"You suspect I’m a spy? Fine. Where’s your proof? You arrest people based on pure speculation? At this rate, no one will be safe! You could get arrested for just taking a few steps! Does being a leader give you the right to falsely accuse anyone you want? This unit is here to protect the people, not to be used as a tool to oppress the innocent!"
Zhang Jianwei drew in a sharp breath!
He had never seen anyone dare to speak to Mr. Shen like that.
But Song Yao showed no signs of backing down, her voice only growing louder.
The guards behind Mr. Shen all quietly took a step back!
Mr. Shen’s lips twisted into a cold sneer.
"Weren’t you so well-behaved when you first arrived? Done with the act now, are we? When they first brought you in, you didn’t make a peep, just kept your head down like a total pushover. I actually thought you were an honest kid. And now? You jump at the first chance to make a scene. You dare question the grounds for my actions? Since when is it your place to question this unit’s rules?"
Song Yao immediately shot back.
"In this day and age, nice people get nothing in return, and even minding your own business can’t keep you out of trouble, so why the hell should I keep pretending! You say I was well-behaved before? That’s because I didn’t want any trouble! I just want to survive! But what do you do? You drag me in here without any rhyme or reason, and then you have the nerve to say I’m putting on an act? An act of what? Playing dumb to get on your good side? I don’t owe you a thing!"
"Listening to you, it sounds like you’re the one who’s been wronged?"
Mr. Shen’s face darkened.
"You were clearly getting close to me step-by-step, plotting something! An ordinary girl who knows how to drive? Who gets into the camp and immediately starts snooping around? And now that the medicine has been found, you not only refuse to confess, you act defiantly? Do you really think I wouldn’t dare to lay a hand on you? Don’t forget, this is my territory. Here, you are whatever I say you are!"
"Ha!"
Song Yao could have died laughing.
"You’re convicting me based on this flimsy crap? Mr. Shen, have you lost your mind? Need me to spell it out for you? You were the one who brought me to this camp! I never wanted to come in the first place! I haven’t even accused you of having designs on a young girl, yet you’re already turning it around and accusing me! Who the hell do you think you are?"
"If I really had some secret agenda, I would have vanished without a trace long ago! Why am I here? To escape a marriage! To get away from that bloodsucking family of mine that wanted to sell me off to some old bachelor for a bride price! I ran for my life, only to get mistaken for a spy by you!"
The moment she said this, the entire area fell dead silent.
The air seemed to freeze, and everyone stared at Song Yao.
Mr. Shen’s expression first went blank, then his eyes blazed with fury.
He had been certain there was some conspiracy behind this girl.
But her words didn’t sound like they were fabricated.
That mix of anger and despair in her voice was undeniable.
The next second, he spun around abruptly and roared at the guards, "What are you standing around for? Take her away! Give her a thorough interrogation! Don’t stop until she tells the truth!"
"Back off! I’ll walk on my own!"
Song Yao violently shrugged off the people holding her on either side.
"I guess I was wrong about you. And here I thought you were a decent man! Bah!"
Seeing her like this, Mr. Shen’s heart suddenly lurched.
’Could it be... I was actually wrong?’
"Oh my heavens, what’s all this commotion?"
Aunt Zhang pushed her way through the crowd from the outside, patting her apron as she asked loudly.
She scanned the area and immediately sensed something was wrong.
Mr. Shen’s face was dark, while Song Yao stood by the stove.
She raised her hand and slapped Zhang Jianwei on the arm.
"Zhang, I’m asking you, what’s going on!"
Her eyes bore into Zhang Jianwei, her tone full of accusation.
Zhang Jianwei’s face was stern as he retorted, his tone firm.
"I should be the one settling accounts with you! You’re in charge of the kitchen, right? How could you let someone with an unknown identity in? What if she poisoned the food? The entire camp would be done for!"
Aunt Zhang immediately exclaimed.
