Zhang Hongmei smiled and said, "Yes, Senior Miao is right. Our custom is to go out happily."

Men can cry when they see girls, but even a grown man would feel embarrassed. Even if his legs are weak right now, he has to hold on. It's all just heartbreaking tears.

At this moment, the captain disembarked and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I have fulfilled my mission and safely delivered you all. My task is now complete. You can now go to the hotel outside the airport to rest."

Wang Xinyi stepped forward and said, "Thank you, Pete. Thank you so much for taking care of me along the way."

Everyone could understand these simple conversations and thanked Pete.

While everyone was distracted, Zhang Hongmei slipped the note with the words "Safe Arrival" that she had written on the plane into her ring.

Meanwhile, Zhang Shouyi was in his office, berating people. He was really berating them; though not in the hysterical way, his cold expression and disdainful gaze left the people being berated feeling utterly hopeless. They began to question their existence: why were they so stupid? Why couldn't they do their jobs well?

Looking at the three idiots in front of him, Zhang Shouyi really felt that they were wasting food. How come he hadn't noticed this problem before? Seeing their regretful and wishful-to-die expressions, he despised them even more. A bunch of good-for-nothing fools.

Suddenly, he felt a note arrive. Ignoring the people standing there, he turned and went into his own lounge. He closed the door, handed over the note, and upon seeing the four words on it, all his anxiety, unease, fear, and regret vanished. He himself didn't realize how incongruous his expression—a mixture of crying and laughing—was.

I looked at those four characters again carefully. They weren't written in a panic. Couldn't they have written a few more? You brat, you have no idea how conflicted I am.

Now he could finally give Gu Chuanming the gift he had prepared. Thinking of this, Zhang Shouyi gritted his teeth again. Everyone else had jade ornaments, so why was his a gold one? Did she think he was so greedy?

Even if he really had a fierce thought, the expression on his face betrayed him. He quickly picked up a pen and wrote a sentence, which then disappeared into thin air from his hand.

He straightened his expression and left the lounge. "Alright, be more careful in the future. You are all cadres elected by the people, and your duty is to serve the people wholeheartedly. Please live up to the people's trust."

The three men shuddered in fright. What was going on? Just moments ago, the men who had belittled them felt like they were a burden on the world, so why had their tone changed so drastically now?

One of the bolder officials from the Ministry of Agriculture secretly raised his head to glance at Zhang Shouyi, and was even more frightened. Why was he still smiling? He quickly lowered his head, his heart pounding with anxiety.

"Alright, get back to work and realize your value."

After raising the object high and lowering it gently, the group hesitated for a moment before unanimously and impatiently leaving Zhang Shouyi's office.

"Old Zhou, why did our leader become so easy to talk to after just one visit to the break room? Is he planning to punish us later?" Thinking of this, even a grown man felt like crying.

"Old Li, you don't know, I just secretly glanced at the leader, and he was even smiling. It was really creepy." He wiped the sweat from his forehead, still feeling uneasy.

"Alright, you two, hurry up and get back to what you were doing. Are you unhappy that you haven't been punished?"

"No, no, I'm off. I'm going to keep an eye on the experimental field. I don't know where the leaders got the seeds, but in my experience, this really can succeed."

"I'm leaving too. This elasticated fabric will be developed in a few days; it'll be a really good thing."

The three walked and talked, and soon parted ways.

In his office, Zhang Shouyi fiddled with the gold ornament Zhang Hongmei had given him, feeling the warmth of that girl still lingering on it.

My heart, which had been in my throat, finally settled back down; at least I knew she was safe.

At this moment, Zhang Hongmei and the others shouldered their luggage and walked in the direction Pete had pointed out.

"Hongmei, shall we go straight back to our place, or stay at a hotel first?"

"Aunt Wang, is the accommodation you arranged for us big enough? Is it far from here?"

"It should be quite far from here, probably a two or three-hour walk. I'm not sure about the size."

"Then let's stay at a hotel. Brother Zhang said someone will make arrangements. We should be able to wait for them at a hotel near the airport."

"OK."

The others had no objections; they now regarded Wang Xinyi as their pillar of support and followed her arrangements in everything.

It took the seventeen people about half an hour to get out of the airport, and the waiting room was very quiet. However, there were two people standing there, one in his forties and the other in his twenties. They immediately came up to greet them when they saw them come out.

"Comrade, I am a Chinese citizen. I have been notified to take charge of your next steps. Don't be afraid. My name is Zhao Tiancheng, and I am from Zhejiang."

Han Guangtai stepped forward and shook hands with Zhao Tiancheng. "Hello, Comrade Zhao. It's so late, and you're still waiting here for me."

"Hehe, that's only right. Even if we don't receive any notice from above, we would still do this if we knew that our fellow villagers were here. Let me introduce you, this is my son, Zhao Haozheng. He is currently a freshman at the National University of M country."

"Hello everyone, welcome to Country M. Please feel free to ask if you need anything in the future."

Everyone introduced themselves and greeted each other. In the dim light, Zhang Hongmei could see the two men's faces clearly. They both looked quite upright and not the kind of people whose faces looked bad.

"It's late now, let's just stay at the hotel for the night, take a nice hot shower and relax. Tomorrow I'll take you all to register at the school. You all have all the paperwork with you, right?"

"Yes. Don't worry, I've brought everything."

The group arrived at the hotel, where they were again in a double room with a bathroom attached to the bedroom. What pleased Zhang Hongmei the most was the presence of a showerhead, which was perfect.

She shared a room with Wang Xinyi again. Zhang Hongmei went to take a shower first, and Wang Xinyi made the bed. Both of them were very clean, so no one complained about the trouble.

Zhang Hongmei stood under the showerhead, feeling the hot water washing over her body. The physical and mental fatigue from the journey had lessened considerably.

They came out in no time. Now it was Wang Xinyi's turn to go in and take a shower. Zhang Hongmei knew that Zhang Shouyi had replied to her letter, but since this was the only opportunity, she gave a brief explanation, emphasizing Zhao Tiancheng and his son, as well as the matter of going to school tomorrow.