The junior officer, his face bruised and swollen from the beating, finally managed to get up: "Hmph, one day I'll beat you to a pulp!"

Shen Xi then noticed that the junior officer was her older sister, Shen Qing.

If Shen Xi weren't paying attention, she really wouldn't recognize that this was her older sister.

In just two months, Shen Qing had tanned several shades darker and grown much taller. Plus, with her face bruised and swollen from the fall, who would recognize her?

She felt a little reluctant. When Shen Qing applied to join the army, she felt a little reluctant. You know, joining the army means starting from the bottom, which is quite hard and dangerous.

But Shen Qing was determined to take this path, so she could only ask Zhao Rong to take care of her younger sister.

In retrospect, they really did "take care" of him, to the point that he ended up with bruises and swelling.

She looked at Zhao Rong, who chuckled and said, "Chief, this is what your sister requested."

Do you want to be beaten black and blue?

"Fang Chenyan, go and take a look."

Fang Chenyan, the head of the medical department, walked toward Shen Qing with a very efficient carrying of his medicine box.

"Let me check you over to make sure there's no bone damage."

Shen Qing didn't care and still grinned, "It's okay, I'm used to it."

She knew her older sister had arrived, but since her older sister was a leader, she naturally had to attend to official business first. She would talk to her older sister after the official business was finished.

Fang Chenyan, however, wouldn't listen to that: "It was the commander's order."

Upon hearing that it was her eldest sister's order, Shen Qing obediently sat down and allowed Fang Chenyan to inspect her.

Fang Chenyan examined the wounds and found that they were only superficial injuries, so he was relieved: "You need to be careful. When practicing martial arts, you should find soft places, such as sand dunes. Don't do it here with so many rocks. If there are hard or sharp rocks, you might fall and get hurt, or even be hit by a sharp rock and endanger your life!"

"Alright, alright, just stick with my older sister, why are you getting more and more long-winded?"

Fang Chenyan's face darkened, and he silently put away his medicine box: "Your life doesn't just belong to yourself. The commander cares about you a lot, so the important thing is for you to worry him less."

Shen Qing immediately became obedient. Her older sister was her weakness, and her tone softened: "I know, I will definitely follow Dr. Fang's advice."

I'm older than you.

Fang Chenyan emphasized again: "You should call him brother."

Shen Qing snorted: "I'm the eldest sister's younger sister, how can I call someone 'brother' so casually?"

Fang Chenyan knew Shen Qing's personality: she was stubborn but soft-hearted, and had previously been particularly insecure and timid.

Now she has transformed into a fiery young woman, no longer insecure, and incredibly bold.

“The commander calls me ‘brother Chenyan’ in private, so you should call me ‘brother’. You’re doing me a disservice.”

Shen Qing still refused to call him that, and Fang Chenyan's face suddenly darkened: "I have no one to rely on, no family. I really treated the Chief as my sister, and you, Yue'er, and Dahai as my own brothers. Who knew that I would not have the fate to be your brother?"

Shen Qing didn't expect Fang Chenyan to pull this stunt. If he forced her to call him "brother," she naturally wouldn't agree.

But Fang Chenyan's show of weakness and his sorrowful expression left her unable to cope.

"Okay, don't be sad anymore. I'll call you brother now."

"Really? You'll call me 'brother' from now on?"

"It's true, it's more real than gold."

"Then say it to me."

"Fang Chenyan, don't push your luck. I'll call you that from now on."

"I want you to scream right now!" Fang Chenyan looked expectant, but his eyes were gleaming with a playful light.

Shen Qing blushed. She had never called anyone "brother" before, but Fang Chenyan had forced her to do so.

"elder brother."

"Oh! Qing'er is so good." Fang Chenyan chuckled.

Shen Qing then realized that she had been tricked by Fang Chenyan.

She was afraid to speak before and felt very inferior. Fang Chenyan talked to her the most, and she guessed that her older sister must have asked him to talk to her.

Moreover, Shen Hai always followed Fang Chenyan around like a shadow. As the second sister, Shen Qing had a responsibility to take care of her younger siblings, and for a period of time she had the most contact with Fang Chenyan.

Don't be fooled by Fang Chenyan's serious and composed demeanor as a young doctor, like a little adult.

But with Shen Qing, Shen Yue, and Shen Hai, they were full of energy, as if they had become different people. They were not only talkative, but also occasionally teased them.

Realizing she had been tricked again, Shen Qing was furious and jumped up to throw a punch.

When Fang Chenyan, sporting a black eye, reappeared in front of Shen Xi, Shen Xi immediately noticed the dark patch on his handsome face.

What happened?

Normally, no one in the team would dare to lay a hand on Dr. Fang.

Fang Chenyan was too embarrassed to say it directly, and instead vaguely replied, "I accidentally tripped and fell."

After a moment's thought, Shen Xi understood that it must be Shen Qing's "achievement".

She smiled lightly, neither confirming nor denying, and the matter was dropped.

"Is Qing'er alright?"

"It's nothing, just some minor cuts and bruises."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work. I'll also trouble you to lead the medical team to check on the soldiers here."

"Yes, sir, as instructed by your superior."

Fang Chenyan became serious again; to Shen Xi, he was a qualified subordinate.

There has always been a medical team here, but Fang Chenyan was sent out personally only because of his excellent medical skills.

The soldiers here are her elite troops, and there can be no mistakes, especially since the plague has not stopped and is even worsening in other regions.

Her elite troops must not be allowed to contract the plague.

Shenxi plans to spend five days inspecting this unit to get a detailed look at its capabilities.

This unit never skimped on food; they always had the best rations, meat was provided daily, vegetables were also supplied as much as possible, and each person was given two eggs a day.

Maintaining this army is extremely expensive, and we are very grateful to Zang Huatian, the god of wealth.

During this period, he was constantly busy, leading his men to travel around and selling the technology of drilling deep wells to several large merchants and a few prominent families. He even contacted Ge Congshan, the prefect of Xianghe Prefecture.

Ge Congshan sent people to inquire and immediately became interested. With Zang Huatian's silver tongue, Ge Congshan spent a lot of money to buy the deep well drilling technology.

They only want the highest price they can sell at, nothing else, just grains, meat, eggs, and other food items.

Ge Congshan was a prefect with unique vision. He saw the feasibility and sustainability of deep well drilling technology. With deep wells, grain production could be increased, and the future benefits would be considerable.

He gritted his teeth and agreed to Zang Huatian's request. This was an area where he had full authority, and the powerful families here all depended on him for survival. Producing more food would not be a problem at all.

Moreover, the prefectural governor's mansion already had a considerable amount of grain stored up, more than enough to meet Zang Huatian's demand.

When Shen Xi saw the grain, meat, and eggs that Zang Huatian had brought back, he couldn't help but exclaim, "It's definitely better to be rich and powerful!"

Adding the money from the merchants, the grain from the aristocratic families, and the grain obtained through exchange, there's enough for Chenxi to last another year.