After Hou Qian and Sun Chenzhou arrived in the United States, they were immediately arranged to return to China.
Due to time constraints, there were no direct flights to the capital city; instead, passengers had to transfer before flying to Nanjing.
From Nandu, take a chartered plane directly to central Shandong.
Upon arrival in central Shandong, the company sent a mid-level manager to greet and express their appreciation.
Afterwards, the company car took them home.
Hou Qian thought she would be taken away immediately after returning to China, but the journey was very peaceful, just like an ordinary person returning from a trip. No one looked for her, and no one even asked her what happened in Canada.
I felt uneasy, even somewhat lost.
Along the way, she kept thinking about whether she should tell the organization that she had been recruited by the CIA.
This is different from the last time I worked for MD.
But she didn't know how to explain why she hadn't mentioned it last time. She had been recruited by Da Mei, but as an outsider and not taken seriously. Now that she had been activated and was important, would it have any repercussions if she hadn't proactively revealed her true identity?
The higher-ups said that as long as she performs well and makes meritorious contributions, they would not investigate the matter of her being turned to the enemy.
But how do we measure merit and expression?
She felt uncertain and anxious.
Even after she and Sun Chenzhou returned to their residence, this feeling of unease was very strong.
He was restless, fidgeting, and nervous. Sun Chenzhou noticed this and assumed he hadn't fully recovered from his concussion.
They kept reassuring me, saying that it was perfectly safe in the country.
Hou Qian knew that the person who was supposed to find her would definitely come, but perhaps the time wasn't right yet.
The next day, Captain Han appeared in Xing Baohua's office.
They didn't come empty-handed; they brought two packs of cigarettes, saying they'd stolen them from their bureau chief.
Each one is specially made and is already in limited quantities. They said it was not easy to get two boxes.
Xing Baohua looked at the two packs of cigarettes on the table, then picked them up to examine the differences.
This was the first time he had ever seen an orange-red panda. In his memory, he had only seen blue-boxed pandas in pictures, and it seemed that gift shops also sold them.
But I've never seen the orange-red ones before. I casually opened a box and handed it to Captain Han, saying, "You're so stingy, only getting two boxes. How many days will that last?"
"Come on, you're lucky to even get a cigarette! Do you know what scarcity makes something valuable? It's things that you businessmen covet because you can't buy them with money. Do you know how much face you get by being able to offer one?" Captain Han took the cigarette, tucked one behind his ear, then reached for the cigarette pack in Xing Baohua's hand, tucked another behind his other ear, and put one in his mouth.
Seeing the other person's expression, Xing Baohua chuckled and said, "Alright, what kind of talk is this? You can keep this pack and smoke it. I'm going to Shanghai in a couple of days to see if I can bring back a few cases."
Upon hearing this, Captain Han first gave a thumbs up and said with a smile, "I wish you success. If you really manage to get your hands on one, even just one box, please save two for me."
"Fine, aren't you afraid you won't say anything?"
"What are you saying? That you gave me a gift? Give me a break! These cigarettes aren't sold on the market, and they don't even have a price. What's the big deal about giving two packs of worthless cigarettes between friends?" Captain Han laughed even harder as he spoke.
Xing Baohua thought about it and realized that what others said made sense. Anyway, this thing wasn't worth much at cost. It only became valuable later when others speculated on it.
Xing Baohua invited Captain Han to sit on the guest sofa, poured him some tea, and said, "Besides going to Shanghai this time, I also plan to go to Europe, which will probably take one or two months. You'd better keep a close eye on these rats in the house, and dig them out as much as you can."
"Sure! I came here today because of Hou Qian. Let's call her over in a bit and have a chat with her."
"I won't get involved, you can talk! Besides, we're related by blood, we should avoid suspicion!" Xing Baohua really didn't want to get too involved and wanted to politely decline.
Captain Han said, "Don't you want to hear how they plan to target the rice, or what kind of technology they're planning to use to tamper with the rice?"
"To be honest, apart from some agreements and patent contracts, there's really not much technology involved in rice. Everything's patented, and we already know the necessary steps and techniques. Besides, the core technologies belong to others, so what's there to tinker with?" Xing Baohua said after thinking for a moment.
Actually, the real technology was in the lithography institute. It used to be in the same factory, but Xing Baohua was afraid of leaks, so he moved it to a place more than ten kilometers away.
Although both companies are under Xing Baohua's name, they are actually two different departments. The lithography institute and the laboratory are different, and the staff there do not know each other.
Next, Xing Baohua plans to move the lithography institute to a location near a wafer fab in Shanghai, which would facilitate research and communication with the wafer fab.
Neither Hou Qian nor Sun Chenzhou can get into the Institute of Photolithography.
Not to mention, the real core technology is actually inside his villa.
With Captain Han's intervention, Xing Baohua agreed to meet Hou Qian with him.
This time, Hou Qian was invited without any departmental cover; she was directly called to the CEO's office.
When Hou Qian arrived, her face was somewhat pale.
Although I was somewhat mentally prepared, I still felt uncertain.
After she came in, Xing Baohua invited her to sit on the guest sofa, while Captain Han sat outside.
After pouring Hou Qian a glass of water, Xing Baohua asked, "Are you feeling better? Did you suffer any hardship over there?"
"Thank you, no. And thank you to the company for their timely assistance." Hou Qian nodded in thanks.
"We're all family, no need to be so polite. It's mainly Captain Han who's looking for you." Xing Baohua pointed to Captain Han, offering a brief introduction.
Captain Han took out several photos from his bag; they were of Hou Qian being discharged from the hospital, showing a doctor entering her room.
Although they were wearing masks and their faces were obscured, there were photos of their front and side views. There was also a photo of them taking off their masks as they left the hospital and got into their car.
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