Because tomorrow morning, Lin Jie has to perform surgery on Xiao Ganghao's mother, he needs to conserve some energy and do some preparation, so he moved the usual one-on-one talk to next Monday after finishing the afternoon class.

After class, other students filed out, and Lin Jie's fourteen students, including Xiao Ganghao, stayed behind without exception.

"Teacher, that Xu Feng who doesn't remember the favor of saving his life, in my opinion, he's just another kind of scam artist!"

Tian Xiangyu, who usually considers himself the senior brother, spoke first angrily: "Perhaps he sees that you, Teacher, have achieved fame and success, yet you're still young, so he feels he can take advantage and openly extort you."

"Such a person must not be tolerated."

Tian Xiangyu sincerely said: "My uncle has a long-term cooperation with a lawyer in the Capital City who has a good win rate in civil lawsuits. I will contact my uncle right now..."

"There's no need; thank you for your kindness!"

Lin Jie said: "Actually, I also have a personal lawyer, who is a partner in a very famous law firm, hired for several months without a lawsuit."

"Perhaps I can use this lawsuit to see how capable this lawyer is."

Lin Jie looked at the students with uneven expressions and said: "People like Xu Feng, how should I put it, there are quite a few like him in society."

He said with a sarcastic tone: "There are always some people, because of their greed, who fail to understand their own limits, thinking that by distorting the truth, they can luckily extort some money."

"However, this guy has provoked me this time, so it's his bad luck."

When Lin Jie said this, he exuded immense confidence.

This confidence did not come from nowhere.

Now Lin Jie and Xu Feng are each insisting on their own versions, and everyone understands that one of them must be lying.

But regarding the credibility of the testimonies, with Lin Jie's current reputation and status, along with his past deeds, especially his performance in rescuing the injured during the recent earthquake, Lin Jie undoubtedly holds an absolute advantage.

With little effort, Lin Jie could pull together a dozen or so people willing to testify for his character.

Additionally, given the circumstances Xu Feng was in that day, with a rock pressing on his leg, a boulder toppling over, and the unpredictable aftershocks that kept coming, a slight field investigation would make many people lean towards believing Lin Jie's words.

Lin Jie speculated that the reason Lai Huahui only sent a lawyer's letter this time, rather than litigation documents, does not match the apparent intention to give a courtesy before resorting to force.

Perhaps Xu Feng or his family intended to use this relatively mild approach to press Lin Jie from a position of public opinion, hoping he would rather pay to avoid trouble.

After all, Lin Jie's current net worth is quite considerable.

A little investigation by Xu Feng and his family could give them some idea, and they likely thought that shelling out hundreds of thousands, even millions, to avoid a hassle might be something Lin Jie would be willing to do.

But this time, they clearly miscalculated.

Lin Jie deeply despises such ungrateful, backstabbing behavior and is even less willing to rid himself of trouble by supposedly paying out of pocket, leaving himself with an indelible stain.

Beyond being confident about defeating the extortion, Lin Jie also made some preparations.

The day he returned to Binhai, he had Qin Gang take people to the Bamboo Sea in Chuansi Province to search for something.

That something was Xu Feng's phone.

Lin Jie remembered clearly.

When the aftershock hit, Lin Miao, who was recording a farewell video for Xu Feng, fell, and the phone went flying who knows where.

They then hurriedly left by helicopter, so the phone should still be in that location.

Lin Jie also recalled that in the farewell, Xu Feng had instructed his parents to make his two friends pay the price.

These few words could somewhat reflect Xu Feng's character issues from a certain perspective.

Yesterday evening, Lin Jie received a call from Qin Gang, saying the phone had been found.

However, the phone had been soaked in rainwater, completely damaged.

This requires taking it back to Binhai to see if any technical means can be used to recover the video information within the phone...

After expressing their anger and condemnation in solidarity with Lin Jie, Tian Xiangyu, Fang Huanru, and others signaled their willingness to follow Lin Jie's lead, and then the dozen students began exchanging information with glances.

Just then, Gao Yanhong, Huo Guangheng, Guo Peng, and He Yimin stood at attention and saluted Lin Jie, collectively saying: "Good day, Commander!"

Lin Jie chuckled and said: "Don't expect me to return the salute. Honestly, compared to being called 'Commander', I still prefer hearing you call me 'Teacher'."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Fang Huanru, representing everyone, asked: "Teacher, how come you suddenly joined the military?"

"This morning, we received a call from Assistant Zhang inviting us to attend your commissioning ceremony tomorrow, which really surprised us."

Lin Jie said, a bit frustrated: "Joining the military wasn't my intention; I was conscripted, and there are some unspeakable details involved."

"However, you don't need to worry. I'm still the same as before; everything remains as it was, just that I now have a military identity."

With Lin Jie's assurance that everything would remain the same, some of the concerns of Tian Xiangyu, Fang Huanru, and others disappeared, and they refrained from asking further about this military enlistment issue.

