He shook his head and forced a smile, saying, "Tiger bro, stop worrying about our captain. You know, the captain’s physical fitness is better than all of us in the team... She’ll be fine."

Despite his words, all the team members who went with the captain to fight the flood knew that their captain, although a woman, had never lagged behind them in training or missions. Take this flood relief task, for instance — carrying sandbags and stones, diving into the water to save people, even fishing out bodies, the captain always led by example... Plus, the captain’s vision and hearing are exceptional. During the three-day and three-night search and rescue operation, she was always at the bow of the boat, getting drenched by the splashing water...

The two looked at each other and understood what was on the other’s mind: if they were all infected, the captain’s chance of infection was even higher.

Ling Chengyan was unaware of her team members’ concerns about her. After arranging for the returned team members to live together and reporting the situation, she contacted the epidemic prevention station in the provincial city.

Eastern Province is not inferior to the schistosomiasis endemic areas, and the epidemic prevention station had little contact with schistosomiasis cases. Still, they sent people over to disinfect the Special Task Team’s environment, leaving behind disinfectant agents for regular daily disinfection of living areas, particularly with lime treatment for harmless processing of excrement.

Upon consultation, the Special Task Team members could carry on with normal training life but were advised to avoid high-intensity, high-exertion training programs until infection status was determined.

The team members didn’t feel any mental burden; instead, they seemed quite relaxed, saying they could take this as an opportunity to rest for a while.

It didn’t take twenty days. In just three days, another team member showed symptoms and was sent to the hospital for treatment.

Coincidentally, Liu Xianghu, who was first sent to the hospital, had symptoms that had already eased. The two shared a room, so they could keep each other company.

Ten days later, someone else’s body began to show abnormalities — it was Fu Qiang, who had been following Ling Chengyan.

Though Fu Qiang wasn’t always at the frontline like Ling Chengyan, she followed closely in Ling Chengyan’s footsteps, doing a significant amount of work and putting in great effort.

When sending Fu Qiang to the hospital for treatment, Zhang Yuanhong discussed with Ling Chengyan, "Let’s hire a caregiver..."

Previously, sick team members were looked after by team members taking turns. Since Fu Qiang was a woman, it wasn’t convenient for the male team members to take care of her.

Before the conversation was finished, they heard a voice at the door: "Report."

Zhang Yuanhong and Ling Chengyan exchanged a glance, saying, "Come in."

To their surprise, it was Li Ming who came in.

This kid was smart and performed very well in training. During the flood relief operation, he saved two people, and the team had already filed a commendation report for him, preparing to award him a second-class merit.

Moreover, both Ling Chengyan and Zhang Yuanhong valued him highly and planned to let him participate in next year’s military academy entrance exams to send him for further studies.

Usually lively and even a bit mischievous, today he was uncharacteristically reserved. After entering, he glanced at Ling Chengyan and then at Zhang Yuanhong, hemming and hawing without saying anything substantial.

Ling Chengyan and Zhang Yuanhong exchanged another look, and Zhang Yuanhong approached and kicked him, scolding, "What’s with this act? Did you make some mistake? Hurry up and confess."

Li Ming staggered from the kick, moved aside a bit, and stammered, "I-I want to go to the hospital to take care of Fu Qiang..."

"You’re a grown man without a clue, thinking you can take care of a girl..." Before Zhang Yuanhong finished scolding, he suddenly realized something, grabbed Li Ming’s ear, and asked, "You brat, be honest, are you up to no good?"

Ling Chengyan coughed once, prompting Zhang Yuanhong to release his hand reluctantly. Turning back, he glared at Li Ming, who was quietly rubbing his ear, feeling annoyed as he shouted, "Speak up."

Li Ming bowed his head and muttered, "Fu Qiang agreed to be in a relationship with me."

Upon hearing this, both Zhang Yuanhong and Ling Chengyan were somewhat surprised, especially Ling Chengyan, who thought she spent the most time with Fu Qiang, practically inseparable — how come she never noticed when those two got involved?

Zhang Yuanhong spotted Ling Chengyan’s expression, knowing she was not aware either, turning back to scold, "Just because you say so doesn’t make it true! Don’t you know relationships have to be reported first? This is reckless! You two just wait for disciplinary action!"

Li Ming panicked, ignoring his embarrassment and shyness, waving his hands urgently, "Instructor, it’s all my fault. I really like Fu Qiang and pestered her to be in a relationship with me. Please, do whatever you want with me, but don’t drag her into this!"

Seeing Zhang Yuanhong wasn’t budging with a stern face, Li Ming turned to Ling Chengyan, pleading repeatedly, "Captain, you can handle me however you wish, just don’t implicate Fu Qiang. She’s a good comrade..."

Ling Chengyan raised her eyebrows, sternly eyeing him, making Li Ming falter under her gaze, his pleas fading away into silence. In his urgent state, tears started rolling down.

Without saying a word, he just looked at Ling Chengyan with teary eyes... which actually somehow reminded her of her big yellow dog at home!

"Now you know fear, so why earlier?" Zhang Yuanhong clapped the foolish boy’s head and kicked him again, scolding, "Go lock yourself in solitary and don’t come out until the captain or I says so."

Li Ming looked at Zhang Yuanhong, then at Ling Chengyan, seeing both of them with unswayed expressions. With his heart burning like fire, he dared not disobey the order, so he dragged his feet, with his head hanging, to the confinement room.

As that foolish boy’s footsteps faded away, Zhang Yuanhong chuckled jeeringly, "I didn’t expect that sneaky little brat, he’s really ruthless, quietly snatching away our squad’s only one."

Ling Chengyan rolled her eyes at him, saying plainly, "You love playing the monk and staying single, but can’t stand seeing others getting married? You’ve got a psychological problem, don’t you?"

Zhang Yuanhong, who just showed a hint of a smile, darkened his face, poured himself a glass of water, and while blowing on the hot steam, said, "We should still hire a caregiver for Fu Qiang."

Ling Chengyan didn’t contradict this point, nodding in agreement.

There’s no saying whether what Li Ming said was true, but even if the two really confirmed a relationship, they should keep their distance before getting married.

She never paid much heed to ’keeping distance between men and women,’ but Fu Qiang was her recruit. If that foolish boy wanted to quietly nab her, Ling Chengyan wouldn’t swallow the grievance without making him learn a lesson.

After making arrangements, Ling Chengyan went to Fu Qiang’s dorm to fetch some daily necessities and then went out to buy some fruits and milk, bringing them to Fu Qiang’s hospital room.

Due to the contagious nature, Fu Qiang was admitted to the infection department, staying in a single-person room.

When Ling Chengyan arrived, Fu Qiang was lying on the bed, already hooked up to an IV.

Upon seeing Ling Chengyan come in, Fu Qiang struggled to sit up but was pressed gently back by Ling Chengyan: "You’re sick, don’t move around."

Touching her hand to her back, there was a noticeable feverish warmth, and her lips were visibly dry, even starting to peel.