Chapter 1278: Countdown
Vladimir had tried his best to put in a good word with Gu Nianzhi. In order to appease her, he even told her what he had done to Wa.s.sily.
” … Cereus, I know you were scared today. Don’t worry, I’ve already locked up the person who came up with that evil idea. He won’t come out to stir up trouble again… ”
Gu Nianzhi rolled her eyes. “Do you know who came up with the idea? Is it one of your people? Why would he do that?”
Vladimir didn’t expect Gu Nianzhi to be so sharp. She immediately guessed that it was someone from the KGB. His scalp went numb and he was very worried that he had leaked the secret. But since he had already said it, even if it was leaked, there was no use crying over spilt milk, if he could add Gu Nianzhi as a friend again, then his “leak” would be valuable.
Therefore, Vladimir said half-truthfully, “That person had a problem with me. He couldn’t stand my elite troops and insisted on getting rid of my men. So he set up this trap and wanted me to fail the mission.”
Feeling even more annoyed, Gu Nianzhi replied by simply uttering an “oh”. She pursed her lips, then said, “So this is about you and your men? But why did he have to make an example out of us? Mrs. Song and I aren’t from your country. He’s doing this because he doesn’t care about us. My life is as worthless as gra.s.s. I really don’t deserve to be friends with you and the KGB. Who knows, one day I might be ‘sacrificed’ for no good reason. Alright, I’m hanging up.”
“Don’t hang up!” Vladimir was desparate. “He really can’t do that. The Huaxia Empire is our old friend and good friend. We won’t let our loved ones suffer or let our enemies be gratified. So don’t worry, I’ll definitely avenge you!”
Not only did he want Gu Nianzhi to vent her anger, but more importantly, he wanted Huo Shaoheng to calm down.
Otherwise, Vladimir really didn’t dare to think about what Huo Shaoheng would do to him…
Seeing that Vladimir had already said things to this extent, Gu Nianzhi was slightly relieved. She smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll wait to see. Is there anything else? If not I’m hanging up.”
“Don’t! ” Vladimir called out to her again. After hesitating for a long time, he whispered, “… Then are you still going to block my phone number?”
Gu Nianzhi: ” … ”
With a blank expression, she lowered her head and pulled Vladimir’s phone number out of the block list. She said perfunctorily, “Okay, you’re out. ”
Vladimir quickly took out his phone and dialed Gu Nianzhi’s number. This time, the call went through in an instant.
Gu Nianzhi switched to Vladimir’s number. “Okay.” She said, “Are you relieved? I’m not blocking it anymore.”
” … and Wechat, and deduct… ” Afraid that the middle-aged driver next to him would hear him, Vladimir’s voice became quiter and quiter.
Gu Nianzhi thought about it for a while, but still chose to accept.
She sent a message to Vladimir: “I regard you as a friend. Don’t let this happen again.”
Vladimir quickly shook his head. “No, no, no! There won’t be a second time!”
This time, it was a complete accident.
Vladimir was added in again. When he found out that he had joined the KGB trio’s discussion group again, he was instantly in high spirits.
In a moment of happiness, he also sent Gu Nianzhi a red envelope. Although it wasn’t as generous as hers, a red envelope of 6.66 was already painful enough for Vladimir…
He couldn’t afford to deduct a red envelope that hadn’t been authenticated by his real name~~~
The middle-aged driver took over his phone. He heard a ding from inside and realized that Vladimir had actually sent a red envelope. He quickly clicked on it and saw that it was Gu Nianzhi’s exclusive red envelope.
“Ha… ” the middle-aged driver rolled his eyes and turned around to leave.
..
Because of the sudden explosion of the Huaxia Empire’s survey equipment, the work of the scientists from the two countries had been halted for the day.
Everyone had rested and reorganized everything. All the equipment had been re-examined by Russia’s KGB and the Huaxia Empire’s Special Operations forces before being sent back to the scientists for further use.
Early the next morning, Gu Nianzhi woke up to find that Huo Shaoheng was no longer in the tent.
She had gone to bed early the day before, and Huo Shaoheng had returned late. Seeing that she was fast asleep, he suppressed the urge to wake her and held her in his arms the entire night. Before dawn, he had gotten up to help Song Jinning set up the equipment again.
Gu Nianzhi came out of the tent, thwn took a deep breath and stretched.
The air in the valley was as fresh as the first handful of snow in winter. It was refres.h.i.+ng, but also bone-chilling.
Gu Nianzhi walked a few rounds around the tent. The morning dew had soaked the tips of her eyebrows and hair. Her eyes were wet and as clear as crystal.
