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

Inside the dean's office in the administrative building, more than a dozen chief surgeons, who wielded considerable influence in their respective provinces, fell silent.

Liu Jianmin maintained his handshake gesture, his mouth slightly open, his mind replaying Zhou Hai's words. It wasn't a benefit from the main hospital; it was because the military region leader in Dr. Ye's family had personally arranged for a field engineering company to set up the tents for them.

The group of old men, whose combined age was several hundred years, silently left the office and walked back along the bumpy dirt road in the courtyard.

Back in the backyard, the heavy curtains of the high-altitude combat tent were lifted. A wave of heat, mixed with the smell of burning coal and the distinctive scent of canvas, rushed out, completely dispelling the chill that had lingered on everyone from the early spring night wind.

Dozens of folding stools were neatly arranged around five large cast-iron coal stoves. The smokeless coal inside the stoves was burning brightly, glowing the lower half of the sheet metal chimneys red-hot. Wisps of white steam rose from the large tea barrels.

Liu Jianmin walked to the tea barrel, picked up a white porcelain tea mug, turned on the tap, and filled a cup with piping hot jasmine tea. He held the cup in both hands, found a small stool near the stove, sat down, and exhaled a long breath of hot air.

"This is quite a gesture, this is quite a style." Director Ma also came over with his teacup, sat down next to Liu Jianmin, and stared at the leaping flames in the stove. "That Commander Gu, he seems like he has a bad temper, but he's really going all out. He even brought field supplies to the front of our training building."

Sitting opposite, Director Wang from Harbin Medical University took off his white coat and draped it over his knees to warm himself by the fire. "Don't just look at Chief Gu. You should also think about Dr. Ye." Director Wang took a big gulp of hot tea. "This morning, Lao Gao had a high fever, and she sternly sent him away without saying a word. She seemed colder than anyone else. But by evening, she had arranged for a warm tent and a hot water heater. What do you call that? That's called cold on the outside but warm on the inside. She's genuinely worried that we old bones will catch a cold in the wind."

A chorus of agreement rose from inside the tent.

Gao Haiping had taken his medicine and sweated all afternoon. Now, he sat in front of the blackboard, wearing a military overcoat. He had recovered most of his energy; although his voice was still a little hoarse, his eyes were extremely bright.

"They're not just kind-hearted; they're protecting us as seeds for spreading their technology." Gao Haiping tapped the ground with his cane, his voice echoing in the spacious tent. "You're all wielding your own weapons in your own territories. But after these past few days, honestly, haven't you learned more here than you did in the past ten years of working in isolation?"

These words struck a chord with everyone present.

Liu Jianmin placed his teacup on the ground beside his feet, pulled a worn-out hardcover notebook from his pocket, and flipped through a few pages. "It's more than just a lot! I've worked in cardiothoracic surgery for twenty years, and I always thought foreign technology was the ceiling. But watching Dr. Ye perform surgery these past few days, I've realized what it means to be truly amazed. Take this afternoon's case of pulmonary atresia, for example—such a tiny blood vessel, and she didn't need to flip or anastomose it; she just ran the suture directly in its original location! If this technique were implemented in Shanghai, how many children with congenital heart disease could be saved from death each year?"

"It's not just about the surgical procedure," Gao Haiping said, pointing to the blackboard behind him. "The glutaraldehyde-tanned autologous pericardium solution she presented is truly revolutionary. It completely eliminates the need for expensive imported materials, solving a world-class problem with a localized, rudimentary method. This isn't just about saving lives; it's about saving our country a huge amount of foreign exchange!"

The discussion reached a fever pitch. More than thirty of the country's top surgical experts gathered around the stove, taking out their medical records and anatomical sketches to review every technical detail of the past few days. The suture pattern of parachute continuous sutures, the high potassium ratio of myocardial protective fluid, the calculation formula for hemodynamic pressure differentials... each of these points alone was enough to be the closing report at a provincial medical conference.

Director Ma scratched his head with the cap of his pen, looked at the densely packed data in the notebook, and sighed.

"Everyone, we've been so focused on learning the techniques these past few days. Have you thought about something?" Director Ma lowered his voice, "This entire set of mature, groundbreaking cardiac surgery techniques currently only exists in our minds and on our drafts. If no one systematically organizes and publishes it, over time, or if we forget a detail during the surgery, this technique will lose its essence as it's passed down."

The tent fell silent.

That's absolutely true. The transmission of medical technology cannot rely solely on word of mouth. It requires rigorous academic papers, detailed experimental data, and clinical controls, published in authoritative national or even international medical journals, before it can be promoted as a clinical guideline across the entire industry.

