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

There was a three-second silence on the phone line.

When Vice Minister Li's voice came out again, it carried an extra layer that Ye Zhen had never heard from him before.

"You're right. He's betting that the ministry won't dare to make a big deal out of it, that China Heart is just starting out and can't afford a scandal, and that I'll turn a blind eye for the sake of the bigger picture."

Ye Zhen said, "Therefore, I have three requirements."

Vice Minister Li chuckled softly on the other end of the phone.

"You're really bold, girl, you even dare to negotiate with me."

Tell me about it.

Ye Zhen glanced at the newly lit morning light outside the window.

"The first thing must be done immediately."

"Xiaoman must be transferred from Shiao Village to Beicheng General Hospital within 48 hours."

The rustling sound of pages turning came from Vice Minister Li's end.

"Is this child's condition serious?"

Ye Zhen turned her gaze back to the bowl of untouched millet porridge on the table.

"His fingertips have developed severe clubbing deformities."

"He would be forced to squat down even after walking only twenty steps due to lack of oxygen."

"Patients with this severe congenital heart disease cannot afford to wait even a day longer."

"Every extra night he stays in a place like Shiao Village, which doesn't even have a clinic, increases his risk of sudden organ failure."

"His parents don't even have the most basic first aid knowledge."

"If the child suffers from oxygen deprivation in the middle of the night, he will just have to watch helplessly as he suffocates to death on that broken wooden bed at home."

Vice Minister Li coughed and cleared his throat.

"I'll arrange the transfer right away."

"I will have the provincial department immediately dispatch an ambulance with oxygen equipment to the mountains."

"Give Xiao Chen the contact information for this family."

Ye Zhen tapped her fingers lightly twice on the table.

"The entire village of Shi'ao doesn't even have a single telephone line."

"If you want to send someone into the mountains to pick up the children, just go directly to Zheng Mei, the substitute teacher at the village primary school."

"Her house is next to the big locust tree at the entrance of the village."

"Okay, I've got it."

"Second," Ye Zhen's voice trailed off, "Luo Yushan, Zheng Mei, Tian Youfu, and Uncle Zhao who guided us—these people provided crucial assistance during the undercover investigation. Some risked losing their jobs, while others risked having their relief grain withheld by the town."

She paused for a moment.

"If the provincial authorities start settling scores later, none of these people will be spared."

"Luo Yushan has worked at the Qingshan Town Health Center for over twenty years. If he's dismissed for cooperating with the investigation, who will dare to speak the truth in the future?"

I could hear the sound of a pen drawing lines on paper on the other end of the line from Vice Minister Li's phone.

"I'll personally oversee this. Before the inspection team goes down, I'll make it clear to the provincial department that I'll take responsibility for anything that happens to these people."

Ye Zhen said, "Just talking isn't enough."

Vice Minister Li paused for a moment.

"What do you want?"

"The verification team must have someone from the ministry accompanying them throughout the process. Nominally it is a joint verification, but in reality it is to supervise the provincial department personnel and prevent them from contacting witnesses alone."

"Anyone who goes to talk to Luo Yushan and Zheng Mei must have someone from the ministry present to take a statement."

"We will absolutely not allow provincial department working groups to go to rural areas and contact witnesses without authorization."

"They are absolutely not allowed to use any administrative means to take people away for questioning in the middle of the night."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone.

Vice Minister Li sighed with a wry smile.

"You're quite the shrewd girl."

"You're not asking me to send an inspection team down here."

"Are you trying to turn all the pens under my command into a bodyguard team to stand guard for the witnesses?"

Ye Zhen's tone left no room for compromise.

"These ordinary people have staked their lives on this investigation."

"If the people who should be protected can't protect them, all the fake accounts we uncover later will become worthless pieces of paper with no way to prove anything."

Vice Minister Li tapped the table lightly on the other end of the line.

"OK."

"I'll take this job."

"I will do as you ask."

"Now tell me your third request."

"Third, the inspection team went to the countryside ahead of schedule."

Ye Zhen flipped to the last page of the file folder, which contained the manuscript she had written on her military card last night. The handwriting was crooked from being jostled around, but every number was clear.

"Qian Dehou must be working on supplementing materials and plugging loopholes now."

"If your inspection team goes down to the town level two days later as originally planned, they will have a full forty-eight hours to fabricate a new set of false documents."

Vice Minister Li's cigarette went out, and he didn't light another one.

"When do you suggest we go down?"

Ye Zhen said, "Today."

A soft thud came from the other end of the phone as a cup was placed on the table.

"This morning, without prior notice or going through the provincial department, the inspection team went directly to Qingshan Town by car."

"The first thing we did upon arrival wasn't to hold a meeting, but to seal up the archives of the town health center."

"All original copies of the records, household registration forms, signature pages, and official seal usage records should be packed up and taken away. Anyone who tries to stop us will have their name recorded."

Vice Minister Li remained silent for ten seconds on the other end of the line.

In those ten seconds, Ye Zhen heard him push the chair away and stand up, take two steps on the ground with his leather shoes, and then walk back.

"Xiao Ye".

"exist."

"These three points of yours have thought of everything I could and hadn't even considered."

Ye Zhen said, "I'm not thinking about you; I'm thinking about the children."

"Information on three villages and thirty-seven children—and this is just where I've been."

"What about those that can't be reached?"

"I don't know how many Chungens are left. They're all gone, and their names haven't even been recorded."

Gu Zheng stood at the door without saying a word.

He watched Ye Zhen's back, her back ramrod straight, her knuckles white as she held the receiver, her other hand pressed against the file folder, her fingertips applying slight pressure to leave a shallow dent in the kraft paper.

On the other end of the phone, Vice Minister Li's voice changed.

It wasn't anger, it wasn't impatience.

It's a kind of muteness where something is stuck in your throat.

"The inspection team will depart in an hour, and I will personally lead the team."

Ye Zhen said, "Thank you for your hard work."

Vice Minister Li said, "Dr. Ye, you shouldn't be saying that."

"The ones who should be saying it's tough are the children in the mountains."

After hanging up the phone, Ye Zhen put the receiver back on the landline.

She looked down at the bowl of millet porridge on the table. The porridge was no longer hot, and a thin layer of rice oil had condensed on the inside of the bowl.

Gu Zheng walked over and pushed the bowl to her side.

"Finish it."

Ye Zhen picked up the bowl and finished the remaining few sips.

Gu Zheng reached out and took the empty bowl away, then turned and walked towards the door.

He paused for a moment as he reached the door.

I had someone make two extra copies of the file folder.

One copy was kept in the General Hospital's archives, and the other was sent directly to Beijing via the military's internal passage.

The provincial authorities can't reach into the military's coffers.

Ye Zhen's fingers rubbed against the cover of the file folder, over the four pencil characters.

A record of an undercover investigation.

it is good.

Gu Zheng's footsteps faded away along the corridor, his leather boots clicking steadily on the terrazzo floor.

Ye Zhen hugged the file folder to her chest, stood up, and walked towards the ICU.

Tian Xiaobao's monitor was still ringing.

One sound, one sound, one sound.

Every sound is proof of being alive.