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

Outside the large glass windows on the second floor of the Beijing Military Region General Hospital, the early summer morning light pierced through the clouds.

Inside the conference room, the air pressure was so low it was almost enough to wring water out of the container.

Dean Zhang Guohua sat in the main seat, holding a teacup that had already cooled down. Professor Zhao sat opposite at the long table, his reading glasses beside him, his hands clasped together, staring intently at the closed mahogany double doors of the conference room.

None of the dozen or so department heads uttered a word.

Ye Zhen sat in an armchair, her white coat spotless, a Hero brand fountain pen in her hand. Gu Zheng leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, his gaze sweeping over the group of sweating experts in the room like an eagle's.

Seventy-two hours have passed since the old leader took the medication.

"It's already 8:15, why hasn't it been delivered yet?" a supervisor couldn't help but ask.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the conference room door was pushed open with a "bang".

Dr. Liu, the director of the ultrasound department, was panting heavily as he ran, clutching several freshly printed ultrasound reports, the hem of his white coat flying up.

"It's out! The video is out!"

A flurry of people stood up in the room. Professor Zhao grabbed his reading glasses, put them on, and strode over to the lightbox. "Hang it up!"

Director Liu hurriedly stuffed the film into the lightbox clips. "I checked it twice just now, there's absolutely no mistake in the measurements!"

With a "snap," the lightbox lit up, and a clear black and white image appeared before everyone's eyes.

Ye Zhen didn't even get up, her voice steady: "Director Liu, report the data."

Director Liu took a deep breath, his voice ringing with excitement in the conference room: "The maximum anteroposterior diameter of the pancreatic head has shrunk from 3.6 centimeters the day before yesterday to 2.1 centimeters! A reduction of more than 50%!"

Everyone present was astonished.

Professor Zhao's face was almost pressed against the lightbox, his eyes fixed on the cross-section of the pancreas.

"Where's the common bile duct?" Zhang Guohua suddenly raised his voice.

"The common bile duct diameter has shrunk completely to 0.6 centimeters and returned to normal! The pancreatic duct tension has disappeared, and the dilation has significantly decreased throughout!" Director Liu reported in one breath.

This is irrefutable evidence! Irrefutable evidence from imaging!

But it's not over.

Another series of hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor. The head of the laboratory department, clutching several lab reports, rushed in like a whirlwind.

"The blood test results are in!"

He slammed the form down in the middle of the long table and tapped the numbers on it twice with his finger.

"Total bilirubin is 17 micromoles per liter, and direct bilirubin is 6 micromoles per liter. A dramatic drop! It has firmly reached the normal threshold!"

"CA19-9?" Professor Zhao didn't even turn his head, his voice hoarse.

"Thirty-five units per milliliter, completely within the normal range, with no abnormal fluctuations!" the head of the laboratory department answered loudly.

Imagery plus biochemistry: a closed loop of dual evidence.

Like two heavy hammers, it shattered the previously settled diagnosis of "pancreatic cancer".

Zhang Guohua slammed his teacup on the table with a loud bang, spilling a few drops of tea. His face flushed with excitement, and he stammered, "This...this is an inflammatory pseudotumor! Dexamethasone worked!"

He whirled around to the still-stunned head nurse in the operating room, practically shouting, "Go down immediately and officially cancel Commander Zhou's 'pancreaticoduodenectomy' top-level contingency plan! The entire surgical team is disbanded!"

"Yes!" the head nurse replied loudly, then turned and ran out.

Outside the door, the old lady heard the shout, covered her face, and burst into tears. This was not grief, but the ecstatic joy of finally removing the guillotine that had been hanging over her neck.

Zhou Mingyuan's eyes were red and swollen. He strode up to Ye Zhen and bowed deeply to her. "Dr. Ye, the Zhou family will never forget your life-saving grace. If it weren't for you taking the pressure to stop that knife, my father would probably be..." His voice choked, and he couldn't finish his sentence.

Ye Zhen put the pen back in her pocket, stood up, and said in a cool and objective tone, "No need to thank me, it's the leader who dared to believe it."

The entire conference room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

All eyes were drawn to the slightly hunched figure in front of the lightbox.

Professor Zhao stood there, looking at the test results for a very long time.

This veteran authority, who had dominated the fields of cardiothoracic and hepatobiliary surgery in Beijing for thirty years, could once determine a patient's fate with a single sentence. A disease that more than twenty experts couldn't diagnose was overturned by a young woman in her early twenties using a few cents' worth of hormone medication.

Professor Zhao slowly turned around.

He took off his reading glasses, carefully folded them, and put them in his jacket pocket. Then, step by step, he walked up to Ye Zhen.

Zhang Guohua nervously opened his mouth: "Old Zhao..."

Professor Zhao raised his hand, interrupting Zhang Guohua.

He looked at Ye Zhen, took a deep breath, and then bent over, giving a deep bow at a ninety-degree angle.

"Dr. Ye, I, Old Zhao, admit defeat today with complete sincerity." Professor Zhao's voice trembled slightly, but his words were exceptionally clear. "I apologize to you. I was arrogant and rigid in my thinking. If you hadn't persisted, I would have made a mistake."

This is the bottom line for the older generation of doctors.

He was wrong, and he could admit it even in front of more than twenty department heads or younger colleagues.

Ye Zhen stood quietly and accepted his bow with composure.

Then, she stepped forward, supported Professor Zhao's arms with both hands, and steadily helped the elderly man up.

"Professor Zhao, you flatter me."

Ye Zhen looked at the old man's reddened eyes and said in a soft but firm voice, "There are no winners or losers in medicine. Even if we argue until we're red in the face, slam our fists on the table and throw medical records, as long as the final incision isn't made on the wrong patient..."

She paused, her gaze sweeping across the entire room.

"We are all winners."

Professor Zhao gripped Ye Zhen's wrist tightly, nodding repeatedly, "Good...good! What a great line, 'We are all winners'! Having a doctor like you is a blessing for us ordinary people, a blessing for our country!"

Several young directors in the back row had tears in their eyes.

Gu Zheng leaned against the wall, looking at Ye Zhen in the center of the crowd, his eyes filled with unyielding pride. This was his woman. She didn't need family background to oppress others, nor did she need power to pave her way; with her medical skills alone, she could make all the famous doctors in the capital bow down.

Zhang Guohua quickly smoothed things over, "Alright, alright! Now that the crisis is over, hurry up and tell the old commander the good news!"

The crowd escorted Professor Zhao and his family towards the ward, finally allowing their nerves, which had been tense for three days and three nights, to completely relax.

Ye Zhen didn't join in the fun. Instead, she turned and walked to the window, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Gu Zheng walked over, took out a White Rabbit milk candy from his pocket, skillfully unwrapped it, and stuffed it into her mouth.

"Is it sweet?" he asked.

"It's alright." Ye Zhen nodded, pushing the candy aside with the tip of her tongue. "After we've seen the old chief, let's head back. We haven't finished answering the students' questions yet! We have to go back to Beicheng this afternoon; there's still a lot to take care of there!"