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

Cao Qing ran out of Shiao Village covered in dust and dirt, and no one in the courtyard chased after him.

Xiaoman's father was still blocking the doorway, his chest heaving. When he turned to look at Ye Zhen, the fierce look on his face had disappeared.

"Doctor, if we go to the county hospital to get checked for my child's illness, is it really free?"

Xiaoman's mother stood beside her, holding her child's coat, her hands still covered in soot from the stove. Her lips trembled as she added a sentence.

"My family really can't afford it. We only have two chickens, and we still have to pay the grain tax next month. If we have to spend money on the machine, we..."

Ye Zhen closed the notebook, handed it to Liu Xiaolan, and turned to look at the couple.

"The child needs surgery, and the surgery is free. You only have one thing to do now: pack your things in the next couple of days, and I will arrange for someone to take you with me when I leave."

Xiaoman's father rubbed his hands together for a long time before finally managing to squeeze out a sentence.

"Free? That's great, doctor. I used to scold him because I thought he was slacking off. I really didn't know..."

Ye Zhen glanced at Xiao Man and kept her tone steady.

"Now that you know, don't make him work anymore. Let him rest. Pay attention to the color of his lips when he sleeps at night. If they turn purple or worsen, go see Teacher Zheng or the village's barefoot doctor immediately."

Xiaoman's mother nodded hurriedly.

"I remember, I remember everything."

Liu Xiaolan opened the notebook and carefully filled in the missing information.

"Dr. Ye, Xiaoman is marked in red, activity restrictions, family education, I've noted it down."

Ye Zhen nodded and turned to look at Granny Wang.

"Grandma, where does the second child in the account book, Huaihua, live?"

Granny Wang rewrapped the oilcloth account book, put it back in her bosom, and pointed up the hillside.

"On the hillside, in the stilted house, there's a crooked pear tree in front of the door."

Li Hong looked somewhat embarrassed after hearing this.

"Teacher Ye, Huaihua's grandma is hard to talk to. She always complains that anyone who comes to her house brings bad luck. When the village was getting vaccinated against smallpox, she bolted the door for ages."

Gao Haiping frowned.

Where are the child's parents?

Zheng Mei took over the conversation.

"Her parents work away from home year-round repairing irrigation ditches, leaving her grandmother to take care of her at home."

Ye Zhen put the stethoscope back around her neck.

"Walk."

Li Hong quickly chased after him.

"Teacher Ye, we just offended Cao Qing. He's probably gone back to town to report us. What if people from town come to ambush us again?"

Ye Zhen didn't stop walking.

"He's trying to create a fake registry, but we're looking for the real child. Whoever finds the child first will have the evidence."

Gao Haiping followed behind, carrying a canvas bag. He took a couple of breaths and then chuckled.

"Xiao Ye, you're right. Medicine is based on evidence, and so is grassroots screening."

Liu Xiaolan carefully carried the wooden box, and upon hearing this, she pressed the notebook closer to her chest.

"Then I'll protect the notebook well, and no one can take it."

Zheng Mei led the way, offering reminders as they walked.

"These stone steps are slippery; there's moss on the right, so step on the left."

The stilted houses on the hillside stand on the slope, their wooden walls blackened by rainwater. Sure enough, there is a crooked pear tree at the entrance, with half a basket of dried sweet potatoes drying under it.

Li Hong went up and knocked on the door, calling out a few words in her local dialect.

"Grandma Huaihua, it's me, Li Hong. I brought a doctor from Beicheng to listen to Huaihua's chest. It's free, and we won't take anything from you."

At first, no one answered from inside the house. After a while, the old man's hoarse voice came from behind the door.

"Go, go, the baby's asleep, don't disturb him."

Li Hong placed her hand on the door panel and spoke patiently.

"Grandma, I can hear it even when I'm asleep. It doesn't hurt. I can tell if there's anything wrong with the baby's heart just by listening."

"You people all say it doesn't hurt, but then you make me go to the county to get a machine. I don't even know which way the door to the county faces, and I don't have any money."

Gao Haiping stood at the bottom of the steps and softened his tone.

"Grandpa, let's not talk about going to the county yet. Let's listen to the children first, and then we'll talk."

The old man inside immediately retorted.

"You're from big cities, you're all smooth talkers, but I won't listen to you."

Liu Xiaolan looked anxiously at Ye Zhen.

"Dr. Ye, should I tell her we have a letter of introduction?"

Ye Zhen shook her head, walked to the door, but did not push it open.

"Grandma, I won't go inside. I'll just listen from the doorway and then I'll leave."

The room was quiet for a while.

The old man asked through the door, "You really aren't coming in?"

Ye Zhen replied, "I won't go in."

"You don't even hold the baby."

"No hugging."

"After you hear this, you won't force me to go to the county."

Ye Zhen paused for a moment.

"If the child is alright, I'll leave after listening. If the child is in trouble, I'll make things clear. Whether or not to go to the county is up to you, the adults."

