Chapter 75

Wen Nuan was preparing to go to the mess hall with Lele. However, she had just come out of the hospital not long ago when she unexpectedly ran into Ding Guoli.

Ding Guoli seemed not to recognize her. He stood by a bulletin board about a hundred meters away from the hospital, glancing toward the building.

Wen Nuan noticed that he appeared a bit haggard. His liberation shoes were caked with yellow mud, and his cotton coat was wrinkled, lacking the vitality he once had.

As Wen Nuan passed by Ding Guoli, he looked at her briefly before returning to the notices on the bulletin board.

Wen Nuan worried he might hold a grudge against Gu Qinglan, so she returned to inform the nurse’s station, asking them to relay the message to Qinglan.

By the time Wen Nuan returned to the mess hall, more than half an hour had already passed.

Because Li Daxiang had been poisoned in their mess hall, the comrades were inspecting the ventilation system, fearing that another incident might occur.

The logistics officer noticed Wen Nuan arriving with Lele and walked over to her, surprised. “Comrade Wen Nuan, you can rest today. Why have you come back here?”

Since Wen Nuan had been busy with matters regarding supplies and had not had a break for a long time, the logistics officer offered her a few days off.

Before Wen Nuan could respond, Lele, holding her hand, loudly called out, “Good morning, Uncle!”

The logistics officer, looking at the child’s eyes, smiled. “Oh, Lele is here too?”

The little one nodded and then hid behind Wen Nuan, peeking out and grinning at the logistics officer.

Wen Nuan glanced around the mess hall at the busy figures and then said to the logistics officer, “Officer, wasn’t Li Daxiang the one who collapsed in our mess hall? I thought I’d come over to check on what’s happening here.”

Upon hearing Wen Nuan’s words, the logistics officer sighed, “Yes, Comrade Li stayed in the mess hall last night to guard the supplies and ended up getting poisoned. Fortunately, Comrade Li is alright; otherwise, our mess hall would be blamed. I’ve asked Old Zhong and the others to help check the ventilation outlets; we must ensure that such incidents do not happen again.”

When he returned to the mess hall that morning, Old Zhong informed him that Li Daxiang had been guarding the supplies when he fell victim to carbon monoxide poisoning due to poor ventilation. The logistics officer was nearly scared to death.

He regretted not having assigned another person from their mess hall to help Li Daxiang, thinking that he must have been unfamiliar with the environment, which led to the accident.

Regardless of the circumstances, such an incident weighed heavily on his mind that morning, prompting him to call someone to inspect the ventilation in the dining hall.

Noticing the worried expression on the logistics officer’s face, Wen Nuan reassured him, “Don’t worry, Officer. I just came from the hospital. Li Daxiang is fine now; he’s already awake.”

“And he seems to be in good spirits. The doctor said there’s nothing serious.”

Wen Nuan understood the logistics officer’s concerns. If something had truly happened to Li Daxiang, even if it wasn’t their mess hall’s fault, the incident would still be a burden on his conscience since it occurred under his watch.

Fortunately, Li Daxiang had only suffered mild poisoning and did not have any significant issues, but safety precautions still needed to be taken seriously.

The logistics officer nodded, relieved. “Thank goodness Comrade Li is alright. I’ll hold a meeting with everyone shortly, then go check on him.”

He glanced at Lele, who was holding Wen Nuan’s hand and added, “By the way, Wen Nuan, you can take the child and leave; there is no need for you to busy yourself here. You should go home early.”

Wen Nuan glanced at Lele, who hadn’t said a word, and said, “There’s no rush. I’ll join everyone for the meeting before heading back.”

After the incident, she felt uneasy; regardless of whether Li Daxiang’s poisoning was an accident or intentional, she needed to get to the bottom of it.

The logistics officer had matters to attend to, so he did not speak further with Wen Nuan and continued to check the safety conditions of the other two dining halls.

After he moved toward the logistics kitchen, Wen Nuan took Lele with her to the small house where Li Daxiang had stayed last night.

