Chapter 28, Part Two...
Chapter Twenty-Eight
"Anhui, are you home?" Not long after lunch that day, Yao Anhui was leaning back on the sofa, feeling drowsy, when she heard Hua Fangling knock on her door.
"Yes, the door is unlocked, come in."
"It's really rare to see you at this time," Yao Anhui joked. Shen Wenkang and Hua Fangling were just too lovey-dovey. Every noon, as long as Shen Wenkang was home, there was never a lonely person. It felt like the couple was even more affectionate than when they were newlyweds.
"Tch... As if anyone has seen you at this time." They're just like idiots.
Yao Anhui blushed, and it seemed that was indeed the case. However, Yao Anhui firmly believed that it was mainly because Lu Yuanqing took good care of her that she reciprocated by treating Lu Yuanqing better. She was definitely not the love-struck person Hua Fangling described.
This topic is getting a bit awkward, let's change it quickly: "Where are you going, wearing that big straw hat, carrying a water bottle and a basket?"
"Isn't there a river at the foot of the mountain behind? I heard there are sharks in that river. Let me tell you, sharks are delicious. They have almost no bones, and they're not fishy at all. They're so fragrant when you just fry them in oil." Hua Fangling said, drooling as she spoke.
As a foodie, the only thing that can get her to go out on a hot midday is delicious food.
"Are you going? This kind of fish is easy to catch. Look, you just need to tie a line to a stick and then tie a small piece of meat to one end." Hua Fangling enthusiastically showed off her tools.
"Go ahead, I'll bring some water." Yao Anhui said, already pouring cooled boiled water into the military water bottle. She couldn't miss anything that would make foodie Hua Fangling think it was delicious.
Yao Anhui followed Hua Fangling's example and put on a large straw hat. Whether it looked good or not was secondary. She didn't care if her delicate skin got tanned. What she feared most was sunburn, which would be terrible.
Yao Anhui followed Hua Fangling's example, prepared her tools, and then enthusiastically went to the riverbank to show off her skills.
The mountain Hua Fangling mentioned is not far from the family compound. It's quite high, arguably the highest mountain within a ten-mile radius. The river is also quite large, over thirty meters wide. The water isn't deep, and the riverbed is full of rocks. Because it's not dangerous, many children play in the river nearby.
Yao Anhui followed Hua Fangling for quite a while, and finally found a suitable place to fish away from the riverbank. However, the fishing gear was really rudimentary, and Yao Anhui had deep doubts about it, feeling that she couldn't catch anything.
Hua Fangling fiddled with her stick, which was only a little over half a meter long, and the thick line with a small lump of flesh attached to it was also short. It looked different from the tool that Yao Anhui used to catch frogs in the countryside.
Yao Anhui couldn't help but ask, "Is this like the frog fishing I have back home? Do you even catch any fish?"
"Can't you be a little more patient? You're already here, you'll find out whether you can catch anything later," Hua Fangling said with a smile.
What happened next really opened An Hui's eyes. Hua Fangling skillfully lowered the line into the water, and wow, in less than a minute, she caught a small fish about the size of a thumb and about ten centimeters long.
This fish looks round and plump, somewhat like a loach, but its color is lighter, grayish, and it hides very well in the sand and rocks, so you can't see it at all unless you look closely.
After careful observation, Yao Anhui realized that it wasn't that Hua Fangling's fishing skills were particularly good, but rather that she simply placed the bait right next to the fish, which was why she couldn't catch any fish.
"These fish are way too easy to catch," Yao Anhui remarked.
"Wouldn't it be even better if this fish was both delicious and easy to catch?"
“Indeed.” Yao Anhui stopped sighing and started fishing, just like Hua Fangling.
The river water was crystal clear, and the little fish looked delicious. I put the bamboo basket I brought in the shallow water and kept the fish I caught in the basket.
These fish are indeed clumsy; they catch them every time they see them. After catching one, they move on to another spot. Before they know it, they've caught more and more fish, and Yao Anhui and Hua Fangling have drifted further and further away from the crowd. After catching about half a basket of fish, Yao Anhui and Hua Fangling realize that they are already quite far away from the crowd.
