Chapter 288: Transfer

Chapter 288: The Transfer

Wu Tao frowned, "You shouldn’t have gotten so close to her in the first place. Now that her identity as a spy has been exposed, the people at the infirmary are actually safe because of the earlier rumors."

Jiang Leyin’s actions were a classic case of shooting herself in the foot.

At first, she just wanted to cause problems for others, but in the end, it turned out exactly as Ye Xiaoxiao had said—she lifted a stone only to drop it on her own foot.

Jiang Leyin couldn’t muster a smile. "It's just an inquiry. It shouldn’t affect me much, right?"

Wu Tao shook his head. "Probably not. After all, this didn’t happen within the military, and Ceng Xiaochun came to work with official paperwork.

But the CO and Political Commissar will definitely look into this. A meeting is inevitable."

Though Jiang Leyin wouldn’t face any work consequences,

after this incident, people in the base no longer trusted her as they had before.

Previously, to build her image as friendly and helpful, Jiang Leyin had gone out of her way for Ceng Xiaochun. Now that Ceng Xiaochun was exposed as a spy, those who had spoken up for her instantly became her critics.

Though somewhat disappointing, that’s just how people are.

On the other hand, many people came to Ye Xiaoxiao to pump her for information.

"Dr. Ye, did you guys notice something off about Ceng Xiaochun earlier? Is that why you left her out?"

Ye Xiaoxiao never gave a direct answer to such questions.

She’d just smile, if anything, when asked.

This avoidant approach, though somewhat dismissive, was the best way to handle the situation.

Li Zhen wasn’t nearly as gentle. Whenever she heard someone ask such questions, she shot back.

"If we’d known earlier, we would’ve reported her right away.

And you flip-floppers—this isn’t the attitude you had when you were badmouthing us before."

The speaker would turn red and force an awkward laugh.

"Not really, we just call out wrongdoing. It was all a misunderstanding."

Li Zhen wasn’t having it. "Let’s not have any more of these ‘misunderstandings,’ then. We can’t handle it."

Thanks to Li Zhen’s habit of biting everyone’s head off, fewer people came to the infirmary digging for dirt.

Once the first wave of drama passed, things quickly fizzled out.

The scandalous spy incident lost steam in just three to five days.

But this was only on the surface—those unaware of the details only knew scraps of info.

The real moves would come after interrogating Ceng Xiaochun and extracting more spy-related information, which would get the brass involved.

Lu Hanchuan had got wind of some details and reported them to his superiors.

Before the year’s end, the CO and Political Commissar made another trip to the base.

Political Commissar Xu had fully recovered—you’d never guess now that just a month ago, he had been bedridden.

Besides the meeting, Political Commissar Xu also brought a gift for Ye Xiaoxiao.

After the meeting, he said to Lu Hanchuan, "I brought some homemade marinated beef for Dr. Ye this time."

It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was precisely such gestures that could bring them closer.

Moreover, though Political Commissar Xu spoke to Lu Hanchuan, he didn’t ask him to pass it along—instead, he insisted on delivering it to Ye Xiaoxiao personally, showing his respect.

"Let’s swing by the infirmary together. After what happened earlier, the comrades there must’ve been pretty shaken up."

Though there was nothing worth stealing in the infirmary, they’d still have to investigate and question everyone.

Since the Commander suggested it, Lu Hanchuan naturally had no objections.

Ye Xiaoxiao was preparing medicine in the infirmary when she suddenly saw so many people arrive and was caught off guard.

Most of them were higher-ups, especially the Commander and Political Commissar Xu—people you didn’t see around much.

Her gaze first landed on Political Commissar Xu.

"Political Commissar Xu, you look much better now."

Xu Zilin replied, "Thanks to Dr. Ye’s expert care, I’ve been given a second chance at life."

Though Ye Xiaoxiao was only in her early twenties, Xu Zilin had a new respect for her.

Handing her the marinated beef, he said, "This is homemade beef, not like what you’d get in the capital. See what you think, Dr. Ye."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Thank you, Political Commissar."

Zhao Chunhua had never seen an officer give a gift to someone before.

Political Commissar Xu smiled warmly, clearly treating Ye Xiaoxiao as a favorite young colleague.

This was quite rare.

Even rarer was the Commander’s presence.

Unlike Political Commissar Xu, the Commander couldn’t stand bookish types—or anyone perceived as pampered.

Ye Xiaoxiao fit both categories, yet the Commander was unusually nice to her.

The Commander and Political Commissar Xu only stayed a short while before leaving.

When Jiang Leyin heard about this, she bit her lip, frustrated.

Despite her best efforts, she had never received such special treatment from the Commander or Political Commissar Xu. Yet Ye Xiaoxiao, in such a short time, had already met the two leaders several times.

The Commander and Political Commissar Xu were only at the base two days before departing.

Before leaving, Jiang Leyin made it look like she just happened to run into them and greeted the two leaders.

Political Commissar Xu recognized her as an army medic from the infirmary.

She had been the one to give him his IV during the food poisoning incident.

He recognized her face, but her name escaped him.

"You… what was your name?"

Jiang Leyin's face stiffened. "Reporting, Political Commissar Xu, my name is Jiang Leyin."

Political Commissar Xu then pretended to remember.

"Ah, Xiao Jiang, I remember you. You young folks these days are something else. Keep up the good work here, Xiao Jiang. Better opportunities will come your way."

What Jiang Leyin had hoped to hear was the leadership transferring her away from this place, not being told to rot away in one location.

Political Commissar Xu's response disappointed her.

But faced with the leader's encouragement, Jiang Leyin could only smile and agree.

Upon hearing the name, the commanding officer frowned slightly.

Previous reports had mentioned that Jiang Leyin was close with that spy.

It wasn’t entirely the fault of the report writer—after such incidents, they typically had to submit lengthy reports covering every little detail to their superiors.

Sometimes, they even had to rewrite them multiple times if things didn’t add up.

So, it was natural for Jiang Leyin’s name to appear in the reports.

She did do those things.

Though the commanding officer said nothing at the moment, he mentioned it to Political Commissar Xu on their way back.

Political Commissar Xu said, "Jiang Leyin was transferred from the city, wasn’t she? She’s been at Nalan Base for years. There shouldn’t be any issues with her."

While there were some shady parts to this incident, no one had known Zeng Xiaochun was a spy.

Of course, if the commanding officer suspected Zeng Xiaochun, there was no changing his mind.

Once suspicion arose, the accusation might as well stick.

The commanding officer said, "Just to be safe, Comrade Jiang Leyin’s assignment should be changed."

Jiang Leyin hadn’t expected her wish to be granted in the worst possible way.

But it might not be for the better.

At Nalan Base, Jiang Leyin had been calling the shots in her unit. After leaving, she would only be taking orders from others, with none of the freedom she had before.