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

Within the observation area.

A young North American doctor, his forehead covered in sweat, stared at the steady waveform on the screen, his lips moving slightly.

"This is not something a human hand can do."

Cohen stopped writing with his pen.

He stood up and looked through the thick, radiation-proof glass at the Chinese female doctor in front of the operating table, whose breathing rhythm hadn't changed at all from beginning to end.

"No."

Cohen shook his head, his voice not loud, but the Harvard Medical School professors in the front row heard him clearly.

"This is the standard."

"We just haven't learned it yet."

On the operating table.

Ye Zhen confirmed that the plugging device was in a stable state.

"Lock, unhook."

Rotate the push rod counterclockwise. The latch releases. The 7mm asymmetric occluder fits perfectly into Lucy's heart defect.

"Follow-up imaging."

The contrast agent was injected through the catheter.

The screen showed that the previously surging left-to-right shunt had completely disappeared, and the blood flow on both sides of the ventricular septum was clearly distinct.

Residual flow, zero.

"Ultrasound examination of the aortic valve."

Harrison held the probe against Lucy's chest and looked at the ultrasound machine screen.

"No aortic regurgitation, and the valve leaflets open and close normally."

"Safe distance: 0.6 millimeters."

"Check your electrocardiogram."

Whitman stared at the monitor reading out the numbers.

"Sinus rhythm. PR interval of 130 milliseconds, normal."

"The pressure gradient of the outflow channel has dropped to 20 mmHg, and it is completely unobstructed."

All the deadly crises that had just caused panic throughout the venue were completely neutralized by that two millimeters of physical force. All data are now within an absolutely safe range.

Ye Zhen completed the final hemodynamic assessment.

She slowly withdrew the catheter and sheath.

"Compress the puncture site."

Ye Zhen took off her sterile gloves and threw them into the medical waste bin next to her.

She looked up and glanced at the digital clock on the wall.

The entire process took 47 minutes.

The heavy automatic doors of the No. 1 catheterization chamber slid open to both sides.

The corridor was dimly lit.

Emily stood outside the door. Her hands were clasped tightly together, and there were several red marks on the back of her hands from being pinched.

Seeing the door open, Emily instinctively took a step forward, only to have her knees buckle.

Gu Zheng stood beside her and reached out to support her arm.

Ye Zhen walked out from behind the door. She raised her hand, pulled off the sterile mask, and casually held it in her palm.

The corridor lights shone on her face, making her look somewhat tired.

Ye Zhen looked at Emily and uttered four words.

"The surgery was a success."

Emily's expression froze completely.

A full five seconds passed.

Ye Zhen didn't pull her away, but turned around and walked towards the changing room.

One hour after the surgery.

Mayo Clinic's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

The effects of the anesthetic slowly wore off. Lucy's eyelashes fluttered a few times, and she opened her eyes.

The nurse in charge of monitoring, holding the inspection checklist left by Ye Zhen, quickly walked to the bedside.

"Check the circulation in the extremities."

The nurse lifted the thin blanket at the foot of the bed and reached out to touch Lucy's toes.

The temperature is normal.

The nurse leaned closer to examine it. The toenails, which had originally turned bluish-purple due to years of oxygen deprivation, now showed a healthy flesh color.

She looked up and her gaze fell on Lucy's face.

The little girl's breathing was steady. Under the transparent oxygen mask, her lips, which were originally purplish-black, had turned a light pink.

Emily, dressed in a large sterile gown, stood by the bed.

She looked at her daughter's face, which was no longer turning black from holding her breath, and her tears fell onto the fabric of the sterile gown, leaving rings of water.

Three-year-old Lucy rolled her eyes blankly.

She laboriously pulled a small hand out from under the covers, suspending it in mid-air with her fingers slightly spread.

Emily quickly reached out her hand.

She didn't dare hug her daughter, afraid of crushing the tangled monitoring cables. She simply placed her hand over her daughter's, her fingertips gently touching.

The temperature travels through the skin.

Warm and fresh.

Emily looked at Lucy's lips again. The pink hue was extremely striking in the dim light of the monitor.

From being told by Boston Children's Hospital that only open-heart surgery was an option, to the endless despair of facing an FDA ban, and now to truly breathing again. There are no obscure medical terms, nor complicated complication analysis reports. All the miracles have come full circle in this touch of pink.

