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

Ye Zhen stepped into the arrival hall.

The previously boisterous shouts abruptly ceased the moment she stepped through the glass door.

The hundreds of students in the front row raised their right arms in unison and saluted.

The movements were uneven. Some people raised their arms too high, and some bumped their glasses on their noses because they were nervous.

But no one gave up.

Two seconds later, a deafening roar of applause erupted from the dome of the hall.

Gu Zheng walked to Ye Zhen's right, his broad shoulders shielding her from the throng of people. The accompanying guards quickly cleared a path on either side.

Vice Minister Li touched the welcome speech he had hastily written overnight in his suit pocket, and seeing the scene, he tactfully withdrew his hand.

Several student representatives wearing white coats stepped forward with bouquets of flowers.

The girl with the ponytail at the front had her eyes redden as soon as she opened her mouth.

"Professor Ye, we listened to your report recording at the Mayo Clinic at school."

"There was only one copied cassette tape in the whole school, and everyone took turns listening to it. If there were a few technical terms that we couldn't understand, we would rewind it repeatedly and scrutinize them word by word."

The girl handed over a thick, hardcover notebook with both hands, her voice hoarse: "We all want to learn this skill."

Ye Zhen stopped and took the hard copy.

Opening the cover, one finds 312 names densely written on it. Following each name is a detailed note about the school and major.

"You can't just sign up to get into a training course."

Ye Zhen's cool voice carried throughout the hall with the help of the loudspeaker. The previously noisy crowd gradually quieted down.

"If the local anatomy is not up to standard, we will not admit you."

"Basic suturing and puncture are substandard; we will not accept the patient."

"Medical records that are falsified will never be accepted."

The students in the front row straightened their backs and even breathed softly.

"If you want to work in my catheterization lab, you'd better master the basics first." Ye Zhen's gaze swept over those pairs of enthusiastic eyes. "The real operating table never needs onlookers who only shout slogans."

Not far away, the boy who had been scolded for copying the wrong data was standing outside the police line, holding a stack of returned mimeographed documents. Hearing this, he lowered his head in shame, his fingers gripping the edges of the pages tightly.

Ye Zhen closed the notebook and handed it back to the girl with the ponytail.

"These 312 people, I'm waiting for you to take the test."

Thunderous applause erupted once again in the hall.

Just then, a loud, broken English shout suddenly came from the press area on the right.

A blond, blue-eyed foreign reporter suddenly pushed his way to the front of the cordon, raised his black tape recorder high, and pointed it directly at Ye Zhen.

"Dr. Ye! According to an exclusive report by Reuters, Johnson & Johnson offered you a ten million dollar annual salary, but you insisted on returning to China!"

The foreign journalist's voice was sharp and grating: "It's widely believed that you were coerced into giving up this lucrative contract! How do you explain this?"

Foreign affairs liaison officer Xu Wenqiang's expression changed drastically. This was a domestically organized reception event, and this foreign journalist had forcibly barged in and thrown out such a politically charged question, clearly intending to disrupt the event.

Several security personnel immediately stepped forward to apprehend the person.

Ye Zhen raised her right hand and stopped the security guard.

"Let him finish explaining his question."

Seeing this, the reporter became even more arrogant and loudly pressed, "If there were no restrictions from the Chinese government, wouldn't you want to stay in the United States where medical conditions are better?"

The air pressure around Gu Zheng suddenly dropped, and he took half a step forward.

Ye Zhen shoved the bouquet into Gu Zheng's arms, turned around, and walked alone to the reporter. Only a taut police tape separated them.

"First, no one makes decisions for me."

"Second, Johnson & Johnson's condition was that it would buy out the global exclusive patent rights to Huaxia Standard."

"Third, I'm returning to my own country without needing to explain my reasons to anyone, especially you."

Undeterred, the reporter continued to press the issue: "The United States can provide you with the world's most advanced equipment and independent laboratories, conditions that China currently lacks. Without financial support, medicine simply cannot develop!"

"Advanced equipment does not mean that those who control the equipment have the right to put a price tag on life."

"But capital can buy the latest consumables, pay exorbitant salaries, and build the best laboratories!"

"But capital can never buy a doctor's conscience."

Ye Zhen's rebuttal was crisp and decisive.

The reporter opened his mouth, but it felt like a bone was stuck in his throat, and the series of tricky questions he had prepared suddenly became pale and powerless.

Ye Zhen turned around, took the bouquet back from Gu Zheng, and looked at him sideways.

"Please be sure to report this truthfully in your country's newspapers."

"I personally rejected the exorbitant contract, and I decided to disclose the standards free of charge."

"Shifting the blame to my country only masks the arrogance and incompetence of your capitalist circles in refusing to acknowledge that someone treated that ten million dollars like worthless paper."

Laughter erupted among the students and experts.

The foreign journalist's face turned bright red. He sullenly put away his tape recorder and slunk away into the crowd.

Ye Zhen lowered her head and unfastened the gold medal pinned to her collar, which represented the highest honor of the North American Medical Association.

Instead of handing over this honor, which countless doctors dream of, to any of the leaders present, she turned around and walked to the girl holding the autograph book.

She gently placed the heavy medal on the hard copy book.

"Honor does not apply to surgery."

Ye Zhen looked at the group of young people in front of her, their cheeks flushed.

"This thing will stay with you. Whoever can learn the Chinese standards honestly and respectably will be qualified to touch it."

The students in the front row were trembling with excitement, staring intently at the gleaming gold medal.

Vice Minister Li waved his hand and announced, "To support the establishment of the Heart of China, the Ministry has decided to increase the preliminary selection quota for the second batch of nationwide open recruitment for the Heart of China from the original one hundred to two hundred!"

Inside the airport arrival hall, cheers nearly lifted the roof off.

This grand reception continued until sunset.

As soon as Ye Zhen got into the arranged Hongqi sedan, a group of students suddenly appeared out of nowhere and chased her all the way to the parking area.

The girl with the ponytail shouted at the top of her lungs through the lowered car window.

"Teacher Ye! We've handed over all the professional questions we compiled at school to Gu Linlin!"

"She promised us that even if she didn't sleep tonight, she would get the answer for the entire school!"

Gu Zheng, sitting in the driver's seat, was about to step on the gas when he paused.

"How many questions?"

The girl with the ponytail stretched out both hands and excitedly made a "three" gesture, then made an "eight" gesture.

Gu Zheng's face darkened.

It was exactly 7 p.m.

A black Hongqi sedan came to a steady stop in front of the Gu family's old house.

The door was just pushed open a crack.

Gu Linlin, with her hair tied up like Nezha, was holding three thick black notebooks in her arms, blocking the entrance like a wall.

"Sister-in-law, there are thirty-eight questions in total."