Chapter 97 Squid Ink

The person who came out was Fang Wei, a confidant of Li Chongshan.

Fang Wei saw Xia Fanxing in the corridor, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

But he said nothing, only nodded slightly to her, and stood silently to the side like a guardian deity.

He was clearly waiting for Xie Jingchen to finish his business.

Seeing this, Xia Fanxing knew that Xie Jingchen wouldn't be able to come out anytime soon, so she whispered to Fang Wei, "I'll just take a walk around here."

Fang Wei nodded again, remaining silent.

Xia Fanxing strolled slowly along the quiet corridor.

The joint working group's office area was quieter than other parts of the regimental headquarters.

Suddenly, a suppressed but still painful sob came from a small office next door with its door slightly ajar.

Xia Fanxing stopped in her tracks and subconsciously looked over.

Through the crack in the door, she saw two men inside.

A younger man was weeping bitterly, almost kneeling down before another man.

"...Old Zhang! I'm so sorry! I'm the one who ruined you! If it weren't for me...you wouldn't be..."

The man he called "Old Zhang" was pale, his eyes filled with shock, resentment, and disbelief.

He forcefully supported the young man who was about to kneel down, his voice hoarse yet carrying a heartbreaking resilience: "Don't do this... It's not your fault... It was my own negligence... I admit defeat."

"But you have to hold on, you can't be defeated! Our team still has a lot of things to do that depends on you... You must finish what needs to be done..."

He patted the young man's shoulder heavily.

Then he took a deep breath, exhaled weakly, pulled over a worn-out suitcase from the wall, and walked out without looking back.

His back view was resolute yet lonely.

The man who remained collapsed to the ground, covering his face with his hands, tears streaming through his fingers.

He looked at the desk in despair.

Several sheets of paper were scattered on the table, the writing on them blurred into large, illegible black smudges!

"Why...why did this happen..." the man muttered, his voice broken. "We've always used the same ink...why did it have to be so smudged this time...I can't see anything on it...and they're accusing Old Zhang of dereliction of duty and making a mistake in his record..."

"Discipline...demotion and transfer...his life is ruined..."

Xia Fanxing dodged the man who had left, stood back in front of the door, and looked at the few dirty black papers.

Even though she was outside the office, some distance away, her five senses were extraordinary.

Her nostrils twitched almost imperceptibly.

She smelled a faint, distinctive fishy odor in the air, unlike that of ordinary ink.

A thought struck her, and she pushed open the door and went straight in.

Hearing the noise, the crying man looked up in alarm, tears still streaming down his face. "Who?!"

Xia Fanxing remained calm, pointed to the few sheets of paper on the table, and said, "Comrade, excuse me, may I smell these papers?"

The man was stunned, not immediately realizing what the woman who had suddenly appeared wanted to do.

But seeing that her eyes were clear and open, and she didn't seem to have any ill intentions, he nodded blankly.

Xia Fanxing picked up a piece of paper, brought it close, and smelled it carefully.

The faint fishy smell became more pronounced.

She put down the paper and said definitively, "This is not ordinary ink staining or deterioration; someone has tampered with the ink, adding a small amount of extremely finely ground squid ink powder."

"Squid ink?" The man looked shocked.

“Yes,” Xia Fanxing explained, “Ink mixed with squid ink powder looks no different from regular ink when writing, and it is difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. However, after writing, the writing will slowly oxidize with certain components in the air, gradually becoming blurred and eventually turning into a complete smudge that cannot be identified.”

The man was struck dumb.

He suddenly remembered something, scrambled to the filing cabinet, and took out a bottle of ink that was still more than half full.

He handed the ink bottle to Xia Fanxing, his voice trembling as he asked, "Could you help me check if this is... this is it? This bottle of ink was given to me by the deputy team leader a few days ago. He said it was a good product that he had someone bring back from a big city... Old Zhang thought it was something new, so he specially used it for this important report..."

Xia Fanxing took the ink bottle, opened it, smelled it carefully, and nodded to confirm: "This is it. There is only a small amount of squid ink powder inside, but it is enough to work."

"Deputy team leader...it's him! It was him! Why did he want to harm me? Old Zhang was harmed because he used my ink..."

The man instantly understood the key point, and his face turned ashen.

He collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by immense guilt and anger.

Suddenly, as if grasping at a straw, he grabbed Xia Fanxing's arm tightly, his eyes blazing with urgency: "Comrade! Please! Please come with me to see Team Leader Li! I'll tell you everything I know! You must testify for me, prove that there's something wrong with the ink! Prove that Old Zhang is innocent! I have to get justice for him!"

