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

VIP care ward at Charité Hospital, Berlin.

The morning sunlight streamed through the blinds, fading the strong smell of disinfectant in the ward. Ye Zhen had a stethoscope around her neck, no medical record folder in her hand, her hands in the pockets of her white coat, her expression as serene as if she were strolling through her own backyard.

Behind her followed a long "tail".

Professor Bauer led the way, followed by the department head and attending physicians, with a group of interns clutching notebooks at the very back. These usually arrogant and haughty German cardiac surgery elites were now hunched over, pens in hand, practically burying their ears in Ye Zhen's mouth.

"Central venous pressure 12, drainage fluid less than 10 ml per hour." Ye Zhen glanced at the monitor, her tone flat. "How much diuretic did you give last night?"

Hans, the ICU director who was following behind, immediately stood at attention, beads of sweat on his forehead: "As you instructed, 0.5 mg per kilogram of body weight, administered intermittently."

Ye Zhen nodded, reached out and pressed on Alice's calf. The skin rebounded quickly, and there was no swelling.

"It's alright," she commented casually. "Continue with warfarin as the anticoagulant, and keep the INR between 2.0 and 2.5. Although the child's pulmonary vascular resistance has decreased, that 'window' is still causing shunting. High blood viscosity can easily cause blockage, while low viscosity can easily cause leakage. You'll have to find the right balance yourselves."

"Swish swish swish—"

A chorus of unified note-taking sounds rose from behind me.

Professor Bauer adjusted his reading glasses, muttering to himself as he took notes, "Brilliant...absolutely brilliant! Keeping it below 2.5, balancing bleeding and thrombosis—is this the Eastern philosophy of moderation?"

Ye Zhen's lips twitched.

What is this "Doctrine of the Mean"? This is the gold standard that was built up decades later with countless clinical data.

She didn't explain, and turned to walk to the bedside.

On the hospital bed, little Alice had already woken up. Although her face was still a little pale, her blue eyes had regained their sparkle, no longer as dull and lifeless as before. She was holding a teddy bear in her arms, blinking her big eyes and curiously looking around the people in the room, finally fixing her gaze on Gu Zheng, who had been standing in the corner like a guardian deity.

Gu Zheng was wearing a black trench coat today, arms crossed, with a gloomy, sleepy look in his eyes—mainly because he had been helping his wife organize the pile of documents she was taking back to China until midnight last night. His unapproachable demeanor even kept Professor Bauer at bay.

"Sister." Alice reached out her little hand and gently tugged at Ye Zhen's sleeve, her voice soft and sweet, "That uncle looks so fierce."

Ye Zhen followed her gaze and met Gu Zheng's cold eyes.

"Him?" Ye Zhen suppressed a laugh, reaching out to tuck the blanket around the little girl. "Why are you being so fierce?"

Alice shrank back and whispered, "Like those villains in movies... who specialize in kidnapping children. Or those really expensive bodyguards who kill without blinking an eye."

"puff."

Xu Wenqiang, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but laugh. But Gu Zheng shot him a sharp look and he immediately swallowed his laughter, his face turning red.

Ye Zhen turned her head and nodded seriously: "Yes, you have a good eye for people. He is indeed a bodyguard, and a very expensive one at that."

Ye Zhen said slowly, "Two soft-boiled eggs a day, with runny yolks. Not one less. Do you think that's expensive?"

Alice's eyes widened instantly: "Wow! That's expensive! Once I wanted to eat a soft-boiled egg, but Grandpa wouldn't let me because he said it was high in cholesterol!"

Schroeder stood to the side, watching this scene, a smile spreading across his dignified old face. He stepped forward and took out a neatly folded piece of drawing paper from behind him.

"Dr. Ye, this was drawn by Alice. She said she must give it to the Eastern angel who saved her."

Ye Zhen took the painting.

The drawing skills are very immature; it's done with crayons. The drawing depicts a long-haired woman in a white lab coat, holding a glowing sword (probably a scalpel), fighting a dark, monstrous beast. Behind her, there's a large, golden sun.

"Thank you." Ye Zhen's fingers gently traced the rough lines, the coolness in her eyes like the first melting of snow. "I like it very much."

This is the most tender moment for a healer. It's not standing on the podium, not listening to thunderous applause, but watching a little life that should have withered bloom again in the sunlight because of your surgery.

"Sister," Alice held onto her hand tightly, "when are you going to help me patch up that little window in my heart? Although it's not stuffy anymore, Grandpa says that window is still letting in the wind."

Ye Zhen grasped her small hand in return, bent down slightly, and met her gaze.

"No rush." ​​Her voice was gentle yet firm. "Once the 'pressure' in your lungs goes down, like a balloon that's not so inflated anymore, and your blood flows smoothly, that window will have completed its task. Then, come to China to find your sister."

She held up one finger: "Six months. I'll be waiting for you there in the autumn six months from now."

"It's a deal!" Alice held up her little finger.

"It's a deal." Ye Zhen hooked her finger around that soft little finger and stamped it.

……

10:00 AM, Tegel Airport.

