Arranged marriage, love blossoms; a fiercely devoted soldier dotes on her alone.

In the following days, Liu Chuanren did not make any further attempts to probe.

Because he knew that a pawn like Ren Jiaguang, who had been lurking for many years, must be extremely cautious.

She had already sent him the signal; now all she needed to do was wait quietly for his response.

really,

Two more days passed.

During a late-night ward round, Ren Jiaguang walked past Liu Chuanren's bed and seemingly unintentionally tossed a small crumpled tissue next to his pillow.

"It's cold at night, make sure you're covered up with a blanket."

Ren Jiaguang spoke in a businesslike, emotionless tone, then walked straight past.

After the footsteps of the ward rounds gradually faded away, Liu Chuanren picked up the wad of tissues.

He held his breath and slowly unfolded the tissue under the dim night light. On it, he saw an address and a phone number written in tiny print.

The address Liu Chuanren saw turned out to be an abandoned warehouse in the suburbs of Beijing, and the phone number was an overseas number.

Liu Chuanren's heart started racing again.

Could this be the location of the safe that Liu Qiang mentioned?

That phone call was probably the key to unlocking Grandpa's "network of connections."

Liu Chuanren memorized the address and number as quickly as possible, then tore the tissue into pieces and flushed it down the toilet.

After doing all this, Liu Chuanren lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling with his eyes open, unable to sleep all night.

Now we face a huge problem: how do we get this message out?

Now that I'm imprisoned, it's impossible for me to go to that warehouse, let alone make that overseas call.

He needs a reliable person who can handle things for him outside.

Looking for Liu Qiang?

No.

Liu Qiang's identity is too sensitive; the fact that he came to see me even once was already a huge risk for him.

If he makes any further unusual moves, he will definitely be watched by the relevant authorities.

thinking about it,

A name popped into his mind.

Yes, find Hong Tao.

Hong Tao was my grandfather's former driver, a taciturn but loyal veteran.

After his grandfather fell from power, everyone scattered like birds and beasts, but Hong Tao still insisted on sending him a sum of money to his prison account every month. Although it was not much, Liu Chuanren now considers this kindness more valuable than a thousand pieces of gold.

Grandpa didn't mention him in the letter, perhaps thinking he was just a driver who couldn't access the core level. But precisely because of this, he was the least noticeable and safest candidate.

The problem now is, how do we get in touch with Hong Tao?

Prison communications are strictly monitored, so he couldn't simply call and tell him the message.

Then the only opportunity will be on the next family visit day.

Liu Chuanren deliberately created an opportunity to meet Ren Jiaguang, and then told Ren Jiaguang his thoughts.

Ren Jiaguang walked past Liu Chuanren calmly, remaining unmoved.

really,

Hong Tao was indeed the person who attended the family meeting this time.

Hong Tao looked much older, with graying temples, but his back was still ramrod straight.

Looking at the loyal old man through the glass, Liu Chuanren was filled with mixed emotions.

He didn't rush to reveal the address, but instead chatted casually about some trivial matters from the past.

"Hongtao, do you remember when I was little, you often took me to that abandoned railway warehouse in the suburbs? I always liked to climb onto that green locomotive, and you said I looked like a little monkey."

Liu Chuanren spoke as if reminiscing, his tone filled with nostalgia for his past life.

Hong Tao paused for a moment, a glimmer of memory flashing in his cloudy eyes, and murmured, "I remember, how could I not remember? You were very mischievous back then."

"Yeah, that's right."

Liu Chuanren sighed and continued, "I wonder how that place is now. I remember the warehouse's address was... um, let me think, it seems, it seems like it was 111 Jianguo Road?"

He cleverly conveyed that address in a way that seemed to be a recollection of the past.

Hong Tao's body trembled slightly upon hearing this.

He gave Liu Chuanren a deep look.

He had followed Liu Shiyuan for most of his life. Although he didn't know the core secrets, his keen intuition remained.

He knew that Liu Chuanren was definitely not simply reminiscing.

"Young Master,"

Hong Tao's voice was somewhat hoarse as he said, "You... have finally matured. The old man would be smiling in his grave if he knew."

Liu Chuanren smiled and said, "People always have to go through some things to become more mature and stable."

Then, seemingly casually, he added, "By the way, Hong Tao, I have a friend who used to live abroad, but we haven't been in touch for a long time. If it's convenient for you, could you give him my regards? I think his phone number is...."

Liu Chuanren broke the string of overseas numbers into several segments, interspersed them with some unimportant numbers and words, and recited them all at once.

Hong Tao didn't speak, but listened silently, his eyes growing increasingly serious.

At the end of the meeting, Hong Tao stood up and gave Liu Chuanren a solemn, standard military salute.

"Young Master, please take care of yourself. I'll handle things outside."

Watching Hong Tao's departing figure...

"call……."

Liu Chuanren let out a long sigh of relief.

He knew that he had already made the first move in the game.

Now, it's up to Hong Tao to find the safe, make the call, and start the massive machine left by his grandfather.

The capital city, this long-dormant game of chess, is about to welcome a new player.

The waiting period is agonizing, but it requires even more patience.

Liu Chuanren showed unprecedented patience.

He continued to silently carry out his labor reform every day, even more obedient than before.

He concealed all his sharp edges and became a model of good reform attitude in the eyes of the prison guards.

He knew that the more critical the moment, the less room there was for any mistakes to be made.

Two weeks later, during a break, Ren Jiaguang casually walked past him and whispered, "Your family asked me to pass on a message to you, saying that the 'overseas friend' you asked someone to send you greetings to has replied."

"He said in his letter that the eagles had received the signal and the eaglets could prepare for their first flight."

Just one short sentence.

But this stirred up a huge storm in Liu Chuanren's heart.

It worked!

Hong Tao succeeded!

He found the safe and made contact with his grandfather's "network of connections".

"Eagle" undoubtedly refers to the grandfather, while "fledgling eagle" refers to himself.

"Test flight"... This means that the other party wants to test his abilities, or in other words, wants him to submit a "pledge of allegiance".

That night, Liu Chuanren tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

What's inside the safe?

Who's on that list?

What is Grandpa's plan?

He knew nothing.

Now, the other party wants him to "test fly". What should he do?

He suddenly remembered a sentence from his grandfather's letter: "The real game of chess is beyond the chessboard."

He realized that what his grandfather left him might not just be a ready-made network and plan, but a way of thinking.

He can no longer think about problems in the same simplistic, crude, power- and money-driven way he used to.

He must learn to strategize from a higher, more macro perspective, like his grandfather, and to utilize all available rules and human nature.

He began frantically recalling every detail before and after his grandfather's downfall, analyzing the weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and strengths of each opponent.

The old man of the Deng family, Xiao Huai'an, Deng Zhi, Xiao Zhan, ... these names that he once hated to the bone, have now become pieces in his mind that need to be precisely calculated and analyzed.

Gradually, a bold idea slowly formed in his mind, creating a huge plan!