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

The street scene outside the car window gradually changed.

There are fewer high-rise buildings.

Shops with Chinese characters on their signs began to appear on both sides of the street. A familiar sense of daily life filled the air.

The taxi stopped in front of a Chinese-style archway.

The four people got off the bus.

Three large characters are written on the red archway.

This area isn't as bustling as Chinatown in New York or San Francisco, but it's lively enough. The streets are lined with stalls selling fresh vegetables, shop windows displaying roasted meats, traditional Chinese medicine clinics, and general stores.

The people coming and going mostly had black hair and yellow skin, and their clothing reflected the simplicity characteristic of the 1980s.

Officer Li took a deep breath and smelled the aroma of Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers wafting in the air.

"That's the taste!"

The four followed the aroma and arrived at a small restaurant. The sign read "Shu Xiang Ju".

Pushing open the glass door, you'll find a dozen or so round tables inside, almost all of them occupied. Most of them are local Chinese laborers and international students.

The waiter, with a white towel draped over his shoulder, greeted us in Mandarin with a local accent.

"Please come in, everyone."

He led the four of them to an empty table by the window. The table was covered with a greasy red plastic tablecloth. The waiter casually wiped it a couple of times with a rag and slammed a yellowed menu on the table.

Xu Wenqiang handed the menu to Gu Zheng, but Gu Zheng didn't take it and pushed it directly in front of Ye Zhen.

Ye Zhen opened the menu.

"A serving of boiled beef."

"A serving of Mapo Tofu."

Garlic-flavored pork belly.

"Another bowl of tomato and egg soup, please."

The waiter loudly repeated the name of the dish, then turned and ran to the kitchen.

Gu Zheng picked up the teapot on the table, rinsed the four people's teacups with hot water, and poured in hot tea.

Officer Li sat opposite, drinking tea while looking around.

A bulky color television hung above the restaurant's cashier counter, broadcasting the midday news. The volume was blasting, and the screen showed Washington, D.C.

This is what all American TV stations are playing on a loop today.

The FDA commissioner bowed his head in apology at a press conference and announced the rescission of the ban.

The previously noisy conversations in the restaurant quieted down considerably. Many diners put down their chopsticks and looked up at the television screen. A row of English subtitles scrolled at the bottom of the screen. Although Officer Li's English was not good, he recognized the word "China" that appeared frequently.

Xu Wenqiang, who was in charge of foreign affairs translation, pushed up his glasses and lowered his voice to provide simultaneous translation for Secretary Li.

"They're broadcasting the FDA bowing down."

"American news outlets have called Dr. Yeh's surgery yesterday a counterattack in medical history."

After hearing this, Officer Li slapped his thigh excitedly.

"That's really inspiring!"

Several Chinese men in work clothes were sitting at the next table. One of the middle-aged men slammed down his glass and spoke loudly in Chinese.

"Even these Americans admit their mistakes sometimes!"

The person at the table agreed.

"That Dr. Ye is amazing. I read the full translation of the Washington Post this morning, and he completely stunned those old guys at Mayo."

The middle-aged man sighed.

"We used to do hard labor for others and were looked down upon. This time, our motherland really made us proud."

The restaurant owner came out of the kitchen carrying a large tray and placed several plates of bright red Sichuan dishes on a table for four.

She echoed the middle-aged man's words.

"That's right. I had the shop assistants buy dozens of copies of today's newspaper and put them out at the door for free. It's also to show foreigners what we Chinese are capable of."

The proprietress put down the last bowl of tomato and egg soup, glanced at Ye Zhen as usual, and then at Gu Zheng, who was handing Ye Zhen chopsticks.

She paused for a moment, thinking the young woman's face looked somewhat familiar. But the shop was too busy to think about it further; she wiped her hands on her apron and turned to attend to other customers.

The four of them picked up their chopsticks and began to eat.

The boiled beef tasted very authentic. Officer Li ate two bowls of rice, sweating profusely as he ate.

Gu Zheng was helping Ye Zhen pick out the peppercorns from the boiled pork and put the clean slices of pork into her bowl.

"Bang!"

The restaurant's glass door was kicked open.

The door frame slammed against the wall with a loud bang. The lively atmosphere in the restaurant instantly turned to freezing.

Four burly white men, dressed in motorcycle leather jackets and covered in tattoos, swaggered in. The bald man in the lead chewed gum and weighed a baseball bat in his hand.

As soon as the group entered, the two tables of Chinese laborers near the door immediately lowered their heads, paid their bills, and left, not even daring to pack up the remaining dishes.

"Chinese woman, isn't it time to pay last month's security fee?" The bald man walked up to the cashier and tapped the wooden counter with his baseball bat.

The proprietress turned pale and quickly approached with a forced smile.

"Boss Jack, didn't we just hand it in last week...?"

"Last week was last week, prices have gone up this week." The bald man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

He turned his head and glanced around the restaurant. Most of the diners kept their heads down, not daring to make a sound. In this Chinatown, these local gangsters had always been known for their tyranny.

The bald man's gaze suddenly stopped on the table by the window.

To be precise, it stopped on Ye Zhen's face.

Among a group of Chinese people who have worked hard for many years and whose faces are weathered, Ye Zhen's cool and bright face stands out from the crowd and is extremely eye-catching.

The bald man whistled a flippant whistle, pushed aside the proprietress blocking his way, and walked straight toward Ye Zhen's table.

"Hey, this girl's pretty hot. Is she new here?"

The bald man walked to the table and reached out to lift Ye Zhen's chin.

Before his hand could even touch Ye Zhen's hair, his wrist was gripped tightly in mid-air by a large hand that felt like an iron clamp.

Gu Zheng didn't even stand up.

He remained seated, his right hand still holding Ye Zhen's teacup, his left hand gripping the bald man's wrist.

"Take your dirty hands off me," Gu Zheng said calmly.

The bald man tried to pull his hand back forcefully, only to find that his supposedly invincible strength was completely ineffective against this hand, which was squeezing his bones so hard they were cracking.

"You yellow-skinned monkey, you're asking for it!"

Seeing this, the three thugs next to them immediately grabbed beer bottles and chairs from the table and smashed them over.

Gu Zheng suddenly flipped his wrist.

"Snap!"

The sound of bones breaking was crisp and piercing. The bald man let out a bloodcurdling scream, like a pig being slaughtered.

Immediately afterward, Gu Zheng stood up. He didn't even give the other man a chance to see his move clearly, delivering a clean and decisive front kick to the bald man's abdomen. The burly man, weighing over 200 pounds, flew backward like a broken sack, overturning two empty tables.

The remaining three thugs rushed up, brandishing bottles.

Gu Zheng dodged the bottle that was about to smash into his head, grabbed one man's wrist with his left hand and pulled him down, while his right hand delivered a powerful chop to the man's carotid artery. The man's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed stiffly to the ground.