Chapter 1111

For this Canton Fair, Mi Aijun was assigned to liaise with the superior foreign trade unit; along the way, he kept flipping through documents, terrified of overlooking any detail that might cause losses to the factory.

Meanwhile, Old Zhou had been fine-tuning the venue layout with his two apprentices, Zhang Aiguo and Qian Silin; even Xu Ganshi from the factory office wasn't idle, carefully examining the exhibition products to help the team secure more orders at the Canton Fair.

Wan Qing saw Liu Chuxue sleeping and everyone else absorbed in their tasks, yet no one paid her any attention—she felt deeply unsettled, convinced these people were deliberately ignoring her.

In truth, she felt guilty because she had last-minute replaced someone else, so everything seemed to her like a personal slight.

Originally, another logistics comrade was supposed to accompany this trip; but she had persistently whispered nonsense to Qin Ruoyun, who, unable to go herself, wanted to send a spy—so she begged her family elders to call Factory Director Yang.

Since joining the factory, Wan Qing had gone to great lengths to curry favor with logistics staff; when Factory Director Yang called the logistics director, he learned the girl had never made a mistake at work, and thus Wan Qing's name appeared on the Canton Fair roster.

The director figured that since all actions were to follow orders and Wan Qing had performed reasonably well, and since the factory director had already spoken, he naturally wouldn't object.

What he didn't know was that in the past few months since joining, Wan Qing had never independently completed a single task—she always worked alongside other logistics staff, essentially just a figurehead; but everyone, out of respect for her connection to Qin Ruoyun, kept quiet.

Liu Chuxue's nap lasted straight through to dinnertime; seeing she didn't wake, Mi Aijun gently nudged her: "Liu Chuxue, wake up, it's mealtime."

Last night had been too wild, and after eating so much at lunch with no activity, Liu Chuxue opened her bleary eyes: "Brother Mi, you guys eat—I'm not hungry."

Everyone assumed it was just the nonstop rush these past few days leaving her exhausted, so they didn't press it—they'd all been sleep-deprived too.

Too exhausted to care what others might think, she found a comfortable position and fell asleep again; after all, everyone outside was factory staff—she had no safety concerns.

She woke again, jolted awake by a full bladder.

She paused, glanced at her wristwatch—it was already past midnight; most people on the train were asleep.

Next to her sat Wan Qing; at the outermost seat sat Xu Ganshi—both were thin; she stepped over the gap between them to get out.

Wan Qing opened her eyes, saw Liu Chuxue leaving, and grumbled: "So annoying, disturbing my sleep."

The insult was fair—Liu Chuxue had no retort, feeling guilty.

Xu Ganshi, seated outside, slept soundly and didn't stir; it was Mi Aijun, the ex-soldier, who opened his eyes, saw Liu Chuxue heading out, guessed she needed the restroom, and warned: "Be careful."

Liu Chuxue replied as she walked out.

But the carriage was very dim, and people had laid out burlap sacks on the aisle to sleep—getting to the restroom felt like a pilgrimage.

At this hour, no one was competing for the restroom; once inside, she held her breath, locked the door, and slipped instantly into her space—the smell was unbearable.

After attending to her needs, she washed up briefly, took out a bowl of her own-cooked eight-treasure porridge and pickled vegetables, ate slowly, then gathered all the vegetables she could from her space into storage, thinking that if this business trip offered a chance, she might trade her stored grain and produce for antiques and calligraphy-paintings.

Traveling this far meant she wouldn't run into anyone she knew.

After finishing all this, she held her breath again and exited the space, swiftly opening the restroom door and stepping out.

She was now wide awake; seeing the carriage connection area unoccupied, she assumed the train staff had cleared it to facilitate passenger boarding and alighting, leaving it empty.

She walked over, intending to stand there a while before returning.

Gazing at the pitch-black night outside the carriage, she suddenly missed Fu Yan Cheng—thinking the weekend was coming, that guy must be terribly disappointed.

Her thoughts drifted far away.

When she realized how long she'd been out, she feared Mi Aijun might come looking for her; just as she was about to stretch and return to her seat, she remembered: tomorrow morning, she'd eat something hot in the dining car—her space had food, but she was outside now, so she had to be cautious.

With that thought, she decided to extend her spiritual sense to locate the dining car.

What she discovered was alarming—she didn't find the dining car, but overheard something she shouldn't have: "Are all our people on board?"

"All aboard. A few are placed in the hard-sleeper cars near the soft-sleeper; for safety, a few more are stationed in the hard-seat cars adjacent to the hard-sleeper—ready to reinforce at any moment."

"Who has the items?"

"With One-Eye. Don't worry—he's done this before. Once it's past two, they move."

Liu Chuxue instantly realized something was wrong—this conversation clearly meant sabotage. She quickly scanned their faces, memorized them, then extended her spiritual sense toward the locations they mentioned.

She indeed found something suspicious: near the front of the last hard-seat carriage, adjacent to the hard-sleeper cars, several people were feigning sleep.

In the hard-sleeper carriage near the soft-sleeper, she also detected anomalies—those people had stopped even pretending to sleep; some sat upright, staring fixedly toward the soft-sleeper section.

One man, around forty, had one eye entirely white—he must be the "One-Eye" they mentioned.

Remembering their words, he instinctively checked under his berth—sure enough, beneath it lay a cloth bag with shoulder straps, clearly designed for easy carrying; when he saw what was inside, alarm bells rang in her mind.

Inside wasn't anything else—it was homemade explosives.

Thinking they planned to act after two a. m., she broke into a cold sweat—what should she do?

From their earlier words, it was clear their target was likely the soft-sleeper cars ahead; she glanced at her watch—five minutes until one a. m.

She retracted her spiritual sense to the two speakers, saw they too were now feigning sleep, and thought: Since I heard this, I can't ignore it.

Fortunately, these two were seated near the rear of the front carriage—if questioned later, she could claim her hearing was unusually sharp and get away with it.

She didn't dare delay—hurried back the way she came. She couldn't handle this alone; she needed someone who could.

Since Liu Chuxue left, Mi Aijun hadn't slept soundly; seeing she hadn't returned, he was about to get up and look for her—when he saw her heading back, he closed his eyes again.

But he sensed she reached her seat and didn't stop—she kept walking forward.

He opened his eyes again, thinking the carriage was too dark and she'd missed her spot; he was about to call out—when he saw her walking faster and faster. As a soldier, he instantly sensed something was off, and rose to follow her.