Xu Xinghe nodded and followed Aunt Mei as they turned and went down the mountain.

She didn't say a word the whole way, and the depression in her heart lingered for a long time.

When I returned to the courtyard, it was already past noon.

Half an hour later, a knock came at the door, and a familiar figure came into view.

Lin Hui was standing outside the courtyard, holding an exquisite food box in her hand, containing several uniquely shaped pastries. She had a bright smile on her face, as if she had something happy to share.

"Xinghe, you're finally back!" Lin Hui strode forward and handed her the food box. "I had nothing to do today, so I baked some pastries. I thought I'd let you try them out. What do you think?"

Looking at the unrestrained smile on her face, Xu Xinghe felt an instant surge of annoyance.

She had just returned from a funeral and was already feeling unwell.

As Director Li's wife, Lin Hui couldn't possibly be unaware of the news that a soldier had died yesterday.

But instead of being sad at all, she was laughing so happily, which made Xu Xinghe particularly disgusted.

"No need, thank you, sister-in-law." Her tone was indifferent. "I've already eaten, you should take these pastries back with you."

"Oh dear, a few pastries won't fill you up." Lin Hui persisted, squeezing into the courtyard and placing the food box on the stone table. She put on an apologetic expression. "Xinghe, I didn't think things through when I brought up the idea of ​​becoming godparents. I didn't consider your feelings. Please don't be angry. I just like you so much that I said those things in a moment of confusion."

“I’m not angry.” Xu Xinghe’s voice was calm. “It’s just that I’m not in the mood today. The dead soldiers were our comrades-in-arms in the military and people I knew. I have no appetite for this right now.”

After she finished speaking, she turned around and went into the house without waiting for Lin Hui to say anything more, and closed the door behind her.

She needs time to process things herself, not to force a smile for him!

Lin Hui, standing outside the door, froze in place, her smile instantly gone.

Only then did she vaguely recall that Director Li had mentioned yesterday that a soldier had died while reinforcing the mountain.

But at the time, she was only thinking about how to get the prescription out of him and didn't pay any attention to it.

So what if he died? He was just an insignificant nobody. What's there to care about?

But to her utter surprise, Xu Xinghe actually knew that soldier!

And judging from her reaction, she seemed quite familiar with it.

Lin Hui's face darkened, somewhat annoyed by her oversight.

She shouldn't have come at this time, and she shouldn't have been smiling so happily. This undoubtedly offended Xu Xinghe and made their relationship even more distant!

Lin Hui stormed back to the guesthouse, slamming the food box she was carrying onto the table as soon as she entered, scattering the delicate pastries all over the floor.

She paced back and forth restlessly, her face so gloomy it seemed to drip water.

Xu Xinghe is such a stubborn woman, she's completely impervious to reason!

She tried everything – soft and hard tactics, bribery and flattery – but instead of getting any closer to the other person, she only made them more distant, to the point that they wouldn't even let her in the door!

"Damn it!" Lin Hui cursed under her breath, kicking the chair leg. "That soldier couldn't have died at the worst possible time! Of all times, he had to die at this crucial moment, making my plans backfire and needlessly incurring Xu Xinghe's wrath!"

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and she felt anxious and panicked.

The railway repairs are progressing faster and faster, and the General could leave at any time. Her time is running out, but there's still no sign of a cure.

If this continues, the mission will surely fail.

She's done so much, she simply can't accept this outcome.

Moreover, once she misses this opportunity, it will be difficult for her to achieve such great merit again and return to her homeland.

More importantly, there will be penalties for failing the mission.

Just as Lin Hui was becoming extremely anxious, there was a soft knock on the door, accompanied by the voice of a guesthouse staff member, "Comrade Lin, someone has brought you something."

Lin Hui paused for a moment, suppressed her anger, and replied calmly, "Come in."

A staff member pushed open the door and entered, carrying an enamel bowl containing a piece of steaming tofu, white and tender, looking very fresh.

"Comrade Lin, this is tofu delivered by the supply and marketing cooperative. They said you left a coupon for bean products before, and they specifically asked for it to be delivered today."

"Tofu?" Lin Hui's heart skipped a beat, and she instantly realized what it meant.

This is the emergency contact method that was agreed upon with her above.

She remained calm and smiled as she took the enamel bowl. "Oh, right, I had forgotten about that. Thank you for making this trip."

The staff member waved his hand, turned around, and left the room.

Lin Hui immediately closed the door, locked it, and quickly walked to the table.

She picked up the enamel bowl and carefully examined the tofu. It looked no different from ordinary tofu on the surface, smooth and intact, without any flaws.

She picked up the small spoon on the table and carefully cut the tofu in half.

Sure enough, hidden in the center of the tofu was a small ball of paper tightly wrapped in oil paper. The oil paper was waterproof and was not soaked by the moisture from the tofu.

This method of transmitting messages is extremely covert.

When the soldiers went to the supply and marketing cooperative to pick up the goods, they only checked the containers that contained the tofu. No one would have thought that the information would be hidden inside the tofu.

Asking the supply and marketing cooperative to deliver tofu under the pretext of reserving coupons for bean products would not arouse any suspicion.

Lin Hui held her breath and carefully unwrapped the oil paper. Inside was a neatly folded small strip of paper.

She unfolded the note, quickly scanned the writing, and her face instantly turned deathly pale; her fingers holding the note trembled slightly.

The note was concise: "You have three days to obtain the ointment or the complete prescription. Several of our officers have already been arrested, those who knew your identity have been evacuated, and you need not worry about the rest of the unrelated personnel. However, you must expedite the process and not delay any longer!"

Lin Hui's heart sank to the bottom.

Unexpectedly, several of her accomplices had already been arrested. Although those who knew her identity had escaped, this meant that the situation was becoming increasingly dangerous.

The higher-ups no longer had the patience to wait for her to slowly lay out her plans.

A three-day deadline is practically pushing her to the brink of despair!

Lin Hui didn't dare to delay at all. She picked up the note, walked to the bedside, tore it to shreds in a few quick movements, then put the pieces of paper into her mouth, chewed them slowly, and swallowed them.

No trace should be left.

After doing all this, she sat on the bed, her face extremely pale.

In just three days, Xu Xinghe remained so wary of her. Neither gentle persuasion nor forceful tactics worked. It seemed that the only breakthrough lay with Lao Li.

However, Old Li has a very big problem: once he gets the prescription, he will absolutely not show it to me.

Even if she were his wife, when it comes to something so important, Lao Li would still prioritize the rules.

This is why Lin Hui kept trying to find a solution on her own, and never tried to get help from Lao Li.