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

The lingering force of Zhou Hai's slam on the table made the red-headed paper tremble slightly. He gripped the pen tightly and signed his name, the hot blood surging in his chest gradually cooling as the bright red seal of the academy slammed heavily onto the paper.

He stared at the heading of the document, "Preparation Plan for the Cardiovascular Intervention Training Course of Huaxia Heart," and a fine layer of white sweat seeped from his back.

Ye Zhen wants to open recruitment nationwide, to forcefully tear out talent from the existing staffing system and the network of departmental interests.

Zhou Hai took off his reading glasses and rubbed his throbbing temples.

"Xiao Ye, I've stamped it and I've said my piece."

Zhou Hai pushed the documents to the edge of the table.

"Once the national open recruitment notice is posted, hospitals in all provinces, military hospitals, and medical colleges will all go crazy. The number of people asking for favors and making requests will be enough to break down the door frame of my office."

Ye Zhen picked up the document and rubbed the still-wet ink pad with her fingertip.

"Therefore, rules must be established in advance, regardless of professional title or unit, only the results of examinations and clinical simulations should be considered."

Ye Zhen folded the document and stuffed it into her pocket.

"All applicants will be anonymously assigned a number; their names will not be seen during the grading process, and during the interview, only their number will be provided, not their background."

Zhou Hai's eyelids twitched; there was no rule in the system of not checking the unit's letter of introduction before doing business.

He met Ye Zhen's cold gaze and ultimately swallowed back all his words of dissuasion.

Gu Zheng leaned against the door frame and chuckled softly.

"Old Zhou, let anyone who thinks they're so great stick their face on the bulletin board and see if it's as tough as their report card."

Gu Zheng's nonchalant words made Zhou Hai laugh.

He picked up his pen again and added his comments to the blank spaces in the document before handing it over to the administrative department for copying.

Half an hour later, a crowd gathered in front of the bulletin board of the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital.

The Huaxia Heart Cardiovascular Intervention Training Program clearly states in black and white that it is recruiting its first batch of 20 students, covering a wide range of clinical doctors and recent graduates. The assessment consists of four hard indicators, including theory and hands-on operation.

The rules listed at the bottom are straightforward and glaring, regardless of professional title or background, rejecting special treatment, with anonymous numbering and public disclosure of results throughout the process.

Several young cardiac surgeons, their faces flushed, crowded in the crowd.

In the past, the number of places for further training depended entirely on background and qualifications and the director's roll call. Even those at the bottom who ran errands and wrote medical records had to be mindful of others' attitudes when eavesdropping.

Ye Zhen's rule of judging heroes solely by their achievements completely shattered the class barriers.

Recruitment news spread like wildfire throughout the medical community.

The CityU Medical School was the first to erupt in excitement. Gu Linlin was blocked by medical students on the tree-lined road as soon as she rode her bicycle into the school gate.

"Linlin, is the announcement true? Can female students and recent graduates apply without a hospital referral letter?"

Gu Linlin straightened her back, facing more than a dozen pairs of burning eyes.

"My sister-in-law has spoken: regardless of gender or background, anyone who dares to take the exam will be accepted by her."

Gu Linlin cleared her throat.

"Let me make this clear from the start: if you can't pass the simulation, even pleading with the Emperor himself won't help."

Gasps of shock filled the air.

Some rushed to the academic affairs office to obtain academic transcripts, some ran to the library with their textbooks, and many more kept the address of the North City General Hospital firmly in their hands.

Gu Linlin watched as this group of usually aloof academic high-achievers became sweating profusely with anxiety, and secretly rejoiced that she had finally become her sister-in-law's exclusive spokesperson.

Before the commotion at the North City General Hospital had subsided, a stack of special letters had already piled up on Zhou Hai's desk.

Within three days, recommendation letters bearing the official seals of the Provincial Health Department and other military hospitals arrived like snowflakes.

The letters were politely worded but went straight to the point, with many claiming to be giving their children special training and asking for admission without examination.

