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

Zhou Hai was stunned, staring wide-eyed at the young female doctor before him: "This... how do you enlarge it?"

"Since the main hospital's finance department can't figure it out, to avoid any suspicion, let's submit a report to higher authorities." Ye Zhen's eyes gleamed as she revealed her trump card, "Please have the Municipal Health Bureau's discipline inspection department, together with the Municipal Construction Commission's material quality inspection experts, directly form a municipal-level joint investigation team to go down to the quarry in Heishan Village to investigate!"

Her speech was measured, yet powerful: "Check the detailed accounts! Test the hardness of the stones! Compare the quarrying price, labor and transportation costs of every piece of granite to all the market prices!"

Zhou Hai was stunned by this outrageous suggestion, and a cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead: "This is too much of a commotion! Xiao Ye, this is like exposing our entire hospital's assets to the city! Once the higher-ups get involved, this matter will completely spiral out of our hospital's control and we won't be able to suppress it!"

"I, Ye Zhen, have always acted uprightly and sat honestly. The granite that my elder brother hammered out can withstand the test of any machine in this world!"

Ye Zhen placed her hands on the mahogany desk, leaning slightly forward. The aura she exuded, honed through years of life-and-death struggles on the operating table, instantly took control of the entire office, making Zhou Hai feel suffocated.

"If we don't call in a joint municipal investigation team, are we just going to let malicious individuals smear this life-saving project, 'Heart of China,' with filth?!" Ye Zhen's eyes were piercing. "This building holds the lives of countless children with congenital heart disease across the country in its hands. Its foundation cannot tolerate even the slightest mess! Anyone who dares to play dirty tricks on the foundation of this building, I'll tear a hole in the sky for them!"

Zhou Hai slumped back into his chair with a thud, his white coat completely soaked.

His mind raced. Ye Zhen wasn't just an irreplaceable pillar of strength in the medical field; her husband, Gu Zheng, was a real military commander in the Beicheng Military Region! If this matter wasn't investigated openly and thoroughly, and if the Gu family really threw a tantrum in the hospital, not only would Lin Weiguo be in serious trouble, but the entire Beicheng General Hospital would be in deep trouble!

Ye Zhen's move was absolutely swift and decisive, a direct attempt to force the emperor to abdicate!

Zhou Hai took a deep breath, as if he had figured out the score in his mind. He exhaled heavily, pulled open the drawer next to him, pulled out the document stamped with a bright red freeze seal, and slammed it on the table with a "bang".

"Alright!" Zhou Hai gritted his teeth and made the decision. "I'll make the call right now! I'll call the top officials of the Municipal Health Bureau and the Municipal Construction Commission directly!"

He stood up, leaning on the table, his expression more resolute than ever before: "Xiao Ye, don't worry! Once the joint investigation team posts the accounts and quality inspection results on the bulletin board, proving your brother's innocence, I, Zhou Hai, will personally organize a hospital-wide staff meeting, in front of over a hundred people, to clear your names, you and your brother Ye!"

Two days later.

Two green jeeps bearing license plates from municipal government agencies bumped and chugged along the potholed mountain road for a full three hours before finally coming to a stop with a screeching screech on the earthen platform of the Heishan Village quarry.

As soon as the car door opened, several well-dressed experts from the Municipal Construction Commission, each with a Hero brand fountain pen in their pocket, filed out.

Leading the way was Section Chief Wang from the Materials Section of the Municipal Construction Commission, carrying a heavy black leather bag under his arm and wearing a stern face.

Lin Weiguo wore a dark-colored cadre jacket that was perfectly ironed today, carrying a briefcase, and followed behind Section Chief Wang.

He volunteered to go to the countryside with the city's investigation team today. Ostensibly, it was to "cooperate with the work," but in his heart, he was calculating every move—he had to personally examine Ye Cheng's accounts and find loopholes to definitively accuse Ye Zhen of "using connections and skimming public funds"!

Gao Changzheng, an engineer from the provincial construction company, also jumped out of the car behind him, stared at Lin Weiguo's smug face, and coldly rolled his eyes.

Ye Cheng and Ma Zhigang came to greet them, Ye Cheng's old jacket still covered in white dust from chopping rocks.

"Distinguished leaders, you must be tired from your journey. I am Ye Cheng, the person in charge of Zhenxing Quarry." Ye Cheng stood up straight, neither humble nor arrogant.

Section Chief Wang nodded sternly, cutting straight to the point without any preamble: "Boss Ye, we've been commissioned by the North City Military Region General Hospital to conduct a thorough investigation today into your supplier qualifications and the quality of your stone materials."

"Bring out your contracts with the provincial construction company, along with all the original ledgers, not a single page missing," Section Chief Wang waved his hand. "Technicians, go to the material yard and take samples now!"

Ye Cheng turned around and gave Ma Zhigang a look. Without saying a word, Ma Zhigang ran into the shed, brought out a thick stack of account books and receipts wrapped tightly in kraft paper, and spread them all out on the long table.

Lin Weiguo glanced at the stack of account books and jumped out impatiently, launching into a tirade in an official tone: "Section Chief Wang, you'd better keep your eyes peeled! These kinds of shoddy accounts from a makeshift rural operation are the easiest to manipulate. Who knows, they might be skimming off our hospital's building project by cutting corners and inflating prices!"