The supply truck had been parked in the backyard of the logistics kitchen, and because of the cold weather at night, Li Daxiang hadn’t stayed in the truck but rather in a small storage room beside it, which was originally designated to be converted into a small factory.

Before entering the small house, Wen Nuan picked up some withered vegetable leaves and gave them to Lele, instructing her to go feed the chickens in the coop.

Lele was already quite familiar with the mess hall’s environment and wouldn’t run into the chicken coop on her own. She knew to throw the vegetable leaves over the fence, so Wen Nuan felt comfortable letting her play for a bit.

With a small basket in hand, Lele rushed toward the chicken coop, laughing as she called out, “Mommy, look!”

Upon hearing her child’s voice, Wen Nuan realized Lele had spotted the two goats inside the coop and smiled, saying, “Lele, don’t go in there; just feed them from outside, okay?”

“Got it!”

Just then, Xiao Zhu heard Wen Nuan’s voice and walked over to take Lele to collect eggs.

Seeing that the little one had someone to accompany her, Wen Nuan headed into the small house that hadn’t been organized yet. The place wasn’t large—about the size of their living room, roughly ten square meters. It was a brick house, still filled with tools from when they made dumplings and noodles, seasoning packets, and a long preparation table.

Besides the preparation table was a makeshift stove built with bricks, containing several unburned firewood pieces and a pile of charcoal.

It seemed that because it had been so cold last night, Li Daxiang had burned more wood than usual, which led to the accident.

Old Zhong came over from the kitchen and, upon seeing Wen Nuan, asked, “What are you doing back here? Didn’t the logistics officer say you could take a break?”

Wen Nuan knew that Old Zhong and Gu Qinghan were among the first to discover Li Daxiang, so she asked, “Old Zhong, have you checked the ventilation outlets here? Did you find anything unusual?”

Old Zhong pursed his lips and shook his head. “I haven’t found anything unusual for now. The ventilation outlet for this house is relatively small, so that’s probably what caused the accident.”

Since the house had previously been used for storing firewood, they hadn’t considered proper ventilation. When they worked there before, it hadn’t been the coldest time, and people would come and go, with the wind blowing through, which would clear out any carbon monoxide. So, such problems had never occurred.

Noticing Wen Nuan’s worried expression, Old Zhong added, “After I took Daxiang to the hospital, Vice-Captain Gu also came back to check the scene. If there were anything abnormal, Vice-Captain Gu would surely have noticed it.”

Wen Nuan nodded. That morning, Gu Qinghan had been in a rush to deliver supplies and hadn’t mentioned any of this to her. After breakfast, he hurriedly left.

Wen Nuan looked at the only window in the room, which was small and wooden. When closed, it barely allowed any wind to come in.

However, since Gu Qinghan had already assessed the situation if someone had intentionally caused the issue, he likely would have spoken up by now.

Wen Nuan said, “Alright, Old Zhong, go ahead and return to work. It’ll be time to serve lunch soon.”

Despite the incident, the mess hall still needed to operate; the soldiers had to eat. Old Zhong didn’t chat with her any longer, grabbing a few eggs from the chicken coop before returning to the kitchen to get busy.

Wen Nuan walked over to the window and reached out to open the wooden frame. Outside was the spot where the supply truck had been parked last night, and the yellow, muddy ground still bore tire tracks.

She touched the windowsill and found that her hand was completely dust-free.

Retracting her hand, she stepped out of the small house. The little one, Lele, had already collected a big basket of eggs.

Upon seeing Wen Nuan return, the little girl eagerly attempted to lift the basket of eggs as if presenting a treasure to her mother. However, she lacked the strength to carry it, only managing to slightly raise it.

Wen Nuan hurried over, smiling as she took the basket from Lele’s hands. “Wow, look at our Lele! You’ve gathered so many eggs—fantastic!”

Lele pointed toward the wooden cages inside the house and exclaimed, “Mommy, there are more!”

“Help me collect them, Mommy!”

