To avoid tipping anyone off, Old Chen suppressed his anxiety and forced himself to see the dinner through to the end.
Before leaving, Lin Xiaohe glanced at him.
Old Chen’s heart skipped a beat—had he aroused Lin Xiaohe’s suspicion?
That shouldn’t be! He was a professionally trained man. Even a top psychologist wouldn’t have been able to detect anything off about his behavior and reactions just now.
Little did he know, he thought he’d hidden it well, but Lin Xiaohe didn’t need her eyes to see—she perceived things with her psychic senses!
“Uncle Chen, you…” Lin Xiaohe’s heart wavered for a brief moment, then she painfully pulled a box of Huazi lollipops from her shoulder bag.
“Eating something sweet helps relieve psychological stress.” Lin Xiaohe couldn’t bear to give away the whole box, so she took out just one lollipop and handed it to Old Chen.
Old Chen’s eyes darkened slightly. He smiled and accepted the lollipop, then carefully advised her like a familiar elder: “Thank you for the kind thought. From now on, work hard and serve the country.”
He put emphasis on the words “serve the country,” as if hinting at something.
The South Gate Plan was a vital state secret. Although it existed only on paper for now, one day it would become reality.
It involved the nation’s space strategic deployment, and everyone who knew about it had signed a confidentiality agreement.
How did Lin Xiaohe find out? Did she have accomplices? Was she a member of a foreign force? Or, like other ignorant civilians, had she been unknowingly exploited by foreign forces?
Old Chen’s heart was heavy. He hoped Lin Xiaohe had gotten involved by accident.
If Lin Xiaohe turned out to be a member of a foreign force, how devastated would Old Liu and his wife be? How could that be worthy of the country’s cultivation of her?
Lin Xiaohe sensed Old Chen’s vigilance and scrutiny, but she didn’t take it to heart at all. She got into the car with Professor Liu and his wife: “Alright, Uncle Chen, goodbye.”
Professor Liu, tipsy and foggy-headed, saw Lin Xiaohe handing Old Chen a “cigarette” and felt gratified: “Xiaohe, you’ve really grown up—you understand a thing or two about social graces. Unfortunately, just a little. Don’t be so stingy—if you’re going to give, give a whole box. I’ll reimburse you!”
Lin Xiaohe smiled, pulled out a lollipop, unwrapped it, and popped it into Professor Liu’s mouth: “Teacher, it’s not a cigarette—it’s candy. You’re all getting on in years; it’s not good to eat too much sugar.”
The fruity lollipop flavor spread across his tongue.
Professor Liu zoned out for a moment, confirmed it really was candy and not a cigarette, and muttered quietly: “Even a lollipop has to be all fancy. I’m really getting old—can’t keep up with young people’s ideas anymore.”
After getting home, Lin Xiaohe washed up, placed the small ceramic bottle on the nightstand, and felt the seed radiating vibrant life. She slept especially soundly that night.
She slept well, but little did she know, many people had to work overtime all night because of her.
“Reporting, sir—we’ve investigated Lin Xiaohe’s life history and found nothing unusual.”
H City, northeast corner, toward the suburbs, there was a small compound covering 2,000 square meters.
Inside the compound were three three-story red-brick buildings, unremarkable from the outside.
At the entrance hung a sign reading [Environmental Planning Management Department].
At that moment, on the third floor of one of the red-brick buildings, a group of people was reporting on their work.
After receiving Old Chen’s report and learning that the South Gate Plan had been leaked, the staff in the office had been busy nonstop.
Lin Xiaohe’s background was simple—born into a rural family that favored boys over girls, she went through middle school and college entrance exams like clockwork, entered university, took the graduate entrance exam, and eventually stayed on as faculty.
She had never been abroad, studied agricultural sciences, and had an extremely simple web of personal connections.
But it was precisely because it was so simple that everyone present wore grave expressions.
The man in the green military uniform responsible for reporting frowned deeply: “There are two issues now. First, how exactly did Lin Xiaohe learn about the South Gate Plan, and what is her purpose? Second, Lin Xiaohe before her illness and after her illness are like two completely different people.”
He glanced discreetly at Old Chen and continued: “Old Chen says mysterious fluctuations can be detected on Lin Xiaohe.”
A middle-aged man sitting in the front row straightened up: “Using the latest model observation device?”
“Yes.”
The room erupted into murmurs.
“The miniaturized observation device modified based on the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory’s results?”
“Yes, that’s the one. It was put into use on August 26th last year, and the very first experiment discovered…”
“Ahem—confidentiality agreement!”
Everyone tacitly skipped over that topic and began to brainstorm.
“Was Lin Xiaohe possessed?”
Old Chen’s face darkened, and he had to explain: “No. Our miniaturized observation device isn’t that precise yet.”
They hadn’t even figured out what a soul was—how could they talk about possession?
“That fluctuation only indicates that Lin Xiaohe’s force field or magnetic field is somewhat different from ordinary people.”
Previously, the observation device had only detected fluctuations in certain specific areas—such as the Sanxingdui ruins, the Antarctic ice wall, newly excavated rocks inscribed with content from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, some of the pyramids, and other ancient sites.
Lin Xiaohe was the first human or living being to be observed with fluctuations—of great observational significance.
Yet she also knew about the South Gate Plan, which put them in a dilemma—they couldn’t decide what attitude to take toward her.
Just as everyone was debating, the latest news came in: “Lin Xiaohe’s junior fellow student Yang Lan says Lin Xiaohe is a computer genius—after only half an hour of in-depth study of computer knowledge, she was able to breach a certain palace building in the Beautiful Country and NASA’s database.”
Uh…
Everyone looked at each other. To use the most popular internet slang to describe their current mood: [Do you believe Yang Lan, or do you believe I’m Qin Shi Huang?]
Come on, give me a break. They’d seen the most top-tier geniuses, and none of them were exaggerated to this extent. Was she even human?
But regardless, Lin Xiaohe definitely had secrets. Whether for national security considerations or from a scientific research perspective, she had to be closely monitored.
The question now was: how to monitor her?
After some discussion, the leader made the call: “Since she wants to go to the military academy logistics department, let her! If she really has ulterior motives, she’ll show her tail sooner or later.”
National security absolutely took priority over scientific research.
After determining whether Lin Xiaohe had any ties to foreign forces, they could then study the life fluctuations appearing on her.
Old Chen hesitated: “Then what about the South Gate Plan…”
“Let’s go fishing first! If we can’t catch anything, then contact the Strategic Deception Bureau and release a promotional film called ‘South Gate Plan’ under the name of the China National Nuclear Corporation. Mix truth with falsehood, falsehood with truth.”
If they could drag the Beautiful Country into a space race, even better. Given the Beautiful Country’s current overall strength, it would definitely be dragged down.
If the Beautiful Country didn’t take the bait, that was fine too—because when it came to realizing the South Gate Plan, our country was dead serious!
With contingency plans in place, everyone finally set down the boulder in their hearts.
Yawning one after another, they were about to adjourn the meeting when, before anyone could step out the door, the red telephone on the desk began to ring.
“Reporting! The Beautiful Country has activated [Oracle] without authorization!”
