"Ow!"
Zhao Yue let out a small cry as she stumbled backward. Her foot caught on the uneven ground, and she nearly lost her balance completely.
Just as she was about to fall, a hand shot out and grabbed her arm firmly.
"Careful."
The familiar voice instantly made her freeze.
For a mont, Zhao Yue felt her entire body stiffen.
Slowly, she raised her head.
Standing directly in front of her was Fu Li.
Their eyes t.
Neither of them spoke.
Fu Li blinked once.
Zhao Yue blinked back.
A strange silence settled between them.
After a few seconds, Fu Li frowned.
"Why are you looking at like that?" he asked suspiciously. "You look like you’ve just seen a ghost."
Zhao Yue’s eyes widened imdiately.
"No, I don’t."
Fu Li raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, you do."
"I don’t."
"You definitely do."
"I don’t!"
The denial ca out much louder than she intended.
Fu Li stared at her carefully.
The more nervous she looked, the more suspicious he beca.
Zhao Yue quickly turned her face away.
There was absolutely no way she was going to tell him what she had just overheard.
How was she supposed to explain it?
"Hello, I accidentally overheard my fiancé and another man discussing a kiss while standing on a rooftop."
Just thinking about it made her want to disappear.
No.
Absolutely not.
She would rather dig a hole and bury herself underground.
Fortunately for her, voices suddenly sounded throughout the courtyard before Fu Li could continue questioning her.
Everyone was beginning to stand up.
The discussion about Tiger Alley had finally ended.
Grandmother Fu was the first person to rise from her seat.
"It is getting late," she said.
Madam Fu imdiately nodded in agreent.
"We have been sitting here for quite a while. Everyone must be hungry by now."
The mont those words were spoken, several people imdiately agreed.
The children were especially enthusiastic.
Fu Jun quickly raised his hand.
"I’m hungry!"
"So am I!" Fu Jin shouted from beside him.
The adults laughed at their eager expressions.
The heavy atmosphere from the earlier discussion gradually disappeared.
Soon everyone began moving toward the main house.
Madam Fu naturally took charge of the situation.
"Bai Ming, Fu Fei, and Fu Li, co help prepare dinner."
"Coming," Bai Ming replied imdiately.
Fu Fei and Fu Li followed behind her without complaint.
The mont Bai Ming started walking, Fu Qin and Fu Lin hurried after her.
The twins imdiately attached themselves to their mother like little tails.
Madam Fu laughed when she saw them.
"Since you two are following us anyway, you can help carry vegetables."
The twins instantly straightened their backs.
Their expressions beca serious.
"Understood!"
They looked as if they had just been assigned an important military mission.
The adults couldn’t help laughing again.
Soon, the won headed toward the kitchen while the children followed behind them noisily.
The lively sounds of conversation gradually drifted away.
Even Grandfather Fu and Grandmother Fu returned inside to rest after the long eting.
Before long, the once-crowded courtyard beca much quieter.
Only a handful of people remained seated beneath the veranda.
Su Long and Fu Sheng were still sitting at the table.
Han Fuji had shalessly occupied an entire wooden bench by himself.
Across from them sat An Li and An Yu.
As for Fu Tong—
The mont everyone started leaving, he had disappeared into the house faster than anyone else.
anwhile, An Nuan had sohow vanished as well.
Nobody had noticed exactly when she left.
Nobody had noticed which direction she went.
She had simply disappeared.
Han Fuji slowly looked around the courtyard.
Then he looked toward the doorway leading into the house.
Then he looked back again.
A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
"Interesting," he muttered.
An Yu glanced at him.
"What is?"
Han Fuji pointed toward the house.
"Your sister disappeared."
An Yu nodded calmly.
"She did."
"Fu Tong disappeared too."
"He did."
A mischievous grin imdiately appeared on Han Fuji’s face.
His eyes sparkled with excitent.
"You don’t think they—"
"No."
Han Fuji blinked.
"I haven’t even finished speaking."
"You didn’t need to."
An Yu sounded completely certain.
"I know exactly what you were going to say."
Han Fuji looked disappointed.
His shoulders drooped dramatically.
Beside him, Fu Sheng calmly picked up his teacup and took a slow sip.
Su Long watched the exchange before shaking her head helplessly.
The conversation was already becoming ridiculous.
An Li chose to ignore the two troublemakers entirely.
Instead, he turned his attention toward Su Long.
"What are your plans regarding Tiger Alley?"
The atmosphere imdiately beca more serious.
The playful mood faded.
Su Long rested one arm on the table.
"I need more information first."
An Li nodded.
"That is the smartest approach."
"How many people do they usually bring?"
"Usually between twenty and forty n."
Han Fuji imdiately let out a low whistle.
"That is a lot."
"It is," An Li replied.
"They have survived this long because most units are afraid to fight back."
Everyone understood what he ant.
Life in the barren lands was already difficult.
Most people were focused on finding enough food and staying alive.
If a group of ard n suddenly appeared demanding money or supplies, very few people would have the courage to resist.
Fighting back could easily cost them their lives.
An Li looked toward Su Long.
"But Unit Fifty is different now."
Su Long raised an eyebrow.
"Different?"
An Li smiled slightly.
"After what happened today, everyone has seen what can happen when people stand together."
The courtyard fell silent.
Nobody spoke for several monts.
The words lingered in everyone’s minds.
Then Han Fuji suddenly pointed directly at Su Long.
