Chapter 44: Budding
August 19, Monday morning.
As a new day began, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao woke up almost simultaneously and walked into the bathroom at the same time, leading to another awkward moment of mutual politeness.
According to Zhou Ping’s experience, adequately supplementing nutrition was key in the past few days. The breakfast prepared by Jiang Yan was extremely abundant, at least in terms of quantity.
Drinking milk and eating eggs, Jiang Yao kept sneakily observing Jiang Yan’s face across the table, seemingly trying to see something clearly.
“Why are you staring at me? Is there something on my face?”
After several continuous glances, Jiang Yan began to feel puzzled.
“Hey, oh no, did you come back last night? What time?” Jiang Yao cautiously asked, “You didn’t stroll by the river park until after midnight, did you?”
Jiang Yan didn’t respond, only quietly gazed at Jiang Yao’s face.
Perhaps it was the first time she was observing so carefully, noticing all the external details of Jiang Yao at this moment.
Like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old blooming with beauty, pure and pretty, radiant and dripping with color. Besides the familiar personality, tone, habits, and memories, everything else felt strange and unfamiliar, making it difficult to connect with the past Gu Yao.
Perhaps in this world, humans truly possess a duality of soul and body, but it’s unclear which one drives the vehicle of destiny.
“Sis, you’ve been spaced out since you got up. Did something happen yesterday?”
Noticing something off about her gaze, Jiang Yao quickly waved her hand in front of Jiang Yan’s eyes.
“It’s nothing… Xiao Yao, yesterday at the welfare home, I ran into Captain Meng and talked for an afternoon.”
Jiang Yan smiled, reaching for a piece of bread.
“You didn’t let anything slip, did you?”
Jiang Yao shivered slightly, her expression tense, “He’s shown up at the welfare home two Sundays in a row. Has he discovered something?”
“Because Xia Yan and Gu Yao sacrificed… in the literal sense.”
Jiang Yan sighed lightly, turning her gaze to the window: “It’s the first time I saw him talk so much, sharing my story as if confronting an outsider, desperately proving the greatness and real existence of a martyr.”
“Does he really care about the lives of people in the team? The first time I encountered him, he seemed like nothing more than a war machine, incredibly cocky.”
Jiang Yao let out a disdainful scoff, her tone somewhat unconvinced: “In his eyes, military camaraderie shouldn’t exist. Now he’s suddenly changed? Doesn’t he know whether we are alive or dead?”
“You don’t understand, five years ago, he personally dealt with the previous team leader. He told me that last year… back then, the Xuanjia team wasn’t what it is now.”
Jiang Yan looked down at her hands, as if at this moment, she was transforming into Meng Yong, experiencing the feelings and events that occurred in that brutal moment.
“He talked for several hours, starting from the day I joined the team until our last meal together.” Jiang Yan chuckled bitterly, shaking her head lightly, “I really didn’t expect he would remember so much about me… perhaps, he actually remembers all the fallen comrades.”
As she spoke, a glimmer of tears appeared in the corners of the black-haired girl’s eyes, light and clear.
Jiang Yao was momentarily stunned, unsure of what to say, after all, she only had two days’ worth of memory regarding the Xuanjia team.
The living room fell silent, only the sound of the gentle breeze rustling the leaves in the small yard could be heard.
“If he knew that what was in front of him yesterday was actually…”
Odd images suddenly surfaced in Jiang Yao’s mind, her expression growing heavier, wanting to say something but hesitating.
“Forget about me, how did you and Zhong Jing fare yesterday?”
Noticing the atmosphere had soured, Jiang Yao quickly rubbed her face and changed the subject while peeling a hard-boiled egg for herself.
“Ugh, don’t mention it, it turns out my period came early during dinner! I had nothing prepared and almost couldn’t make it back!”
Jiang Yao instantly became animated, recounting how she had assigned Zhong Jing to help her out of that jam, her expression relaxed and natural despite the increasing flush on her face.
“From now on, make sure to prepare your bag whenever you go out.”
Listening to Jiang Yao’s embellished retelling, Jiang Yan felt both shocked and embarrassed, ultimately playfully tapping her hand with her chopsticks, a mix of laughter and a hint of seriousness in her voice. “Remember, no more coarse language like, ‘damn,’ or ‘crap.’ Cherish your good skin…”
“And we’re in much better shape than last month; we’ll be back to work tomorrow. Zhao Peng and the others might not say much, but we can’t act special in the club.”
“Oh…”
Jiang Yao was taken aback, quickly lowering her head, burying it in the bowl of preserved egg and lean meat porridge.
Ding-dong, Jiang Yao’s phone rang.
She hurriedly pulled out her phone and saw a message from “Outlaw”: The transfer is complete! Plus a smug emoji.
