The base was quiet in the dead of night, with only the rustling of the mountain wind through the poplar trees.
Gu Beichen tossed and turned in his dormitory, unable to sleep, so he got up and went to check.
As he passed the core office, he involuntarily stopped. The window still shone with warm light, like sleepless eyes in the darkness.
Gu Beichen stood outside the window, looking at the slender figure still bent over the desk inside. His heart felt both filled and emptied.
He was so close to her at that moment, only a few steps away, yet he felt as if they were separated by mountains and rivers, as if he could never enter her heart again.
He recalled how, when he went to the village to investigate, those people had made solemn vows, saying unpleasant things like Lin Su had run off with someone else.
His heart was breaking, but he dared not ask, fearing that if he did, they would lose the chance to work together again.
He pushed open the door and saw Lin Su hunched over the table. The warm yellow light from the desk lamp cast a soft shadow on her face, making her nose appear exceptionally straight.
She was staring intently at a technical proposal, her brow furrowed.
The pencil in her hand unconsciously drew circles on the paper. This familiar little action made Gu Beichen’s heart tremble—she always did this when she encountered a problem years ago.
“It’s so late, why aren’t you resting?” His voice unconsciously softened.
Lin Su raised her head, her eyes still showing lingering focus.
She hesitated for a moment, then pushed the documents in her hand in front of him.
“The proposal that Qian Siming submitted today has problems.”
Gu Beichen’s heart tightened. He certainly knew Qian Siming; he was a veteran engineer at the base, highly experienced and well-liked.
“What’s the problem?”
“Look here.” Her slender finger pointed to a complex formula. “This parameter convergence algorithm uses an unconventional optimization.”
Gu Beichen had studied basic engineering at the military academy and could understand most technical drawings, but this algorithm was clearly beyond his knowledge.
Is there a problem?
“This optimization method is very efficient, but it has one drawback.” Lin Su took out a yellowed leather notebook from the drawer and turned to a certain page.
“It bears obvious characteristics of a foreign laboratory. My mother specifically warned me to be wary of this kind of ‘technical fingerprint’ when she was alive.”
Gu Beichen took the notebook and saw the dense annotations in the margins, the handwriting neat yet powerful.
He noticed a line of small print: “Beware of technological path dependence; this algorithm may contain backdoors.”
“You suspect that Qian Siming deliberately used this algorithm?”
“It’s hard to say right now.” Lin Su closed her notebook, her eyes filled with complex emotions. “It could be an unintentional borrowing, or it could be… something with ulterior motives.”
A slight noise suddenly came from outside the window, like the sound of a pebble rolling down.
Gu Beichen suddenly looked up, his eyes instantly sharpening. He strode to the window and saw a stray cat dart past the wall.
“Looks like I’m being too sensitive.” He chuckled self-deprecatingly, but made sure to draw the curtains tightly as he turned around.
This subtle gesture touched Lin Su’s heart. The Gu Beichen of the past was always so carefree and would never have noticed such details.
“What do you need me to do?” he asked bluntly.
Lin Su glanced at him with some surprise.
“I need your help with something.” She finally made up her mind.
“you say.”
“The project team will discuss this plan tomorrow, and I will support using Qian Siming’s algorithm at the meeting. But I would like to ask you to send someone to secretly monitor him.”
Especially observe how he communicates the algorithm with other engineers.
Gu Beichen immediately understood her intention: “Are you trying to lure the snake out of its hole?”
“To be precise, it’s about observing his reaction.” Lin Su tapped her fingertips lightly on the table. “If he has a clear conscience, he will accept this decision readily. But if he has ulterior motives…”
“I understand.” Gu Beichen nodded. “I will arrange for the most reliable person.”
At the technical discussion meeting the next day, Qian Siming explained his solution in detail. He spoke clearly and logically, making it easy to understand. Even Gu Beichen, a layman, could understand most of it.
“The advantages of this algorithm are obvious,” Qian Siming pushed up his glasses and glanced at the entire room. “It can improve computational efficiency by more than 30 percent.”
When it was Lin Su’s turn to speak, she stood up and said calmly, “I agree with Qian Gong’s suggestion. This algorithm can indeed solve the computing bottleneck we are currently facing.”
Gu Beichen noticed that Qian Siming’s fingers curled up slightly, though they quickly returned to normal.
“However,” Lin Su changed the subject, “in order to ensure the reliability of the plan, I suggest that a special team be set up, led by Qian Gong, to be specifically responsible for the optimization of this module.”
The suggestion was reasonable, and Qian Siming readily accepted it. However, when the meeting ended, Gu Beichen noticed that he deliberately walked at the back, his gaze repeatedly drifting towards the leather notebook that Lin Su had placed on the table.
After the meeting, Gu Beichen, as planned, assigned Platoon Leader Zhan and his men to take turns monitoring Qian Siming.
He then stayed with Lin Su in the office to analyze the possible scenarios.
“If he really has a problem, what will happen next?” Gu Beichen asked.
Lin Su rarely had a moment of leisure. She was brewing tea, pouring hot water into the cup, and wisps of white steam rose up.
“He will have two options: one is to pass on the intelligence as soon as possible; the other is to further confirm the value of the algorithm.”
She pushed a cup of tea toward Gu Beichen: “I tend to think of the latter. A cautious spy wouldn’t act rashly when the value is uncertain.”
This was the first time she had made tea for him since Xi Nian.
Gu Beichen took the teacup, and their fingertips touched unintentionally, causing both of them to pause for a moment.
“Thank you,” he said softly.
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door. Platoon Leader Zhan pushed the door open and entered, his face beaming with excitement.
“Commander, something’s up! Qian Siming just went to the archives and reviewed all the technical reports from the past three years!”
Lin Su and Gu Beichen exchanged a glance, both seeing the same judgment in each other’s eyes—the fish had begun to test the waters.
As night deepened, the lights in the base were extinguished one by one, except for the windows of the core office, which remained lit. Under that warm light, a silent contest was just beginning.
Only Lin Su and Gu Beichen were in the office, sitting at a distance that wasn’t too close to each other.
“What’s the next step?” Gu Beichen looked at her. “Should we take control of the situation?”
“No.” Lin Su shook her head. “Stirring up trouble will only cut off the clues. I have an idea.”
She took out a new project proposal and made minor modifications to the key parts.
“This is…” Gu Beichen asked, puzzled.
“A special ‘gift’.” Lin Su’s lips curled into a slight smile.
“I planted a trap in the core algorithm. As soon as he tries to parse the algorithm, it will trigger an alarm and give us feedback on his operation path.”
Gu Beichen was stunned.
He had never seen Lin Su like this before: calm, meticulous, and with a hunter’s sharpness.
When did you learn all this?
Lin Su paused for a moment, her profile appearing exceptionally soft under the light.
“I have to learn to protect myself.” She said it casually, but it made Gu Beichen’s heart clench.
As Gu Beichen watched Lin Su continue to focus on her work, he suddenly realized that the road to winning back his wife might be much longer than he had imagined, but it would also be much more worthwhile.