Inside the small house, several cages housed chickens and geese. The geese were honking loudly, stretching their necks out as if ready to bite anyone approaching. It was no wonder the little one was afraid to get close.

These geese were indeed quite fierce; Xiao Zhu had once been chased all the way to the back kitchen of the logistics kitchen, infuriating him so much that he boiled a pot of water on the spot and cooked one of the geese, making a dish of stir-fried goose in a cast-iron pot.

Lele must have spotted the large goose eggs inside and was now clamoring for Wen Nuan to help her collect them.

Wen Nuan chuckled, glancing at the eggs in the basket. “Lele has already gathered so many eggs. Let’s come back tomorrow to collect more!”

Lele clapped her hands and said, “Alright, let’s go pick them up tomorrow!”

Wen Nuan sighed with relief, worried the child would want her to pick them up right away.

After lunch, Quartermaster Luo gathered the three people from the kitchen for a meeting, primarily to remind everyone to be cautious about the heating issues during the winter.

Yang Xiaomei had heard about Li Daxiang’s situation, so she walked over to Wen Nuan and asked, “How is Comrade Li doing now?”

Due to Gu Qinglan, Yang Xiaomei was also acquainted with Li Daxiang, so she casually inquired about his condition.

Wen Nuan briefly explained Li Daxiang’s situation and concluded, “With Qinglan watching over him in the hospital, he should be fine. After a check-up this afternoon, he will probably be discharged tomorrow.”

Yang Xiaomei nodded and said, “That’s good to hear. Comrade Li is such a nice person; I hope nothing bad happens to him.”

Wen Nuan remembered that Yang Xiaomei had taken leave yesterday, so she asked, “Did you take leave yesterday afternoon? Were you feeling unwell?”

Yang Xiaomei was surprised that Wen Nuan had noticed her taking leave and replied, “I’m not unwell; it’s just that Ding Guoli wrote me several apology letters in a row. Yesterday, he suddenly came to the cafeteria, saying he wanted to talk to me. I couldn’t be bothered to deal with him, so I just took half a day off.”

Earlier, she and Qinglan had beaten up Ding Guoli in the hospital, and Yang Xiaomei was worried that he might hold a grudge, so she decided to avoid him altogether.

Wen Nuan recalled seeing Ding Guoli outside the hospital and suspected he might return to find Qinglan. Fortunately, she had mentioned this, so Qinglan would likely be cautious as well.

Wen Nuan patted the back of her hand and said, “If anything feels off, remember to have your brother handle it. Don’t confront him head-on, alright?”

Yang Xiaomei smiled and said, “Got it! My brother already knows about this. Ding Guoli is probably here to seek peace, but I won’t bother with him.”

Wen Nuan returned home with Lele and took out the chicken General Lu had bought her earlier. She chopped a large chicken leg and planned to make chicken soup for Li Daxiang.

When Gu Qinghan was on a mission, Li Daxiang helped her a lot, and now that he was in the hospital, Wen Nuan wanted to do what she could to help.

She noticed how nervous Gu Qinglan seemed today, realizing that the girl probably had special feelings for Li Daxiang, though it might not have been explicitly stated yet.

Wen Nuan didn’t intend to interfere in their matters; she believed that feelings should develop naturally.

When she arrived at the hospital, Gu Qinglan happened to be in Li Daxiang’s hospital room. The two were talking and laughing without a care.

Li Daxiang spotted Wen Nuan and said with a smile, “Sister-in-law, why are you here again?”

Wen Nuan set the soup down and asked, “I brought you some chicken soup. How are you feeling now?”

“Sister-in-law, you’re too kind. You don’t have to do this for me,” Li Daxiang replied, almost getting up, but he hesitated when Gu Qinglan shot him a look. He then said, “I’m feeling much better now; there’s nothing wrong, so you don’t need to worry.”

Wen Nuan said, “That’s good. You should have some soup now.”

Li Daxiang didn’t dare to let Wen Nuan serve him anymore, so he reached for the food container himself. However, Gu Qinglan took it from him, poured a bowl of soup, and pushed it toward him.

