Chapter 69

Elder Hua instructed Li Fang to list every single marking she had recognized before. If she could still remember, it would be best if she could draw them out as well.

Because this young lady used to spend her idle days studying the books left by her grandfather and mother, she had been particularly intrigued when she saw those symbols.

She had assumed they were some kind of new formation diagrams she was unfamiliar with, so she had examined them very closely. After returning home, she would often draw them again and study them on her own.

So when Elder Hua asked her now, she was able to reproduce everything almost without a moment’s thought.

Not only that, but she didn’t even miss the smallest details.

For example, how many large and small stones were in that pile of rocks, the direction a broken tree branch was pointing in, and even whether it was a pine tree or a cypress — she remembered it all with absolute clarity.

Elder Hua and Shen Qingyun were both left speechless in admiration.

It was truly a pity that the base had no need for female soldiers, otherwise Shen Qingyun would have seriously considered assigning her to the reconnaissance unit.

After seeing Li Fang off, the three of them exchanged a few more words, then Shen Qingyun said he had to immediately call the regiment to report this important discovery.

Elder Hua promptly insisted on going with him.

None of them asked Yin Xiaoman to stay, so she had no choice but to return home on her own.

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After such a long ordeal, it was already around ten o’clock in the evening, and outside, everything was completely still.

By the time she returned home, the children had long since washed up and gone to bed, and the house was utterly quiet inside and out.

It was well past her usual bedtime, but how could Yin Xiaoman possibly fall asleep?!

Anyone who had just gone through what she had would be filled with adrenaline — sleep was out of the question.

So she headed to the Imperial Kitchen.

Time had passed, and Li Chun was no longer that newly appointed stewardess who had once seemed hesitant and unsure.

Although she had never said it outright, Yin Xiaoman could clearly sense that Li Chun was now completely at ease in everything she did — capable and composed, able to manage things on her own.

And that wasn’t all. Yin Xiaoman also felt that Li Chun was now quite wealthy, at least far wealthier than she had been before.

This could be seen from the increasing value of the goods she left behind when making exchanges. It wasn’t hard to guess that she had already found new channels for selling seafood.

And that wasn’t all — the girl had even used the recipes Yin Xiaoman had once left behind to make a fortune.

Li Chun was now likely running a shop with some business partner on the outside.

Because the face cream, hand lotion, and similar items that Li Chun now gave to Yin Xiaoman not only came in an increasing variety and with significantly improved quality, but also featured refined packaging, each bearing a unique stamp.

They were no longer, as in the days when Yin Xiaoman was still present, simply bottled in the most common containers found on the market.

Looking at these products, she couldn’t help but feel a bit impressed. Why had she never noticed before that this little apprentice of hers actually had such remarkable business acumen?

She had truly underestimated the girl.

In the eyes of outsiders, engaging in commerce might seem unseemly and lacking in dignity — the lowest of the four traditional occupations: scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. But for palace maids like them, it was not quite the same.

What was a palace maid, after all? They were born to serve others. Even if they served the imperial family, they were still, essentially, someone else’s servants.

It was precisely because of such a status that they often understood the world with a clarity sharper than most.

As long as one could ensure one’s own safety, and the money earned was clean and honest, who would find silver too hot to hold?

After all, for them, when the time eventually came to leave the palace, only silver would serve as the true foundation of their security and independence.

So even though Li Chun was using the resources she had once left behind, Yin Xiaoman felt not the slightest bit of anger.

On the contrary, she was truly delighted.

That was her apprentice, after all — wasn’t it only natural that she use her master’s things?

Now that she had confirmed Li Chun had real strength and capability, Yin Xiaoman no longer fussed over the details. If the apprentice offered something, she accepted it with a clear conscience. If the apprentice needed something, she would do everything in her power to help her obtain it.

As a result, in recent days, the two of them had developed a seamless partnership.

Today, what she wanted from Li Chun was grain.

Previously, when Elder Hua had dined at their home, he had once brought up the topic: what if one day the island were forced into lockdown and the food reserves proved insufficient — what would they do then?

At the time, Elder Hua had suggested increasing manpower and preparing in advance for such an emergency.

Later, they had discussed many potential solutions and had been steadily working toward them. For instance, many people had arrived, bringing seeds and farming tools…

But no one knew that Elder Hua’s words, originally intended as a reminder to cadres like Shen Qingyun and the others, had taken root in Yin Xiaoman’s mind as an unshakable concern.

Now, whether she was busy or idle, she would often think: even if everyone had already begun preparing, what if a massive storm struck before they had stockpiled enough grain on the island?

Such thoughts could not be indulged too often — the more she thought about it, the more anxious she became.

After several days of such worry, she had begun dreaming night after night that they were stranded on the island and everyone was on the brink of starvation.

Each time she awoke in terror, drenched in cold sweat.