“Hey, An Hui, look how special this stone is!” Hua Fangling suddenly pointed to a strangely shaped stone that Yao An Hui was standing on.
Yao Anhui looked down and realized that the stone she was standing on was indeed very special. It was long and the pattern on it was red and white, and it looked just like a piece of pork belly. It was hard to ignore it at first glance.
Yao Anhui bent down to pick up the stone that looked like a piece of pork belly, but when she picked it up, she found that there was a key under the stone, a very ordinary-looking key.
But upon seeing the key, Yao Anhui suddenly recalled a plot from a book written by Hua Fangling that she had once read.
The female protagonist in the book (Hua Fangling transmigrated into the book she wrote; the female protagonist in the book here does not refer to Hua Fangling herself) also found the same stone and key at the same time and place.
However, this key is a key used by foreign spies to pass messages. There are Japanese spies who have infiltrated the XX Military Region. This spy stole important data from an ordnance research institute in the XX Military Region and is preparing to escape with the data.
The liaison officer prepared supplies and a route map for him to use after his escape. These supplies are now hidden in a box in the mountains here, and the purpose of this key is self-evident.
In the book's plot, the female protagonist accidentally finds this key and thinks someone dropped it there. She asks if anyone in the residential compound has lost a key. When no one comes to claim it, she takes the key home.
Later, in order to obtain the key, the spies orchestrated an explosion that killed more than a dozen of Shen Wenkang's soldiers. Then, while Shen Wenkang was dealing with the situation, they secretly sneaked into Shen's house to steal the key.
The spy's attempt to steal the key failed because the female lead discovered him in time and deduced that the key was very important. She refused to hand it over and was stabbed several times by the spy.
Shen Wenkang, the male lead, connected the key the female lead found with the bombing at the last minute and rushed back in time. In order to save the female lead and catch the spy, Shen Wenkang was seriously injured.
In the end, the female lead's feelings for the male lead increased dramatically because of this incident, and the male lead was credited for catching the spy.
However, Yao Anhui's first thought was not about spies or gaining merit, but rather the fear of so-called murder mystery games.
Shen Wenkang, as the male lead, replaced Lu Yuanqing as the regimental commander. Now, Lu Yuanqing has retired without injury, but the person who found the key has changed to himself. Could it be that the person who was injured while catching the spy will also become Lu Yuanqing?
Shen Wenkang, the male lead, was seriously injured and bedridden for over a month. Would Lu Yuanqing have been even more seriously injured in his place? Or is this some kind of plot device to make way for Shen Wenkang?
Yao Anhui frowned, her expression grim. Just as she was thinking about how to resolve the matter, Hua Fangling said from the side, "Oh my, there are so many fish over there. Anhui, let's go fishing."
Then, Hua Fangling, looking excited, casually tossed the stone from Yao Anhui's hand and walked across the street with her bamboo basket.
Yeah, they threw them away pretty randomly, putting them all back in their original places, just like they were before.
Yao Anhui breathed a sigh of relief. That's right, the current Hua Fangling is not the original female lead, but the author of this book. Who knows the plot better than her?
"Really? Wait for me."
However, Yao Anhui did not immediately follow Hua Fangling. She quickly took out a key of similar size from the keychain hanging on her waist, put it back under the rock, and deliberately buried it in the sand, leaving only a little bit sticking out, so as not to arouse suspicion.
As Yao Anhui quickened her pace to catch up with Hua Fangling, she heard Hua Fangling's barely audible voice ask, "Did you put the key back?"
"It's been pushed back. What happened? Did you find anything?"
“There’s a woman right in front of us who keeps staring at us.”
Did she see us taking the stone and the key?
"Probably not. The grass by the river is tall, and I'm blocking the way. We'll head back soon, but be careful not to alert them."
Yao Anhui and Hua Fangling patiently fished for a while longer before carrying their bamboo baskets back home. However, they had only walked a short distance along the riverbank when they encountered a strikingly beautiful woman.
Could it be spies coming to our door? Yao Anhui was secretly on guard, but then she remembered that Hua Fangling was the author of the book, so she quickly turned her head to look.
A note from the author:
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