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

At 6:40 a.m., a large crowd gathered in front of the bulletin board in the lobby on the first floor of the main hospital.

Today, a large-character poster printed with mimeographed ink appeared in the wooden frame where the duty roster is usually displayed.

"What's all the commotion about? Make way, let me see!"

"Who put this up? They're incredibly audacious to post a big-character poster naming Dr. Ye."

"Public Inquiry Regarding the Procurement of Stone Materials for the General Hospital's Interventional Center Building... What does it say?"

"They say the foundation stones for the new building were all bought from a private quarry in Qingyun County. The owner is named Ye Cheng, and he's Dr. Ye Zhen's older brother!"

Officer Wu, holding an enamel mug, squeezed to the front, read it aloud, and then turned to Xiao Liu next to him, saying, "Did you hear that? It says here that the selection process was not conducted in accordance with regulations, and there was a transfer of benefits."

Xiao Liu lowered her voice: "Who put this up? It's mimeographed; you can't even read the writing. Sister Wu, do you think this is true? Did Dr. Ye's brother really supply stones for our new building?"

Officer Wu glanced around and whispered, "It's really hard to say. I went to the logistics department to submit a form a couple of days ago and overheard some of Lao Zhang's men chatting. They said the stones brought in by the provincial construction company did indeed come from Heishan Village. Think about it, what are the chances of such a coincidence?"

"That's troublesome. Wouldn't this be considered some kind of nepotism?"

"It's more than just nepotism. This project is a key project registered with the Ministry of Health; there's a lot more to it than meets the eye."

"Does Doctor Ye know about this?"

"Who knows? Anyway, once this big-character poster is put up, the whole hospital will go crazy over it."

"Stop talking, the dean is here."

Zhou Hai walked over with a teacup in his hand.

Secretary Xiao Chen followed beside him: "Dean, there's something posted on the first-floor bulletin board, and a lot of people are gathered around looking at it. I wonder who posted it in the middle of the night."

Zhou Hai walked over and squeezed into the crowd: "What are you all doing here? Those who need to hand over their shifts, go hand over yours!"

The crowd immediately dispersed.

After reading the big-character poster, Zhou Hai's face darkened: "Xiao Chen, take it down. Bring it to my office."

"Should we investigate who posted this?"

"What are you checking? Where are you going to find mimeographed copies? Don't make a fuss about this yet. Tell the security department to increase patrols at night from now on."

Rumors were spreading in the cafeteria at lunchtime.

"Have you heard? Dr. Ye took kickbacks from the new building project."

"Really? Dr. Ye is such a proud person, would he care about such a small amount of money?"

"What do you know? That's a deal worth tens of thousands of yuan. It's her brother's quarry; he just moves money around within the family."

The administrative meeting will be held at 2 PM.

There were about ten people in the conference room: Zhou Hai, Lin Weiguo, Lao Zhang from the logistics department, Section Chief Ma from the finance department, Xiao Sun from the infrastructure office, and several department directors.

When the agenda reached the third item, "Report on the Progress of the New Building Project," Lin Weiguo spoke.

Lin Weiguo opened his notebook: "Dean Zhou, there's something I think I need to mention."

Zhou Hai took a sip of tea: "Speak."

Lin Weiguo looked at his notebook and read aloud: "The foundation stones for the intervention center building were purchased from Zhenxing Quarry in Heishan Village, Qingyun County, with Ye Cheng as the legal representative. As far as I know, Ye Cheng is Dr. Ye Zhen's elder brother."

The meeting room was completely silent.

Lin Weiguo closed his laptop and placed his hands, folded, on the table: "I was unaware of this matter beforehand. An anonymous question appeared on the bulletin board this morning, and there has been considerable discussion within the institute. As the vice president in charge of logistics and finance, I believe it is necessary to verify this."

Zhou Hai put down his teacup: "Old Lin, the procurement of stone materials is the responsibility of the provincial construction company. Our main institute only needs to provide the technical requirements; the procurement process follows their subcontracting accounts, not the institute's procurement procedures."