At the same time, several pieces of secret surveillance data zipped through countless fibers, servers, and data hubs at lightning speed, like ghosts blending into the central monitoring system of the Dark Arrow headquarters.
……
……
In the Western Surveillance District of the Dark Arrow, at a conference room in the command center, Chief of Staff Zhen was discussing the feasibility of the ongoing action plan for the 430 work group.
There were still many details to be deliberated regarding Han Xia’s proposal, especially since the results from the initial phase experiment that began a week ago had yet to materialize.
If it could not be confirmed whether Xia Yan and Gu Yao were still in C City, then discussing the subsequent plan would seem meaningless.
However, the debate over Han Xia using the elderly Jiang Chunhua and the entire W District welfare home as a trap had become the focal point of the plan, accompanied by fiercely critical remarks.
Perhaps aware of the nature of the central issue, Han Xia instead confidently sat silently, while her companion Han Jie Li kept looking at her with suspicion.
“What are you looking at, little brat? Do I have something on my face?”
Han Xia turned her head, rolled her eyes, and adjusted her posture to make herself more comfortable.
Third sister, if it’s not you having a problem with your mindset, then you’re forcing the upper management to choose… Everything else could be true, but Jiang Grandma should definitely not be involved. This should be an iron rule of the troops.
For the first time, Han Jie Li showed a serious expression towards his cousin, gently shaking his head.
Little Li, do you know a saying? If you want to tear down a window, it’s best to also include the roof in your application. In the end, the higher-ups will allow you to take down the window but won’t let you touch the roof…
Han Xia’s lips twitched, forming words only she could hear, her expression still quite relaxed but with a hint of sorrow hidden in her eyes.
This is playing with people’s hearts…
Burning down Xia Yan’s home, how much hatred do you have to arouse in Xia Yan to enhance the stakes of his self-sabotage…
I thought Meng Ge had gone mad, but it seems you’re not so different, Sister Xia…
Han Jie Li smiled wryly and fell silent.
……
“Report, the intelligence department has just received analysis data from the central monitoring system headquarters. Just seven minutes ago, several monitoring accounts at the W District Children’s Welfare Institute received multiple anonymous transfers from Hong Kong. One of them was the account that previously sent money to Jiang Chunhua.”
An officer pushed open the conference room door, bringing highly anticipated news that brought the ongoing debate to a sudden halt.
According to previous behind-the-scenes deployments, the public fundraising information for the disabled abandoned infants transferred from other cities to the W District Children’s Welfare Institution had been strictly controlled in dissemination, effectively ensuring it would remain confidential within C City.
This meant that Xia Yan or Gu Yao were in C City!
Great! Little Han, you’ve made a significant contribution, paving the way for our subsequent actions!
It was unclear who started the applause, but the conference room erupted with clapping, even Chief of Staff Zhen, who had been frowning, couldn’t help but stand up and praise loudly.
A meticulously planned experiment had achieved perfect success, which meant that no matter how the subsequent plans were modified, there would be no practical obstacles.
To carry out Han Xia’s experiment, the Dark Arrow headquarters had spent over ten million in budget, covering everything from media content to behind-the-scenes operations and data monitoring.
Next, there would be another gamble costing billions; however, to two targets already marked as B-level tasks, this cost was insignificant.
The only variable was whether Xia Yan would recklessly fall into the trap as psychological analysis suggested.
Still seated, Han Xia, being hailed by Zhen Guangquan and the others, surprisingly felt a bit shy, but her little fist clenched tightly under the table, and her mood was quite good.
Third sister, if you manage to capture Xia Yan this time, you’ll be able to walk with confidence in the Western Surveillance District.
Han Jie Li clapped while watching his cousin, who was blushing with joy: “Now, it just depends on when we can take down Meng Ge.”
Shut up, you little brat, always so full of slick words…
Han Xia secretly glanced at a certain tall male officer not far away, whose expression remained indifferent, a feeling of smugness rising in her heart.
“Do you really like him?”
Perhaps sensing something, although Han Jie Li smiled on the surface, a flicker of unease crossed his eyes. His tasks extended far beyond mere participation in the 430 work group.
“That kind of macho attitude, looking down on this and looking down on that, who needs it nowadays…”
Han Xia lowered her head slightly, muttering words only she could hear.
Han Jie Li chuckled, choosing not to say more, turning his gaze towards Meng Huai.
Meng Huai was also one of the only two who hadn’t stood up, simply turning his head to quietly observe Han Xia, whose face was flushed, his expression growing increasingly complex.
Unexpectedly, as his gaze collided with Han Jie Li’s, Meng Huai seemed to see the hint of worry in the latter’s eyes and could only sigh and shake his head.
