The anxious expression was impossible to hide. Yet at this moment, Lu Zheng still wanted to take the documents out. Xu Qingru furrowed her brows tightly and suddenly reached out, pushing the documents away forcefully.
“You worthless wretch…” Lu Zheng tried to curse. Looking at the documents on the ground, his eyes were filled with disappointment. Those people had told him that as long as he took the documents out, they would give him a thousand yuan. A thousand yuan! With that money, he could do anything he wanted!
*Slap!*
Xu Qingru did what she had wanted to do most in her past life. In her previous life, when she had returned to the capital, Lu Zheng had already died, so she had never gotten the chance. The crisp sound of the slap made the air fall silent.
Lu Zheng never expected Xu Qingru to dare hit him. Professor Lu and Professor Zhang, on the other hand, were confused – who was this young girl, and why was she helping them discipline their son?
“Colluding with spies for money, not caring about your own life – this slap is what you deserve!” Xu Qingru’s breathing became heavier. “No! If Professor Lu and Professor Zhang get investigated, sent to the countryside, or even lose their lives because of your stupidity, then you truly deserve to die!”
“What’s it to you? Who the hell do you think you are!” Lu Zheng only froze for a moment before trying to push Xu Qingru aside and leave.
“If you dare take one step out that door, I’ll report you.” Xu Qingru’s words stopped Lu Zheng in his tracks.
Professor Lu recovered and, along with Professor Zhang, walked over to Xu Qingru with support. “Comrade, thank you for bringing our son back. If he had committed this terrible mistake, it wouldn’t just be us who suffer the consequences – we would be sorry to our country for the rest of our lives!”
Tears filled their eyes as they understood the seriousness of the situation. Even if they were punished, if those documents were leaked, the enemy would gain access to their research progress and results, and the losses to the country would be irreparable. Not even their punishment could make up for it.
Xu Qingru looked at the two familiar faces, tears glistening in her eyes. “I’m just glad I could help you both.”
Lu Zheng was locked in a room immediately. After discussing it, the two elders decided to report it to the authorities! Above all else, they had to catch those spies – they couldn’t have only targeted Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng could hear their conversation from the room and couldn’t help shouting: “Mom and Dad, if you call the police, the public security will arrest me! Do you really want to watch me get into trouble?”
Professor Zhang heard this, but the tears in her eyes didn’t fade. Nor did she give up the idea of reporting. Lu Zheng went from trying to use their affection for him to make them stop, to cursing wildly. Slowly, the noise from inside stopped.
As a mother, Professor Zhang was naturally worried. Then they heard a loud *thud*. Rushing to the window, they saw that Lu Zheng had tried to jump out of the building. He fell to the ground, limping on one leg as he tried to escape, but was caught by Professor Lu and the public security officers who had arrived. He was arrested on the spot.
When the public security officers came down after collecting evidence, Xu Qingru came face to face with Zhou Zhenguo. She was stunned – why was Zhou Zhenguo here?
“Comrade, you seem to be everywhere, don’t you?” Xu Qingru coughed twice and explained: “I just saw him acting suspiciously at the door and thought something was wrong. Comrade Zhou, aren’t you a soldier? Why are you out on a mission with the public security?”
“This involves spies – we need to cooperate with the investigation.” Zhou Zhenguo’s expression remained unchanged.
Xu Qingru nodded in understanding.
“Then please cooperate with our investigation and come with us.” Zhou Zhenguo continued.
Along with Professor Lu’s family, Xu Qingru got in the car. Whether intentionally or not, Zhou Zhenguo ended up sitting next to her. He said nothing, while Xu Qingru glanced at him from time to time. There were two reasons: first, in her past life, Zhou Zhenguo had been famous for his integrity, so she was somewhat curious about him now; second, after giving him the account book, she wanted to know how the investigation was going. Or… was Zhou Zhenguo even investigating it?
“Xiao Liu, how’s the investigation on that account book I asked you to look into a while back?” The car had been quiet with the two of them sitting next to each other when Zhou Zhenguo suddenly spoke.
Xiao Liu, who was driving, was also stunned. This kind of thing wasn’t convenient to discuss in front of an outsider, was it? He looked at Zhou Zhenguo in the rearview mirror, but saw that Zhou Zhenguo’s face was completely calm, with no extra expression. Feeling intimidated, Xiao Liu slowly began to speak.
“It involves quite a few people – it will take more time.”
The car was silent for a long time. Xu Qingru looked at Zhou Zhenguo instinctively – why did she feel like he had said that specifically for her to hear? Her expression became somewhat strange, but she couldn’t ask directly at this moment. She coughed and tried to maintain her composure. Still, knowing there had been some progress put her mind at ease.
At the police station, Xu Qingru insisted that she had seen Lu Zheng acting suspiciously, thought something was wrong, and – since she admired Professor Lu and Professor Zhang very much – had brought him back home. Lu Zheng, who had not inherited his parents’ intelligence, spoke incoherently during his questioning and couldn’t explain things clearly. However, he kept cursing Xu Qingru, which inadvertently cleared her name.
Zhou Zhenguo personally escorted Xu Qingru out. Walking together, Xu Qingru felt awkward, glancing at Zhou Zhenguo from time to time only to see his serious, unsmiling face.
“Comrade Xu.” When they reached the door, Zhou Zhenguo – who now knew her name – suddenly called out.
Xu Qingru had been on edge and looked up instinctively. “How do you know my surname? I never introduced myself to you.” She was racking her brain. How did he know? She had called him Comrade Zhou earlier.
Facing Zhou Zhenguo’s carefully composed face, Xu Qingru thought for a moment and said: “I’ve known Comrade Zhou for a long time. You’re a very just soldier – I admire you greatly.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhenguo’s eyes darkened slightly as he repeated the word in his mind: *admire*?
“Cough.” Xu Qingru interrupted his thoughts. “Comrade Zhou, if there’s nothing else, may I leave now?”
Zhou Zhenguo nodded, letting her go – though he never asked the question he had really wanted to ask: Was the person who had taken her away that morning really her boyfriend?
Not long after Xu Qingru left, Professor Lu and Professor Zhang also came out of the police station, looking for her. That girl was a good person! She had helped them so much just because she admired them.
Zhou Zhenguo saw them and thought of Xu Qingru’s statement – she admired these two professors too.
He let out a cold laugh. That young girl admired quite a lot of people for someone so young, didn’t she?