Chapter 123

Because of the special nature of Shengshan Island, Zhao Bo had to obtain approval from the organization before he could find his daughter and bring her to the island.

The organization had investigated Zhao Fenfang's identity before, and there was no problem. However, the investigation was not in-depth enough at the time, because Zhao Fenfang was indeed Zhao Bo's biological daughter, and she was indeed sold when she was young. Everything matched up, and the family that bought Zhao Fenfang had lived in the village for decades, so everyone knew them.

Everything was too normal, which led to the organization falling into the enemy's trap.

But after Lin Tao told Li Chengxi about Zhao Fenfang's abnormality last time, he immediately re-investigated Zhao Fenfang's identity. The result of this investigation was that he discovered something unusual beneath the layers of Zhao Fenfang's cover.

The people who bought Zhao Fenfang were not ordinary people, but enemy forces remaining in the country. They have lived here for decades, and no one knows their true identity. Their mission is to buy little girls, raise them, and then send them to various military regions to work as spies and collect intelligence.

Li Chengxi discovered something wrong this time when he found out that the family had bought more than one girl over the years. They had bought five girls in total. After growing up, these five girls all joined the army for different reasons.

When the organization sent people to capture Zhao Fenfang, it was her 21st birthday. Zhao Bo took a boat to the city early and bought her a small basket of dumplings to celebrate her birthday.

Because this was Zhao Fenfang’s favorite Xiaolongbao when she was a child, but her family was not well off at that time, so only on Zhao Fenfang’s birthday every year would Zhao Bo take her out of the island to eat Xiaolongbao.

"You haven't eaten this steamed bun for more than ten years. Come and try it and see if you still feel like you did when you were a child." Zhao Bo was in poor health. He had been exhausted from searching for his daughter over the years. He ran back and forth from the island to the city in one morning. When he got home, he was out of breath.

Zhao Fenfang looked at the steamed buns still emitting heat and remained silent.

She was sold when she was very young and could not remember anything from her childhood. She had no feelings for Uncle Zhao either. But when she saw Xiao Longbao at this moment, the memories of her childhood seemed to have grown legs and ran into her mind.

She grabbed a small steamed bun and took a bite.

She didn't know that the taste was different from that of more than ten years ago, but she felt a little more sad.

However, before she finished eating the whole steamed bun, the people sent by the organization to arrest her arrived, and Zhao Fenfang was taken away in front of Zhao Bo.

As a spy, Zhao Fenfang had already prepared herself for being discovered, although she didn't understand where she had been exposed, and she never expected that she would be caught before her mission officially began.

But at this moment, watching Uncle Zhao asking why they arrested his daughter, what his daughter had done wrong, and begging them not to arrest his daughter, the thing Zhao Fenfang wanted to do most was to call him, "Dad..."

It has been three months since Zhao Fenfang was found by Zhao Bo. During this period, she has called Zhao Bo "Dad" countless times, but who knows how much true emotion is contained in it?

This is the only voice that comes from the heart.

It was not known whether Zhao Fenfang had a change of heart or she could no longer make excuses in the face of the overwhelming evidence. She confessed to everything the organization had asked her to do, but there were some things she really did not know. There were limits to what spies like them knew.

The people who raised them only taught them how to seduce their targets, practiced shooting and daggers, and took them to the mountains to live for a few days, leaving them to fend for themselves.

They didn't even know where the people they grew up with were sent to, but Zhao Fenfang had a good relationship with one of them and they kept in touch later, and she finally gave them some useful information.

Zhao Fenfang, who seemed harmless and had good relationships with everyone, turned out to be a spy. This was explosive news on the island.

After Chen Shuifen knew about this, she was so angry that she gnashed her teeth. If Zhao Fenfang was next to her, she would probably want to strangle Zhao Fenfang to death. That's right, in the past few months, she has been very nice to Zhao Fenfang, felt sorry for her, treated her like her own sister, and was very concerned about her marriage.

It turns out that the other party is a spy who has been playing tricks on her.

Chen Shuifen gritted her teeth and said, "Damn Zhao Fenfang, I still treat her as my own sister. No wonder she always drags her around and says she wants to see more of the island. Now that I think about it, she must have bad intentions! But it's a good thing that Xiao Niu didn't succeed, otherwise I would have really hurt Xiao Niu. She has a bright future ahead of her. If she had been with a spy, she would have been affected."

When it comes to influence, Chen Shuifen starts to worry again: "Teacher Lin, we had such a good relationship with her before, will we also be affected? Will our Lao Zheng be criticized by the organization? No, I have to think about whether I have leaked any secrets in front of her."

