Whether there was any Infernal Affairs involved or not is another matter. Yan Jue did not forget the purpose of his chance encounter. After chatting about the interesting things about Granny Fang, he followed Uncle Hu's words and asked about the other one of the only two exceptions in this vegetable field.
"Grandpa Fang, do you like growing flowers? I recently received two pots of orchids as a gift. I heard they're very delicate."
Yan Jue, without any guilt, took out two Clivia plants that had a longer flowering period than wild flowers and were stronger than plastic flowers and took them for a walk.
He half-seriously replied, "I don't have any experience with flowers. I've even killed a cactus. I'm afraid I'll ruin my friend's feelings. I'm so confused by all the long articles online that I'm wondering where to find someone who understands flowers."
"orchid?"
Uncle Hu wasn't interested in growing flowers, but he knew someone who loved orchids. Seeing Yan Jue about to stray, he quickly dissuaded him, "Don't ask Old Li about orchids. He only likes hardy, easy-to-grow flowers. And have you seen all those roses over there? He only loves roses and doesn't care much for anything else."
"If you want to grow orchids, I can introduce you to some amateur experts. Asking Lao Li would be like sending the flowers to death."
Yan Jue accepted Uncle Hu's offer to introduce him to a flower lover. With a curious expression, he asked persistently, "Just now you said to be careful with Grandpa Li's flowers. Why? I see signs of someone cutting them. Isn't it because he loves flowers so much that he forbids anyone from touching them?"
Uncle Hu shook his head, his eyes half-dazed, a vague expression that was hard to discern. "He cut those flowers himself. His wife loves roses, so he planted them and cut some to put in a vase for her."
"Grandpa Li is so romantic." Yan Jue hadn't expected that Mr. Li would come to the sanatorium with his wife. He casually joked, "When I arrived, I saw Grandpa Li playing chess with someone under a tree. It was so hot in the afternoon, and his wife didn't do anything about it?"
"His wife died four years ago."
Yan Jue was speechless and whispered an apology.
Uncle Hu's smile gradually faded, and he said in a tone of understanding, "Xiao Yan, we don't know why you healthy young men want to come to the sanatorium. After all, it has been approved by the higher-ups, and we believe you have no bad intentions."
"No matter what you're here for, we'll cooperate and won't delve into it, but Lao Li's situation is truly special."
"He and Meimei were deeply in love, and they endured a lot of hardships along the way before they finally got married. By then, they were no longer young, and they were in their forties before they wore the wedding dress they had always dreamed of. So after Meimei passed away, Lao Li never got over it. It took us old people a lot of effort to get him to the sanatorium, hoping to take him out to play, chat, and help him feel more open-minded."
"So if you have any questions, feel free to ask us and trouble us. We will actively cooperate. Lao Li will do the same. Just don't mention Meimei in front of him. This is his only minefield."
The sudden straight ball made Yan Jue at a loss. Combined with the meaning of Uncle Hu's words, he felt a lot of guilt in his heart almost in the blink of an eye.
He lowered his head slightly, struggled a few times, and then stammered, "No need to be so serious. We're just staying here for a while, and we don't have any special mission. I was just curious..."
"Yeah, I'm curious." Uncle Hu said this, but his expression didn't look like he believed it. He narrowed his eyes and smiled, saying, "Well, if you're curious about anything, just ask us. We have no taboos and will tell you anything."
Yan Jue pursed his lips, unsure how to convince the other party that they were really here to stay. Uncle Hu's last sentence clearly showed that he didn't believe his extremely simple, but true, rebuttal.
Things were clearly heading in another unknown direction. Uncle Hu had even forced a charge on Yan Jue that he had a secret case to investigate. Yan Jue felt that he could no longer control himself and no longer had the confidence to ask about Mr. Li "calmly", so he had to find an excuse to leave.
Little did he know that after his figure disappeared around the corner, Uncle Hu's smile faded and he walked to a window and knocked on it. After the curtains were drawn and the window opened, he stepped neatly onto the stool below and was helped by the people inside to step in through the window.
Judging from the decoration and equipment, this is the activity room of the sanatorium. There are actually seven or eight people standing crowded together in the room. When Yan Jue was here, so many people did not make any noise that made him notice anything unusual.
Li Huaiqing, one of the protagonists that Uncle Hu and Yan Jue were talking about just now, was also there.
Uncle Hu smiled proudly: "Hehe, I have gained a lot today. I don't know which unit Xiao Yan is from, but he is so defensive. I have to talk to his leader later, so that he won't be fooled by a little self-torture trick next time."
The self-torture trick was, of course, used to gain Yan Jue's favor and his "erudition."
Li Huaiqing glared at him and pointed at Uncle Hu and cursed, "How dare you say that? You don't feel anything if this self-torture trick doesn't happen to you, right?"
