Chapter 125 The Special Forces' Invitation This is a lieutenant colonel, personally inviting him…
In the dead of night, Qiu Xiaoman finally finished packing her things, boiled a kettle of water, and sat on the sofa in the living room to soak her feet.
Shen Qinghuai sat next to Qiu Xiaoman reading the newspaper as if he were guarding against a thief. Seeing this, Liu Kun could only sit on the single sofa opposite him and asked curiously, "What happened? Why did you suddenly move over?"
"The courtyard house was broken into, and three dogs ran away," Qiu Xiaoman briefly mentioned, leaving the rest aside. Liu Kun's injuries hadn't healed yet, and she didn't want to drag him into it.
Liu Kun was puzzled: "Isn't Li Tuantuan staying at your place? Didn't he help look after her?"
Bored, Qiu Xiaoman took a newspaper from Shen Qinghuai's hand, unfolded it, and explained, "I went on a business trip to Shanxi a while ago. His commute to work was too far and inconvenient, so Captain Meng helped him rent a house in the resettlement housing next to the base. He lives next to Lu Zhiqiang's house and doesn't come back to my place anymore."
"Oh, I see." Liu Kun suddenly understood. This meant that if Qiu Xiaoman went on business trips again, she wouldn't need to worry about Li Tuantuan's work anymore. But he still didn't understand. "Did you offend someone? Why would someone break into a courtyard house?"
"Don't ask that, go to sleep." Qiu Xiaoman stared at the newspaper and noticed a missing person notice. The missing person was a senior high school boy who had run away from home after arguing with his family about his studies and hadn't returned home for a week.
Qiu Xiaoman always carried a notebook and a pen with her. She quickly took them out of her pocket, wrote down the boy's information, and planned to ask Jiang Mingyuan about any progress when she went to work tomorrow.
When she finished her work and looked up, she was a little surprised to see that Liu Kun was still awake. "Aren't you sleepy?" she asked.
"I was wondering, where does President Shen sleep?" Liu Kun smiled awkwardly. He was the outsider, yet he occupied the master bedroom, which was very inappropriate. He wanted to give up the master bedroom, but Qiu Xiaoman wouldn't allow it.
With the caregiver needing a separate room and Qiu Xiaoman having her own room, Shen Qinghuai had nowhere to sleep.
However, this was not a problem for Shen Qinghuai at all. He would sleep on the sofa when he argued with Liang Yuting.
He calmly looked up from behind the newspaper and said, "Isn't there a sofa?"
Liu Kun smiled awkwardly: "How about I sleep on the sofa?"
"You want me to sleep in the bed you slept in?" Shen Qinghuai rolled his eyes. "It's covered in your medicine and disinfectant. I can't stand the smell. You can stay here without worry. Nobody's going to kick you out."
Liu Kun sighed silently; that wasn't what he meant.
Well, since Officer Qiu himself didn't seem to mind, he wouldn't say anything more. He got up, went to the balcony, grabbed a clean towel, and handed it to Qiu Xiaoman: "Are you staying here permanently this time?"
Qiu Xiaoman took the towel, but before she could speak, Shen Qinghuai said, "We're leaving tomorrow. Just focus on recovering. Go to sleep."
But such thoughtfulness is actually a torment for a homeless person.
Although Liu Kun didn't say anything more and went to sleep after turning off the light, he couldn't close his eyes. He felt like he had become a strange person who had taken over someone else's place.
Unfortunately, his injuries required further recovery, leaving him no choice but to live under someone else's roof.
The next morning, he woke up more than half an hour earlier than usual. When he went to the living room, he saw that Shen Qinghuai was already up and in the kitchen learning to make breakfast with the caregiver.
He thought Qiu Xiaoman was still asleep, but when he turned around, he found her stretching on the balcony. The window was open, seemingly unfazed by the chill of the spring morning.
He walked over and greeted him, "Up so early?"
"I'm used to it." Qiu Xiaoman smiled as she leaned against the balcony, pointing to the pale yellow forsythia. "Did you grow these?"
In the corner, there was a plant that looked similar to garlic; it was a daffodil that had already finished blooming.
Liu Kun smiled and nodded: "I was bored by myself, so I asked the caregiver to buy some flowers to keep for fun."
"That's great. I'll get you a few pots of roses later, so they can bloom all year round." Qiu Xiaoman smiled and looked up at the sky.
It seemed as if someone had cleaved a crack in the dome of the duck-egg blue sky, and scalding magma poured in from the crack, melting and casting a small section of a round cake, bright red, which kept growing, growing, growing, and eventually baked into a perfectly round pancake.
