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

The next morning, the switchboard at the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital received a call from the Gu family's old residence.

The operator nearly dropped her pencil into the crack in the table when she heard the caller's identity.

She didn't dare delay and quickly transferred the patient to the foreign patient ward.

Ye Zhen had just finished a preoperative assessment for a child patient when the phone on the table rang.

She picked up the receiver.

"Zhen, it's me."

Grandpa Gu's voice came from the other end of the phone.

Ye Zhen paused as she flipped through the medical records.

"grandfather."

"Vice Minister Li came last night."

Grandpa Gu didn't beat around the bush.

"I understand that the Mayo Clinic in the United States wants you to come over."

Ye Zhen closed the red pen in her hand.

"I still have twelve critically ill children under my care. Four of them have been experiencing repeated oxygen deprivation, and their appointments cannot be postponed."

"I didn't ask you to abandon the patient."

Grandpa Gu's tone was very calm.

"If you really let the patients leave, I'll be the first to beat them up."

Grandma Gu's complaints came from the other end of the phone.

"Speak properly, why are you hitting someone again?"

Grandpa Gu coughed lightly twice.

"I'm just using an example."

Ye Zhen leaned against the table, without urging him.

"Xiao Ye, you don't want to go because you think they can just send you there for scrutiny with an invitation letter."

Old Master Gu's voice carried a hint of anger.

"I can't swallow this insult either."

"Dozens of children from Europe returned alive. Mayo and his group, across the ocean, were picking and choosing, acting as if they were waiting for you to come and prove your innocence."

The old man snorted heavily.

"Who do they think they are?"

Liu Xiaohe, who was organizing medicines nearby, suddenly stopped what she was doing.

Ye Zhen switched the microphone to the other ear.

"Harrison himself did not belittle Chinese standards."

I wasn't talking about Harrison.

Old Master Gu's voice turned somber.

"I'm referring to the group of people sitting in American conference rooms behind him who think that Chinese people can only learn from them."

"Zhen, you're not going to America to beg for their approval, nor are you going to let them use American rules to interrogate you, a Chinese doctor."

The old man said, word by word:

"You're going to tell them exactly how the surgery should be performed."

"We don't ask for favors."

"Let's go and set the rules for them."

No one spoke in the office anymore.

Liu Xiaohe quietly put down the medicine tray, stepped outside, and closed the door tightly behind her.

Ye Zhen looked down at the schedule of sick children on the table.

On the other end of the phone, Grandpa Gu didn't urge her.

The hourly chime came from the transistor radio, clearly audible even over the phone.

After a while, the old man spoke again.

"You did the right thing by saving these twelve children."

"But a truly effective standard cannot be upheld by just one person."

"Even if you work twelve machines a day and your arms break from exhaustion, you can only save twelve people."

"If you teach a hundred doctors, they can save a hundred or two hundred lives."

"Let Chinese standards enter American hospitals. In the future, if something happens to children there, the doctors won't be referring to their old textbooks, but rather the operating procedures you, Ye Zhen, wrote."

Ye Zhen still did not answer.

The old man added:

"This is what you should be fighting for."

The sound of a cart rolling could be heard from outside the corridor.

A child was crying, and the nurse was trying to soothe him in a low voice. The crying seeped in through the crack in the door, faint but unsettling.

Ye Zhen rearranged the twelve medical records on the table.

"Did Vice Minister Li also talk to you about the Nobel Prize?"

"I did."

Grandpa Gu did not avoid the topic.

"I've lived to this age and seen quite a few medals. Some were earned with one's life, while others are just for show on the wall."

He paused.

"But China needs a Nobel Prize in Medicine."

Ye Zhen's brows furrowed slightly.

"Over the years, foreign medical journals have set the standards, and foreign pharmaceutical companies have set the prices. If a foreign expert doesn't approve of something, no matter how good our products are, we'll have to wait in line."

"They believe that the most advanced medicine can only come from their country."

"If this award really falls on China Standard, it will shatter the order they've established."

"From now on, Chinese doctors will be able to demonstrate their skills without having to first explain why they are qualified."

Ye Zhen pressed her fingers against the corner of the schedule.

"A nomination does not guarantee an award."

"Then write the name down first."

Grandpa Gu answered decisively.

"There is no reason not to send troops on the battlefield just because victory cannot be guaranteed."

"Mayo opened the door, so you can go in."

"Once you're inside, don't hold back. Present the data you need to present, and refute anyone who dares to challenge you based on their background or nationality. Show them the medical records of the patients you've successfully treated."

Whether they admit it or not is their business.

"It's our job to establish the rules first."

The office door was gently pushed open.

Gu Zheng walked in carrying a net bag containing lunch.