Xia Fanxing was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Okay, I'll go with you."

She wouldn't stand idly by when she encountered such an innocent person being framed.

Xia Fanxing and Chen Xiangyang walked quickly toward Li Chongshan's office.

Just as I arrived at the door, I happened to run into Xie Jingchen coming out from inside.

He was still holding the jar of ointment in his hand, his expression somewhat somber, clearly indicating that Li Chongshan had not accepted it.

Xie Jingchen frowned slightly when he saw Chen Xiangyang, who was standing next to Xia Fanxing with red eyes and agitated. He then cast a questioning glance at Xia Fanxing.

Xia Fanxing gently shook her head, indicating that the situation was complicated and it was not convenient to say more at the moment.

At this moment, Fang Wei, who was guarding outside the door, also saw them. In particular, when he saw Chen Xiangyang and Xia Fanxing together, a hint of surprise appeared on his serious face.

"Comrade Xiangyang? What are you doing with Nurse Xia?" His gaze swept back and forth between the two of them, filled with vigilance and doubt.

Chen Xiangyang stepped forward excitedly, his voice still hoarse from crying: "Secretary Fang, I have a very important and urgent matter to report to Team Leader Li! It concerns Comrade Zhang Dong's injustice, and Dr. Xia must go in with us; she can testify!"

"Proof?" Fang Wei was even more surprised.

He looked at Xia Fanxing scrutinizingly, seemingly unable to understand how she could be involved in the internal affairs of the work group, especially with Zhang Dong, who had just been disciplined.

But his years of experience kept him calm. "Comrade Xiangyang, don't rush. Come inside with me and we'll talk things out. Team Leader Li can't see too many people right now."

Chen Xiangyang wanted to say something, but Fang Wei had already pulled him in without saying a word and pushed open the door to the office.

Xia Fanxing and Xie Jingchen were left outside.

Xie Jingchen walked over to Xia Fanxing and lowered his voice: "What happened? Chen Xiangyang is from the working group, why is he looking for you?"

Xia Fanxing briefly whispered, "I happened to run into him when he was in trouble, and I discovered some issues that might involve the internal working group. He needs me to testify."

She glanced at the ointment in Xia Fanxing's hand. "Team Leader Li confiscated it?"

“Hmm,” Xie Jingchen’s expression was not good. “He said he appreciated the sentiment, but he knows his own problems and doesn’t need to be bothered.”

Just then, the office door opened again.

Fang Wei came out, his expression even more solemn than before.

He glanced at Xia Fanxing, his tone complicated: "Comrade Xia Fanxing, the team leader requests your presence."

Xia Fanxing nodded, took the jar of ointment from Xie Jingchen's hand, and said softly, "You go back and get busy, I can handle things here."

Xie Jingchen looked at her calm demeanor and knew that she knew what she was doing.

Although he was still worried, he nodded and instructed, "Have Secretary Fang notify me if anything happens."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Fang Wei.

Fang Wei nodded slightly to indicate that he understood.

Xia Fanxing took a deep breath, holding the jar of rejected ointment, and followed Fang Wei into Li Chongshan's office.

The door closed gently behind her, blocking Xie Jingchen's worried gaze.

As soon as Xia Fanxing entered the office, she immediately felt a heavy pressure.

Li Chongshan sat upright behind his desk. Although his face was sickly sallow, his eyes were sharp as an eagle's, carrying undisguised authority, inquiry, and deep suspicion.

His gaze was fixed on her, as if he wanted to see right through her, inside and out.

Xia Fanxing's expression remained unchanged as she calmly accepted the scrutiny.

She stood ramrod straight, her gaze calmly looking back. Her cool demeanor only made her appear more composed under such high pressure.

The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

Li Chongshan spoke slowly, his voice hoarse yet powerful: "Comrade Xia Fanxing, Chen Xiangyang said that you discovered a problem with the ink?"

"Yes." Xia Fanxing succinctly and clearly stated the characteristics and working principle of squid ink powder, as well as her own judgment.

Finally, she added, "This is just my judgment. If Team Leader Li needs confirmation, he can extract ink residue for testing. Squid ink has a unique composition and should be able to detect it."

Her explanation was logically clear, her tone was assertive, and there was no hesitation or wavering.

Chen Xiangyang, standing to the side, had tears in his eyes and hope in them.

He looked at Li Chongshan anxiously, his voice choked with emotion: "Team leader, you heard it all, Comrade Zhang Dong is innocent! He was framed! Please, please seek justice for him and let him come back!"