The citizens of Berlin were truly amazed that day. Two rows of identical black Mercedes W126 convoys, with their hazard lights flashing, drove impressively through the city. Police cars escorted them from the front and back; one might mistake them for a visiting head of state.

Upon arrival at the airport, the convoy drove directly onto the tarmac, using the diplomatic immunity lane. The airport staff, seeing the Schröder family flag on the hood of the vehicles, didn't dare utter a sound and simply saluted and let them pass.

"Ye, if it weren't for the fact that your country needs you, I would really like to buy the entire Charité Hospital and give it to you." Schroeder stood at the bottom of the gangway, his face full of reluctance, as if he wanted to keep Ye Zhen in Berlin.

"There will be opportunities to cooperate." Ye Zhen shook hands generously. "Thank you for the equipment."

"Of course."

Just then, a blond, handsome man in a bespoke suit suddenly broke through the bodyguards' defenses.

He held a large bouquet of vibrant red roses in his hands, and was about to kneel on one knee: "Oh! My muse! Please allow me..."

"What is allowed?"

A huge iron hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere, grabbing the wrapping paper of the bouquet of roses as if it were picking up a chick.

Gu Zheng had somehow appeared in front of Ye Zhen, his trench coat fluttering in the wind, making him look like a moving wall of sighs. He stared expressionlessly at the handsome German man who was half a head shorter than him, and with a slight flick of his wrist, the bouquet of roses was in his hand.

"These flowers are nice." Gu Zheng lowered his head to smell them, then frowned and said in a serious tone, "But unfortunately, according to Article [number missing] of the International Aviation Safety Regulations, fresh flowers are biological products, and carrying them may cause the spread of allergens in the cabin, or even... clog the air intake of the aircraft engine."

The German guy was dumbfounded: "Huh? Blocked...engine?"

Ye Zhen pinched the soft flesh on Gu Zheng's waist from behind, but only pinched a layer of hard muscle.

"Sorry." Gu Zheng casually shoved the expensive bouquet of roses back into the hands of the dumbfounded butler, Schroeder, his movements fluid and effortless, without even glancing at the heartbroken young man. "My wife is allergic to pollen. Also, I'm a clumsy person and prone to making mistakes, so remember to buy insurance next time you send flowers."

After saying that, he didn't give her a chance to react at all. He put his arm around Ye Zhen's shoulder and turned around domineeringly: "Let's go, wife. We have to be on guard against these capitalist sugar-coated bullets."

Ye Zhen was led up the gangway by him, both amused and exasperated: "Commander Gu, when did I become allergic to pollen?"

Gu Zheng stared straight ahead, speaking with an air of self-righteousness: "Just now, the instant that pretty boy's knees bent, you had an allergic reaction. This is a doctor's order; I'm a family member, and my word is law."

……

The plane soared into the sky, leaving the fragmented yet bustling city behind.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am the captain of this flight."

The captain's excited voice came over the intercom, no longer the stiff, monotonous announcer's tone: "It's a great honor to escort our hero, Dr. Ye Zhen. Today's flight is a bit long, but rest assured, we'll fly smoother than a tractor!"

A burst of laughter erupted in the cabin.

Xu Wenqiang and Dean Zhang Guohua had no time to worry about the smoothness of the flight. These two intellectuals, whose combined age was nearly a hundred, were holding the equipment list in their hands, grinning like two bandits who had just successfully robbed a bank.

"Look at this! A bidirectional C-arm!" Xu Wenqiang pointed to a line on the list, his fingers trembling, his eyes gleaming with greed. "With this, we can do coronary angiography! Those blockages in blood vessels that we could only guess about before, we can now see clearly!"

Zhang Guohua went even further, hugging the list and kissing it, tears streaming down his face: "I knew it! I knew Dr. Ye wouldn't come empty-handed! This isn't just equipment, it's the nuclear weapon of Chinese cardiac surgery! When I get back, I'll sleep outside the catheterization lab, and nobody can touch this machine. Anyone who does will have to face with me!"

Ye Zhen leaned back in her chair, watching the two men's frenzied behavior, but couldn't help but smile.

Outside the window, the clouds churned, and the golden sunlight blanketed the sky.

Gu Zheng reached out and pulled down the sunshade, then covered her with a small blanket, his movements so gentle it was as if he were afraid of disturbing something.

"Get some sleep." He took her hand, his fingers interlocking with hers, the warmth of his palm burning and real. "This battle was fought brilliantly, but it's exhausting. The rest is up to those two to enjoy."

Ye Zhen turned her head to look at Gu Zheng's profile, which was so close to hers. His sharply defined features appeared exceptionally soft in the dim light.

"Gu Zheng".

"Um?"

"We're home."

Gu Zheng lowered his head, his voice low and tender: "Yes, let's go home. Back to our own territory."

Ye Zhen closed her eyes and felt an unprecedented sense of peace high in the sky, amidst the rhythmic roar of the engines.

Berlin's glory is now behind us.

And ahead, in that ancient yet vibrant country, a grand drama concerning the fates of countless people awaits her to unveil.

This time, however, she had a gun in her hand and people by her side.