The middle-aged driver came out from behind the tent, and upon seeing her come out, he greeted her happily, “Cereus, you’re awake? I’ll take you to breakfast!”
Gu Nianzhi nodded with a smile. “Did Major General Huo ask you to wait for me here?”
“How do you know?!” The middle-aged driver scratched his head. “Vladimir followed Major General Huo to the giant circular pit early in the morning. Lina and Peter went as well. I’m the only one who doesn’t want to go, hehe…”
Gu Nianzhi covered her mouth with a smile. She thought to herself that Ivan must be naturally cheerful and optimistic to be able to survive in the KGB…
She liked to be friends with people who were outgoing and cheerful. This way, she would be in a good mood and wouldn’t have to feel sorry for herself nor would she be affected by the negative energy of others every day.
Gu Nianzhi got into the driver’s car and went to the resort villa with him.
After returning to the resort villa, Gu Nianzhi first went to wash up in the suite she shared with Huo Shaoheng before going to the restaurant for breakfast.
They had arrived early enough, but of course, they were still a little later than the scientists.
The two of them had a plate filled with soft-boiled eggs, fried bacon in b.u.t.ter, two smoked sausages that were uniquely Russian dishes, and two crispy slices of whole-wheat bread.
Gu Nianzhi also picked up two small tomatoes the size of quail eggs to decorate the plate.
The driver looked at the breakfast on Gu Nianzhi’s plate, which was similar to his own, and smiled as he gave her a thumbs up. “Cereus, you eat a lot, but you don’t get fat.”
Gu Nianzhi glared at him. “Eat your food! If you keep talking nonsense, there won’t be any red packets for you today! ”
The middle-aged driver pursed his lips and asked in confusion, ” … How was I talking nonsense? I don’t think so.”
“Don’t you know that the word ‘fat’ is a taboo for all women? ! Whoever utters that unspeakable word will die! ” Gu Nianzhi gestured in front of the middle-aged driver with a knife and made a gesture of slitting his throat.
The driver was shocked and quickly pushed her away. “I said you’re not fat! I didn’t say that you’re fat! ”
“Don’t mention the word ‘fat’ at all! I’ll get angry if you mention it!” Gu Nianzhi rolled her eyes at the driver and finished her breakfast in a few bites. She then went to buy two more breakfasts and brought them out in a lunchbox.
The driver glanced at her after getting into the car and asked with a smile, ” … Is that for Major General Huo? He probably had breakfast already, didn’t he?”
“It doesn’t matter even if he had breakfast ” Gu Nianzhi smiled as she carefully held the food container in front of her chest. “This is his second breakfast. They have a lot of work to do, so they won’t be filled with just one breakfast.”
The middle-aged driver: ” … ”
Forget it, he was just asking for it. He got fed so much PDA that he was bloated.
The middle-aged driver drove the car towards the huge circular crater.
Gu Nianzhi asked him about the explosion yesterday.
Vladimir was a cunning man. She had blacklisted him, but she hadn’t been able to get anything out of him.
She had to start with the middle-aged driver.
The middle-aged driver felt that it was fine to tell Gu Nianzhi about it. The point was that they had indeed been dishonest. Besides, they had long hated Wa.s.sily to death. Many people, both in the out in the open and secretly, had been pranked by him and had suffered under him.
” … Actually, what happened yesterday was indeed our fault.” The chauffeur sighed. “With such a piece of rat p.o.o.p, our entire pot of soup was ruined…”
As he spoke, he told Gu Nianzhi about what Wa.s.sily had done in the headquarters’ political department. In the end, he said, “Major Lina is such a good comrade! She had made so many contributions that she was qualified to be promoted to colonel, not to mention lieutenant colonel. She’s not like me. I just waste time messing around. Lina’s on a mission. Tell me, who will work for him when he refuses to give such a good comrade a quick promotion?!”
Gu Nianzhi burst out laughing. “Uncle Ivan, you actually know you mess around?!”
“Of course I know.” The driver nodded with a grin. “I don’t have much abilities. In a place like this, if I don’t mess around, do I just wait around to be toyed with by my own people or my enemies?”
“You know your place.” Gu Nianzhi joked. “Actually, you don’t have to belittle yourself. Uncle Ivan, you’re a wise man on big matters, but also a fool on small matters. Maybe you’re more impressive than everyone else! ”
“Haha! If I’m more impressive than everyone else, that would be great!” The driver laughed heartily. “Then wouldn’t I be able to take more red packets? ”
Gu Nianzhi nodded. “Of course! Red packets are everywhere! Once Ivan appears, no one will be able to compete with him!”
The two of them chatted and laughed, and soon arrived at the base on the other side of the giant circular pit.
