Wen Yan cast a suspicious glance at Bai Shanshan. “Why do I get the feeling you’re a bit scared?”
Bai Shanshan lifted her chin, choosing to tough it out to save face. She forced a casual tone and scoffed, “Nonsense! Why would I be scared of you?”
Since Bai Shanshan said so, Wen Yan took her at her word.
Her teacher had said not to dig too deep except in scientific research, and she didn’t really care anyway.
“That’s great. Comrade Bai, could you apply for another batch of medicinal funds?”
Bai Shanshan frowned. “Medicinal herbs? Do you know how to treat illnesses?”
Wen Yan shook her head honestly. “No, I don’t!”
Bai Shanshan: “…”
Why do you sound so proud of not knowing?
Wen Yan briefly explained the matter of brewing the frostbite remedy. To buy medicinal herbs in large quantities, they had to go to the city.
Large-scale purchases couldn’t be made privately; they had to use the unit’s introduction letter and procure under the name of a collective purchase.
Procurement required money.
However, based on her past experience applying for funds, she knew they definitely wouldn’t approve it right away.
Wen Yan decided to try anyway—what if it worked?
Without waiting for Bai Shanshan’s reply, she walked ahead first. “Let’s go apply now.”
Bai Shanshan had initially wanted to mock Wen Yan for messing around without medical knowledge, but then she thought—if Wen Yan made a fool of herself… that wouldn’t be so bad.
With some ulterior motives in mind, Bai Shanshan chose to keep quiet and even ran ahead more eagerly than Wen Yan.
The two first went to the logistics department. Commander Zhu and several young soldiers were already hard at work, clanging away. Wen Yan walked around, correcting a few mistakes.
“Commander Zhu, you all get familiar with the No. 1 plow first. I have some business to attend to.”
Commander Zhu looked up briefly and replied, “Alright, what are you going to do?”
Wen Yan didn’t hide it. “I’m going to ask Li Tuan for some money.”
With that, she was already gone.
Commander Zhu muttered, “Asking Li Tuan for money? That’s like asking a birthday star to hang himself.”
As everyone knew, their regiment was so tight-fisted they wished they could split a single coin into eight pieces.
If it weren’t for Comrade Bai Shanshan throwing a tantrum and crying a whole teapot of tears yesterday, Wen Yan might not have gotten her salary at all.
Wen Yan and Bai Shanshan cornered Li Tuan.
The moment Li Tuan saw Bai Shanshan, his head and eyes started aching. Adding Wen Yan, the instigator, to the mix, he smoothly turned to make a quick escape.
“Li Tuan!”
Wen Yan ran over to block Li Tuan’s path, with Bai Shanshan behind him. Li Tuan tried his best to exert the authority of his fierce expression.
“No, the salary can’t be increased any further!”
Wen Yan: “What?”
Bai Shanshan was startled, afraid Li Tuan would reveal her embarrassing money-begging process from yesterday. She dashed over with the speed of a lifetime, positioning herself between Wen Yan and Li Tuan.
“Nothing, nothing! Li Tuan, Comrade Wen has something else to discuss with you.”
Hearing it was something else, Li Tuan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn’t about money, anything was fine.
He even managed a slight smile, casually pushing Bai Shanshan aside, and asked kindly, “What is it, Comrade Wen?”
Wen Yan keenly sensed that Li Tuan and Bai Shanshan were hiding something, but she only cared about results—the process didn’t matter.
“Li Tuan, I’d like to apply for a batch of medicinal funds from you.”
The kind smile on Li Tuan’s face instantly cracked.
Damn it, it’s still about money!
Funds?
That sounded like a lot of money!
“Ouch… my stomach hurts. Wait a moment.”
Li Tuan made a tactical retreat, claiming illness.
His steps, however, were smooth and fluid.
Bai Shanshan stifled a laugh, delighted to see Wen Yan hit a wall. But before her smile could fully form, Wen Yan yanked her, causing her to stumble.
“Hey, Wen Yan, what are you doing!”
“Chase after him! If you want money, you have to be shameless and proactive!”