"Wasn’t it Mr. Shen himself who brought Xiao Song here? Don’t tell me Mr. Shen would bring a bad person into our compound and then not even bother to watch over her?"
These words were like a slap to Mr. Shen’s face in front of everyone.
Mr. Shen, who was already fuming, felt his composure crack.
Song Yao let out a cold laugh, her lips twisting into a mocking smirk.
"Aunt Zhang, this leader here says I’m a spy who was going to poison the soup and kill everyone."
With that, she grabbed the long-handled ladle from the stove, scooped up a spoonful of hot soup from the pot, and downed it without even blinking.
"If I really did something to it, may lightning strike me dead for drinking this."
Zhang Jianwei began to have his own doubts, his brow furrowed in thought.
"Sir, is it possible... we’ve made a mistake?"
He looked at the soup in the pot, then at Song Yao’s face, a sense of unease rising in his heart.
If Song Yao were really a spy, she wouldn’t gamble with her life so readily.
Mr. Shen frowned deeply but said nothing.
At this moment, Aunt Zhang suddenly seemed to realize something and slapped her thigh.
"Oh dear! My memory! It’s all my fault! A few of us were gossiping today and lost track of time. The food was all served, but this pot of soup was just left here, forgotten!"
She quickly walked over and grabbed Song Yao’s hand.
"Oh, Xiao Song, I’m so sorry. I get it, dear. You were just helping me simmer the soup, not causing trouble! I even heard you mention adding a bit of salt for flavor earlier. I was careless and didn’t explain things. This is on me, not you."
Hearing this, Song Yao, who had been so defiant just a moment ago, felt her eyes instantly turn red.
Her gaze toward Aunt Zhang was filled with hurt and sorrow.
"Aunt Zhang, I saw the soup tasted bland, so I added a little salt. But Mr. Shen came in and, without asking a single question, was ready to drag me away for interrogation. I know I don’t have any connections here, and I’m not trying to cling to anyone for support. If he hadn’t forced me to come here that day, I’d be on a bus far away by now, not stuck here suffering this kind of humiliation."
A tear fell with every sentence.
She was already frail, standing about 1.65 meters, and looked like she weighed no more than thirty or forty kilograms with her clothes on.
Her face was gaunt, her complexion sallow.
As she cried, she looked exactly like a pitiful, unloved waif.
Aunt Zhang pulled Song Yao behind her. Not daring to shout at the leader, she turned and unleashed her anger on her own husband.
"Zhang Jianwei! So you’re a big shot official now, is that it? Those bars on your shoulders are for serving the people, not for you to throw your weight around! You just go along with this baseless nonsense? Song Yao is a girl from out of town, all alone here, and this is how you treat her? What will people think of our unit if word of this gets out?"
The corner of Mr. Shen’s mouth twitched.
"That’s enough. There’s no need for such harsh words."
Aunt Zhang shut her mouth.
Mr. Shen looked around, knowing this wasn’t the right place to talk.
The crowd of onlookers was growing, and many residents in the family compound were poking their heads out to get a look.
Dragging this out any longer could cause an even bigger commotion.
He turned to the gathered family members.
"Ladies, I have a few questions for you. Please come with me to the office."
He then gave a pointed look to the guard next to him.
"Take Song Yao to the interrogation room first. I’ll decide how to handle this after I’ve gotten to the bottom of the situation."
The young man who had been standing quietly behind Mr. Shen saluted, then walked briskly towards Song Yao.
It was only then that Song Yao noticed the ridiculously handsome guy trailing behind ’my dear old dad’.
The man was at least 1.85 meters, with broad, solid shoulders and a ramrod-straight back!
His eyebrows were dark and sharp, his eyes long and vivid, and his nose was so high and straight it looked like it had been sculpted.
In her past life, the most striking man Song Yao had ever seen was Shen Shuangshuang’s husband, Sheng Hui.
That man was tall with broad shoulders, and walked with a steady gait.
Whenever he showed up in the military family compound, the women couldn’t help but sneak a few extra glances.