Special Operation

"Storm clouds could gather without warning, and fortune and misfortune could strike overnight. No matter how grand his ambitions, he was still only an ordinary man. When ordinary people overused their brains for too long, they faced the sudden risk of dying from a cerebral infarction."

"No matter what, I had to give it a try. If it was merely a normal death, then I could let it go. But if it wasn't, I would make them understand what... Changye was!"

Her voice still lingered in the air as Changye stepped off the edge of the building. The next moment, she vanished completely.

Number 88 tilted his head back to look at the sky, then finally stepped off the edge of the building as well. The next moment, he too disappeared.

No one knew that beneath the cover of night, two inhuman figures crossed the ten-li forest of Huangnifan and entered Phoenix City.

Under the same starlight, Lin Xiaosu sat before the window, looking at the little river outside.

Heaven bore witness—he was not Second Uncle, nor was he Li Fugui. He truly had no hobby of peeping, but his eyesight was simply too good. What was he supposed to do?

Worst of all, Anna loved bathing in the river.

She had used to bathe in the mornings, and morning baths had been fine. Lin Xiaosu usually slept until the sun was three poles high before crawling out of bed, perfectly missing her bathing hours. But what happened today had rattled her—more precisely, it had rattled her husband. Her husband adamantly refused to let her bathe in the morning anymore, so she changed it to nighttime.

She bathed in the river while her husband, Lin Ji'an, stood guard on the bank with a big shoulder pole across his shoulders, watching in all directions and listening to every sound. At the slightest rustle of wind or grass, he would grab his weapon.

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

No matter how vigilant he was, he could never have imagined that there was a pair of eyes half a li away, looking through the barrier of night...

Fortunately, those eyes looked only once before turning away.

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

In truth, that was not entirely accurate.

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

Lust was in every man's nature. So long as he was a normal man, he was lustful.

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

As for Anna, forget it. She was Brother Ji'an's wife, someone he had finally managed to bring back from a foreign land.

Had it been easy for him?

Modern Daxia women had all been led astray. Cars, houses, bride prices—there was nothing they could not demand, only things you had not thought of. It had made it impossible for normal men to find normal local women, leaving them no choice but to reach overseas. As a brother from the same village and same 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, fragrant with noodles. Her gaze swept over the desk, and she smiled softly. "Studying has been hard on you. Have some noodles."

"Mom, don't do this. You make me late-night snacks every day, and it puts a lot of pressure on me. If I fail the exam, I'll feel sorry toward you," Lin Xiaosu said.

His mother flicked a finger against his forehead. "What nonsense are you saying? You'll definitely pass! Mom even asked someone for help today."

"Who? Since when did our family have such an influential relative?"

"Guanyin Bodhisattva."

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

"Mm, I went with Feng Widow."

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

His mother shot him a glare. "You little brat, if you dare to speak so recklessly in front of her, just see whether Three-Fool won't teach you a lesson! She was praying for her son's marriage."

"Three-Fool? There might not be anyone on earth who could solve his marriage troubles. He really would have to pray to those in heaven..."

"You're mocking him, but what about yourself?" his mother said. "It isn't easy to find a wife these days. Keep dragging it out, and you'll be left over. Especially for rural folk. Do you know Feng Widow's requirements for finding her son a wife? Three conditions: female, alive, and knows to run home when it rains."

Lin Xiaosu laughed. "She's busy setting conditions for others. Why don't you ask whether she herself is ready? A bride price of three hundred thousand, a county-town apartment worth another four hundred thousand, a car for two hundred thousand, plus another two hundred thousand for all sorts of miscellaneous gifts..."

His mother fell silent. She was silent for a long time before finally sighing. "You little rascal, don't think I can't hear the meaning behind your words! You're trying to stop me from talking, so I won't urge you to go on blind dates."

"Mom, you're too sensitive. But... it's also the truth. So stop introducing me to the daughters of your seven aunts and eight grandaunts all the time. Not only do their mouths spew an endless stench of money the moment they open them, but several of them are close relatives. Inbreeding produces fools, Mom. You don't want your future grandson to be even more foolish than Three-Fool, do you..."

His mother let out a long sigh. "So, son, you really have to work hard for this civil service exam. As long as you pass and become a government employee, with that solid job propping you up, girls from good families will think highly of you. Otherwise, counting on us, I'm afraid we truly won't have the ability 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 affect the Lin Family's continuation of the bloodline... Oh, right. He'll be transferring out of the military soon, won't he?"

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

"A war? No way, right? There hasn't been a war in decades."

"Who could say for sure about military matters? The situation outside isn't something ordinary common folk like us can know 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 bowl and chopsticks, then went downstairs.

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

She had gone to the county town to sell vegetables.

For villagers from the villages around the county town, that was their only advantage—they could sell vegetables in town. Though they had to carry vegetable loads for more than ten li, and a load earned only a few dozen yuan, 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, wanting to help her carry vegetables to the market. But his good intentions did not earn his mother's relief. Instead, she harshly scolded him: "Don't think that helping Mom with a little work will make Mom think you have promise or make her happy! Your proper business is the civil service exam. Selling vegetables means you have no prospects—it disgraces eight generations of Lin Family ancestors!"

Although Lin Xiaosu could not remember his family ever having any remarkable status, his mother's furious scolding still sent him scurrying away like a rat with its head in its paws. From then on, he no longer dared to fuss over that trivial matter.

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