Wang Dabao hadn't finished his afternoon nap when the phone rang in the small meeting room outside.
He got up in a daze, went to the living room to answer the phone. It turned out that Section Chief Hu had returned and wanted to discuss something with him.
Wang Dabao put on his clothes and went to Section Chief Hu's lounge across the street. He pushed open the door, sprawled on the small sofa in the reception room, picked up a cigarette from the coffee table, and lit it: "Why do you have to make a phone call for something as simple as just knocking on the door? What were you doing this morning?"
"Oh dear, I forgot to tell you yesterday."
Section Chief Hu brewed two cups of tea and went around to sit opposite Wang Dabao. "My mother is getting old, and the doctor told her to go to the hospital once a week."
Seeing Wang Dabao sit up straight with a questioning look in his eyes, Section Chief Hu was touched and waved his hand with a smile: "Nothing serious. After all, he's getting old. He was criticized when he was young. Although he was later exonerated, his health suffered. But to be honest, I'm content that he's still alive."
Wang Dabao nodded, understanding what Section Chief Hu meant by being criticized, and also knowing that it was truly remarkable that the old lady had managed to get through that time.
Back then, eight out of ten people couldn't survive, and each died in their own way!
"We've gone off on a tangent. I called you over because it's important."
Section Chief Hu got up and stood at the door for a while before locking it and returning to his seat.
This series of actions left Wang Dabao a little bewildered. What important matter required such caution, and were they worried about someone eavesdropping outside the door? This was the security department's own territory; could there be an undercover agent?!
While Section Chief Hu was preparing himself, he was also subtly observing Wang Dabao, wanting to see how this young man would react to the situation.
Wang Dabao was indeed incredibly curious, but after noticing Section Chief Hu's expression, he could only sigh helplessly: "Alright, Lao Hu, don't forget we've all been to the front lines. We're not afraid of losing our lives, so what else could scare us?"
Section Chief Hu chuckled and picked up his teacup: "Speaking of which, this happened before your report. Our factory received a batch of rare metal materials for processing, and it was completed just last week."
"After that, I drew manpower from the security team and the guard team to load the finished products onto trucks in the middle of the night and transport them to the warehouse in the North District."
"Based on the calculation, the day after tomorrow is the day when we will ship this batch of workpieces. I discussed it with Director Yang beforehand, and we planned to depart the night before. The journey will take about five or six hours, and we will arrive at the port at dawn to wait for the ship that will pick up the workpieces to dock."
"I don't need to elaborate on the importance of these rare material parts; you should already know it."
Wang Dabao shook his head vigorously: "No, I really don't know."
Section Chief Hu gave him a look that said, "You're being silly by talking like that," and then mysteriously pointed to the ceiling, lowering his voice to say, "I suspect it might be for that thing that goes to space."
"You should have said that earlier."
Wang Dabao picked up his teacup and drank it all in one gulp. "Just one sentence: as long as I'm here, I'll keep working."
Section Chief Hu shook his head, picked up a cigarette from the coffee table, lit one for himself, and said with a serious and solemn expression: "Even if the person is gone, the workpiece cannot be damaged."
Wang Dabao nodded silently, understanding that this was Lao Hu's attitude towards the matter.
After all, the person is gone, so the workpiece is definitely gone too.
"To prevent enemy agents from ambushing us on the way, I was thinking of asking Director Zhao for help. Well, just when I was dozing off, someone brought me a pillow. Last week, a fax came over saying that you, the combat hero, were coming to report for duty. I was so happy."
As he spoke, Section Chief Hu burst into laughter.
“This time, we’ll go together for the escort. I’ll go in front and you’ll go behind. The security team members are all veterans. We’ll select twenty quick-witted brothers from them and bring plenty of equipment. With us, we’ll be able to handle any emergencies.”
Wang Dabao stubbed out his cigarette, thinking about what Section Chief Hu had just said about his elderly mother: "Old Hu, I've fought in many battles, big and small. I can take the brothers and transport this batch of parts by myself. You're too old, you should stay at the factory and wait for news."
Although he didn't have much contact with the security team members, they were all veterans, and Wang Dabao was confident that with sufficient equipment, he could lead them to deal with any emergencies.
"Bullshit."
Section Chief Hu laughed, "If I don't go with you, I won't be able to sleep at night."
Immediately afterwards, Section Chief Hu's gaze fell on Wang Dabao's wrist. "Wow, Comrade Dabao, you're something else! I just gave you the tickets, and you've already put on a watch all night!"
"If I had known you were hoping I would come here to escort such an important piece of work, I should have just asked you for a watch."
“I captured that watch on the battlefield back then; you young people wouldn’t even look at it.”
Section Chief Hu stood up with a hearty laugh. “Let’s go to Director Yang’s place and discuss the delivery route for tomorrow night.”
The two left the security office building and entered the government office building after walking a few steps.
Upon arriving on the third floor and finding no one in the corridor, Section Chief Hu pulled Wang Dabao into Yang Xinmin's office.
The door to Yang Xinmin's office was not closed, which must have been because he had informed Section Chief Hu beforehand.
The two pushed open the door and entered. Yang Xinmin walked over from behind his desk with a map in his hand.
After Section Chief Hu locked the door, the three of them sat down in the reception area. Without much small talk, Yang Xinmin immediately spread out the map on the coffee table.
Wang Dabao saw that the map marked with two routes, one red and one black, and guessed that it must be the result of a discussion between Section Chief Hu and Factory Director Yang.
"Da Bao, look."
Section Chief Hu pointed to the route marked with a red line, "After discussing it with Director Yang, we finally decided to take the first route, which is the one marked with a red line."
Factory Director Yang nodded in agreement and picked up where Section Chief Hu left off: "Although the route drawn with a black pen is flat and takes less time, it is too conspicuous and easily attracts the attention of people with ulterior motives."
"The road marked in red is more hidden, but its disadvantages are also obvious: it is difficult to travel and takes a long time. Most importantly, it will pass through here."
Yang Xinmin reached out and tapped on the map.
“Other places are fine, but this is a forest stretching for more than ten kilometers. If news of our transport of the workpieces leaks out, the enemy may very well ambush us here.”
Wang Dabao carefully examined the route on the map, then looked up and said, "Why not take both routes at the same time?!"
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