At the military's group wedding, my best friend and I swapped husbands.

Chapter 50 Taking Responsibility

The division commander cleared his throat and turned on the microphone: "Comrades, quiet down. I've called you all here tonight on short notice to discuss something. Recently, some very outrageous rumors have been circulating in our regiment, especially in the family quarters!"

The audience fell silent.

The division commander's gaze swept across the entire room, lingering particularly on the faces of several family members who were known for gossiping. Those individuals immediately lowered their heads.

"These rumors have seriously damaged the reputations of our two newly arrived military dependents, affected the image of comrades Bai Rongbei and Bai Si'an, and further undermined the unity within our unit!"

The division commander's voice was stern: "Today, Comrades Bai Rongbei and Bai Si'an have voluntarily submitted detailed written explanations to the organization and made sincere self-criticisms."

As he spoke, he picked up two sheets of paper from the table: "Here, I'd like to brief everyone on the main points. Comrades Bai Rongbei and Bai Si'an admit that due to their negligence, they mislabeled the names on the back of the wedding photos when sending them before the wedding, directly leading to the farcical incident of the newlyweds mistaking each other on their wedding night. The primary responsibility for this matter lies with the two brothers, and has nothing to do with Comrades Su Wanwan and Lin Weiwei. After discovering the error, the two female comrades actively cooperated with the organization to re-process the procedures, demonstrating a correct attitude. The so-called 'deliberate replacement' and 'improper conduct' statements are pure nonsense and a serious slander against the two female comrades!"

The teacher read aloud with a strong and clear voice, each word resounding in the silent auditorium.

The crowd below the stage had various expressions; none of them expected that their teacher would take the initiative to clarify the matter for the Bai brothers.

Lin Weiwei and Su Wanwan were completely stunned.

They looked at the two thin sheets of paper in the hands of the division commander on the stage, and then at the two men sitting upright beside them.

Bai Rongbei stared straight ahead, his profile sharp and unreadable.

Bai Si'an lowered his head slightly, his glasses reflecting the light.

They had no idea when the two brothers wrote this "explanation" and "self-criticism".

They took all the responsibility upon themselves without reservation.

Those nasty rumors and those pointing fingers were originally directed at the two of them, but now, they have managed to keep them out in this way.

Su Wanwan's nose tingled, and her eyes instantly welled up with tears.

Lin Weiwei bit her lip, her heart aching and throbbing, as if something was blocking it, yet a warm current was flowing out.

The division commander put down the letter, his tone becoming even sterner: "After investigation, the organization has determined that Comrades Bai Rongbei and Bai Si'an were indeed negligent in this matter, but they have deeply realized their mistakes and taken the initiative to make self-criticisms."

"Some comrades, unable to distinguish right from wrong, spread false rumors and slandered comrades, causing extremely negative consequences! This is hereby severely criticized! In the future, if anyone discusses this matter privately or spreads false information, once verified, they will be dealt with seriously and without exception!"

His gaze swept across the audience like a knife, especially over the family quarters where the gossipy ones were most likely to show up.

Those men shrank back, wishing they could disappear into the ground.

"Alright, things have been clarified. I hope everyone will learn from this and focus their energy on work and development, instead of worrying about unfounded things all day! Meeting adjourned!"

As soon as the meeting ended, the women in the family compound started gossiping.

"So that's how it is. The Bai brothers even sent the wrong photos. For such a big event as a wedding, they still managed to send the wrong photos."

"Exactly, it's been such a huge blunder, and it's been tough on the two girls."

"It has nothing to do with those two girls."

"It seems I need to be more careful about getting married in the future, and not do anything reckless."

The crowd began to disperse with a buzz, but this time, the gazes directed at the Bai family of four were noticeably different, showing more understanding and embarrassment.

Wang Xiuying walked out with the crowd, her face looking rather pale.

She hadn't expected that the Bai brothers would use such a public apology to nip the rumors in the bud.

On the way back, Su Wanwan and Bai Rongbei walked together, while Lin Weiwei and Bai Si'an walked together.

The two young couples walked side by side in front of everyone to dispel the rumors and to prove to everyone their respective marital relationships.

Another point is that Su Wanwan and Lin Weiwei have already agreed that they will find their respective husbands to find out what's going on.

In the crowd, Su Wanwan tugged at Bai Rongbei's sleeve and asked, "Bai Rongbei, have you heard the rumors about the family compound?"

Bai Rongbei nodded and explained, "Yes, I heard about it yesterday. You two are innocent in this matter. To stop these rumors at their source, we need to bring this matter out into the open and let everyone know the whole story. Then they won't spread rumors in private. Although this method isn't the best, it's the best way to dispel rumors."

"Bai Si'an and I heard some bad rumors coming from the family compound yesterday. We thought that this matter had to be clarified as soon as possible, so we went to the division commander to tell him about the situation. After the division commander found out, he immediately organized everyone to get together, so we had the opportunity to explain the matter in front of everyone."

Su Wanwan had no idea that Bai Rongbei had done so many things in private, and that he had also heard those rumors.

This man did so many things behind the scenes.

Su Wanwan replied softly, "Thank you."

The night wind in the Gobi Desert was cool and refreshing, dispelling the daytime heat.

Bai Rongbei stopped and said to Su Wanwan, "Don't overthink it, it's alright."

Su Wanwan nodded heavily, her voice slightly choked: "Mmm..."

The two couples were separated by the crowd.

Bai Si'an had difficulty walking, so Lin Weiwei accompanied him from behind.

Walking under a birch grove, Lin Weiwei remembered what had just happened and turned to ask Bai Si'an, "Hey!"

Bai Si'an looked up.

Lin Weiwei walked over in a few steps. The streetlights were dim, so she couldn't see his expression clearly.

"When did you write that self-criticism? Why didn't you tell us?"

Bai Si'an pushed up his glasses: "I wrote it in my spare time yesterday. It's nothing serious."

He spoke casually, as if he had just done something insignificant.

"This isn't a big deal?" Lin Weiwei glared at him. "You're all taking all the blame!"

"It was our oversight to begin with," Bai Si'an said. "We sent the photos, and we wrote the names."

He looked at her, his eyes serious in the dim light, "I can't let you have these rumors to spread."

The warmth in Lin Weiwei's heart finally broke through her defenses. She opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say. In the end, she just mumbled, "...So stupid."

Her voice, however, was incredibly soft.

Bai Si'an's lips seemed to curve slightly, but he quickly straightened them again.

He turned to continue walking, but hissed and gasped, his left hand instinctively supporting his right shoulder.

"What's wrong? Does your wound hurt?" Lin Weiwei immediately became anxious.