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

The wedding procession stopped at the bridgehead; a ceremony was about to begin.

The green Jeep rattled and creaked all the way to the bridge. When it braked, the rear of the car swerved and almost crashed into a haystack by the roadside.

The passenger door opened first, and a young man in a Zhongshan suit jumped out, with a Seagull brand camera hanging around his neck and a bulging canvas bag slung across his back.

A half-beat later, a leg in black leather shoes peeked out from the back row and landed steadily.

Then there is no more.

The leg stopped in mid-air.

Dean Sun looked down at the half-dry, half-wet brownish-yellow object at his feet, his nostrils twitched, and his feet froze in mid-air for a full three seconds.

The young reporter turned around and his mouth was half open.

"Dean, is that on the ground...?"

"Don't say it!"

Dean Sun gritted his teeth and stomped his foot down hard.

The sole of the shoe made a dull thud. Dean Sun withdrew his foot without changing his expression, rubbed the sole on the nearby haystack a couple of times, straightened his chest, raised his head, and strode towards the bridge.

The reporter followed behind, suppressing a laugh, and took two photos of the bridge.

Before the shutter clicked, a large yellow mongrel dog darted out of the roadside bushes, howled, and started biting the reporter's trouser leg.

"Aww!"

The reporter jumped up and ran, one hand protecting the camera on his head, the other frantically swinging his trouser leg, yelling all the while.

Several villagers watching the commotion on the roadside were laughing so hard they were doubled over.

Old Wang ran over and gave the big yellow dog a feint kick in the rear: "Go away, go back home!"

The big yellow dog whimpered and retreated into the bushes, lying there panting with its tongue lolling out, its tail wagging quite happily.

The reporter, holding his camera, stepped back to a safe distance, glanced back at the dog, and felt his legs still cramping.

Dean Sun, as if he hadn't seen the farce, strode through the crowd with the air of a leader.

Ma Zhigang saw his own dean and went to greet him.

"Dean, you've arrived."

Dean Sun strode forward and patted Ma Zhigang on the shoulders with both hands, the force so strong that Ma Zhigang swayed.

"Zhigang! I've been thinking about you for a month, talking about you every day in the yard. Zhigang has suffered a lot in the mountains, I must reward him properly when he comes back!"

Ma Zhigang's lips twitched, and he muttered under his breath, "Dean, you said you were going to expel me."

Dean Sun's smile froze for a moment, then returned to its radiant state with astonishing speed.

"Nonsense! What do you mean by 'expulsion'? That's called reverse psychology, don't you understand?"

He turned to face Gu Zheng and Ye Zhen, raising his voice to the top of his lungs.

He saw the two people standing at the bridgehead from afar.

The man was in a military uniform, and the woman was in a trench coat.

Ma Zhigang introduced Gu Zheng and Ye Zhen to him.

Dean Sun's eyes darted around a couple of times, and a warm smile, as thick as a gale, spread across his face.

"Oh my, Dr. Ye, you're here too!"

Dean Sun grasped Ye Zhen's hands with both hands and shook them up and down three times.

"How fortunate I am to witness the completion of the bridge and meet some of the nation's most renowned surgeons today!"

Ye Zhen withdrew her hand and nodded politely: "Dean Sun, you've come all this way, it must be tiring."

"It's not hard work at all, it's just serving the people!"

Dean Sun turned to look at Gu Zheng beside him and quickly and respectfully extended his hands.

"This must be Commander Gu! I've heard so much about you!"

Gu Zheng casually shook his hand and then released it, squinting at him for a moment: "Are you Lao Ma's boss?"

"That's right!" Dean Sun slapped his thigh and began to perform at the top of his lungs, "Xiao Ma is my prized student whom I personally trained. I told everyone in the institute back then that Zhigang is a hardworking and enterprising young man, and he must be sent out to gain experience. He can't just stay in the office drawing blueprints!"

"When Zhigang called me to say he wanted to come and build a bridge, my first reaction was—great! We have to go! This is a great thing to support rural development! I made the decision on the spot, not only approving his leave but also granting him the highest allowance for official business trips!"

Ma Zhigang opened his mouth, glanced at Gu Zheng's slightly mocking expression, and then swallowed his words.

Dean Sun pulled Ma Zhigang along, his eyes shining as he looked at the stone tablet covered with a red cloth.

"Is it engraved on this monument? Is our provincial institute's name engraved on it?"

