Chapter 509: The Body Double

As soon as Bureau Chief Liu returned to his office, he hurriedly called his secretary, Xiao Zhou, inside and asked loudly, "Xiao Zhou, confirm for me, when will the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Guangzhou Machine Tool Factory end? I have another important meeting at the Tractor Factory, and this meeting cannot be delayed!"

Xiao Zhou stood straight immediately, "I will call to confirm right away."

"Call quickly, I have to go to the Harbor Bureau in a moment."

After Bureau Chief Liu finished speaking, he grabbed his briefcase and walked out, his footsteps fading away in the corridor.

In the room next door, Zhao Xuan's ear was almost pressed against the wall.

In the office, Xiao Zhou's voice was very loud; he grabbed the telephone receiver and dialed the number: "Is this the Guangzhou Machine Tool Factory? Secretary Ma! I need to confirm something with you. Bureau Chief Liu is attending your groundbreaking ceremony tomorrow; what time exactly will it end? He has a second meeting... What? Ten-fifteen, you are certain it can end by then, right?"

A prompt response came from the other end of the line: "We will control the flow of the event well, don't worry, we know Bureau Chief Liu is a very busy man!" Secretary Ma guaranteed.

He Yuzhu returned to a temporary laboratory at the Tractor Factory, which was specifically prepared for these students from the Huaqing University Computer department.

He called the students he had brought over together and said, "I have brought you here for over a month now; how is the homework I assigned to you coming along?"

Kajia stepped out first and said earnestly, "We have achieved certain results in the chip pattern etching technology, but there are still many problems, for example: the etched patterns are appearing blurry, and we currently have no solution..."

"Regarding this problem, I will give you some ideas in a moment." He Yuzhu nodded and looked at another group, "Liu Yang, how is the situation with your group?"

Liu Yang scratched his head, "Things are going relatively smoothly on our side, it's just that we still can't completely eliminate the issues of signal interference and slow response times."

"That is not a big problem; I can help you solve it very soon." He Yuzhu's tone was steady.

He listened to the research progress of the six groups one after another, then gave guidance for each; sometimes he picked up a piece of chalk to quickly write a few lines of formulas on the blackboard, and other times he pointed at the blueprints to explain the key points.

Finally, He Yuzhu waved toward the door, called in Man Yatou who had been waiting there the whole time, and said to the students, "From now on, Liu Siman will be my secretary. If you have any matters and cannot find me, just tell her."

The students looked at the young girl who was only in her teens, their eyes filled with bewilderment.

He Yuzhu saw their confusion and said, "I won't hide it from you; based on my judgment, this young girl is very likely a genius. She may surpass all of you in the future, but her knowledge is currently very lacking. You must teach her to read and study mathematics. Liu Yang, you are responsible for this."

Liu Yang looked blank, "Teacher He, how many classes do we have to give her a day?"

"Teach her to reach junior high graduation level in one year, and high school graduation in two years."

Liu Yang looked troubled, "This... is a bit difficult, isn't it?"

"Even if it is difficult, you must overcome the difficulties. There are thirty of you; take turns teaching. If you cannot teach her well, I will not teach you seriously either." He Yuzhu's tone was flat but carried an unquestionable force, "Just treat her like your own younger sister."

After handling this matter, He Yuzhu turned and walked out.

Man Yatou followed him with small steps, her eyes slightly red, and whispered, "Brother Zhuzi, you are too good to me."

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "Man Yatou, because you are a talent, and your character is also good, that is the reason why your brother is cultivating you. From now on, I will call you Liu Siman, okay?"

"Okay!" Man Yatou nodded vigorously.

"When you have nothing to do, just take classes in the laboratory; if there is work, just help out. From now on, your monthly salary will be 350,000, is that okay?"

Man Yatou nodded forcefully, tears streaming down continuously.

At dusk, the sky gradually darkened.

After getting off work, Zhao Xuan turned into a small alley and walked into an inconspicuous grocery store.

Behind the counter, a middle-aged man wearing glasses looked up, "Comrade, what cigarettes are you buying?"

"Give me two packs of Great Brand cigarettes." Zhao Xuan said, his gaze sweeping quickly across the shop.

The man in glasses took the cigarettes from the shelf and handed them over. Zhao Xuan took them, and at the same time handed over two banknotes with a folded slip of paper tucked in between. The man accepted them without changing his expression, pressed his fingers down lightly, and concealed the slip of paper in his palm.

Zhao Xuan did not linger at all, walked out of the grocery store with the cigarettes, paused at the entrance, tore open a pack, pulled out one, and lit it. Amidst the swirling smoke, his eyes scanned the surrounding streets as if inadvertently.

Half an hour later, in an ordinary residential house with the curtains drawn tight, it was crowded with people. A map was spread out on the table, and the air was filled with the smell of smoke and tension.

