Key point: not “accompanying,” but “leading the team”!
After Xie Dingyuan led a research team to F Continent for assistance, China continued to search for outstanding biological experts and organize teams to provide reinforcements.
After all, the strength of a single group is ultimately limited; having a few more people at least means extra hands to help.
Unfortunately, within the domestic biosecurity field, there were almost no figures who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Xie Dingyuan.
With such a brilliant example before them, they searched and searched, yet found no one satisfactory.
And so the matter dragged on until now.
Finally, two research teams were organized. One was led by domestic biological expert and academic authority Dan Pinghua, while the other was headed by Bai Chuanhao, the youngest recipient of the Huaxia Life Sciences Award.
The average age of the “Dan Team” members was 50+, and their research style leaned more toward traditional and conservative.
Meanwhile, most members of the “Bai Team” were “industry newcomers,” with the oldest being only 42.
Youth meant daring to charge ahead, so their research style was relatively flexible and aggressive.
Bai Chuanhao himself was a rising star in the biological sciences. At just 27, he already had multiple CNS papers under his belt, and his SCI overseas citation count far outstripped that of every member of the “Dan Team.” Some even called him “Little Xie Dingyuan,” saying his future was boundless.
With both teams now formed, according to plan, they should have set off for F Continent.
But at this moment, the higher-ups received Jiang Fuyue’s application…
Submitted together with the application was her latest research on the Schankwo virus.
With Shen Wenzhao’s signature endorsement, the higher-ups couldn’t ignore it even if they wanted to!
What’s more, Jiang Fuyue’s research report was rich in data and clear in logic. Her proposed method for improving the defensive capability of recombinant vaccines was precisely the biggest challenge currently facing the teams stationed in F Continent. How could the higher-ups possibly turn a blind eye?
The health department immediately sent someone to summon Jiang Fuyue.
Several experts held an intense on-the-spot discussion of the report, and she herself joined in.
In the end, she unknowingly seized the initiative. By the time the experts realized it, they had already been led by Jiang Fuyue far off course, with no way to turn back.
The leaders: “……” Should they say the veteran experts were too simple-minded, or that this kid was too formidable?
In any case, after this “summoning,” the matter of Jiang Fuyue going to F Continent was settled beyond doubt.
But in what capacity she would go, that became another problem.
The simplest option was to merge her into either the “Dan Team” or the “Bai Team,” accompanying them as a team member.
However, as soon as Dan Pinghua got the news, he immediately vetoed it—
“The number of people, the positions, and the responsibilities of each position were decided long ago. Now you just casually insert someone, it’s not that she’s familiar with the team’s working model, nor has she gone through any coordination with the other members. We’re about to depart for F Continent, are we supposed to disrupt all prior arrangements just for her alone?”
The leaders fell silent for a moment. Although Dan Pinghua seemed to be shirking responsibility, what he said wasn’t entirely without reason.
On the other side, Bai Chuanhao’s attitude was somewhat gentler, mainly considering Jiang Fuyue’s young age and decent academic level.
He had also heard a bit about the recent internet-sensational report, “Genius Girl Publishes Three CNS Papers in a Row.”
However, he did not accept Jiang Fuyue because of this. Instead, he used relatively tactful wording to express the same meaning as Dan Pinghua—
“The team has already taken shape, and it’s inconvenient to make further adjustments. If the higher-ups insist on arranging for her to join, I can only accept it. But I must state in advance: she can only do peripheral work, won’t have access to the core parts, and certainly won’t be able to lead the team.”
Bai Chuanhao felt that the girl would most likely not accept this.
Because the pride in her eyes wouldn’t allow it!
Having long been accustomed to being the alpha wolf, how could she be willing to be submerged within the pack, reduced to one of the masses?
Sure enough—
Jiang Fuyue: “I don’t agree. If it’s just accompanying, then I won’t go.”
After saying that, she prepared to reach out and take back her materials, giving off a strong “one disagreement and I’m out” and “who do you think you are?” vibe.
The experts all exclaimed inwardly: can’t mess with her, can’t mess with her…
Given that all three sides held very firm attitudes especially Jiang Fuyue, who was the type to “not play by the rules”, the leaders were utterly torn.
