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

Uncle Zhao's hand tractor was waiting by the dirt road, with two layers of straw in the bed and an old, patched cotton quilt on top.

Accountant Li shone his flashlight toward the town and said in a low voice, "Teacher Ye, we can't go past the health center. It's brightly lit there tonight, like it's New Year's. People from the county are here, and the town officials are all here too."

Uncle Zhao, sitting on the tractor with a half-smoked cigarette dangling from his mouth, turned his head and chimed in, "That's right. Those dilapidated rooms at the Baishi Town Health Center usually look like grave mounds after dark, but tonight they're all lit up with kerosene lamps, and even Deputy Mayor Ma went there."

Ye Zhen handed the wooden box to Liu Xiaolan and then climbed up the cart while holding onto the edge of the cargo bed: "Uncle Zhao, how long will it take to take the detour?"

Uncle Zhao took the cigarette out of his mouth and chuckled, "Going around Old Locust Tree Gully will take an extra half hour, but it's safer. Only people who bring mountain goods know that road. Those guys from the health center who wear leather shoes can't get there."

Gao Haiping climbed onto the truck bed by stepping on the wheels, and didn't forget to say, "Third Uncle, talk more along the way. What we people from Beicheng need most is a living map like you."

When Uncle Zhao heard that someone was willing to listen to him, he perked up: "Then you've come to the right person. Don't underestimate me just because I'm a tractor driver. I know exactly which family in Baishi Town has lost a cow, or which daughter-in-law is arguing with her mother-in-law."

Li Hong, holding her military satchel, sat down next to Ye Zhen and reminded her, "Uncle Zhao, let's get down to business, stop gossiping."

Uncle Zhao started the tractor, the sputtering sound drowning out the night wind: "We also have important business to attend to. We're going door-to-door in each village to inform everyone that if any outsiders ask if the children have had a physical exam, they should all say they have."

Liu Xiaolan hugged the wooden box tightly, her face pale: "They really said that."

Uncle Zhao shouted back, "How could this be false? The old Party Secretary of Qianling Village rode in my car this afternoon. He said the county has announced that if any child isn't on the register, their name will be added first. Anyone who talks nonsense will be out of luck when it comes to next year's relief grain."

Ye Zhen didn't interrupt, but took the medical record folder out of her bag and wrote a few lines on the inside of the cover by the light of a flashlight.

Gao Haiping leaned over and glanced at it: "Notify everyone to use the same information, copy the records again, and put pressure on us with relief grain. Xiao Ye, you made the right decision to come this time."

Accountant Li sat at the back of the truck bed, clutching a flashlight, and lowered his voice even further: "Teacher Ye, if I may ask, you'll stay at my place tonight. Where are you going tomorrow?"

Ye Zhen closed her medical record folder: "I'm not going to the town's health center."

Li Hong hurriedly asked, "Where are we going?"

Ye Zhen looked at the dark, looming mountain ridge: "Shi'ao Village."

Gao Haiping nodded: "The more remote the better. Places that can be reached in town have already been cleaned up."

When Accountant Li heard about Shiao Village, he looked troubled: "That place is really hard to get to. It has stone roads, deep mountain valleys, and the villagers are stubborn. If outsiders come in and ask the children, they might not even pay attention."

Ye Zhen turned off the flashlight, and the truck bed darkened, with only the yellow light from the tractor's engine illuminating the dirt road: "So we have to go in before they've been taught how to answer."

The next morning, as the steam from the sweet potato porridge was rising from Li Hong's kitchen, Gao Haiping spread the map out on the dining table.

Li Hong's mother brought over a plate of pickled radishes and asked cautiously, "Teacher Ye, are you really going straight into Shi'ao Village?"

Ye Zhen put down her bowl: "Auntie, do you know where Shi'ao Village Primary School is?"

Li's mother thought for a moment and said, "There is a substitute teacher surnamed Zheng, named Zheng Mei. She is in her twenties, has a junior high school education, and all the children in the village are under her care."

Li Hong immediately said, "I know Sister Zheng Mei. She used to teach my cousin. She's a good person, but she's very straightforward."

Ye Zhen looked at Li Hong: "Our first stop is her."

Liu Xiaolan shortened the strap of the blood collection box: "Dr. Ye, shouldn't we talk to the village officials first?"

Ye Zhen put the pickled radish into the bowl: "The village officials will first ask us where we are from, who sent us, and whether we have a letter of introduction. After asking these questions, they will decide what to show us."

Gao Haiping chimed in: "The teacher has a record of missed classes. She knows who fainted during morning exercises, who took a year of sick leave, and who gets short of breath in winter. She's more honest than the original record."

Accountant Li nodded repeatedly: "That's right. Village officials care about their image, and teachers see the children every day, so it can't be hidden."

Just after Chen Shi (7-9 AM), a group of people walked along the mountain path into Shi'ao Village.

