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

When the jeep came to a stop at the entrance of the alley, the light in the courtyard had already shifted, casting a slanted glow on the base of the screen wall, making the clump of foxtail grass sprouting from the cracks in the bricks appear fuzzy.

Gu Zheng got out of the car first, walked around to open the passenger side door.

Grandpa Gu braced himself against the car door frame, stepped out with one leg, tested the ground, and then slowly shifted his weight.

Gu Zheng reached out to help him.

"Need not."

The old man slapped his hand away and walked away.

I walked a little slower than when I went there, and the soles of my leather shoes made a dull thud on the blue bricks.

He wore the faded old military uniform, the shoulder line slightly drooping, but his back was still straight.

Pushing open the courtyard gate, a fragrant aroma of stewed meat wafted out amidst the rising steam.

Grandma Gu's voice came from the kitchen.

"You're back? I made braised pork ribs, your grandpa's favorite."

Grandpa Gu didn't respond. He went straight into the main room, took off his military uniform and draped it over the back of a chair before sitting back in the rattan chair.

Ye Zhen came out of the inner room, holding a pencil in her hand, with a little lead dust on her fingertips.

She glanced at the old man's face, then at Gu Zheng who followed her in.

Gu Zheng nodded to her.

Ye Zhen tucked the pencil behind her ear, walked to the old man's side, and squatted down to help him unfold the thin blanket draped over his knees.

"Grandpa, have some water."

"No rush."

Grandpa Gu leaned back in the rattan chair, closed his eyes for a while, and then opened them.

"Zhenzhen, Lao Zhou has agreed."

Ye Zhen's hand paused for a moment at the edge of the thin blanket.

He said he'd listen to you and take the medication for three days first.

Gu Zheng stood by the threshold, leaning against the door frame, with his arms crossed.

"The old commander's exact words were, 'If something goes wrong, he'll sign it himself; he won't blame anyone else.'"

Ye Zhen stood up.

"Then I'll write up the medication monitoring plan into a formal written order tonight and send it over first thing tomorrow morning to hand it over to the on-duty doctor."

Grandpa Gu closed his eyes again.

"OK."

Ye Zhen responded and turned to go back into the inner room to get her notebook.

She walked to her desk, opened her notebook, and with the pencil tip pressed against the paper, recalculated the dosage of dexamethasone.

For elderly patients, whose weight is estimated to be around 60 kilograms, liver function is already impaired, the drug metabolism rate will be reduced, and the starting dose should not be too strong.

She wrote half a page, then crossed out two lines and revised it again.

Gu Zheng came in carrying a bowl and placed a bowl of pork rib soup next to her.

"Drink first."

"Wait until I finish writing this section."

"The soup will taste fishy when it gets cold."

Ye Zhen didn't even look up. She reached over with her left hand to pick up the bowl, took a sip, put it back, and continued working on the pencil in her right hand.

Gu Zheng sat down by the bed and watched her profile as she wrote.

The lamplight shone on her face, outlining the strong lines of her nose.

"young married woman."

"Um."

"When you finished saying those three points in that film viewing room today, no one in the room dared to utter a sound."

Ye Zhen switched to a black fountain pen and wrote the unit after the dosage.

"It's not that we're afraid to speak up, it's that we need time to process it."

"Professor Zhao's expression was quite interesting."

"He wasn't targeting me; it's just that his experience has limited him."

Ye Zhen capped her pen and took another sip of the pork rib soup.

"Most doctors will never see a case of this disease in their entire lives."

"They followed the most common diagnosis, which wasn't wrong."

"It's just not enough."

Gu Zheng stretched out his legs and touched the chair leg with his toes.

"How did you know that?"

Ye Zhen held the bowl, her gaze falling on a certain line in the notebook.

There was a silence of two or three seconds.

"I read a lot of books."

The sound of a bicycle bell came from the courtyard gate, followed by the clattering of leather shoes on the brick ground.

"Grandpa! Grandma! I'm home!"

Gu Linlin's voice echoed throughout the entire courtyard.

Ye Zhen drew a curve on the paper with her pencil.

Gu Zheng raised an eyebrow.

Gu Linlin rushed into the main room carrying a net bag containing two paper packets and a bottle of orange soda.

"Grandpa, is your leg feeling better? Grandma, I brought some pastries from Daoxiangcun!"

As she called out, her eyes swept around the room before landing on Ye Zhen, who was coming out from the inner room.

His entire expression changed.

"sister in law?"

"Sister-in-law, what are you doing in the capital?"

Ye Zhen stood at the door and nodded slightly.

"I'm here to take care of something."

Gu Linlin threw the net bag on the table, rushed over in three steps, and grabbed Ye Zhen's arm.

