That makes sense. That explains why even Huo Qi couldn't find out about him and even deliberately avoided Sir James, but Nie Yao, who was only invited by the media to conduct interviews and reports, was wary of him.

It's not that he developed a sense of vigilance after becoming a war correspondent and undergoing training.

Rather, he already knew that everyone who was on good terms with his mother had problems.

That's why he would warn Chen Rou when he was staring at her with ill intent and she wasn't on guard.

When Chen Rou came out of the shower, she saw Nie Zhao had turned on the TV again and was watching a rebroadcast of the news.

As he watched her lie down on the bed, he first pointed to the battalion commander speaking on TV and asked, "Do you know him?"

Chen Rou shook her head, but her eyes were full of admiration. She smiled and said, "He is neither as honest as Chen Ke nor as gentle as Yue Zhongqi. He has an avoidant personality. He is a tough character who likes to confront things head-on. He is a troublemaker."

Nie Zhao nodded and said meaningfully, "Let's try diplomacy first, then force. There are experts in the capital who can deal with Hong Kong."

This brings us to the several military campaigns waged by the mainland before the handover.

Chen Ke and his group, who arrived earlier, were naturally mature due to their age. They were both reliable and gentle, which earned them the trust of the Kowloon citizens. However, this also led the then government and citizens to look down on them, thinking that the mainland soldiers were nothing special.

However, among the advance troops, there were troublemakers among the generals and soldiers, especially that battalion commander, whose eyes could kill.

His mere presence instilled fear in people; this strategy of first showing courtesy and then resorting to force was undoubtedly orchestrated by a mastermind behind the scenes.

In Chen Rou's previous life, when she was very young, the nationwide celebration of Hong Kong's return to China was also fraught with danger and intrigue. Hong Kong's smooth return was, of course, due to the presence of a powerful figure behind the scenes.

Unfortunately, the kind of sophisticated sarcasm that Jazz James used has never been unearthed.

Speaking of which, seeing his wife looking at the man on TV with the same look in her eyes as Ah Yuan looked at his mother, Nie Zhao felt a little melancholy. How could there be so many outstanding talents on the mainland, each one better than the last?

By the way, Chen Rou mentioned Nie Yao earlier. Actually, Nie Zhao had already seen Nie Yao on TV.

Just then, Nie Yao appeared on the rebroadcast screen. He pointed at him with the remote and said, "Our Second Master is quite interesting. He's a photojournalist, right? But why is he standing on the steps the whole time?"

Chen Rou only then noticed and explained to Nie Zhao, "He was filming the reporter in the opposite direction; he was helping me."

At a single party, she didn't have much time to plant listening devices on men. Of course, she had practiced peeling eggshells with one hand, so she was skilled at it. And when she did it, a large number of reporters were taking pictures on the red carpet.

Even if they filmed her, if they didn't film her up close and slow it down, watching frame by frame, you wouldn't be able to see anything.

But at that time, Nie Yao was standing in the shadows on the steps, pressing the shutter from below.

When his flash collides with the flashes below, all the cameras are overexposed, resulting in a blank image.

It has to be said that Nie Yao has made something of himself; he knows how to cooperate with her quietly and tacitly.

Moreover, he was an old acquaintance of the governor's chief secretary, and they were obviously very close.

The advance troops have just arrived and are already being bullied and treated unfairly. If they are going to suffer the same humiliation as their neighbors, the British army, then they should just tell Nie Yao, who will then pass the message on to the chief secretary and then to the governor. Wouldn't that reduce the amount of bullying they suffer?

Chen Rou wasn't used to staying up late, and it was almost 2 a.m., so she fell asleep while thinking about it.

Nie Zhao was angry with Nie Yao again, but he couldn't find a reason to be angry. After thinking about it, he naturally couldn't sleep again.

Many things are truly a case of "the flowers you plant with care may not bloom, while the willows you plant unintentionally may thrive," leaving one both amused and exasperated.

But of course, achieving that effect doesn't rely on luck.

The following afternoon, Huo Qi arrived uninvited at the Nie family home and invited Chen Rou to Nie Jiajun's room, saying he wanted to play her a recording. Nie Jiajun, who had come back with him, smiled and said, "Xi Niang, your good luck has helped us catch a big fish."

He thought it was just luck, but Huo Qi said, "That wasn't good luck, but rather caution and meticulousness."

They transcribed radio recordings onto CDs, which can be played directly on a computer by simply opening the file.

This recording was made by Huo Qi after he confirmed that Chen Rou had planted a bugging device on Lieutenant Colonel Wali. He moved the radio near the military camp and listened in. When he played it, Sir James's voice could be heard.

He said, "My dear Colonel, please believe me, the intuition of an old soldier who has served in the Royal Navy since the age of 18, Miss Nie, that woman is an agent from the mainland."

Then came Colonel Rango's voice: "You said she would install a bug on me, but she didn't."

Sir James said, "But you lost a button, and that was her doing."

Colonel Lango laughed and said, "Come on, don't you know that our uniforms are getting worse and worse? As proud British Royal Army soldiers, we always have buttons falling off on various occasions. We've been forced to become tailors."

If military strength is weak, everything else will fall apart, especially the quality of military uniforms. The quality of British soldiers' uniforms is getting worse year by year; Chen Rou just scratched it off with a blade.

He not only didn't believe the suggestion about buttons, but also found it ridiculous.

Furthermore, through this wiretapping, Chen Rou discovered a problem: the code name 'Robin' did not refer to a person, but rather represented the head of the military intelligence agency in Hong Kong.

It is James, and it is also Colonel Rango.

"Well then," James continued, "My esteemed colonel, we are about to withdraw. At this stage, our superiors have instructed us to conceal our strength, preserve our power, and put all our subordinates into hibernation mode. That is exactly what we should be doing. Even if Miss Nie is not a mainland agent, you should not meet with her again, because she is pro-mainland."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!