That's all.
At nine o'clock in the morning, Chen Chao stepped into his office on the top floor of Te'an. He had slept for seven hours yesterday and felt much better.
When his secretary, Trott, saw him enter, she followed him into the inner room and began reporting on the day's schedule and pending documents.
After listening, Chen Chao nodded, sat down at the table, looked up at his secretary and said, "I sent someone to investigate what happened last night. The preliminary conclusion is that it was a simple accident. I have sent you the details. If you have any questions, please let me know. Fortunately, Xiao Feng's injuries are not serious. I will have someone observe him for a while longer. If there are no abnormalities, we will proceed according to the standard procedures."
"Thank you, Minister." Trott's face showed gratitude. Although it was customary for someone of their status to investigate their family affairs, Chen Chao's immediate personal intervention demonstrated his concern for his subordinates.
Trot knew how busy Chen Chao was usually, so he understood even more what it meant for Chen Chao to personally intervene in this matter.
"Minister, please forgive me for having Steve deliver documents without my permission yesterday." It was highly irregular to send a field agent on errands without authorization, so Trot apologized proactively.
Chen Chao recalled the farce of last night, but his expression remained unchanged: "It's alright, the child is important."
Chen Chao took the document from last night out of his briefcase and handed it to Trot: "File it."
“Yes, Minister.” Trott took the documents, turned and walked out, closing the door behind him.
For some reason, she felt that Minister Chen seemed to be very happy today.
When Steve strolled over to Trott's desk, Trott was working on some data. She looked up from behind the computer monitor, glanced at Steve, and asked, "What's up?"
"When are you free today, boss?" Steve asked directly.
Trot glanced at Steve: "Aren't you on vacation? Besides, you should have a direct line to Minister Chen, you don't need to go through me."
“It’s nothing serious. He can just take five minutes out of his work break to see me. My hotline is too high-level; it wouldn’t be good if it interfered with his other work.”
Given the danger and importance of the special agent mission, his private line with Chen Chao could be interrupted from other schedules and forcibly connected. This was clearly making a mountain out of a molehill for the purpose of his visit today.
Trot gave Steve a strange look and flipped through Chen Chao's schedule for the day: "Let's talk about it around lunchtime. Minister Chen has been very busy these past two days. If it's not a serious personal matter, just talk to him during lunch."
Steve nodded to indicate that it was no problem, and did not deny Trott's judgment on private matters: "Where is he eating?"
“Apart from meeting with people to discuss business, the minister usually orders meals to eat in his office.”
Going out to eat casually isn't safe; someone has to accompany him. Going to the cafeteria would put pressure on lower-level staff. Chen Chao usually eats in his office for convenience. Anyway, the office is big enough and well-ventilated, so the smell of food won't bother him in the afternoon.
Steve gave an "oh," silently mourning for his boss's appetite, thinking it was really pitiful to eat in the office. He had no idea that as a field agent, he had eaten far more bizarre things in strange places than Chen Chao.
At 11:55, Steve strolled up to Trott again, carrying a thermal lunchbox.
"Is that enough, boss?"
Trot glanced at the lunchbox in his hand, his efficient voice as usual: "You can go in in five minutes, but Minister Chen's lunch was ordered by me and has already been delivered."
Steve noticed that the beautifully packaged takeout box on the corner of Trotter's table had no restaurant signage.
"Is this something that the cafeteria downstairs just repackaged and sent up?"
Trott nodded: "Ensuring the safety of outsourced food is too much trouble. You know Minister Chen, he won't want his subordinates to waste time on this kind of thing."
Steve suddenly felt that his eldest son was suffering terribly.
At noon, Steve walked into Chen Chao's office carrying two meals. When Chen Chao saw him, his expression remained unchanged, but his heart stirred slightly.
He recalled the look Steve had given him last night—clear eyes filled with trust. Steve had looked at him with those eyes and said, "Boss, you can vent your emotions in front of me."
Chen Chao didn't quite understand why Steve trusted him so much. He was the one who gave the orders, the one who personally sent them to the battlefield, to places where they faced certain death, and buried them in the shadows of history.
They should hate him.
"Did you need something?" Chen Chao got up and walked to the high table in the reception area, sitting down and gesturing for Steve to sit down as well.
Chen Chao's office was large. On the left side of the reception area were low tables and sofas for business discussions. On the right side were high tables and chairs for meals or to bring subordinates in to work on documents together.
Steve sat down opposite Chen Chao and pushed the meal he had brought in front of Chen Chao.
Chen Chao glanced at the lunchbox, then his gaze returned to Steve's face, clearly waiting for an explanation.
“What I make may not be as good as what’s served in the cafeteria, but you’re eating the same thing every day, it’s time for a change.”
Chen Chao paused for a moment, then picked up the utensils, opened the lunchbox, and prepared to eat. He wasn't too particular about food and didn't intend to dwell on the matter.
And the food Steve made himself looked quite interesting.
His subordinate was free-spirited and unconventional, and always managed to bring him unexpected surprises in unexpected places.
"So you're eating my original portion?" Chen Chao saw Steve also open the lid of the cafeteria food.
"After all, I'm always on fieldwork, so I don't get to eat in the cafeteria very often. It's nice to try something different now and then," Steve replied with a smile.