The sun had already risen.
White clouds floated in the blue sky. The fog on the other side of the giant circular pit was bigger than other places because there was more water than other places. It was said that the bottom of the giant circular pit was filled with water, so one could look down from above. It was exactly the same as the Blue Hole in the Caribbean Sea.
With more water, more water vapor would evaporate. Although the Sun was bright and beautiful, it still seemed to be shrouded in a thin layer of fog.
The people and equipment were all covered in a thin layer of gauze, giving off a translucent and hazy ambience.
Huo Shaoheng was standing beside Song Jinning and listening to her discuss the data with other scientists. He suddenly sensed something and turned around, only to see Gu Nianzhi walking over from the path leading into the base.
She walked through the clouds and mist, and the trees by the side of the road were lined with shade. Her silhouette was indistinct as she faced the mist, as if she would ride the wind at any moment.
Huo Shaoheng narrowed his eyes and went up to her. He took her hand and looked at her hair, which was wet from the dew. “Why didn’t you wear a hat? The dew is too cold. Be careful not to get a headache.”
“It’s okay. The sun will dry it up in a while.” Gu Nianzhi shook her head nonchalantly and pa.s.sed the food container to Huo Shaoheng. She smiled and said, “I brought it for you. It’s fresh and warm eggs with runny hearts, fried bacon with b.u.t.ter, grilled sausages, and whole grain bread. It’s exactly the same as what I had for breakfast.”
Huo Shaoheng had helped Song Jinning organize her equipment early in the morning, so he hadn’t had time to eat breakfast.
However, he was used to eating on the go, so he didn’t think it was inappropriate.
It wasn’t until he saw the breakfast Gu Nianzhi had bought for him that he realized he was indeed famished and his stomach ached.
He quietly received it and said gently, “Thank you, I happened to be hungry.”
Gu Nianzhi quickly followed him to the folding chair next to them and sat down. She opened the food container for him to have breakfast.
While Huo Shaoheng was having breakfast, Gu Nianzhi went to see Song Jinning doing the test.
“Good Morning, Miss Song.” Gu Nianzhi smiled as she greeted her. “Have you had breakfast yet? I brought two servings of breakfast.”
Song Jinning shook her head. “I ate a slice of bread and drank a gla.s.s of milk. I’m not hungry.”
She was focused on the instrument when Gu Nianzhi walked over. Hoping to see what was at the bottom of the crater, she stuck her head out to look at the huge circular crater in front of her.
Song Jinning quickly said, “Nianzhi, move aside. You’re blocking my instrument’s view.”
Gu Nianzhi replied with an “Oh. ” She realized she was indeed standing right in front of Song Jinning’s instrument, so she quickly moved aside.
Just as she moved, Song Jinning’s detector suddenly beeped.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Everyone at the base looked over.
Huo Shaoheng threw down the food container and rushed over. He was furious. He didn’t know what the KGB was up to this time.
But this time, he was wrong.
This time, it had nothing to do with the KGB.
Song Jinning stared at the detector fixedly. She shouted, “The magnetic field data has changed! The wave curve is beginning to fold! Everyone, activate immediately! Record all the data! From now on, don’t miss a second!”
She looked at the detector in front of her excitedly and began to count down.
“Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!”
As she counted the last number, the fog above the huge circular pit in front of them became denser. The fog twisted into a rope and shuttled back and forth in front of them like a tornado falling from the sky, twisting the fog into a thick rope.
Gu Nianzhi stared at the scene in front of her in shock.
The fog above the huge pit became denser and denser, and evaporated liquid seemed to quickly condense.
Her entire face and body was so drenched that it was as if she was submerged in water.
Huo Shaoheng flew next to Gu Nianzhi and with one hand, dragged her away from the edge of the huge pit, then with his other hand he grabbed Song Jinning’s arm. He tightly guarded the two most important woman in his life.
Gu Nianzhi and Song Jinning didn’t even notice that Huo Shaoheng had approached.
Song Jinning stared straight at the data on the instrument without even blinking, for fear of missing any important data.
The curve that was composed of data moved in waves on the tiny LED screen and formed a 3D shape. All the lines were folding and intersecting nonstop, as if they had a life of their own.
When one of the uppermost waves of the 3D shape suddenly caved in, and one of the bottom waves of the 3D shape suddenly protruded, the center of these two waves immediately converged.
When the center of these waves converged, the mist in front of them gradually dissipated.
But when the mist dissipated, what appeared in front of them wasn’t the blue sky and white clouds, but like a huge movie screen, it turned from grey to clear, then to a dazzling array of colors.
What appeared in front of them was a bustling street scene.