That day, Lin Huian behaved much better. Except for necessary times when she had to get up, she stayed in bed almost the whole time, carefully protecting the ointment under her pillow. Even Director Li didn't notice anything unusual about her.
Three days later, just as dawn was breaking, the sound of cart wheels and staff greeting each other could be heard in the guesthouse corridor.
It was the logistics team that delivered daily supplies, all of which were necessities for the guesthouse. These people were not involved in the military's official business, so they could come and go freely without arousing any suspicion.
Lin Hui listened intently to the sounds. When the sound of the cart approached her door, there were three light knocks on the door, short and discreet, as if they were accidentally bumped into.
Lin Hui instantly woke up and immediately got up. She first listened to the conversation outside to make sure she hadn't misheard, then quietly got out of bed, limped to the door, and opened it a crack.
A man in blue overalls from the logistics team stood outside the door, pushing a wooden cart full of supplies, his head down as he pretended to organize the items on the cart.
While the administrator turned around to check the list, the man asked in a low voice, only the two of them could hear, "Is everything ready?"
Lin Hui nodded quickly, took out the ointment, and, taking advantage of the moment when the cart blocked her view, stuffed the porcelain bottle into the pocket of the man's work clothes, her movements as fast as the wind.
The man calmly pressed his hand against his pocket to make sure the ointment was safely stored away.
At this point, the administrator finished checking the list, turned around and urged, "Hurry up and deliver to the next room, don't waste time."
The man responded and continued pushing the cart forward, his steps steady and showing no sign of anything unusual, as if it had just been an ordinary delivery of supplies.
Lin Hui closed the door, leaned against it, and took a deep breath. The ointment had been successfully delivered, which finally relieved some of the pressure.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Xu Xinghe prepared the new ointment on time and headed towards the guesthouse.
When I knocked on the door, Lin Hui still had a warm smile on her face, but she still walked with a limp. She was wearing thick cotton socks to cover the wound on the instep of her foot, and she didn't seem to want me to help change the dressing.
"Xinghe, you've finally arrived! Come in and sit down. I'm feeling much better these past three days thanks to your ointment."
Xu Xinghe nodded, walked into the house, and casually glanced at her feet. "Sister-in-law, let me change your dressing and see how the wound is healing."
"No need, no need!" Lin Hui quickly waved her hand. "I already changed it myself today, and it's healing quite well, so I won't trouble you. Please sit down, I'll get you a glass of water."
As she spoke, she walked to the table to pour water, avoiding Xu Xinghe's gaze.
Xu Xinghe's suspicions deepened.
Lin Hui's reaction seemed to be deliberately concealing something.
Taking the water glass from her, Xu Xinghe helped her back to bed, then pulled up a chair and deliberately sat near the foot of the bed.
When it was time to drink the water, she pretended to lose her grip, and with a slight tremor, half a cup of warm water spilled onto Lin Hui's cotton socks.
"Oh dear!" Lin Hui exclaimed, instinctively shrinking back.
"I'm sorry, sister-in-law." Xu Xinghe apologized immediately, and before Lin Hui could react, she reached out to pull at her socks. "Wet socks on the wound won't do, they can easily get infected. Let me take them off for you."
Her movements were quick and decisive; Lin Hui had no time to stop her before her cotton socks were pulled off.
The next second, Xu Xinghe's eyes darkened.
Where are the signs of healing on Lin Hui's foot wound?
Instead of scabbing over, it remained the same hideous hole, with slight redness and swelling around it, almost exactly the same as when she left three days ago!
"Sister-in-law, why hasn't your wound healed yet?" Xu Xinghe looked at Lin Hui, her tone puzzled. "My ointment works very quickly. Even if the recovery is slow, it should be much better than it is now. How come there's no improvement at all?"
Lin Hui's face instantly turned pale, and she quickly made an excuse, "I...I don't know either! Oh right, it's probably because I accidentally bumped into the wound again while walking this morning, causing secondary damage, so the wound is like this again."
"Secondary injury?" Xu Xinghe sneered inwardly. Her ointment not only relieved pain and removed scars, but also had excellent anti-infection and healing effects. Even if there was a minor bump, it would not look like this.
But she didn't point it out, she just said calmly, "Then you'd better be careful this time. I'll change your dressing again, remember to apply it on time, and don't be careless again."
Lin Hui nodded hurriedly, forcing a smile on her face, but she was panicking inside.
She hadn't touched the half-bottle of ointment for the past three days, giving it all to the contact person, so naturally her wound wouldn't heal.
She almost gave herself away, but luckily she reacted quickly and made up an excuse.
Xu Xinghe cleaned her wound briefly, applied some fresh ointment as a token gesture, and then said nothing more.
She had already gotten the answer she wanted; Lin Hui hadn't even applied the ointment to the wound.
One could say it was the other party's oversight, or there could be other reasons.
But twice, that doesn't quite make sense.
There's definitely something wrong with Lin Hui!
Xu Xinghe quickly left the guesthouse. Just as she reached the door, she saw Director Li hurrying over, as if he was going back to his room.
Xu Xinghe had a sudden thought and took the initiative to step forward and greet him, "Director Li."
"Comrade Xu? Did you just change Huihui's dressing?" Director Li asked with a smile.
"Yes, just finished changing it." Xu Xinghe asked casually, "By the way, Director Li, I gave my sister-in-law half a bottle of ointment a few days ago, enough for her to use for three days. But her wound is healing very slowly, did you take the ointment away?"
Director Li looked puzzled and subconsciously shook his head. "No, I didn't take the ointment. Why do you ask? Huihui said the ointment you gave her was very effective, and she's been keeping it to herself and won't let me touch it."
"It's nothing, I was just asking casually." Xu Xinghe could tell he wasn't lying, so she smiled, said nothing more, and turned to leave.
But after taking only a few steps, the smile on her face disappeared, and her doubts surged up completely.
Lin Hui didn't use the ointment on the wound, nor did she give it to Director Li. So where did the half-bottle of ointment that she specifically asked for go?
Considering Lin Hui's previous suspicious behavior—secretly taking her own medicinal herbs, her unusual obsession with the ointment, and now her lying to cover it up…
A terrifying thought surfaced in Xu Xinghe's mind.
Could Lin Hui really have a problem?
She wants the ointment; could she have some other purpose for it?
Considering her past espionage dealings, could she... be a spy too?
Moreover, she was the kind of person who kept it very well hidden; otherwise, she would never have been able to become Director Li's wife!
It was precisely because of her identity that I had no doubts about her at first.
Xu Xinghe felt increasingly alarmed as she thought about it, and her pace quickened involuntarily.
She must confirm this matter as soon as possible, and more importantly, she must safeguard her prescription and the medicinal herbs in her space, and absolutely not let those with ulterior motives succeed!
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