"I also think it's a pity," Liu Jianmin echoed. "If Dr. Ye could find the time to write a paper on this 'glutaraldehyde-tanned pericardium membrane as an artificial patch' technique and submit it to the *Chinese Journal of Surgery*, it would be the biggest earthquake in the domestic medical community this year! Even translating it into English and submitting it to *The Lancet* would shut up those foreign devils who look down on Chinese medicine!"

"She doesn't have the time," Director Wang shook his head. "As you've all seen, she reviews over a hundred critical care cases from all over the country every morning, and performs three to four complex surgeries in the afternoon. If we encounter a dead end at night, she still has to spend time giving us lessons. I just saw it when Chief Gu brought her food; Dr. Ye was eating ribs with her eyes almost closed. With this kind of non-stop workload, she simply doesn't have the energy to write those tedious papers, format them, or proofread data."

Gao Haiping looked at the half-eaten piece of chalk in his hand, his brows slowly furrowing.

"She doesn't have time, but we do," Gao Haiping suddenly said, his voice not loud, but clearly audible inside the tent.

Everyone turned to look at him.

Gao Haiping stood up, walked to the blackboard, and slammed the chalk down heavily. "Since she's taught us her true skills without reservation, we should reciprocate. She may not have time to write, but which of us dozens isn't an expert at writing papers and publishing in journals? We can easily divide the work and organize this technique into a systematic set of academic papers!"

This suggestion was like pouring a ladle of water into a hot oil pan; the tent instantly erupted in chaos.

"That's a great idea! We can ghostwrite it!" Liu Jianmin slapped his thigh and stood up, his face flushed with excitement. "We have everything: the paper's theme, data analysis, and core surgical records! Dr. Ye will be listed as the first author and the corresponding author. We'll just add 'Research Group Participant' at the end, documenting this amazing technique in black and white!"

The experts responded enthusiastically. To be able to participate in the compilation of such a paper, which was destined to be recorded in the history of Chinese medicine, even if it was just as a nominal authorship, was a tremendous academic honor.

"Since we're going to write it, someone needs to oversee the drafting and ensure its quality." Director Wang looked at Gao Haiping. "Old Gao, in terms of academic standing and writing skills, you're the most senior among us. With the vice president of Fuwai Hospital personally involved, this lead writer position is undoubtedly yours. The rest of us will assist you—searching for materials, calculating formulas, proofreading data—we'll all follow your instructions!"

Gao Haiping did not refuse. To decline such a historic academic project would be pretentious.

"Okay! I'll take this job." Gao Haiping took off his military overcoat and threw it on the stool, exuding the efficiency of an academic fanatic. He picked up a rag and wiped the blackboard clean.

"When writing papers, especially those involving novel biomaterial alternatives, theoretical deduction alone isn't enough." Gao Haiping picked up a piece of chalk and drew a framework for the paper on the blackboard. "We now have the anatomical logic and the proportioning formulas. However, we lack the most crucial element—a highly convincing and complete clinical case report based on this new technology!"

Everyone nodded in agreement. In the medical field, a theory without clinical validation is nothing but empty talk.

"This afternoon, Dr. Ye performed a procedure on pulmonary atresia. Although this condition is complex, it does not require extensive use of patches to widen the outflow tract, so the absolute advantage of glutaraldehyde pericardium cannot be demonstrated." Gao Haiping turned around and glanced at each of the department heads present.

"If we want to write a paper that the international medical community will believe in, we must use the most extreme case as our starting point." Gao Haiping wrote four words heavily on the blackboard with chalk: "Tetralogy of Fallot combined with severe right ventricular outflow tract stenosis."

Only this disease requires opening the heart, removing a large amount of thickened muscle, and finally replacing it with a huge patch. If this patch is successfully sutured using the patient's own pericardium and the postoperative hemodynamic parameters are perfect, then this paper will be completely valid and irrefutable.

"Where can we find such a suitable extreme case?" Director Ma asked, frowning.

"Go back to your respective rear areas and look!" Gao Haiping threw the chalk on the podium, pointing at the dozens of doctors from all over the country. "Your hospitals treat hundreds, even thousands, of difficult and complicated cases every year. Tomorrow morning, all of you go to the switchboard and make long-distance calls! Find all the eligible critically ill children in your archives and wards!"

The old men's fighting spirit was completely ignited.

"Great! Call first thing tomorrow morning! Once we find a suitable one, immediately transfer the medical records to Dr. Ye for review!" Liu Jianmin rubbed his hands together, his eyes shining.

The fire crackled and popped as this group of usually imposing medical luminaries, on this howling north wind night, gathered around a few coal stoves to finalize a massive academic plan that would soon sweep across the national medical system.