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

The applause continued to echo through the auditorium, from the front row of students to those on the second-floor bleachers. Dean Liang stood on the side of the stage with a microphone, trying several times to step forward, but was stopped by the relentless applause from below.

Gu Zheng leaned against the wall in the last row, arms crossed, without saying a word, his gaze passing through the crowd in the auditorium and landing on the woman on the stage.

Several male students nearby clapped while secretly glancing in his direction.

"Doesn't he look like that officer in the newspaper photo?"

"Who is it?"

"The one next to Dr. Ye, the one in military uniform, I heard he's her husband."

"Don't talk nonsense. Dr. Ye looks about the same age as our senior, how could she be married?"

"The newspaper said Comrade Gu accompanied him to the international conference. Didn't you finish reading it?"

"The photo is so blurry, who could recognize her? Besides, she's so young, is she really married?"

Gu Zheng hadn't intended to pay any attention, but upon hearing the last sentence, he turned his head and glanced at the male student.

"It's legal, the official document is stamped."

The students' applause suddenly broke into a chaotic clapping.

The boy who spoke first slapped his palm on the notebook, his face flushed, and he quickly shrank half an inch to the side.

"Comrade Gu, is that really you?"

Gu Zheng looked at the stage, his tone neither hurried nor slow.

"Just listen to the lecture, don't use my wife's marital situation as a case study."

The female student next to her couldn't help but laugh and quickly covered half of her face with her notebook.

"Comrade Gu, why didn't you applaud just now?"

Gu Zheng glanced at her.

"My hands hurt, and I still have to carry her bag when I get home."

After holding it in for a while, the male student couldn't help but ask again.

"Is Teacher Ye this amazing at home too?"

Gu Zheng crumpled up the candy wrapper in his pocket and stuffed it back in.

"When she was looking at her medical records at home, I didn't dare to breathe loudly."

The female student's eyes lit up.

"Are you afraid of her?"

Gu Zheng finally glanced at her.

"This is a matter of respect."

On stage, Dean Liang finally waited for the applause to subside before walking to the microphone, his voice hoarse and hot.

"Students, I think you all understood Dr. Ye Zhen's report today. The path of medicine..."

Before he could finish speaking, a student in the front row raised his hand, and as he stood up, the chair leg scraped against the ground with a loud thud.

"Dean Liang, may I ask Professor Ye a question?"

Dean Liang's hand, holding the manuscript, froze in mid-air as he turned to look at Ye Zhen.

Ye Zhen did not leave the stage, but walked back to the microphone.

"Sure, but don't ask me about the key points for the exam."

Laughter broke out again in the auditorium.

The student blushed and hugged the notebook to his chest.

"Professor Ye, I'd like to ask, how do you balance family and career when you're performing surgeries, writing papers, and managing Huaxia Heart every day?"

Someone in the back row immediately gasped quietly.

Gu Zheng lifted his eyelids slightly.

The male student next to him was about to talk to his companion when he was silenced by a glance from him.

On the stage, Ye Zhen looked at the student who asked the question.

Are you asking this on your own behalf, or on behalf of someone else?

The student was taken aback.

"I'm asking for my sister. She's also a medical student. Her family always says that women are too career-oriented and can't take care of their families."

Ye Zhen nodded.

"Then go back and tell her that family and career can never be balanced on their own; everyone in the family needs to work together to support them."

She glanced at the direction of the last row.

"If one person is trying to save a patient, the other person should prepare a hot meal, leave the lights on, and prepare all the necessary information for her, instead of standing at the door asking her why she is late."

The auditorium was quiet for a moment, then low murmurs rose from the seats.

Gu Zheng straightened up a bit in the back row.

The female student next to me said in a low voice.

"Comrade Gu, is she talking about you?"

Gu Zheng didn't look at her.

She was referring to the experiences of advanced families.

The female student laughed so hard her shoulders were shaking.

Another student raised her hand; this time it was a short-haired girl who stood up with her back ramrod straight.

"Professor Ye, I'd like to ask, is it possible for a female doctor to reach the top of the surgical field?"

The atmosphere in the auditorium changed the moment those words were spoken.

Many people looked towards the stage, while others looked towards the few boys sitting among the rows of surgical interns.

Dean Liang's expression turned serious. Sun Shouyi sat on the side of the stage, leaning on his cane, gently stroking the tip of the cane.

