.

"Have you heard about what happened in Geneva?"

"I've heard about it."

"What was the reaction?"

"understood."

Gu Zheng lowered his head and chuckled.

He bent down and whispered in Ye Zhen's ear, his breath brushing against her earlobe.

"The whole world is applauding you, and all you say is three words—'I know.' Comrade Ye Zhen, is that the only three words you'll ever say in your life?"

Ye Zhen raised her hand and pushed his head away.

"I can say three more words."

Which three?

"Go back to sleep."

Gu Zheng straightened up, a smile playing on his lips.

He grabbed Ye Zhen's hand and stuffed it into his coat pocket. Inside was a military water bottle filled with scalding hot water.

"Let's go home."

The sound of two people's footsteps echoed one after the other in the empty corridor, from the second floor to the first floor, and from the stairwell to the courtyard.

The night wind in the northern part of the city is a bit cold.

Ye Zhen's hands were warmed by him in his pocket, her fingertips touching the water bottle.

She didn't pull her hand away.