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

Tian Xiaobao's house was at the bottom of the slope, and the ground was full of uneven gravel and mud pits. Liu Xiaolan stumbled as she carried the wooden box.

Old Tian walked ahead, but after walking halfway, he suddenly slowed down and looked back towards the mountain pass.

"Dr. Ye, his family situation isn't good, and his father has a bad temper. Once you go in, please don't..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Zhen had already walked past him.

The earthen house had no courtyard wall, a half-piled stack of firewood was placed in front of the door, two rows of corn cobs were drying on the ground, and an enamel basin with a missing handle was upside down on a stone.

The door curtain was made from a fertilizer bag, washed until it turned white, and the words "urea" were printed on it.

Li Hong stepped forward, lifted the curtain, and called out inside.

"Auntie, are you home? We've come to visit the children."

A rustling sound came from inside the house, and a thin woman poked half her body out from the inner room, clutching a piece of homespun cloth twisted into a strip in her hand.

Who is it?

Old Tian squeezed in from behind.

"Sister-in-law Cuihong, it's me, Tian Youfu."

The woman recognized him, and her guard relaxed a little, but when she saw several strangers standing behind him, she gripped the door frame tightly again.

"Dr. Tian, ​​what are you doing bringing these people here? Didn't we say no outsiders are allowed in the house?"

Old Tian opened his mouth and glanced at Ye Zhen.

Ye Zhen walked to the door but didn't step inside.

"Sister-in-law, my surname is Ye. I'm a doctor from Beicheng. I'll listen to Xiaobao's heart. No injections, no medicine, no money required."

Cuihong gripped the door frame even tighter.

"Someone from town came yesterday and said that anyone who lets outside doctors in will lose their year-end quota."

Li Hong became anxious.

"Auntie, they're just trying to scare you. Teacher Ye is..."

Ye Zhen stopped her, not letting her finish speaking.

"Sister-in-law, I can't handle the relief grain, but I can take care of Xiaobao's illness."

She paused for a moment.

"Is the child inside now?"

Cuihong's eyes flickered, and her voice trailed off.

"He's lying on the kang (heated brick bed). He had another bout of shortness of breath this morning, and I had to massage his chest for a long time before he recovered."

Ye Zhen's expression changed.

"Have you been lying down since this morning?"

Cuihong nodded.

"We dare not let him get out of bed; he gets very breathless as soon as he moves."

Ye Zhen turned and glanced at Liu Xiaolan.

Liu Xiaolan understood and had already opened the wooden box, warming the stethoscope in her hand.

"Sister-in-law, I'll go in and take a look, just one glance."

Cuihong was still hesitating when a rough, hoarse male voice sounded behind her.

"Cuihong, who's outside?"

A dark-skinned, thin man came out of the inner room, his trousers covered in dry mud, carrying a carrying pole in his hand, his face wary.

Old Tian quickly stepped forward.

"Liu Gensheng, it's me. I brought a doctor from Beicheng to take a look at Xiaobao."

Liu Gensheng looked Ye Zhen and the others up and down, without putting down his carrying pole.

Luo Yushan walked over from behind, his voice not loud but firm.

"Gensheng, I am Luo Yushan from Qingshan Town Health Center. Do you recognize me?"

Liu Gensheng glanced at him, his attitude softening slightly, but the carrying pole was still held horizontally in front of him.

"Dr. Luo, it's not that I'm being disrespectful, but the town really said that anyone who lets outsiders check on their children will have their relief grain confiscated. My family of six lives on that meager relief grain; if it's confiscated, how will I support my parents?"

Ye Zhen didn't look at the carrying pole. Instead, she looked over Liu Gensheng's shoulder and focused her gaze on the small, curled-up figure on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the inner room.

Through the gaps in the earthen wall and the door curtain, she saw a thin boy in the corner of the kang (a heated brick bed), his ribs clearly visible on his back. He was curled up facing the wall, his knees pressed against his stomach, breathing shallowly and rapidly, each breath accompanied by a soft hum.

She walked to the door frame and turned sideways.

What color are the child's lips?

Cuihong choked up.

"It's turning...black."

Are your hands and feet cold?

"It's so cold, even when I put my cotton-padded coat on him, it doesn't warm him up."

"Have you fed her water since this morning?"

Cuihong's tears fell.

"I fed him two mouthfuls, but he couldn't swallow them and choked several times."

Ye Zhen turned to look at Gao Haiping, and their eyes met briefly in the air.

Gao Haiping's lips twitched down slightly, and he nodded a little.

Ye Zhen didn't say anything more to Liu Gensheng and slipped into the inner room through the gap in the curtain.

Liu Gensheng paused for a moment, picked up the carrying pole and then put it down again, then followed them inside.

"How dare you just walk in? I didn't say you could come in!"

Ye Zhen was already squatting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

The child was curled up in the corner, one hand gripping the edge of the kang mat, his fingernails were grayish-purple, the tips of his fingers were bulging like balls, and the veins on the back of his hand were as thin as threads.

His lips weren't just a normal purple; they were a dark, bluish-black, and even his gums were grayish.