Mayo Clinic Administration Building, VIP Access.

Ye Zhen changed out of her scrubs and back into her regular clothes.

Gu Zheng stood at the entrance of the passage. He took the thin trench coat, unfolded it, and draped it over Ye Zhen's shoulders to block the night wind that was blowing in through the cracks in the sensor door.

Harrison and Stephen quickly followed. These two prominent figures in the North American medical community were now behaving extremely humbly.

Stephen took a gold-embossed invitation from his assistant and handed it over with both hands.

"Dr. Ye, to celebrate these two groundbreaking surgeries, Mayo Clinic and the American Medical Association will be jointly hosting a top-level honor banquet. It's scheduled for tomorrow night."

Ye Zhen glanced at the invitation, which represented the highest respect from the North American medical community, her hands still in her trench coat pockets.

"I need to book a flight for tomorrow; there are still critically ill children waiting in line in China."

Harrison panicked and took a step forward.

"Dr. Ye, this dinner is not only a celebration, but also a formal way to promote your standards throughout the United States. Many center directors who previously held prejudices against you are waiting to apologize to you in person and seek your advice."

Li, the staff member from the Foreign Affairs Office who had been waiting outside the door, quickly stepped forward.

"Dr. Ye, we have to attend this banquet," Officer Li said in a low voice. "This is the first time the North American medical community has bowed down to us; it's a golden opportunity for us to promote Chinese technology internationally. The higher-ups have also been watching this ice-breaking moment closely."

Gu Zheng turned to the side and helped her tighten the collar of her trench coat.

"Now that we've won the war, we should at least go to the surrender room to check the spoils of war." Gu Zheng looked at her. "If you want to go back to save the children, no one will stop you. But only by completely dismantling our rules on American soil will doctors from our country not have to be beholden to them when they come out to work in the future."

Ye Zhen's gaze shifted downwards, landing once again on the invitation in Stephen's hand.

Gu Zheng is right.

The clash on the operating table is over, but the struggle for international discourse power has only just begun. Now that we've hurt them, we must make them internalize the rules.

Ye Zhen reached out and accepted the gold-embossed invitation.

"Tell them."

Ye Zhen's tone was flat.

"I will be there on time tomorrow night."

Late at night, in the penthouse suite of the InterContinental Hotel.

The door clicked softly.

As soon as Ye Zhen stepped across the threshold, her mental defenses, which she had maintained all day, suddenly relaxed.

The fatigue that follows extreme tension washes over you like a tidal wave.

Her legs buckled, and instead of falling onto the cold carpet, she stumbled into a broad, strong embrace.

Gu Zheng caught her steadily from behind.

His aura instantly enveloped me, carrying the comforting warmth of grass and trees.

He didn't speak, but bent down, his strong arms reaching under her knees and back.

He steadily lifted her up horizontally.

"I haven't taken a shower yet."

Ye Zhen closed her eyes, her voice revealing a rare hoarseness and softness.

In this house far from the smoke of battle, she finally shed her armor as a war goddess and returned to being the tired little woman she once was.

Gu Zheng lowered his head, his chin brushing against the top of her head.

"Go to sleep first, I'll take care of the rest."

He gently placed Ye Zhen on the soft bed and took off her outer clothes.

The movements were extremely gentle, as if handling a priceless treasure.

The warm towel wiped her forehead and cheeks, finally stopping at her fingertips.

Ye Zhen opened her eyes a crack and looked at the man who was half-squatting by the bed.

"Gu Zheng".

Ye Zhen called out softly.

Gu Zheng looked up at her.

"exist."

"Today's surgery..."

Before she could finish speaking, her lips were sealed by a cool and soft touch.

Gu Zheng leaned over and kissed him with extreme restraint and deep affection.

"Today's surgery went perfectly."

Gu Zheng pressed his lips against hers, his voice deep and magnetic.

"Dr. Ye, you've won against the whole of America."

He lay down beside Ye Zhen and pulled her, blanket and all, into his arms.

His large hand gently stroked her back, as if soothing a triumphant lion.

"Sleep well, my little darling."

Ye Zhen snuggled closer to his warm chest.

Listening to his strong, powerful heartbeat, in the dead of night in this foreign land, she finally drifted into a deep sleep.