latelenovela Chapter 786 A Little Too Brave...
Chapter 786 A Little Too Brave...
The mountain valleys were still chilly in early spring, and the remaining snow piled up into small mounds by the roadside, revealing the dark brown soil underneath as the wind blew it away.
The half-collapsed shack leaned precariously by the roadside, its thatch whipping wildly in the wind. Several people crawled out, their cotton-padded coats torn to reveal the blackened cotton wadding, the cuffs worn smooth to show frostbitten skin, their faces smeared with wood ash and snow water. Only their eyes shone with an astonishing light in the dim light.
They looked up and saw the wheeled armored vehicle in front of them. Their eyes widened as if they had seen something extraordinary, and their faces were full of bewilderment. The steel shell of the armored vehicle gleamed coldly, and its tires left deep tracks in the snow, making it look like a steel monster crouching in a ravine.
Hmm? Tires?
If it has tires, then it's a car...
"Hey! What are you doing? How can you drive like that!" The older man took two steps forward, pointing at the collapsed shack, his voice rough and urgent, typical of mountain folk: "Hey! What are you doing? How can you drive like that without watching where you're going? This shack is where we shelter from the wind and snow. If it collapses, where will we sleep tonight?"
Before he finished speaking -
"Splash! Crack!"
A series of crisp sounds of bolts being pulled back and safety being released instantly filled the surrounding area!
Chief of the Guard and his soldiers reacted extremely quickly! Like cheetahs, they emerged from behind the jeeps and armored vehicles with clean and efficient tactical movements, instantly forming an encirclement. Several dark Type 56 assault rifles were steadily pointed at the men who had just crawled out of the shack!
"Don't move!"
"Put your hands up!"
"Lie down on the spot!"
The soldiers' short, powerful shouts echoed like thunder in the silent mountain valley!
Almost simultaneously, Lao Wang shouted "Get down!" from inside the armored vehicle, shoved the people near the window towards the back of the vehicle, and then turned on the roof lights.
A bright beam of light suddenly pierced the darkness, shining directly at the people in front of the shack. The light was so bright that they couldn't open their eyes and could only subconsciously raise their hands to shield their faces. The frostbite on the back of their hands was clearly visible under the light.
"Wait! Wait! Don't shoot!" Ignoring Engineer Chen's attempts to stop him, the old geologist lunged at the observation window of the armored vehicle. "That accent...that accent sounds familiar! Is it...is it Wenbin?! Is it Zhou Wenbin?"
But the heavy armor plating acted like a wall, muffled his voice inside the car, making it inaudible outside.
Outside the vehicle, Chief of Security Cheng shouted, "Get them under control!"
The soldiers immediately carried out the order, rushing forward like wolves and tigers to quickly twist the arms behind the backs of the still bewildered men, preparing to restrain them with ropes, and began searching them for weapons.
At this moment, those people completely panicked!
"What are you doing?!"
"Aren't you People's Liberation Army soldiers? How can you talk about tying up your own comrades!"
In the midst of the struggle, someone suddenly realized: "Oh no! We've run into bandits! Do you all remember what Captain Guan said? Didn't they say that a group of bandits dressed as our comrades came to the mountains?"
These words stunned our soldiers. "You're the bandit! Your whole family are bandits!"
In that moment of hesitation, the leader suddenly exerted his strength.
He abruptly shoved aside the soldier who was about to tie him up and, like a madman, lunged at the ruins of the half-collapsed shack, frantically digging through the rubble and weeds. A moment later, he pulled a worn-out, gleaming leather satchel from the rubble!
Without even looking, he grabbed his satchel and scrambled toward the edge of the steep ravine beside him, where he reached out and unzipped the satchel.
Under the light, you can clearly see that it is full of curled and yellowed papers.
"We can't let them steal the data!" he shouted, grabbing a handful of blueprints and throwing them into the ravine behind him, the scraps of paper flying everywhere in the wind.
The other person also realized what was happening, struggled against the rope, and with his free hand, pulled a bag from his pocket, trying to rush towards the ravine. Unfortunately, our soldiers were right in front of him.
Seeing that he couldn't cross the ravine, the short young man became so anxious that his eyes turned red. He pulled out a few pieces of paper from his bag and stuffed them into his mouth without even looking at them.
While choking and tearing up, he mumbled incoherently, "You bastards! I ate the documents! If you dare... if you dare, cut open my stomach and find them!"
After throwing down the documents, Zhou Wenbin staggered back to the edge of the ravine, making a move as if he were about to jump down. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at the soldiers who surrounded him, displaying an attitude of unyielding defiance.
The elderly geologist stumbled out of the car, shouting hoarsely, "Wenbin! Don't be foolish! It's us! The organization has come looking for you!"
Upon seeing his teacher appear before him, Zhou Wenbin was not pleased but enraged: "You bunch of bastards, you dare to arrest my teacher? I'll fight you to the death!"
As he spoke, the big, clumsy man bent down to pick up a stone, completely unaware that the other person had a gun.
"Fight!"
"Fight!"
