Chapter 52 Xie Jingchen Stands Up for Xia Fanxing

"You've come." Ma Nanzheng put down his pen and wearily pinched the bridge of his nose.

After a month of conditioning with diluted spiritual spring water, he has gained back a lot of weight and no longer looks frighteningly thin.

Because of the diluted spiritual spring water, he was hardly affected by this wave of illness, only coughing occasionally, which was not a big problem.

Xia Fanxing asked, "Could I borrow some paper and a pen?"

Ma Nanzheng generously replied, "Take whatever you like."

Xia Fanxing pulled over a stool from the side and sat down with her back to the other staff members in the office, making sure that no outsiders could see what she was writing.

She took a few sheets of paper, removed the cap from her pen, and began to write.

She writes extremely fast, but it doesn't affect her beautiful handwriting at all.

She quickly filled a sheet of paper, put it aside, and continued writing on the second sheet.

"May I take a look?" Ma Nanzheng was very curious about what Xia Fanxing had written.

Even though he and Xia Fanxing had become good friends after spending a month together, he was still very sensible and would not take things without asking.

“Okay,” Xia Fanxing said without looking up.

Ma Nanzheng then picked up the first piece of paper to read.

When he saw what was written on it, he was shocked and turned around to look at Xia Fanxing, who was writing furiously!

“This is…!” Ma Nanzheng had just opened his mouth when Xia Fanxing interrupted him with a look.

Xia Fanxing shook her head slightly at him, indicating that he should not discuss this in a public setting like the office.

Ma Nanzheng kept quiet, but his heart was surging with emotion, and he could not calm down for a long time.

The time that followed was very agonizing for him.

At first, he was amazed at how fast Xia Fanxing could write, but now he only felt that Xia Fanxing was too slow and needed to be faster.

After Xia Fanxing filled the fifth page, she finally stopped and capped her pen.

"Finished writing? Can we go now?" Ma Nanzheng's eyes lit up, and he asked quickly.

Xia Fanxing let out a soft breath, stood up, and said, "Let's go."

Ma Nanzheng carefully put the five sheets of paper into his briefcase, stood up, and left the office with Xia Fanxing.

"Old Ma, you're leaving already?" the other staff officers asked in surprise.

After all, before this, Ma Nanzheng worked overtime until late at night every day and was the last person to leave the office.

"Yes, something urgent came up," Ma Nanzheng said with a laugh, trying to brush it off.

After he left, the other staff officers started gossiping.

"Is this woman Lao Ma's girlfriend? I've seen her come to see Lao Ma several times."

"I don't think so. Although Lao Ma isn't ugly, he's not exactly handsome either. This female comrade is too beautiful to be interested in Lao Ma's type. It's probably just pure revolutionary friendship."

"Hey, you guys don't know, this woman has a problematic class background and is just an employee of the agricultural company. She looks down on Old Ma? She's hoping to use Old Ma to turn her life around!"

The door was then pushed open.

Xie Jingchen stood at the door, his face cold and stern.

He had just come down from the Youth League Committee office and stopped by to meet Ma Nanzheng for dinner, but he didn't expect to overhear their discussion about Xia Fanxing.

The office fell silent.

The group hurriedly returned to their seats, pretending to be busy.

Xie Jingchen strode in, his military boots making a cold, thud on the ground, as if stepping on everyone's hearts.

He stood in the center of the office, his gaze sweeping across the room like that of a hawk.

"Everyone's busy?" His voice was calm, yet carried an inherent authority.

A staff officer quickly stood up and said respectfully, "Commander Xie, Staff Officer Ma just left with Comrade Xia."

Xie Jingchen nodded slightly, "Everyone has worked hard these past few days, so please remember to balance work and rest. Try not to get sick during this special period."

One of the staff officers smiled obsequiously and flattered, "Thank you, Commander, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to care about us. We're not tired; we're just serving the people!"

Xie Jingchen said in a deep voice: "The great man taught that 'all members of the revolutionary ranks should care for, love, and help each other.'"

He then changed the subject, saying, "But this concern is based on comradeship built on a shared revolutionary goal, not on excessive concern for other people's private affairs, much less on gossiping behind their backs."

Upon hearing this, the staff officers immediately fell silent, their hearts pounding with anxiety.

They all understood what Xie Jingchen was talking about.

Xie Jingchen continued to escalate the issue: "The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps is a revolutionary family, and everyone who comes here is our comrade. No matter where they come from or what their background is, as long as they contribute to the construction of the Corps, they deserve respect. This kind of behavior of gossiping about comrades' backgrounds behind their backs is not only undermining unity but also tarnishing the reputation of the Corps!"

The staff officers were reprimanded and bowed their heads deeply.

Under Xie Jingchen's overwhelming aura, they were even so afraid that they wanted to cry.

“I don’t want to hear these words again, no matter the occasion, understand?” Xie Jingchen asked.

The staff officers quickly replied, "Understood! Don't worry, Commander Xie, we will never say that again!"

·

Xia Fanxing and Ma Nanzheng walked out of the People's Armed Forces Department.

Ma Nanzheng was finally able to ask the question that had been weighing on his mind: "Comrade Xia, is your title true? Can these folk remedies you wrote about really alleviate everyone's symptoms?"

Xia Fanxing stopped in her tracks, her eyes clear and resolute. "It's true. Every single one of these plans is one I've meticulously researched, and I've already tested them on the comrades in the agricultural corps, confirming their effectiveness."

"That's wonderful!" Ma Nanzheng almost cried with joy. "I knew you would have a way. You cured me back then! Comrade Xia, thank you. On behalf of all the staff of the regiment, thank you!"

He grabbed Xia Fanxing's arm. "Come on! Let's go to the regimental hospital now. I want to formally introduce you to the hospital leaders! With this report in hand, once the epidemic in the regimental hospital has passed because of these plans, so what if your background is complicated?"

"You've done such a great service and saved so many people, the division headquarters will definitely make an exception for you! Even if they don't send you directly to the regimental hospital as a doctor, they can at least make you a formal medic in the company!"

Ma Nanzheng has already begun to envision a bright future, his mouth agape with joy.

But he found that he couldn't pull Xia Fanxing.

He turned around and looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"I'm not going," Xia Fanxing said calmly.

Ma Nanzheng grew anxious. "Why not go? You wrote this report to submit to the regimental hospital, didn't you? Don't you want to be a doctor or a medic?"

Xia Fanxing lowered her eyes and explained, "It's precisely because I want to that I can't go."

"What do you mean?" Ma Nanzheng couldn't understand.

Xia Fanxing hesitated for a moment, but still revealed her plan.

She didn't plan to meet directly with the leaders of the regimental hospital, but instead intended to deliver the report to the hospital's office, just like other contributors.

She wanted the hospital leaders to see the report themselves, and after verifying its effectiveness in practice, she would then actively search for who wrote it, thereby exposing her existence.