Hong Kangquan had no intention of appealing, so Huo Shaoheng went to the execution ground to see him that afternoon.
Hong Kangquan wore a prisoner’s uniform and shackles. His eyes were blindfolded as the prison guard took him to the visitation room.
After Hong Kangquan’s blindfold was removed, he squinted his eyes from the bright incandescent lighting in the room.
In the haziness, he saw the back of a strapping man in military uniform.
Then the man turned around to look at him expressionlessly.
It was Huo Shaoheng.
Hong Kangquan revealed a trace of longing when he saw Huo Shaoheng in his Major General’s uniform.
He was also once someone who wore the same uniform…
Although his military rank never reached Major General, he had only been one step away.
He had felt sad when he was discharged from the military since he had been there for so many years.
When Hong Kangquan remembered this, a trace of regret surged up his heart.
Huo Shaoheng pointed to the chair on the other side of the table in the center of the meeting room and said, “Sit down.”
Hong Kangquan dragged his shackled feet over to take a seat, and Huo Shaoheng sat across from him. The younger man looked at him calmly, then said, “What did you want to see me for?”
Hong Kangquan’s lips trembled terribly, his face turned gray, and his eyes were listless and dull.
After a while, he finally choked out, “Shaoheng – I disappointed the nation, the military, and the citizens. I was foolish at the moment and was blinded by greed.”
He had taken one wrong turn after the next to create today’s bitter ending.
Huo Shaoheng nodded slightly and said, “Hong Kangquan, your moment of foolishness not only harmed yourself but also caused our warriors to perish in the Sea of Japan. You also caused our national secrets to leak. Don’t bother wasting your breath if you want to repent and ask for a reduced sentence. I will certainly never agree to it.”
Hong Kangquan shook his head, his eyes growing even redder.
“…I wasn’t thinking about asking for a reduced sentence, just like how I never truly wanted to collude with other countries and commit treason.” He held back his tears and looked up, saying, “I am very sorry about that soldier’s death. Please apologize to his family on my behalf. I also asked my family to provide compensation to the soldier’s family.”
Huo Shaoheng replied calmly, “Our nation has pensions and special policies that are sufficient to support the lives of his family.”
“I know that, but this is my small contribution,” Hong Kangquan continued as he smiled bitterly, “Shaoheng, do you detest me right now?”
“No, I don’t have any spare energy for that.” Huo Shaoheng was getting impatient. “Hong Kangquan, you’re not a child, so you can’t start to regret things when the situation is already unfixable.”
Hong Kangquan closed his eyes. “Ok then, I’m sorry to have wasted your time. I wanted to tell you that I only gave the Japanese the first phase technology for the quantum satellite, but it was actually fake. I modified the key components, so the Japanese will not succeed if they build a satellite using the information I provided.”
Huo Shaoheng froze. “You only gave it to the Japanese? Was there anyone else?” he asked.
“No. I’m about to die anyway, so I have no reason to make up that sort of lie.” Hong Kangquan stood up and raised his cuffed hands to say, “I can’t give you a salute.”
After saying this, he bowed down deeply to Huo Shaoheng. “…I’m sorry.”
Hong Kangquan quickly turned away and the prison guard took him to the execution grounds.
Huo Shaoheng put on his sunglasses and stood at the window.
After three gunshots sounded, Hong Kangquan collapsed in a pool of his own blood.
Although most death penalties were now done through intravenous injections, death sentences carried out by the military court were still direct execution by shooting.
Huo Shaoheng walked over to confirm it was Hong Kangquan’s corpse before signing the death certificate.
After walking out of the execution grounds, Huo Shaoheng went to see General Ji and showed him the video surveillance of his visit with Hong Kangquan.
General Ji was shocked to hear Hong Kangquan say that he had given the Japanese false information on quantum satellite technology. He turned to Huo Shaoheng and asked, “Do you think he was telling you the truth?”
Huo Shaoheng was accustomed to doubting others, so he didn’t give a clear answer. “This depends on what the Japanese do.”
The Japanese didn’t disappoint them.
The day after Hong Kangquan was executed, they announced a breakthrough in a previous bottleneck in quantum satellite technology. They claimed to have perfected the first phase of technology and also launched a small quantum satellite.
But they also announced that quantum satellite technology contained inherent limitations and was thus unworthy of strong efforts for development. They decided to cease national support for quantum communication technology.
The small satellite launched was also unable to enter established orbit, so it became a piece of space garbage that earned the admonishment of environmentalists.
General Ji finished watching the Japanese press conference then called Huo Shaoheng to say, “…Maybe Hong Kangquan was telling us the entire truth.”
Huo Shaoheng didn’t rebuke, but replied, “But Hong Kangquan is not a technician after all, so the Japanese were able to break through their technical bottleneck even though he assumed he replaced the key information. No one would know if the Japanese suddenly get an epiphany one day, discover the power of quantum communication technology, and continue experimenting.”
This was an irrefutable fact.
General Ji sighed deeply before ending the call.
…
There were only two days left before Speaker Long was due to make his state visit to India.
The preparatory work had finally come to an end.
Special Assistant Zhuang announced half the day off for the entire Secretariat to enable everyone to go home and relax before continuing work the next day.
At the same moment, a tall, lean man was standing in Speaker Long’s office. It was none other than Special Assistant Yang, who had been put on extended leave by Speaker Long.
