Life in siheyuan era

Wang Dali parked the car and headed towards the休息室 (xiū xī shì - rest area/lounge). He heard a colleague shout, "Dali, there's a female comrade looking for you."

Hearing this shout, Wang Dali felt strange, and he felt even stranger when he saw the young woman.

The young woman was very beautiful, with short hair, a fair, oval face, and glasses. She was wearing a blue suit jacket with a snow-white shirt showing at the collar, blue trousers, and black cloth shoes.

Seeing Wang Dali, the young woman said softly, "Can we talk alone for a moment?"

Wang Dali nodded, and the two walked to the side. Onlookers from the colleagues burst into laughter, while the young woman whispered, "Zhou Zhiyuan sent me to find you."

Hearing Zhou Zhiyuan's name, Wang Dali smiled and said, "Since Zhiyuan sent you, just speak your mind."

The young woman continued, "My name is Liu Xue. I am a young writer, and this is my work ID."

As she spoke, she reached into her satchel to take out her ID, but Wang Dali said, "Is it necessary to show ID when Zhiyuan introduces you? Just say what you need."

Hearing him speak so frankly, Liu Xue was also straightforward. She withdrew her hand and got straight to the point: "I want to write a novel about bus drivers. I want to collect some material from you, but I don't want anyone else to know."

Liu Xue made this request, and Wang Dali readily replied, "No problem. You can ask whatever you want to know."

Having said this, Han Xue formally entered the investigation process.

Meanwhile, Zhou Zhiyuan drove a jeep into the gate of the military hospital. Walking up to the fifth floor, he saw those pair of clear and cold phoenix eyes, and heard her say coldly, "Come with me."

Shen Lanyin was angry again. Zhou Zhiyuan could only obediently follow her, entering the medical room where she took a needle kit from her white coat pocket and said coldly, "Sit down and put your right hand on the table."

"I didn't do anything wrong."

Zhou Zhiyuan wanted to argue, but Shen Lanyin grabbed his right arm and said coldly, "Sit down."

"I really didn't..." As he said this, Zhou Zhiyuan heard a burst of footsteps outside the door and immediately sat in the chair, allowing Shen Lanyin to place his right hand on the table.

Shen Lanyin took a silver needle from the needle kit and pricked his index finger. Zhou Zhiyuan gritted his teeth and turned to look at the two nurses who had entered.

One of the nurses asked softly, "Does it hurt that much?"

Zhou Zhiyuan immediately replied, "It doesn't hurt."

The other nurse smiled and walked to the medicine cabinet to open it and take medicine. The first nurse looked at Shen Lanyin, seeing her with a cold expression, drawing a second silver needle and pricking Zhou Zhiyuan's middle finger, so she turned to look at Zhou Zhiyuan, gently shook her head, and walked to the nurse in front to take the medicine tray.

The two nurses walked out the door. Shen Lanyin looked at the closed door, turned to glare at him, and said coldly, "You're quite popular with women!"

Zhou Zhiyuan hurriedly explained, "It has nothing to do with me."

"Oh, this has nothing to do with you? Tell me, what did you do at noon?" As she spoke, Shen Lanyin drew a third silver needle.

Zhou Zhiyuan whispered, "I'll tell you, but don't tell Lanbo. This matter concerns our future happiness..."

He did not hide anything, telling her about inviting Han Xue to dinner and letting her get involved in the investigation, except for not revealing the core content, he told her everything else.

Finally, he said, "When this matter is over, Section Chief Luo and Political Commissar Zhang will definitely be very annoyed and list me as an unreliable element and then kick me out of the investigation team, so I won't have to run around."

He stated his purpose, and the coldness on Shen Lanyin's face immediately disappeared. She squatted down, held his knee, and said softly, "It would be great if you could achieve this goal."

At this time, Shen Lanyin no longer cared about him meeting with Han Xue. It was best if Zhou Zhiyuan became an idle person.

But Zhou Zhiyuan said with a worried expression, "There is a drawback to doing this. There will be no room for advancement in the future!"

He was worried about this, but Shen Lanyin didn't care and said indifferently, "It's best not to be an official. It's better for us to live a plain life and be together every day than anything else."

She didn't want Zhou Zhiyuan to pursue an official career, also seeing Shen Jue's busyness. Shen Jue often went out for research, leaving for two or three months at a time, and when he came back, he would lock himself in the study to study various intelligence and then write comprehensive reports.