When Zhou Hai opened the third letter, his temples throbbed.

He swept the letters into the drawer, intending to deal with them after Ye Zhen finished the surgery.

At noon, Ye Zhen had just finished a surgery and eaten the lunch Gu Zheng had brought her. She was sitting in her office organizing the femoral artery puncture model sketch and cardiac anatomy questions.

Zhou Hai slammed the stack of letters bearing various official seals onto her desk.

"The first group of people to test the limits have arrived."

Ye Zhen opened the letter extremely quickly.

She pulled out the original draft of the announcement and added a line at the end: anyone who requested special consideration with a letter of recommendation would be included in the list of candidates to be reviewed on an ad hoc basis, and their exam scores, recommending units, and review opinions must be publicly displayed throughout the entire hospital.

Gu Zheng leaned against the edge of the table, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the line of text.

"Are we keeping these people with connections around for the New Year?"

Ye Zhen capped the pen and tossed it into the pen holder.

"Kicking someone directly would be seen as heartless, so it's better to turn the exam room into a mirror to reveal true character."

Ye Zhen glanced coldly at the pile of recommendation letters.

"If you're capable, get in based on your grades; if you're not, nail these official seals and those worthless grades to the pillar of shame."

Gu Zheng let out a low laugh.

"As expected of my wife, she's ruthless."

The posting of the supplementary terms caused an uproar in the courtyard.

Several applicants, carrying letters of recommendation and hoping to take a shortcut, stood in front of the bulletin board, their faces ashen, suppressing their anger and cursing Ye Zhen for breaking the rules of the industry.

A young resident doctor from the county hospital who had come over rolled his eyes.

"Those with real talent and ability have nothing to fear from being publicly announced; what's truly worrisome is someone who's all show and no substance but wants to occupy a position without doing anything."

Those people were so choked by this sarcastic remark that they slunk away.

When the news of the incident reached the Ministry of Health, Vice Minister Li was presiding over a meeting.

After listening to his secretary's whispered report, he slammed the enamel mug heavily onto the table.

"Well done!"

Vice Minister Li surveyed the meeting room.

"Open recruitment combined with anonymous grading is the only way to select national heroes. The Ministry of Health must not become a childcare center for those with connections."

That afternoon, a red-headed fax from the Ministry of Health arrived at the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital.

The document strictly orders local health systems not to interfere with the selection process with administrative power, while encouraging equal competition between grassroots and female medical workers.

Zhou Hai stood in the corridor, holding the fax paper, letting the breeze blow away the pent-up frustration in his chest.

With the Ministry of Health acting as a powerful figure to keep things under control, those interest groups that try to take advantage of the situation will have to think twice before deciding whether they have the backbone to back up their efforts.

The meeting room was nearly overwhelmed by a deluge of materials on the eve of the registration deadline.

Exquisite academic records from prestigious universities in Beijing are mixed together with handwritten applications from county hospitals, while official recommendation forms from military medical universities stand alongside simple self-introductions transcribed by medical students on graph paper.

Gu Yue numbered the papers according to province and city, working tirelessly on an empty stomach amidst the piles of paper.

Ye Zhen sat at the end of the long table, reviewing the document word by word.

Gu Zheng pushed open the door and entered, carrying an aluminum lunchbox.

"Have something to eat first. You're choosing apprentices, no need to act like you're worshipping a deity."

Ye Zhen stuffed a file into a numbered bag, her gaze still fixed on the pages.

"This group of people will dominate the operating table in the future, and a single mistake could cost a precious life."

Gu Yue's stamping motion froze in mid-air, her remaining drowsiness completely shattered by those words.

She solemnly pressed the number stamp onto the edge of the page.

She finally realized that Ye Zhen's program was not an ordinary tutoring class, but rather a selection process for the first batch of backbones in China who could support a broken heart with their bare hands.

The small conference room was still brightly lit at 10 p.m.