The Spoiled Young Lady Who Married a Military Officer-Chapter 124 - 122: Are You Worthy of Your Status?

Su Tang leaned against Lu Xiao, tilting her head up to look at him. "So how much have you found out? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Lu Xiao held her hand and pressed it against his cheek, his chin resting on the top of her head.

"We’ve identified the driver. It’s Zhou, an old-timer here at the camp. He’d been with my superior for five years and always seemed like an honest, simple man. But last month, he suddenly built a brick house for his family back home."

"Is it..."

Su Tang frowned. The name was on the tip of her tongue, but she ultimately didn’t say it.

Lu Xiao was the second-in-command, so it was obvious who his superior was. Su Tang knew his surname was Zhao.

"I think I saw his wife at the hospital. She was coming in a lot recently to pick up blood pressure medication, and she always complained that her husband was so busy he was never home."

"That’s him."

A cold glint flashed in Lu Xiao’s eyes as the corners of his lips curved into a sneer.

"There were three crates of penicillin in that last batch of intercepted supplies. He tried to use ’taking inventory’ as an excuse to pocket half of it, but I shut him down on the spot."

That medicine was vital; of course Lu Xiao wouldn’t let anyone just take it.

But he never expected the man wouldn’t give up.

To think he’d take such a desperate risk for money.

’Is he even worthy of his uniform? Worthy of his position?’

Su Tang’s heart skipped a beat. "Does his wife have a younger brother named Liu Er?"

Lu Xiao nodded, surprised. "How did you know?"

"The original book mentioned him in passing. It said he was an expert at forging warehouse release forms."

Su Tang sat up abruptly, all thoughts of her pregnancy-induced fatigue forgotten.

"We need to check the warehouse’s inventory logs, especially for the days around the 15th of last month."

Thankfully, Lu Xiao wasn’t an insignificant character in the book, which is why Su Tang could recall these details.

For a while now, Su Tang had been constantly re-examining everything she remembered about Lu Xiao.

She was terrified that she wouldn’t remember the details clearly enough and that if something happened in the future, she wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Fortunately, all that reviewing had given her a clear enough picture.

「The next morning.」

Lu Xiao and Su Tang made an excuse to visit the warehouse.

The storekeeper had been a good friend of Lu Xiao’s. His eyes grew red-rimmed when he saw him, and he even addressed him by his old title.

"Captain Lu, rest assured, I’ve kept this ledger meticulously!"

Lu Xiao smiled and patted his shoulder. Sure enough, he found something amiss on the fifteenth page.

An entry in the outbound log had been altered with rice water. When held up to the light, you could see the words "Requisitioned by Medical Team" had been changed to "Marked for Destruction."

"Just as I thought. These people... they’re absolute vermin!" Lu Xiao said in a cold voice.

Just then, a commotion erupted outside the courtyard gate.

Su Tang supported her lower back as she slowly stood up, and Lu Xiao instinctively pulled her behind him.

A heavyset woman stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips, spittle flying as she shrieked, "Su Tang, you vicious bitch! You reported Lu Xiao because you didn’t want to live on base, and now my Zhao is being investigated because of you! I’ll kill you!"

Lu Xiao was about to lash out, but Su Tang pulled him back.

She took half a step forward, her voice clear and bright. "Sister-in-law, no need to get so worked up. My husband actually has a question for you. Is it true your brother, Liu Er, delivered two crates of medicine to the black market the day before yesterday?"

Her words were like a bucket of cold water dumped over the woman’s head, silencing her instantly.

The onlooking family members, however, erupted into a flurry of gossip. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"You... You stop spreading rumors! That’s a complete lie!"

Sister-in-law Zhao’s face turned beet-red. Her eyes darted about, unable to meet Su Tang’s gaze, but she tried to put on a brave face. "You... You’re spouting baseless accusations! Why would my brother do something illegal!"

Su Tang smiled faintly and raised an eyebrow.

"Illegal? That’s a strong word, Sister-in-law. I only heard that someone saw a familiar figure at the black market a few days ago, carrying a wooden crate. The alley behind that particular shop... isn’t that the same one where you often go to play mahjong?"

"Oh, dear, perhaps I was mistaken. Then again, with the shifty way your brother walks, I doubt I’d get him confused with someone else."

She paused deliberately, her gaze sweeping over the growing crowd as her voice carried to every person there.

"Besides, forging warehouse release forms to skim off penicillin, then turning around and selling it on the black market for an exorbitant profit... if that’s proven to be true, it’ll take more than a simple investigation to resolve, won’t it?"

"Sister-in-law, instead of making a scene here, you should probably hurry home and ask your brother about it."

"You’re lying!"

Sister-in-law Zhao’s voice turned shrill, laced with obvious panic.

Even if she wasn’t privy to all the details, she knew a thing or two.

"That medicine... it went out through official channels!"

"Oh? Official channels?"

Lu Xiao took a step forward, his presence intimidating.

He shielded Su Tang behind him like a mountain, daring anyone to try and harm her.

"Perfect. We just looked at the warehouse ledgers. Perhaps Sister-in-law Zhao can tell us which ’official channel’ that was, exactly?"

At his words, the surrounding murmurs instantly grew louder.

Everyone knew just how precious penicillin was in those days.

Skimming off life-saving medicine to sell on the black market was an utterly monstrous act.

Sister-in-law Zhao glanced from side to side, her legs trembling. All her earlier bravado had vanished, and she could only mutter repeatedly, "I don’t know... I don’t know anything..."

Su Tang gently tugged on Lu Xiao’s sleeve, signaling him to stop there.

With so many eyes and ears around, it wasn’t wise to reveal everything.

Lu Xiao took the hint and snorted. "Since Sister-in-law Zhao doesn’t know, you may as well leave. Once we get to the bottom of this, we’ll give everyone a full account of what happened."

Someone in the crowd couldn’t help but shout, "Captain Lu, you can’t just let this go! Penicillin saves lives!"

"That’s right! You have to get to the bottom of it!"

"Maybe that’s why my husband’s treatment was delayed last time he was injured! Because there wasn’t enough medicine!"

The accusations flew from all sides. Unable to retort, Sister-in-law Zhao covered her face, pushed her way out of the crowd, and fled.

Lu Xiao offered a few reassuring words to the crowd before leading Su Tang back to their home.

As soon as the door closed, Su Tang let out a long sigh of relief. "Good thing I thought fast, or she really would have gotten us tangled up."

Lu Xiao squeezed her hand, his eyes filled with lingering fear. "That was too dangerous. You shouldn’t have rushed forward."

"But I’m fine, see?"

"Besides, I was sure she didn’t know the specifics and just came here to throw a tantrum and create a distraction. It looks like Liu Er was definitely involved, and... I’m afraid Zhao can’t escape his connection to this, either."

Lu Xiao nodded. "I already have someone watching Liu Er. We should have news soon."

Just then, one of Lu Xiao’s comrades hurried over and saluted. "Captain Lu, he confessed! Zhou confessed everything, too. They also implicated three doctors who were selling off medical equipment!"

Hearing this, Lu Xiao nodded.

"Let’s go take a look."

’We’ve finally found the mastermind.’

"Tangtang, go home and tell Mom and Dad what’s happening so they don’t worry. Be good, okay?"

Just as Lu Xiao was about to leave, he seemed to remember something and turned back to look at her.

"Okay, don’t worry about me. I can get back on my own. Come home early."