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

Ye Zhen stood by the door, watching Sun Jianjun stride in at the end of the corridor.

Sun Jianjun's chest heaved violently as he walked straight through the crowd, completely blocking Gu Yue behind him.

His white coat was faded from washing, the cuffs were frayed, and there were still a few drops of iodine stains on the collar.

Gu Jianguo looked the young man who had barged in up and down.

"Who are you?" Gu Jianguo asked in a deep voice.

Sun Jianjun stood tall with his back straight and his hands pressed against the seams of his trousers.

"Sun Jianjun, an intern at the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital," Sun Jianjun announced his identity.

Zhao Zheng, who was standing next to him, let out a short chuckle.

"An intern?" Zhao Zheng pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his tone filled with undisguised superiority.

Gu Jianguo's face was ashen.

"The person Gu Yue was looking for in Beicheng, could it be you?"

"Yes," Sun Jianjun answered very quickly.

Gu Yue tugged at Sun Jianjun's sleeve from behind.

Sun Jianjun turned and nodded at her, then faced Gu Jianguo again.

Gu Jianguo took a step forward, his tall figure exuding the imposing aura of someone who had led troops for many years.

"How much allowance do you receive each month?" Gu Jianguo asked the most practical question.

"The internship allowance is eight yuan and fifty cents," Sun Jianjun answered truthfully.

"Gu Yue has never suffered since she was a child. Her pair of leather shoes costs thirty yuan. How are you going to support her?" Gu Jianguo attacked without any mercy.

"Relying on your tattered white lab coat?"

Ye Zhen stood quietly with her hands in her pockets, watching Sun Jianjun.

Sun Jianjun spoke, facing the imposing presence of his superior.

"I really have nothing right now. I was born in a rural area of ​​northern Shaanxi. My parents were farmers, and I was able to finish medical school with the help of scholarships."

Sun Jianjun raised his hand and pointed to the stack of brown paper bags full of letters on the octagonal table.

The paper bag had yellowed stamps and postmarks on it.

"I know I'm not good enough for Gu Yue."

"Every day after I finish my regular work in the department, I come here to help her sort the mail."

"Many of the letters contained descriptions of symptoms in a local dialect that is difficult to understand."

For example, people in the countryside call palpitations "heart-pounding".

"If Gu Yue can't understand it, I'll translate it for her word by word."

"I like her not because she is the leader's daughter."

"It's not that I'm trying to climb the social ladder by marrying into the Gu family."

"It's because I saw her checking data on critically ill children."

"She would sit on that hard bench and make long-distance calls for hours on end."

"Her voice was so hoarse that she couldn't even swallow a sip of water, but she still persevered."

"She risked her life more than anyone else when saving people."

"She shouldn't be trapped in the small circle of arranged marriages."

"She's doing something truly momentous here."

The triage area fell silent instantly.

The only sound was the rustling of leaves in the wind outside the window.

Zhao Zheng couldn't stand the emotional atmosphere.

He broke the silence with his voice.

"Dr. Sun, love can't put food on the table."

Zhao Zheng had his hands in his pockets.

"You talk a good game now, but you sing a better song."

"But once your internship ends, you will most likely be assigned back to a local county-level hospital."

"Or even be sent back to your poor, remote village where you don't even have electricity."

"Are you planning to let Yueyue give up the good life in the big city?"

"I'll follow you to the Loess Plateau and eat sand for the rest of my life."

Zhao Zheng's words struck at Sun Jianjun's weakest points.

This is the harsh reality that a farmer's son with no connections must face.

Ye Zhen spoke up.

"He won't go back to the county hospital."

"He will stay at the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital."

Everyone in the room immediately turned their attention to Ye Zhen, who was leaning against the door frame.

"Sun Jianjun has only slept four hours a day for the past three months."

Ye Zhen's gaze fell on Gu Jianguo's serious face.

"To master the most basic suturing and knot-tying techniques in cardiac surgery."

"He used up hundreds of discarded sutures."

"I can tie sixty knots in a minute."

"He collected pieces of pigskin that the cafeteria was going to throw away and used them to practice late into the night in his dorm room."

