Trust me! I have no choice!

Lu Changqing looked somewhat embarrassed.

"Song Ning, do you... have some misunderstanding about me?"

"A misunderstanding?"

Song Ning smiled and asked bluntly, "Lu Changqing, we have time to talk properly today. Let's go through everything from the beginning. I'll ask, and you answer, and we'll see whether there's any misunderstanding between us. All right?"

Lu Changqing hesitated, then nodded.

"The night Chen Yuting first came to Gao Ping, she spoke up for you and repeatedly referred to herself as your family member. You were ill, but you were lying right beside us. You neither stopped her nor corrected her, did you?"

"Song Ning, I was barely conscious then, and she'd come for my sake. I couldn't bring myself to embarrass her over something so trivial..."

"I understand! She came for you, so you didn't want to embarrass her! But after Battalion Commander Zhao arrived, when Nurse Zhang explicitly said, 'You're dating,' you stepped in to stop her!"

"Yes! We really weren't dating. Honestly, I barely knew her before that. When we signed up for disaster relief, I said a word in her defense, and she came specifically to thank me! After that, she... she came every day..."

"I understand! You weren't willing to acknowledge that you were dating her. Yet the next day, you deliberately chose a moment when your superiors were present and the crowd was at its largest to volunteer your military merits to offset Chen Yuting's wrongdoing..."

"Song Ning! I... back then... I only... trust me! Song Ning! There really is nothing between us..."

"I believe there really is nothing between you!"

Song Ning said softly, "You simply didn't want to pass up such a good opportunity! To be precise, you understood Chen Yuting very well! You also understood her relationship with her father! The more trouble Chen Yuting caused, the more Regiment Commander Chen would feel he owed you afterward! He might even find ways to make it up to you! Am I right?"

Lu Changqing's face instantly paled.

Song Ning continued, "What you didn't expect was for me to show up there out of the blue. Who I was turned your advantage into a disadvantage in an instant! Originally, this would have been nothing more than Chen Yuting being willful and unreasonable. But suddenly, it became a question of improper conduct!"

Lu Changqing stared at Song Ning in shock, unable to say a word.

"Normally, when we met under those circumstances, you should first have explained what was going on between you and Chen Yuting to clear up any misunderstanding. Then you should have explained why you were two years late coming to Hunan Province to marry me and asked for my forgiveness. Finally, after getting my consent, you should have submitted a marriage application to the organization. Am I right?"

A faint sheen of sweat had already formed on Lu Changqing's forehead.

"But you didn't. You returned to the Military District a day before I did, and before I even arrived, you submitted applications for both marriage and family housing. Because you needed to reverse your disadvantage! Because you discovered that I wasn't quite the Song Ning you'd imagined... I wasn't easy to control, and you didn't want me becoming an unpredictable factor!"

"The first time I spoke to you, you already knew perfectly well that I wanted to break off our engagement! Didn't you?"

"Yet you kept interrupting me and creating the impression in front of your comrades that we were getting along well! You told Zhang Qianjin to avoid me because you wanted me to realize on my own that you had no one to care for you, so I'd feel sorry for you! Or guilty! So I'd compromise! Ideally, I'd volunteer to look after you as your fiancée!"

"You hoped to keep things amicable between us. Even if I still insisted on breaking off the engagement in the end, at least this time, the organization would go easy on you when dealing with the matter!"

Looking into Lu Changqing's eyes, Song Ning asked again:

"Lu Changqing! Everything you did was simply because... you didn't want any negative mark on your military record! Or rather-you didn't want disciplinary action! Am I right?"

Lu Changqing turned deathly pale, large beads of sweat rolling down his face.

He looked at Song Ning and almost roared:

"Song Ning! You're right about all of it! I can't receive any disciplinary action! None at all! Even a mere formal warning would mean I had no chance of promotion for an entire year! I can't let that happen!"

"But Song Ning, I did promise Doctor Song that I'd look after you for the rest of your life! I don't want to break my promise to Doctor Song! And I'm not doing this entirely for myself. I just... don't have time! I don't have time to explain everything to you step by step! To get your consent!"

"Song Ning! I have my difficulties! Trust me! I have no choice!"

"I didn't know you were so perceptive. If I'd known, I would have discussed it with you from the start! I wouldn't have presumptuously kept it from you!"

Song Ning watched Lu Changqing lose control. This was probably the first time he had shown his true emotions since she'd met him here.

He was no longer hiding his true thoughts behind false courtesy and smiles.

"Lu Changqing, I only want you to be more honest and tell me what you really think! I admire what you and Grandpa did! I also believe you both made tremendous sacrifices and put in enormous effort! If there are things you want my cooperation on, please tell me clearly instead of trying to manipulate me!"

In her previous life, she had managed three hospitals. She hadn't just seen plenty of illnesses-she had seen even more people! Letting emotions dictate one's actions was a doctor's greatest taboo, and even more so for a manager.

And she was a doctor skilled at management, someone who had always been able to see past appearances to the heart of a matter.

People might not be entirely black and white, but actions could be. She was used to being decisive and efficient, letting reason outweigh emotion, and she especially couldn't tolerate all that scheming and maneuvering.

She didn't have the time or energy to play along with it!

Lu Changqing looked at Song Ning and said anxiously:

"Song Ning, I was wrong! I wanted to protect you too badly!"

"Before, I really didn't want you to know too much. I just wanted to arrange everything myself! Then... then you and I could live peacefully together on base!

"Back in Gao Ping, even before you understood my relationship with Chen Yuting, you still put aside your grievances and saved me! That's how I knew you wanted to build a life with me!"

Song Ning frowned. "That's actually what you thought? In Gao Ping, you had already gone into shock from a high fever! Your life really was in danger! I saved you because it was my duty as a doctor! Besides, whatever your relationship with Chen Yuting was, it wasn't a crime punishable by death!"

"And deliberately making our relationship look good in front of the nurses, Old Zhang, and the others was pointless too!

"Honestly, I don't care what the people here think of me! If I find this place uncomfortable, or I can't stay here anymore, I can leave at any time! It's only an engagement. It can't bind me!"

Lu Changqing slumped in his wheelchair as though all his strength had been drained away.

A moment later, he looked up at Song Ning. "Song Ning, could you... first hear me out about what happened after that disaster?"

Song Ning nodded. "Yes! That's what I came for!"

Song Ning sat down on a nearby bench, and Lu Changqing began telling the rest of the story he hadn't finished that day...

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