However, after listening, Li Chongshan remained silent for a moment before saying something that made Chen Xiangyang feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave: "This matter is over. The disciplinary decision has been issued and will not be changed."

Chen Xiangyang's eyes widened suddenly as he stared at Li Chongshan in disbelief, as if he couldn't understand what he was saying.

Ignoring his shocked gaze, Li Chongshan continued coldly, "Chen Xiangyang, you're lucky this time you discovered the problem. Learn from this experience and don't use other people's things casually. Get out."

"It's over?! How could it be over?!" Chen Xiangyang's rationality was instantly overwhelmed by immense anger and resentment.

He took a sudden step forward, almost forgetting his reverence for Li Chongshan, and cried out, "Why?! We already know it was the deputy team leader who did it, why didn't you exonerate Zhang Dong? Why didn't you convict him?! Is this how you act as a team leader? Just letting a villain get away with it and letting someone who does their job conscientiously suffer injustice?! This is unfair!"

“Fairness?” Li Chongshan’s voice suddenly rose, carrying a cold sarcasm and a fierce anger at his incompetence. “Tell me what fairness is?! How can you prove that the ink had already been tampered with when it got into your hands? And not that you yourselves added squid ink later to set a trap for the deputy team leader?!”

He slammed his hand on the table, his imposing manner intimidating: "If the other party turns around and accuses you of deliberately framing Zhang Dong to exonerate him, or for some other purpose, then all the witnesses and evidence will be against you!"

"Not only is Zhang Dong not coming back, but you, Chen Xiangyang, have to get out of here immediately! Isn't this exactly what they want? What kind of fairness is this? You're just courting death!"

Li Chongshan's series of sharp and stern questions extinguished all of Chen Xiangyang's excitement and anger like a bucket of ice water, leaving only a bone-chilling cold and despair.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

He understood, he understood completely.

This is not a simple question of right or wrong, but a political trap from which he cannot escape.

Regardless of the truth, they have no chance of winning in the current situation.

A tremendous sense of powerlessness and despair instantly gripped Chen Xiangyang.

His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground, muttering in a daze, "That...that Zhang Dong...his future...is ruined just like that? Just because...just because..."

He could no longer speak, and only suppressed, desperate sobs echoed in the office.

Li Chongshan looked at the young man who had collapsed to the ground, a fleeting, complex emotion flashing in his eyes, but that emotion was quickly covered by a deeper, cold hardness.

He closed his eyes wearily, waved his hand and said to Fang Wei, "Take him out and let him calm down."

With a solemn expression, Fang Wei stepped forward, helped up Chen Xiangyang, who was almost unable to walk, and silently assisted him out.

In the office, only Li Chongshan and Xia Fanxing, who had been standing quietly to the side, remained.

The air seemed to freeze, filled with an atmosphere of oppression and exhaustion.

Li Chongshan leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and pressed hard on his throbbing temples with his fingers, his sickly appearance no longer concealed.

He remained silent for nearly a minute before slowly opening his eyes, his gaze falling on Xia Fanxing, who was still standing in the same spot.

His voice was hoarse and cold, carrying a hint of impatience and a desire to drive him away: "Comrade Xia Fanxing, is there anything else?"

Meeting his clearly displeased gaze, Xia Fanxing did not back down. Instead, she stepped forward and gently placed the jar of ointment she had been holding on his desk.

"Team Leader Li, this ointment is something I made myself. It's quite effective in relieving old pain in my lower back and legs. Please give it a try."

Her voice remained calm and detached as always, as if the intense conflict just now and Li Chongshan's current bad mood had nothing to do with her.

Li Chongshan looked at the jar of ointment that had reappeared on the table, and recalled the time when he had rejected Xie Jingchen.

The torment of illness over the past few days, the insidious tactics behind the deputy team leader's back, Chen Xiangyang's tearful accusations and questioning, and the woman's repeated "lack of tact"...

A mix of emotions finally gave him an outlet for his pent-up anger.

He abruptly looked up, his gaze shooting towards Xia Fanxing like a cold bolt of lightning. His tone was sterner than ever before, even carrying a reprimanding undertone: "Xia Fanxing, what exactly do you want? Time and time again. I've told you I don't need it, yet you still stubbornly approach me. What is your purpose? Hmm?"

His voice echoed in the empty office, carrying a strong sense of oppression befitting a superior.

However, behind this seemingly angry questioning lies a more complex emotion...