"That box she’s holding... doesn’t it look a lot like the one that went missing?"
As soon as Lu i heard this, she snapped her eyes open and looked in the direction the other person was pointing.
Sure enough!
The back of a figure in a white nurse’s uniform was walking quickly ahead, tightly clutching a small brown dicine box with a yellow label on the corner.
The color, the size, the placent of the label.
It was an almost perfect match for the description on the list of stolen items!
Lu i instantly forgot her exhaustion. Her heart leaped, and adrenaline surged through her.
She shot up from the floor with a jolt. Ignoring her weak legs, she took off in a sprint.
She reached the middle of the hallway in just a few strides and blocked Yang iling’s path.
"Yang iling!"
"What is that in your hand?!"
Caught off guard, Yang iling stumbled, nearly falling backward.
Her hand trembled instinctively, and with lightning-fast reflexes, she hid the box behind her back.
"It’s nothing..."
She stamred, her voice trembling.
"Sister Lu i, what... what are you doing? You scared to death!"
Her eyes darted around, avoiding Lu i’s gaze, but her hand guarded her back so tightly her knuckles turned white.
Seeing this, Lu i grew even more certain.
’She’s guilty!’
She took a step forward, her tone growing harsher.
"That’s a restricted dication registered with the hospital! It’s dispensed in limited quantities, and the serial numbers are traceable!"
She practically roared, her voice echoing in the hallway.
"How did you get your hands on it?!"
"Speak! Where did that dicine co from?! Who gave it to you?!"
Pressed by her questions, Yang iling’s breathing beca erratic.
She bit her lip, her fingers trembling slightly. Her eyes darted around for a mont before she suddenly put on a pitiable, wronged expression.
"I... I’m not sure either..."
She lowered her head, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.
"It... It was Dean Song who asked to get it... She said she needed it for sothing urgent and told to deliver it to the third-floor utility room first..."
She didn’t finish her sentence, but her aning was perfectly clear.
Song Qingya herself had told her to get the dicine; the responsibility wasn’t hers.
It lay with the high-and-mighty vice dean.
Qi Yuanyuan quickly ca forward from behind and stood next to Lu i.
Her eyes were wide, her mouth slightly agape, and her tone was filled with suspicion.
"Dean Song asked you to get it?"
She repeated, enunciating each word, her voice rising.
"For real? You’d better not be making things up..."
"Dean Song has always been a stickler for the rules. Why would she privately ask you to get dicine?"
"Besides, she’s the dean. If she needed dicine, she could just file a report. Why would she have you sneak around and get it for her? It doesn’t make any sense."
It sounded like she was defending Song Qingya.
"See, I told you! She did it herself!"
A tall, thin nurse exclaid in a low voice.
"A new leader always makes a few bold moves, but her first one is a crooked sche? Unbelievable."
Another person shook their head and sighed, but a sarcastic smile played on their lips.
"She acts all righteous and upstanding on the surface, but who knows what shady things she’s done behind the scenes."
"And she had Lu i running around everywhere, only for the thief to be one of her own people?"
As soon as this was said, several people nearby chid in with agreent.
Just then, Dr. Xiao Yu and Ya’er hurried back from the health clinic, carrying freshly collected dicine and files.
The two of them rushed through the hallway, happening to pass by the crowd.
After hearing just a few sentences, they understood everything.
Soone was maliciously slandering Dean Song behind her back.
Ya’er’s face instantly flushed with anger, her chest heaving.
"What nonsense are you all spouting?!"
She charged forward, her footsteps thudding loudly on the floor. With her hands on her hips and her eyes red-rimd, she yelled,
"Dean Song didn’t ask for that dicine! What right do you have to slander her? That woman definitely stole it and is trying to pin it on the Dean!"
Dr. Xiao Yu followed right behind her, his expression so dark it looked like storm clouds had gathered.
"That’s right!"
He said in a low, forceful voice, enunciating every word.
"We all know what kind of character Dean Song has! She’s an upright and incorruptible person who hasn’t had a single black mark on her record in ten years of work! How could she possibly do sothing like this! Yang iling, don’t you stand there and tell such bald-faced lies! Even lying has its limits!"
Yang iling stood in the center of the crowd.
Hearing this accusation, the corner of her mouth twitched, and she sneered inwardly.
So, she lowered her eyelids and put on the air of soone who had been terribly wronged.
"I’m not lying... It really was Dean Song... She just asked to hold on to it... How was I supposed to know the dicine would go missing... I didn’t think much of it at the ti, I just thought I was holding it temporarily... Who would have thought it would turn into such a ss..."
Her words were vague, contradictory, and full of holes.
But with everyone already convinced that Song Qingya was guilty...
...this ambiguous, hesitant way of speaking actually seed more "believable."
The more Dr. Xiao Yu and Ya’er tried to explain, the colder the stares from the crowd beca.
The more passionately they defended Song Qingya...
...the louder the surrounding chatter grew, and the more hostile the gazes beca.
"Look, aren’t those two from the health clinic? Dean Song just approved new equipnt for them a while ago, so of course they’re going to defend her."
"Exactly. They won’t even let the investigation proceed properly and just start yelling. If that’s not a guilty conscience, what is?"
Ya’er was trembling with rage, her fists clenched tightly.
"You’re a horrible woman! You’re shaless!"
She roared at Yang iling.
"You dare say that again! I swear I’ll rip your mouth off today!"
Dr. Xiao Yu reacted quickly, grabbing her and forcefully pulling her back a few steps.
He shook his head slightly, his expression grave, and urged in a low voice, "Ya’er, calm down! We can’t be impulsive right now! There are too many people around, and speaking rashly will only make things worse! We need to find evidence, we can’t let them turn this back on us!"
Yang iling saw that Ya’er’s face was distorted with anger.
A triumphant smirk quietly lifted the corners of her mouth.
"Oh, dear!"
She slapped her forehead dramatically.
"Look at my mory! How could I have forgotten about that!"
She paused deliberately, her gaze sweeping over the crowd.
"No wonder you’re so worked up. So you have a guilty conscience! Getting so emotional and losing control like that... is it because you already knew there was sothing wrong with the dicine, and that’s why you’re afraid of the investigation continuing?"
She paused, her eyes turning cold.
"Your clinic and Dean Song... you wouldn’t happen to have so secret dealings, would you? The equipnt approvals, the flow of dicine... is it all under your control? Otherwise, why would you all cover for each other and not let anyone find out the truth? You’re all in this together, covering it up!"
The mont these words were spoken, the surroundings fell deathly silent.
"You... You’re spouting vicious lies!"
Ya’er’s eyes flew wide open.
"How can you twist black and white like this? There’s nothing but professionalism between us and Dean Song! We have no shady dealings whatsoever!"
"Our relationship with Dean Song is completely aboveboard! You’re just jealous of her success and are deliberately trying to fra her!"
Ya’er was so angry her cheeks flushed red and tears welled up in her eyes.
"Dean Song is an upright person who only has the clinic’s best interests at heart! How can you make up these baseless fabrications? It’s obvious you’re just jealous of her ability and prestige, so you’re deliberately stirring up trouble and trying to sabotage her!"
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