Such a pure red color, it's most likely strawberry flavored! Watermelon flavor would also be okay. Hawthorn flavor might even be good?
As she was lost in thought, she heard the steady footsteps of a middle-aged man behind her. Shen Qinghuai called out, "Child, have you washed up? Breakfast is ready."
Qiu Xiaoman turned around, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, and replied with a smile, "Not yet, we're watching the sunrise."
Shen Qinghuai glanced at Liu Kun, who was spoiling the mood, and tried to smile as much as possible, saying, "Have you seen enough? If you have, come and eat."
"Haven't seen enough yet, Mr. Shen? Would you like to come and take a look?" Qiu Xiaoman invited with a smile.
Shen Qinghuai didn't understand. His eldest daughter had always been very rude to him, so why was she inviting him to watch the sun today?
They clearly had a fight last night.
He didn't understand, but he still accepted the invitation, went to the balcony, and watched the rolling red sun rise majestically, crushing the clouds and riding the wind. He couldn't help but feel relaxed.
He suddenly felt a little melancholy; it had been a long time since he had been able to properly appreciate such a beautiful sunrise.
The last time was when I was in Yunnan.
On their last night together, the couple, who had just gotten their divorce certificate, climbed to the top of a mountain and slept under the open sky, in their final, frenzied moment.
Later, he and Chan Pak-wai fell asleep on the mountaintop. When they woke up, a red sun was rising slowly, its rays shining brightly.
The world is full of vitality, but this young couple is about to go their separate ways, heading in opposite directions.
After descending the mountain, they packed their belongings, leaving their young daughter behind...
Thinking of this, Shen Qinghuai felt a mix of emotions.
He suddenly choked up: "That year... that night your mother and I took you to Aunt Qiu's house to stay overnight. Did you guess we were leaving?"
Qiu Xiaoman turned her back without answering, but gently wiped the moisture off the forsythia petals, remaining motionless and gazing at them for a long time.
She wanted to say that she certainly knew.
She also wanted to say that she cried and begged Qiu's mother to take her to find her parents. Qiu's mother softened and led her all the way to the top of the mountain behind the house. From a distance, she listened to the couple talk about the future and life.
The only thing they didn't talk about was her so-called child, the fruit of their love.
Later, Qiu's mother covered her ears, not letting her hear anything. Then she removed her hands, hugged her, and sat behind a rock dozens of meters away from her parents, watching the stars and moon in the sky.
The vast Milky Way is not as far as the distance between loved ones.
Even the brightest stars cannot illuminate a bleak future.
Qiu Xiaoman hid in her mother's arms and cried silently. Later, she fell asleep. When dawn broke, her mother shook her awake and said, "Look, child, the sun has risen."
That was light, vitality, hope, the future, and the direction of her future life!
The moment the sun completely rose above the horizon, Qiu Xiaoman ran down the mountain crying. Her mother chased after her all the way home, and by then Qiu Xiaoman had already thoughtfully started a fire to cook.
Later, when Feng Shengnan from the same village came to her crying, she lost control and ran with Feng Shengnan to the crossroads, trying to make a final attempt to persuade her to stay.
That was the end of the world for a group of children.
It was a cataclysmic event for a group of children.
Tears and cries could not stop their parents' steps.
Chasing and falling didn't make their parents turn back.
In the end, the group of children hugged each other and cried their hearts out.
Fate bound them together from that moment on, which is why Qiu Xiaoman stood up for Li Yuanyuan who was being bullied, and why she was hit on the head and died of a fever.
All of this is the result of the sins committed by these parents.
And now, the sun still rises as usual, and she has grown into a healthy adult.
Unfortunately, what's gone is gone forever.
She turned around silently, a smile on her face: "Isn't breakfast ready? Let's eat."
In the instant they brushed past each other, the mist that had condensed on her eyelashes turned into a crystal droplet of water and fell, landing on Shen Qinghuai's face.
He touched the teardrop, which resembled a tear but wasn't, and silently lowered his eyelashes.
Breakfast was eaten in this eerie atmosphere, with only the sounds of chopsticks, spoons, and porcelain bowls clattering throughout.
After finishing her meal, Qiu Xiaoman fed the dog and then went to work. She first went to the entrance of the Wu family villa, but still couldn't find the calico cat, so she had to go to work.
As for the box, she hid it under the bed and locked it in the room, deciding to deal with it when she got home from get off work.
*
Shen Qinghuai sat on the sofa, staring at the locked door, without reacting for a long time.