But how could Chen Shuifen know such a confidential matter? She recalled that when she and Zhao Fenfang were together, they talked most about finding a partner and what to eat. Chen Shuifen felt relieved.

Lin Tao also said, "It should be fine. I heard from Cheng Xi that Zhao Fenfang was arrested before she could send out the intelligence she collected. And this is the first time we have encountered this, so we lack vigilance. No one would have thought that the spies were right next to us."

Xu Yuting nodded and agreed, "Yes, when Ah Tao first told me that she felt something was wrong with Zhao Fenfang, I thought she was trying to cheat Uncle Zhao out of money."

Chen Shuifen was puzzled: "Ah? Teacher Lin suspected that female spy? When did it happen? Why didn't you tell me?"

Lin Tao pursed her lips and smiled, saying, "It happened a month ago. At that time, you and Zhao Fenfang were so close that I was afraid that if I told you, you wouldn't be able to hold it back and let the other party reveal the truth, so I didn't tell you."

Chen Shuifen knew this. If Lin Tao had told her, she really didn't know what she would do. Would she continue to believe Zhao Fenfang? Or would she directly question Zhao Fenfang?

Anyway, neither of these two results is good. Think about it, it is right not to tell her such an important thing.

Thinking of Uncle Zhao, Chen Shuifen sighed again: "But Uncle Zhao is also quite pitiful. He thought he had found his daughter, but he didn't know that his daughter turned out to be a spy. Tell me, is Zhao Fenfang stupid? She has returned home, why is she still listening to others? In my opinion, what mission or not? I don't care about anything when I return home. Let's see what they can do to me."

It's easy to say, but the twists and turns behind it are beyond their ability to understand, so it's probably not that easy.

Lin Tao didn't say much about this, but she talked about Zhao Bo: "Yes, I saw him yesterday and found that his hair was all white."

Xu Yuting: "He's only in his forties, but he looks like he's in his sixties. He's such a pitiful person."

Two days after Zhao Fenfang was arrested, Xie Cong returned from his hometown. He was shocked to hear about the spy incident, but what shocked him even more was that Lu Chengze told him that he planned to resign and go to the frontier.

"Have you decided to go?" Xie Cong asked.

The Lu family arranged Lu Chengze here to prevent him from going to the border, which was a hard and dangerous place. But Lu Chengze always wanted to go there. He came to the island because his grandfather asked him to come many times. But after staying on the island for a few months, he still wanted to go to the border.

Xie Cong asked, "Isn't it because of the rumors about you and Teacher Lin a while ago? That matter has passed. Didn't the female spy admit that she deliberately spread the rumors? Didn't no one talk about it anymore? Why are you still thinking about it?"

"No, Uncle Xie, the bigger reason why I want to leave is because I still want to go to the frontier." Lu Chengze shook his head, "It's all good here, but it's not the life I want to live. I just want to be a frontier warrior."

Xie Cong sighed: "Have you really decided?"

Lu Chengze: "Well, it's decided."

"If you have really made up your mind, then go for it. You only live once, so don't be like me, leaving regrets when you are young, and then regretting the decisions you made when you were young when you are old." Xie Cong sighed, and what happened back then will always be a thorn in his heart.

It hurts when I touch it.

Lu Chengze chose to wait until Xie Cong came back before mentioning his departure because he did not want to affect the students' studies. Before he left, he left a lot of things for the students, all of which he brought from Beijing. When he left, the only things he took away were his accordion and a few sets of clothes.

Before leaving, Lu Chengze said goodbye to the students and several teachers, except Lin Tao. Although Lin Tao was honest and had a clear conscience about the rumors before, Lu Chengze didn't want Lin Tao to be affected by him again. So before he left, he left a letter for Xie Cong and asked Xie Cong to pass it to Lin Tao, as a farewell.

The day Lu Chengze left was a rest day. It was not until Monday when Lin Tao went to class that she found out that Lu Chengze had already left the island.

To be honest, after spending a few months together, Lin Tao's impression of Lu Chengze has changed a lot. Although the two of them deliberately avoided each other for a while to avoid suspicion because of the rumors, in Lin Tao's heart, Lu Chengze is a good teacher and a good partner.

Lin Tao felt a little regretful that he left so suddenly without even seeing him for the last time.

But after hearing Xie Cong say that Lu Chengze went to the frontier, Lin Tao remembered that day in the class meeting, Lu Chengze said his dream was to go to the frontier and become a frontier warrior. She knew that Lu Chengze was going to pursue his dream, and she was happy for him.