"Don't worry about the details. Didn't you approve of the self-torture trick? I didn't do anything rash." Uncle Hu said confidently, "Don't say you regret it now."
He is not the kind of person who would casually reveal the private affairs of his old friends.
Li Huaiqing snorted, "You're the one who exaggerates... Humph, then tell me, what did you find out?"
He agreed to let Lao Hu use it, but he didn't let him make up so much nonsense. He almost didn't recognize himself after listening to it. Of course, the expanded experience somewhat matched some of his original mentality, and only he knew how guilty it was.
"As soon as Xiao Yan came to see me, I knew he was trying to get me to tell him something. He didn't even think about the fact that he hadn't left the house since entering the sanatorium, and he wasn't one of those people who enjoyed chatting with people like Xiao Zhang. How could he not be suspicious if he suddenly came to see me..."
Someone interrupted him, pretending to cover his mouth: "Alright, alright, get to the point."
"What's the rush?" Uncle Hu cleared his throat. "The point is, their purpose in coming here has nothing to do with us. They're not here to investigate us."
"You tell me that? Anyone with eyes can see it."
Besides, they all belong to the same social circle, and who among them hasn't been protected by the government? They may be old, but they're still vigilant. If there's really a problem among them, they can find it without anyone else's intervention.
What puzzled them from beginning to end was why Yan Jue and his three young men, an ordinary man, a Taoist priest, and a soldier, a strange combination, came here.
As the topic started, everyone started talking at once:
"I even asked my daughter, and she said she didn't know."
"I asked too. My husband obviously knows something, but he just can't tell anyone. It makes me scratch my head."
"I originally thought they were in poor health or had some injuries that needed recuperation, so they chose us. But after observing them for the past two days, I found that they are all very healthy and have no problems at all."
"Yeah, why would they live here? If something really happened, they wouldn't have sent only three people. I even looked around the village, and there was really no one else."
"Is it possible that they are really here to relax?" Li Huaiqing sneered, "If you can't find a reason, then there is no reason."
Old Hu said calmly, "Maybe it was like that before, but since last night, it's no longer necessarily the case."
Everyone looked at him: "What do you mean?"
"Think about it, why did Xiao Yan come to talk to me today? I'm out watering the plants every day, and I've known them for a long time. Why today?"
"Besides, I just had an argument with Lao Li this morning, and he came to see me. That can only mean that it's related to what happened last night. It made them start paying attention to the people in the hospital, so they came to me to get some information."
At this point, Lao Hu couldn't help but complain: "Xiao Yan's rhetoric is too low-level. He followed me the whole time, asking whatever I said, without any sign of actively bringing up other things. I don't know whether to call him smart or stupid."
From his observation, Yan Jue was just an ordinary person without any training, so the only possibility was the latter.
"Last night? About the tiger roaring?"
They were already used to Lao Hu's sharp tongue, so they automatically ignored his comments about others and asked, "Speaking of which, do you have any news about yesterday's incident?"
Of course there is no news.
"Did you have an argument with Lao Li? What was it that attracted these people?"
Li Huaiqing remained silent. Old Hu said frankly, "A helicopter arrived yesterday, so I suspected something was up. It might be related to those three people. So I pretended to argue with Old Li about whether there were tigers in the mountains. I believed he didn't believe it, so I wanted to see how Xiao Yan would react."
It is impossible for people from the animal protection department to come here by helicopter. The only people who could come so quickly are from the military. Combined with Wen Xuyang's identity, it is easy to guess who summoned them.
Moreover, the incident happened suddenly last night, and no one could easily continue sleeping. The noises coming in and out of the corridor in the middle of the night were enough for anyone who paid attention to notice some clues.
"Wen Xuyang can't tell, but Xiao Yan is so easy to guess." Old Hu sighed again, "Anyone would be curious, but when we were arguing, it was only when Old Li said he firmly believed there were no tigers in the mountains that Xiao Yan's expression changed from nonchalant bystander to trying to smooth things over. Doesn't that clearly tell me he knows the truth?"
"By the way, Old Li, are you deliberately using this to scold me? We agreed to let you act out a script you didn't believe in, and I wondered why you got so angry in the end? I'm not stupid, of course I know there can't be any wild beasts in the mountains."
Li Huaiqing felt guilty and shouted, "Who's angry? I'm just a good actor. Stop going off topic. Can you focus on the real thing if you keep talking so much? Why do you keep talking about other things? Are you trying to prove that you're awesome?"
This was agreed by everyone in the room.
Old Hu had nothing to show off, so he continued, "What else is there to say? It's gone. Just now, he took the opportunity to ask me why only Fang Po and Lao Li's vegetables could not be moved. I was about to lead him to ask more questions after I finished speaking, but he ran away."