Their hair was almost turning white from worry.
In the end, after deliberation, a decision was made—
Let Jiang Fuyue go to F Continent under the name of “leading a team for assistance.”
In this way, in addition to the already established “Dan Team” and “Bai Team,” there was now an extra “Jiang Team.”
It was just that this team was very special, at present, it consisted of only Jiang Fuyue herself!
Both general and soldier.
“That works.” After listening, she nodded.
Quite reluctantly, at that.
The leaders: “……”
When the news reached the other two teams—
Dan Pinghua’s brows knitted sharply: “What nonsense is this? A little girl counts as a team?”
The subtext: what right does she have?
Bai Chuanhao was much calmer, though he couldn’t help being a little surprised: “So this is how they handled it…”
Of course, he knew that Dan Pinghua also refused to accept Jiang Fuyue. He had even thought that if things really came to it, he would relent and agree yet he hadn’t expected the higher-ups to decide to let her form a team on her own.
“Looks like she really does have some skills…”
……
The day Jiang Fuyue was summoned by the leaders happened to be the day Jiang Da and Han Yunru arrived in the Imperial Capital.
So she missed the airport pickup.
By the time she dealt with that group of experts and left, the sun had already set.
Driving to the Han residence, the night stretched endlessly, moonlight spilling over the land.
Inside the house—
“Big sister is back!” Little Brother Jiang was the first to notice, springing to his feet.
While everyone else still looked bewildered and half-believing, he had already dashed to the entryway.
At the moment the door was pulled open from inside, Jiang Fuyue was just about to press the doorbell, her hand still raised.
The siblings unexpectedly came face to face.
This scene strangely overlapped with one from memory.
Back then, Jiang Fuyue had been holding a key, about to insert it into the lock, while Little Brother Jiang, wearing an apron, had pitter-pattered over to open the door.
Only now, Jiang Chenxing was no longer the pitiful little kid who didn’t even dare to speak loudly.
After half a year without seeing him, he had shot up in height, now only half a head shorter than Jiang Fuyue.
They say boys who are good-looking when young tend to grow worse with age.
But Jiang Chenxing still had red lips and white teeth, not a single pimple on his face. His pitch-black eyes were clean and clear, sparkling with light. No matter how you looked at him, he was undeniably a handsome youth.
“Big Sis, I missed you so much…”
The address changed from “big sister” to “big sis.” The boy had grown up, yet that last sentence still carried a hint of coquettishness.
Especially that drawn-out “so,” light and soft, with a bit of sweetness.
It was just that the boy was in the middle of his voice-changing period, his voice low and deep, inevitably carrying a trace of roughness.
But it still sounded good—
The kind that could soften one’s heart into cotton candy.
Jiang Fuyue touched his hair, cool to the touch, smooth and sleek. “When did you arrive?”
“Two in the afternoon.” A shy flush rose at the roots of the handsome boy’s ears. The lighting wasn’t very bright, so it wasn’t too obvious.
Jiang Fuyue lowered her head to change her shoes. Before she could bend down, Jiang Chenxing had already taken out a pair of slippers and placed them by her feet.
Jiang Fuyue slipped them on naturally and looked up to ask, “Have you eaten dinner?”
“Not yet, waiting to eat with you.” As he spoke, he neatly placed her removed shoes to one side.
The siblings’ movements were natural. Jiang Fuyue felt no awkwardness at all, and Jiang Chenxing was thoroughly used to it.
Not far away, Han Ting watched silently. From initial, undisguised astonishment, his expression gradually shifted to one of reflection.
No one knew what exactly was going through his mind.
Seeing her daughter, Han Yunru couldn’t help but have her eyes redden first.
Jiang Da, too, was filled with emotion for a moment.
“Dad, Mom.” Jiang Fuyue greeted them, smiling brightly.
Han Yunru pressed her lips together, looking her up and down several times: “…You’ve lost weight.”
Han Shen walked over. “Everyone must be hungry. Let’s eat first.”
The whole family sat around together, truly carrying a bit of the bustle and joy of the New Year.
Han Qishan was very happy.