By all rights, she should have gone to speak with Li Chun long ago, to see if there was anything she could do to help her prepare a store of grain. But she had been too busy lately, and there hadn’t been much seafood prepared either, so the matter had been delayed until now.

She decided to take advantage of the fact that her husband had not yet returned and hurried to settle the matter.

The grain did not need to be of the finest quality — it only needed to be life-saving in a time of crisis.

As for how to retrieve the stockpiled grain when the time came? That could be figured out later. Yin Xiaoman hoped such a situation would never happen in her entire life.

She organized a barrel of seafood she had previously placed in the palace residence and delivered it to Li Chun. Yin Xiaoman left her a note, stating that from now on, there was no need to send her any other goods.

All the proceeds from the seafood exchange were to be converted into coarse rice and rough flour, prepared according to the palace’s disaster relief grain standards.

She also informed Li Chun that there was no need to rush the purchase. Once the amount of seafood she delivered reached the proper exchange quantity, she would arrange a delivery location with her.

Since she didn’t know when her husband would return, Yin Xiaoman hurried back to her room after finishing everything. She lay on the bed and waited for a long time. Eventually, she couldn’t resist sleep and dozed off — Shen Qingyun still had not returned.

When she awoke again, it was already broad daylight. The morning wake-up horn had already sounded. But when she glanced at the other side of the bed, not even the slightest trace of movement could be seen.

She furrowed her brows. What exactly had he and Elder Hua reported to the regiment? How could it take an entire night?

Yin Xiaoman got up from bed.

It was still early, and the children were still sleeping.

Unable to go back to sleep, she took up a water bucket, preparing to fetch some water. That way, Dami would have one less errand to run in the morning.

However, just as she stepped out the door, she was nearly knocked over by Shi Lei, who came running up from the opposite direction.

“Sister-in-law, heading out to fetch water so early? Here, let me.” As he spoke, he reached out to take the bucket from Yin Xiaoman’s hands.

Because they were so familiar with one another, Yin Xiaoman didn’t stand on ceremony. She handed it over directly, then smiled and asked: “You came over this early — were you looking for me?”

Shi Lei chuckled sheepishly. “Of course! If I’m not coming to see Sister-in-law first thing in the morning, what else would I be doing here?”

As he spoke, he scratched his head and looked at her a bit awkwardly. “Sister-in-law, about that… please don’t be mad at our Battalion Commander. He really didn’t have a choice. We don’t even know why, but the Regiment Commander suddenly insisted that he report to the regiment headquarters immediately. Said there was something important he needed to ask.”

“I’m telling you, that’s just how our Regiment Commander is — makes mountains out of molehills. We even met with him yesterday morning at the regiment HQ, and he didn’t mention a thing. Then after we got back, suddenly we were told the Battalion Commander had to report his thoughts.”

“And would you believe it? He personally came in a speedboat in the middle of the night just to take our Battalion Commander away. Who knows what’s going through his head?”

Shi Lei had returned from Jingcheng together with Shen Qingyun.

He had only just returned after being away for more than two months, and during that time, he had heard the Battalion Commander mention Sister-in-law and the children nearly every single day — to the point his ears had grown calloused from it.

Shi Lei knew better than anyone how genuinely deep the feelings were between the Battalion Commander and his wife.

But now, after just barely returning home, probably without exchanging more than a few words, the Battalion Commander had been summoned back to the regiment headquarters in the middle of the night…

Shi Lei had started worrying about it since the night before, fearing that Sister-in-law would be upset after finding out, and that she might give the Battalion Commander a cold shoulder afterward.

That would truly be a grave injustice to their Battalion Commander!

So, the moment the wake-up horn sounded, Shi Lei didn’t even bother attending morning roll call. He rushed over in a panic to explain everything to Yin Xiaoman.

It wasn’t until they had carried back both buckets of water, after listening to Shi Lei ramble and circle around the matter for a good while, that Yin Xiaoman finally understood what he was getting at.

So this whole visit was because he was afraid she might be unhappy, and would end up making things difficult for the Battalion Commander.

Once she realized it, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“All right, all right, you’d better get going now! A bachelor who doesn’t even have a wife, and your head is still full of all this nonsense. Why don’t you use that brain of yours to figure out how to find a wife instead? Isn’t the island recruiting military workers right now? If there’s a suitable girl, show some initiative and start courting someone early.”

What Yin Xiaoman said was from the heart.

There were too many bachelors on the island.

Elsewhere, there might at least be an annual home leave, or at the very least a chance to send letters or visit relatives. It wasn’t difficult for soldiers to find a partner under normal circumstances.

But here, no one could get in from outside, and those inside couldn’t leave — it was like being permanently stuck in place.

The soldiers had the option to return to civilian life after three years, but for cadres like Shi Lei, it was entirely possible that they might not get a single chance to leave the island in three to five years.

