Searching for someone in northern Myanmar, and you call that earning tuition fees?

When the international flight landed, it was already evening in China.

The cabin door opened, and warm, humid air rushed in. Old Zhao stepped onto the jet bridge, took a deep breath of the air carrying the smell of aviation fuel, and his eyes immediately welled up with tears.

"The smell of our motherland!" Old Zhao sniffed hard. "Smell it, the air smells like hot pot broth!"

Li Changfeng walked past him expressionlessly: "That's the fumes from the braised chicken and rice over there, mixed with the aroma of gutter oil."

Ah Xue, carrying a bag, walked at the very back and stopped at the exit of the covered bridge.

Upon arriving at the exit of the hall, one finds a constant flow of people coming and going.

Ah Xue looked at the three people in front of her, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out her hand to Su Ming.

"Mr. Su, I will arrange the final payment on the contract as soon as I get back."

Su Ming reached out and shook hands briefly, then immediately released them cleanly and decisively.

Ah Xue's hand froze in mid-air, not retracting. She glanced at Su Ming, then at Li Changfeng and Lao Zhao, and her lips moved slightly.

"Um... is it possible for us to meet again?"

"Feel free to contact me if you have any legal needs." Su Ming patted his canvas bag. "My fee schedule is clearly stated in Article 7 of the agreement."

Ah Xue's lips twitched violently.

She took a deep breath, turned to Old Zhao, and bowed earnestly: "Uncle Zhao, take care of yourself and try to reduce your nitroglycerin intake."

Old Zhao waved his hand and said vaguely, "Don't worry, I'm tough. When you get back, remember to eat well and dress warmly, and don't talk to any strange oligarchs."

Ah Xue then turned to Li Changfeng.

"Brother Li, thank you."

Li Changfeng nodded in response.

Ah Xue stood there for two seconds, then turned and walked towards another terminal. After walking a dozen steps, she couldn't help but look back.

Su Ming was already squatting in front of the vending machine, seriously considering which flavor of hot cocoa to buy.

Ah Xue bit her lip and left without looking back this time.

Old Zhao stared at Ah Xue's retreating figure and nudged Li Changfeng with his elbow: "Don't you think that girl is—"

"Shut up." Li Changfeng grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him toward the exit. "Go back and write your report."

Office of the Director of Security, Jiangnan University.

With the doors and windows tightly shut, the familiar sense of oppression returned.

Li Changfeng sat at his desk, a red encrypted phone in front of him. His finger hovered over the dial button, but he hesitated to press it.

Old Zhao sat on the sofa to the side, and stingily pulled out a thermos cup with a large dent from his pocket.

He filled the water dispenser with some water and rinsed the inside of the cup repeatedly. Then he took out a suede cloth and carefully wiped the brand-new dent on the cup, his eyes focused as if he were handling a piece of priceless jade.

Finally, Li Changfeng gritted his teeth and pressed the number leading to the Xishan Command Center.

The phone rang three times before being answered.

"Changfeng," the old general's voice sounded unusually calm, even unusually so, "Tell me, what 'surprise' have you brought me this time?"

Li Changfeng stood ramrod straight, chest puffed out, and said solemnly, "Reporting to the commander, mission accomplished. The client is safe, and the estate has been legally inherited."

"Hmm," the old general responded, his expression unreadable. "I've heard about it."

Li Changfeng's heart skipped a beat.

The old general continued in a completely flat tone: "You wiped out a mercenary squad on the cross-border train, trekked across the snowfield, took down an armored factory, killed an ace sniper in close combat, and finally forced the notary to draw his gun, only to have him knocked unconscious by a thermos. So, tell me, how do you, Li Changfeng, plan to fabricate this report?"

Li Changfeng's eye twitched violently.

Are the intelligence agencies some kind of supernatural being? They even know what the hell they used to smash it?!

"Basically...that's basically it." Li Changfeng's voice was a little hoarse.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, as if they were still processing this absurd plot.

"That thermos," the old general asked, "was it Su Ming who kicked it?"

"Yes," Li Changfeng answered with a forced smile. "Old Zhao was about to drink water when his front tooth was almost knocked out."

Old Zhao, who was wiping the cup, trembled and almost dropped it. He glared resentfully at Li Changfeng's retreating figure.

