Chapter 270: Reunion

Chapter 270 Reunion

At that moment, a convoy was entering the city outside the base.

The Nalan Research Base wasn’t just a scientific research facility; it also housed a military unit. Besides training, the troops were responsible for patrolling the surrounding areas.

Although liberation had happened years ago, small gangs still operated here, often breaking the law.

In addition, foreign spies kept showing up in the vicinity.

With all this chaos, the military faced immense pressure.

Lu Hanchuan had been transferred from the capital. On the surface, it seemed like a demotion, but in reality, it was a training assignment—once he returned, he would undoubtedly be promoted.

However, what Lu Hanchuan cared about now wasn’t promotion but when he could go back.

After arriving here, he realized things were even worse than he had imagined.

Over the past two years, they had taken down multiple gangs.

Yet illegal activities persisted. Recently, they had just located the hideout of a criminal gang, so he couldn’t leave now.

Normally, such matters wouldn’t require military intervention, but the local cops were shorthanded and lacked the strength to combat these gangs effectively, so the army had to step in.

The idea of going back crossed Lu Hanchuan’s mind, but clearly, there were more important things to deal with.

"Commander, Battalion Commander Zhou's hurt bad. Should we go straight to camp?"

The military’s medical facilities were separate from the base clinic, but the military doctors were way better than those at the clinic.

The Nalan Base housed a regiment of fewer than two thousand soldiers, with Lu Hanchuan serving as the top officer.

"Hit the clinic first, then have Dr. Jiang come over."

The clinic was closer to the entrance, while the training grounds were located deep inside the Nalan Base.

Ye Xiaoxiao wasn’t on duty today, and she had already gotten her water allotment.

Though it wasn’t much, she could still purchase more from Li Zhen.

Li Zhen seemed to be in constant need of money—she would do just about anything for cash.

Ye Xiaoxiao’s plan for the day was to wash clothes.

The sun beat down here, and clothes dried within an hour of washing.

The trick was figuring out how to conserve water while washing.

Li Zhen sat in the courtyard. "Washing clothes already? You just got here three days ago."

"Three days is long enough, isn't it?" Ye Xiaoxiao replied.

Li Zhen leaned in closer. "If you like using water so much, why not join my project?"

Ye Xiaoxiao looked curious.

Li Zhen lowered her voice. "I want to dig a well near Nalan Town, but I don’t have the money."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "We’re right by the desert. How can you dig a well here?"

Li Zhen: "That’s where you’re wrong. You can still dig wells—they pull groundwater together. It’s just that the project is tough and needs a lot of manpower, resources, and money."

That’s how the water at the collection point gets there, though it’s pretty far from Nalan Town.

If we had our own well, we wouldn’t need to trek all the way out there.

Ye Xiaoxiao: "So you’re saving money for this?"

Li Zhen nodded and was about to say more when Head Zhao Chunhua shouted from the courtyard gate, clearly something urgent was up.

Ye Xiaoxiao dumped the clothes she was holding into the washbasin and ran out.

Li Zhen stomped her foot in annoyance behind her.

Zhao Chunhua: "We’ve got a bad injury—needs stitches."

Zhao Chunhua wanted Ye Xiaoxiao to assist because the wound was too deep, and Yang Juan wasn’t sure how to stitch it up.

Ye Xiaoxiao hurried into the clinic but slowed down when she saw several soldiers in uniform standing at the entrance.

The injured guy was military—patrols run into trouble out here?

Since Ye Xiaoxiao was a new face, everyone in the courtyard gave her a few extra looks.

Zhao Chunhua explained, "She’s the new trainee doc at the clinic."

"The clinic actually got a trainee to come here? She doesn’t look local."

"Looks southern—pale and soft-featured."

Seeing women in the military was rare, so they were naturally very curious about Ye Xiaoxiao, who had just joined the base.

"I think this new doctor’s prettier than Dr. Jiang."

"If Dr. Jiang hears that, she’ll jab you extra next time."

The speaker quickly shook his head. "Please don’t let Dr. Jiang hear that."

Inside the clinic, Yang Juan was stumped by the wound.

"Let me try."

Ye Xiaoxiao knew what she was doing with debridement, exploration, and suturing, and her technique was solid.

Yang Juan, who should have been an experienced doctor, was dragging his feet, which puzzled Ye Xiaoxiao.

Yang Juan nodded. "Alright."

So Ye Xiaoxiao took over his position.

The setup was bare-bones, so she could only sterilize what she could to prevent infection.

The worst part? No anesthesia.

Ye Xiaoxiao had to first use silver needles to block the pain for a while.

During the suturing process, the injured patient Zhou Shengyang felt little pain.

But after Ye Xiaoxiao removed the needles, the pain from his wound would multiply sharply.

No one knew if this situation was good or bad.

However, Ye Xiaoxiao couldn’t leave the needles in forever.

At the moment, Ye Xiaoxiao was carefully suturing the wound, which was very deep—no wonder Yang Juan had been helpless.

Ye Xiaoxiao’s technique was far more skillful, so much so that even Yang Juan stared transfixed.

Outside in the courtyard, Lu Hanchuan and Jiang Leyin walked into the treatment room together.

There was no distinction between operating rooms and wards here—just crude dirt-walled rooms.

So when they stepped inside and lifted a cloth curtain, Ye Xiaoxiao and the others were visible.

Ye Xiaoxiao, deep in concentration, didn’t notice anything unusual.

Lu Hanchuan, however, recognized her immediately.

He thought he was mistaken, but even blind, he couldn’t mistake Xiao Xiao.

When Jiang Leyin moved forward to check, Lu Hanchuan stopped her.

"Wait outside first."

Though puzzled, Jiang Leyin understood not to disturb them now and could only wait until the suturing was done before checking on things.

Still, she had some doubts about the medical skills here.

She guessed the sutures would have to be redone later, meaning Battalion Commander Zhou would endure unnecessary pain.

An hour later, Ye Xiaoxiao finished suturing.

After another twenty minutes, she said, "This’ll hurt."

The anesthetic needed low-temperature storage, but there was no refrigerator here—clearly, there was no way to preserve it.

Zhou Shengyang watched as his wound was stitched up, his body still in a peculiar state—not quite numb, but not unbearable either.

After speaking, Ye Xiaoxiao wasn’t waiting for an answer.

Since the patient’s tongue was still numb, she simply pulled the needles out.

Then she went outside to wash up.

Yang Juan, after witnessing Ye Xiaoxiao’s suturing technique, finally realized how far behind he was.

It was impossible not to feel disheartened—he was already thirty, yet he was outclassed by a trainee doctor.

"Aren’t you a TCM doctor?"

Since when does TCM lack surgery? Hua Tuo pioneered TCM surgery.

Yang Juan: "..."