"It's engraved, it's engraved, it's on the third line," Ma Zhigang said helplessly.

Dean Sun patted the railing, extremely satisfied, and turned to wave to the reporter.

"Xiao Li, come here, come here. Take a close-up photo of this monument later. When we publish it in the newspaper, we'll enlarge the text, and the font size can't be smaller than the headline!"

After explaining the matter of taking photos, Ye Zhen spoke.

"Dean Sun, since we've arrived, there's something I'd like to ask you for a favor."

Dean Sun was taken aback, then quickly turned around, cupped his hands in front of him, adopting a posture even more respectful than that of an inspector: "Dr. Ye, please feel free to give your instructions. It would be my honor to be of assistance!"

Ye Zhen raised her hand and pointed to the stone tablet covered with red cloth on the bridge railing.

"The provincial design institute contributed greatly to the design and completion of this bridge. Your institute's name is engraved on the monument. You are the one who should unveil this red cloth."

Dean Sun's eyes lit up instantly—not just a little, but the kind of light you get when firecrackers go off on New Year's Eve.

He still maintained a haughty tone, saying, "How could I possibly accept this? I'm just running errands for the comrades in the department..."

Before he could finish speaking, he had already moved two steps towards the stone tablet.

Ye Zhen ignored his polite formalities and turned to look at Zhao Dahai and Wang Laocai in the crowd.

"Uncle Zhao, Uncle Wang, you two come over here too."

When Zhao Dahai heard Ye Zhen call him, he dusted himself off and walked over, not quite understanding what she meant.

Old Wang was quick-witted; he darted to the side of the monument in a few quick steps, put his hands behind his back, and straightened his back ramrod straight.

Ye Zhen watched as the three people stood on either side of the stone tablet. Her voice was not loud, but everyone present could hear it clearly.

"This bridge was built with the blueprints and technology from the provincial design institute, and the manpower and stone materials from the villagers of Heishan Village and Dahe Village. It was a collaborative effort from all three parties; without any one of them, it wouldn't have been able to be built."

She paused for a moment.

"Today, the unveiling of this monument should be done by all three of you."

Zhao Dahai finally understood. He rubbed his rough hands together, his face wrinkled up, and said, "I'm so sorry, I'm just a farmer..."

"Uncle Zhao, the people of Dahe Village worked with us for a month, and they even slaughtered their pigs to supplement their food allowance." Ye Zhen's tone was calm and even, as if stating a fact. "This monument doesn't have the names of any of you engraved on it, but every stone of this bridge contains your strength."

Zhao Dahai's Adam's apple bobbed, and he fell silent. He rubbed his hands vigorously on his trouser legs and stepped forward.

Old Wang nodded repeatedly, his face beaming with pride.

Dean Sun stood on the left side of the stone tablet, Zhao Dahai on the right, and Old Wang squeezed in the middle. Each of the three stretched out a hand and grasped the bottom edge of the red cloth.

The reporter, Xiao Li, was quite perceptive; he had already squatted down on the opposite side, adjusted the focus of his camera, and aimed it at the three people and the stone tablet.

A group of villagers gathered around the bridge. The gongs and drums had stopped, and the firecrackers had ceased. Everyone was looking at the three people in front of the monument.

Ye Zhen didn't say anything more.

She simply nodded slightly.

Three hands pulled downwards at the same time.

The red cloth fell down with a whoosh, rolled up in the spring breeze, and drifted onto the bridge.

The bluish-gray granite monument faces the morning sun, and the inscriptions are so clear that each stroke can be counted.

The top line, with the three large characters "Lianxinqiao" (Bridge of Hearts), was written by the former principal at Ma Zhigang's request, and the strokes are vigorous.

The bottom few lines of small print listed the completion date, design firm, and construction team, all neatly arranged.

The name of the provincial design institute where Ma Zhigang works is engraved on it, in a neat and orderly font size.

Dean Sun stared at the line of text for a full five seconds, his lips curving into a wide grin. He carefully controlled his facial muscles, adopting the demeanor of a composed leader, and nodded to the reporter.

The shutter clicked twice.

Someone in the crowd started it, and another string of firecrackers went off with a bang. Several children covered their ears, screamed, and ran away, while the gongs and drums began to sound again.

The sounds of excitement spread from the bridgehead to the bridge surface, and then to the opposite bank of the river.