Chapter 41

At the regiment headquarters, in Regiment Commander Cheng Baohe’s office, Qi Feng sat across from Regiment Commander Cheng with a serious expression.

“Regiment Commander Cheng, I have to report something to you. Actually, we’ve already received two anonymous letters, but I managed to suppress them. Now, that person has posted a big-character poster at the entrance of the battalion! If I don’t bring it up to you now, what if one day they post one at the regiment headquarters? You won’t even be prepared.”

Hearing this, Cheng Baohe looked up and slammed the letter he was holding onto the desk with a loud thud.

“This?”

He pointed at the letter and read aloud: “Indulging family members in extravagance and waste, failing to enforce the spirit of frugality, with strong suspicions of embezzlement. I urge the organization to investigate the source of their assets…”

“Isn’t this nonsense?”

He continued: “Shen Qingyun’s family has been poor farmers for generations. What assets does he have? Besides, he’s a military officer. He doesn’t deal with finances, and military supplies aren’t under his responsibility. How could he embezzle? Where would he embezzle from?!”

Qi Feng nodded in agreement, clearly understanding. “That’s why when I received the anonymous letters earlier, I dismissed them as nonsense and didn’t take them seriously. And the examples they gave, they’re just talking about Qingyun’s family having better food and more oil in their dishes. But we all know that in our battalion!

Engineer Ning and the others eat at Qingyun’s place, and the food standards are set there. If they received so much grain, then if there were less oil, that would actually be embezzlement! That would suggest they were pocketing something from his elderly parents.”

“So, are you worried about them posting it?”

Regiment Commander Cheng, looking irritated, responded: “A man with a clear conscience has nothing to fear. This baseless nonsense—let them make a fuss! The more noise they make, the clearer it will be! Anyone with good judgment can tell this is just an unreasonable disturbance!”

The more he spoke, the angrier he became, and he muttered angrily: “Don’t let me catch which little brat is stirring up trouble here. If I find out, just wait and see how I deal with him!”

The more they stir up trouble, the clearer it becomes…

Hearing this, Qi Feng sighed helplessly, rubbing his temples.

He knew this would be the outcome.

In the past, he wouldn’t have cared about such a thing. He wouldn’t have gone to Regiment Commander Cheng with it. He would’ve dealt with it himself at the battalion, holding a meeting before this kind of malicious gossip could form. He would’ve rooted out the troublemaker and punished them severely to set an example!

But now, the situation had changed—

He paused for a moment, reconsidering his words, before continuing: “Colonel, this matter can’t escalate. It must be suppressed!”

Now, Qing Yun was on the ship, and as you know, only those who passed strict scrutiny could board. Not only were their professional abilities assessed, but the requirements for political integrity were also extremely high.

At this moment, if anything were to happen, no matter how small, if someone decided to make a big deal out of it, Qing Yun could easily be forced off the ship…

He didn’t say anything further, but Regiment Commander Cheng’s heart skipped a beat after hearing this.

As a military officer, Regiment Commander Cheng realized that in many situations, his sensitivity to policies and understanding of people’s intentions was nowhere near that of political work officers.

When Qi Feng explained things to him, he finally understood the reason why this young man had come to his office early in the morning to block him.

His expression immediately turned serious.

“What’s your suggestion?”

“Find the person who wrote these letters and posted the big-character posters, and convince her to give it up.”

Regiment Commander Cheng’s eyebrows twitched: “Do you have a target?”

“Yes.” Qi Feng’s face showed a hint of disdain. “It’s Lin Hui from the group organization department.”

“Her?” Regiment Commander Cheng couldn’t believe his ears. He thought it was unbelievable.

“Do you have proof? You can’t casually say things like this. She’s still a girl.” he said with a serious tone.

“I wouldn’t come to you if I didn’t have evidence.”

Qi Feng said as he took a piece of paper out of his bag. “This is a statement from a soldier in our battalion. He admits that he posted the big-character poster, and he says the content was provided by Lin Hui. He’s a distant relative of hers.”

Afterward, Qi Feng told Regiment Commander Cheng about how Lin Hui had previously gone on a blind date with Shen Qingyun, and how she and Liu Chuang had a confrontation with Yin Xiaoman at her doorstep that day.

“Based on my analysis, Lin Hui’s purpose for posting the big-character poster wasn’t related to Qing Yun. She probably couldn’t stand Qing Yun’s wife and wanted to get back at her. She might want to send her back home.”

“Ridiculous! How could a military officer be so reckless!” Regiment Commander Cheng was furious after hearing Qi Feng’s report.

“What’s the time now? How could she ruin our battle plans over something like this?

If Shen Qingyun is sent back because of this, I’ll immediately expel her from the military! You don’t need to worry about it, I’ll call her right now…”

Seeing that Regiment Commander Cheng was truly enraged, Qi Feng grew anxious as well, quickly grabbing him by the arm.

Without caring about the hierarchical relationship, Qi Feng directly pushed Regiment Commander Cheng back down.

“Colonel, calm down! If it were that simple, would I need to look for her myself? I have the evidence! Whether it’s by threatening or scaring her, do you think I’d be afraid of a little girl?

But what time is it now? What’s the current direction?

As long as we can’t strike it down with one blow, we can’t act recklessly.

If we anger her, she might break the pot and smash it, cornered like a dog, and escalate things, pushing the issue higher and higher.

Even if we all know it’s a lie, Qing Yun could really be sent back!”

