Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Time passed quickly, and before I knew it, it was dark in the room.
I had truly been zoning out, my mind wandering from one thought to another, sometimes completely blank. I couldn't even see any images in my eyes. It felt as if I had frozen in place.
But time did not freeze. A burst of wild music and singing jolted me back to reality, and I realized it was already dark outside.
I hadn’t turned on the lights in my room, and the computer screen in front of me had long gone into sleep mode. It was only when I noticed the light from my phone on the table that I understood the noisy sound was the ringtone. This new gadget
I still didn’t know how to fiddle with; the ringtone had been downloaded by a service attendant at the service center. She had chosen the most popular ringtone at the time, and this was it. The advantage of this ringtone was that
I had to answer any incoming calls, or else it would drive me crazy.
I picked up the phone and saw it was an unfamiliar number. No wonder—besides Fatty and A San, no one else from my previous clients or social circle knew my number.
As soon as I answered, a familiar voice came through the receiver: “Where’s A San? I need to find him.”
Perhaps due to the mixed backgrounds of Task Force personnel, Cao Mingzhe’s Northwest dialect was somewhat difficult to understand. The last time I saw him, he had started speaking Mandarin. But this time, he couldn’t help but slip into dialect, revealing his anxious state of mind.
“Old Cao, don’t look for him right now. I’ve arranged for him to go back to Vietnam. It’ll probably take him at least a month to return.”
“Then why isn’t he answering his phone? Is this your idea? What’s so secretive about this?”
“It’s my idea. It’s dangerous for him there; I don’t want him risking his life over a phone call. I told him to turn off his phone and we’ll contact each other once it’s done.”
“Zhang, what are you sending him to Vietnam for? Don’t get involved with illegal items; we have official identities here. If things blow up, I can’t cover for you.”
“Old Cao, fine, I’ll confess. It’s illegal items.”
“You brat! What are you thinking? Who’s using drugs? Or who is it?”
“Old Cao, it's not that thing; no one touches that. It's something else.”
“What?”
“I had A San go back to Vietnam to get me some weapons.”
“What good does that do me? We have troops with us this time, and we brought heavy weapons. Why would you need to run to Vietnam? You can just stick with me, and when the time comes, I'll file a report to get each of us equipped with a weapon. That's not a problem.”
“Old Cao, that's not a problem for you guys, but it is for me. One Commander won't hand a gun over to me. I even suspect he has someone specifically watching me; if I step out of line, there will be someone ready to put a bullet in my head. I'm really going down with you this time. Whether I can come back is another matter. Relying on them to protect me? That's unrealistic. Just don't stab me in the back, and I'll be grateful.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. It seemed Cao Mingzhe understood my situation and my standing in the military, which made my request for A San to go to Vietnam for weapons seem reasonable.
I seized the moment and said to Cao Mingzhe, “Old Cao, you have to keep this under wraps for me. Without any gear, I feel uneasy going down there. You know how hellish it is down below; relying on anyone else is not as good as having a reliable weapon in my own hands.”
“Alright then. I can keep this from the higher-ups for you.” Cao Mingzhe quickly compromised. “But you need to hurry; don’t delay the schedule. Also, the scientific investigation team composed of Materials Scientists and Physicists has already started arriving at Task Force. You should come here and meet them when you have time. They want to see you and have questions for you. Don’t you have questions for them too?”
“Well…”
My mind raced as I realized it was impossible to keep avoiding Cao Mingzhe. Before A San returned, I still had to deal with him. Even during this opening ceremony, I couldn't avoid greeting Cao Mingzhe. Holding an event in a hotel without acknowledging him would be too obvious of an attempt to hide.
"Alright then. I'm planning to hold an event at your hotel, and I'll take the opportunity to visit you all. If you have time, come join me; I'm hosting a grand opening celebration there. It should be lively."
"Are you worried I won't go? You already sent me the invitation. Of course, I'll be there, so don't worry about it."
I pondered for a moment. It seemed that sending an invitation to the Task Force was the sponsor's idea. Ouyang Jian was willing to spend such a large sum, of course he wanted to invite Tang Yumo and showcase his wealth in front of everyone.
"There's one more thing I need to mention in advance. I'm planning to order a batch of advanced instruments from Europe, mainly detection equipment—life detection instruments and geological terrain detection instruments. They are quite powerful, but of course, they come with a hefty price tag."
"Money isn't an issue."
"Then I can rest easy."
"Wait a minute. Why do I feel like there's a catch in what you're saying?" Cao Mingzhe asked cautiously. "How much do you need over there?"
"I haven't discussed the exact amount yet. Some instruments are custom-made and need to be upgraded according to my specifications, while others are still in development and there are no prototypes available yet. Fortunately, I've already negotiated with the Europeans; if the products don't meet my requirements, I won't bear the research and development costs."
"Zhang, I can't shake the feeling that you three are the ancestors of spending money. At first, I thought Song Gang and Huang Hai were bad enough with their spending habits, but now compared to you, they seem like well-behaved children. Considering the research and development costs, those few items of yours must be quite pricey."
I almost laughed when I heard that. Good, it achieved the effect I expected; I didn't even have to mention the price—Cao Mingzhe brought it up himself.
"You can't catch wolves without letting go of your children. Old Cao, money is secondary compared to life; I don't need to do the math for you on that. We've both been through death once; we should learn to look at money lightly."
"That's right. You're being too optimistic. The problem is that the money isn't in my pocket; I still have to think of ways to submit a report for approval. I can control the funds, but if it exceeds a certain amount, I won't have cash on hand. You'd better give me a heads-up with a specific figure; otherwise, I won't have the cash to give you. You know how expensive things are in Europe; the price of a nail here could buy a car."
"You're exaggerating. Fine, I'll push European for a price quote ahead of time. Just don't end up scrambling when the time comes."
"Enough already, don't add to my mental burden. Making this call has cost me dearly. If the items are too large, we can't take them with us; don't expect us to drive a container truck down there."
"I’m aware of that. The requirement for compact and portable instruments is part of my order to European."
"Alright then. I'm hanging up now. Don't make things more complicated for me; even the landlord's family has no surplus grain, and my life is going to get tough from here on out."
The call ended with Cao Mingzhe's frustrated sigh.
Comment 0 Comment Count