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

Once outside the Friendship Store, the sun was setting and no longer so glaring; it felt warm and cozy on the skin.

Gu Zheng took a long stride, stepped onto the pedal of the "28-inch" bicycle, touched the ground with one foot, and the bicycle slid out a beautiful arc, coming to a steady stop next to the park bench.

He parked the car, and the two sat down on the bench.

Gu Zheng, as if presenting a treasure, pulled a piece of imported chocolate wrapped in tin foil from the paper bag and held it to Ye Zhen's lips, his eyes full of smiles: "Try it, it's a foreign product, it'll sweeten your mouth."

Ye Zhen was looking down at her new watch to check the time when she was suddenly fed a mouthful of food.

The rich aroma of cocoa mingled with the faint scent of tobacco from the man's fingertips, filling her nostrils. She instinctively turned her head away, her ears burning slightly: "It's a public place, what if someone sees us?"

"Look if you want, is it illegal for me to feed my own daughter-in-law?" Gu Zheng didn't care at all, and pushed his fingertips forward again, "Open your mouth."

Ye Zhen couldn't persuade him otherwise, and was about to speak when her gaze went past his shoulder and froze.

A little girl of about five or six years old was standing not far away. She was wearing old clothes that were obviously a size too big, with the cuffs worn shiny. Her hands were tucked into her sleeves, and she was staring longingly at the chocolate in Gu Zheng's hand.

That look was so direct, it was as if he wanted to shove that piece of candy into his mouth, and he even unconsciously swallowed.

Gu Zheng turned around following her gaze and chuckled, "Oh, there's a little glutton watching over you."

The child was so thin he looked unrecognizable, his face was sallow, which made his eyes appear even larger and more frightening.

Ye Zhen felt a strange sting in her heart.

Having witnessed life and death in two lifetimes, she still couldn't harden her heart when faced with the pure longing in her child's eyes.

"Give it to her." Ye Zhen pushed Gu Zheng's hand, got up and walked towards the child.

Gu Zheng raised an eyebrow, said nothing, and stuffed the chocolate back into Ye Zhen's hand, then followed behind, one hand in his pocket, protecting her. His wife looked aloof, but her heart was softer than anyone else's.

Ye Zhen walked up to the little girl, squatted down, and handed her the chocolate, saying, "Here, this is for you."

The little girl timidly shrank her neck, wanting to take it but not daring to, her thin, dark hands gripping the hem of her clothes tightly.

"Why aren't you playing with the other kids?" Ye Zhen asked, pointing to a group of children not far away.

"I can't catch my breath when I run," the little girl said.

"It's alright, take it." Ye Zhen handed it forward again.

A young woman hurried over, her face filled with sorrow. Seeing this, she smiled gratefully at Ye Zhen and gently nudged the child, saying, "Little girl, catch this. Thank you, sister."

The little girl then cautiously reached out and took the heavy piece of chocolate, her voice barely audible: "Thank you, sister."

The moment the child reached out, Ye Zhen's gaze suddenly sharpened.

Her professional instincts allowed her to instantly detect the anomaly.

The child's fingernails had an eerie bluish-purple color, as if they had been soaked in gentian violet. And the fingertips, which should have been slender, were widened and swollen like drumsticks.

Typical clubbed fingers!

Looking at the child's lips, even in the sunlight, they had a deathly purplish cyanosis.

"How long has the child's lip been like this?" Ye Zhen's voice instantly turned serious, a sign that the doctor was getting into work mode.

The woman was taken aback; her grateful smile froze on her face, then turned into a bitter expression: "...Are you a doctor?"

"I am." Ye Zhen stood up, her gaze calmly sweeping over the child's violently heaving chest. "Cyanosis and clubbing of the fingers... these are signs of severe oxygen deprivation."

"Congenital heart disease?"

The woman's eyes instantly reddened, and before she could speak, a loud shout suddenly rang out from behind her—

"What are you doing! What do you want to do!"

A stubble-bearded man with bloodshot eyes charged out from behind the bushes like a mad bull.

He pulled his wife and daughter behind him, protecting them tightly. His eyes were filled with fear and hostility, as if Ye Zhen and Gu Zheng were some kind of man-eating monster.

The man glanced down and saw the chocolate in his daughter's hand. His expression changed drastically. He snatched it away and slammed it to the ground!

Still not satisfied, he raised his foot and, with a "crack," crushed the expensive imported chocolate into dust, sending it shoveled into the dirt.

"Who told you to eat all that random stuff?! Huh?! You want to die?!"

This sudden turn of events startled several passersby.

Ye Zhen frowned, but did not back down. Looking at the man's overreacting state, she remained calm: "Comrade, calm down. I'm a doctor. If I'm not mistaken, this child's condition..."

"Shut up! Don't give me that nonsense!"

The man trembled as if he'd been stepped on, pointing at Ye Zhen's nose and roaring, "Doctors again? Folk remedies again? You bunch of swindlers, are you never going to stop?!"

"Did you sneak a peek at my daughter's medical records? Huh? You started by describing the symptoms, sounding so convincing, you're just trying to scam me out of money!"

"Get out! All of you, get out of here!"

Utter despair and prolonged pressure drove the father to the brink of madness. His eyes reddened, and he abruptly reached out to shove Ye Zhen, shouting, "Don't touch my daughter!"

The rough, large hand, carrying a strong gust of wind, was about to shove onto Ye Zhen's shoulder.

Ye Zhen's pupils contracted slightly, and she was about to step aside to avoid it—

"Snapped!"

A long, powerful hand suddenly appeared and, like an iron clamp, gripped the man's wrist tightly.

Gu Zheng had somehow managed to stand in front of Ye Zhen.

The man felt as if his wrist was being clamped by hydraulic clamps; the excruciating pain made his face turn pale instantly, and half of his body went numb.

Gu Zheng didn't look at him, but first glanced down at Ye Zhen: "Are you alright?"

Ye Zhen shook her head.

After confirming that his wife was alright, Gu Zheng turned around.

The lazy demeanor he had when feeding chocolates was completely gone. Now, his eyes were as cold as ice ridges in the dead of winter, and the murderous aura emanating from him forced the onlookers to instinctively take two steps back.

"Using violence in the street, is this your upbringing?"

Gu Zheng increased the pressure on his hand, and the man's knees buckled in pain, almost causing him to kneel down.

"Take your dirty hands off."

The man was in so much pain that he was covered in cold sweat, but his stubbornness kicked in and he refused to beg for mercy.

He stared intently at Ye Zhen, tears mingling with snot streaming down his face, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper had been scraped across his skin, filled with a chilling despair:

"Upbringing? I don't know anything about upbringing! All I know is that my daughter is dying..."

"We've been to all the major hospitals in Beijing! Peking Union Medical College Hospital, 301 Hospital, Fuwai Hospital... we've seen all the specialists!"

"They all say it's congenital heart disease! He needs surgery, but where are we going to get the money?"

The man screamed hysterically, then squatted on the ground, buried his head in his hands, and wailed, "I finally saved up some money, and I got scammed! Why won't you swindlers leave us alone...?"

"What right do you have?!"