Ren Xiaosu looked at Liang Ce, who was sitting happily by the campfire. He asked puzzledly, “What are you so happy about?”
The campfire cast a red-orange glow on Liang Ce’s face, adding a festive sense to his happy look. He replied with a laugh, “I’m just happy that I could help Meng Nan!”
These words left Ren Xiaosu dumbfounded. He said in a speechless manner, “How old are you this year?”
Liang Ce replied, “25, why?”
Ren Xiaosu asked again, “How many girls have you courted over the years?”
Liang Ce said, “Three, I guess. I started at the age of 16, but I failed every time.”
“Then did you come to realize anything after failing to court these three girls?” Ren Xiaosu was trying to guide Liang Ce to reflect on himself.
But Liang Ce thought for a moment and replied, “I’m a good person.”
“Pfft.” Even Yang Xiaojin could not bear listening to any of this further. She said, “You shouldn’t have given her the portable music player just now even if you had it. Didn’t you hear her say that she wants you to chat with her? Why did you give her the portable music player when she said that?”
Only then did Liang Ce manage to react. He slapped his thigh and said in annoyance, “Oh yeah, why didn’t I think of that? Then what should I do now?”
Ren Xiaosu comforted, “Wash up and go to sleep.”
Liang Ce was speechless.
The guy turned his pleading gaze to Yang Xiaojin. Yang Xiaojin thought for a moment before saying, “From today onwards, you should start being a little more proactive. Since you aren’t the type who can make a girl fall for you at first sight, you must make up for it by putting in more effort. She’ll definitely feel insecure on this trip away from home. If you chat more with her, you’ll be able to leave a good impression.”
Ren Xiaosu sighed. This was the first time he saw Yang Xiaojin talk so much with strangers. It seemed that even Yang Xiaojin could not stand it anymore.
However, Ren Xiaosu asked Yang Xiaojin softly, “Am I the type that can make girls fall for me at first sight?”
Yang Xiaojin rolled her eyes and went into her tent to sleep.
The next morning, Liang Ce rushed out of the campsite to relieve himself after waking up. Then he went to wash his hands at the riverbank.
Meng Nan also walked over to the riverbank. When Liang Ce saw her, he remembered Yang Xiaojin’s advice for him to be more proactive. As such, he took the initiative to greet her. But he got nervous as he did not know what to say. After hesitating for a while, he greeted Meng Nan, “Did you pee on your hands too?”
Meng Nan was confounded.
Ren Xiaosu, who was watching all of this from afar, sighed to Yang Xiaojin, “I have a feeling that these two are drifting further and further apart under our guidance….”
In the morning, the convoy set off again. Not long after they left, rustling came from the forest in the north. Some people were making their way through the forest.
The morning sun shone through gaps in the canopy and onto the ground, and static was buzzing in the forest. A heavily armed soldier with thick camouflage paint on his face said on the radio, “Coast is clear. Targets have departed.”
“All clear.”
“All clear here as well.”
At several other locations, soldiers were replying on the radio.
A voice crackled in the earpiece, “1st Squad, search for the deserter’s corpse and check for any clues at the campsite. 2nd Squad, set up a defensive perimeter.”
After that, the platoon in the forest sped up their march. Five soldiers in khaki combat uniforms entered the campsite to search for any suspicious traces, while the other five soldiers began searching in the forest.
“We’ve found the deserter’s corpse. The wound is on the left chest, but the bullet didn’t hit the heart. It looks like the shooter was an amateur.”
“We found nothing unusual at the campsite either. There’s no suspicious markings and no traps. Although the location of the campsite is quite good, they’re not well-versed in setting up their tents. The campfire’s position was also very random. They’re unlikely to be professional soldiers.”
Behind them, the commander thought quietly. The reconnaissance troops he led were specifically sent here to check on the Trinity Institute. His mission was not to assassinate these people but to check whether there were any suspicious individuals among the Trinity Institute convoy.
As it was currently a sensitive period, the Kong Consortium did not want any suspicious people getting into Stronghold 31.
This medical exchange program should have been canceled as the Kong Consortium had informed Wang Jing in advance. However, Wang Jing insisted on going there and replied that if they were not allowed to attend the exchange, he would sit in front of Stronghold 31’s gate until the Kong Consortium agreed to let them in.
It seemed the higher-ups did not want to endure the pressure of public opinion. After all, the Trinity Institute’s influence in the North had been increasing over the years, and it was also getting more and more recognized by the people. Kong Erdong wanted to leave his name in the annals of history, so he was particularly concerned about his reputation.
If Wang Jing really died in front of the stronghold while protesting, Hope Media would definitely report on this matter thoroughly.
As such, the field personnel of the 3rd Military Intelligence Division were deployed. Their mission was to carry out an early investigation. If they discovered any suspicious people among the academic exchange group, they would pose as bandits and kill everyone in this group in the wilderness. This way, the Kong Consortium would not be implicated at all.
The previous night, they had set up camp quietly in the forest to the north. They had already noticed the deserter when he was making his way here from the North, but they did not stop him. Instead, they deliberately used him to test the academic exchange group by letting him go over to the Trinity Institute’s campsite.
If this deserter carried out a massacre, it would save them a lot of trouble. What did the lives of everyone in this academic exchange group have anything to do with them?
They watched the situation unfold through their binoculars and saw Ren Xiaosu shoot the deserter dead in panic.
On the surface, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual. Other than the deserter being a little stupid, the members of the academic exchange group had all behaved normally.
“Captain, should we pursue them?” a soldier asked over the radio.
“Let’s wait until I report this matter to our superior.” The commander said calmly, “We still have to wait for orders from the higher-ups to kill Wang Jing.”
After that, he dialed the satellite phone and reported the situation here.
After a long silence, the officer on the other end said, “Let them go. There’s no need to complicate things further. I’ll arrange for someone to check their identities at Stronghold 31. You all can report to the front line.”
“Roger that.” The commander ended the call and said on the radio, “Attention, everyone, we’re withdrawing. We’ve been ordered to report to FOB 3 and take a new mission there.”
With that, this well-trained platoon quickly retreated and headed north.
Forward Operating Base 3 was one of the important forward operating bases for the Kong Consortium’s war efforts against the Pyro Company, with the Pyro Company’s military controlled zone located just a little farther north of it.
After these people left, “Old Xu” walked out from behind a large tree in its white mask and silently looked in the direction these people had left in.
Ren Xiaosu had discovered their presence the previous night. Otherwise, he would not have taken so much effort to put on such a convincing act.
Initially, he wanted to take care of these people directly. But thinking that his target was Kong Erdong, it would be better not to alert the enemy over these small fries.
But these people were also quite ruthless. They had deliberately allowed the deserter through so he could kill them at their campsite.
