Chapter 50.2

By the time Su Xi and the others had finished their shopping, two hours had already passed.

As they became more familiar with the routine, they left the large and small bags of purchased items directly in the manager’s office.

Then, with the manager’s teasing gaze upon them, they took the borrowed bicycle lock key and happily went on their date.

This… was their main purpose for the day!

Xie Zhen took a bicycle out of the bike shed, then secured a thick cushion on the back seat. After that, he swung his long leg over the bike, placed one foot on the pedal and the other on the ground, and looked at Su Xi. “Get on, we’re going to ride.”

Her fiancé looked so handsome even riding a bicycle, making people yearn for him. Look at those long legs.

Su Xi’s lips curved into a smile as she quickly climbed on and wrapped one arm around the man’s waist, curiously asking, “Why is there a cushion?”

Xie Zhen pushed off with his long legs, and the bike slid forward. “I asked Old Feng to get it for me.”

Old Feng was the manager of the department store.

When Old Feng heard his request at that time, the expression on his face, as if to mockingly say, “Look at you now,” made him find it somewhat amusing.

Not only were others surprised, but even he hadn’t expected that his life would turn out like this after having Xixi.

He was strong, pedaling quickly against the warm wind, and in the blink of an eye, they had covered some distance.

As they chatted casually, they jolted over a rough patch in the ground. Xie Zhen asked with concern, “Are you alright? With the cushion, does your butt still hurt?”

“What’s wrong?” Not receiving a response from his partner, Xie Zhen squeezed the brakes, stopped, and turned to look at the young woman.

Su Xi came back to her senses and hesitated before saying, “I think I just saw Wu Hongmei.”

Xie Zhen glanced around instinctively and asked, “Who is that?”

Su Xi hesitated, “You don’t remember? The girl who almost knocked Grandma Chen over a few days ago.”

Hearing this, Xie Zhen’s expression remained indifferent. “What’s so special about her?”

Su Xi, a bit conflicted, tugged at the man’s shirt around his waist. “I don’t want to get involved, but Sister-in-law Wu is very good to Grandma Chen. The three of us are quite busy, and fortunately, Sister-in-law Wu got along well with Grandma Chen after she came to the island.”

Xie Zhen understood. “So, what are you suggesting?”

Su Xi explained, “Yesterday, I heard Grandma Chen mentioning that Major Wu was planning to send Wu Hongmei back to her hometown. How did she end up in the city? And she’s with a man.”

Xie Zhen patted the young woman’s head and raised an eyebrow. “Want to follow her and see?”

Su Xi was actually reluctant. Wu Hongmei was not a child and had her own judgment. However, thinking about how Sister-in-law Wu always thought of Grandma Chen, she couldn’t bring herself to ignore it.

After a moment, Su Xi resignedly sighed. “Fine, I’ll follow her and take a look from a distance. Once I confirm where she’s going, I’ll give Major Wu a call.”

Xie Zhen listened to his fiancée. Riding the bicycle made it difficult to follow closely, but fortunately, there was a parking lot not far away with an old man in charge of looking after the bikes. After paying a small fee, they left their bikes there.

Then they followed the direction where they had seen Wu Hongmei, quickly catching up to her.

In just a few minutes, Su Xi and Xie Zhen had fallen behind the two people.

Once they entered the alley, they found it was winding and twisted, with a bend every few meters.

Both were trained soldiers, and Xie Zhen, in particular, was very skilled at concealing himself.

Even though the people ahead were ordinary, they kept a safe distance, maintaining an appropriate separation.

Su Xi had excellent senses, and even though they were several hundred meters away, she could clearly hear the conversation of the two ahead once she blocked out the background noise.

Although she couldn’t see them, Su Xi listened intently to their conversation.

The more she listened, the more something felt off.

“What’s wrong?” Xie Zhen noticed his fiancée’s expression growing increasingly troubled.

Su Xi took a deep breath and said, “I heard Wu Hongmei and her companion discussing that they planned to get a group together in the afternoon to go and smash places owned by people with overseas connections or academic staff, intending to make a fortune to use as their wedding money…”

By the end, Su Xi’s voice had become hoarse.

This was Su Xi’s softened version of their words; the original statement was too harsh for her to repeat.

She still remembered the girl from last year, who had been praised by Grandma Chen as strong and plump, smiling with pride. At that time, all she had seen in her eyes was innocence and simplicity.

However, after a catastrophe, with all kinds of demons and monsters emerging, human nature… could sometimes be truly frightening.

Xie Zhen was also surprised. After landing today, he had noticed that the situation in the city was even more tense than a few days ago.

Although they might have avoided some unpleasant scenes due to the timing, the entire city was filled with various red slogans, and pedestrians were hurrying along, their heads down, and not even talking.

Reflecting on this, Xie Zhen felt a heavy weight in his heart. He did not ask Su Xi how she was able to hear conversations from several hundred meters away.

Xie Zhen had always known the young woman had her secrets, but he had never actively sought to uncover them. He trusted that if she chose not to speak, she must have her reasons.

“What else did they say?” Xie Zhen frowned as he looked at the increasingly troubled expression on the young woman’s face.

Su Xi took a deep breath, trying to calm her rising frustration. “The man said… they could use the fact that Wu Hongmei’s brother is an officer to their advantage, to intimidate others. That way, they could be the leaders and get more.”

Xie Zhen’s eyes flashed with a sharp, cold light. His lips pressed into a straight line, clearly angry. The involvement of military personnel had touched his bottom line.

Soldiers like him, who faced danger on the front lines, had their families back home, and it was infuriating that someone would use such an opportunity for such despicable acts.