He could clearly feel the change in Xiao Ru’s attitude toward him.
Although he had long since persuaded himself not to force things and only wished for his daughter’s happiness and well-being, if they could rebuild their father-daughter bond, that would certainly be even better!
Han Shen looked at his father beaming with joy, then at his sister who had finally returned home after more than twenty years, what more could he ask for?
After dinner, Jiang Fuyue mentioned the news about going to F Continent tomorrow.
The laughter and chatter abruptly stopped, and a long, deathly silence followed—
Han Yunru: “You’re leaving tomorrow?”
Han Qishan: “How can that be?! It’s New Year’s the day after tomorrow…”
Han Shen frowned. “Is this a requirement from above?”
“Mm, I’m leading the team.” Even though the team consisted of only herself.
Another stretch of silence.
No one knew how long passed before Jiang Da spoke: “…Will there be danger? The news says the epidemic in F Continent is severe, many people have died…”
Han Yunru’s gaze tightened, her breathing abruptly freezing.
Han Qishan’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper. “Yueyue, if you don’t want to go, I can call over there…”
Jiang Fuyue: “It was my own initiative to apply.”
“Yueyue, you—”
“I’m mainly responsible for research work. It’s different from medical rescue, I won’t be in direct contact with patients, so it’s very safe. Don’t worry.”
Not directly contacting patients, but directly contacting the virus.
That part, Jiang Fuyue didn’t say.
……
The next day, before dawn, while everyone was still sound asleep, Jiang Fuyue dragged her suitcase and left the Han residence.
At seven thirty, she met up with Dan Pinghua’s team and Bai Chuanhao’s team at the appointed location.
At eight, everyone had arrived and boarded a bus to the airport.
At nine thirty, the group of 13 boarded the plane via a special passage.
There were no other passengers traveling with them, only a cabin full of medicines and protective equipment.
At ten, the plane took off, shooting straight into the clouds.
For the sake of protective isolation, each person sat alone in a row, with seats arranged in a diagonal pattern.
Jiang Fuyue happened to be by the window, so she simply lifted the window shade.
The view brightened abruptly, with rolling white clouds outside.
She took out a set of research materials from the tote bag she carried with her and began quietly flipping through them.
Under the bright daylight, the girl’s beautiful profile revealed a serious expression, invisibly radiating a heart-stirring charm.
The other 12 people traveling with her were all men, ranging from their twenties to their fifties.
But no matter the age, appreciation of beauty is a man’s most primal instinct.
The only difference might be in how they appreciate it—
Openly looking, or sneaking glances?
Admiring from afar, or wanting to profane?
On this point, the young people from Bai Chuanhao’s team and the middle-aged and elderly from Dan Pinghua’s team formed two extremes.
The former’s gazes were frank, filled with amazement.
The latter either stole glances or looked askance, often accompanied by frowns, head-shaking, and various little movements, yet they couldn’t help taking a second look, a third look…
“Heh, a bunch of fake prudes!” A young man in a camel-colored coat from Bai Chuanhao’s team couldn’t help sneering when he saw this.
“Xu Kuan.” Bai Chuanhao shook his head at him with a hint of warning. “Don’t stir up trouble.”
Xu Kuan pouted. “That’s exactly how it is anyway… Clearly they really want to look, yet they have to put on a face of disdain. Isn’t that exactly the same as when they listen to our academic reports? Clearly each one of them is jealous to death, yet they still desperately nitpick just to make things difficult?”
Bai Chuanhao: “Ahem! Leave the elders a bit of face.”
“Tch, they’ve already lost their substance, what face is there left? If you’ve got the guts, be like us, if you want to look at a beauty, then look openly. What’s there to hide?”
Bai Chuanhao: “……” This batch of team members is hard to manage.
Xu Kuan babbled on with his complaints while staring straight at Jiang Fuyue.
“Hey, Old Bai,” he bumped Bai Chuanhao’s shoulder, signaling him to look too. “Don’t you think she looks even better in person than in photos?”
Bai Chuanhao picked up a paper cup and took a sip of hot tea. “Is that so? Haven’t really paid attention.”