Wen Nuan asked Gu Qinglan, “Has Ding Guoli come looking for you?”

Gu Qinglan paused as she adjusted the IV drip for Li Daxiang and replied, “No, he probably isn’t looking for me.”

Wen Nuan said, “Oh, that’s good.”

Hearing Ding Guoli’s name, Li Daxiang raised his head and asked, “What happened with Ding Guoli?”

Wen Nuan replied, “When I was leaving the hospital this morning, I saw him lurking downstairs, so I told Qinglan to keep an eye out.”

Li Daxiang frowned slightly and added, “I also saw him wandering around the hospital yesterday.”

The more Li Daxiang thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. He then mentioned, “I told Vice-Captain Gu about this yesterday, which is why I decided to keep an eye on the supplies last night.”

Although Ding Guoli alone wouldn’t pose much of a threat, Vice-Captain Gu had just mentioned that the man had been dismissed from the post office. People’s intentions were difficult to gauge, so Li Daxiang volunteered to help guard the supplies.

Who would have known that such an incident would occur?

Wen Nuan furrowed her brow, realizing that Gu Qinghan hadn’t mentioned anything to her about this situation.

With the man absent, she felt uncertain about what to do.

Wen Nuan said, “Let’s wait for Vice-Captain Gu to come back before discussing this further.”

Remembering Ding Guoli’s demeanor and the mud on his shoes, Wen Nuan felt certain that there was some connection between Ding Guoli and the incident.

Li Daxiang took a sip of soup, slightly frowning, and said, “I wonder how Vice-Captain Gu is doing. I hope it hasn’t affected the supply transport.”

Wen Nuan looked at him, her heart suddenly racing. If Li Daxiang had been set up, could it also mean that the supply truck had been targeted?

Without thinking too much, Wen Nuan said goodbye to Qinglan and the others, then headed to the phone room to call the research institute.

However, after trying to make the call for a long time, Wen Nuan was unable to get through…

She had no choice but to call General Lu.

When General Lu received his granddaughter’s call, he was a bit surprised. After listening to Wen Nuan, he frowned and said, “Xiao Nuan, don’t worry. Gu Qinghan has already reported this matter to me.”

General Lu continued, “The supplies are fine; it’s just an issue with the truck. Qinghan has already replaced it, and if all goes well, they should be arriving at the research institute now.”

The research institute.

Liu Minghua had just finished adjusting some data when an assistant rushed in, saying, “Chief Engineer Liu, Old Zhao has fainted. Do you want to go check on him?”

“What?” Liu Minghua quickly set down the report in his hand and followed the assistant without a moment’s hesitation.

The research institute was built at the foot of the mountain, consisting of a few thatched houses that looked no different from rural mudbrick houses from the outside.

After several snowfalls, the roofs of the thatched houses were piled high with snow, and a thin layer of snow covered the yellow earth. However, as people walked around, it had long turned into muddy slush.

Liu Minghua paid no mind to the mud underfoot as he hurried toward Old Zhao’s house.

Old Zhao was the longest-serving comrade at the research institute and made many decisions. He was also the busiest person there, often working late into the night. Liu Minghua had long suspected Old Zhao would collapse under the strain.

But he never expected it would happen so soon; winter hadn’t truly set in yet!

When Liu Minghua arrived at Old Zhao’s room, several people were already gathered there. Old Zhao had regained consciousness and, seeing everyone crowding around, he self-deprecatingly remarked, “You all look like this, and you’ve scared me instead. Why are you all crowding in my room? Go back to work!”

Liu Minghua glanced at the only doctor in the research institute, asking, “Dr. Chen, what happened? Why did Comrade Zhao faint?”

Dr. Chen sighed and explained, “It’s not too serious; he just has low blood sugar. I heard that Comrade Zhao was busy until after three last night, and he got up early today to work again.”

Dr. Chen had already advised Old Zhao several times about his health, but Old Zhao was reluctant to listen. Who would have thought he would faint this morning?