"Exactly."
Everyone turned to look at him.
For once, his expression was unusually serious.
"You already have sothing that most leaders spend years trying to obtain."
Su Long frowned slightly.
"What is it?"
Han Fuji leaned back against the bench.
"The trust of your people."
The courtyard beca completely quiet.
Even Fu Sheng looked thoughtful.
Han Fuji continued speaking.
"Today, when danger appeared, they followed you."
His voice lost its usual joking tone.
"They weren’t following a title."
"They weren’t following a position."
"They weren’t following orders because they had no choice."
His eyes t Su Long’s.
"They followed you because they believed in you."
No one laughed.
No one argued.
Because everyone knew he was telling the truth.
Su Long lowered her gaze slightly.
The events from earlier replayed in her mind.
She rembered the villagers grabbing their tools without hesitation.
She rembered them standing shoulder to shoulder.
She rembered the determination in their eyes.
Not one person had chosen to run away.
Not one person had abandoned the others.
For the first ti, they had truly stood together as one unit.
A faint smile slowly appeared on Su Long’s face.
Perhaps Han Fuji was right.
Perhaps Unit Fifty was no longer the sa as before.
And perhaps...
Perhaps it had already begun to change.
An Li poured himself another cup of tea while An Yu leaned back against his chair.
For once, the playful expression on An Yu’s face was gone.
Instead, he looked unusually serious.
"You are all underestimating Tiger Alley."
The courtyard beca quiet.
Han Fuji frowned.
"What do you an?"
An Yu rested one arm on the table.
"The soldiers from earlier and Tiger Alley are completely different."
Everyone listened carefully.
"The soldiers were relying on authority."
"They believed nobody would dare fight back."
"And when the people resisted together, they lost their advantage."
An Yu paused briefly.
"But Tiger Alley survives because they are smarter."
That imdiately caught my attention.
An Li nodded in agreent.
"He is right."
An Yu continued.
"They have survived this long because they know how to gather information before making a move."
"They know who has money."
"They know who is influential."
"They know who is weak."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"And they rarely walk into a situation blind."
The atmosphere gradually beca heavier.
Even Han Fuji stopped joking.
"So what are you saying?" Fu Sheng asked.
An Yu looked around the table.
"I am saying that we cannot rely only on the villagers."
"Even if everyone in Unit Fifty stands together again, that doesn’t guarantee victory."
He tapped his fingers lightly against the table.
"We need information."
"We need to know how many people they are bringing."
"We need to know their plans."
"We need to know who they are working with."
An Li nodded.
"An inside source."
The mont those words were spoken, silence filled the courtyard.
Everyone began thinking.
Unfortunately, nobody seed to have an answer.
Then suddenly—
An idea appeared in my mind.
The mont it did, I imdiately regretted it.
Because I already knew Fu Sheng would hate it.
Slowly, I turned my head toward An Li.
"When is Bao Li’s wedding again?"
An Li looked surprised by the sudden question.
"The leader?"
I nodded.
He thought for a mont.
"I believe it is in two days."
Two days.
That was enough ti.
The mont I heard the answer, I turned toward Fu Sheng.
Our eyes t.
Imdiately, he understood.
The expression on his face darkened.
"No."
I had not even spoken yet.
Han Fuji blinked.
"No what?"
Fu Sheng ignored him.
His eyes remained fixed on .
"No."
I smiled innocently.
"I haven’t said anything."
"You don’t need to."
His answer ca imdiately.
I sighed.
Unfortunately, he knew too well.
An Yu looked between us with obvious curiosity.
"What is happening?"
Fu Sheng folded his arms.
"My wife just ca up with a terrible idea."
I imdiately frowned.
"It isn’t terrible."
"It is."
"It isn’t."
"It absolutely is."
Han Fuji looked excited.
"I want to hear the terrible idea."
I ignored him.
Instead, I looked directly at Fu Sheng.
"We need information."
"No."
"We need soone on the inside."
"No."
"We need—"
"No."
An Li nearly laughed.
anwhile, An Yu was completely confused.
"Can soone explain?"
I finally looked toward him.
"Wei ilan is the bride."
Understanding imdiately appeared on An Yu’s face.
Then he looked at Fu Sheng.
Then back at .
Then at Fu Sheng again.
A smile slowly appeared.
"Oh."
Fu Sheng’s face darkened further.
"Remove that smile."
Unfortunately, An Yu’s smile only widened.
I looked calmly at my husband.
"If you could approach her before to ask questions about your past, then surely you can do it again."
Fu Sheng stared at .
"I promised you."
His voice softened slightly.
"I promised I would have nothing to do with her anymore."
For a brief mont, nobody spoke.
I knew he ant it.
After everything that had happened, Fu Sheng had worked hard to distance himself completely from Wei ilan.
That was one of the reasons I hated this idea.
But I also knew sothing else.
Unit Fifty needed information.
Without it, they would be walking into a fight blindly.
I leaned forward slightly.
"This isn’t for her."
Fu Sheng remained silent.
"This isn’t for your past."
Still silence.
"This is for Unit Fifty."
The courtyard beca quiet.
Even Han Fuji stopped joking.
For the first ti since the discussion began, nobody interrupted.
Because everyone knew I was right.
Fu Sheng closed his eyes briefly.
Then let out a long breath.
The look on his face made it clear that he hated every part of this plan.
And sohow, that was exactly why I knew he was already considering it.
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