Gao Changzheng, listening nearby, was furious and sneered, "Vice President Lin, you should speak with a clear conscience! Our provincial construction company's quality inspectors aren't blind! The stones Brother Ye brought to the construction site are all hard stuff that's been hammered with a sledgehammer. If you don't believe me, don't close your eyes when the instrument makes that sound!"

Several technicians, carrying professional hardness testers and moisture content measuring instruments, headed straight for the pile of stone slabs on the east slope.

Section Chief Wang, accompanied by two accountants, set up their abacus in the material shed, and began checking the accounts one by one, accompanied by the crisp "clattering" of the abacus beads.

The entire quarry was eerily quiet, save for the sound of the wind whistling through the gravel and the beeping of the instruments. Lin Weiguo paced anxiously back and forth in front of the table, his hands behind his back, his dead fish eyes fixed on the abacus in the accountant's hand, as if he wanted to find irrefutable evidence of embezzlement immediately.

Half an hour later, the technical team leader who went to the material yard to collect samples walked quickly, clutching a newly filled-out form as he rushed back to the material shed.

"Section Chief, the results are all in!" The technical team leader's eyes gleamed with barely suppressed shock. "The compressive strength of this batch of granite exceeds the highest standard set by our city by a full 15%! All indicators are excellent! If this high-quality material were placed in the city's state-owned building materials bureau, it would be treated as a top-grade gold nugget and kept as a model!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Weiguo stumbled, his eyes nearly popping out of the window: "How is this possible?! These broken stones from this poor mountain village can be top-grade material? Did your city's machinery break down on the way here?!"

The technical team leader's face darkened, and he retorted bluntly, "Vice Dean Lin, our construction committee's machines are calibrated every year. Are you questioning the state's public sights?"

Lin Weiguo was instantly speechless.

Section Chief Wang looked at the impeccable quality inspection report, nodded approvingly, then lowered his head, his gaze falling on the newly compiled summary of accounts.

The moment his gaze swept over the numbers, Section Chief Wang's usually stern face suddenly tightened, his brows furrowed tightly, and his expression became extremely strange.

Upon seeing this, Lin Weiguo was overjoyed, thinking that Section Chief Wang had finally caught the fox who was falsifying accounts. He quickly fawned over him like a lapdog: "Section Chief Wang! Did you find out something fishy? I knew it! With such top-quality materials, Ye Cheng's quoted price must have been outrageously high. He's just using his sister's name to swindle public money!"

"Snapped!"

Section Chief Wang suddenly raised his hand and slammed the thick kraft paper ledger heavily onto the table, making the enamel teacup jump.

"Take a look at this settlement price for yourself!" Section Chief Wang's gloved fingers slammed into the unit price column of the ledger, making a deafening sound. "The price Ye Cheng paid for this top-quality stone to build a building for your main hospital was a full 20% lower than the market price at the supply and marketing cooperative!"

These words were resounding and powerful, like a bomb exploding in the feed shed!

The entire quarry became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Lin Weiguo felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and his ears were ringing.

Gao Changzheng stepped forward, tapped the ledger hard with his fingers, and said with a mocking expression, "I already said that Brother Ye Cheng was just worried about his sister building a house to save her life, so he gritted his teeth and pushed the price down to the bottom!"

"Some leaders in your hospital are really something else! They've gotten a huge advantage and then turn around and bite the hand that feeds them! They won't pay, but they're setting a trap to audit the accounts. They're trying to drive honest people to their doom!"

Zhao Dahai, who had been holding back his anger on the sidelines, could no longer contain himself. He roared in his farmer's loud voice, "High-ranking officials in the city, please be the judge! The men of Dahe Village and Heishan Village work from dawn till dusk, hammering away, just to deliver the stones to Beicheng on time! Boss Ye doesn't care about money or profit, yet he's being accused of 'profiteering'! How can this be so unfair?!"

The workers were furious, and they looked at Lin Weiguo with eyes that seemed to want to tear him apart.

Section Chief Wang deftly swiped the ledger and test reports into his briefcase and zipped it up. He suddenly turned around, his face ashen, his gaze sweeping over the trembling Lin Weiguo like a knife.

"Comrade Lin Weiguo! Is this what you keep insisting is 'using connections' and 'exploiting loopholes'?"

"I will report today's results to the Municipal Health Bureau and to your Director Zhou Hai in detail after I return to the city!"

"Your approach of making baseless accusations and causing unnecessary trouble is severely hindering the progress of this crucial national life-saving project! Someone from the General Hospital must be held accountable for this!"

Lin Weiguo now truly understood what it meant for "the sky to fall." He frantically reached out, trying to tug at Section Chief Wang's sleeve to beg for mercy: "Section Chief Wang! Old Wang, let me explain! I was just following the rules, to avoid suspicion..."

"Don't give me that!" Section Chief Wang shook off his hand with a look of disgust and strode into the jeep without looking back.

With two roars, the jeep sped away, its tires kicking up clouds of yellow dust that landed squarely on Lin Weiguo's head and face.

In the vast quarry, only Lin Weiguo remained, standing weakly in the wind like a defeated rooster. He closed his eyes in despair, knowing better than anyone else—this time, he had truly lifted the hardest stone and smashed his own instep to pieces!