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

Ten minutes later.

"Report...Report!"

Xiao Wang hunched his shoulders outside the tent flap, his voice hushed as if afraid of startling some ferocious beast: "Commander... it's me, Xiao Wang."

Gu Zheng's sharply defined face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He took a deep breath, the veins on his temple throbbing twice, and his voice was squeezed out through clenched teeth: "Didn't I tell you to get lost?"

"I left, and I've come back..." Xiao Wang said from outside the curtain, on the verge of tears, his voice trembling. "Commander Wang is holding a debriefing meeting for the exercise and wants you to go over there to report on the situation. The cars are already running over there."

Ye Zhen couldn't help but smile mischievously, and nudged the big man who was still gathering his strength: "Alright, business is important. Hurry up and get dressed, don't keep the leaders waiting."

Gu Zheng glanced down at the person in his arms, the fierce look in his eyes instantly turning into helplessness and indulgence. He deftly put on the training uniform that still smelled of blood, and as he buttoned it, he deliberately hooked his fingers into Ye Zhen's palm.

"Wait for me to come back."

He lowered his head and kissed her smooth forehead hard, his voice low and husky, carrying a suggestive tone that made one blush and their heart race: "I'll make up for the debt I owed earlier, with interest, when I get back."

Ye Zhen's ears burned, but before she could even call him a pervert, the man had already lifted the curtain and strode out.

As the curtain fell, Gu Zheng's voice, scolding Xiao Wang, could be faintly heard from outside: "Be more discerning in the future. If you dare to make a scene at this crucial moment again, I'll throw you into the mess hall to feed the pigs!"

"Yes, yes, yes! The commander is right! As long as it's not feeding pigs, I'll do anything!"

The sound gradually faded into the distance, eventually being drowned out by the roar of the jeep.

Ye Zhen leaned against the cot, her nerves, which had been tense all night, finally relaxing. Sleepiness washed over her like a tide, and she fell asleep as soon as she closed her eyes.

I had only been asleep for half an hour when I suddenly heard a series of chaotic footsteps outside, accompanied by anxious shouts.

"Dr. Ye! Is Dr. Ye here?"

Dean Wang, who was just on the operating table, rushed to the tent door as if his pants were on fire.

"Xiao Ye! Are you there? There's a kid who just enlisted who got hit in the leg by a rock during a drill! He's the only son in his family!"

Ye Zhen, lying on her cot, suddenly opened her eyes.

The drowsiness in Ye Zhen's eyes vanished instantly. Without saying a word, she grabbed the white coat lying to the side, put it on, and carried the silver first-aid kit out.

"lead the way!"

……

The wounded soldiers' camp was in complete chaos.

Several veteran military doctors, their foreheads covered in sweat, were pressing down on the young soldier struggling desperately on the stretcher.

"I won't amputate my leg! I won't amputate it!"

The young soldier named Erhu looked to be only eighteen or nineteen years old, his face still bearing a childish innocence. But now, due to the excruciating pain and fear, his mud-covered face was contorted beyond recognition. He gripped the iron railings of the cot tightly, letting out a howl like a trapped beast.

"Company commander! Platoon leader! Help me! I don't want to be a cripple! I still need to take care of my mother in her old age... If I lose a leg, how will I go back to see my mother!"

"Hold him down! Administer morphine quickly!" an elderly military doctor with red eyes roared. "Erhu, listen to me! That's a comminuted crush injury; the bones are shattered! If the muscle isn't removed immediately, it will necrose and cause sepsis; you'll die!"

"I'd rather die than be a cripple!" Erhu cried, tears washing away the mud and grime from his face, leaving white streaks. "Grandpa Doctor, please, don't saw off my leg..."

The heart-wrenching cries brought tears to the eyes of the squad leaders and platoon leaders who were helping to hold him down; they turned away, unable to bear the sight.

