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

At 9:00 AM in the auditorium of the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital.

More than 300 folding chairs were arranged densely on the cement floor, stretching from the first row all the way to the emergency exit at the very back of the auditorium.

Doctors, nurses, administrators, and support staff from all departments—everyone who could come—came.

Even Old Zhang, who tends the boiler in the canteen, moved a small stool and squeezed into the aisle at the back, craning his neck to look ahead.

Zhao Lanlan and Gu Yue sat in the middle of the row by the window.

Neither of them slept soundly last night.

Zhao Lanlan twisted the handkerchief folded on her knee with her fingers. Gu Yue sat next to her, her legs not touching, shifting from left to right, the chair legs creaking on the cement floor.

"Sister Lanlan, what do you think about today's meeting..." Gu Yue leaned closer, her voice extremely low.

Zhao Lanlan didn't speak, but kept her gaze fixed on the stack of documents on the podium.

She knew in her heart that today's meeting would either prove her sister-in-law's innocence to be proven in public, or it would completely nail her sister-in-law's reputation to the pillar of shame in front of hundreds of people in the entire hospital.

She dared not think about the latter.

In the back row, slightly to the left, Zhao Tiancheng sat upright.

His chin was slightly raised, his eyelids were half-drooping, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

These days, the effect of that anonymous big-character poster in the courtyard has far exceeded his expectations.

From the cafeteria to the dressing room, from the ward corridors to the stairwell of the administration building, almost every corner was filled with talk of Ye Zhen and her country bumpkin brother who ran a quarry.

Lin Weiguo's side also cooperated perfectly—the freezing order was issued swiftly and decisively, and the audit period was dragged out to three months, enough to wear down Ye Cheng's quarry to death.

Zhao Tiancheng crossed his legs and tapped his knees lightly with his fingers.

Once Zhou Hai finishes his meeting, Ye Zhen's reputation will be completely ruined.

At that point, no matter how skilled she is in medicine, once this accusation of "abusing power for personal gain" is leveled against her, can the Huaxia Heart project still be saved?

Even if Gu Zheng, her powerful backer, is strong, he can't outweigh public opinion.

Thinking of this, Zhao Tiancheng felt an indescribable sense of joy.

He picked up the enamel mug and slowly sipped some cool boiled water.

Zhou Hai stood on the podium, with a thick stack of documents on the table in front of him, and on top of it was a joint municipal investigation report covered with red seals.

He glanced at the sea of ​​heads below the stage, cleared his throat, and picked up the microphone.

"Today's staff meeting will focus on only one thing."

Zhou Hai's voice, accompanied by the crackling sound of electricity, echoed throughout the auditorium through the old loudspeaker.

"Investigation results regarding the stone procurement project for the interventional center building of our hospital."

The hall, which had been filled with whispers, fell silent after those words.

Zhao Lanlan's handkerchief was so tightly clenched that it lost its shape.

Gu Yue quietly reached out and grasped her wrist, squeezing it gently. Both of their palms were sweaty.

Zhou Hai picked up the investigation report and turned to the first page.

"The Municipal Health Bureau, together with the Municipal Construction Commission's materials quality inspection department, formed a joint municipal investigation team to conduct a special investigation of the Heishan Village Revitalization Quarry."

He raised his head and his gaze swept across the entire room.

"The investigation covers three aspects. First, whether the signing procedure of the supply contract was compliant. Second, whether the quality of the stone meets the standards. Third, whether there is any inflated settlement price or transfer of benefits."

The audience was silent.

Lin Weiguo, sitting in the third row on the side, gripped the briefcase straps on his knees tightly with both hands, his knuckles cracking, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Zhao Tiancheng, sitting in the back, leaned back in his chair and changed the direction of his crossed legs.

A joint municipal investigation team?

He froze for a moment.

The promised three-month audit by the hospital's finance department has suddenly turned into a city-level investigation team.

A slightly uneasy feeling crept up my spine.

But he quickly suppressed it. Let them investigate. How could Ye Cheng, a country bumpkin, run such a run-down place? Could he withstand the inspection of experts from the Municipal Construction Committee?

Zhou Hai slammed the report on the table, his voice suddenly rising two notches.

"The results are in. I'll read them aloud to everyone one by one, so that no one will add fuel to the fire and make up stories behind our backs."

Zhao Lanlan almost stopped breathing.

Gu Yue bit her lower lip hard, her nails digging into Zhao Lanlan's wrist, neither of them letting go.

"Article 1, Contract Signing Procedure."

Zhou Hai pushed up his reading glasses and read it aloud, word by word.

"The supply contract between Zhenxing Quarry and the Provincial Construction Company was signed independently by the Provincial Construction Company's project manager after comparing materials within Qingyun County based on project requirements. The client is the Provincial Construction Company, not the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital. Comrade Ye Zhen, as the person in charge of the intervention center project, does not participate in any infrastructure procurement decisions and does not have the authority to interfere with the selection of suppliers."

He closed the report, took off his glasses, and wiped the lenses with a handkerchief.

"Did you understand? Dr. Ye Zhen has never even seen what a contract looks like."

People in the audience started whispering among themselves.

Sitting in the back row, Head Nurse Liu nudged her colleague next to her with her elbow and muttered something in a low voice. The other person nodded repeatedly.

Zhao Tiancheng put his legs down at some point.

The corners of his mouth still held a half-retracted smile, but the smug light in his eyes had been suppressed by something.

Not involved in procurement? Lacking the authority to intervene?

This is completely inconsistent with his original argument when he designed the big-character poster.

The words he wrote at the time were all aimed at the point that "Ye Zhen used her position as project manager to give her brother preferential treatment."

Zhou Hai put on his glasses and turned to the second page.

"Secondly, the quality of the stone. The Materials Section of the Municipal Construction Commission took samples on-site for testing, and the compressive strength of the granite blocks supplied by Zhenxing Quarry was 168 MPa."

He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the top of his glasses.

"Some of you may not understand what this number means, so let me translate it for you."

"The highest standard set by the Municipal Construction Commission is 140 MPa, and the stones Ye Cheng sent over exceed the standard by 15 percent."

Zhou Hai held the test report high, showing it to everyone present.

"In Section Chief Wang's words, if this batch of granite is sent to the Municipal Building Materials Bureau, it should be treated as a top-grade sample and preserved."

The auditorium erupted in uproar.

Zhao Lanlan suddenly raised her head, her eyes instantly turning red.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but her throat felt like it was blocked by something.

Gu Yue's nose was already sore, and she grabbed Zhao Lanlan's hand tightly and shook it vigorously under the table.

"Sister Lanlan! A top-grade sample! 168 megapascals!" Gu Yue's voice was extremely low, but trembling violently. "The stone my sister-in-law's brother gave me is the hardest kind!"

Zhao Lanlan nodded frantically, tears welling up in her eyes, but she forced them back.

She recalled being gossiped about in the cafeteria these past few days, and how her sister-in-law remained unmoved as she drank water from her enamel mug when she rushed to her office to report the incident—"If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up."

My sister-in-law already knew what was going on.

Xiao Sun, who was sitting in the middle row of the infrastructure office, glanced at Lin Weiguo and curled his lips downwards.

Zhao Tiancheng, sitting in the back corner, could no longer sit still.

His back was lifted off the chair back, and his whole body leaned slightly forward.

Exceeding the standard by 15%? A top-grade sample?

He always assumed that what good stuff could a rural quarry have? He thought that any evidence of "nepotism" would be enough to ruin Ye Zhen's reputation.

Zhao Tiancheng's Adam's apple bobbed, and sweat trickled down his temples.