Far better than you in both medical skill and character!

Tears brimmed in Chen Yuting's eyes, but she had no choice but to stand and make a round of aggrieved apologies and bows to everyone.

The others could hardly keep giving her the cold shoulder now, so they offered a few polite words of comfort.

Only then did Chief of Staff Xu continue, "In light of your serious error during treatment, I've already spoken with the Military District Hospital. You will receive a major demerit, and your authorization to practice medicine will be temporarily suspended. You may return to work after passing the quarterly assessment!"

Chen Yuting was stunned. A major demerit would go into her file and stain her record. She did not care much about how it would affect her ratings or eligibility for honors. The real problem was... it would seriously damage her image within the Military District, and her image and reputation had always been her pride and joy...

"Th-this is unfair! Chief of Staff Xu! It happened because I worked all last night and was exhausted! You have no idea how many patients I saw! I only forgot the skin test because I was too tired! I didn't do it on purpose!"

"As a doctor, even a small mistake can cause irreversible consequences! Someone nearly died last night, and you still don't recognize your mistake?! Although you aren't directly under regimental headquarters' authority, I discussed your disciplinary action with your hospital director. Regiment Commander Chen... agreed as well. This was a unanimous decision!"

"Impossible! My dad, he... he..."

Before Chen Yuting could finish, someone called from outside the crowd, "Chief of Staff Xu, may I interrupt?"

A doctor walked in and said, "Company Commander Lu just woke up! He asked me to pass on a message. He's willing to use the military merit he earned this time to offset her mistake, and he hopes to plead for leniency on Military Doctor Chen's behalf. He hopes the organization will give her a lighter punishment! Well, that's... that's the message delivered! I'll head back now!"

With that, the doctor turned and left.

Whether moved or overcome by something else, Chen Yuting covered her face and began sobbing.

Song Ning watched the show from the sidelines...

Tsk! There was plenty to unpack here!

So she was the regiment commander's daughter!

That Lu fellow wasn't stupid, either. Even while hovering between life and death, he hadn't forgotten to play the hero and rescue the damsel!

She'd heard of making up for your own mistakes with meritorious service, but never of using your own merit to offset someone else's mistakes...

If everyone did that, no one who made a mistake would need to be punished. They could just find someone with merit to cover for them!

Tsk! That obviously wouldn't work!

Lu was clearly trying to win Chen Yuting's favor...

One little message, and he'd earned her gratitude without losing anything himself!

As she was thinking this, Chen Yuting suddenly looked at her while wiping away her tears...

"Chief of Staff! I want to report someone! It was her-"

Chen Yuting pointed straight at Song Ning. "She removed Changqing's stitches first, causing another infection and even putting his life in danger! She was also the one who incited everyone to strike! If I hadn't been overwhelmed with work, I wouldn't have forgotten the skin test! She's the one responsible for all of this!"

As though suddenly given a shot of adrenaline, Chen Yuting declared with righteous indignation:

"I only made a mistake because she was at fault first! I demand that this matter be handled fairly! Changqing was badly injured trying to save the equipment! He deserves a commendation! He shouldn't have to suffer for nothing because of her unprofessional conduct!"

Song Ning had been perfectly content watching from the sidelines, only to find herself inexplicably dragged into the line of fire.

She turned to Zheng Chang'an beside her. "Doctor Zheng, my bag is in the little room where we left our luggage. Could you bring it over? Sorry for the trouble!"

Zheng Chang'an's eyes immediately lit up. "Sure thing! Be right back!"

He had been waiting forever!

He knew Song Ning still had another move up her sleeve!

"Chen Yuting! This is an internal disciplinary decision within the Military District. It has nothing to do with the civilians!" Chief of Staff Xu snapped.

But Chen Yuting refused to let it go. "Even if I accept the punishment, I still want everything that led up to this investigated first! I demand fairness and impartiality! That's reasonable, isn't it?"

She turned to Director Sun. "Director Sun, as the person in charge of the civilian volunteers, I hope you'll handle this fairly too!"

Put on the spot, Director Sun found himself in a bind. He glanced at Doctor Feng.

Doctor Feng was even more at a loss. These team members had volunteered for disaster relief on their own, coming from different towns and villages. Most had no formal employer, and he had not even had time to find out which village this young Comrade Song came from...

Never mind whether she had done anything wrong. Even if she had, how could they discipline her?

Suspend her? She had neither an employer nor an official position...

Dock her pay? She was volunteering! Volunteering! She wasn't being paid a single cent!

Song Ning found it amusing. She had wanted to remind Chen Yuting yesterday that all those threats to report her or lodge complaints really would not work on her!

Chen Yuting's intentions were plain as day. She wanted a lighter punishment for herself without jeopardizing Lu Changqing's commendation, and she wanted to drag Song Ning down with her.

In her dreams!

She was only this bold because her father was a regiment commander! Otherwise, who would dare make such a fuss in front of the chief of staff?

Everyone was looking at Song Ning now, so she stepped forward and said:

"Since Military Doctor Chen has brought me into this, I'll explain. This all began when Military Doctor Chen repeatedly accused me of failing to clean Company Commander Lu's wound properly, causing his fever. Isn't that right?"

Everyone had been present yesterday, and they nodded at Song Ning's account.

"Doctor Feng, could you please tell everyone what Company Commander Lu's temperature was yesterday?"

"38.2 degrees."

"Company Commander Lu had a low-grade fever throughout yesterday. That was entirely consistent with the body's normal immune response to an injury. It was normal. But Military Doctor Chen kept harping on the fever. I had no choice but to let her examine the wound. It was neither red nor swollen, and there was no inflammation! Yet she still insisted I hadn't cleaned it properly... Left with no other option, I removed the stitches... What else did you expect me to do?"

Song Ning looked at Chen Yuting, her tone helpless.

"Couldn't you have apologized?! All I wanted was an apology! You're just a barefoot doctor. What have you got to be so proud of? Is admitting you're wrong really that hard?" Chen Yuting blurted out.

Song Ning smiled. What a truly brainless, spoiled young lady.

She asked calmly, "May I ask what I did wrong, Military Doctor Chen? Why should I apologize? Because my status is lower than yours? Because most of us here are barefoot doctors, does that mean we deserve to have you question us and look down on us?"

Chen Yuting was instantly speechless.

Chief of Staff Xu's gaze was icy as he looked at her.

"Chen Yuting! Do you have any idea what you're doing? Doctor Song just saved Lu Changqing's life! And his high fever only came on after you treated him! Even after you tried to pin the blame on her, she set aside her grievances and corrected your mistake when you and everyone else were helpless! She brought Lu Changqing out of danger! This doctor you look down on is far better than you in both medical skill and character!"

Chen Yuting could not accept those words at all. Her eyes reddened as she shouted:

"But couldn't she... couldn't she show some consideration for how the family felt? I was just worried about Changqing and got a little anxious, so I said a few harsh things! That still didn't give her the right to remove his stitches! Is that normal behavior for a doctor? By her logic, if a patient's family says a few angry words to a doctor, the doctor can take it out on the patient? Wouldn't that throw everything into chaos?"

Chen Yuting did not dare look at Chief of Staff Xu. It was more as though she had suddenly found a way to justify herself. The more she spoke, the louder she became, and the more convinced she was that she was right. She pointed at Song Ning again.

"It was you! You didn't just remove the patient's stitches. You also led the strike! Everyone can testify that you were the first to suggest stopping work! I worked all night while you rested all night..."

Before Chen Yuting could finish, someone shouted from outside the crowd:

"Is Comrade Song Ning in there?"

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