I put you in charge of those rebellious female soldiers, how come they all became top special forces

Qin Hong found Chen Zheng at the entrance of the laboratory.

The latter was standing by the corridor window, holding a thermos, getting some fresh air.

Qin Hong handed over the printed copy.

Chen Zheng took it and looked at it once.

The two exchanged a glance.

There was no need for further explanation; both of them knew exactly what this meant.

A reply in two hours is a bit too fast.

Given the efficiency of official procedures, such a report, from receipt, review, analysis, to the decision to send someone over, would normally take at least two days to complete.

A decision was made in just two hours; there's only one possibility.

The level of attention given to Lan Meng by those in power is far greater than they imagined.

It's even possible that the higher-ups already had some intelligence and were just waiting for a breakthrough.

After Chen Zheng finished reading the printed copy, he returned it to Qin Hong.

"No action can be taken at Jinbiyuan before the people arrive tomorrow."

Qin Hong nodded.

"clear."

After saying that, she took the printout and turned back to the duty room.

Chen Zheng stood alone by the window in the corridor, holding a thermos.

To the northeast, at a straight-line distance of 2.1 kilometers, there is a residential apartment building called Jinbiyuan.

Perhaps someone is looking this way through a window in one of the rooms of that building.

Chen Zheng took a sip of goji berry water, gazed calmly in that direction, and stood there for a long time.

Nine o'clock at night, the sentry post next to Building No. 3.

An Ran, wearing a military overcoat, was on guard duty.

Li Yue had originally said she wanted to stand with her, but she was sent away.

"Come back later to relieve me. Go back to sleep now."

Li Yue reluctantly agreed and could only leave.

An Ran leaned against the pillar of the sentry post, her hands in the pockets of her military overcoat, monitoring everything in front of her.

Around 11 a.m., the side door of Building No. 3 opened.

Chen Zheng came out.

He was wearing that dark jacket and holding a thermos.

After taking a few steps, he caught a glimpse of a figure next to the sentry post out of the corner of his eye, and paused.

An Ran saw him too.

The two looked at each other from about ten meters apart.

Chen Zheng walked over and stood in front of her.

He didn't say anything, but simply handed over the thermos.

Anran took it, unscrewed the cap, poured the water into the cap, and took a sip.

She screwed the lid back on, intending to return it to Chen Zheng.

But he pulled his hand back halfway and took another sip.

Chen Zheng watched her movements without urging her.

The two of them stood there in the night.

No one spoke.

After a silence of about two or three minutes, Chen Zheng finally spoke.

"The counterintelligence team is coming tomorrow. You and Qin Hong will be in contact with them then."

An Ran nodded.

Another silence followed.

A few minutes later, An Ran suddenly whispered.

"Go ahead and do it, I'll take care of things outside."

Chen Zheng glanced at her.

In the darkness, her expression was not clearly visible; all that could be seen were her bright, sparkling eyes above the collar of her military overcoat.

He didn't say anything, but reached out and took the thermos back from An Ran's hand, turned around and walked towards Building 3, leaving a sound behind.

"Don't stay up too late."

An Ran watched Chen Zheng's figure disappear into the side door of Building No. 3, gripped the collar of her military overcoat tightly, and smiled slightly.

At 9:00 a.m. the following morning, two black SUVs stopped outside the research institute's gate.

The car door opened, and four people got out.

The man walking at the front was around forty years old, with a buzz cut, wearing a black jacket, and a sharp, angular face.

The visitor's name was Zhao Yuanshan, a senior colonel in the military, and he belonged to the counter-espionage department of a certain unit of the General Staff.

The three people behind him were all dressed in black, with expressionless faces.

Qin Hong greeted the person at the gate.

When Zhao Yuanshan shook hands with Qin Hong, his gaze had already swept over her shoulder, taking in the entire research institute.

Qin Hong noticed his gaze, but said nothing and stepped aside to let him pass.

"Comrade, please."

Zhao Yuanshan withdrew his gaze, nodded, and strode inside.

In the conference room, Chen Zheng was already seated on one side of the long table.

An Ran stood to his right, standing ramrod straight.

When Zhao Yuanshan pushed the door open and came in, he first looked Chen Zheng up and down.

He had clearly done his homework beforehand, knowing who Chen Zheng was, what Mulan was, and the weight this young lieutenant colonel held in the military.

But his attitude remained neither humble nor arrogant, and even somewhat condescending.

Zhao Yuanshan sat down across the long table and got straight to the point.

"We have been paying attention to the activities of egrets in China for some time, but we have been lacking a breakthrough."

"The intelligence provided by your team filled in the most crucial gap for us, which is why we were able to arrive so quickly."

Chen Zheng remained silent, not interrupting him.

At this point, Zhao Yuanshan changed the subject.

"From now on, our special task force will be fully responsible for investigating internal moles and countering foreign infiltration."

"The colleagues at the research institute should cooperate; it is not advisable to act rashly."

The words were spoken very politely, but the meaning was quite clear.

Let the professionals handle the professional matters.

An Ran's chin tightened involuntarily, and her lips pursed.

She glanced at Chen Zheng out of the corner of her eye.

Chen Zheng's expression remained calm and composed.

He did not refute on the spot, but only asked one question.

"What are your plans regarding Jinbi Garden?"

Zhao Yuanshan leaned back in his chair and responded immediately.

"We've already sent people to scout the location. Jinbiyuan is an old-style apartment building, a melting pot of all sorts of people. Searching it directly would be too noisy and might alert them."

"My plan is to secretly keep an eye on that building 24 hours a day, and catch them red-handed when they make any moves."

After listening, Chen Zheng neither nodded nor shook his head.

Zhao Yuanshan's method was sound, safe, and followed the proper procedures; it was a standard counter-espionage tactic.

But it's too slow.

If the other party gets wind of it, they could run away overnight.

However, it's not appropriate to say that now.

"Okay, we'll cooperate."

Zhao Yuanshan nodded and stood up.

"Is that settled then? My people will move in today to take over the research institute's security and internal investigation."

"If anything happens, Captain Qin can contact me directly."

After the meeting ended, Zhao Yuanshan left with three of his men.

Qin Hong followed behind, taking charge of arranging their workstations and accommodations.

Only Chen Zheng and An Ran remained in the conference room.

An Ran finally blurted out what she had been holding back for so long.

"What does this guy mean? He wants to take over right away?"

Chen Zheng stood up and shrugged.

"He's a senior colonel, I'm a lieutenant colonel. Rank matters."

An Ran frowned, clearly unconvinced.

"So you're just going to let him take over everything like that?"

Chen Zheng did not answer directly, but stopped at the door and glanced back at her.

"Who said I gave in?"

An Ran was stunned for a moment.

Before he could ask any further questions, Chen Zheng had already pushed open the door and walked out.

Two o'clock in the afternoon, outside the research institute.

Following the new plan from the morning, An Ran and Qin Hong checked the outer perimeter of the defense line together.

The two walked side by side on the gravel path inside the wall, with half a meter between them.

The atmosphere was still a bit strange.

The business discussion in the duty room in the morning went well, but the two of them weren't particularly familiar with each other yet.

When I'm in a situation like this, where we're walking and chatting, I sometimes don't know what to say.