He knew, to avoid affecting Han Xia’s emotions during this period, the higher-ups had been concealing the news of her brother Han Jiesheng’s sacrifice, intending to inform her only after the operation concluded, and it was clear that Han Jie Li was in the loop.
“Little Han, tell us your next plan, let’s finalize the operation timing today. If there are any difficulties, I will strive for resources at headquarters to resolve them! This is a great opportunity for our Western Surveillance District to turn things around, and we must do it beautifully!”
Chief of Staff Zhen, excited, gestured for everyone to take their seats and then looked at Han Xia.
“However, I still agree with my colleagues’ opinions; everything could be attempted, but the ordinary civilians cannot be involved, especially Jiang Chunhua should not be harmed. You can fake it, and the intelligence department will fully cooperate; I hope you will not cross the line on this principle.”
His tone gradually grew serious, making not only the other male and female officers present, but even Han Xia herself sit up straight, slowly nodding.
“Yes, Chief, then please everyone look at the screen; I will skip other details and directly present the final deployment plan…”
A few minutes later, Han Xia’s voice fell silent, and those present glanced at each other.
“Um, really imaginative! Little Han, are you betting on Xia Yan’s character flaws? Burning down the welfare institution could create a greater psychological impact on Xia Yan? Can we avoid doing complete demolition and only do partial explosions?”
Zhen Guangquan stroked his chin, looking somewhat hesitant.
“Only by burning down the welfare institution can we disrupt his judgment and make him believe it has nothing to do with the Dark Arrow. After all, our actions have been too concentrated over the past month, which might raise his suspicions.”
This time, Han Xia didn’t plan to negotiate, her attitude exceptionally firm.
“There’s a risk of being empty-handed… Alright, a bow must be shot without looking back; let’s proceed according to the planned deployment. I now announce that the second phase of the 430 work group operation is scheduled for Friday, three weeks from now, which is September 6! Concentrate three task forces and achieve success in one go!”
As her voice fell, all the officers present stood up again, filled with enthusiasm.
After the meeting, Meng Huai directly drove back to the Xuanjia team’s base, traversing half of C City, arriving just before noon.
Upon returning to the base office, he found Tao Qiao Er, who had just been promoted to lieutenant, waiting for him.
With two years in the team, she had risen from private rank to lieutenant, filled with cruel drama and inevitability.
Just like the former Xia Yan, as the next candidate for team leader of the Xuanjia team, she would also be directly promoted to lieutenant upon entering the official roster and would serve as the squad leader of the assault team, while typically, the team leader would also hold this position.
“Meng Ge, this is the ammunition and supplies replenishment list for base training that I drafted. However, since it’s my first time doing this, I’d like you to review it, and I will go find Deputy Team Leader Zhao for his signature.”
Seeing Meng Huai return, Tao Qiao Er quickly handed over a folder.
Meng Huai sat down, took out a pen, and began checking line by line, occasionally modifying some content. In the past, Xia Yan had handled these things.
Yesterday, he had spent half a day at the welfare home talking with the girl named Jiang Yan. Besides the confidential parts, he recounted every story he remembered about Xia Yan, while the girl listened quietly throughout the afternoon, occasionally lowering her head, red-eyed and speechless.
Meng Huai felt he had treated Jiang Yan like a tree, a tree that could reflect genuine emotions, allowing him to express his inner pressures and secrets without falling into self-deception later on.
In fact, it wasn’t just Xia Yan; there were many people and events from his memory, covered in indifference, yet pressing down on his heart…
“Meng Ge, is there a problem?”
Tao Qiao Er noticed that her team leader seemed to be in a daze, the pen in his hand stopped for several minutes without moving, and she quickly took a step closer.
“Ah?” Meng Huai came back to himself, a smile appearing on his face, “No problem, very detailed; it exceeded expectations. When Xia Yan did this for the first time, I scolded her mercilessly. Haha, my first time doing this also infuriated the old team leader…”
Now it was Tao Qiao Er’s turn to be stunned. This was the first time she had heard her team leader say so much, and with such rich and gentle expressions; more importantly, he began to mention the “past.”
Closing the pen cap, looking at the time, Meng Huai stood up, straightened his military cap: “It’s half past twelve. Little Tao, you haven’t eaten yet, right? Let’s go, let’s drive out to eat together!”
As always, he was decisive, yet his expression was completely natural and his tone gentle.
Perhaps, only those who are candidates for team leader can be treated so by Meng Ge? First it was Xia Yan, now it’s me…
Tao Qiao Er stared in disbelief, slowly reaching out to pinch her own face, somewhat questioning if she had overslept today, resulting in hallucinations and auditory illusions.