"Sister-in-law, did you become a founding member of that global cardiovascular disease expert committee?"

Ye Zhen glanced at her.

How did you know?

"It's all over our school! The newspapers are reporting that the World Health Organization awarded you a medal in the corridor of the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital."

Gu Linlin gripped Ye Zhen's sleeve, her eyes shining brightly.

"Sister-in-law, just how amazing is that founding committee member?"

"Are you the only Chinese person in the whole world?"

"I heard that Maheler personally handed you the letter of appointment?"

"The newspaper also said you saved a child who was on the verge of death on the operating table?"

Ye Zhen was speechless, her lips twitching slightly as she listened to her barrage of questions.

Gu Zheng peeked halfway out from the doorway of the inner room.

"Linlin, your sister-in-law isn't that Hong Kong or Taiwanese celebrity you're chasing after. Can't you take a breather?"

Gu Linlin glared at him.

"Brother, what do you know? Can Hong Kong and Taiwanese celebrities save lives? Your wife is a real big shot! Cardiac surgeons all over the world have to listen to her!"

She turned around and stared at Ye Zhen again.

"Sister-in-law, is that Mahele particularly fat? The photo in the newspaper was blurry, I couldn't see it clearly."

Ye Zhen was at a loss for words when she was asked a question, so she reached out and pulled her sleeve out of her hand.

"Not fat, normal body type."

"The newspaper said he bowed."

He gave a slight bow, as a matter of courtesy.

"That's quite impressive! A foreigner bowed to a Chinese doctor! Were you nervous, sister-in-law?"

Ye Zhen sat back down in her chair and picked up the bowl of pork rib soup that had already cooled down.

"I didn't pay much attention."

"I'm particularly concerned about my child's blood oxygen levels since the surgery just took place."

Gu Linlin's mouth was open and she couldn't close it.

Gu Zheng leaned against the door frame, a smug smile playing on his lips.

"You could give your sister-in-law a hundred medals and she'd still be focused on her post-operative indicators the whole day."

"You're making her nervous, unless the monitor goes off."

Ye Zhen glanced at him.

"Don't exaggerate."

Gu Linlin rushed to Ye Zhen's side, plopped down on the small stool next to her, rested her chin on her hands, and looked up at her.

"Sister-in-law, will you still be in the newspapers in the future?"

"have no idea."

"Sister-in-law, could you take me with you when you go abroad for conferences in the future?"

"Why should I bring you along?"

"I'll translate for you! My English is excellent!"

Gu Zheng scoffed.

"With your English level, if it were useful, the sun would rise in the west."

"Shut up, brother! I'm asking your wife!"

Gu Linlin turned back and continued to press for answers, as if she wanted to hear all of Ye Zhen's experiences.

Grandma Gu came out of the kitchen carrying a plate and saw her granddaughter clinging to Ye Zhen. She chuckled.

"This girl, she's really stuck with me."

Gu Linlin blushed slightly.

Ye Zhen finished the pork rib soup and put down the bowl.

"Linlin, I'm not Tarzan."

"I am a doctor."

"What doctors do is treat illnesses, nothing special."

Gu Linlin looked at her and suddenly muttered something.

"Sister-in-law, your nonchalant attitude is even cooler than what's written in the newspapers."

Gu Zheng walked over, picked up the Daoxiangcun pastries that Gu Linlin had brought from the coffee table, and unwrapped the paper package.

"Alright, stop bothering your sister-in-law. She has important things to write tonight."

"Eat your snack."

Gu Linlin reluctantly took a piece of jujube paste pastry and took a bite.

Chewing on the pastry, his gaze remained fixed on Ye Zhen.

Ye Zhen got up and went back to the inner room, where she reopened her notebook.

She went through the entire dexamethasone intravenous infusion protocol from beginning to end.

Starting dose, tapering regimen, frequency of blood glucose monitoring, timing of bilirubin blood sampling, abdominal pain score record sheet, and time window for follow-up ultrasound examination.

Each line was written neatly, with small, dense characters, and the pen tip was pressed very evenly.

When the last line was written, the clock already pointed to 5:40.

She closed the notebook and rubbed the web between her thumb and forefinger of her right hand.

Holding a pen for too long makes that muscle sore.

Pushing open the door to the inner room, Gu Zheng sat on the long bench in the corridor, his head against the wall, his eyes closed, and his breathing steady.

The enamel mug rested on my lap; the water inside had long since gone cold.

Ye Zhen stood in front of him for two seconds.

She bent down and gently lifted the enamel mug from his lap.

Gu Zheng lifted his eyelids slightly.

"Finished writing?"

"Finished writing."

"Let's go eat."