Lin Weiguo said calmly, "That's true. The project belongs to our main hospital, and the funding comes from the Ministry of Health. If the supplier selected by the provincial construction company has a direct blood relationship with the project leader, have we, as the client, fulfilled our due diligence obligations? What will we say if the higher-ups ask us about it later?"

"This..." Zhou Hai didn't reply.

Xiao Sun couldn't sit still any longer: "Dean Lin, the construction site is waiting for stone materials. The senior engineer from the provincial construction company has confirmed with me several times that the quality of that batch of stones fully meets the standards, and the price is also fairer than the market price."

Lin Weiguo looked at Xiao Sun: "Meeting quality standards is one thing, complying with procedures is another. How can a national project only focus on quality without adhering to regulations?"

Old Zhang picked up his teacup and took a sip of water: "Dean Lin is right. Our main hospital is attracting a lot of attention now, so we really need to be more careful in everything we do."

Zhou Hai asked, "Old Lin, what do you mean?"

Lin Weiguo replied, "My suggestion is to temporarily freeze Ye Cheng's quarry's settlement account under the pretext of financial compliance review, and conduct an audit for three months. This is not targeting anyone, but rather to ensure the compliance of national projects."

Xiao Sun stood up: "Three months? Dean Lin, if the power supply is cut off, who will be responsible for the delay in the building's construction?"

"The audit is the audit, and the supply is the supply." Lin Weiguo looked at Xiao Sun. "The stones will still be delivered, but the payment will be held in suspense. We'll release the funds after the audit results are released. This is normal procedure. What project doesn't have a quality guarantee deposit and an audit period? If the supply really stops, aren't there other quarries?"

Xiao Sun tried to argue, "But the workers also need to get paid and eat!"

Old Zhang tugged at Xiao Sun's sleeve and shook his head at him.

Zhou Hai glanced at Lin Weiguo.

"Old Lin, your suggestion is indeed reasonable from a procedural standpoint," Zhou Hai said.

Lin Weiguo straightened his clothes: "Then let's proceed according to procedure. This is also to clear Dr. Ye of any suspicion. We have nothing to fear if we're innocent. Once we've investigated thoroughly, we'll shut up any gossip."

Zhou Hai held his teacup, but didn't drink any water for a long time.

"Okay." Zhou Hai put down his cup. "The finance department should issue a letter to the provincial construction company to cooperate with the audit. Settlement will be postponed until the audit results are available."

"Section Chief Ma, you take charge of this." Lin Weiguo turned to look at the Finance Section Chief.

Section Chief Ma looked at Zhou Hai with difficulty, then at Lin Weiguo, and finally lowered his head to make a note in his notebook.

"Yes, Dean, I'll take care of it right away. As for the wording of the letter..."

"Just write 'conducting routine audits in accordance with regulations and procedures,'" Lin Weiguo continued.

After the meeting.

Zhou Hai stopped Xiao Chen: "How many surgeries is Ye Zhen scheduled for today?"

Xiao Chen flipped through the schedule in his hand: "Two cases. One is a ventricular septal defect repair at 3 pm, and another is a patent ductus arteriosus at 5 pm, both are pediatric cardiac surgeries. I estimate I'll be busy until after 8 pm."

Zhou Hai thought for a moment: "After the surgery, have her come to my office."

"Yes, Dean."

As Xiao Chen walked to the door, Zhou Hai said again, "Never mind, don't call her. Let her go home and rest early."

"Understood, Dean."

Zhou Hai leaned back in his chair and rubbed his face with both hands.

Lin Weiguo, this time he used the legitimate credentials, and there was nothing wrong with the procedures.

Zhou Hai opened the drawer and glanced at the mimeographed paper he had locked away.

There was no signature or fingerprint on the paper, and the mimeographed writing was so blurry that no personal characteristics could be discerned.

He closed the drawer and sighed heavily.

That evening, the freezing order was issued in the form of an official document from the General Hospital's Finance Department.