Speaker Long sat behind his desk. With a small sigh, he watched Special Assistant Yang place a resignation letter and application form in front of him.
Special Assistant Yang appeared regretful as he said, “Speaker Long, I know that I made a serious mistake, and I don’t dare to ask for your forgiveness. I can only hope that you will consider my ten plus years of working for you and give me mercy. I will resign from the Secretariat since this is the consequence I must bear for my mistake.”
He had worked under Speaker Long for over ten years, so his efforts were worth something after all.
Furthermore, he was truly a capable person. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have successfully passed both rounds of interviews with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
However, Special Assistant Zhuang still required Speaker Long’s permission in order to be successfully hired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
If Speaker Long didn’t sign his application, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wouldn’t pass his background check.
Speaker Long didn’t really want to allow Special Assistant Yang to continue working in the government system.
But he was also aware that, plainly speaking, Special Assistant Yang’s issue was that he was a petty person who caused trouble for his subordinates. It wasn’t an extremely serious problem.
No one was perfect, so why should he want to ruin Special Assistant Yang’s future?
What’s more, Special Assistant Yang’s future career prospects would be extremely restricted after leaving the Secretariat and going to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Speaker Long knew that as long as he continued to be the head of the Senate, he would not allow Special Assistant Yang to advance very far.
Speaker Long had always been an amicable person, so he didn’t force people into corners.
So, he merely warned Special Assistant Yang. “You must remember this lesson well. Don’t be petty and remember to have a proper attitude. You need to depend on your own ability to compete, and you are a capable person, so please don’t take an errant path,” he said.
“I certainly won’t! I certainly won’t!” Special Assistant Yang cried bitterly as he apologized. “If you don’t oppose it, I will go to Gu Nianzhi now and apologize to her! I’ll issue a public apology! I really lost my mind back then! She is so capable that I was scared she would replace me…”
He was actually speaking from his heart.
Speaker Long’s attitude softened, so he signed the application. “It’s fine, a public apology isn’t necessary. I don’t need your resignation either. I will have someone post a public notice about your negotiated resignation.”
A negotiated resignation was only slightly better than being terminated, so it was certainly worse than Special Assistant Yang resigning on his own.
Because of this, Special Assistant Yang would now have dim prospects of ever getting promoted within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Special Assistant Yang’s heart dropped, but he didn’t put up a fight. He nodded and said, “Ok, thank you for your mercy. I will always remember your generosity and kindness.”
Special Assistant Yang took the application signed by Speaker Long to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Asia Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was an older fellow alumnus, so he didn’t make any comments before reading his application and notice of negotiated resignation before signing it. He then asked someone to help Special Assistant Yang complete the application.
After Special Assistant Yang left, the Director’s secretary whispered, “Director, I hear his resignation was negotiated after he had a conflict with his colleague at the Senate…”
“Yeah, I know that.” The Director nodded slightly and said, “But I have no choice since we need more personnel. No one is willing to go to the Consulate in India, but at least he is willing to do it.”
Any new employees of the Ministry of Foreign affairs were required to be posted abroad for a period of time.
Everyone aspired to go to developed countries since other countries had lower standards of living than the Huaxia Empire. Many people were unwilling to be posted, so they would rather someone else get the bad luck of receiving a poor post.
At that time, the Consulate in India actually lacked quite a few positions, so the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no choice but to hire and fill the slots quickly. This was especially the case since Speaker Long was making a state visit.
“That’s true too. He also worked under Speaker Long for so many years, so it should be a productive choice to send him to the Consulate in India to make arrangements for the Senate’s visit.” The secretary nodded in agreement.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not an agency that held any true power, so they didn’t have much funding or pull, and the benefits were much lower than the Senate.
The Asia Director said, “We have no time to make any other arrangements, so let’s have him stay at the Consulate in India for some time before sending him back for training.”
…
The day passed, and tomorrow would be when Speaker Ling and his team would leave for India.
Gu Nianzhi drove her red car to the Senate for work.
During lunchtime, her extension line began to ring.
“Lawyer Gu, several Japanese people are looking for you. They are waiting in the lobby on the first floor of the Senate building.”
Gu Nianzhi replied in annoyance, “Did they make appointments? They will need to wait in the queue if they don’t have appointments.”
“Lawyer Gu, I already asked that and they said they don’t have appointments. But they claim to be from the Japanese charity called ‘Angels on Earth,’ and are here to apologize and give something to you in person.”
Gu Nianzhi’s brows furrowed as she said, “There is no need for them to apologize. I am in a lawsuit with them, so it would be inappropriate to meet them. Please ask them to leave.”
The receptionist put down the phone and said to the group of bowing Japanese people, “I’m sorry, Lawyer Gu is unable to meet you.”
One Japanese person spoke in heavily accented Chinese, saying, “Please tell Lawyer Gu, we must see her! There is a box of items Lawyer Gu’s father left behind. I need to give it to her in person.”
The receptionist had no choice but to call Gu Nianzhi again.
“Lawyer Gu, these Japanese people said they have something that belongs to your father and needs to give it to you in person.”
Gu Nianzhi’s mind began to work. After some consideration, she decided she shouldn’t be afraid they would do anything since they were in the Senate building.
She nodded and said, “Have them wait a bit. I’ll come have a look after I finish up some work.”
…