"But I can guarantee with my first few decades of professional experience that it's definitely related to what happened last night. That's why they're investigating us. Maybe before long, they'll openly reveal their motives."
"That's all?" Someone booed him, "Then why do we need you?"
"Aren't you curious about why they came? That's my job. Yesterday was just a minor incident." Old Hu complained, "Even if the minor incident is resolved, will they tell you why they came? What's the connection between the two?"
"You guys are so smart, go ask him yourself and see if he tells you."
He snorted loudly, looking angrily at the group of guys in the room who were just using their skills and then giving them a hard time. He was clearly heading towards their original goal the whole time, and these guys, who were just listening to the news and doing nothing, were easily distracted, but now they were questioning his ability.
What did Lao Li say? You can question his math skills, but you can't question his chess skills. The same goes for him. You can question his vegetable-growing skills, but you can't question his ability!
At this time, Li Huaiqing came over and asked quietly: "Old Hu, did Xiao Yan tell us where the little Taoist priest who was with them went and whether he would come back?"
"Didn't I tell you that Xiao Yan ran away before we even started chatting? I have no idea."
"You must have said something to scare them away, right?" Li Huaiqing said confidently, "It's your fault."
Old Hu choked and retorted, "Yan Jue was too cowardly to ask what my relationship was. Most people would have followed up on my question, but he just ran away after I said we were willing to cooperate with the investigation."
Wouldn't it be normal to continue asking questions? How could he be blamed? He didn't want to admit that he had stumbled over Yan Jue, whom he considered an ordinary person, and misjudged his mentality.
At this time, Old Hu didn't know that Yan Jue had already told him the purpose of their visit. However, the purpose was too insignificant and too ordinary. Yan Jue himself felt a little guilty, and due to various coincidences, he used it as an excuse and didn't take it to heart.
Old Hu asked back, "Why are you so concerned about that young Taoist priest? Do you want to join Taoism? Old Li, you're going to be three or four years old. Consider your status. Your religion is not something we can believe in."
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Li Huaiqing was so angry: "Curb your professional habits and stop overthinking."
"Then why do you care so much about Xiao Zhang?"
"Isn't it okay for me to just ask? I'm not going to talk to you anymore. I'm going back."
Old Hu listened thoughtfully, looked at Li Huaiqing's back, touched his mustache and said nothing more.
Upstairs, Yan Jue told Wen Xuyang what he had heard from Old Hu about Li Huaiqing. He then collapsed on the sofa and said dejectedly, "How can I dare to ask Grandpa Hu in this situation?"
He didn't have any feelings about Mr. Li's emotional experience, but he knew what was human nature, and then he made his behavior reasonable based on this instead of just being reckless and stabbing people with a knife.
"If I ask Mr. Li if there's anything wrong, will they think he's missing his lost lover again, causing them to worry? Regardless of whether it's a misunderstanding or not, they'll definitely bring up his lover in front of him, and that will definitely be another sad story."
"Brother Wen, do you have any good ideas?"
Wen Xuyang stared at Yan Jue, who had just expressed a lot of emotion, with a complicated look in his eyes, and hesitantly asked, "Do you know what Mr. Hu used to do for a living?"
"What?" He didn't even know Grandpa Hu's name, so how could he know his previous occupation?
"Hu Zhengfeng, formerly worked in an intelligence department."
Yan Jue didn't understand: "Very impressive, then what?"
Wen Xuyang sighed, "There's no way you can hide your little thoughts from Mr. Hu. He said that, and it's obvious that he wants you to ask him."
Then, based on what you asked, get the answer he wants.
They came here for no other purpose except to practice Taoism, which they swore never to reveal, so he let Yan Jue contact the other party without hesitation so that he could find out Li Huaiqing's abnormality as soon as possible.
Who would have thought that after listening to Li Huaiqing's touching story, Yan Jue felt guilty and dared not ask any more questions.
Yan Jue froze, sat up from the sofa, and said in disbelief, "So, he just said that on purpose? What about Mr. Li..."
"Mr. Li's wife did pass away four years ago. I don't know much else, so there's no need for Mr. Hu to lie to you about this. But it's very likely that Mr. Li agreed to this, otherwise he wouldn't have told you in such detail. Just keep it brief."
Wen Xuyang thought for a moment and said, "Maybe he just wants to gain your favor."
"Mr. Li agrees?" Yan Jue was even more shocked. "Didn't you say I can't bring this up in front of Mr. Li? Why would you need Mr. Li's story to win my favor?"
Wen Xuyang: “…”
Yan Jue was convinced: "So he is still lying to me."
How could he possibly outmaneuver a bunch of old foxes? And he was still investigating. He'd be lucky if they didn't get to the bottom of him. At that moment, Yan Jue felt like he was becoming socially anxious. He desperately needed someone to stand in front of him and make decisions for him, preferably someone who could take over his job.
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