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

Zhou Hai didn't give everyone time to process this, and immediately turned to the third page.

"The third, and most crucial, point is the settlement unit price."

His voice slowed down, each word uttered slowly.

"The price per cubic meter of granite slabs supplied by Comrade Ye Cheng was 20% lower than the wholesale price of the same quality at the market supply and marketing cooperatives."

The buzzing from the audience was cut off at that moment.

Gu Yue finally couldn't hold back her tears, and they streamed down her face.

She bit her hand so hard that she didn't cry out.

20% lower.

It's not that it's 20% higher, it's that it's 20% lower.

The farmer who was accused of "fleecing the public" in a big-character poster gave away the hardest stone and received the lowest price.

Zhao Lanlan's handkerchief was already crumpled into a wet ball. She quickly wiped the corner of her eye with her hand, her lips pressed tightly into a line.

She cursed inwardly—those people who gossip in the cafeteria, do you even deserve to be called 'gossips'?

When Zhao Tiancheng, sitting in the back row, heard the words "a full 20% lower," he felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over him.

His face turned pale instantly.

It wasn't shoddy workmanship or inflated prices; it was the opposite—Ye Cheng was delivering stones to the main hospital at a low price.

When Zhao Tiancheng wrote that big-character poster, the core words he used were "transfer of benefits," "inflated prices," and "plundering public funds."

Now, the city-level investigation team's conclusions, point by point, word by word, are like a scalpel, dissecting his carefully woven lies and exposing them to the light of day.

Every result was the opposite of what he accused in his big-character poster.

Each one could, in turn, cost him his life.

Zhao Tiancheng's palms were sweaty, and he gripped the enamel mug tightly, with water droplets dripping down his fingers from the mug.

Zhou Hai slammed the report on the table, and a dull thud came from the loudspeaker.

"Twenty percent. Not twenty percent higher, but twenty percent lower."

"What does this mean? It means that every time Comrade Ye Cheng delivers a truckload of stones to the North City, after deducting the cost of labor and transportation, he only makes a very small profit."

Zhou Hai took off his glasses and held them in his hand, raising his voice to its loudest.

"This farmer, whom people wrote big-character posters accusing him of using connections to exploit others, has been gritting his teeth for the past six months, delivering the hardest stones to our construction site at the lowest price, without asking for a single penny in advance payment. Even when his wages were frozen, he was still taking money out of his own pocket to pay the workers' wages. What is he doing this for?"

Zhou Hai slammed his hand on the table.

"It's all because that building is a life-saving facility that his sister spearheaded for children with congenital heart disease across the country! He was afraid that if he backed out, the construction site would run out of materials, delaying the patients' admission!"

The auditorium was so quiet that you could hear the gurgling sound of hot water flowing through the heating pipes.

Several young nurses had tears in their eyes, and one of them quietly wiped her face with her sleeve.

Zhao Lanlan finally couldn't hold back her tears, which fell onto the back of her hand.

She remembered her hands, deformed by congenital heart disease, the night Ye Zhen pulled her back from the brink of death with a scalpel, and how her hands trembled when she answered the phone on her first day sitting in the "Heart of China" office.

Gu Yue pulled a slightly worn handkerchief from her pocket and handed it over. Her eyes were red as she sniffed hard, muttering, "My sister-in-law's brother is a real man."

Zhou Hai stacked the three documents together, reached out and picked up the document stamped with a red freezing seal from the table, and tore it in half in front of all the staff in the hospital.

The sound of paper tearing was amplified through the microphone, making a crisp, clear sound.

"Effective immediately, the settlement account of Zhenxing Quarry will be fully unfrozen. All outstanding payments will be settled in full within three working days."

Zhao Lanlan and Gu Yue both let out a long breath at the same time.

Zhao Lanlan's shoulders suddenly relaxed, and she leaned back in her chair as if all her strength had been drained away. Gu Yue patted her hand frantically beside her, her lips trembling as she could only nod repeatedly, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Sparse applause broke out from the audience, but it quickly turned into a unified clapping.

Zhao Lanlan clapped enthusiastically, her palms turning red but she didn't feel any pain.

Gu Yue clapped her hands loudly, not even bothering to wipe away the tears on her face.

In the back corner, Zhao Tiancheng's ten fingers were dug deep into the flesh of his thighs.

The applause filled his ears, each one feeling like a slap in the face.

He did not applaud.

He can't play the drum.

His big-character posters were printed using wax paper and ink from the institute's archives.

If the security department investigates further...

Zhao Tiancheng's neck began to feel numb.

The numbness traveled down his spine and up his legs, making him feel as if there was suddenly an emptiness under the chair.