During the day, I have to teach, prepare lessons, and give tests to students.

They had an exam coming up, and teacher Lin Tao was very busy. She had no time to read the letters during the day, and would only open them when she got home.

When Li Chengxi came back, Yueyue was riding a wooden horse and Lin Changhai was killing fish. They were going to have fish at home today.

When the rumors spread before, Lin Changhai was also very anxious, fearing that Li Chengxi had heard what people outside said. However, Li Chengxi not only did not believe it, but also comforted Lin Tao. Lin Changhai was extremely satisfied with Li Chengxi as his son-in-law.

"Where is Mom?" Li Chengxi asked Yueyue.

Yueyue pointed to the room and said, "He's reading a letter in there."

Li Chengxi: "A letter? Did you send it from grandma or great aunt?"

Yueyue shook her head and said, "It's a letter from Teacher Lu."

Li Chengxi didn't say anything, but he pushed the door open and walked in, and saw Lin Tao sitting on the bed. The envelope had been opened and Lin Tao was reading the letter. Lin Tao heard the noise and looked up at him: "You came back so early today."

Li Chengxi took off his coat and hung it on the hanger, saying, "Why can't you say it in person? Why do you have to write a letter?"

As he said that, he took a big step forward, sat down next to Lin Tao, and went over to watch with her.

Lin Tao found it funny and said, "If he told me in person, and if you saw it, would you say that there are things that cannot be said in a letter and you must meet in person? Well, if you want to see it, take it and have a look. Anyway, I have nothing to be ashamed of."

Li Chengxi took the letter and said, "I'm thinking about you. Have you forgotten who was the one who couldn't eat because of this? Dad is so old, do you think he would worry about this?"

Lin Tao was speechless. This man always had his reasons for what he said.

"You see, Teacher Lu has already resigned and left the island for the frontier. The reason he wrote to me was because he was afraid of causing a bad influence." Lin Tao said.

There wasn't much written in the letter, except that Lu Chengze explained that he had done those things on purpose when he first came. He had deliberately acted so careless in order to give Lin Tao a bad first impression of him. He thought at the time that the school would think that he was not suitable to be a teacher and not hire him.

But when he saw the sincerity in the eyes of the students sitting in the classroom and calling him Teacher Lu, and their thirst for knowledge, he could not just be perfunctory during the class, so he changed his plan again.

But during the last class meeting, when the word "dream" was mentioned, Lin Tao's words made him more determined to fulfill his dream, so he decided to leave the island and become a frontier warrior.

The letter also praised Lin Tao as a very responsible teacher. Lu Chengze apologized to Lin Tao for making a ridiculous decision when he knew that Lin Tao was just a high school graduate but was the dean of studies. Lin Tao was unable to go to college but just happened to be interested in sports. If she had the chance, she would definitely be an excellent college student.

Yes, when Lin Tao talked about her dream last time, being a teacher was her dream, but going to college was also her dream.

Li Chengxi finished reading the letter and folded it up. Lin Tao said, "So, there's nothing in it. Our friendship is just a simple revolutionary friendship."

Li Chengxi didn't say anything, but after Yueyue fell asleep at night, he tortured Lin Tao twice.

Li Chengxi didn't let Lin Tao go until she begged for mercy. After cleaning up, Li Chengxi hugged Lin Tao and said, "This spy matter is quite serious. The enemy not only sent Zhao Fenfang as a spy, but also several others who were sent out in advance, and they have even corrupted our people."

"Is it so serious?" Lin Tao was still breathing slightly as she spoke.

Li Chengxi: "Well, the enemy has been using this method to train spies in an attempt to corrupt our people. Fortunately, we discovered it early this time, and other military regions have received the news and launched arrest operations, so the losses should not be too great. One more thing, the organization has given me a great credit for this incident."

"That's a good thing." Lin Tao said.

"Yes." Li Chengxi nodded. "It just so happened that there was a commendation meeting in Beijing, and Commander Yan sent me to attend. I suggested taking you and Yueyue with me this time. Half of this military medal will go to you."

"Can Yueyue and I go too?" Lin Tao asked in surprise, with a hint of joy in her tone.

"Of course we can go. Then we can bring dad along and our whole family can go." Li Chengxi said.

"Dad can go too? Is that okay? Wouldn't that be too much of a stretch?" Although Lin Tao was happy, she was also worried that it might not be a good idea.

Li Chengxi said, "It's okay. It's just that Dad can't stay in the guesthouse where we are staying. I can just arrange a guesthouse nearby for Dad."