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

Ye Zhen stood up.

She turned around, her gaze passing over Gao Haiping's shoulder, and looked towards a spot about twenty meters above the slope.

Those two people are still there.

The tall man leaned against a crooked pine tree, his arms crossed over his chest, while the short man squatted by the tree roots, breaking off pine needles. The two looked like mountain folk taking a break, but their positions blocked the lines of sight for those going up and down the mountain.

Ye Zhen walked towards the tall man.

The gravel under her feet crunched under her feet. The slope was steep, but she walked quickly, and even when her ankle twisted, she didn't stop.

The tall man saw her coming and straightened up from the tree.

Ye Zhen stopped in front of him, less than a step away.

Contact Gu Zheng.

The tall man's lips twitched slightly.

Before he could react, Ye Zhen continued speaking.

"Give him my coordinates and tell him I need a car with an oxygen tank that can get to the provincial highway intersection within forty minutes."

Her tone wasn't a request, it was an order.

The tall man glanced at the short man.

The short man had already stood up from the ground, the broken pine needles in his hand falling to the ground. Without asking a single question, he turned and ran down the mountain, his steps quick and steady, making almost no sound as he stepped on the gravel slope.

The tall man turned to look at Ye Zhen, and squeezed out two words.

"sister in law……"

"Thanks for your hard work."

After Ye Zhen finished speaking, she turned and walked back.

She walked to the stretcher and squatted down to recheck whether Tian Xiaobao's position had shifted, whether the quilt had been blown away by the wind, and whether his knees were still pressed against his chest.

"Sister-in-law, let go and change your posture. Your arm is tired and can't support you, so the force will be uneven."

Cuihong's fingers were stiff, so Yezhen helped her move her hand to a different position so that she could use the strength of her forearm instead of her fingers.

Gao Haiping leaned closer and lowered his voice.

"Ye Zhen, it takes at least forty minutes to get to the provincial highway from here. It will also take time for him to arrange a vehicle. Is there enough time?"

Ye Zhen tucked the edges of the quilt back in tightly.

"There's still time."

Gao Haiping looked at her profile.

Are you sure?

Ye Zhen straightened up and looked towards the direction the hillside stretched down. The sky was beginning to darken, and the last bit of light was stuck on the western ridgeline, turning the entire road into a hazy gray.

She patted the dirt off her hands.

"He will do his best, I believe in him."

After she finished speaking, she bent down and patted Tian Gensheng on the shoulder.

"Get up and keep going. Every minute counts."

Tian Gensheng stood up from the ground, wiped his face with his sleeve, walked back to the door panel, and put the edge of the panel on his shoulder.

The young man who was helping also joined in, and the two of them lifted the stretcher again.

Ye Zhen walked on the left side of the stretcher, holding onto the edge of the board with one hand, and reaching out to touch Tian Xiaobao's fingers every few tens of seconds with the other.

The group moved a little slower than before, but they didn't stop.

The mountain wind pressed down from the top of the slope, flattening a large patch of withered grass. Cuihong's hair was blown loose and stuck to her face. She couldn't free her hands to tidy it up, so it just lay there, her eyes fixed on her son's face.

After walking for about thirty minutes, Luo Yushan called out from ahead.

"After you go down this slope, you'll reach the riverbank, and then you'll see the provincial highway."

Li Hong heard the sound almost simultaneously.

It wasn't the sound of people, nor the sound of the wind; it was a low, rhythmic rumble coming from the direction of the provincial highway to the east.

The sounds of diesel engines, mixed with the screeching of tires rolling over the gravel road, rolled in from afar, layer upon layer.

Everyone stopped in their tracks.

Ye Zhen didn't stop.

"Walk."

The stretcher continued to descend.

By the time the group reached the edge of the riverbank, the outline of the provincial highway was already clearly visible in the twilight. The car also emerged from around the bend.

The military green Jiefang brand truck had faded paint, and the canvas on the truck bed rustled in the wind. The red star in the center of the cab was briefly illuminated by the last rays of sunlight.

Cuihong's hands trembled.

"Is that...they've come to pick us up?"

Ye Zhen lifted the quilt up to the child's chin.

"Yes."

Before the truck had even come to a complete stop, the side panel of the truck bed was pushed open from the inside.

Two young men in military uniforms jumped down. One carried a dark green oxygen cylinder on his shoulder, while the other held a first-aid kit in his left hand and a folding stretcher in his right. The two landed at the same time, turned around, and ran towards this side.

The sound of military boots pounding on the gravel of the riverbank was dull and heavy.

Cuihong's knees buckled, and she knelt on the ground.

Tian Gensheng lowered the door panel, his legs trembling. He braced himself against the edge of the panel to keep himself from kneeling down.

Tears streamed down Li Hong's face. She wiped them away vigorously with her sleeve, but couldn't get them completely dry.

Ye Zhen squatted down beside the stretcher.

The medic had already run up to her. The one carrying the oxygen cylinder deftly put it down, turned on the valve, took out a mask from the first-aid kit, connected the tube, and handed it to Ye Zhen.

"Dr. Ye, you can set the flow rate."

Ye Zhen took the mask, turned the flow rate adjustment knob to two liters per minute, bent down and gently put the mask on Tian Xiaobao's face.

Beneath the transparent mask, the moment oxygen rushed in, Tian Xiaobao's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly. It was so slight, almost imperceptible, that Ye Zhen noticed it.

She wrapped the elastic band of the mask around the back of the child's head to secure it, and then tested the fit with her fingers to make sure there was no air leakage.

Cuihong knelt on the ground, one hand covering her mouth, the other hand tugging at Tian Gensheng's trouser leg, crying so hard that she was trembling all over and couldn't utter a single complete sentence.

Tian Gensheng stood to the side, his hands hanging at his sides, clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly. His lips trembled several times, something stuck in his throat, wanting to say thank you but unable to utter a sound.

Ye Zhen didn't look at them.

She straightened up and said something to the medic carrying the oxygen tank.

Did you bring a spare bottle?

"I brought two bottles, enough for six hours."

Ye Zhen nodded.

"Get in the car."

Tian Xiaobao was transferred from the old door panel to a military folding stretcher. The straps were fastened, the oxygen cylinder was secured to the support on the side of the stretcher, and the tube was wrapped with tape twice to prevent it from falling off.

Gao Haiping and a medic carried the stretcher onto the truck bed, one after the other.

Liu Xiaolan laid out the quilt in the truck bed. When Cuihong climbed up, her knee hit the metal panel. Ignoring the pain, she climbed in and squatted down next to her son, holding the edge of the small oxygen mask in her hands.

Tian Gensheng was the last to board the bus. He glanced back at the mountain road he had come from.

On the slope, the direction of Luoying Village could no longer be seen; only a few wisps of smoke rose from behind the ridge, crookedly dispersing into the hazy twilight.

He turned around, bent down, and crawled into the truck bed.

Ye Zhen sat next to Tian Xiaobao, her left hand on the child's wrist and her right hand clutching the old stethoscope.

Luo Yushan and the others stood by the roadside, waving goodbye to them.

The soldier driving the car leaned out of the driver's seat and shouted.

"Which way?"

Ye Zhen's voice came from behind the canvas.

"North City".