Even though he managed his emotions well, his fists were clenched tightly. “So, the man is interested in that fool from the Old Wu family because of this?”

Su Xi felt that calling Wu Hongmei a fool was quite apt. “I think that’s the case. From what I’ve heard, it’s clear that this person is cold and malicious but also calculating. I don’t mean to look down on Wu Hongmei, but someone like him wouldn’t be interested in her.”

There was little that Xie Zhen and Su Xi could do about other issues; it was a matter of changing times. However, they could not allow Wu Hongmei to exploit Major Wu’s position.

Xie Zhen and Su Xi exchanged glances, understanding each other’s decision.

They would first incapacitate Wu Hongmei and take her directly to Major Wu.

Major Wu was a principled man, the kind who did not tolerate any form of deviation. Wu Hongmei would not fare well in his hands.

With this in mind, they quickened their pace but still moved lightly towards Wu Hongmei.

When they got within about two hundred meters, they saw Wu Hongmei following the man into a courtyard from a distance.

Su Xi furrowed her brow and looked at Xie Zhen. “Could this be the man’s home?”

Xie Zhen surveyed the surroundings. This area was one of the more impoverished parts of the city, with each courtyard housing about ten families.

Each household occupied no more than twenty to thirty square meters, and it was common for many people to be crammed together.

The tight housing situation led to narrow and winding alleyways. The fact that Su Xi and the others had followed for so long without being discovered was partly due to this.

Xie Zhen analyzed, “You mentioned before that Wu Hongmei’s partner came from a poor family and their house wasn’t large. It should be here; this is the poorest area in the city.”

Su Xi hesitated, “What should we do then? Should we go in and arrest them directly? Wouldn’t that be inappropriate?”

Just now, outside, with their skills, it was very simple to silently take someone away.

But now that they had entered the house and could hear the loud commotion, it was clear that there were many people in the yard, which made things more complicated.

Xie Zhen said, “Let’s follow them first. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll call Old Wu and let him handle it.”

Su Xi responded, “If Deputy Wu comes over, it will be at least two hours later. What if Wu Hongmei makes a mistake before then?”

Xie Zhen’s eyelids lowered slightly, “She’s an adult; any mistakes she makes are her own choice. No one forced her. I followed not for her sake, but because it’s a shame for Old Wu’s twenty-plus years of military service.”

Xie Zhen spoke coldly. Wu Hongmei’s fate was of no concern to him.

He always believed that people should be responsible for their actions.

Su Xi didn’t quite understand this aspect, “Won’t it affect Deputy Wu?”

Xie Zhen’s lips curled slightly as he reassured her, “This kind of thing won’t have much impact. We’ll just testify for Old Wu. As long as no one is deliberately targeting him, it’s not a big deal. Besides, Zhang Lu isn’t that kind of person.”

Su Xi sighed in relief. As long as it didn’t affect Deputy Wu, she was fine.

She still had a good impression of the Wu family and couldn’t just watch them fall into trouble.

It was still because of such a melodramatic reason.

Su Xi also felt powerless to comment. She had only heard of “tricking one’s father,” but this was the first time she had heard of “tricking one’s brother.” She couldn’t understand how Deputy Wu and the others had ended up with such a troublesome sister.

Despite the trouble, Su Xi thought that if they could take Wu Hongmei away now, it would be best to do it immediately to eliminate any negative possibilities.

As they spoke, the two of them swayed like passersby to the outside of the room where Wu Hongmei had entered.

Then, Xie Zhen heard a loud, elderly voice from the courtyard: “Me? I just cherish someone like our Hongmei. My Junjun also likes you. Hongmei is so blessed; she has a big butt and will definitely be able to bear me ten or eight chubby little boys in the future.”

Su Xi: “……”

Xie Zhen: “……”

Although these somewhat insulting words were said, Wu Hongmei was overjoyed.

Soon, her self-satisfied voice came from inside the house: “Of course! I’m just lucky; otherwise, how could I be the Major’s sister?”

“Oh my, I heard it’s a Deputy Commander. Isn’t there still someone with a higher position?” A sarcastic female voice chimed in, dripping with obvious disdain.

Wu Hongmei seemed not to expect that her boasting would backfire; she hurriedly replied, “So what? The proper regiment is marrying our neighbor, the doctor! Colonel Xie Zhen and Doctor Su Xi are really close with me.”

Upon hearing this, Xie Zhen and Su Xi’s faces turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.

They knew that their unit had a high level of confidentiality; all family members who landed on the island had to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Wu Hongmei carelessly revealed the Commander’s name; just this one sentence could get her into trouble, and even Major Wu could be implicated.

To prevent her from disclosing more, the two decided to abandon their previous concerns. They planned to barge in directly and forcefully take Wu Hongmei out when—

Su Xi’s ears suddenly twitched, and her expression changed instantly. She grabbed Xie Zhen’s hand, turned, and headed outside.

Then, in a quiet voice, she said, “Change your expression, act a bit closer to me!”

Xie Zhen quickly put on a gentle and affectionate smile, instinctively wrapping his arm around the girl’s shoulder, asking nothing and just following Su Xi’s lead out.

It wasn’t until they reached the end of the alley that Su Xi finally relaxed her tense muscles; her legs felt a bit weak.

Xie Zhen, not caring about the few people scattered on the street who looked at them like thugs, half-held, half-embraced Su Xi and led her to a more distant and secluded place, worriedly asking, “What’s wrong? Did you see something or hear something?”

Su Xi didn’t respond immediately but closed her eyes to sense the movements around them.

Once she confirmed that there was no one nearby, she turned to Xie Zhen with an unusually serious expression and whispered, “I heard the sound of a telegram being sent inside the house!”