Under the field medical conditions of the 1980s, amputation was the only and most correct option to save the life of a soldier with this level of crush injury. With limited antibiotics and rudimentary infection control methods, no one dared to gamble a soldier's life on that one in ten thousand chance of saving a limb.

The old military doctor's hands trembled as he held the bone saw. He gritted his teeth, steeled his resolve, and said, "Prepare anesthesia! Amputate immediately!"

"stop."

A clear, cool voice, not loud, was like a bucket of ice water, piercing through all the noise and heat, instantly extinguishing the commotion in the tent.

Everyone turned around and saw Ye Zhen stride in.

Her white coat was a little oversized, but it only accentuated her tall and straight figure. She didn't look at the officers with their various expressions, nor at the old medic holding the bone saw, and walked straight to the stretcher.

Those long, slender, fair hands pressed a few times on Erhu's leg, which was covered in blood and swollen and shiny.

Her movements were light, yet highly methodical. First the instep, then the popliteal fossa, and finally her fingertips rested on the edge of the gruesome wound.

"Release yourself." She uttered those two words coldly without turning her head.

The military doctors and soldiers who were holding Erhu down were intimidated by her calm and composed aura and subconsciously relaxed their grip.

"Comrade Xiao Ye..." The old military doctor recognized her. He was completely convinced by the surgery that had just saved Shi Tou's life, but now it was a matter of principle, and he was so anxious that he stamped his feet. "This leg is ruined! Look at the calf muscles, they're rotten like tofu dregs, several pieces of bone are broken, and the blood vessels are severed! If it's not amputated soon, once it develops gas gangrene, even a miracle couldn't save it!"

Ye Zhen ignored him and looked down at the young soldier who was still sobbing.

"Want to save your leg?" she asked.

Erhu froze for a moment, then a glimmer of hope amidst despair flashed in his eyes. He nodded frantically, "Yes! Doctor, I want to! I'll do anything to save my leg!"

"If it's festering, clean the wound; if the bone is broken, piece it back together; if the blood vessel is severed, reconnect it." Ye Zhen's voice was calm and undisturbed, yet it pierced everyone's hearts like a stabilizing force. "Amputation has never been my first choice."

The old military doctor gasped, "Comrade Ye, how can we reconnect the blood vessel? That vessel is thinner than a matchstick, it's long since rotted into the flesh and can't be found! If we can't reconnect it, it will become necrotic! We'll have to suffer twice!"

"Who said the call couldn't be connected?"

Ye Zhen suddenly looked up, her gaze sweeping over everyone present: "Prepare for surgery. I'm going to perform a free latissimus dorsi flap transplant, plus a vascular and nerve anastomosis. His anterior tibial artery is severely damaged, so we'll use the great saphenous vein from the healthy side for bridging."

This string of technical terms completely stunned the veteran military doctors.

Latissimus dorsi flap? Vascular bridging?

"But..." the old military doctor wanted to say something more.

"If anything happens, I'll take responsibility," Ye Zhen interrupted him.

Ye Zhen placed the silver briefcase on the table, and the clasp clicked open.

Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, she produced a pair of strangely shaped "glasses"—a head-mounted high-powered surgical magnifying glass with a built-in cold light source. Next, she took out several sealed packs of imported 8-0 nylon sutures and microsurgical needle holders.

The operating table was quickly set up.

This time, there weren't as many generals gathered; there was only a young soldier who didn't want to be crippled, and a group of doctors who were full of doubts but had no choice but to cooperate.

Under the simple operating light, Ye Zhen, wearing a magnifying glass, looked like a sophisticated robot.

Under the magnifying glass, the originally bloody and terrifying mess became clearly defined.

The muscle fibers, which had been like mud, were cleaned away, and the broken bone fragments were repositioned and fixed one by one. The micro-forceps in her hands were finer than an embroidery needle, moving among the broken, thread-like blood vessels.

Dean Wang stood to the side holding the hook, sweat streaming down his forehead and stinging his eyes, but he didn't dare blink or even breathe.