Being military personnel themselves, Huo Guangheng, Gao Yanhong, Guo Peng, and He Yimin much admired Lin Jie's rank.

Guo Peng, a bit envious, said: "When we start our careers, we'll only be commissioned as Lieutenants, and who knows how many years it will take us to rise to Colonel."

"Teacher, your starting military rank is colonel, it's really infuriating comparing people like this!"

Right after saying this, Guo Peng was met with unanimous eye rolls and teasing from everyone.

Tian Xiangyu even added, "Guo Peng, using medical skills as a reference, the teacher being appointed as a colonel and you as a lieutenant are both undeserved."

"I think you're just a senior sergeant!" Song Licheng said seriously.

Ma Hongmin giggled and said, "A mid-level sergeant at most!"

Watching the students joke around, only Xiao Ganghao remained quietly composed. Lin Jie waved his hand and said, "Alright, that's enough joking around, go back to what you were doing!"

He threatened, "If Monday's discussion doesn't satisfy me, you'll all be in trouble."

The students scattered amidst laughter, while Xiao Ganghao stayed behind.

"You've found out already?"

Lin Jie gently asked and continued, "The rest of the classmates don't know yet?"

Xiao Ganghao nodded slightly and said, "Last night, my uncle told me about my mother's condition in detail. I haven't had the chance to tell my classmates yet."

"Teacher, thank you for taking over my mother's surgery."

Saying this, he bowed deeply to Lin Jie.

After Xiao Ganghao straightened up, Lin Jie said softly, "I will do my best. As for other things, since you're also a doctor, you know what you need to know, and I won't console you too much."

"The worst case for your mother is a total gastrectomy, but her life will not be in danger, just that her quality of life might suffer a bit, so don't worry too much."

Regarding Xiao Ganghao's mother's condition, Lin Jie could only do his best, without promising miraculous results.

Lin Jie hesitated a bit and still asked, "What is your relationship with Zou Manqing like? If you have long-term plans, your mother's condition can't be kept from her."

"I told her this morning!"

Xiao Ganghao said with a bitter expression, "To be honest, Teacher, my mother is not very satisfied with Zou Manqing."

"But just yesterday morning, my mother's attitude did a complete 180-degree turn and she urged us to get engaged and married soon."

Lin Jie naturally understood the reason for this attitude change and said, "No matter what your mother's attitude is, it still depends on you and Zou Manqing's thoughts, and your plans for the future."

Xiao Ganghao sighed and said, "I genuinely care for Zou Manqing, and she treats me well too."

"Since my mother has this illness, future chemotherapy, checkups, etc., will all need good medical conditions."

"Teacher, I've decided not to fulfill my employment agreement with my original work unit anymore, I want to stay and work in Binhai, I want to stay at Anlin Hospital..."

Lin Jie returned home to find not only Zhang Xiaoxiao, Lin Miao, An Kemeng, and An Kexin but also An Weize and Qin Gang, who had rushed back from the Bamboo Sea in Chuansi Province.

An Weize cheerfully said, "A-Jie, your conferral ceremony tomorrow afternoon is a big deal. After the news got out, quite a few friends want to come and observe, at least sixty or seventy people."

"We've discussed some arrangements. A-Jie, see if there's anything that needs to be added or improved?"

Lin Jie's conferral ceremony was held at the Binhai City military district.

These organizational arrangements, such as transportation, banquet location, and standards, were relatively simple.

The main focus was on personnel arrangements, like who could go to the municipal military district to witness the conferral ceremony and who would just attend the banquet.

Lin Jie mainly reviewed the guest list for the ceremony and, seeing that everyone on it was someone he knew, he was quite satisfied with the arrangements.

After confirming this, Lin Jie looked at Qin Gang and asked, "Is there any possibility of recovering the phone data?"

Qin Gang didn't answer, but just took out a tablet computer, brought up a video file, and started playing it.

In the shaky footage, Xu Feng's voice was heard intermittently.

"...You guys take this audio and video to find Ji Yangcheng and Peng Yutang, let them pay some money, no, a lot of money, for your retirement..."

"...Mom, Dad, you must make those two people pay..."

At this point, the video suddenly shook and rolled, followed by darkness...

Lin Jie knew that an aftershock had occurred, and Lin Miao had thrown away the phone.

Suddenly, a shout echoed in the dark video: "Miaomiao!"

This was Lin Jie's voice!

Then followed by a "Ah" of a blood-curdling scream!

Lin Jie held back the excitement in his heart and continued to listen!

Finally, he heard the voice he most wanted to hear, "Save me... save me..."

"Xu Feng, there's only one way to save you now! We need to amputate both of your legs, stop the bleeding, and then pull you out!"

"Okay, okay, as long as I can live, you can do whatever it takes!"

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