Siheyuan: At the beginning, I can integrate everything!

Sha Zhu, with the ten thousand US dollars and the small black box tucked in his arms, felt his heart pounding like a drum.

He wasn't afraid; he was excited.

In the courtyard, he usually either swings a big ladle or argues with those awful people.

When did you experience something as thrilling as dealing with foreign spies, like filming a movie?

The east wing of the front yard.

The two guards at the entrance stood like statues, their cold eyes sweeping across the surroundings.

As soon as Sha Zhu approached the red-painted warning line, two Type 56 semi-automatic rifles were swiftly leveled.

The dark muzzle of the gun was pointed directly at his chest.

"Halt! Who goes there!" the guard shouted in a low voice.

Sha Zhu was startled and quickly raised his hands, backing away repeatedly.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot! I'm He Yuzhu from the Intermediate People's Court, from the cafeteria!"

"I have something extremely urgent to discuss with Consultant Zhang!"

Chen Bing, who was inside discussing guard deployment with Zhang Huaimin, heard the noise and pushed open the door to come out.

"Let him in, he's one of our own."

Chen Bing waved his hand, and the guards then lowered their guns and let him pass.

Sha Zhu, like a thief, slipped into the east wing and locked the door tightly behind him.

"Uncle Zhu, why are you playing cat and mouse in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

Zhang Huaimin sat cross-legged on the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove), flipping through a thick book on mechanical engineering, without even looking up.

"Oh, my dear brother! I've done you a great service today!"

Sha Zhu ran all the way to the octagonal table.

He looked around and mysteriously put his hand inside his clothes.

"Snapped!"

A muffled thud.

He slammed a thick stack of green US dollars, still smelling of ink, along with the small black box, onto the table.

"Look what this is!"

Sha Zhu slapped his thigh, his face full of barely suppressed excitement and pride, his mouth practically stretched to his ears.

Chen Bing was leaning against the door frame, watching casually.

His gaze fell on the ten thousand dollars on the table, especially on the black miniature listening device with obvious military camouflage markings.

His pupils contracted sharply, and his whole body stiffened instantly as if he had been electrocuted!

"US dollars?! A US-made M-3 miniature listening device?!"

Chen Bing strode forward, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"Pillar, where did you get this thing?!"

This thing is a top-of-the-line item from the CIA; it's an extremely rare find in China.

If an ordinary person gets involved with this stuff, it's an absolute crime that could cost them their head!

Zhang Huaimin also put down the book in his hand, his gaze falling on the black box, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes.

"Brother Chen, don't scare him."

Zhang Huaimin turned to look at Sha Zhu and asked with a smile:

"Uncle Zhu, which blind bastard has come to your place to offer some comfort this time?"

Seeing Chen Bing's alarmed expression, Sha Zhu felt even more smug.

He pulled up a chair and sat down, then vividly recounted his encounter with Paul Smith at the restaurant, embellishing the story.

"Brother Huaimin, you have no idea!"

"That old foreign devil, with his lackey translator, really thinks I, He Yuzhu, am a spineless coward who only cares about money!"

"He slammed the ten thousand dollars on the table and said he'd let me go to America and live a life of luxury."

"Just so I'd secretly put this lousy black box under your bed!"

As Sha Zhu finished speaking, he spat out a mouthful of saliva.

"Pah!"

"He took my full name as 'Silly Pillar,' and he must be out of his mind! Seriously stupid?!"

"This bastard is clearly after your precious blueprints! He wants me to become a traitor and harm you?"

Sha Zhu thumped his chest loudly, looking righteous and awe-inspiring.

"Even if he gave me the whole of America, let alone ten thousand dollars, I wouldn't do something so unethical!"

"I thought to myself, since these foreign devils are practically throwing money at me, I might as well take it!"

"I decided to play along, pretending to agree to his request, and managed to trick him out of all the money and the gadgets!"

After saying that, Sha Zhu rubbed his hands together, his eyes shining as he looked at the US dollars on the table, and chuckled at Zhang Huaimin.

"Brother Huaimin, look, didn't I handle this matter well?"

"That foreign devil is a fool with too much money to spend! How are we going to divide this money?"

As Chen Bing listened, his tense nerves instantly relaxed.

Seeing Sha Zhu's comical appearance, which was both greedy and stubborn, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

He had previously worried that the cafeteria cook was easily bribed.

Unexpectedly, this seemingly rough man was actually quite shrewd.

When faced with matters of principle, he thinks faster than anyone else, and his loyalty to Zhang Huaimin is absolutely unquestionable.

"Brother Zhu, good comrade! We'll use this money for research funding, as for this box..."

Zhang Huaimin was not in a hurry to distribute the money.

He jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed) and walked to the table.

He picked up the black bug, about the size of a matchbox, and fiddled with it in his hand for a moment.

"The workmanship is quite fine, but unfortunately the technology is too backward, and it can only perform one-way short-distance audio transmission."

Zhang Huaimin shook his head, his tone filled with undisguised disdain.

"Huaimin, this is high-level equipment from enemy agents; we can't be careless."

Chen Bing walked over with a solemn expression.

"This means that the spy named Paul is hiding no more than two kilometers away from the courtyard, listening to and receiving signals at any time."

"I will immediately notify Director Zhou and the security department to conduct a thorough search of the surrounding hotels catering to foreign guests!"

"Please don't!"

Zhang Huaimin quickly raised his hand to stop Chen Bing.

"Brother Chen, it's pointless to alert the enemy."

A sly, fox-like glint flashed in his deep, dark eyes.

"They went to great lengths to bring their 'ears' right to us."

"If we just destroy it like this, wouldn't we be letting down Mr. Paul's 'kind intentions'?"

Sha Zhu was completely confused.

"Bro, what do you mean by this? You're not really going to put this thing under your bed, are you?"

"What should we say? Won't that foreigner overhear everything?"

"Listen? Of course we should let him listen."

Zhang Huaimin's lips curled into a wicked smile.

He turned around, his back to the two of them, and his consciousness instantly sank into the system store.

Since Paul wanted to hear it, he would let him hear it to his heart's content!

He not only wanted to listen, but he also wanted to make Paul feel excited and that the $100,000 was well spent!

Zhang Huaimin quickly scanned through the system's online store.

soon.

His gaze settled on a unique technological feature that flashed an extremely bright red light and carried a high-danger warning sign.

[Characteristics of signal reverse positioning and electrical pulse generator]!