Through Ye Zhen's occasional adjustments of angle, he could vaguely see the severed ends of the blood vessels, which were completely invisible, being stitched up at an incredible speed.

The movements lacked any grand, domineering style; instead, they were characterized by exquisite delicacy.

One, two...

She was fighting against the King of Hell for that tiny chance of survival.

Time seems to have lost its meaning here.

The old military doctor stood by and watched, his initial anxiety and doubt turning into shock, and now into stunned silence. He looked at those hands, so steady they seemed less like human hands and more like those of a precision machine tool.

Outside the tent, wind and snow raged; inside, all was silent except for the faint clanging of equipment.

Two hours later.

After tying the last knot, Ye Zhen cut the thread that was thinner than a strand of hair.

"Loosen the tourniquet." Her voice was a little hoarse, revealing an undeniable weariness.

Everyone held their breath, a dozen pairs of eyes fixed on the pale, lifeless foot.

The moment the tourniquet was loosened, nothing changed immediately.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

The air was thick with tension, almost suffocating. The old military doctor's heart sank. Had it really not worked after all?

Just then, the nurse who had been wiping Ye Zhen's sweat suddenly covered her mouth.

The once dull and cold tips of my toes slowly, little by little, began to show a faint tinge of red. The color shone through the paleness, like a tiny plum blossom blooming in the snow.

That's the color of blood breaking through the barriers and flowing to the extremities.

"It's red! It's connected! It's connected!"

The young nurse cried out excitedly, her voice high-pitched but booming in the oppressive atmosphere of the tent.

The hook in Dean Wang's hand fell into the stainless steel plate with a "clatter" and made a crisp sound.

He didn't bother to pick it up; instead, he shakily reached out his rough, calloused hands and carefully touched Erhu's instep.

It was no longer that despairing, corpse-like coldness.

It's still hot.

Although the dorsalis pedis artery beneath my fingertips is weak, its pulsation is clear and powerful.

"Amazing... This foreign gadget paired with this divine hand, it's truly amazing..." The old military doctor muttered to himself, looking at the magnifying glass that Ye Zhen had taken off, his eyes were so fervent that he looked as if he had seen a priceless treasure, wishing he could snatch it and enshrine it right now.

Ye Zhen took off the magnifying glass, closed her eyes, and rubbed her aching, throbbing temples. The prolonged intense focusing had blurred her vision.

She took off her blood-stained gloves and stepped out of the tent.

At the entrance, Erhu's squad leader was leading his entire squad in circles, each one as anxious as ants on a hot plate. Upon seeing Ye Zhen emerge, these men, who usually wouldn't shed a tear, swarmed around her.

"Dr. Ye! Erhu, he..." The squad leader's voice was so hoarse that he stopped mid-sentence, afraid of hearing the news that he had been "sawed off."

Ye Zhen looked at the group of soldiers, their faces covered in mud and grime, their eyes clear. They were risking their lives on the front lines, their greatest fear not being dead, but being crippled and becoming a burden to their families.

A faint smile appeared on her lips; though she was tired, it was reassuring.

"My leg is saved. After six months of recuperation, I can go back to work in the fields, take care of my mother, and get married—nothing will be delayed."

In that instant, seven or eight seven-foot-tall men could no longer hold back.

I don't know who started it, but everyone burst into tears. There was no sadness in their cries, only the relief and gratitude of surviving a disaster. Some wanted to come up and shake hands, but were afraid of getting their hands dirty; some wanted to salute, but raised their hands halfway and then lowered them, and in the end, they just kept bowing.

"Thank you... thank you, sister-in-law!"

"Thank you, Dr. Ye!"

Ye Zhen waved her hand without saying anything more. She bent down, picked up the silver box, turned around in the wind and snow, leaving behind a slender but determined figure, and returned to her tent.

She was too tired. All she wanted to do was get a good night's sleep on that cot that still smelled of Gu Zheng, and wait for the man who said he would come back to "settle accounts".