The first house had mud-brick walls, and a tattered mat hung on the gate. Li Hong stepped forward, knocked on the door, and called out in the local dialect, "Auntie, we've come to listen to the child's heart, we don't charge you."

The door opened a crack, revealing an elderly woman with gray hair.

The old woman looked at them warily: "They're trying to scam you again. Someone else said it was free, and after hearing that, they told you to go to the county to get a machine installed, and that one installation would be worth half a bag of grain."

Li Hong quickly explained, "It's really free. This is Teacher Ye from Beicheng, who specializes in saving children."

The old lady pulled the door panel inside: "My child is fine, he won't listen."

Liu Xiaolan was anxious to step forward, but Ye Zhen stopped her by raising her hand.

Ye Zhen said to Li Hong, "Don't chase her, the more you chase her, the more scared she will become."

Gao Haiping sighed: "Once trust is lost at the grassroots level, it's hard to regain it."

Li Hong bit her lip: "Teacher Ye, I'll take you to the primary school."

Shiao Village Primary School consists of only two mud houses with old newspapers pasted on the windows. A crooked wooden pole stands in the yard with a faded red cloth tied to it.

Zheng Mei was reading a text to a dozen children inside when she heard Li Hong call her. She put down the chalk and came out.

Upon seeing Ye Zhen and her group, Zheng Mei first shooed the children into the house, asking, "What do you want from me?"

Li Hong tugged at her sleeve: "Sister Zheng Mei, we'd like to know more about the child's situation."

Zheng Mei looked at Ye Zhen, then at the wooden box Liu Xiaolan was carrying: "What do you want to know?"

Ye Zhen took out a letter of introduction from her bag, only showing her the official seal: "Understand the child's cardiopulmonary condition, especially children who are out of breath after running a few steps, have purple lips, cannot get up after squatting, are poorly fed, and are prone to fainting."

Zheng Mei's expression changed: "I really do have what you're talking about."

Gao Haiping immediately asked, "Is there a record?"

Zheng Mei turned and went into the room, pulling out a tattered notebook of missed classes from under the teacher's desk: "Can this be used?"

Ye Zhen took the absence book, turned to the most recent page, and wrote in pencil that Xiaoman had fainted during morning exercises and was requesting three days of leave.

Ye Zhen's finger stopped on that name: "Take us to his house."

Zheng Mei hesitated for a moment: "His father has a bad temper and always says that Xiaoman is lazy. Even if you go, he might not let you see her."

Ye Zhen closed the absence book and handed it back to her: "Where is the child?"

Xiaoman's house was at the end of the village. There was firewood piled up in the yard, and a thin little boy was squatting by the threshold peeling corn. His face was pale and his lips were dark purple.

A dark-skinned, thin man carrying a hoe returned from the bottom of the slope. Upon seeing the group of strangers, his face darkened: "Teacher Zheng, what are you doing bringing people to my house?"

Zheng Mei forced a smile and said, "Xiaoman's father, we're here to let the child listen to his heart."

The man shoveled his hoe against the wall: "What are you listening to? He's just lazy. I told him to go gather firewood in the field, but he squatted down after a few steps. He's not even as good as his sister, a half-grown boy."

Xiaoman lowered her head and shoveled corn kernels into the broken winnowing basket. Her fingers were thin and round, and her fingertips were more bulging than those of ordinary children.

Ye Zhen squatted down in front of the child and asked softly, "Xiaoman, will you be out of breath after walking a few steps?"

Xiaoman glanced at her father secretly and whispered, "Don't pant."

The man immediately retorted, "Did you hear that? He himself said he wasn't even panting."

Ye Zhen didn't look at the man, but held the stethoscope in her palm and said to the child, "Let me listen. If it doesn't hurt, I won't charge you."

Xiaoman's mother peeked out from the kitchen doorway and said timidly, "Let the doctor listen to my baby's ears; he keeps tossing and turning in his sleep at night."

The man glared at her: "What do you know?"

Ye Zhen placed the stethoscope on the left edge of Xiaoman's sternum, listened for more than ten seconds, and then changed positions twice.

Gao Haiping, who was standing nearby, listened for a moment and his expression darkened: "There's a lot of background noise."

The man said irritably, "What kind of noise is this? I can't understand it."

Ye Zhen looked up at him: "Your son isn't lazy, he has a mental illness. He doesn't get enough blood into his lungs, so he's short of oxygen when he walks, which is why he squats."

The man scoffed, "There's no such disease. When I was a kid, I would squat down when I got tired from working in the fields."

Ye Zhen stood up and pointed to the edge of the yard: "Xiaoman, walk from the gate to the woodpile, walk slowly, and stop when you get tired."

Xiaoman glanced at her mother, hesitated, and stood up.

He took ten steps, his breathing became rapid, and by the twentieth step, his lips were a deeper color. He then squatted down, supporting himself on his knees with both hands.

Ye Zhen said to the man, "Touch his hand."

The man reluctantly reached out and touched the child's fingertips, his expression changing: "Why are they so cold?"