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

Ye Zhen looked at the black wallet in her hand, her fingertips unconsciously brushing against the ID photo.

In the photo, Gu Zheng has sharp brow bones and a taut jawline. Even in the blurry black and white photo, his eyes exude a chilling aura of bloodlust.

After a brief moment of thought, she didn't hesitate for a second and carefully put the wallet away from her body.

His eyes were clear, devoid of any greed, revealing only a calm, almost ruthless, assessment.

The money and tickets here are her trump card in an emergency, but she can't touch them right now. However, Commander Gu now truly owes her a debt of gratitude for saving her life.

She walked to the stream, deftly cleaned the horrifying bloodstains off her body, and carrying a bamboo basket full of herbs, hurried back to the Ye family home.

The moment I stepped into the fenced yard, I was enveloped in a gloomy and oppressive atmosphere.

Inside the main room, Mother Li Cuifang was holding a bowl of dark, strange-smelling wood ash water. Her hands were trembling violently, and her eyes were red and swollen like two walnuts. She was trying to pour it into her eldest brother Ye Cheng's mouth.

In the corner, Ye Guoliang, the father, squatted on the ground, smoking his pipe one puff after another. In the swirling smoke, his weathered face was filled with despair.

"mom!"

Ye Zhen's heart tightened, and she rushed forward in three steps, grabbing Li Cuifang's wrist.

It wasn't very forceful, but it carried an undeniable determination.

"This stuff will only worsen his infection and cause him to collapse."

"Zhenzhen..." Li Cuifang was startled, tears welling up instantly, her voice trembling with sobs, "But... but the old people in the village say that incense ash water can stop bleeding and reduce inflammation..."

"That's ridiculous!"

Ye Zhen didn't have time for words. She put the basket on the ground and directly grabbed the Paris polyphylla and houttuynia cordata she had just picked.

She found a mortar and pestle in the kitchen, and without even washing it, threw the herbs in, picked up the pestle, and began to pound them deftly.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The pestle struck the mortar, producing a dull, rhythmic sound.

Her expression was terrifyingly focused, as if she were holding not a rough stone mortar, but a precision instrument worth millions. Her fair hands were steady without the slightest tremor.

Ye Guoliang and Li Cuifang were both stunned.

Soon, the herbs were pounded into a dark green paste. Ye Zhen carried the mortar and pestle to the bedside, carefully peeled back the cloth strips, and evenly applied the cool, herbal-smelling paste to Ye Cheng's red, swollen, and shiny injured leg.

By the time all this was done, it was completely dark.

None of the family members had any appetite; they just stood there silently.

In the middle of the night, the thing I feared most still happened.

Ye Cheng suddenly developed a high fever, his whole body was burning hot, his jaw was clenched, and his body began to convulse uncontrollably. Cold sweat instantly soaked through the tattered bed sheet beneath him.

"No! No! We have to find Dr. Wang! Even if it means going to the county!" Ye Guoliang stood up abruptly, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, and was about to rush out.

"Stop!" Ye Zhen shouted coldly, blocking his way. "His condition can't withstand any more disturbance. What can Dr. Wang do here besides have you prepare for his funeral?"

Ye Guoliang paused, his face ashen.

Ye Zhen ignored him and turned around to take out a few sewing needles and a box of matches that she had casually bought at the supply and marketing cooperative that afternoon from her tattered suitcase.

Under her parents' bewildered gaze, she struck a match and heated the tip of the thickest sewing needle until it was red-hot in the flame.

"Zhenzhen, what... what are you trying to do?" Li Cuifang's voice trembled.

Ye Zhen did not answer.

She pressed down on Ye Cheng's shoulder with one hand, and with the other hand she held a scalding hot sewing needle. She aimed at the Quchi acupoint on his arm, her eyes narrowed, and she dropped the needle!

The needle was inserted extremely quickly, without the slightest hesitation, as if it had been practiced a thousand times.

Next are Hegu (LI4), Dazhui (GV14)...

Each needle is precisely inserted into the corresponding acupoint, the movements are fluid and graceful, possessing a breathtaking beauty.

A bizarre scene unfolded.

As the last needle pierced through the hole, the thin tips of the needles began to tremble slightly.

Ye Cheng, who had been convulsing on the bed, visibly began to breathe steadily. His clenched teeth loosened, and his ferocious expression softened.

Ye Guoliang and Li Cuifang stared wide-eyed, barely daring to breathe, intently watching the changes in their son on the bed.

Time passed by, second by second.

Half an hour later, Ye Zhen reached out and touched Ye Cheng's forehead.

The corners of her tightly closed mouth finally relaxed slightly.

"The fever has subsided."

The next morning, the first rays of sunlight shone into the room through the tattered window paper.

On the bed, Ye Cheng's eyelids fluttered a few times before he slowly opened his eyes. He stared blankly at the ceiling for a long time before regaining his senses and uttering a few words in a hoarse voice.

"My leg... doesn't hurt anymore."

These four words struck Ye Guoliang and Li Cuifang like a thunderclap.

Li Cuifang burst into tears, unable to hold back any longer. She covered her mouth, squatted on the ground, and wept with joy. This time, she dared not cry out loud, as if afraid of disturbing this hard-won miracle.

Ye Guoliang stood frozen in place, still clutching the unlit tobacco in his hand.

He slowly turned his head and looked at his daughter, who was silently washing the bloodstained strips of cloth she had changed out of yesterday by the well in the yard.

In the morning light, her slender back looked somewhat frail, yet for some reason, it exuded an indescribable sense of composure and reliability.

Ye Guolao's gaze towards Ye Zhen finally changed completely.

From initial resentment to yesterday's doubts, and now... all that remains is deep awe and overwhelming guilt.

He took two puffs of his cigarette, coughing from the smoke, and finally lowered his head, unable to look into his daughter's eyes any longer.

Ye Zhen seemed oblivious to the commotion behind her.

She was wringing out the strips of cloth, preparing to hang them up to dry, when outside the fence, several neighboring women, peeking out, gathered together, whispering and pointing.

"Hey, have you heard? That girl from the city in the Ye family is really something else!"

"That's right! Yesterday, Liu Fen spread the word that she brought back an evil knife and almost chopped my second aunt in half! Now she's even going to use it to chop off her own brother's leg!"

"Tsk tsk, what a mess! A perfectly good home, and a debt collector comes back..."

Their tone was full of schadenfreude and malicious intent to stir up trouble.

Ye Zhen paused in her movements.

She didn't argue or curse; she simply raised her head slowly and glanced coldly at the group through the sparse fence.

That gaze, calm and undisturbed, was like a scalpel, sharp, cold, and precisely piercing into everyone's heart.

The gossiping stopped abruptly.

Those gossipy women turned pale as if they had been choked, and immediately shrank back, not daring to look again.

The entire courtyard was finally quiet.