Li Hong hurriedly explained it again in the local dialect.

The bolt inside was slowly pulled open, and the door panel was only slightly ajar.

A little girl of about five years old lay on a bamboo bed near the door. Her face was so small it was no bigger than the palm of a hand. Her hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat, and her breathing was shallow and rapid in her sleep.

Grandma Huaihua stood behind the door crack, protecting the door panel, her eyes full of vigilance.

"Just listen to it like this."

Ye Zhen didn't step inside. She just warmed the stethoscope for a moment, then bent down and reached through the crack in the door, moving so gently that she didn't touch the edge of the bed.

Grandma Huaihua stared at her hand.

"Be gentle, the baby's shy."

Ye Zhen said softly, "I know."

Gao Haiping stood behind her without urging her.

Liu Xiaolan opened her notebook, the pen tip hovering over the paper.

Li Hong held her breath, not daring to even touch the door with the hem of her clothes.

A moment later, Ye Zhen put away her stethoscope and had Li Hong ask her a few more questions.

"Did Huaihua choke when she was a baby? Does she get out of breath after running a few steps now that she's grown up? Does she sweat at night? Does her lips turn purple when she cries?"

Li Hong translated the words to the old man.

Grandma Huaihua stubbornly refused for a while, but finally mumbled an answer.

"When I was little, I would often stop to rest while nursing, and I would pant after just a couple of sips. My wife said I had no energy."

"She can't run, and if she walks too fast, she'll squat on the doorstep. I also don't let her go out and run around."

"They sweat at night, their pillows get wet, but that's how it is for kids in the mountains."

"Her lips are turning purple... she's been crying a lot."

Liu Xiaolan wrote down each point one by one, her face growing increasingly tense with each entry.

Gao Haiping also listened through the crack in the door for half a minute, then took off his stethoscope and looked at Ye Zhen.

"Xiao Ye, the location and transmission range of the noise are consistent."

Ye Zhen took the notebook and marked the name of the locust flower with a yellow mark.

"Suspected ventricular septal defect, highlighted in yellow. Echocardiography recommended for follow-up at the county hospital."

Upon hearing the words "county hospital," Grandma Huaihua immediately pressed her hand against the door panel.

"I knew it. You're still trying to trick me into going to the county. The bus fare to the county is enough to buy half a bag of salt, and that machine will cost even more. How am I supposed to go?"

Li Hong quickly tried to persuade him.

"Grandma, Teacher Ye said that we need to have a follow-up examination first, and surgery may not be necessary immediately."

The old man raised his voice.

"Even without surgery, it costs money. The child's father works away from home and can't send back much money all year round. We poor kids are just so unlucky. What good will it do if we find out?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xiaolan paused in writing.

Gao Haiping took off his reading glasses, held the temples, and said nothing.

Ye Zhen took out a blank referral form from her bag, wrote "Huaxia Heart Awaiting Verification and Assistance" in the remarks column, and handed the paper to Li Hong, asking her to read it to the old man.

"Tell her to bring the child in for a follow-up check-up first; it's free. Money isn't something she should be worried about right now."

Li Hong's eyes lit up, and she immediately spoke to the old man in her local dialect.

"Grandma Huaihua, Teacher Ye said that if you bring your child for a follow-up examination, he won't charge you. The Heart of China is dedicated to saving children like this."

The old man didn't believe him and kept asking.

"It's really free."

Ye Zhen replied, "The initial screening and verification are free. If you meet the eligibility criteria for assistance, the project will also cover the subsequent treatment."

The old man was still afraid.

"What's the project? I don't understand."

Ye Zhen pressed the referral form against the door frame and read it to her word by word.

"You may not understand the project details, but you must understand one sentence: If the child is sick, let the doctor see her first."

Li Hong translated this sentence into dialect.

Grandma Huaihua slowly lowered her hand from the door panel, muttering to herself.

"Let the doctor see her first."

Ye Zhen nodded.

The old man looked down at the locust blossoms on the bed, and after a long while, he finally took the referral form.

"Her mother will be back tomorrow. We'll wait for her to come back and discuss it."

Zheng Mei came up the steps.

"Grandma, I'm going to town in the next couple of days too. I'll help you carry the locust flowers."

The old man glanced at Zheng Mei, his eyes a little red, but he still maintained his temper.

"I didn't say I would definitely go."

Zheng Mei didn't expose her, she just said...

Let me know if you're going.

Ye Zhen finished filling in the details about the locust flowers, then turned and went down the steps.

Liu Xiaolan followed and asked in a low voice.

"Dr. Ye, does the yellow mark indicate moderate symptoms?"

Ye Zhen nodded.

"There's no danger like Xiaoman." He then told Zheng Mei, "Once the child is diagnosed, we can contact Huaxia Heart Hospital in Beicheng and have the interventional surgery done there in the fall. It won't require open surgery, so the risk is low and it's safe."

Zheng Mei nodded and said she had it in mind.