Back To The 80s-Chapter 143: Discord (Extra - as a reward for Jeanette and Shibishi)_1
Li Fengmei sighed, "Indeed, my sister-in-law has a way. We should do the same next time. If we lend her just a small amount, she won’t feel embarrassed to repay us. If she doesn’t repay a large amount, we won’t feel embarrassed to ask for it either."
Gu Xiaobei nodded, preparing to cook. It was almost noon. Jiujiu and Chen Gang should be out of school soon. The weather was getting cooler, so it was most suitable to have hot soup noodles for lunch. It was both warming and time-saving.
Lu Zhanguo rushed back to T City in a hurry after the afternoon of October 2nd, and went straight to Shen Heng.
This time, he didn’t run into Yuan Tan. Shen Heng was startled to see the dark circles under Lu Zhanguo’s eyes, "Haven’t you slept for three days?"
"No time, my car even broke down halfway." Lu Zhanguo sat in the chair, looking exhausted, "Pour me a glass of water."
"So, any progress?" Shen Heng asked while pouring water.
"Perhaps things are more complicated than we thought, or perhaps we’ve over-complicated simple matters." Lu Zhanguo took the cup of tea, took a sip, and said.
Shen Heng was confused, "What do you mean?"
"Du Chengjiang is the adopted son of the Du family, and his birth father escaped overseas in 1958 due to historical issues," Lu Zhanguo told Shen Heng about the intelligence he had received from the military.
Shen Heng frowned, "Our information differs a little from yours. We heard that Du Chengjiang’s birth father was converted, and then died of cholera."
Lu Zhanguo raised an eyebrow, "Things are getting interesting."
"Why do you say that?" Shen Heng asked.
"Since we assume Gao Dailin is only a pawn, how could the other party possibly only have this one pawn? How could a meticulously planned operation be easily exposed in front of us? Perhaps Gao Dailin is just the tip of the iceberg." On his journey, Lu Zhanguo had much time to reflect. He realized he had been distracted by trivial matters and had neglected many things.
"Then who’s the hidden piece now? Yuan Tan?" Shen Heng questioned. Although he agreed with Lu Zhanguo’s statement, he didn’t completely buy into it. He believed that even though Gao Dailin was an open target, he was undoubtedly a main target as well.
"Yuan Tan? How could it be? But Yuan Tan must be playing a different role." Lu Zhanguo analyzed.
"What did you find at the Red Army base?" Shen Heng felt that these leads required further investigation and the specifics could wait until higher-ups sent thorough information.
"I mainly wanted to explore Guo Huaqiang’s connections. And I happened to get a codebook too. It might come in handy for our operations." Lu Zhanguo spoke lightly about the two things he had accomplished.
"You suspect Guo? He’s your sworn brother from the battlefield." Shen Heng was incredulous.
"For some things, I hope he’s only looking out for his own interests." Lu Zhanguo felt somewhat stifled. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
Shen Heng took out a cigarette and passed it to Lu Zhanguo. Lu took it, sniffed it, and started to play with it in his hand. Shen Heng lit his own cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled a cloud of smoke. He understood. In fact, Lu Zhanguo might be feeling even more distressed. After all, who could bear to suspect their own brother?
The two men fell silent. Lu Zhanguo lowered his eyelids and stared at the cigarette he had been twirling between his fingers, his mind drifting.
After finishing his cigarette, Shen Heng glanced outside, "Stay for dinner and then head back."
"No, I’ll head back now. Have you seen Jin Cheng recently?" Lu Zhanguo gathered his thoughts and sat upright.
"Recently, I’ve been watched closely, I try not to meet him unless it’s urgent."
"Tell him to be careful. If something goes wrong, he should withdraw. We’ve wasted too much time on Gao Dailin’s lead." Lu Zhanguo stood, preparing to leave.
Even though Shen Heng was reluctant to give up the lead on Gao Dailin, the safety of Jin Cheng was more important. He nodded, "Okay, I’ll contact him as soon as possible."
He had just seen Lu Zhanguo to the downstairs when Yuan Tan hurriedly approached. When she saw Lu Zhanguo, she was taken aback, "Brother Zhanguo? When did you get here?"