"Fight! Protect the teacher!" The short youth and the other team members struggled frantically, even though they were tied up, they tried to get closer to Old Li, shouting, "Teacher, don't be afraid! I'll protect you! We'll fight them!"
Jiang Xia looked at the geological team members who were entangled with the soldiers and was somewhat speechless.
Standing beside the armored vehicle, looking at the tangled crowd, a smile crept onto his lips, but his eyes welled up with tears: "Good heavens... these geologists, when they get reckless, they're really reckless, and when they get really naive... but this naivety is somehow admirable."
The wind was still blowing, swirling the remaining snow, and the blueprints flying everywhere landed on the snow like white sparks.
After a long while, this earth-shattering misunderstanding gradually subsided thanks to the geologist's repeated explanations and the identification shown by Chief Cheng.
Zhou Wenbin, his face covered in dirt and tears, stared blankly at his much older teacher. His resolute expression slowly gave way to unbelievable joy.
He grinned, revealing his chapped lips, and chuckled sheepishly.
"I didn't see clearly at first, but it really is a teacher!"
"Teacher! Teacher! You're here! That's wonderful! You...you received the gold and ore samples we sent out through someone? I knew it! I knew the organization would send someone!"
Zhou Wenbin was so excited that he was almost incoherent. He grabbed the old man's arm and said, "It's good that you're here! It's good that you're here! I... I haven't mastered my skills. I've let you down, teacher! I've been wandering around this godforsaken valley for almost a year and have only found a few scattered mines, just here and there..."
But he immediately looked up, his eyes gleaming with excitement, and his voice rose several octaves: "But teacher! I swear on my life! There's definitely more than this down there! The geological structure and mineral veins show there's something big here! This... this could very well be a world-class gold mine!"
As he spoke, this simpleton was eager to verify his statement, and his hand instinctively reached behind him to touch his bag, only to find nothing, before he remembered that he had just thrown all the documents away.
(⊙o⊙)...
Jiang Xia burst out laughing.
Seeing Zhou Wenbin's gaze, Jiang Xia tossed him a pack of cigarettes and teased, "Getting impatient, huh? Panicked, huh? But it's okay, want to give it a try..."
Before he could finish speaking, Chief of the Guard Cheng walked over with several soldiers, carrying a large stack of blueprints and notebooks that were covered in snow and mud and were somewhat wrinkled, but were basically intact!
Chief of the Guards said with a hint of helplessness, "The soldiers tried their best to collect all the debris that had been blown away nearby. However, the mountain wind was too strong, and some of it had drifted far away, so there was really nothing we could do."
Unexpectedly, Zhou Wenbin waved his hand casually, a smile on his face that was a mixture of naivety and cunning:
"Thank you, PLA comrade! But..."
Then he looked at his teacher and said, "Teacher, is this your new student? He hasn't mastered the skills of our geology department yet!"
After saying that, he walked over to Jiang Xia with a cigarette in his mouth, and before Jiang Xia could react, he bent down and pinched Jiang Xia's calf: "Tsk tsk, junior brother, your skinny legs will be ruined after running two miles! That won't do, what's the motto of us geologists again?"
"Go out by walking, cross the river by sliding."
Wild grass served as my bed, and stones as my pillow;
They climbed cliffs and jumped over ravines.
The mountains are high and the roads are long, so let's just treat it as a walk.
My feet are blistered, and the blisters are full of minerals.
They ventured out of the mountains and rivers, and returned with a bucket of gold.
The group of people surrounding the elderly geologist immediately recited this jingle.
Zhou Wenbin patted Jiang Xia on the shoulder again, "Come on, junior brother, let your senior brother teach you another move!"
As he spoke, Zhou Wenbin, seemingly unconcerned, began to unbutton his tattered and greasy cotton-padded jacket in front of everyone! Amidst the puzzled gazes of the crowd, he carefully pulled out half a sheet of paper, warmed by his body, from a tightly sewn hidden pocket in his undergarment!
“The real treasures… the core vein trajectory prediction map and key data… how could we possibly carry them around in our bags!” He chuckled, a smug look on his face that said, “I’m not stupid.”
"That's right! The captain is right!" The short teammate who had swallowed the blueprints earlier grinned and immediately took off one of his worn-out cotton shoes, which was so worn that his toes were sticking out. He then pulled out several small rolls of paper tightly wrapped in oil paper from the lining of the sole!
"Mine's right here, hey, it's just a bit strong..."
The other team members followed suit, some reaching into their waistbands, others into the cotton wadding of their hats, and one even pulled out a notebook wrapped in several layers of cloth from under a loose stone in the ruins of the shack!
In the blink of an eye, the same people who had just "heroically" destroyed the data suddenly produced a huge pile of well-preserved core information as if by magic!
Jiang Xia's lips twitched as she looked at Zhou Wenbin's honest yet slightly shrewd smile, and she was speechless again, unable to help but rub her forehead and smile bitterly.
"You really shouldn't underestimate the importance of steamed buns as a staple food..."
"These geologists put on quite a show! That fierce determination to die rather than surrender, to destroy the data and jump into the ravine... it was all a 'sacrifice the pawn to save the king' tactic plus a delaying tactic?!"
These days, nobody's simple! They're all talented!