Siheyuan, Me and the Yu Sisters

Zhang Renkang asked for Lou Huaijin's current address, declined his suggestion to go home with him, and went to the place he and Wang Fang agreed to meet after leaving Lou's factory. As for contacting the mechanical equipment, he had asked Lou Huaijin to help with the matchmaking. The most urgent task now was to find out what was going on with Zhang Tingan and the others.

……

In a messy alley somewhere in Hong Kong Island, a hurried man quickly shuttled through the stalls at the entrance of the alley, went into a tube building, went up the stairs to the third floor, and passed by several tables of residents playing cards in the corridor. After a careful observation, he ran to a room deep in the corridor and knocked on the door rhythmically.

When the door opened, a thin man in his forties opened the door, looked carefully, and then pulled him into the house without saying a word.

As soon as the door was closed, the man in the room said anxiously

"Lao Liu? Why is it you?"

After entering the room, the man took off his hat and said tiredly:

"I was sent to carry out this mission."

"Brother Wang, I didn't expect that we would be working together again."

It turns out that this person is Captain Liu who was in Zhang Tingan’s cabin on the ship.

The man called Brother Wang laughed and said

"I was wondering who the higher-ups were going to assign to come. If it's you, Old Liu, we'll have a much better chance of accomplishing this mission."

Captain Liu said with a wry smile

"I think you should not be so optimistic. I suspect that the operation has been leaked."

"The economic delegation that I came to Hong Kong to cover for me was all held hostage at the port, and even the equipment they carried had to be sunk in the sea."

"For some reason, the Hong Kong police are conducting strict inspections this time, and John's troops and warships are also patrolling the sea and coastline for defense."

"If I hadn't climbed ashore from the rocks at night, I would have had a hard time getting to the island."

Brother Wang looked at Captain Liu with a serious expression and said

"The only people who know about this operation here are me and the person in charge of the operation team. It shouldn't be leaked."

"It's even more impossible in China. Could this be their routine defense? You also know how important the things in the traitor's hands are."

"According to the information we have received, the traitor should have just entered the island and has not contacted John yet. The things should still be in his hands."

Captain Liu asked helplessly

"You haven't located the traitor yet, have you?"

"What he has in his hand is related to the success or failure of the subsequent experiments. The most important data are all in those films. If it is leaked, the consequences will be disastrous."

The king also smiled bitterly.

"Although Hong Kong Island is not as good as the mainland, it is easy to hide someone there. We have been keeping an eye on the ports and harbors for three days. It's strange that we haven't seen anyone show up."

"I have already found a way to contact our people in the Hong Kong government. They will inform us as soon as there is any news."

"You'd better take a good rest and recuperate now."

"This safe house, except you and me, no one knows this is my residence"

Captain Liu nodded. He hadn't slept for a whole day and night. In order to avoid the search by the patrol police and the military, he had sneaked in from the wild area all the way and didn't even have time to drink water.

……

After Zhang Renkang and Wang Fang returned to the hotel, the four of them held a small meeting. Zhang Renkang said

"I went there with Lao Wang and found that the products there were mainly textiles and plastics. I'm afraid they didn't have what we wanted."

"Now all I can do is wait until tomorrow to go to the original hotel to see if my superiors have any new arrangements."

Zhang Renkang didn't dare to tell them now that Zhang Ting'an and others had been arrested. There might be only four of them left in their economic inspection team. They could only wait and see if there was anyone to contact them tomorrow. If not, they could only think of a way to get Zhang Ting'an and others out first.

Zhang Renkang was a little puzzled. Zhang Ting'an and his team were also informed of this during the training when they set out. Besides, at most they just wanted to purchase prohibited equipment, which was not a serious crime. How could the Hong Kong side have the courage to detain them? After all, the mainland was still supplying daily necessities to this side, and the relationship between the two sides was not so tense, right?

At the same time, the mainland had also received information about the delegation being detained. Hong Kong Island immediately notified the mainland's office on the island, demanding the repatriation of Zhang Ting'an and others, and took out the weapons and equipment salvaged from the sea to question why they wanted to undermine the stability of Hong Kong Island.

The higher-ups naturally knew what John meant, but they would never admit to such a thing. The mission that they sent Captain Liu to carry out was also top secret. They firmly refused to admit that this had happened, and they were only protesting against the illegal detention of the mainland delegation by Hong Kong Island.

A conference room somewhere in Sijiu City

There were four men sitting in the smoke-filled conference room, and a younger man in green military uniform was reporting

"According to the list provided by Hong Kong Island, four people are missing: Zhang Renkang, Wang Fang, Tang Fu, and Li Ming. We have contacted the Hong Kong Island office and have arranged for people to go to the planned location to see if they have successfully entered."

One of the soldiers sitting there put out the cigarette butt in the ashtray and said

"How did the four of them get in?"

"Why did Hong Kong Island let only these four people enter the island?"

"What's Liu Fei's current situation? Have you contacted him?"

The soldier standing explained

"We have not yet contacted Zhang Renkang and the other four. It is unclear how they managed to avoid being detained by Hong Kong Island."

"We can't contact Liu Fei now. Judging from the last telegram he sent, he must have encountered a patrolling warship and the fishing boat he was on was controlled. We don't know what the current situation is yet."

The soldier who asked the question said

"I don't know this, I don't know that, what do you do for a living?"

"Contact the Spring Bird team immediately and ask them to confirm Liu Fei's situation."

"Also confirm whether Zhang Renkang and the other three have committed treason and find out what is going on with them."

"Let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs protest and demand that Hong Kong Island release our delegation. When appropriate, we can put pressure on them in Shenzhen."

The person reporting this nodded in response.

"Yes, we will send a message to the harbinger of spring right away."

Just as he was about to leave, he was stopped by another person. Another leader sitting down said

"Operation Dawn must be prioritized. If Liu Fei cannot be contacted or dies, immediately activate Plan B. No matter what, those films must be brought back or destroyed, regardless of the life or death of the traitor."

"Send a message to the harbinger of spring, and tell it to melt the ice. Make sure you bring the film back or destroy it."

As soon as the voice fell, another person beside him frowned and said

"Isn't it too costly to melt the ice? We have worked so hard to seal it in. If the ice is exposed, we will be in a passive position in that place from now on."

The man who said he would activate the ice said firmly

"Ensuring the safety of the film is the most important thing. Nothing is more important than the safety of the film. I think it is worthwhile to use the ice for this purpose."

He looked at the other three and said

"The arrow has been put on the string and has to be shot. We don't have time to verify it again. If the Gauls take action before us, we will not be passive at that time."

"There are always knives hanging over the heads of my 700 million compatriots. We have no way out. This experiment must succeed."