Lu Zhanguo didn’t even glance at Yuan Tan. He said to Shen Heng, "I’ll head back first."
Yuan Tan was a bit miffed. Was it that difficult to say a word to her? Frustrated, she said, "My mom and your mom are coming by train three days from now. Remember to pick them up."
Only then did Lu Zhanguo glance at Yuan Tan, "Okay, I got it." How could he allow Wen Xiuqing to come at a time like this?
Lu Zhanguo drove back to the base first. Guo Huaqiang was on duty in the office. Seeing the dust-covered Lu Zhanguo, he was startled, "Why the sudden trip to the provincial city?"
"I had nothing to do here, so I went to the provincial city and got a codebook." Lu Zhanguo said casually.
Guo Huaqiang laughed, "You’re always thinking ahead. We’ll need these to decipher the enemy’s radio communications during the operation."
"I’ll make a call first. We can discuss the specifics at the meeting tomorrow." Lu Zhanguo said, picking up the phone to call the Political Department in Capital City, where his father, Lu Songyuan, was working. Seeing this, Guo Huaqiang stepped out, closing the door behind him.
"Hello?" On the other end of the line, the deep voice of Lu Songyuan rang out.
"Dad, it’s Zhanguo."
"Why the sudden call?" Lu Songyuan wondered. His son, who seldom called, not even during holidays, was suddenly reaching out.
"Can you ask mom to postpone her visit to T City?" Lu Zhanguo bluntly asked.
"What happened?" Lu Songyuan knew about Wen Xiuqing’s plan to visit T City.
"T City isn’t very peaceful lately." Lu Zhanguo didn’t elaborate.
"Alright, I’ll talk to your mom." As an old revolutionary, Lu Songyuan understood not to ask unnecessary questions.
Lu Zhanguo hung up and rubbed his eyebrows. His mother couldn’t make it this time, and he was certain she would complain later. Moreover, because of Yuan Tan’s recent meddling, his mother and Gu Xiaobei might have trouble getting along in the future.
Gu Xiaobei was hoping that Lu Zhanguo would come back that evening. It had been raining all day, and the evening was chilly. He wrapped some dumplings filled with eggs, black fungus, and green onion, which he first cooked some for Jiujiu. He planned to wait for Lu Zhanguo and eat together when he returned.
Lu Zhanguo didn’t return until around eight o’clock, bringing the cold air inside. Gu Xiaobei was sitting on a small bed, knitting a sweater while watching Jiujiu do homework. Seeing Lu Zhanguo come back, he hurriedly put down his knitting, "You certainly haven’t eaten, right? There’s hot water in the thermos. Wash your face first, and I’ll prepare dumplings."
When he walked over to Lu Zhanguo, he saw the dark circles under his eyes, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins, and he said with a concerned heart, "How many days have you been without sleep? Hurry up and wash your face, eat, and then go to bed."
Lu Zhanguo felt warm inside and said gently, "I’m fine."
Fortunately, Gu Xiaobei had boiled the water in advance. He turned on the gas, and when the water started boiling, he put the plump dumplings into the pot. He then poured a small amount of soy sauce, vinegar, salt, and chili oil into two bowls. Once the dumplings were ready, he first splashed the hot soup into the bowls, served the round dumplings, and finally sprinkled some fresh green onions on top. The sour and spicy dumplings were ready.
Carrying the food into the room, he saw Lu Zhanguo sitting at the table watching Jiujiu do her homework, creating a warm scene.
Seeing Gu Xiaobei bring in the food, Jiujiu moved her homework to one side.
Seeing the two big bowls of dumplings, Lu Zhanguo said, "You guys haven’t eaten yet."
"Jiujiu has eaten. I wasn’t that hungry, so I decided to wait for you to come back and eat together." Gu Xiaobei said, putting one bowl in front of Lu Zhanguo and going to get another one.
"In the future, if I come back late, you and Jiujiu should eat first. Don’t wait for me." Lu Zhanguo said.
"No problem, I’ve told you, you’re the one who whets my appetite." Gu Xiaobei chuckled and said, "Okay, hurry up and eat. There’s hot water in the thermos for you to wash your face. Have a good sleep after eating. Your eyes are so red."