Chen Chao ate two bites of the food Steve brought and was surprised to find that it tasted pretty good.
The dishes were very ordinary, nothing more than quick and easy dishes like stir-fried pork with chili peppers, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stir-fried greens, and boiled shrimp, but the seasoning and cooking time were just right.
Chen Chao has never eaten anything bad since he was a child. His family has professional chefs, and he always goes to high-end restaurants. Te An's canteen is just called a canteen, but the food it produces can be easily matched with any large chain hotel on the market.
But having lost his mother at a young age, he had never eaten such homely and rustic food before.
It really is quite delicious.
On Chen Chao's perpetually expressionless face, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up slightly as he chewed.
Steve, with his top-notch agent's observation skills, noticed this and couldn't help but laugh even more heartily.
"Boss, I'm here to advise you to hire a bodyguard at home."
Chen Chao swallowed a mouthful of food, glanced at Steve with a hint of doubt, and wondered what his personal security had to do with Steve.
“Boss, you have someone with you when you go out during the day, so there’s no problem. But you’re all alone when you go back at night. If something happens, you won’t have time to react. Besides, you’re very tired every day when you go back, so there might be things you don’t notice. It’s better to have someone with you for peace of mind,” Steve explained.
"You mean, you're worried I'll be assassinated in my private residence in the heart of the capital?" Chen Chao's voice deepened, and his eyes turned cold.
If he could be assassinated in the heart of the capital, they would all be willing to commit suicide to atone for their sins. How could the capital house so many vital national institutions and vital organizations without anyone knowing that hostile elements had infiltrated it?
"That's not what I meant." Even Steve was a little afraid of Chen Chao, who was intentionally releasing his oppressive aura. He suppressed his smile and became serious.
"But boss, it's better to be safe than sorry. Besides, I'm a special agent, and I know countless ways to break through top-level security. I'm worried. You're so tired and under so much pressure every day. What if you suddenly get sick? It's always better to have someone at home than no one at all."
Chen Chao gave Steve a cold look, thinking that this subordinate was overthinking things. It was just that he'd accidentally seen Steve looking tired yesterday; was it really necessary to make such a fuss?
“Steve.” Chen Chao adopted a business-like tone.
"Boss!" Steve felt a chill run down his spine and sat up straight reflexively.
"First, I don't want a third person to know what happened last night. Second, you're a top-tier agent, not a nanny; you don't need to cook for me. Third, my security is handled by dedicated personnel; you don't need to overstep your bounds. Understand?"
“I understand,” Steve replied listlessly, clearly unconvinced. “But…”
"No buts!"
Steve could only remain silent.
"I received news this morning that the blood sample you provided for Prince Raman was a match. What are your thoughts on the subsequent negotiations?" Chen Chao started another topic.
“I don’t have any thoughts on this,” Steve answered decisively, without the slightest emotional fluctuation. “I just hope this matter can be resolved quickly, otherwise I’ll be ruined if I take this leave any longer.”
Chen Chao looked Steve over, feeling slightly displeased that his subordinate was so indifferent to him.
“Raman may not only want you to donate peripheral blood, but also bone marrow.”
Directly extracting bone marrow blood is much more harmful to the body than extracting peripheral blood.
“Sure. As long as he meets the Chen family’s conditions, he can have any kind of blood.” Steve agreed immediately, completely unconcerned.
He doesn't mind using his bloodline to benefit the country.
What a joke! You've already risked your life, why would you care about losing a little blood?
Steve's reply made Chen Chao's gaze darken further: "You need to understand that this is not an order. Even from my or your father's perspective, we have no right to force you to do this."
Soldiers may die on the battlefield, but they should not be forced to sell their blood.
Steve knew what Chen Chao meant, but he was genuinely willing.
"Boss, don't feel pressured. The Chen family and Te'an didn't put any pressure on me in this matter. It was originally my own decision and Ramanti's, so this is my own will."
I'm willing to do this, and it has nothing to do with anyone else.
Besides, I'm healthy; it's not like a blood test will cause any problems.
Indeed, with modern medical technology, even bone marrow extraction can be guaranteed to be safe; at most, one just needs to rest for a while afterward.
"But you hate Raman, are you really willing to use your blood to save his child and help him seize the throne?" Chen Chao asked again.
As someone in the know, Chen Chao couldn't help but worry. Steve was his best agent, and he didn't want this matter to create a rift between them.
Steve put down his chopsticks and looked into Chen Chao's eyes: "Boss, I'm just a soldier of Nutag, nothing more."
"I understand." Chen Chao swallowed the last shrimp and said nothing more.
Chen Chao understood what Steve meant.
These are the kinds of people you can't easily hate. They are the nation's weapons, carrying out the nation's will; you must never let personal hatred cloud your judgment or disturb your peace of mind.
Therefore, for his own sake, Steve could only ignore Raman instead of hating him, otherwise he would be the one suffering.
Steve saw himself as a soldier of Nutag, nothing more. So, aside from the connection of their DNA, he had no other connection with Raman.
Because he was Nutag's soldier, he would do anything Nutag needed.
He will take action against anything that stands in Nutag's way.
That's all.
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