After the caregiver went out to buy groceries, he picked up his mobile phone and called Qiu Xiaoman: "What are you going to do with that box?"
"Destroy it, or find a way to send it to the forensic science building anonymously." Qiu Xiaoman was driving, with a mobile phone tucked around her neck, her head tilted and eyes squinting, it wasn't very convenient, so she simply pulled over to the side of the road.
Shen Qinghuai frowned, pondered for a moment, and said, "If you're comfortable with that, I'll arrange it. By the way, are there your fingerprints on it?"
Qiu Xiaoman shook her head: "No, I was wearing gloves, but they definitely have my scent on them. Fang Jiadong is getting married to Wu's granddaughter. If he interferes, with the help of police dogs, he can trace it back to me."
"That's easy. I'll get a camera, take pictures of what's inside, and send them to the forensic science building."
"That's a good idea, but what about the box?"
"Give it to me, and I can store it in a bank safe deposit box, where no one else can get it."
"What if the Wu family is following us?"
"So what? They don't own the bank."
"Forget it, I don't really trust these banks."
"Then destroy it? Or put some other scent on it to confuse people."
"Destroy it, I don't want to cause any more trouble."
"How about this, we'll just destroy the box, and I'll transfer the contents to the bank."
"I still don't trust banks."
"Why?"
"Money can make the devil turn the millstone."
“Easy. I’ll print out several copies of the photos. One will be sent to the Criminal Investigation Department, one to Wu’s enemies, and one to Wu’s family. Someone will definitely want the contents of the box. If Wu’s enemies are willing to step forward, I’ll hand it over to them. I’ll keep the contents safe for now.”
"...Alright, then be careful."
"Don't worry, I have bodyguards." Shen Qinghuai hung up the phone and then called several bodyguards to protect him, Qiu Xiaoman, and arrange for cameras and photos to be delivered. Once everything was in place, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Before leaving, he instructed Liu Kun to make sure the caregiver did not approach Qiu Xiaoman's room.
Liu Kun wasn't stupid; he knew there must be something important inside. Although Qiu Xiaoman's reason for moving was vague, he could deduce that she must have offended someone.
He nodded and promised, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. If you don't believe me, you can ask Mango when Officer Qiu comes back. I don't have the ability to bribe her dog."
That's true," Shen Qinghuai patted his shoulder and went to work.
He had only been halfway there when he received a call from Wu Cichou, inviting him and Qiu Xiaoman to have dinner at Wu's house over the weekend.
Shen Qinghuai frowned: "There's no need for dinner, I'm very busy."
"Ah Huai, are you really going to be so disrespectful to Uncle Wu?" Wu Cichou tried his best to speak in a kind tone, and even played the emotional card, "Don't forget, you used to pee on me when you were little. By the way, your father is coming too, he has already agreed."
Shen Qinghuai stopped by the roadside and asked suspiciously, "Really?"
"certainly."
Shen Qinghuai didn't believe him and laughed, "I'm sorry, Uncle Wu, I have a meeting. I'll give you an answer later."
After hanging up the phone, he immediately called Shen Wanjun and received an affirmative answer.
Shen Qinghuai was a little angry: "You just agreed like that? Who knows if they've arranged a trap?"
"What can we do? It's because your father's rank isn't as high as his. When the old leader speaks, I have to give him some face, right?" Shen Wanjun was also helpless.
Shen Qinghuai was speechless: "They also invited Xiaoman, did you know that?"
“I know, if I’m not mistaken, it’s about Xiaoman.” Shen Wanjun thought for a moment, then told the truth, “I heard they found out that the information about Wu Haoxiong being switched was leaked to Chai Dafeng by Fang Jiadong. Based on my understanding of your Uncle Wu, Fang Jiadong’s marriage is probably off. Inviting the three of us this weekend is probably an attempt to resolve this feud. If you have any evidence against them, keep it to yourself for now. It’s not time to turn against them yet.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Qinghuai immediately flew into a rage: "What do you mean it's not time to turn against them yet? Didn't you know they almost attacked Xiaoman?"
“Almost is almost, but you didn’t actually do anything, did you?” Shen Wanjun pleaded earnestly. “Their family is deeply entrenched and has many connections with other families. If you can’t deliver a fatal blow, don’t take action. You’ll only bring trouble upon yourself. Listen to your father’s advice. This is for your and Xiaoman’s own good. Think about it carefully.”
Shen Qinghuai didn't say anything, hung up the phone directly, and sighed silently.
After he calmed down and thought carefully about the old man's words, he finally chose to compromise.
