Chapter 297

Su Ruo smiled and said, "Chief, I've already forgotten about this; you don't need to keep it in mind."

Upon hearing Su Ruo say that, Lu Zhan finally breathed a sigh of relief; he had been genuinely worried that Su Ruo would tattle to Song Jingyu.

Song Jingyu has a foul and stubborn temper; when he's angry he truly ignores people for ten days to half a month, giving no one any face.

Lu Zhan had feared nothing in his life, not heaven nor earth, but in his old age he never imagined being handled by a junior—yet he actually enjoys it.

The more Song Jingyu behaves this way, the more Lu Zhan likes him—it's just like his younger self, and he has no regard for anyone who merely flatters.

After Lu Zhan set his worries aside, he chuckled and told Su Ruo, "Jingyu has just woken up; he has no family nearby, so many things need your attention—spend more time with him. If work piles up, delegate it to others."

Lu Zhan finds Su Ruo increasingly pleasing to the eye, and he hopes Song Jingyu and Su Ruo will quickly develop feelings, marry soon, and give him a little grandson.

Lu Zhan can't imagine how good-looking a child would be from these two outstanding individuals; he now fantasizes about a soft, chubby baby calling him grandpa.

Seeing Lu Zhan stare at her as if his face could break into a flower, Su Ruo felt a black line rise; she really wondered if this military chief's brain was all there.

Fortunately, Lu Zhan didn't stay long before leaving, since he still had Li Yi's matter to attend to.

As soon as Lu Zhan returned, he ordered Li Yi to be interrogated; Li Yi had just finished rehabilitation, and when the Supervision Department personnel came to his door, his face drained of color, his legs gave way and he nearly collapsed, but a nearby soldier steadied him.

Li Yi had been living in fear, worried that Song Jingyu would wake up and his actions would be exposed.

But as time went on, his anxious heart gradually settled; just when he believed Song Jingyu would never wake again, reality dealt him a fatal blow.

Li Yi was taken to the interrogation room; at first he tried to deflect, but he couldn't escape questioning and ended up recounting the entire incident in full detail.

The truth is so evident that he cannot deny it.

After laying out everything, Wang Yi choked up and said he hadn't done it intentionally—he had been forced to take a large dose of psychotropic medication, which left him unable to control himself, causing him to act that way.

Now he knows he was wrong, has received the appropriate punishment, and pleads with the organization for another chance.

Wang Yi tried to pin everything on the drug's effect to avoid organizational punishment, but he was clearly wrong.

After reading Wang Yi's confession, Lu Zhan slammed the file onto the ground: "Since he himself admitted it, he's mentally abnormal—obviously he's no longer fit to remain in the unit; if he ever has another mental breakdown and lashes out, nobody could bear the consequences."

If Wang Yi had owned up after the incident, Lu Zhan would still respect him as a man; after all, we all start young, get jealous, make mistakes—it's normal; at least he dared to act and admit it, which makes him a man, not wasting his skin.

But so much time has passed since the incident, Wang Yi has been like a turtle withdrawing into its shell, trying to hide the truth.

Even now he still tries to deny; for such a person, Lu Zhan feels deep loathing and will absolutely not tolerate letting such a malignant tumor stay in the unit.

Wang Yi's punishment was handed down swiftly; for his actions, the entire military region issued a criticism, using him as a negative example in the propaganda paper to warn others.

Wang Yi was ordered to leave the military region immediately, and all his benefits were revoked.

Upon hearing the punishment decision, Wang Yi immediately slumped in his chair; he had thought the organization would at least go easy on him given his disability.

At most they'd assign him a civilian post and send him home, but the proper resettlement compensation and job would be arranged.

But he never imagined the punishment would be so severe: they gave him nothing, kicked him out of the military region with nothing, and they want him to lose reputation and be unable to hold his head up before his comrades.

At this point Wang Yi seethed with hatred; he couldn't fathom why, after years of hard service, a minor mistake warranted such harshness, as if they wanted to exterminate him.

But Lu Zhan felt the punishment wasn't enough; he wanted to make Wang Yi a typical example to warn the restless and scheming.

Perhaps prolonged peace has made some people lose their sense of crisis, forget their original aspirations, and develop improper thoughts.

But Lu Zhan knows the enemy is always eyeing them covetously, the country is far from stable, they must stay vigilant; otherwise those lurking in the dark will find an opening and always be ready to strike a deadly blow.

Someone like Wang Yi, a worm eating away at the unit, absolutely cannot remain; given his current disability, otherwise based on his intentional plot to harm Song Jingyu's life, the punishment couldn't have been this light.

Upon learning they were about to be expelled from the military region, Wang's mother immediately sat on the ground wailing loudly; her son's military service had always been her pride.

She had fantasized countless times that one day her son could become a high official, and she could spend her old age in the military region's compound.

But now all her dreams are shattered; her son is not only injured but has become a cripple, and they still have to be expelled—how can the whole family survive?

Their land had already been sold by her, leaving only a few shabby thatched huts; how will they make a living from now on?

Moreover, even if the land hadn't been sold, Wang's mother, having lived in comfort for so many years, could no longer work, and Wang Yi is even less able.

Whenever she thinks about her future days, Wang's mother sees black and almost faints.

She tried to stay by causing a scene, but that tactic obviously didn't work; the whole family was directly 'invited' out by the Inspection Department.

Along the way many people gave them strange looks, but Wang Yi had grown numb to them.

Wang's mother continued to shout, spewing foul language; Wang Yi didn't dare to stop her, letting her go on.

Wang Yi knew his life was already ruined; it couldn't get any worse.

Su Ruo had thought that after the Wang family left, the matter would be over, but she didn't expect that the Wang mother and son's behavior would once again refresh her worldview, completely exceeding her bottom line.

After the Wangs were asked to leave the military region, Wang's mother stayed at the gate crying and carrying on for three days and nights, finally leaving when she could no longer endure.

But of their four children, Wang's mother and Wang Yi actually only took their son, directly abandoning the three daughters at the military region's gate.