On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, someone notified the family to collect the ashes. Ruan Xianxian went, and on her way back, she came across a stinking ditch and casually threw Ruan Kang-ri's ashes into it.
I went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought a bag of cement powder to put into the urn containing Ruan Kangri's ashes. I just need to wait for Su Tingrong to kick the bucket and close his eyes so that he can be buried with the cement!
I rested at home for a good day on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year. This year's holiday was no easier than doing farm work.
The next day, before dawn, Ruan Xianxian was dragged out of her warm bed by her grandmother. Today was the day she was supposed to report to the bureau.
I was supposed to report back to Beijing the next day, but I was tied up with other things and it's been delayed until now.
After washing up and getting dressed, Hulun ate a bite of folded bamboo basket for breakfast. Grandma then pushed out her bicycle and took her to the mysterious Bureau 749.
On the way, Ruan Xianxian hugged the old lady's waist and asked, "Grandma, do you know why Institute 507 suddenly underwent changes?"
Grandma looked straight ahead, her voice coming back softly, "Do you know the research areas that Institute 507 focuses on?"
"I know! Mysticism."
Yan Fenghua shook her head slightly and said in a deep voice, "The research direction of Institute 507 focuses more on human science."
In folk culture, there are quite a few people who claim to have special abilities such as mind reading, reading through the armpits, and telekinesis.
During the incorporation process, a man named Zhang, who claimed to possess telekinesis, could clearly perceive the movements of his surroundings even without opening his eyes.
At this point, Grandma chuckled.
"Some people in the institute were too impatient and pushed Zhang Moumou to the forefront, calling him a qigong master."
Once, during a performance—well, let's just call it a performance—I made a really bad fool of myself.
The incident triggered a series of chain reactions, the most direct being the public's opposition to feudal superstition and pseudoscience.
Some people even seized the opportunity to make Institute 507 a target for criticism.
Finally, under the dual pressure of public opinion and higher authorities, many projects, including those our group was researching, were forced to be halted.
After the 507 Institute was disbanded, Lao Qian learned from his mistakes and moved from the forefront to the background, no longer making large-scale announcements about the existence of the 749 Bureau.
All you need to know is that Bureau 507 focuses on human science, while Bureau 749 leans more towards mysterious and supernatural phenomena.
"Understood," Ruan Xianxian nodded gently.
"This is the dormant strategy of preserving strength after being attacked."
It's clear that Institute 507 aims to research and advance another direction of human evolution, such as telekinesis or qigong, and to showcase special abilities to the world.
Of the thousands of ordinary Chinese people, how many truly possess special abilities?
Those who sit in a well and look at the sky will not believe that what they do not have truly exists.
Another situation is that things like mental energy cultivation are too easily exploited by people to cause trouble among the people.
Therefore, the direction of the 507 Institute's advancement was not acceptable to the higher authorities.
Old Qian suffered a huge loss, and he was probably disheartened as well. He originally wanted to benefit the vast majority of people, but since they didn't agree, he decided to take them all away.
They were consolidated into several elite units, no longer engaging in any 'evolutionary' tactics, and instead, like a military force, resolved supernatural events that ordinary people couldn't handle.
If, she said, if Institute 507 had not been lost to the annals of history, would there be another path to take besides being a laborer?
Thinking of this, Ruan Xianxian laughed to herself.
It's impossible to even think about it.
It's not just China that's researching human science; there hasn't been any success internationally to date. Leaving aside the difficulties involved, those in power will never allow any force to supersede their authority.
"Grandma, is that Zhang guy really a fraud?"
“No,” Grandma’s voice was firm. “His disappearance was inevitable.”
I understand.
As they were talking, the bicycle stopped in front of a rather dilapidated building, its exterior covered with withered ivy, surrounded by lush vegetation.
In winter, when everything is withered, it's not easy to spot the small building. Let alone when everything comes back to life, the 749th Bureau will be completely covered in greenery.
"Let me show you the way; we usually don't walk on the ground."
Does not using the surface mean there's an underground passage?!
I casually parked my bicycle on the first floor. All I could see was a dilapidated factory building. Apart from the concrete pillars supporting the building, there were scattered mechanical parts that I couldn't understand.
Yan Fenghua led her through several turns until they reached a large staircase at the back, wide enough for ten people to walk side by side. The surroundings were dim, with a kerosene lamp casually hanging on the wooden handrail.
An elderly man, wrapped in a patched-up cotton-padded coat, was dozing off by the handrail. Hearing footsteps, he lifted his frail eyelids and looked over.
That glance contained neither anger nor sharpness, yet Ruan Xianxian stood frozen in place as if under a spell, her body stiff and cold, her blood seemingly flowing backward.
It seemed that she was not facing an old man on the verge of death, but rather a prehistoric behemoth that she could neither defeat nor escape.
"Uncle Zhong," Yan Fenghua greeted the old man naturally, "How was your New Year? You moved to a new place, but the food hasn't gotten any worse, has it?"
The old man finally stopped staring at Ruan Xianxian. The moment his gaze shifted away, she felt completely drained. Her back was already soaked with sweat through her sweater, and she wished she could just collapse on the spot.
But she was always stubborn, and instead of showing any ugliness, she straightened her back and glared at the old man.
The old man, named Uncle Zhong, smiled, whether in response to Yan Fenghua's concern or in laughter at her youthful arrogance.
Instead of answering polite questions about the food, he simply asked, "Is this your little guy who can communicate with animals?"
"Come here!" The old man beckoned, and Ruan Xianxian thought he was calling her, but then there was a series of thumping sounds on the wooden stairs.
A black-backed dog, almost the size of a calf, ran down.
In both her past and present lives, Ruan Xianxian had never seen such a big dog, and her eyes lit up.
The old man stroked the smooth, soft fur of the black-backed dog and said with a smile, "Its name is Tie Niu. If it agrees, you can go in."
Yan Fenghua cautiously pulled her granddaughter back a step, her face solemn. She had seen this dog before; it rarely appeared in front of people, yet it protected this area from being entered by strangers.
She had seen Tie Niu eat, biting off the neck of a live chicken in one bite and swallowing it whole in three bites. She had no doubt that this dog's fighting ability was comparable to that of a tiger.
She knew her granddaughter had extraordinary qualities, but she had never seen them with her own eyes.
Upon receiving the command, Tie Niu bent down and moved forward silently in a hunting posture.
Grandma swallowed hard, but stubbornly stood in front of her granddaughter. She was afraid of dogs, but even more afraid that her granddaughter would get hurt.
Ruan Xianxian patted her grandmother's shoulder with one hand, watching without moving as Tie Niu suddenly accelerated, jumped around her grandmother, and pounced straight towards her.
Uncle Zhong raised an eyebrow and stretched out his old hand, which was tucked into his other sleeve, as if ready to save someone at any moment.
Ruan Xianxian turned to the side, making sure that Tie Niu could pounce on her smoothly without touching her grandmother.
The next instant, the hundred-pound black-backed dog fell into a soft embrace.
The dog, which stood up as tall as Ruan Xianxian, placed its two large paws on her shoulders and let out a series of aggrieved whimpers...
"Waaaaah, waaaaah!"
Then, without warning, it lay on all fours, rolled over suddenly, and revealed its soft belly.
Ruan Xianxian laughed, and Zhong Lao was astonished!
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