Among the onlookers were some shrewd individuals, some of whom stroked their chins and muttered to themselves.
"This is a bit strange. Why would someone do this in such cold weather in an empty house without even blankets?"
"Yeah, wouldn't it be the same to do it at home? Why come all the way here? Do you have some kind of weird quirk?"
The discussions spread like a tide.
The way everyone looked at Li Xingzhou and Wang Zhizhi became increasingly strange.
Lieutenant Wang cleared his throat and parted the crowd to walk to the front.
He remembered Jiang Linchuan's instructions and knew he had to put on a convincing performance.
"This matter seems highly suspicious." His gaze swept over the lunchboxes on the ground, his brows furrowing even more. "Why aren't you staying in your own homes? What are you doing here?"
Li Xingzhou's face was deathly pale, his lips blue from the cold, as he forced a defense, "We...we came here to eat, and after we finished, we couldn't control ourselves..."
"Unable to control your emotions?" Lieutenant Wang's gaze fell on his arm, which was in a splint, and his tone was filled with undisguised suspicion. "You're injured like this, how can you be unable to control your emotions? In my opinion, this matter needs to be thoroughly investigated, to see if there's anything fishy going on. Although you're leaving soon, the military has a responsibility to everyone, and more importantly, to ensure the safety of the military.
He raised his voice and ordered, "Someone, pack up these dishes and send them to the hospital for testing! I want to see if there's anything strange in the food. Otherwise, why would someone injured like this go through all this trouble in this freezing weather?"
Upon hearing this, everyone's attention once again focused on the two of them.
Li Xingzhou's arm was swollen like a steamed bun, and it looked painful.
Wang Zhizhi was as thin as a sheet of paper, and her face was so pale that she looked like she might collapse at any moment.
With looks like that, how could they possibly be interested in doing *that*?
Something just doesn't feel right!
Li Xingzhou gritted his teeth and refused to budge. "Lieutenant Wang, it was truly a mutual agreement! The military shouldn't interfere in such a private matter, right? We're leaving tomorrow; we don't want to cause any more trouble for the military!"
As he spoke, he used his uninjured arm to pull Wang Zhizhi closer, lowering his posture, "I'm sorry everyone, we've offended your eyes. We'll go back and pack our things now, and leave first thing tomorrow morning. We've caused you a lot of trouble these past few days, we're truly sorry..."
He deliberately showed his injured arm, hoping to gain some sympathy and make his adjutant Wang stop while he was ahead.
But once Lieutenant Wang received the order, how could he let it go so easily?
“I said, this concerns the safety of the military. Any suspicious matters must be thoroughly investigated.” He waved his hand without room for argument. “Two people, take them back. Remember, separate them into two rooms. Don’t cause any more trouble. If this continues, someone might die.”
A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.
Wang Zhizhi was so ashamed that she buried her head in her chest, wishing she could disappear into a crack in the ground.
In both her lives combined, she had never been this humiliated!
Li Xingzhou closed his eyes, his brain racing, frantically trying to come up with a solution, but he couldn't think of anything good.
The only way now is to insist that it was consensual. The more you say, the more mistakes you'll make. These are well-trained soldiers, not ordinary people who are easy to fool.
The news spread quickly, and people from the surrounding area came to see what was going on.
Xu Xinghe, also wrapped in a cotton-padded coat and wearing cotton slippers, squeezed into the crowd, tiptoeing to peek inside.
The aunt next to her kindly explained the whole story to her.
Her gaze fell on the food that the soldiers were putting away, and she suddenly remembered the special dinner she had eaten that evening.
This matter is probably related to Jiang Linchuan!
How could someone like Li Xingzhou, who values his reputation more than his life, possibly have an affair with Wang Zhizhi in public?
It's even more impossible for them to choose such a run-down place, and to disregard their most precious hands.
He aspires to be a renowned doctor; why would he risk his own hand?
This is clearly a setup.
I didn't do it myself, and then I thought about that meal...
Xu Xinghe knew perfectly well that it must be Jiang Linchuan!
Did he not leave at all?
Xu Xinghe stood on tiptoe and looked around. Suddenly, she caught sight of a tall figure in the darkness outside the crowd.
The person stood in the moonlight, and even though you couldn't see their face clearly, you could recognize them at a glance—it was Jiang Linchuan.
He waved gently and gazed silently.
"Xinghe, what are you looking at?" The aunt next to her asked curiously.
Jiang Linchuan's figure vanished into the darkness in an instant, leaving only a patch of cold moonlight.
"It's nothing." Xu Xinghe pursed her lips, her eyes crinkling into a smile. "I just think...it's quite interesting."
"You bet!" the auntie scoffed. "Those two are truly shameless!"
After giving the order, Lieutenant Wang turned and left.
Now, no matter what excuse Li Xingzhou made, it would be useless.
He could only watch helplessly as the food was carefully packed into bags and sent to the hospital for testing.
He and Wang Zhizhi were carried by two soldiers, one on each side, like being dragged a dead dog, towards their lodgings.
The thought of Jiang Linchuan made his teeth chatter with hatred, and a faint taste of blood filled his mouth, yet he was utterly helpless.
One wrong step leads to another.
If they hadn't coveted Xu Xinghe's credit and hadn't insisted on taking this gamble before leaving, hoping to turn the tables, they wouldn't have ended up in this situation.
And that soldier, he must have betrayed him, otherwise why would Jiang Linchuan have appeared?
This was the first time he had experienced being out of control, like being caught in an invisible net, the more he struggled, the tighter it became.
Along the way, more and more people came out of their homes to watch the spectacle, pointing and gossiping at them.
"Tsk tsk, so this is the one who claims to be cousins?"
"They look respectable, but they do this kind of thing behind the scenes..."
Li Xingzhou kept his eyes straight ahead.
"Xinghe, it's a good thing you didn't get too close to them, otherwise you might have been implicated!" The voice of the military wife next to her came clearly, "I've never seen anyone so shameless in my life!"
Upon hearing Xu Xinghe's name, Li Xingzhou turned around sharply and indeed saw her in the crowd.
She was wrapped in a thick cotton-padded coat, her hair casually tied up. Even in her simplest attire, she exuded a delicate charm that had been carefully nurtured, like a flower grown in a greenhouse.
The moment their eyes met, Xu Xinghe merely glanced at him indifferently before disdainfully looking away.
Now, he doesn't even deserve to be looked at by her.
What Xu Xinghe is more concerned about now is what Jiang Linchuan will do next.
At this moment, Jiang Linchuan had already stepped towards Political Commissar Wang's office.
Political Commissar Wang, being the most well-informed, had already heard about the farce on Li Xingzhou's side. When he saw him come in, his face was so dark it could drip water. "Did you do this?"
"Yes." Jiang Linchuan admitted frankly, without any attempt to hide it.
"No wonder you turned down the mission; you were planning to deal with him all along." Political Commissar Wang slammed his hand on the table. "But do you know that this is against the rules!"
Jiang Linchuan's expression remained unchanged. "My military merits are enough to offset it."
He paused, his voice icy, "Li Xingzhou tried to drug Xinghe, so I'm just giving him a taste of his own medicine."
“You…” Political Commissar Wang sighed, pointing at him speechlessly, “Since you found out, you should have arrested him and dealt with him according to the rules! Why did you have to go to such lengths? How am I supposed to explain this to you?”
“Evil people deserve their just deserts.” Jiang Linchuan’s tone was flat. “Letting them leave Heilongjiang Province like this is too lenient on them.”
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