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

Winter in Shichahai offers a unique blend of liveliness and charm characteristic of old Beijing.

The next day, as the engine of Gu Zheng's Jeep fell silent, a cacophony of noise surged in from all directions, instantly enveloping the surroundings. The ice rink was teeming with people, their laughter, exclamations, and the occasional crisp sound of skates scraping against the ice, all blending into a winter symphony. The sweet aroma of roasted sweet potatoes mingled with the steam of sugar-roasted chestnuts, creating a warm, human touch against the cold wind. It was one of the most fashionable pastimes for young people in Beijing in the early 1980s; figures in military green overcoats and blue cotton-padded jackets moved across the ice, creating a vibrant, flowing spectacle.

Gu Zheng opened the car door with the decisiveness unique to soldiers. He casually draped his oversized, conspicuous military overcoat over a corner of the bench, beneath which lay a crisp training uniform that accentuated his broad shoulders and lean frame. With a light push of his foot, he nimbly glided across the ice, tracing a beautiful arc, and came to a smooth stop in front of Ye Zhen. He raised an eyebrow, his face now displaying the carefree and unrestrained air characteristic of a scion of a wealthy Beijing family, even tinged with a hint of smugness.

"Wife, did you see that?" He smiled, his voice low but filled with pride. "That's called skill. Today, Instructor Gu will personally take you flying."

Ye Zhen, wrapped in Gu Zheng's still-warm coat, huddled like a little quail. Staring at the rented ice skates, her professional instincts kicked in: "Gu Zheng, from an orthopedic perspective, this sport is extremely bad for the meniscus. Instability can lead to patellar chondromalacia, and a side fall can easily cause a distal radius fracture..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Gu Zheng said, both amused and exasperated, grabbing her wrist. "Dr. Ye, we're just having fun, not holding a seminar. Put your anatomy aside for now and give me your hand."

The next ten minutes brought an unprecedented sense of defeat to the usually confident Gu Zheng. He discovered that teaching Ye Zhen to ice skate was far more mentally taxing than leading a group of raw recruits in cross-country running. On the operating table, this girl was a top-tier surgeon capable of controlling life and death; her hands were steady, decisive, and almost miraculous. But once on the ice, her limbs seemed like newly fitted prosthetics, completely unresponsive to her brain.

"Shift your weight! Lean forward! Don't keep leaning back!" Gu Zheng's voice was tinged with anxiety. His large hands tightly protected Ye Zhen's slender waist, almost lifting her as he slowly moved her across the ice. Looking at her legs, which seemed frozen, he couldn't help but say again, "Straighten your legs! You're a doctor, don't you know the principles of human power generation?!"

Ye Zhen's face was flushed red from the cold wind, but fine beads of sweat appeared on the tip of her nose. She pursed her lips, not responding to Gu Zheng's "complaint," but her mind was racing at an astonishing speed. She wasn't following his instructions; she was trying to translate those abstract physics formulas into practical balancing techniques: what angle should her left foot push off the ice, and what was the optimal forward lean...?

"You... relax a little," Ye Zhen suddenly spoke, her voice hesitant.

Gu Zheng was taken aback when he heard her say that. Then he raised an eyebrow and said in a slightly teasing tone, "Are you sure? If you fall, I won't be responsible." Although he said that, the hand holding her waist only loosened slightly, still maintaining enough distance to provide support at any time.

Just then, a miraculous scene unfolded.

Just moments before, Ye Zhen had been as stiff as a puppet, but suddenly a focused concentration, like that of someone holding a scalpel, appeared in her clear, cold eyes. She seemed to have found a perfect fit between the ice skate and the ice. Although her movements were still awkward, she managed to glide forward, albeit unsteadily, for about two meters! Her posture possessed a clumsy yet beautiful quality.

"Wow! You've improved!" Gu Zheng's eyes lit up, his face showing an expression of even greater joy than if he had won a battle himself. He stayed close to Ye Zhen, protecting her at all times, his lips barely concealing his pride: "See? My wife is so smart! Her comprehension is simply unmatched!" He felt an indescribable sense of pride welling up inside him, and every bit of progress Ye Zhen made brought him genuine joy.

Just as the two were enjoying this rare moment of tenderness, a piercing whistle suddenly came from the side.

"Excuse me! Excuse me! Get out of the way, you blind fools!"

A young thug wearing a floral shirt and bell-bottoms, with long, flowing hair, rushed over like a black whirlwind, riding a speed skate.

This person was clearly showing off on purpose. Just as he was about to hit Ye Zhen, he suddenly braked sharply and slid sideways!

"Sizzle!"

The ice skates scooped up a large amount of fine ice shards from the ice surface and hurled them at Ye Zhen's face.

Ye Zhen was completely focused on maintaining her balance when she was blinded by the sudden ice shards, causing her carefully calculated "mechanical balance" to collapse instantly.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, falling backward uncontrollably.

If this fall is solid, and the back of the head hits the hard ice, it'll give you a bump!

In the blink of an eye, a green figure pounced.

Gu Zheng didn't even have time to think; his body reacted faster than his brain. Just as Ye Zhen was about to land, he reached out and caught her with his long arm.

"Bang!"

A dull thud that made your teeth ache.

The tall man, over six feet tall, landed solidly on the hard, iron-like ice. Ye Zhen, however, lay unharmed on his broad, warm chest, her hair perfectly intact except for the shock.

"Ugh..." Gu Zheng let out a suppressed groan, his brows furrowing tightly.

Not far away, the man in bell-bottoms and several companions stopped. Instead of apologizing, they pointed at the two men on the ground and burst into a raucous, vulgar laugh.

"Hey guys! Look at this! This old Liberation Army truck is really something else!"

"Doing this on the ice in broad daylight? That's called...human pyramid, right? Hahahaha!"

"That's just them taking pictures of older women. Didn't you see how protective they were of that girl? How jealous!"

Ye Zhen's mind went blank for a moment. She hurriedly propped herself up and reached out to touch Gu Zheng's back: "Gu Zheng! How are you? Are you hurt?"

"Don't move."

Gu Zheng's voice was low and hoarse, revealing no emotion.

He pressed down on Ye Zhen's wandering hands, took a deep breath, and slowly sat up. First, he helped Ye Zhen stand steadily, then gently brushed the ice shards off her coat, his movements so gentle that it was as if the heavy fall had never happened.

After doing all this, he slowly stood up, stretched his neck, and made a crisp "crack" sound.

In that instant, Ye Zhen felt the air around her drop several degrees.

Gu Zheng turned around, his usual carefree and roguish air completely gone. His eagle eyes, sharpened by the bloodshed of the battlefield, were fixed on the still grinning "bell-bottoms."

"Who just mentioned human pyramids?"

Gu Zheng unbuttoned his cuffs as he slowly walked over there.

"Come on, let me teach you a new position."

A cruel smile curled at the corner of his lips, his eyes as fierce as those of an enraged wolf king.

"It's called 'dog eating shit.' No... it's called eating ice shards."