Seeing that Ye Zhen was on the phone, he didn't say anything, but put the lunchbox on the table and opened the lid to check the temperature.

Ye Zhen raised her hand, gesturing for him to sit down.

"Grandpa, I can go."

Gu Zheng suddenly raised his head.

There was a two-second pause on the other end of the phone.

Grandpa Gu then laughed.

"That's more like it."

Ye Zhen picked up the pencil, her tone remaining calm.

"But high-risk children must undergo surgery before departure. The remaining cases will be handled by doctors who have passed my assessment and are registered with the hospital and health department."

After listening, Grandpa Gu chuckled on the other end of the phone.

"This is the Gu family's granddaughter-in-law."

He paused for a moment, then said:

"Gu Zheng must come along."

"Security arrangements are made by higher authorities."

"It was an official assignment from my superiors."

Old Master Gu changed his tone.

"His presence is a family matter."

Gu Zheng immediately replied:

"Grandpa was wise."

Ye Zhen glanced at him.

"What about your unit's training and exercises?"

"Political Commissar Zhang has already patted his chest and guaranteed to work for me until I retire."

Gu Zheng pushed the lunchbox in front of her.

"I am ordered to protect strategic talents, and I must obey the organization's arrangements."

Grandpa Gu's laughter came from the other end of the phone.

"Putting aside all his other skills, this kid certainly has a thick skin."

Gu Zheng didn't mind at all.

"Praise me as you please."

The phone hangs up.

Ye Zhen did not eat immediately.

She picked up a pencil, walked to the whiteboard, erased all the surgery schedules before the end of the month, and filled them in again.

Gu Zheng opened the lunchbox.

"You just agreed to go to America, and now you're planning to exhaust yourself?"

"I didn't do it."

Next to the names of the two children at level two risk, Ye Zhen wrote down Liu Xiaohe and Gao Yuan respectively.

Gu Zheng understood.

Are you ready to let go?

"The heart of China cannot rely on me alone."

Ye Zhen put down her pencil.

"They've been following us for so long, their theoretical assessments and simulated operations have long been up to par. What they lack is the opportunity to perform surgery independently."

She glanced at the densely packed names on the whiteboard.

"In the past, when there were many patients, I always felt that I was more confident in performing the procedures myself."

"Zhang Xiaobao's blood clot incident also illustrates that when all the burdens are placed on me, the subordinates will get used to waiting for orders."

She turned and pressed the internal phone.

"Notify Liu Xiaohe and Gao Yuan to be in catheterization lab number one in ten minutes."

"Send over Qin Le and Chen Xiaoguang's medical records as well."

Ten minutes later, Liu Xiaohe and Gao Yuan rushed over.

As soon as the two entered, Ye Zhen placed two medical records on the operating table.

"Qin Le, seven years old, atrial septal defect, level two risk."

"Chen Xiaoguang, nine years old, ventricular septal defect, level 2 risk."

"The preoperative assessment has been completed, and the family has signed the surgical consent form."

Liu Xiaohe opened the medical record, and her expression quickly changed.

Gao Yuan also sensed that something was wrong.

"Teacher Ye, which part are you assigning us to be responsible for?"

Ye Zhen raised her hand and glanced at her watch.

Two surgeries this afternoon.

Her gaze swept across the two faces.

"You will each take the lead in the surgery."

Liu Xiaohe and Gao Yuan both froze.

Outside the No. 1 catheter room, footsteps, strollers, and children's cries mingled together in the corridor.

The two looked at the medical record in front of them, but neither of them reached out immediately.

Ye Zhen tapped on the table.

"What's wrong? You got full marks on the theory test, but you can't even turn the page when facing a real patient?"

Liu Xiaohe pursed her lips.

"Teacher Ye, I'm afraid something might go wrong."

"It's probably a good thing."

Ye Zhen spoke calmly.

"Fear means you know what you're holding isn't a model."

"But I'm afraid I can't make the decision for you. This afternoon, I'll only be responsible for the final risk assessment and crisis management. Whether you can hold the lead surgeon position depends on yourselves."

Gao Yuan took a deep breath and reached out to pick up Chen Xiaoguang's medical record.

"I'll take it."

Liu Xiaohe glanced at him and then hugged Qin Le's medical record to her chest.

"I'll take it too."

Ye Zhen nodded.

"Then let's start now and write down each step clearly."

She pointed to the first page of the medical record, her voice low but leaving no room for negotiation.

"Preoperative assessment, instrument verification, guidewire selection, occluder size, sheath removal and compression, and postoperative monitoring—none of these can be done by memory."

"This is the first time you have independently led a surgery."

"This is also the first day that the heart of China is truly handed over to you."