"In other words," the old general's tone rose slightly, "you, the army's top soldier, took a security guard with a heart condition to the Arctic Circle and watched him perform the whole time? Li Changfeng, what did you do? What was your role?"

Li Changfeng's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, but he couldn't answer a single word.

Yeah, what the hell did I do? I was responsible for driving and being shocked the whole time, and at the end, I helped kick the gun on the ground a little further away.

The old general sighed, his voice filled with weariness: "When you came back from Africa last time, you told me that Su Ming used a calculator to bankrupt a warlord. I thought at the time that I would never hear a more outrageous report in my life. As it turns out, I was still too young."

Li Changfeng: "..."

"Alright, you've saved your lives and assets, and avoided any diplomatic blunders. Consider this a great achievement." The old general cleared his throat. "After joint evaluation by the General Staff and the Logistics Department, in view of your safeguarding of the country's overseas interests through asymmetric means under extremely adverse conditions, it has been decided to award you and Comrade Zhao a collective third-class merit."

"What?!"

Old Zhao on the sofa jumped up with a bang. He rushed to the desk and stared intently at the red telephone, his eyes wide open.

Another one?!

I went to the Arctic Circle and took heart medication the whole way, and then my own people looted my gear. And this is another third-class merit?!

Was this thing bought wholesale?!

Old Zhao felt his heart pounding wildly, not out of fear, but out of pure ecstasy.

Two third-class merit awards! If he takes them back to his hometown, the Zhao family's ancestral graves will practically emit mushroom clouds!

"Alright, get ready to write the report. Submit the detailed process." The old general prepared to hang up the phone.

Li Changfeng gritted his teeth. He turned to look at Old Zhao, who was grinning like a simpleton while holding his dented thermos, and then thought back to his own trip to the Arctic.

What did this top soldier, a tough guy who fought his way through gunfire, do this time?

If things continue like this, he fears his special forces skills will degenerate into "proficiently reciting twenty-three legal agreements" and "precisely throwing self-defense stationery."

This soldier king is really unbearable to be, it's too humiliating.

"Commander, wait a moment," Li Changfeng suddenly spoke, his voice a little hoarse.

"explain."

"Sir, I'm applying for early retirement."

The old general didn't speak on the other end of the phone.

"I can't write a case report." Li Changfeng stared at the table, feeling like he was about to crack. "I learned infiltration, assassination, and tactical coordination when I enlisted. Now, my mission summaries are full of 'short selling,' 'equity transfer,' 'labor law,' and 'physical extermination of thermos cups.'"

"Not approved."

"Sir, I'm constantly reshaping my worldview. The General Staff's review officer finished reading the African war reports last week and I heard he's already taking antidepressants. If I write about the Russian oligarch acknowledging his father, he'll most likely request my execution!"

"That's a problem with his mental fortitude. Your task is to keep an eye on Su Ming, not to write a novel!"

"But I couldn't stop him at all! He took off his winter coat faster than I could draw my gun!"

"Then be his strategic legal assistant! No discussion!" The old general's voice suddenly rose. "Your allowance will be increased to the highest level, and your part-time subsidy will be doubled! Okay, that's it! Tell him to keep quiet for the next few days and not take any more orders! The people at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are going to curse him out!"

"beep--"

The busy signal came through, and only Li Changfeng's heavy breathing remained in the office.

He slowly put down the microphone, feeling utterly exhausted, and slumped into the chair, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Old Zhao peeked over, his underbite making a few strained words of comfort: "Old Li, look on the bright side, at least the allowance has doubled, right? At worst, next time we go on a mission, I... I'll share some nitroglycerin pills with you to keep things in check..."

"Shut up!" Li Changfeng gritted his teeth, pointing towards the door. "Go back to your gatehouse. I need some peace and quiet!"

"Okay, bro!"

Old Zhao felt like he'd been granted a pardon. Clutching his prized thermos, he happily opened the door and dashed off. He was so excited that he tripped over his own foot and almost fell over.

Li Changfeng was the only one left in the office.

After a long while, he took out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from the drawer, shook one out, and lit it.

The swirling blue smoke blurred his weathered face.

He took a deep drag, exhaled a column of grayish-white smoke, and squinted at the red encrypted phone on the table.

"This career as a top soldier is probably coming to an end," he muttered to himself. "Next time, I'm definitely going to cut this damn phone line."