Special Operation

"Heaven has its storms and people have their sudden misfortunes. No matter how great his ambitions, he was still only an ordinary man. When ordinary people overworked their brains for too long, there was always the risk of suddenly dying from a cerebral infarction."

"No matter what, I have to try. If it was just a natural death, then I can let it go. But if it wasn't, I'll make them understand what... Chang Ye is!"

Her voice still hung in the air as Chang Ye stepped off the edge of the building. The next instant, she vanished completely.

Number 88 looked up at the sky, then finally stepped off the edge of the building as well. The next instant, he too disappeared.

No one knew that beneath the cover of night, two inhuman figures crossed Huangnifan's Ten-Li Forest and entered Phoenix City.

Under the same starlight, Lin Xiaosu sat by the window, watching the small river outside.

Heaven knew he was neither Second Uncle nor Li Fugui. He truly had no hobby of peeping, but his eyesight was just too good. What could he do?

The worst part was that Anna loved bathing in the river.

She used to bathe in the morning, and that had been fine. Lin Xiaosu usually slept until late morning before crawling out of bed, perfectly missing her bathing hours. But today's events had rattled her—or, more precisely, rattled her husband. Her husband firmly forbade her from bathing in the morning, so she changed the time to night.

While she bathed in the river, her husband, Lin Ji'an, stood guard on the shore with a huge carrying pole over his shoulder, eyes and ears alert in every direction. At the slightest disturbance, he would grab his weapon.

Unfortunately, no matter how long his pole was, it could not reach a window half a li away.

And no matter how vigilant he was, he could never have imagined that a pair of eyes half a li away could see through the barrier of night...

Fortunately, those eyes looked only once before turning away.

In Hu Ya's words, Lin Xiaosu was not lecherous.

Actually, that was not entirely true.

Even Confucius had once said, "Food and sex are human nature!"

Lust was a man's natural instinct. As long as a man was normal, he liked women.

But a gentleman pursued beauty by proper means. If you dragged that woman lying in the crystal coffin out and let her bathe in the river, just see whether I'd look. I'd stare myself to death...

Anna, though? Better forget it. She was Brother Ji'an's wife, whom he had gone through so much trouble to bring back from a foreign land.

Had it been easy for him?

Modern Daxia women had all been spoiled rotten. Cars, houses, bride prices—there was nothing they did not dare ask for, only things you had not thought of yet. Normal men could not find normal local women anymore, so they had no choice but to look abroad. As a brother from the same village and clan, how could he do something so shameless?

Someone knocked on the door. "Su'er, are you asleep?"

"Mom!" Lin Xiaosu opened the door.

His mother brought in a bowl of fragrant noodles. Her gaze swept over the books on his desk, and she smiled softly. "Studying is hard work. Have some noodles."

"Mom, don't be like this. You make me midnight snacks every day, and it puts a lot of pressure on me. If I fail the exam, I'll feel like I've let you down," Lin Xiaosu said.

His mother tapped his forehead with a finger. "What nonsense are you talking about? You'll definitely pass! Mom even prayed to someone today."

"Who? Since when did our family have some powerful relative?"

"Guanyin Bodhisattva."

"..." Holding the large bowl, Lin Xiaosu stared blankly at his mother. "Mom, did you go to Qingyuan Temple today?"

"Mm. I went with Widow Feng."

"Huh? What was Widow Feng praying for this time? That no one would peek while she bathed?"

His mother shot him a glare. "You little brat, if you dare spout nonsense in front of her, just wait and see if San Lengzi doesn't teach you a lesson! She was praying for her son's marriage."

"San Lengzi? There might not be anyone on earth who can solve his marriage problem. He really does need to pray to someone in heaven..."

"And what about you?" his mother said. "Finding a wife isn't easy these days. If you keep dragging it out, you'll be left over. Especially for rural people. Do you know Widow Feng's requirements for a daughter-in-law? Three conditions: female, alive, and knows to run home when it rains."

Lin Xiaosu laughed. "She only knows how to make demands of others. Ask her whether she has prepared herself: three hundred thousand for the bride price, a home in the county town for another four hundred thousand, a car for two hundred thousand, and another two hundred thousand for all sorts of miscellaneous gifts..."

His mother fell silent. After a long while, she finally sighed. "You little rascal, don't think I can't hear what you're implying! You're trying to shut me up so I won't urge you to go on blind dates."

"Mom, you're too sensitive. But... it's the truth. So stop trying to introduce me to the daughters of every aunt and relative you know. Not only do they reek of money the moment they open their mouths, some of them are close relatives. Inbreeding produces fools, Mom. You don't want your future grandson to be even more dim-witted than San Lengzi, do you..."

His mother let out a long sigh. "So, son, you really have to work hard for this civil service exam. Once you pass and become a government employee, with such a solid job behind you, decent families' daughters will consider you. Otherwise, I'm afraid your father and I truly won't have the means to find you a wife."

"Don't worry. Even if I can't do it, isn't there still my brother? His efforts won't stop the Lin family line from continuing... Oh, right, he'll be leaving the military soon, won't he?"

"Ah..." His mother sighed again. "We spoke on the phone just last month. He had planned to leave the military next year too, but a few days ago, he called again. The army received orders to head for the southwestern front. There might be a war over there, so he won't be able to leave the military anytime soon."

"War? That can't be, can it? There hasn't been a war in decades."

"Who can say for sure about military matters? The situation outside isn't something ordinary people like us can understand either... All right, get some rest early. You can study during the day too, so don't stay up late." His mother cleared away the bowls and chopsticks and went downstairs.

Early the next morning, when Lin Xiaosu got up, food was warming in the kitchen, but his mother had already gone out.

She had gone to the county town to sell vegetables.

For villagers around the county town, this was their only advantage: they could sell vegetables there. Though they had to carry vegetable baskets more than ten li on foot and earned only a few dozen yuan per load, in the countryside, what other job could earn a few dozen yuan a day?

When Lin Xiaosu had first returned, he saw how hard his mother worked and enthusiastically got up early, intending to help her carry vegetables to the market. But his good intentions did not earn his mother's appreciation. Instead, she scolded him harshly: "Don't think helping Mom with a little work means you've made something of yourself or that it makes Mom happy! Your proper business is taking the civil service exam. Selling vegetables is worthless. It disgraces eight generations of the Lin family's ancestors!"

Though Lin Xiaosu could not remember his family having any remarkable ancestors, his mother's fierce scolding still sent him running for cover. From then on, he dared not dwell on that trivial matter again.

After eating the food his mother had left, washing the dishes, and walking to the courtyard gate, Lin Xiaosu saw a black sedan speeding toward him.