If he didn’t seize the current opportunity — with the new batch of military workers coming to the island — to meet someone and start a relationship, then by the time he returned home to find a partner, it would be a much tougher road ahead.

Shi Lei had not expected that what started as a simple effort to plead on the Battalion Commander’s behalf would end up turning into a conversation about his own personal affairs. Caught completely off guard, he immediately blushed a bright red.

“Sister-in-law, I was just giving you a heads-up — as long as you understand. When our Battalion Commander gets back, please don’t be mad at him.” he said hurriedly, then turned and fled.

He no longer dared to say another word to Yin Xiaoman.

Watching his flustered figure disappear in haste, Yin Xiaoman couldn’t hold back a burst of laughter.

In truth, Shi Lei had completely overthought the situation. No one understood better than she did where Shen Qingyun had gone and for what purpose—how could she possibly be angry?

Though she hadn’t expected the regiment to take the matter so seriously—to the point that Lu Ping had come in person late at night to escort her husband—just thinking about how those issues at home might be entirely resolved because of this brought a sense of ease and joy that was hard to describe.

That lightness she now felt—so thorough and unexpected—it was as though her whole being had become lighter.

With this realization, she decided to invite Li Fang over for a meal today and thank the girl properly.

Had it not been for her keen observations, this matter would never have been uncovered so early.

Just last night, after Li Fang had left, Elder Hua had immediately pointed out that the markings Li Fang described bore significant resemblance to the traces first discovered at the Military Worker Factory.

There was a high possibility that the culprits were the same group, with the same intentions.

Though the truth behind the matter was still unclear, the overall picture was already beginning to take shape.

Back then, in the explosion at the Military-Industrial Factory, the real targets were Engineer Ning, Elder Hua, and their team of Researchers. But the attackers had targeted the wrong location—none of the Research Team members had been in the factory at the time.

The incident quickly alerted the higher authorities, and the entire Research Team was evacuated at once.

Not only evacuated, but also completely dispersed. Even members from the same original group were sent off separately, with no knowledge of each other’s whereabouts.

This must have panicked the enemy. Naturally, they would begin casting a wide net, trying every possible way to find them.

It was precisely at this critical juncture that Elder Hua, through the Research Institute, had someone investigate Yin Xiaoman’s background.

It was most likely at this point that information had leaked.

Although Elder Hua hadn’t made a public appearance, it had still been at his request that the inquiries were made.

Those people had never managed to locate the Research Team, and once they finally caught wind of this lead, they became like cornered dogs leaping over walls—desperate and reckless, latching onto even the smallest clue with a death grip.

Fortunately, by the time Elder Hua’s investigation reached Yin Xiaoman, she had already left the area.

Unable to locate her, they dared not act recklessly or reveal their target. All they could do was set up ambushes in the village, lying in wait like hunters hoping for prey to stumble into their trap.

By now, the agents—having endured repeated crackdowns—had also grown far more cunning.

From the current situation, it appeared that they no longer contacted each other face to face. All communication had shifted to coded messages and secret signals.

But perhaps they could never have imagined that the very codes they had painstakingly devised would become the cause of their downfall.

It was simply misfortune on their part that they had crossed paths with someone as meticulous and detail-oriented as Li Fang.

The moment Li Fang left, Elder Hua took all the known pieces of the puzzle and seamlessly connected them into a coherent line of reasoning. His deductions were sound and precise, as if he had personally witnessed the entire operation, leaving no room for doubt.

Listening to him speak with such calm conviction, Yin Xiaoman had been utterly impressed. She truly could not fathom how her uncle’s mind worked—it was awe-inspiring.

She was filled with admiration for him.

However, Shen Qingyun, upon hearing everything, had been extremely displeased. His face darkened immediately.

Though he refrained from directly rebuking Elder Hua in front of Yin Xiaoman, it was plain to all present that he was genuinely furious.

Elder Hua understood this well. As an expert responsible for the design of military weaponry, he had seriously breached protocol.

He had violated the confidentiality regulations, failed to report his actions to higher authorities, and had privately leveraged his connections to make contact with the outside world—ultimately exposing his own identity.

No matter his reasons, the disciplinary consequences for such behavior were inevitable.

What weighed most heavily on Elder Hua’s conscience was the possibility that his carelessness may have brought misfortune upon those Female Educated Youth. He felt deep remorse over this, and quietly resolved that, if ever given the chance, he would do everything in his power to make amends.

Yet, as for his decision to seek out Yin Xiaoman, he harbored no regret.

The only thing he did regret was not having found a more discreet and secure method.

After all, had he not launched that investigation, he might have forever missed the chance to reunite with Xiaoman. He might never have been able to help his wife reconnect with the last remaining bloodline of the Jiang family.