“Yeah! Her features are obviously much more delicate, her face is really small, probably not even as big as my palm. And the key point is, her skin is way, way, way too fair! Completely bare-faced! If my sister were here, she’d definitely pounce straight over and ask her for whitening tips…”
The girl sat by the window, her skin white as snow, her whole person seeming to glow.
Xu Kuan stared dumbfounded, his voice growing softer, a dazed look flooding his eyes.
Ah! How can there be such a beautiful girl in this world?
“I think so too!” At this moment, Chen Shu from the back row leaned his head over, expressing strong approval and agreement with Xu Kuan’s evaluation just now.
“She’s really so pretty! And the key is she’s also smart, perfect score in the college entrance exam, three CNS papers, she’s simply the strongest brain among beauties!”
Xu Kuan immediately extended a friendly little… oh no, big hand toward him and shook it on the spot: “Great minds think alike!”
Next, Bai Chuanhao listened as the two of them praised Jiang Fuyue from head to toe, then from toe back to head, accompanied by occasional suppressed squeals and overly exaggerated exclamations.
Bai Chuanhao’s lashes trembled lightly. He looked at the paper cup in his hand, watching the calm surface of the water ripple from the turbulence of airflow, just like his own heart at this moment, stirred by others’ evaluations—
Is she really that beautiful?
His peripheral vision subconsciously cast a glance in that direction, only to see that the girl had already closed her materials, turned around, and leaned back against the seat to rest.
Her shoulders were slender, her silhouette light and graceful. Beneath the cascade of long hair, one could faintly glimpse a trace of jade-like skin.
Without even looking, one could imagine how slender and fragile that stretch of neck must be.
“Old Bai, your tea’s already cold, why are you still drinking it?”
“…Oh.” Bai Chuanhao silently put down the paper cup.
And on the other side, Dan Pinghua’s team—
“With just such a little girl, what use can she be? They even let her form a team on her own! Are the leaders muddleheaded?”
“Old Huang!” Dan Pinghua spoke up to remind him. “Watch the occasion. What can be said and what can’t, you should know that in your heart.”
Clearly Old Huang also realized it was inappropriate to question the leaders, so he hurried to salvage things: “I mean, although I don’t know the specifics of how the higher-ups arranged it, I believe that doing so must have its reasons!”
Only then did Dan Pinghua’s originally stern expression ease somewhat. “Let this be the last time!”
Old Huang nodded repeatedly, promising, “Absolutely won’t happen again!”
However, although Dan Pinghua scolded Old Huang verbally, his true thoughts were actually much the same—
With such delicate skin and tender flesh, what use could that little girl be?
Going there would only drag them down.
Luckily, he hadn’t agreed at the beginning to let her join his team!
Amitabha! Thank heavens!
……
When mealtime arrived, the cabin crew began distributing meals.
Jiang Fuyue chose the pasta over the curry rice, but after a round of searching, the crew member said, “Sorry, the pasta is gone. Is curry rice okay?”
“Then I won’t have it. Please give me a cup of water, thank you.”
“…Alright, please wait a moment.”
After a few minutes, it was the same crew member again. “Hello, the gentleman opposite requested to change his pasta to curry rice, so this portion is for you.”
Jiang Fuyue raised her eyes to look over, just in time to see Xu Kuan looking back as well, grinning and waving at her.
Beside him, Bai Chuanhao: “……”
Jiang Fuyue withdrew her gaze, took the pasta. “Please tell him thank you for me.”
Crew member: “Okay.”
Unexpectedly, after Xu Kuan received this thanks, he actually walked over directly. “No need to thank me. My name is Xu Kuan, hello.”
“Hello, Jiang Fuyue.”
“I know.” He said. “I often see you when scrolling Weibo.”
Bai Chuanhao: “Xu Kuan, come back and sit properly!”
“…Oh.”
Before leaving, he gave Jiang Fuyue another smile. “Hehe…”
“?” Is this guy a bit silly?
……
After sixteen hours of long flight, the plane landed at Suweitan Airport at four in the afternoon local time.
They then boarded heavy off-road vehicles sent by the base and jolted their way toward the desert military zone…
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