Liu Minghua recalled that breakfast in the cafeteria had been plain porridge and pickled vegetables. In addition to staying up late, the inadequate diet likely contributed to his condition.

However, there was nothing they could do about it; breakfast typically consisted of steamed buns or porridge with pickled vegetables, as that was a time-saving and conserved grain.

Moreover, the previous batch of supplies was running low, and it was uncertain when the next shipment would arrive.

After pondering for a moment, Liu Minghua turned to the assistant beside him and said, “Go prepare some meat soup for Old Zhao. It’s okay if we’re exhausted, but we can’t let him collapse.”

The assistant pressed his lips together and replied, “Understood.” Then he ran out.

Old Zhao frowned immediately upon hearing this. “I’m telling you, Xiao Liu, I’m fine; you all don’t need to fuss over me. I just need to rest for a bit.”

“Just lie down and take it easy; you can go back to the lab this afternoon,” Liu Minghua said.

Although Liu Minghua was much younger than Old Zhao, he was a power expert dispatched by the central government, so his words carried weight.

Old Zhao smiled and said, “I’ll definitely rest, but as for that meat soup, let’s skip it.”

He needed to get through the winter, and meat was essential; what was the point of him eating it alone?

Liu Minghua huffed, “Don’t worry; if it comes to it, I’ll walk to the village and buy a few chickens myself.”

Even though the nearest village was over ten kilometers away, for the sake of every comrade at the research institute, he would have walked fifty kilometers if needed.

Dr. Chen sighed, “With our current food situation, it’s not that we can’t improve it. Maybe we should ask the higher-ups to send a chef over.”

Dr. Chen was also a member of the research institute; he had studied traditional Chinese medicine for a few years under his father and was now a researcher who also served as the institute’s doctor.

However, everyone at the research institute had to pitch in. Those who could cook had to take on the role of chefs, while those who could sew had to help patch up clothes for others.

Everyone knew where the problem lay, but they could do nothing. If the higher-ups didn’t approve, nothing could be done.

Liu Minghua sighed and said, “I’ll write a letter to the higher-ups.”

However, he understood that the chances were somewhat slim. Not to mention that the higher-ups would first consider safety factors. They would also have to consider whether anyone would be willing to come here. After all, coming here meant being on the watch list for life.

Shen Bairong sighed and suggested, “How about I go to the North and learn to cook from Comrade Wen Nuan?”

Liu Minghua shot him a look. “What nonsense are you talking about? Where can you go right now? We need to adjust the power module this winter, and we’ll only see what other issues there are during the test flights next spring. We can’t afford any delays.”

Shen Bairong fell silent. This winter was the best adjustment opportunity, and they needed to have the data ready before spring arrived.

Old Zhao looked over at them and said, “You all don’t need to worry. It’s not a serious illness; I just didn’t rest well.”

Liu Minghua sighed again. “Just keep an eye on Old Zhao. I’m going to check the mountains to see if there are any wild rabbits around.”

Shen Bairong gasped in disbelief, “Are you crazy? Going up the mountain at a time like this? Do you want to throw your life away?”

To put it bluntly, their group’s physical fitness was no match for the farmers. After several snowfalls, although the snow hadn’t yet accumulated significantly, the mountain temperature was definitely much lower than below.

Moreover, they had never been up the mountain before and had no sense of direction.

Dr. Chen also advised, “Exactly! Don’t be reckless. If you go down, what will happen to the transport needs of our research institute?”

Liu Minghua felt a wave of helplessness, regretting that he didn’t have the physique and stamina of a soldier. If only he were like Gu Qinghan and the others!

Just as Liu Minghua was lost in thought, the assistant who had gone out to prepare the soup returned, panting as he shouted, “Chief Engineer Liu, a military truck just drove in. They said they’re looking for you.”

Liu Minghua furrowed his brows and instinctively asked, “Who?”

“They said their name was something like Gu and Han. He mentioned he’s a pilot.”

Liu Minghua’s eyes brightened, and he quickly stepped forward, heading toward the door.