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

A rough porcelain teacup clattered against the octagonal table with a dull thud. The once noisy threshing ground gradually quieted down, and everyone turned to look at the most respected old man in the surrounding villages.

Old Principal Li Xuewen didn't drink, but his face was flushed with excitement. He glanced around at the villagers of Dahe Village at the table, their mouths greasy and burping, before finally fixing his gaze on Zhao Dahai.

"Oh, Dahai, today is a joyous occasion with the marriage alliance between our two villages. Everyone has eaten their fill, but I still have a worry on my mind." The old headmaster sighed, his withered fingers tracing the rim of his teacup. "I just saw that five or six kids from your Dahe Village who came to cause trouble. That one called Tiedan, he must be ten years old by now, right? He can't even write his own name!"

Zhao Dahai, who was wiping the grease from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, stopped upon hearing this. His old face flushed red, and he stammered for a long time, "Principal Li, it's not that we don't want the children to go to school. As you know, our Dahe Village is dirt poor; we can't even afford a teacher. The village ancestral hall collapsed long ago, and we don't even have a schoolhouse to shelter us from the wind and rain."

"We have a school in Heishan Village!" The old headmaster slammed his cane on the ground. "Zhen and Chief Gu paid for the renovation of those dilapidated houses in the village; now they're spacious and bright. Send your children here; this old man can still teach them!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dahai's eyes lit up briefly, then dimmed again. He picked up the half-bowl of wine on the table, downed it in one gulp, and shook his head with a bitter expression: "Principal Li, I appreciate your kindness. But look at that Qingyun River! That river completely separates our two villages. Even adults have to take off their pants and wade across to cross it. During the summer flood season, the current is so strong it can sweep away cattle. A few years ago, during a torrential rain, Zhang's son slipped while crossing the river and drowned without even making a splash."

Upon hearing this, the villagers of Dahe Village all lowered their heads.

"If we don't wade through the water, we have to follow the river upstream and take that ten-mile-long winding dirt road." Zhao Dahai pointed to the distant hills, his voice hoarse. "The children walk twenty miles of mountain road every day, leaving before dawn and not returning until it's completely dark. In winter, when heavy snow closes the mountain passes, people freeze to death! This kind of education is unaffordable for the children of our Dahe Village."

Only the crackling of the wind through the firewood pile remained on the threshing floor. The old headmaster opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word of rebuttal. He knew better than anyone the danger of that river.

Just then, in this dull moment, Gu Zheng slowly put down his chopsticks. He took a clean coarse cloth and wiped his hands, then tapped his well-defined fingers lightly twice on the octagonal table.

"This matter is actually not difficult to resolve." Gu Zheng's voice was not loud, but it carried a penetrating power.

All eyes immediately turned to him.

Gu Zheng didn't rush to talk about repairing the bridge, but instead turned to Ye Cheng and asked, "Brother, how much material does your quarry produce per day?"

Ye Cheng paused for a moment, then quickly replied, "Brother-in-law, there are about twenty able-bodied men in the village working on the mountain right now. They can produce five cartloads of materials a day at most. They're all top-quality bluestone."

Gu Zheng nodded, then turned to Zhao Dahai and dropped a bombshell: "The Beicheng Military Region General Hospital is about to build a seven-story cardiovascular interventional center building. This is a key project for the military region this year, and the demand for building materials is enormous. I've spoken with the logistics department, and all the stones for the foundation and exterior walls will come from the Heishan Village quarry."

Upon hearing this, Old Wang nearly dropped his pipe. A seven-story building! How many stones would that require? It's like a mountain of gold falling from the sky!

"Five truckloads of material a day is far from enough." Gu Zheng looked at Ye Cheng, his tone calm. "The demand needs to at least triple. Brother, your quarry needs to expand its workforce."

Although Ye Cheng was honest and simple, he wasn't stupid. He immediately understood Gu Zheng's meaning. He stood up, strode over to Zhao Dahai, and said in a loud voice that could be heard throughout the threshing ground: "Uncle Zhao! The quarry is desperately short-handed. Dahe Village is sending fifteen strong laborers to report to the mountain first thing tomorrow morning! Just like the people from Heishan Village, they'll be paid by piecework, the more you work, the more you earn. As long as you're willing to put in the effort, you're guaranteed a minimum of thirty yuan a month!"

Thirty yuan!

The people at those tables in Dahe Village instantly erupted in chaos. Back then, the salary of a regular worker in the city was only around thirty yuan. These men from Dahe Village, who toiled in the fields, rarely saw more than a few ten-yuan bills throughout the year.

"Chengzi, you...you're serious?" Zhao Dahai trembled with excitement, grabbing Ye Cheng's arm so hard his nails dug into Ye Cheng's flesh. "Fifteen spots? All for our Dahe Village?"

"It's all for Dahe Village!" Ye Cheng grasped Zhao Dahai's hand firmly, "From now on, we're all family. Let's make money together!"

Zhao Shanhe suddenly stood up and roared, "Brother-in-law! Count me in! If I, Zhao Shanhe, slack off even a little bit tomorrow, you can smash my head in with a pickaxe!"

The men of Dahe Village stood up one after another, vying to express their opinions, afraid that if they were a step too late, the spot would be gone.

Ye Cheng gestured for everyone to be quiet. He glanced at Gu Zheng, who nodded at him. He then looked at Zhao Xiuxiu, who was sitting at the women's table. Zhao Xiuxiu was looking at him with admiration and pride. Ye Cheng felt a surge of pride welling up in his chest. He slammed his hand on the table and made a bold decision.

"Uncle Zhao, Principal Li! Now that the brothers from Dahe Village are coming to work, the Qingyun River can no longer be an obstacle!" Ye Cheng pointed towards the village entrance. "Our quarry provides the stones and the labor! We'll build a bridge over the Qingyun River ourselves! So the children from Dahe Village can come to school safely, and the trucks carrying stones can drive directly onto the provincial highway!"

The threshing ground was quiet for a moment, then erupted in deafening cheers.

The old headmaster was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes. He kept wiping his eyes with his sleeve, muttering, "Excellent! Excellent! Building bridges and paving roads is a great deed that benefits future generations!"

Old Wang took a couple of puffs of his pipe. Although he was happy, as the village chief, he was more practical. He tapped the corner of the table, pouring cold water on the idea: "Chengzi, building a bridge is a good thing. But the Qingyun River flows swiftly and is wide. We can build a single-log bridge and lay a few planks. If you want to build a bridge that can carry large trucks, you need someone knowledgeable to calculate the load-bearing capacity and draw up blueprints. In our two villages, we can't even find a few people who have graduated from junior high school. Who would know how to build that kind of bridge? If it collapses halfway through, people could die."

These words were like a cold wind, extinguishing half of the enthusiasm that had just been ignited in the crowd. Zhao Dahai also calmed down, rubbing his hands in frustration. Indeed, building a bridge wasn't like building a pigsty; it was a technical job.

Everyone looked at each other, and finally all eyes fell on Gu Zheng. In their eyes, this officer driving the jeep was an omnipotent god.

Gu Zheng, facing everyone's gaze, put down his teacup. He turned to look at Ye Zhen sitting beside him. Ye Zhen nodded slightly to him, their eyes conveying a tacit understanding.

Gu Zheng stood up and tugged at the hem of his military uniform.