Indeed, families like the Wu family are always shrewd and calculating. In order to stay at the top of the pyramid for a long time, they will spare no effort to deeply bind themselves with other families.
Arranged marriages, sweet talk, and even mutual support for each other's offspring to rise to power...
At present, Wu Haoxiong's prison break alone is not enough to shake the Wu family's position. We need to collect the most crucial evidence first.
And this so-called fatal thing is only one thing—betraying national interests.
The rest were minor incidents, insufficient to shake the foundation of the Wu family.
Shen Qinghuai took a deep breath. Okay, since we're dealing with a tiger, let's stay calm and take it slow.
He called Qiu Xiaoman and said, "The Wu family might call you and invite you to their house for dinner this weekend. I suggest you accept."
"Why?" Qiu Xiaoman arrived at work, parked the car, turned off the engine, got out, and walked towards the office.
Shen Qinghuai replied succinctly, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Think it over carefully."
Qiu Xiaoman hummed in agreement and hung up the phone.
She looked up and saw Fang Jiadong staring at her with a dark face and a sinister look, like a cobra that had sprung out of a ditch, ready to bite her at any moment.
She pretended not to see it, signed in on the attendance sheet, and went to the kennel at the back to prepare for today's training.
Less than half an hour later, Captain Meng personally led two men in military uniforms over, followed by Liu Xuezheng, who was in a police uniform.
Qiu Xiaoman blew her whistle, stopping the dogs from training, and commanded, "Left face—all in!"
A group of dogs all turned to look at the two soldiers, and Qiu Xiaoman also gave a military salute at the same time.
The two soldiers returned the salute simultaneously, and the one in the lead smiled and asked Liu Xuezheng for confirmation, "Is it that female comrade?"
Liu Xuezheng said with a smile, "Deputy Captain Sun, it's her! Comrade Qiu Xiaoman!"
Team Leader Meng chimed in, "It's definitely her. I'll have her show you what she's got." Then he raised his voice, "Little Qiu, don't just stand there like an idiot. Show Deputy Team Leader Sun what the dogs are capable of."
Qiu Xiaoman answered "yes" in a strong voice, and then began her fancy performance.
Simple commands aren't very interesting; the real excitement comes from getting the dog to perfectly follow her instructions and perform difficult maneuvers.
Bomb disposal, search and rescue, attacking criminals (human punching bags), drug detection...
Although all the dogs participated in each project, it was clear that the dogs had different talents.
Some are incredibly accurate at bomb disposal, but not so aggressive when attacking criminals; others are practically invincible when attacking criminals, but lack the finesse in bomb disposal and drug detection.
However, in any case, each project has a requirement for the dog to complete it to a high standard, and that's enough.
Deputy Captain Sun was so engrossed in watching that he couldn't help but lead the applause at the end of each mission.
Fang Jiadong was incredibly envious of such support. He wanted to show off his skills too, but his bad reputation for kicking dogs had already spread throughout the entire dog pack. Unless absolutely necessary, or to meet the monthly performance targets, the dogs would ignore him.
He tried so hard, but it was all for nothing.
In the end, he could only watch helplessly as the lieutenant colonel shook hands with Qiu Xiaoman and then walked out of the training ground together.
Fang Jiadong was unwilling to give up and wanted to chase after them, but Lu Zhiqiang, who was standing to the side, advised him: "That's enough. They're not after you. Besides, the dog you trained is really not very good."
Fang Jiadong's eyes turned bloodshot with rage, like a venomous snake that had been provoked. He spat in Lu Zhiqiang's face without any politeness and cursed, "Don't think that you'll get away with anything by sucking up to Qiu Xiaoman. The louder her reputation becomes, the more unlucky the others in the base will be! Just wait to be a supporting character for the rest of your life!"
Lu Zhiqiang said nonchalantly, "Isn't that right? I'm not as skilled as him. If I had Xiao Qiu's abilities, Deputy Captain Sun would definitely have looked up to me. Unfortunately, I don't."
Although Fang Jiadong knew Lu Zhiqiang was right, he was still angry and said resentfully, "Come on, if it weren't for her, Deputy Captain Sun would definitely have chosen you and me to train the military dogs!"
"Come on, with your current skills, even police dogs won't pay attention to you, let alone train military dogs. Dream on." Lu Zhiqiang bluntly hit him where it hurt, then went off to train the police dogs on his own.
Dou Lei, who was standing to the side, did not interrupt, but he was still very envious. Although he did not know this Deputy Captain Sun, judging from his shoulder insignia, this deputy captain was a lieutenant colonel!
