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

In the semi-basement of a billiard hall in the southern part of the city, a musty, damp smell, like a sticky tongue, silently licked the peeling plaster from the corner of the wall. A thick layer of fly droppings covered the dim, yellowish incandescent light bulb overhead; as trucks rumbled past on the street above, the fragile filament trembled weakly, causing the light to flicker.

Wei Peng huddled on a creaking, dilapidated cot in the corner of the storage room, his eyes bloodshot like a spiderweb. He gripped a blue ballpoint pen tightly in his hand, the tip almost piercing the thin sheet of paper with his excessive force.

"...Ye Zhen used her special status to create a personality cult among young students, inciting thousands of college students in Beijing to raise funds under the guise of public welfare, but in reality, to set up a huge slush fund with unclear accounts..."

Every word was like a drop of poison squeezed from his back teeth, carrying the sour smell of his own decay.

In this day and age, the labels of "illegal fundraising," "disrupting the normal teaching order of universities," and "establishing an independent kingdom" are enough to crush a person. Even if Ye Zhen were just a doctor, or even if she had the powerful and influential patriarch of the Gu family behind her, she would still be severely punished!

"You think you're worthy of being called a hero?" Wei Peng's lips curled into an extremely twisted smile, a smile more unsightly than a grimace. He shoved the letter covered in writing haphazardly into a brown paper envelope, stuck out his tongue, and licked the cheap glue sealing the envelope hard. The bitter taste that filled his mouth at that moment gave him a strange sense of vengeful pleasure.

"Ye Zhen, let's see how you turn the tables this time!"

He grinned maliciously as he pushed open the creaking wooden door and walked toward the green mailbox at the alley entrance. Little did he know that as he dropped the letter, brimming with malice and jealousy, into the mailbox and heard the soft "clunk," he was beginning to write the opening chapters of a legendary tale.

...Three days later, at the Ministry of Education, in the conference room on the third floor.

The room was filled with smoke, so thick it was almost impossible to open one's eyes. The ashtray on the table was piled high with cigarette butts, and the atmosphere in the meeting room was several degrees colder than the biting north wind outside.

Vice Minister Sun Mingyuan sat in the main seat, his knuckles rhythmically tapping the opened letter of complaint on the table. The "tap, tap, tap" sound echoed in the deathly silent room, like the ticking of a night watchman's drum, striking at everyone's heart.

"Take a look," Sun Mingyuan said, his face ashen and his voice laced with anger. "Someone has complained to the ministry. Thousands of students have skipped class, roaming the hutongs all over Beijing, and there's this whole 'red cardboard box' thing. Comrades, tell me, what kind of problem is this?"

On either side of the conference table sat the presidents of several top universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Peking University Health Science Center. These usually venerable scholars looked at each other in bewilderment, some with beads of cold sweat on their foreheads and their shirts sticking to their bodies.

In this era of extremely keen political instincts, such "large-scale group activities" are undoubtedly a red line that no one dares to cross.

"If this is just for some kind of social practice, and we're sacrificing the students' bright futures, I'll be the first to object!" Sun Mingyuan slammed his hand on the table, making the enamel teacup lid rattle and clang. "If the 'slush fund' issue mentioned in this letter is proven true, every single one of you here will be disciplined!"

Dead silence.

The silence was suffocating; even breathing became cautious.

Just then, a sharp "clang" broke the oppressive silence.

The former president of Peking University slammed his enamel mug onto the table, splashing tea that scalded his hand, turning it bright red. His white beard trembled with rage: "Absurd! Utterly absurd!"

Sun Mingyuan frowned deeply: "Old Chen, you..."

"What were my students doing? They went to understand the hardships of ordinary people! They went to use their ten years of hard work to serve this country!" The old principal adjusted his reading glasses, and behind the lenses, his usually gentle but cloudy eyes were now filled with barely suppressed anger. "If this is considered disrupting the teaching order, then I, Chen, will lead the way in disrupting it today! This punishment will be on my head first!"

"Count me in!" The president of Tsinghua University wasn't to be outdone. He slowly unscrewed the cap of his Hero brand fountain pen, looking ready to sign off on the spot. "Tsinghua's motto is 'Self-reliance and Perseverance, Virtue and Responsibility,' not 'Let students hide in an ivory tower and study to death, turning them into bookworms. I trust Comrade Ye Zhen to lead the team! This bucket of dirty water was really poured out poorly!"

The president of Peking University Health Science Center, known for his fiery temper, stood up abruptly: "That's saving lives! That's snatching someone from the jaws of death! Anyone who dares to accuse the rescuers will face my wrath!"

Sun Mingyuan was completely stunned.

He truly hadn't expected that these old rivals, who would fight tooth and nail over research funding, would actually band together and confront him head-on over an unknown young female doctor.

What kind of bewitching potion did Ye Zhen give these old scholars?

"Everyone! Everyone! Please calm down!" Sun Mingyuan rubbed his throbbing temples, his tone softening slightly. "Your spirit is commendable, and I admire it. But have you considered this? That red cardboard box is full of loose change, tens of thousands of yuan, all flowing through their hands without any oversight or financial regulations!"

Sun Mingyuan, a seasoned veteran of administration, pinpointed the biggest fatal flaw in the matter: "It's money! Money that can make people envious and corrupt! If there's any embezzlement or misappropriation, even just one yuan, it's a huge scandal that will ruin the reputation of our generation! Who can bear that responsibility? Can Ye Zhen bear it?"

"Can she shoulder that responsibility? Of course she can!"

The president of Peking University Health Science Center has spoken.

"Whose wife is Ye Zhen? She's the eldest grandson's wife of the Gu family in the military compound!"

The president of Peking University Health Science Center held up one finger and waved it in the air:

"That guy went to Germany this time and managed to squeeze 100 million marks out of those Germans! That's 100 million marks! How much is that in RMB? Would he care about a few cents for breakfast? It's like suspecting a billionaire of stealing rotten cabbage from the roadside—you'd be laughed out of the room!"

Sun Mingyuan was completely stunned.

One hundred million marks? Family-oriented?

These words struck like a hammer blow, instantly making his previous argument about the "temptation of corruption" seem utterly ridiculous. Yes, people who have seen mountains of gold and silver, why would they covet your measly pennies?

The atmosphere in the conference room instantly underwent a subtle reversal.

Sun Mingyuan's face flushed red and then turned pale, but being an administrator, he quickly grasped at the last straw.

"Okay... Even if Ye Zhen isn't short of money and has impeccable character, she's still dealing with students! With so much loose change and so many people involved, who can guarantee the students won't make mistakes? We have to be responsible to the organization and to the people!"

He abruptly stubbed out the last cigarette butt, as if trying to regain some semblance of dignity and authority.

"Talk is cheap; we need evidence. Luckily, Old Zhao from the *Guangming Daily* is waiting outside." Sun Mingyuan stood up, waved his hand, and said, "Let's go! We'll conduct a surprise inspection right now! Let's see what they're really made of! If there's not a single penny discrepancy in the accounts, I won't give anyone face!"