Tears welled up in Chen Yuting’s eyes, but she still had no choice but to stand up.
Looking aggrieved, she apologized to everyone present and bowed repeatedly, going through the motions in a flustered manner.
The crowd, seeing this, could no longer keep a cold attitude and offered polite reassurances.
Only then did Deputy Chief of Staff Xu continue.
“Given the major error in your treatment process, I have already coordinated with the military hospital. You will receive a demerit, and your medical practice license will be temporarily revoked. You may only resume duty after passing the quarterly assessment.”
Chen Yuting was shocked.
A demerit would be placed in her official record—an undeniable blemish that would affect evaluations and promotions.
That, she didn’t care about too much.
What she did care about was her image in the military district. Her reputation had always been her pride.
“This… this isn’t fair! Deputy Chief Xu! I worked all night yesterday because I was too exhausted! Do you know how many patients I treated? I forgot to do the allergy test because I was overworked! I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“As a doctor, even a single mistake can lead to irreversible consequences! Last night nearly resulted in a death. And you still don’t recognize your mistake?! Although you are not directly under the regiment’s command, your disciplinary outcome has been discussed with your hospital director. Commander Chen… also agreed. This is a joint decision!”
“No! That can’t be! My father—he—”
Before she could finish, someone suddenly called out from outside the crowd.
“Deputy Chief Xu, excuse me for interrupting!”
A doctor walked in.
“The company commander Lu has just regained consciousness! He asked me to pass on a message—he is willing to use his military merit from this incident to plead for mercy for Doctor Chen, hoping the organization will reduce her punishment!”
“That’s all I have to say. I’ll head back now.”
After delivering the message, the doctor turned and left.
Chen Yuting, whether out of emotion or something else, covered her face and began sobbing.
Song Ning watched the scene like she was enjoying a show.
Tsk. Quite a lot of information.
So she was the daughter of a commander.
No wonder.
As for this Lu Changqing—he wasn’t stupid either.
Even while lying on the edge of life and death, he still managed to play the hero and save the beauty.
People say “use merit to offset mistakes,” but she had never heard of using one’s own merit to offset someone else’s mistake.
If that were allowed, then no one would ever be punished—just find someone with merit to cover for them.
Clearly nonsense.
That man was simply trying to curry favor with Chen Yuting.
A single sentence, a favor earned, and no loss to himself.
While she was thinking this, Chen Yuting—still wiping her tears—suddenly pointed at her.
“Deputy Chief! I want to report her!”
She pointed straight at Song Ning.
“It was her who cut open Brother Changqing’s stitches, which caused his reinfection and nearly put his life in danger! It was also her who incited everyone to stop working! If I hadn’t been overwhelmed, I wouldn’t have forgotten the allergy test! She is the root cause of everything!”
Chen Yuting now seemed energized, speaking with righteous indignation.
“I made mistakes only because she caused problems first! I demand a fair investigation! Brother Changqing risked his life to save equipment and suffered such a serious injury—he deserves commendation! We cannot let her unprofessionalism make him suffer in vain!”
Song Ning, who had been calmly enjoying the drama, was suddenly pulled into the center of the storm.
She turned to Zheng Chang’an and said,
“Doctor Zheng, please go to the small room where our luggage is and bring my bag.”
Zheng Chang’an’s eyes lit up instantly.
“Got it! Right away!”
He had been waiting for this moment.
He knew Sister Ning still had a move left.
“Chen Yuting! This is an internal military decision. It has nothing to do with civilians!” Deputy Chief Xu said sternly.
But Chen Yuting refused to back down.
“Even if I accept punishment, I still demand a full investigation into the facts! Fairness and justice must be ensured—isn’t that reasonable?”
She then turned to Director Sun.
“Director Sun, I hope as the civilian leadership, you will also ensure a fair judgment!”
Director Sun was put on the spot and looked toward Doctor Feng.
Doctor Feng was even more troubled.
These medical workers had volunteered for disaster relief. Many were barefoot doctors from various towns and villages, and most didn’t even have formal affiliations.
As for this young Comrade Song… he hadn’t even figured out which village she came from yet.
Even if she had done something wrong, what could they actually do?
Suspend her? She didn’t even have a post.
Fine her? She was a volunteer—she wasn’t paid at all.
…
Song Ning almost laughed.
She had already seen through this yesterday.
Chen Yuting kept trying to use complaints and reporting as threats—but it simply didn’t work on her.
Her intentions were obvious.
She wanted to reduce punishment, preserve Lu Changqing’s credit, and drag Song Ning down all at once.
Nice try.
Just relying on her father being a commander, she dared to act so arrogantly.
Otherwise, who would let her behave like this in front of the Deputy Chief?
Since everyone was looking at her, Song Ning stepped forward.
“Since Doctor Chen mentioned me, I’ll explain.”
“The origin of this matter is that Doctor Chen repeatedly questioned whether I had properly cleaned Company Commander Lu’s wound, claiming that it was the reason he developed a fever, correct?”
Everyone nodded.
They had all witnessed it.
“Doctor Feng, could you please tell everyone what Company Commander Lu’s temperature was yesterday?”
“38.2°C.”
“He had a mild fever all day yesterday, which is a normal immune response after trauma. However, Doctor Chen insisted on blaming me for it. I had no choice but to let her inspect the wound. It showed no redness, swelling, or infection. Even then, she insisted I hadn’t cleaned it properly…”
“I had no choice but to remove the stitches. Otherwise, what else could I do?”
Song Ning looked at Chen Yuting helplessly.
“You couldn’t just apologize?! I only asked you to apologize! You’re just a barefoot doctor—what are you so proud of? Is it so hard to admit a mistake?”
Chen Yuting blurted out.
Song Ning laughed.
Truly a naive young lady.
She replied calmly,
“May I ask what exactly I did wrong? Doctor Chen. Why should I apologize? Because my status is lower than yours? Because most of us here are barefoot doctors, so we’re supposed to be looked down upon and doubted by you?”
Chen Yuting was instantly speechless.
Deputy Chief Xu’s gaze turned cold.
“Chen Yuting! Do you even understand what you are doing?”
“This Comrade Song just saved Company Commander Lu’s life! And Lu Changqing developed a high fever after your treatment!”
“Even after being falsely accused by you, she still helped correct your mistake without complaint. She stabilized a patient that none of you could handle!”
“The doctor you look down on—her medical skills and character far surpass yours!”
Chen Yuting couldn’t accept this at all.
With red eyes, she shouted,
“But she… she didn’t even consider the feelings of the patient’s family! I was just worried about Brother Changqing and spoke a little harshly! But she had no right to cut his stitches! Is that normal medical behavior? By that logic, if family members say a few angry words, doctors can take it out on patients? That would be chaos!”
She didn’t even dare look at Deputy Chief Xu anymore.
Instead, she seemed to have found new justification for herself and spoke louder and louder.
“It was her! She not only cut the stitches, she also led everyone to stop working! Everyone can testify—she was the first one to suggest suspending work! I worked all night, but she rested all night…”
Before she could finish—
A voice rang out from outside the crowd.
“May I ask if Comrade Song Ning is here?”