A Republic-era tycoon started as a secretary at Tianjin Railway Station

The Aramco MK II "Pineapple" grenade weighs approximately 595g, has a grooved cast iron body, contains 57g of TNT, and has a fuse delay of 4–5 seconds.

The effective damage radius of the explosion is 10-15m, and the maximum fragmentation can even reach 45-50m.

Therefore, Ma Gui's lunge did not protect him at the moment of the explosion.

He was not only thrown away by the shockwave, but also had a large number of shrapnel embedded in his body.

Not to mention that Ma Kui was already injured, even if he were a completely unharmed person, he probably wouldn't be completely unharmed at this moment!

After the explosion, before the smoke had cleared, Cuiping cautiously raised her gun from the corner to investigate.

Because the shrapnel shattered the nearby streetlights, the area was now completely dark. Through the moonlight, she could only vaguely see a shallow crater in the ground and a corpse lying nearby, its fate unknown.

At this moment, Cuiping still remembered Zuo Lan's instructions to kill Ma Kui, so without thinking, she directly raised her gun and shot the body.

"Bang!"

Cuiping was a very accurate shot; the bullet struck Ma Kui precisely, but Ma Kui showed no reaction.

A normal person would not be unresponsive after being shot, and Ma Kui had no reason to remain motionless.

Therefore, after seeing this scene, Cuiping dared to come out from behind the corner and slowly approach Ma Kui.

During the move, she kept her gun raised, observing her surroundings while remaining vigilant towards Ma Kui.

Finally, when Cuiping arrived at Ma Kui's unrecognizable corpse, she reached out to confirm that Ma Kui was dead, then breathed a sigh of relief and quickly retreated to the corner of the wall.

At that moment, Zuo Lan was peering over the corner of the wall!

"He's dead?"

"Dead!"

As she spoke, Cuiping returned the gun to Zuo Lan, muttering to herself, "This gun is really useful!"

Zuo Lan took the gun, ignoring Cui Ping's words, and instead gave her instructions:

"You'd better get out of here! The Security Bureau must have heard that explosion. They'll definitely send someone over. Don't let them see you with me!"

"And what about you?"

Cuiping still asked with concern.

"Given this accident, I definitely won't go back. You should go home now!"

"Shall I take you home?"

"No, we can't let anyone find out we're together. You have to leave!"

Faced with Zuo Lan's urging, Cui Ping finally felt relieved.

She turned her head to look around, and after making sure no one was there, she took off running and quickly disappeared into the alley.

Since arriving in Jinhai, Cuiping has accomplished nothing. He is either being criticized or on his way to being criticized, which makes him very frustrated.

This time, however, from discovering that the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics was going to arrest Zuo Lan, to passing the message to Yu Zecheng, and finally to personally rescuing Zuo Lan, she made a great contribution.

She finally accomplished something—protecting the safety of a comrade—and she was overjoyed!

Unconsciously, the steps underfoot became a little lighter.

Behind her, Zuo Lan watched the figure gradually disappear into the distance, her heart filled with emotion:

This woman is amazing and charming; this is what a modern woman should be like.

At the same time, she thought about how this woman was now Yu Zecheng's wife, living under the same roof as him. Even though she knew it might be fake, a trace of jealousy still rose in her heart.

Fortunately, she knew that jealousy was inappropriate at this moment, and in just a moment, that trace of jealousy disappeared.

At this moment, some windows on the second floor of houses in nearby alleys were already open, and a few daring busybodies had already stuck their heads out to peek out, truly risking their lives for eating melons!

This was no place to linger. Zuo Lan grabbed her gun, turned around quickly, and ran towards the Military Mediation Office.

-----------------

Secretariat of the Bureau of Secrecy

Hong Zhong was sitting at his desk, flipping through all the documents, trying to familiarize himself with everything from his predecessor.

Suddenly, a sound like thunder startled him.

But the subsequent gunshots made him realize that it was likely related to Zuo Lan.

Has it already started? I wonder if Zuo Lan will survive this time!

Thinking of this, Hong Zhong put down the documents in his hand.

After all I've done, I still hope that all my efforts won't be in vain!

"Secretary Hong!"

As he was pondering this, he suddenly heard the stationmaster's voice from outside the door, and he quickly got up and left the office.

"Station Master!"

"What happened?"

Wu Jingzhong walked out of the office, fastened his top button, and asked.

"The sound sounds like it's part of Captain Li's operation!"

"Gunshots are understandable, but where did that cannon shot come from?"

Because of the distance, even Wu Jingzhong couldn't tell whether it was the sound of cannons or grenades.

"Perhaps there's an ambush?"

"Bullshit, who the hell would set up an ambush like that?"

Wu Jingzhong cursed at Hong Zhong, then said, "You wait here. I'm going to see Director Yu. Let me know immediately if there's any news!"

"yes!"

Hong Zhong knew that Wu Jingzhong was going to Yu Zecheng's place to test him, so he immediately agreed.

Hong Zhong waited in the stationmaster's office for a short while, but instead of a phone call, he was greeted by Li Ya, who had rushed back to the station with his men to report on his mission.

Hong Zhong immediately notified the station manager.

"She didn't come!"

"What's with the gunfire?"

"I don't know, but the second team from the Military Mediation Department has already gone there!"

Just as Li Ya was reporting to the station chief in his office, Hong Zhong, who was guarding the door, saw Yu Zecheng and Lu Qiaoshan arrive one after another.

"Station chief, the police have called. A body has been found in Pushan Hutong, and it appears to be... Ma Kui!"

The news brought by Lu Qiaoshan stunned everyone in the office.

"Where's the body?"

The station chief had received Hong Zhong's report beforehand, so he was mentally prepared for Ma Kui to appear there, but he didn't know who killed him.

"At the army hospital!"

"Let's go take a look!"

With that, Wu Jingzhong got up and led the group out of the office.

Seeing Hong Zhong standing outside the office, Wu Jingzhong's heart skipped a beat, and he said, "You come along too!"

Not long after, Hong Zhong saw the body in the morgue of the Army Hospital.

Although the body was blown beyond recognition, Hong Zhong recognized Ma Kui by his figure at a glance!

If he can tell, then everyone else present, except for Li Ya, should be able to recognize him too.

"What's going on, my chief?"

The stationmaster took off his gloves, walked out of the sacrament, and spoke to the police chief in a veiled manner.

"Detective Huang, please tell us!"

Despite being the police chief, he had retreated behind the detective, which Hong Zhong, who was watching the show from the sidelines, found inexplicably amusing.

"Based on the analysis of the scene, it appears to be an assassination. The person was attacked with a weapon similar to a hand grenade, and the assassin even fired a follow-up shot afterward. It was a highly professional assassination, which resulted in the victim not firing a single shot throughout the entire incident!"

"Assassination?"

Detective Huang's conclusion surprised Wu Jingzhong, who fell into deep thought: Who could it be? And why would he kill Ma Kui?

On the other side, when he heard the grenade, Hong Zhong subconsciously looked at Yu Zecheng beside him, and sure enough, a look of realization flashed across Yu Zecheng's face.

He knew that at this moment, Yu Zecheng didn't care who the corpse was or how it died; what he really cared about was whether Zuo Lan was still alive.

But Hong Zhong was much more at ease than him. When he saw that there was only this one male corpse at the scene, he was already certain that Zuo Lan should have been saved!

This grenade must belong to Cuiping!

While he was happy to save Zuo Lan, Hong Zhong was even happier because this incident confirmed that he had the ability to change the future, which was more important to him!