Clearly, Wen Yan was very experienced. The fleeing Li soon discovered that Wen Yan, dragging Bai Shanshan along, had caught up.
Li Tuan ultimately hid in the restroom, but Wen Yan stubbornly refused to leave and even began reporting work outside.
“Li Tuan, you didn’t hear the reason for my application earlier. Now I’ll explain it to you verbally, and Bai Shanshan will submit a written document to you afterward.”
As Wen Yan spoke, she handed Bai Shanshan a notebook and pen, saying, “Take notes and organize them into a document later.”
Bai Shanshan was completely stunned.
She had thought crying and begging for wages yesterday was already the height of embarrassment, but it turned out there was always someone more audacious.
Who would have thought of cornering someone in a restroom and forcing a work report??
At that moment, she wanted to cover her face but was afraid Wen Yan would look down on her.
If Wen Yan dared to do it, what was she afraid of??
“Sorry, sorry, I thought this was the men’s restroom—oh, it is the men’s restroom?”
A soldier approached, startling Bai Shanshan out of her newly mustered courage. She covered her face with the notebook, regretting once again that she had boarded Wen Yan’s “pirate ship.”
As for Wen Yan?
She stepped aside unaffected, politely retreating a few steps and saying, “We’re waiting for Li Tuan to report on work.”
Hearing this, the young soldier enthusiastically replied, “It must be very important work. Let me call him for you.”
The young soldier went in, and soon a roar echoed from the restroom: “Get lost! Focus on contributing your fertilizer!”
Li Tuan emerged with a dark expression.
A few minutes later, in Li Tuan’s office, Wen Yan finished explaining her reasons for applying for funding.
“No! I can’t spend that much money on your experiments. What if it doesn’t work? Wouldn’t the medicinal ingredients be wasted?”
Li Tuan also wanted to cure the soldiers’ frostbite—he suffered from it himself.
But they had tried many folk remedies, none of which worked. The root problem was that it was simply too cold, and prevention was impossible.
Wen Yan showed no frustration at the rejection. Instead, she seized on a loophole and asked, “So, if I can prove my prescription works, you’ll approve the funding for the medicinal ingredients?”
Li Tuan wanted to say no, but he feared Wen Yan might corner him in the restroom again—something he was convinced she was capable of.
“Right!”
Wen Yan revealed a hint of triumphant smugness. “Then please write an introduction letter for Bai Shanshan and me. We need to go to the city to purchase medicinal ingredients. I’ll use my own money to buy a small portion first and show you the results when we return.”
Half an hour later, Bai Shanshan sat on the sled, frozen to the bone, gazing up at a 45-degree angle to the sky: What on earth am I doing this for??
The one driving the sled was none other than Zhao, who had always been responsible for sledding and delivering messages in the Land Reclamation Regiment.
Wen Yan, seated on the sled, bundled herself up tightly again.
She had to take good care of herself—this was a lesson learned after dying from overwork in her previous life.
Zhao cracked the whip, his smile somewhat unnatural.
He had once firmly disliked Wen Yan, but now he wasn’t so sure.
Not only was he uncertain, but he was also plagued by curiosity: What exactly happened between Battalion Commander Jiang and Comrade Wen? Why did Comrade Wen send so many divorce telegrams? What kind of twists and turns had occurred between them?
He didn’t have many hobbies in life, but he loved “hearing stories.” He wanted to ask but was afraid Battalion Commander Jiang would beat him up. Maybe he could ask Comrade Wen Yan instead?
“Is the sled easy to use?”
“Easy, easy, very easy to drive!”
Wen Yan nodded. “That’s good.”
She felt relieved.
Zhao’s troubled expression had nothing to do with her sled—he was probably bothered by something else.
More than three hours later, they finally arrived in the city.
Zhao stopped the sled and said, “The sled can’t go any further inside. I’ll wait for you here.”
Wen Yan agreed and got off.
Bai Shanshan was so cold she began to question her life choices, trembling as she stepped down, her teeth chattering uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Wen Yan comforted her, saying, “Don’t worry, I have the medicinal solution. I’ll give it to you first—I promise you won’t get frostbite.”