Gu Zheng's jawline tightened, and several students next to him immediately moved to the side.

He didn't say anything, but a small gap somehow appeared in the space next to him.

Ye Zhen did not answer immediately. She picked up the chalk and wrote the word "surgery" in the corner of the blackboard.

What does a surgeon specialize in?

The short-haired girl pursed her lips.

"It depends on the technology."

"What are you still looking at?"

"It depends on your judgment."

"What are you still looking at?"

The girl thought about it.

"It depends on responsibility."

Ye Zhen put down the chalk.

"Yes, in surgery, we don't look at gender, we look at how steady your hands are, how clear your mind is, and how much responsibility you can bear."

Some people in the audience nodded, while others remained silent.

A male student in the third row raised his hand, his voice a little louder than the person in front of him.

"Professor Ye, I'm not against female doctors studying surgery, but the physical differences are undeniable. Long surgeries require standing for over ten hours. Can women's bodies handle that?"

Several people around him tugged at his sleeve, but he remained standing.

The male student next to me whispered.

"It's over."

Gu Zheng stared at the man.

"He's quite bold."

On the stage, Ye Zhen looked at the male student.

"What's your name?"

"Lin Jianping, third-year clinical student."

Have you taken any surgical suturing classes?

"I've been with him."

"Can you hold a needle?"

"meeting."

"Come up."

Lin Jianping was surprised that she would call his name. He paused for half a second before walking onto the stage amidst the gazes of those around him.

Ye Zhen asked the teaching assistant next to Dean Liang to hand her a needle holder.

"Hold the needle firmly, keep your elbows away from your body, and your wrists suspended in the air, maintaining a precise needle-holding posture."

Lin Jianping did as instructed.

Ye Zhen glanced at the hanging clock.

"Hold on for three minutes."

A restrained laugh rippled through the audience.

Lin Jianping's ears turned red.

"Teacher Ye, what does this prove?"

"Explain what kind of physical strength you mean by that."

Ye Zhen took half a step back to the side.

"Surgery certainly requires a good physical foundation, but it also requires control, endurance, focus, and daily training."

Lin Jianping was able to stand still at first, but after half a minute, the tip of the needle holder began to wobble.

Ye Zhen didn't look at him, but instead looked at the audience.

"Open-chest surgery is not like carrying sacks of grain, and microsurgery is not like arm wrestling."

Someone in the audience laughed.

"If surgical skills are determined solely by the size of an arm, then hospitals should just recruit from meat processing plants."

The auditorium erupted in laughter, and even Dean Liang coughed lightly.

Lin Jianping gritted his teeth, trying to steady his hand, but after two and a half minutes, the tip of the needle holder was already shaking noticeably.

Ye Zhen reached out and took the equipment from his hand.

That's enough.

Lin Jianping stood on the stage, his face burning hot.

Ye Zhen did not humiliate him, but simply put the needle holder back on the table.

"You're not lacking in physical strength, you're just not training enough."

Lin Jianping lowered his head.

"Teacher Ye, I understand."

Ye Zhen looked at him.

"You can question any viewpoint, but before you question it again, first demonstrate the fundamentals that support your questioning."

The laughter from the audience gradually subsided.

Lin Jianping bowed to Ye Zhen and stepped down from the stage.

Gu Zheng leaned back against the wall and whispered to the students next to him.

"Don't mess with her, she's more steady with a scalpel than I am with a gun."

The male student swallowed hard.

"Comrade Gu, are you praising Teacher Ye, or are you trying to scare us?"

Gu Zheng looked towards the stage.

"It doesn't matter."

Seeing that the atmosphere had stabilized again, Dean Liang picked up the microphone.

"Students, you can continue asking questions, but please be mindful of the time and don't disturb Dr. Ye's rest."

As soon as the words were spoken, a girl slowly stood up from the left side of the second floor.

She was wearing a blue shirt, and her voice was very soft as she walked down the aisle, but the whole auditorium could hear it.

"Professor Ye, what should I do if my family won't allow me to study surgery, saying that girls will get married sooner or later?"

Ye Zhen looked up at the second floor.

Gu Zheng also raised his eyes.

The laughter in the auditorium gradually faded, leaving only the girl holding her notebook, standing under the gaze of thousands of people.