Chapter 38: Two Methods

Chapter 38: Two Methods

Yang Xiaohan’s expression darkened. "Did you not hear me? Apologize!"

Although Xu Yang looked thoroughly unwilling, she still turned to Xu Qiao. "I’m sorry. It was my fault."

Xu Qiao looked her up and down. "I can’t accept that. What exactly was your fault?"

"I..." Xu Yang choked, momentarily unable to respond.

Yang Xiaohan sighed helplessly and stepped in for her. "I apologize. Their words today were indeed excessive. As the squad leader, I failed to manage them properly. That is my fault as well."

Seeing Yang Xiaohan apologize, Cheng Yifei looked on in astonishment, casting an incredulous glance at Xu Qiao. Although she had stepped up to defend Xu Qiao—partly because they were in the same squad—the final remark made by the other side had truly crossed a line. At the moment she intervened, she had never expected the outcome to be the other party apologizing first, with the squad leader herself taking the lead.

Xu Qiao was not one to press an issue unnecessarily. Upon hearing the squad leader’s words, she finally took a step back. "I stand by what I said: you can criticize me, but you cannot slander those who contributed to this exercise. If this were a real war, you would be slandering those who sacrificed their lives. Don't you feel any remorse?"

"If I hadn't spoken up, you would have kept going, perhaps saying even worse things." Xu Qiao paused, looking directly at Cheng Yifei. "I think there are two best ways to handle this. One is to retaliate with my own strength and make them shut up."

When Xu Qiao saw the other squad leader step forward, she knew this was as far as it would go.

Guan Yuqi had vaguely sensed that the atmosphere in the neighboring squad was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why.

"But that method is too slow; I don't have the patience for it. So, the other way is to stand up directly and tell them to keep their mouths shut."

Xu Yang instinctively wanted to retort, but after considering Xu Qiao's words, she found herself at a loss for how to argue. A flicker of embarrassment crossed the faces of the others.

"Since both methods are useful, I can use both."

It had to be said that by standing up like this, she had effectively silenced them, and the fact that it ended with an apology meant that even if they were dissatisfied, they couldn't find a reason to fault Xu Qiao anymore.

Xu Qiao was busy learning the technical skills the new recruits were struggling with and memorizing the communication company’s secret codes; she had long since forgotten about them.

When Xu Qiao said those things, they were her true thoughts. She didn't really care what these people said about her—after all, she had indeed done those things in the past. Even if it was her predecessor who had done them, she accepted the burden.

"Tell them to shut up in person now, and slap them in the face with my results later."

The neighboring squad knew they were in the wrong and didn't dare complain to Guan Yuqi, so apart from those present that day, no one else knew about the incident.

When they heard this, the group quickly stood to attention. "Yes!"

Watching the two leave, Xu Yang, who had just apologized, looked up with some resentment. "Squad leader, I wasn't wrong. Why did you make me apologize?"

Yang Xiaohan sighed with emotion. "She was right about one thing. You can criticize her, but to criticize this exercise is to disparage the work Squad Leader Wu put into it."

Yang Xiaohan regained her focus. "Think about it—are you really sure you weren't wrong?"

"I didn't mean to..." Xu Yang instinctively tried to argue.

But Yang Xiaohan cut her off. "It doesn't matter if you meant to or not. Once you said it, even if it went to the Company Commander, let alone the Battalion Commander, you would be in the wrong."

Yang Xiaohan sighed deeply and looked at the others who had been criticizing Xu Qiao. "I should have stopped you earlier. That was my fault too."

Cheng Yifei was left speechless. She had wanted to intervene, but could she really have controlled them?

However, given the current situation, things couldn't continue like this. She tugged at Xu Qiao’s sleeve. "Um... they’ve apologized, so let's just let it go."

This gesture left a complicated feeling in Yang Xiaohan’s heart.

Xu Qiao, naturally, did not know the state the group was in after she left; she only saw the expressions on Cheng Yifei’s face changing rapidly.

"From today on, no one is allowed to bring up Xu Qiao again."

Cheng Yifei was also surprised that Yang Xiaohan had handled the matter so fairly. After this incident, although the two still didn't speak with much warmth, they had inexplicably reached a state of harmony—a pleasant surprise.

She had never expected that Xu Qiao had truly changed. The impression Xu Qiao had left on them before was so deep that even when others said those things to her face, Yang Xiaohan hadn't stopped them. But she had never imagined that Xu Qiao would actually change.

Over the past week, Cheng Yifei had discovered that when Xu Qiao truly focused on learning something, she was incredibly fast. These courses were generally meant to take a new recruit over a month, but she had not only finished them in a week, she was also more proficient than the others.

Even though Cheng Yifei didn't think much of her, she had to admit that Xu Qiao was impressive in this regard.

However, that was where it got strange. Xu Qiao’s ability to learn communication equipment was so strong that one would naturally assume she would be skilled with computers and network operations as well. Yet, she acted like a complete novice, having to relearn even the most basic tasks, which was truly baffling.

Still, no one could do anything to her before, and surprisingly, that remained true even after her change.