Cannon Fodder in an Era Drama — I Survive with Acting

Chapter 210: Trouble at the Pharmacy

But looking back now, her expression had seemed a little flustered, and her steps had been quicker than usual.

’Could it... really be her?’

Lu Mei muttered to herself, her expression growing darker.

On impulse, she didn’t stop to think it through.

She snatched the ledger and rushed out, her steps frantic.

’No! I have to go find Dean Song and get to the bottom of this! This needs to be investigated immediately, we can’t delay! If word gets out that our pharmacy management was negligent, we’ll be finished!’

Qi Yuanyuan watched her hurried figure until it disappeared at the end of the corridor.

She remained where she was, a cold smirk creeping onto her lips.

’The show is about to begin.’

Song Qingya was in her office, reviewing stacks of thick medical procurement reports.

Outside the window, the sky was gradually darkening, and the corridor lights were coming on one by one.

Suddenly, a series of frantic and erratic knocks came from the door.

"Come in."

The door was shoved open with a CREAK, and Lu Mei stumbled in.

She was clutching a dark blue, hardcover ledger in her hand.

"Dean Song!"

Her voice trembled, almost breaking into a sob.

"The pharmacy... something’s happened at the pharmacy! The new batch of special-purpose drugs... one box is missing! I just checked the logs, and the inventory numbers don’t add up at all!"

Song Qingya slowly set down her fountain pen, her movements calm and unhurried.

She lifted her gaze, her eyes landing squarely on Lu Mei.

There was no panic in her eyes, no anger, only a bottomless calm.

"A drug is missing?"

she repeated softly.

The words had barely left her lips when a flicker of movement in her peripheral vision caught a shadow flitting past the doorway.

The slender figure vanished in an instant, but it was familiar enough to make her heart skip a beat.

’Qi Yuanyuan.’

Song Qingya’s heart sank.

She calmly withdrew her gaze and tapped a finger on the desk, her expression growing more profound.

’Most likely, someone was pulling strings behind the scenes.’

’Losing the drug isn’t the scary part. What’s scary is the premeditated scheme hiding behind it.’

"Lu Mei, don’t panic."

Her voice was steady and her pace unhurried.

"If a drug is missing, then we’ll investigate. Panicking won’t solve anything."

She stood, smoothed her collar, and continued in a composed tone, "Take two people and immediately pull all the drug logs for the past week. Check every single one. At the same time, find out who handled this batch of special-purpose drugs, especially the check-in and dispensing records. Check the surveillance footage, check the signatures. Don’t overlook a single clue, no matter how small."

Lu Mei’s mind, which had been a tangled mess, now felt as if it were being soothed by an invisible hand.

"Right! I’ll get on it right away!"

She nodded firmly, clutched the ledger, and turned to leave.

Just as she reached the doorway, another figure suddenly appeared from outside.

It was Qi Yuanyuan.

She wore an expression that said she was ’just passing by,’ a cup of hot tea in her hand.

"Sister Lu Mei, about the missing drug?"

She blinked, her tone light.

"I happen to be free with nothing to do. How about I go with you? An extra pair of eyes can’t hurt, and it’ll save you from running yourselves ragged."

Lu Mei paused, taken aback.

She was surprised, and a flicker of suspicion even crossed her mind.

’Doctor Qi was usually the last person to get involved with pharmacy matters.’

’Taking inventory, checking ledgers...’

’She always avoided it if she could; she probably couldn’t even say which way the storeroom door opened.’

’So why is she being so proactive today?’

’And acting so overly enthusiastic?’

She hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.

"Well... alright, then. Thanks for the help."

"It’s no trouble at all," Qi Yuanyuan said with a wave and a smile, her eyes crinkling warmly. "We all work for the hospital. When something goes wrong, everyone should pitch in, right?"

She fell into step beside Lu Mei, her footsteps nearly silent.

But hidden in the depths of her eyes, her smile held an imperceptible chill.

The group, along with the inventory manager, began their search.

At every storage location, Qi Yuanyuan was unusually proactive.

"We should check in here, too," she said, standing on her toes to pat a high medicine cabinet. "What if the drug was misplaced? We can’t rule out any possibility."

"Hey, Nurse Chen!"

She suddenly raised her voice, turning to a nurse who was walking by.

"You went to the pharmacy yesterday, didn’t you? Do you remember handling this batch of imported special-purpose drugs? I hear they’re in high demand. We can’t afford to lose them."

This wasn’t helping; this was clearly using the "investigation" as an excuse to stir up trouble everywhere.

She offered no evidence and showed no tact, but she sowed seeds of suspicion everywhere she went.

Before long, every department she had "questioned" was in an uproar.

"How could we possibly be hiding drugs here?"

A senior doctor shot to his feet, slamming his hand on the table, his face flushed.

"Your pharmacy management was negligent and lost something. How dare you just come in and blame our department? We’re not drug dealers!"

"That’s right!"

another nurse added resentfully.

"You’ve been turning everything upside down, messing up our drawers... Not only is it disrupting our work, but you’re making everyone paranoid. How is anyone supposed to focus on their job?"

"I can’t believe this," someone muttered under their breath. "Is this how the new Dean Song runs things? She’s only been here a few days and the hospital is already a chaotic mess. Things haven’t even settled down, and she’s already got everyone under her completely lost."

The corridor buzzed with discussion.

Meanwhile, Qi Yuanyuan simply kept her head down, a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing on her lips.

They said she was too young to be a dean, that she couldn’t possibly keep people in line.

They said her management was lax, leaving the hospital full of holes.

The comments seemed casual, but every word was barbed.

Standing at the edge of the crowd, Lu Mei’s ears were filled with these rumors, her head buzzing.

Her heart raced, and her chest felt heavy, as if a stone were pressing down on it. She was simmering with a rage she couldn’t unleash.

She could hear clearly that while these people were ostensibly discussing the stolen drug, they were actually using it as a pretext to belittle Song Qingya, both overtly and covertly.

She knew perfectly well that someone was fanning the flames behind the scenes.

The head nurse who always smiled so gently and spoke so flawlessly was subtly guiding the conversation, stoking the fire.

But as clearly as Lu Mei saw it, she had no proof.

She couldn’t expose her on the spot, much less lose her temper. All she could do was swallow her anger, grit her teeth, and continue the investigation.

So she scoured the pharmacy’s ledgers, checking the inventory lists page by page.

She interviewed every nurse and pharmacist on duty, questioning them one by one about the shift change.

But after a full day of frantic searching, she was completely exhausted.

The priceless box of special-purpose drugs seemed to have vanished into thin air.

There were no leads, no traces—not even the slightest hint of one.

It was as if it had leaped right off the registry, grown a pair of legs, and run off, disappearing completely into some hospital corridor.

Lu Mei finally reached her breaking point. Leaning against the cold corridor wall, she slowly slid to the floor.

She leaned her head back against the wall, closed her eyes, and took a few gasping breaths.

Her mind was a complete blank. She couldn’t think of a single thing to do.

Just then, the crisp sound of footsteps approached.

Then, Qi Yuanyuan’s voice cut through the silence.

"Sister Lu Mei! Quick, look over there! Isn’t that Yang Meiling?"

She thrust her hand out, pointing straight toward the end of the corridor.