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

Alice is three days post-surgery.

Schroeder stood by the window, clutching a small woolen hat tightly in his hand, the brim almost wrinkled from his grip.

"Dr. Ye, she ate half a bowl of porridge this morning and also asked for a piece of apple."

Ye Zhen flipped through the record sheet on the metal clip by the bedside, the pen tip hovering over the urine output column: "Give her only three small pieces of apple, chew slowly, don't let her overeat in her excitement."

Alice leaned against the raised pillows, her face much rosier than when she first arrived in China. Hearing this, she immediately hid her little hands under the covers: "Sister, three small pieces are too few."

Ye Zhen looked up at her: "Your heart just had its windows repaired, and the house is still being ventilated. The host can't hold a banquet inside right away."

Alice blinked her grey-blue eyes and turned to look at the door: "My sister is stricter than the nurses in Berlin!"

Gu Zheng, wearing a white shirt with two buttons undone, leaned against the door frame, holding a military green aluminum water bottle with a chipped paint, and chuckled indulgently, "She's stricter with me. If I eat even one extra bite of chili, I have to write a 300-word self-criticism."

Alice giggled. Her chest rose and fell slightly, but the heart rate monitor beside the bed continued its steady climb.

Seeing this, Schroeder immediately tensed up and turned around: "Can she laugh like that? Won't it aggravate her wound? Should I make her stop?"

Ye Zhen calmly hung the stethoscope around her neck: "This shows that the burden on her pulmonary circulation has not overwhelmed her, which is a good thing."

Schroeder remained intently focused on the monitor: "What about blood oxygen? Yesterday it was 94, today it's 95. The value has increased, what does that mean?"

Ye Zhen handed the record sheet to the nurse next to her and said simply, "This means that the residual diversion after the blockage has disappeared, and her body has begun to adapt to the new blood flow path."

Undeterred, Schroeder pressed on, "What about liver and kidney function? The leading experts in Berlin have said that the biggest fear for a child like her after surgery is that her organs won't be able to handle it!"

The nurse deftly handed over the newly issued lab report: "Director Ye, your alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is normal, your creatinine is normal, your urine output is stable, and your coagulation indicators are all within the safe range."

Ye Zhen took the form and scanned it quickly: "Mr. Schroeder, no problem."

Schroeder stared down at the lab report filled with Chinese characters, his rough fingers rubbing back and forth on the edge of the paper: "Dr. Ye, I won't feel at ease if I don't ask."

Gu Zheng strode over, handed the water bottle to Ye Zhen, and said in a tone with a hint of military roguishness, "Old man, you're not just being uneasy, you're treating our main hospital like your ship's watch room, wanting to report your location every fifteen minutes."

Schroeder looked up at him seriously: "Mr. Gu, if a ship has ever almost sunk, the captain will listen to the sound of the waves all night long."

Gu Zheng stopped joking and straightened his back a bit: "Then you can rest assured and listen to the good news today."

Just then, the ward door was pushed open, and the British expert Williams walked in.

He was wearing a crisply pressed suit, his tie even more neatly tied than when we first met at the airport, and he was carrying a thick stack of folders. Following behind him were Professor Green and Anderson.

Dean Zhou Hai stood by with a smile: "Xiao Ye, the British expert team said they want to participate in today's follow-up examination."

Ye Zhen slapped the test results back onto the clipboard without even looking up: "Okay."

Williams walked to the foot of the bed, his gaze lingering on Alice for a long time before he finally spoke in broken Chinese, "Good morning, Alice."

Alice pulled the blanket down a little: "Good morning, Grandpa Williams."

Williams' hand paused on the folder for a moment, then he looked at Ye Zhen: "May I listen to her heart and lungs?"

Alice turned to look at Ye Zhen.

Ye Zhen nodded: "Okay. But don't let it go on for too long. She just finished breakfast and needs to rest."

Williams approached the bedside, bent down, and expertly warmed the stethoscope in his palm. He didn't place it immediately, but glanced at Alice first: "It'll be a little cold."

Alice muttered softly, "Sister Ye's stethoscope is also cold, but she always warms it up in her hands first."

Williams' hand froze in mid-air, then he silently warmed the stethoscope for a while longer, and sighed softly, "She taught very well."

Schroeder stood to the side, his old eyes glaring, and warned him protectively, "Go easy on me!"

Williams nodded: "I will."

The stethoscope was placed against the chest, and the ward fell silent instantly. The chirping of cicadas, typical of the 1980s, drifted in through the glass, and even the nurses softened their movements as they turned the pages.

Williams first listened to the aortic area, then moved to the pulmonary artery area. The lines between his brows gradually smoothed out, finally lingering for a long time at the apex of his heart. The old knight's hand holding the stethoscope trembled slightly, almost uncontrollably.

Green couldn't help but urge from behind, "Where's the background noise?"

Williams did not answer.

Anderson, equally anxious, took half a step forward: "How's the sound of blood flowing?"

Williams held his breath, staring intently at the stethoscope, as if processing a tremendous shock.

Alice raised her little hand and gently poked the rubber tubing of the stethoscope: "Grandpa Williams, is my heart still leaking air?"

Williams finally removed his stethoscope and slowly straightened up. He stared at the child lying in the simple Chinese hospital room, a child who had been sentenced to death by all of Europe, for a full half minute.

Schroeder's face finally snapped: "Say something!"

When Williams spoke, his voice was deep but extremely certain: "No. There is no noticeable residual shunt noise."

Anderson swallowed hard. "What about the lungs?"

Williams shoved the stethoscope into Green's hand, as if announcing a miracle: "Very clean! Not a single wet rales!"

Are you sure?

Williams turned his head and said, word by word, "I swear on my academic reputation, I am absolutely certain."

Alice looked up at her and asked, "Grandpa, can I go home now?"

Schroeder half-squatted down, his trembling hand covering the blanket: "We... will listen to Dr. Ye."

Alice then looked at Ye Zhen: "Aunt Ye, can I take a ship back to Germany?"

Ye Zhen put away her pen: "You can take a plane; it's shorter and there's less turbulence."

Schroeder pressed eagerly, "When can we leave?"

Ye Zhen glanced at the large clock on the wall: "Observe for another 24 hours, and have a follow-up ultrasound tomorrow morning. As long as the data is stable, you can be discharged and transferred."

Schroeder closed his eyes briefly, exhaled a heavy breath, and when he opened them again, tears welled in his eyes: "Dr. Ye... thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Don't thank me yet," Ye Zhen said in a cool and professional tone. "After you go back, you need to eat a light diet and avoid strenuous activity for six months. You must send me her blood oxygen and heart rate data every week."

Schroeder nodded vigorously: "I'll arrange it! Fax, long-distance call, even sending someone to deliver it—whatever you need, I'll do it!"

Gu Zheng suddenly interjected, "Also, keep a close eye on her, don't let her secretly eat too much candy."

Alice buried her face in the blankets and protested softly, "My brother is a big traitor."

Gu Zheng raised an eyebrow, looking incredibly arrogant: "Don't give me that. I'm under Dr. Gui Ye's jurisdiction."

Alice tilted her head and thought seriously for a moment: "Then you'll be my sister's soldier!"

Gu Zheng looked at Ye Zhen, his military swagger radiating blatant boasting: "Did you hear that? Wife? This is an internationally recognized identity."