Based on his understanding of military organization, if it were a regimental-level unit, a lieutenant colonel would at least be called a deputy regimental commander, deputy political commissar, or chief of staff.
However, this officer was referred to as Deputy Captain Sun.
There is only one explanation—Deputy Captain Sun is from the special forces. The special forces are at the regimental level, just with a different name than regimental-level units.
The battalion commander is the same as the regimental commander, usually a senior colonel, while a lieutenant colonel is naturally the deputy commander, who is half a rank lower.
My goodness, Xiao Qiu is so lucky to have a deputy regimental-level leader personally extend an olive branch to him...
Dou Lei felt increasingly envious, and couldn't help but mutter to Lu Zhiqiang, "I wish I were as good as Xiao Qiu. When will I ask her if she would teach our dog some language?"
Lu Zhiqiang positively affirmed his idea: "That's how a normal person thinks. You have to admit your shortcomings and have the determination to learn from and emulate the strong! Okay, stop thinking about it. I'll ask Xiao Qiu for you before you leave work. She's actually very easy to talk to, she should agree!"
Upon hearing that there was hope, Dou Lei immediately perked up and replied with a smile, "Okay, I'll leave it to you, Brother Qiang!"
"We're all on the same side, no problem, no problem." Lu Zhiqiang smiled broadly, revealing a set of bright white teeth that shone brightly in the sunlight.
Even so, it still couldn't illuminate Fang Jiadong's dark thoughts. He became passive and uncooperative, occasionally whistling, but otherwise letting the dog do whatever it wanted.
Lu Zhiqiang didn't say anything to him, pretending not to see it.
When the training ended and everyone returned to the office, they discovered that Qiu Xiaoman was not there.
Meng's voice came from the captain's office next door. Fang Jiadong went over to take a look and saw that Qiu Xiaoman was not with Meng. He asked with great dissatisfaction, "Captain Meng, Qiu Xiaoman has abandoned her post during working hours. Shouldn't her salary be deducted?"
Captain Meng was on the phone with the troops when he heard this. He waved to Deputy Captain Qu behind him, signaling him to kick the man out.
After closing the door, Captain Meng continued his call with the special forces captain: "Yes, Captain Lu, Xiao Qiu has already gone there with Deputy Captain Sun. I've completed the formalities on my end. You can borrow him for as long as you need. However, there's the Asian Games later this year, and the base needs to train a group of police dogs to maintain order. So, I kindly request that Captain Lu send someone to bring Xiao Qiu back one or two months in advance."
A hearty laugh came from the other end: "Hahaha, I heard that your little Qiu is very efficient at training dogs. I guess it won't take that long, right?"
"After all, I don't know how many military dogs you need to train, nor do I know the level of your military dogs, so I've arranged the time quite leniently." Captain Meng spoke in a very agreeable manner.
Captain Lu thought about it and agreed, then smiled and said, "I'm sorry to trouble you. I'll treat you to a meal when I'm on leave."
"You're too kind, Captain Lu. We're just contributing to the country, haha."
"That's right, okay, that's settled. I'll have Xiao Sun call you back when you arrive."
"Okay, Captain Lu, goodbye." Captain Meng hung up the phone, but didn't forget to go out and talk to Fang Jiadong, telling him not to always come to work with hostility.
Fang Jiadong wouldn't listen to a word, shoved the deputy team leader aside, and walked away without looking back.
As soon as he arrived at the base entrance, he saw the Wu family's car parked there. The butler, Uncle Wu Liu, politely opened the car door for him and invited him to the Wu family's house for dinner.
At the same time, Wu Cichou called Qiu Xiaoman's mobile phone. She followed behind the military off-road vehicle and replied apologetically, "I'm sorry, Grandpa Wu, Deputy Captain Sun of the Special Forces invited me to train military dogs, but I may not have time to accept the invitation."
What? When did this kid get in touch with the special forces?
Wu Cichou paused for a moment, then quickly replied with a smile to avoid losing his composure, "Okay, okay, you go ahead with your work, come again when you have time."
After hanging up the phone, Wu Cichou had a bad feeling. Shen Laosan's eldest daughter was no ordinary person.
They actually caught the eye of the special forces? And to make matters worse, the Wu family's nemesis is also in the military…
Whether it's a coincidence or not, if Qiu Xiaoman really becomes a favorite in the military, then the Wu family will have no choice but to win her over.
He quickly went through all his unmarried grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and immediately called his eldest daughter, asking her to bring his youngest son back from abroad.
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