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

The busy tone from the receiver pierced Lin Weiguo's eardrums. He slammed the phone down on the Hongqi brand landline, his chest heaving violently, his breathing rapid like a broken old bellows.

Outside the office door, the sounds of family members arguing could be faintly heard, and even the shouts and curses of the security guards trying to stop people could be heard. Documents were scattered all over the large desk, and the People's Daily with a photo of Ye Zhen in surgery seemed particularly jarring at that moment.

Wang Changming's ultimatum over the phone was no joke. That field hospital was known for its fiery temper; it was entirely capable of calling the military region headquarters to complain. If the higher-ups investigated, his charges of "abusing his power to suppress meritorious officials and undermining military construction" would be firmly established.

"Go! Quickly call Xiao Liu over!" Lin Weiguo shouted at the door, his voice booming.

A few minutes later, the driver, Xiao Liu, ran in, covered in sweat.

"Go to the motorcade and bring out that military off-road ambulance with the highest chassis and the most powerful engine in the yard! Fill it up with gas, and you're coming with me to Qingyun County!" Lin Weiguo ripped off his military overcoat from the hanger, his voice tense.

Xiao Liu was stunned: "Vice Dean Lin, you're going to go to the countryside yourself? The road to Qingyun County is notoriously bad, full of potholes..."

"Enough with the nonsense! Follow orders!" Lin Weiguo rudely interrupted him and strode out.

Since bureaucratic maneuvering wouldn't work, and Gu Zheng was using regulations to block him, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and go in person. What did saving face matter as long as he could bring this powerful figure back? Losing face was better than having his uniform ripped off and his official hat removed!

An hour later, a military ambulance painted with the Red Cross drove out of Beicheng and plunged into the dirt provincial highway leading to Qingyun County.

In the 1980s, the provincial highway leading to the county town below was in disrepair, with deep potholes made by heavy trucks everywhere. The suspension system of the military ambulances was tuned to be extremely stiff in order to ensure load-bearing capacity, with absolutely no shock absorption.

The wheels had just rolled over a large mud pit when the entire carriage jolted violently, almost flying off.

Lin Weiguo, sitting in the passenger seat, slammed his head hard against the door handle with a loud thud. He was used to sitting on a leather sofa and living a life of luxury; he had never suffered like this before. He gripped the door handle tightly, feeling as if his internal organs were churning inside him, and the meat buns he had eaten that morning were stuck in his throat.

"Slow down! Are you rushing to your death?" Lin Weiguo cursed angrily, rubbing his bruised forehead.

The driver, Xiao Liu, slammed on the brakes, clearly aggrieved. "Vice President Lin, the road is terrible! If we're any slower, we won't make it to the county before dark. Didn't you give me a firm order before we got in, saying the faster the better?"

Lin Weiguo closed his eyes in agony, forcing back the churning in his stomach. His old face was even more ashen than the white paper used to cover a window. These past few hours of driving had been pure torture for him. Every second of the bumpy ride was a slap in the face—this was the pit he had dug for Ye Zhen, and now he had buried himself in it.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the ambulance finally drove into the iron gate of Qingyun County People's Hospital, panting heavily and honking its horn all the way.

As soon as the car came to a stop, Lin Weiguo eagerly pushed open the car door. His legs went weak, and the moment his leather shoes touched the mud, his knees buckled, and he nearly collapsed to his knees. He gripped the car door tightly and dry-heaved for a long time, but nothing came out except a mouthful of bile. Cold sweat soaked through the back of his shirt.

Seeing this commotion, the medical staff at the county hospital all hid at a distance and pointed and whispered.

Dean Zhao Haifeng, having heard the news, hurried out to greet him. Looking at the disheveled Lin Weiguo, he felt a secret satisfaction, but his face was full of fear: "Oh dear, Vice Dean Lin, why did you come in person? This remote place must be quite a bumpy journey. Please come to my office and have some hot tea to calm your nerves."

"Stop with the nonsense! Where's Ye Zhen?" Lin Weiguo flung away Zhao Haifeng's fawning hand and asked urgently, panting heavily.

"It's...it's in the archives."

Led by Zhao Haifeng, Lin Weiguo stumbled towards the backyard. When he reached the door of the archives room, he took a deep breath and pushed open the wooden door.

Gu Zheng and Lao Ma had already gone back, leaving only Ye Zhen sitting quietly at the old wooden table by the window. She was looking down at a difficult medical record sent from the county hospital, holding a red and blue pencil in her hand, making scratching annotations on the paper.

Hearing the sound of the door hinges clicking, Ye Zhen paused, her pen still in her hand, and turned her head.

Her gaze swept indifferently over Lin Weiguo's pale face and disheveled top button, her cold eyes showing no emotion, as if she were looking at a complete stranger.

"Xiao Zhen..." Lin Weiguo forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, his voice hoarse. He took two steps forward. "What happened before was due to a lack of consideration on the part of the hospital leadership. The notification from above was mishandled; you don't need to train at the grassroots level anymore. The car is parked outside. Pack your things and come back to the main hospital with me. You're the only one who can handle things back home now."

Ye Zhen calmly inserted the red and blue pencils into the pencil holder, placing her hands folded on the table. She looked at her nominal adoptive father, her voice cold.

"Vice Dean Lin, the day you left the Lin family, the statement severing ties was written clearly in black and white and had your fingerprint on it. Your Xiao Zhen is not here, only Ye Zhen, a young doctor who responded to the call to go to the grassroots level for training."

Lin Weiguo's face instantly turned a deep purplish-red, his cheek muscles twitching uncontrollably. He gritted his teeth, completely lowering his stance: "Those were just angry words from home, don't take them seriously! The bigger picture is what matters now! Do you know that Commander Wang from the field hospital has been banging his phone on my desk? Experts from several major provinces across the country are rushing to Beicheng! If you don't come back with me today, I'll really be fired as the vice president! You can't just stand by and watch someone die, can you?"

"Whether you can continue working or not has absolutely nothing to do with refusing to help someone in distress." Ye Zhen stood up from the long bench, her posture upright, looking directly at him without any hesitation.

"I'll let you get in that ambulance. But I have conditions."

Upon hearing that there was a chance, Lin Weiguo practically swore an oath: "Tell me! As long as you're willing to go back and save the day, I'll agree to any condition!"

Ye Zhen walked up to him, her words clear and resolute.

"The newly built interventional center building at the main hospital—" she paused, her eyes sharp, "I have complete control over personnel appointments and dismissals, as well as the scheduling of nurses and attending physicians. The construction funds for the department must be used for their designated purpose, with independent accounting for the expenses. I have the final say on the allocation of all advanced medical equipment. My department will not accept any interference from any incompetent hospital administration leaders."

Lin Weiguo's eyes widened instantly, and he gasped. Ye Zhen was planning to carve out her own territory within the main hospital, completely breaking free from his control as vice president, and becoming a local tyrant!

"This...this doesn't comply with the regulations of the personnel organization..." Lin Weiguo stammered, trying to use the system's rules to pressure her.

"It seems Vice Dean Lin hasn't grasped the current situation yet." Ye Zhen didn't want to waste any more words and turned around directly. "If you can't make the decision, that's fine. I'll just stay here."

Seeing Ye Zhen sit down again, Lin Weiguo's taut nerves snapped. He knew he had no choice today; if he didn't get her back to quell the public anger, the headquarters would send someone to skin him alive tomorrow!

"I promise! I promise everything!" Lin Weiguo's voice cracked with anxiety, his eyes bloodshot.

Ye Zhen then calmly put on her wool coat, slowly straightened her collar, picked up her canvas bag, and walked out the door.