"He is not only an intern, but also the cornerstone of my plan to stay at the Heart of China as a chief surgeon."

Ye Zhen walked towards the octagonal table.

"His basic skills are more solid than many attending physicians who have worked at the main hospital for five years."

"He doesn't need to curry favor with anyone."

"With just that scalpel in his hand, he can gain a foothold in the North City."

Zhao Zheng listened from the side and let out an extremely ugly sneer.

"You're being too absolute in your statement."

Zhao Zheng straightened the collar of his Zhongshan suit.

"Surgery relies on talent and cutting-edge knowledge gained from studying abroad."

"It relies on advanced medical equipment like those used in the Soviet Union and Germany."

"Just by staying up all night practicing sewing pigskin, you can stay at the General Hospital of the Military Region."

Zhao Zheng looked at Ye Zhen with a mocking gaze.

"They even disregarded the main hospital's hiring standards in order to protect their interns."

"This is utterly ridiculous."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Jianjun frowned, about to say something.

Gu Zheng, who was leaning against the corridor wall, straightened up.

Gu Zheng strode into the house with his long legs.

"Officer Zhao studied in the Soviet Union for several years, and his foreign education has given him a sense of superiority."

His tall figure blocked Ye Zhen's view, preventing Zhao Zheng from seeing him.

Even Sir Williams, the Royal College of Physicians of England.

"That top authority in cardiothoracic surgery in the British Empire."

"I have to humbly ask for advice from my wife."

Gu Zheng looked down at Zhao Zheng.

"You're an amateur who's never even touched a scalpel, yet you dare to tell my wife how to choose a doctor?"

Zhao Zheng choked, his face turning pale and then red.

He opened his mouth.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down a few times.

He couldn't utter a single rebuttal for a long time.

Gu Jianguo sized up Sun Jianjun. He was a veteran who had crawled out of piles of corpses. He valued family background, but he valued hard work and integrity even more.

"I don't care about those superficial practice records, I want to see the results." Gu Jianguo looked at Sun Jianjun and held up three fingers.

"If you don't get into the top three in the main hospital's graduation assessment for interns, you're not allowed to see Gu Yue again."

Gu Yue panicked and came around from behind Sun Jianjun.

"Dad! This isn't fair! The main hospital's assessment is so strict..."

"I've taken it." Sun Jianjun interrupted Gu Yue, looking directly at Gu Jianguo.

"I'll show you the results of the top three in the main hospital's assessment later."

Gu Jianguo looked at him for two seconds.

"Gu Zheng, arrange a better dormitory for this kid. Don't let people say that our Gu family is bullying poor students." Gu Jianguo turned around and gave the order before striding away from the annex with his second aunt.

Seeing this, Zhao Zheng could only slink away and follow.

With the crisis averted, Gu Yue breathed a long sigh of relief, her legs went weak, and she grabbed the octagonal table behind her for support.

Zhao Lanlan, who had been hiding outside the door, then walked in, patting her chest with lingering fear.

Ye Zhen picked up the record book on the table, and then took out a folded copy of the medical record from the pocket of her white coat.

She patted the medical record on Sun Jianjun's chest.

"This is a case of complex tetralogy of Fallot, with severe pulmonary artery dysplasia, being transferred from Shanxi next Monday." Ye Zhen's voice regained its sternness from when she was teaching.

"I'll be the lead surgeon, and you'll be the second assistant."

Sun Jianjun received the medical record with both hands.

"This is your first time on an open-chest operating table of this level. Go back and thoroughly understand the anatomy," Ye Zhen said, looking at him.

"If you hand over the hemostats half a second slower next Monday, I'll kick you out of the operating room. You can pack your bags and leave on your own."

Sun Jianjun gripped the medical record tightly and stood up straight.

"Don't worry, Teacher Ye, I won't hold you back."

Ye Zhen withdrew her gaze and turned to walk out the door.

Gu Zheng followed her and opened the door for her.

The two walked side by side toward the main building. The early autumn wind blew through the corridor, stirring up a fallen leaf.