Ye Zhen warmed the stethoscope and placed it on the child's chest wall.

"Sister-in-law, what position was he in when he was panting this morning?"

Cuihong knelt by the kang (a heated brick bed), her voice broken and incoherent.

"He squatted down, just like before, with his knees pressed against his chest, and I massaged his chest for a long time until he could catch his breath."

Ye Zhen listened for more than ten seconds, changed positions twice, and then placed her fingers on the child's wrist artery and counted for twenty seconds.

She looked up at Gao Haiping.

"Heart rate is too fast, murmur is rough, peripheral circulation is poor. This morning's episode was due to hypoxia."

Gao Haiping also came over to listen to a round of questions, and his expression was very unpleasant.

"This child is heavier than Xiaoman."

Ye Zhen turned emerald red.

"Sister-in-law, listen to me, Xiaobao doesn't have a cold or pneumonia. He has a heart problem, which is why his lips are black, why he has to squat down after running a few steps, and why his hands and feet don't get warm in winter."

Cuihong's eyes widened suddenly, and her lips trembled as she shrank back.

"Heart disease...is that incurable?"

"It can be cured."

Ye Zhen spoke calmly and steadily.

"But it can't be treated in the village, so it has to be sent out."

Liu Gensheng, who had been standing behind the curtain, interrupted at this moment, his voice strained.

"Where should we send him? To the county? Can the county treat heart conditions?"

Ye Zhen looked at him.

"The county can't perform the surgery, so we have to send him to Beicheng."

Liu Gensheng's face fell immediately.

"Beicheng, how much will that cost? Train tickets, hospital fees, surgery fees, my family can't even come up with a hundred yuan."

His voice began to tremble.

"And what if... what if the child dies out there? We don't even have the money to bring him back. Families like ours are practically blind outside the village; we wouldn't even know the way in the city."

Ye Zhen took out the brown paper envelope from her handbag, pulled out a referral form, and then pulled out a red card.

"Huaxia Heart is a nationally approved project specifically designed to save children with congenital heart disease."

She handed the red card to Liu Gensheng.

"Screening is free, follow-up examination is free, and the project will cover the cost of any eligible surgeries. You won't have to pay a single penny."

Liu Gensheng took the card, looked at it over and over again, his hands trembling.

"real?"

"real."

He brought the card close to his eyes, struggling to decipher the words on it. After a long while, he whispered to Cuihong.

"What does it say up there?"

Cuihong didn't know many words either. The couple looked at each other, their eyes reddening.

Old Tian stood aside and lowered his voice.

"Gensheng, this Dr. Ye is a doctor in Beicheng who performs free surgeries for poor children. She said she wouldn't charge them, and she really didn't charge them."

Liu Gensheng's hands were still trembling. He looked down at his son on the kang (a heated brick bed), then at the referral slip in Ye Zhen's hand.

"But the town said that if we go with outsiders and something happens, the county won't take responsibility, and all the relief grain at the end of the year will be withheld."

His voice grew softer and softer.

"My mother is over seventy, and I have two children. Without relief food or grain, how am I supposed to feed them...?"

Ye Zhen placed the referral form on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Brother Liu, let me make myself clear."

Her voice wasn't loud, but every word she spoke was clear and firm.

"Xiao Bao's condition can't be delayed any longer. This morning's attack was due to oxygen deficiency. Nobody knows when the next one will happen. Every time it attacks, his heart is holding on. If it can't hold on any longer, it will be too late."

Cuihong covered her mouth and began to cry, her voice muffled and suppressed in her throat.

As if startled, Tian Xiaobao on the kang (a heated brick bed) turned over in his sleep, his knees curling up to his chest.

Ye Zhen looked at the thin figure from behind and finished speaking.

"Without changing the luck, the child might not survive the next attack; with changing the luck, Huaxia Heart will take care of what happens next."

She paused for two seconds.

"Whether you go or not is up to you."

Liu Gensheng stood there, clutching the red card, speechless for a long time.

A low murmur came from outside the door. Some villagers had gathered there, some carrying hoes, some holding children, and some carrying pig feed buckets who had been drawn by the noise.

An old man at the front shouted a question.

"Gensheng, what's wrong with your little one?"

Liu Gensheng didn't reply. Cuihong's sobs came from inside the house, intermittent and broken.

Ye Zhen stood up from the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and walked to the door.

"Tian Xiaobao has congenital heart disease and suffered a hypoxia attack. He must be transferred to a hospital with the necessary facilities for surgery."

She looked at the villagers who had gathered around her.

"The Heart of China project is a national project that saves children like these, and it doesn't charge any money."

A woman pulled the baby in her arms tighter.

"Doctor, are you telling the truth? I have a child too."

Ye Zhen nodded and turned to Liu Xiaolan.

"Take out the remaining red, yellow, and blue cards. If any child has purple lips, squats down after running a few steps, or chokes while being breastfed, they can register now."

Liu Xiaolan responded.

Liu Gensheng came out of the house, his eyes red, his voice hoarse, clutching the red card in his hand.

He looked at Ye Zhen for a long time before finally nodding.

"Let's go, I'll take Xiaobao with me."