Shen Jue's busy life made her dislike it. Hearing Zhou Zhiyuan talk about this result, she was overjoyed, so she pricked his ring finger with this silver needle.

Zhou Zhiyuan asked in astonishment, "I've already confessed everything, and you're still pricking me!"

Shen Lanyin said angrily, "How much advantage are you taking of me? It's happiness for you alone."

Hearing this, Zhou Zhiyuan wanted to seize the opportunity and immediately replied, "Let me be happy again."

He wanted to get up, but Shen Lanyin held his shoulder down, and whispered, "Prick the needles first." As she spoke, she drew the fourth needle and gently pricked it.

After all eight silver needles were inserted. Zhou Zhiyuan was about to get up when he heard a burst of footsteps, so he sighed softly and said, "It's too unsafe here."

Shen Lanyin whispered back, "Be honest."

Zhou Zhiyuan "Hey" a sound, then saw the door open, a nurse came in, looked at the eight silver needles on Zhou Zhiyuan's right hand, hesitated a moment before saying, "The duty officer downstairs called and said that a comrade named Lou is looking for you."

Lou Xiaoning is really diligent. He came once last night, and again this afternoon. Looking at the silver needles on Zhou Zhiyuan's right hand, he asked softly, "Do you also need to receive treatment?"

"Yes..." Zhou Zhiyuan replied sadly, "Before the comrade-in-arms was hospitalized, I had acupuncture every three days. I'm taking care of him in the hospital, so we just get treatment together."

He said sadly, Lou Xiaoning comforted him, "It will definitely get better soon."

"I hope so."

Zhou Zhiyuan replied without confidence, then asked, "What does Brother Lou want from me?"

Hearing him ask, Lou Xiaoning whispered back, "Wu Shan is back. Bai Wenming is giving him a welcome dinner at the Modi Western Restaurant tonight to thank you for your help."

Zhou Zhiyuan was surprised to receive this invitation, and Shen Lanbo was also surprised. After pondering for a while, he said, "Based on the investigation, Bai Wenming is not a high-profile person. With this kind of personality, he would be more likely to keep a low profile before taking action. Why would he hold a welcome banquet?"

Raising a question, Zhou Zhiyuan speculated, "Does he want me to appraise his antique paintings and calligraphy?"

"That's possible."

Shen Lanbo affirmed, then continued, "Regardless of his purpose, let's first look at whether we have been exposed?"

"It's certain that our identities are suspicious, but it's also certain that I'm seriously injured and need to recuperate, and your right hand is crippled and needs treatment."

"This situation can offset some of the suspicion, but we can't be completely relieved. Unless Bai Wenming is blinded by greed, he wouldn't let you appraise his antique paintings and calligraphy. If you find out that they are smuggling antiques, or if there are national treasures, what would he do?"

"At this time, he absolutely doesn't want to cause trouble, unless..."

Saying this, Shen Lanbo paused, then said affirmatively, "Unless Hu Dapeng forced him to do so."

"Hu Dapeng wants to settle his grudges with you before he leaves, so he must set a trap for you to fall into, first giving you five hundred yuan, and then using a high appraisal fee to make you happily go to Anxin Hotel on a specific day."

"And Bai Wenming has to do this because Hu Dapeng is his life-saver at a critical moment, and Hu Dapeng's two nephews are both strong, and there may even be other experts involved."

After saying this, Shen Lanbo looked Zhou Zhiyuan in the eye, and Zhou Zhiyuan smiled and said, "It should be this situation, so we must test it out before opening the gambling game. Tonight's dinner is not a Hongmen Banquet, but a blind date, to see if my features and figure look like an easy target. I'll give them this chance."

Zhou Zhiyuan wanted to cooperate from the inside out, but Shen Lanbo said cautiously, "This matter is not that simple. Hu Dapeng knows your martial arts skills and still dares to do this, which means he must have something to rely on."

He was worried about Zhou Zhiyuan's safety, but Zhou Zhiyuan replied indifferently, "Don't forget my super intuition, and I know the layout of Anxin Hotel. They won't drive the guests out, so they won't dare to make a big fuss. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Zhou Zhiyuan still didn't take it seriously, but Shen Lanbo said seriously, "It's not a question of whether it's scary or not, but why should we let them lead us by the nose?"

Shen Lanbo didn't like being passive. Taking the initiative was the best strategy.