There were so many Military Units in the whole division, so many people who wanted to get on the boat. After careful selection, only ten were chosen.

For as many people as there were envying them, there were just as many eyes watching.

At this point, any problem, big or small, would lead to the same result: “Go home and wait for the investigation results.” It would be nearly impossible to return after that.

Shen Qingyun wasn’t just his brother, but also the flag of their vanguard battalion. Qi Feng couldn’t allow even the slightest aftereffect of this situation, either publicly or privately!

“So, what’s your plan?”

Regiment Commander Cheng finally calmed down. Ignoring Qi Feng’s impoliteness, he asked aloud.

“You should send someone to talk to her.”

At this point, Qi Feng glanced at him again. “But don’t let it be you personally. If necessary, have the Lieutenant Colonel talk to her. They should have a good relationship. It was the Lieutenant Colonel’s sister-in-law who initially matched her with Qing Yun.

Focus on psychological tactics. If that doesn’t work, at least delay it. Qing Yun and the others should be coming back soon, and we can wait until then to decide.”

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While Qi Feng and Regiment Commander Cheng were discussing their plan, Cui Yan was also explaining the same thing to Yin Xiaoman, breaking it down and making it clear.

It was obvious that this task had been assigned to her by Qi Feng.

After finishing, she comforted Yin Xiaoman. “It’s okay. With Brother Qi around, he’ll definitely find a way. Besides, this is all baseless talk. No matter how fake it is, it can never become real.”

“Don’t worry, a person like that will definitely get their comeuppance! Don’t take it to heart, just focus on what you need to do. Just don’t go running around.”

Qi Feng had said that the calmer she appeared during this time, the less likely people would believe the rumors.

Yin Xiaoman nodded.

But deep down, she wasn’t as optimistic as Cui Yan.

To outsiders, this was all just baseless gossip—nothing to fear from an investigation—but she knew their family couldn’t withstand one.

Although she didn’t know the full situation at home, the memories from before told her that it would surely lead to major trouble!

In the end, it might really affect Shen Qingyun’s future.

Yin Xiaoman felt anxious inside, but she couldn’t let it show.

Even though she had memories, the original owner hadn’t gone through the things she was experiencing now, and they offered no help at all.

She didn’t know what to do, but years of palace experience told her that panic led to chaos.

At times like this, she needed to remain calm and watch the situation unfold.

If she couldn’t help, she shouldn’t make things worse.

Sure enough, when Qi Feng returned that evening, he reassured her that the situation had been handled and told her to continue with her life, not to overthink things.

Although Yin Xiaoman still felt uneasy inside, she nodded and agreed.

As the days passed, things remained relatively calm, just as Qi Feng had said. But her heart still couldn’t settle. She felt as though, beneath this calm surface, there was an undercurrent of trouble brewing.

Sure enough, just a few days later, she received a letter from Shuanggui Village.

This letter hadn’t been written by her father-in-law, Shen Mancheng, but by the old party secretary’s youngest son, who was the one who had accompanied Yin Xiaoman to the train station.

In the letter, the old party secretary mentioned the house situation.

He first expressed the gratitude of the village for her selfless attitude, saying she had helped the team immensely, and everyone in the village was very thankful to her.

The letter also mentioned that, following her request, the team had signed the loan agreement, and they had enclosed a copy of it for her.

At the end of the letter, the old party secretary specifically brought up one thing. He mentioned that the entire county was currently conducting a population survey, particularly targeting outsiders like her parents.

He explained that they would investigate three generations back, and everything about each generation had to be clear and transparent, with no concealment allowed.

Since Yin Xiaoman’s family situation was unique—both of her parents had passed away, and she had joined the military, with the house now occupied by the Educated Youths—they couldn’t possibly come to her directly for information.

The old party secretary said that the village elders had discussed it and decided to help her conceal this matter. They would all stick to the same story and claim that her family had always been from the village, living there for generations. There was no such thing as “outsiders.”

After all, she had made contributions to the team, and her parents were already gone. Even if the authorities did come to ask, it might be hard for her to clearly explain her family’s ancestry.

The old party secretary repeatedly urged her in the letter to be cautious and not speak carelessly.

Finally, he specifically reminded her that the investigation this time was particularly strict. While the village had passed the inspection, the authorities might very well send an inquiry letter to the Military Unit. He advised her to notify someone in the Military Unit in advance, just to be safe.

Holding the letter, Yin Xiaoman felt a cold sweat soaking her back, terrified.

She didn’t dare to imagine what kind of desperate situation she might have faced if she hadn’t made the decision to join the military or hadn’t lent the house to the team.

As she held the letter, Yin Xiaoman fell into a dilemma.

The old party secretary had advised her to give the Military Unit a heads-up, but how should she even do that?

She didn’t even know who was in charge of this investigation.

At that moment, she missed her husband more than ever.

But knowing that he wouldn’t be back anytime soon, she realized she had to figure things out on her own.

Helpless, she decided to visit Cui Yan’s house again, hoping to get some information from Qi Feng. He was the only person she could turn to now.

However, as soon as she entered the Qi household, she immediately sensed the heavy atmosphere in the room.

When Cui Yan saw her, she quickly spoke up: “Engineer Ning and Old Hua have been isolated for questioning!”

“What?” Yin Xiaoman’s mind went blank, and the letter she was holding slipped from her hand, dropping to the ground in shock.