Zhou Hai raised his hand to suppress the applause, and it gradually subsided.

His gaze swept past the heads in the front rows and landed on the figure in the corner of the third row who seemed to want to shrink himself into the gap between the chairs.

"Now, let's talk about the second thing."

Zhou Hai's voice suddenly turned cold, like the first sip of cold water coming out of a tap in winter.

"Regarding the accountability for this incident."

Lin Weiguo's back suddenly tensed like a steel plate, and the briefcase strap left deep red marks on his palm.

"Upon investigation, it was found that Vice President Lin Weiguo initiated the settlement freeze procedure against Zhenxing Quarry without having sufficient factual basis, relying solely on an anonymous big-character poster and subjective conjecture."

When Zhao Tiancheng heard the words "anonymous big-character poster," his pupils suddenly contracted.

He subconsciously shrank back behind the chair in front of him, as if those words were directed at him.

Zhou Hai opened another document and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"This behavior caused the supplier's cash flow to break down, and the wages of the supplier's workers could not be paid on time, which seriously affected the normal construction progress of the key project of the Ministry of Health and caused extremely bad public opinion inside and outside the hospital."

Lin Weiguo felt as if hundreds of eyes were fixed on him at the same time. The back of his shirt was soaked with sweat, and it felt cold and sticky against his skin.

Zhao Tiancheng's gaze involuntarily drifted towards Lin Weiguo's direction.

Lin Weiguo's neck was as stiff as an iron rod, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Zhao Tiancheng's heart skipped a beat.

Lin Weiguo is now the fish that has been put on the chopping board.

How did Lin Weiguo end up on the chopping board?

It was because of an anonymous big-character poster.

Lin Weiguo knew perfectly well who wrote, printed, and posted that big-character poster.

If Lin Weiguo can't withstand the pressure and confesses to the matter in order to lessen his punishment—

Zhao Tiancheng felt a chill run down his spine.

"After deliberation by the Party Committee of the Institute, and with the approval of the higher-level competent authority, a decision was made."

Zhou Hai held the document up to the microphone.

"The following actions have been taken against Comrade Lin Weiguo. First, he has been given an administrative demerit, which will be recorded in his personal file. Second, he has been relieved of his responsibilities in charge of infrastructure projects, and the relevant authority has been transferred to the Infrastructure Office immediately. Third, he has been ordered to submit a written self-criticism."

Lin Weiguo's face turned white and then red, then white again, as if he had been slapped dozens of times in succession.

Administrative demerit. Placed in the personnel file.

Zhou Hai closed the file, his voice becoming deep and somber.

"Finally, let me say a few more words."

"Our hospital was able to secure the Huaxia Heart project because of the trust placed in us by the higher authorities, and it is also an honor that Dr. Ye Zhen earned through countless surgeries."

Zhao Lanlan straightened her back, her eyes still red, but her gaze had lost its trepidation and was now filled with bright pride.

Gu Yue also straightened her chest and raised her chin slightly.

The two of them sat there without saying a word, but their pride and joy were louder than any applause.

"From now on, if anyone dares to pull any tricks or spread rumors about this matter—"

Zhou Hai's gaze slowly swept across the entire room.

It paused for a moment.

That gaze swept across the venue like a searchlight, passing through the middle rows and then the back rows.

Zhao Tiancheng lowered his head.

He didn't know if Zhou Hai's gaze had lingered on him for even a second.

But that second felt longer to him than any of the disciplinary actions announced on stage.

"Don't blame me, Zhou Hai, for being ruthless."

Zhou Hai put the microphone on the table.

Meeting adjourned.

The folding chairs clattered and rattled.

The crowd began to surge out, discussing in twos and threes, and the tone of their voices had completely changed.

"Dr. Ye's brother is very loyal. I couldn't do that."

"Lowering it by 20% isn't doing business; it's throwing money away."

"If anyone ever gossips about Dr. Ye getting in through connections again, I'll be the first to spit in their face."

Zhao Lanlan and Gu Yue walked out of the auditorium side by side, the sunlight shining directly on their faces.

Gu Yue sniffed hard and reached out to take Zhao Lanlan's arm.

"Sister Lanlan, your sister-in-law won."

Zhao Lanlan nodded, her lips curving into a smile, her eyes still red.

"Let's go back to the office." She folded the handkerchief and put it in her pocket, her voice regaining its usual calmness. "We have a family member from Sichuan to pick up this afternoon. I've looked up their dialect; I'll go over it with you first."

Gu Yue paused for a moment, then laughed.

This is the kind of soldier your sister-in-law trained—even if the sky falls, after crying, they still go back to doing what they were doing.