Duan Yunpeng spoke first, pressing his finger heavily onto the map, "It really is like someone handing you a pillow just when you're sleepy! Bureau Chief Liu is attending the groundbreaking ceremony at the Machine Tool Factory tomorrow; this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Let's quickly study where to set the ambush."

An Daiyuan hung a detailed map of Guangzhou on the wall and examined it repeatedly. The halo of the kerosene lamp flickered, casting his face in shifting light and shadow.

Xie Yunzhu couldn't help but urge, "The people we brought this time are all willing to charge to the front line to avenge the Big Boss!"

An Daiyuan raised his hand to press down, "The best opportunity is to ambush in the buildings surrounding the groundbreaking ceremony. Intercepting on the road... is secondary."

Duan Yunpeng frowned, "It would be great if we could ambush at the site, but Bureau Chief Liu has already been assassinated once; the security forces this time will definitely be very strong. Especially that He Yuzhu, this person seems to have a perception of danger that exceeds ordinary people. Last time, explosives were buried on the bridge, and he was able to predict it. We must lay out the plan meticulously."

"We can disguise ourselves as farmers and attack their motorcade on the road," Xie Yunzhu suggested.

Duan Yunpeng shook his head, "Relying on numbers alone is useless; we must take them by surprise."

An Daiyuan stared at the map and said in a low voice, "Time is too tight. We will now send out three groups to scout the site. Be careful with your movements and don't get discovered."

The City Government conference room was brightly lit; sitting around the long table were Bureau Chief Liu, Deputy Mayor Wang, Tian Dan, local Police Deputy Bureau Chief Cao, He Yuzhu, and others. The atmosphere was solemn, and everyone had a notebook spread out in front of them.

Tian Dan, who had already surveyed the route and the site, spoke first. She stood up, walked to the map hanging on the wall, and pointed her finger at a spot: "I will speak about the security issues at the site first. The place where the enemy is most likely to hide is the six-story office building of the Thermal Power Plant opposite. There are many people working here, so we cannot completely seal it off; it is about 350 meters away from the groundbreaking ceremony site. An experienced sniper could very well complete a sniping mission. The second location is the water tower of the Waterworks next door; that place is actually easy to defend, as only a few people are needed to hold it."

He Yuzhu interjected, "I think these two places are still relatively easy to control. What I am worried about is the ambush point on the road—it is over ten kilometers from the City Government to the Machine Tool Factory; we cannot possibly provide full coverage. But we must identify the most dangerous sections of the road."

Tian Dan nodded and said, "This is also what I am worried about. Along the way, there are nearly three kilometers of road driving under Yuexiu Mountain; we cannot completely seal the mountain. Yuexiu Mountain is about 70 meters high; if someone hides on the mountaintop, the distance to the car is about 350 meters... the car is within effective range."

He Yuzhu's heart tightened. Over three hundred meters was already beyond his range of perception. He wanted to change the route, but once changed, he wouldn't be able to catch those lurking enemies. After a few seconds of silence, he said with a firm gaze, "I have a similar build to Bureau Chief Liu. For tomorrow's groundbreaking ceremony, I will put on some makeup and attend in place of the Bureau Chief!"

As his words fell, the conference room went silent, and several gazes turned toward him at once.

He Yuzhu explained, "My perception is stronger than the average person's; if the enemy fires at me, they might not necessarily be able to hurt me. But I can kill them in an instant."

The local leaders' faces looked unpleasant; clearly, they did not quite believe him. They felt He Yuzhu was just messing around.

Tian Dan hurriedly explained, "Leaders, I have worked with Comrade He Yuzhu for several years; he has this ability!"

Bureau Chief Liu hesitated for a long time; he didn't want He Yuzhu to do this either, but without doing so, he hadn't thought of a better way, "This... will it be discovered by the enemy?"

He Yuzhu shook his head and said, "Time is urgent; I estimate they don't have communication equipment. They will mostly just recognize the car and look at the clothes; they won't see clearly. Moreover, they won't expect that we have already dug out the mole!"

Tian Dan also nodded slowly, "Engineer He makes sense."

At dawn, before the sky had fully brightened, He Yuzhu had already entered Bureau Chief Liu's office silently.

At eight o'clock sharp, Bureau Chief Liu pushed the door open and entered. The two did not speak, just quickly swapped shirts, and He Yuzhu also put on the Bureau Chief's sun hat.

When walking out of the office, colleagues were already moving about in the corridor.

Someone greeted him, "Bureau Chief Liu, so early?"

He Yuzhu lowered the brim of his hat, gave a vague response, walked down the stairs quickly, and sat inside the Jeep.

The moment he closed the car door, he stroked the Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle. His gaze turned toward the flowing street scene outside the car window.