Ten

  Having heard this, Yan Wei was even more convinced that this high-ranking agent of the Military Commission was a man who could accomplish great things. Remaining calm in the face of surprise was supposed to be our usual demeanor.

  "Director Wu, so what do you think we should do now?"

  Yan Wei saw that Wu Hanhuai was not particularly panicked at this moment, and thought he had already made a plan. Yan Wei didn't know what Wu Hanhuai had planned before coming here.

  "Like this, Captain Yan, the situation is urgent now, let me tell you the details later. Now Wu must confirm to the children. Don't hide from Captain Yan, one of these kids is extremely important to our party and country!"

  Yan Wei's expression showed a hint of disdain, so he immediately added: "Commander Yan, don't misunderstand. This key figure is not the child of an important military or political leader in our country, but rather a child who has a crucial role to play for our nation and people."

  Facing a group of innocent faces, awakened from their dreams and still drowsy, Wu Hanhui began to deeply blame himself for his initial plan. To let these naive and lovely children follow the troops in front as cannon fodder to lure away the Japanese army's pursuit! While he led his men to protect the target and take advantage of the opportunity to slip away from the Japanese army's interception and safely retreat. This was absolutely not something a high-ranking military officer of the party should do! It wasn't even something a person could do, it was such a despicable thing!

  In addition to the Japanese army troops that are now not far from us, it is clear that they are not the same troops that the Wuhan Garrison Brigade encountered when they sent out a distress signal earlier. This shows that the Japanese intelligence agency must have already confirmed the information and, after the first batch of troops failed to intercept and kill them, immediately dispatched a second rapid-response team to pursue and kill them! The purpose is obvious, indicating that the Japanese high command attaches great importance to this matter and fears that they have received a death order that must be carried out! If our previous plan goes awry and we cannot successfully lure away and divert the attention of the Japanese army with this batch of troops, then our team will also be subject to the pursuit and killing by the main force of the Japanese army! If that's the case, then our team, carrying the target, would be in even greater danger! If we really engage in close combat with the Japanese army, the 32nd Army Corps' troops could annihilate an entire Japanese battalion on their own! But if it were us, it wouldn't be so easy!

  Although he had handpicked the best men from within the organization for this action team, and each of them was equipped with a German-made MP18 submachine gun with a 35-round drum magazine. However, this kind of regular army-style combat was not something that a team of well-trained and skilled military police special agents could handle on their own. If they were to engage in a large-scale battle with the Japanese army, it would be safer to follow the elite troops of the 32nd Army Corps. Thinking along these lines, Wu Hanhui made up his mind that regardless of whether or not he could find the target person, he would change plans and fight side by side with this team of Nationalist Army elites to the death!

  Identification of the target, at present Wu Han's conditions are not as good as those of Hamao Shinzo. At least Hamao Shinzo has a blurry class photo of the child, but this child only has one photo since birth! Since it was taken by Japanese military personnel first, Wu Han naturally has nothing in his hands now!

  But Wu Hanhuai didn't seem to be worried about this. Because apart from not having any physical evidence to confirm it, Wu Hanhuai had already grasped all the information about this child and her mother.

  "Kids, now uncle has some questions for you, and you must answer them carefully!"

  Yan Wei didn't notice that this veteran agent of the Military Bureau was still very patient with these kids. Only Fang Lan, who was standing beside the children, kept staring at Yan Wei with discontent! She thought it wasn't right to drag these exhausted and terrified children out of bed again in the middle of the night! He had no idea that the Japanese army was closing in on them from all sides, not far away.

  "Tell Uncle, who is Hua Yuan?"

  Wu Han Hua asked and then used his professional eyes to scan the faces of each child, as if interrogating a criminal. The adults present couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spines, despite his attempts to appear gentle.

  "Tell Uncle who called Huayuan, and Uncle will reward him with candy!"

  Wu Hanhuai said that Wu Hanhuai really took out a piece of fruit candy from his pocket! It seems he was well-prepared.

  Obviously, the temptation of a piece of fruit candy was not enough to dispel the children's fear of this eagle-eyed and stern-faced military agent! Although Wu Hanhuai had a kind smile on his face at this time, in the eyes of the children, he looked like a wizard from a fairy tale no matter how they looked at him.

  Some children obviously yearned for the beautifully packaged fruit candy, but unfortunately did not know who Huayuan was in their mouths, so they looked around at others. They all thought to themselves: "Give sugar to eat and don't quickly stand up to receive it! What a fool!"

  Wu Han Hua saw that none of the children responded, and his face suddenly changed color. His mood instantly reached a desperate extreme! He couldn't help but turn his head to look at Yan Wei.

  Actually, after Wu Han and Huai's two voices responded, seeing that no one among the children responded, Yan Wei's heart suddenly turned icy! Could it be that heaven is not blessing us, in this afternoon's fierce battle, coincidentally, the three children who were unintentionally injured by the Japanese army's careful and slow movements happened to include the target person!

  Wu Han let out a sigh and slowly got up, his expression already showing extreme disappointment!

  Seeing this situation, Fang Lan walked to the front of the children, bent down and looked at them: "Little friends, can you tell Auntie who among you is called Hua Yuan?"

  "Aunt Fang, I'm Hua Yuan."

  As a tender childish voice sounded, Wu Huanhua, who had already given up and was about to turn around and leave, suddenly turned back, took a step forward, squatted down, grasped the shoulders of the child who responded with both hands, and stared at the child's eyes with his excited eyes, asking: "Say it again, what's your name?"

  Facing Wu Han's excited questioning, perhaps it was the child's thin shoulders that were painfully grasped by Wu Han's emotional grip. So he looked at Fang Lan with both eyes, his small face flushed red! His eyes welled up with tears, wanting to cry but not daring to cry!

  "What are you doing?! Is this how you treat a little kid?! You're going to scare him to death!"

  Fang Lan said as she pushed Wu Han's hands away, immediately squatting down to hug the child and comfort him: "Don't be afraid, Auntie is here to protect you, don't be afraid of that bad person!"

  Yan Wei couldn't help but want to laugh, a proud National Army lieutenant colonel, had become a bad guy in Fang Lan's eyes! But seeing that they had finally found the so-called target that Wu Hanhuai had gone to great lengths to rescue, even mobilizing the air force, Yan Wei also let out a deep sigh of relief in his heart.

  "Wu Han saw the busy situation and said to Fang Lan, "You are Miss Fang of the Wuhan Orphanage who is in charge of taking care of the children this time, right? As a matter of fact, I have met your respected father, Director Fang, before. This trip to escort and transfer the children has caused you a lot of trouble, Miss Fang. You have worked hard. On behalf of the party and the country, I would like to thank Miss Fang for her selfless kindness and great contribution." After that, he surprisingly gave Fang Lan a standard military salute as a National Army lieutenant colonel!"

  At this point, Yan Wei secretly admired these intelligence agents who were able to stretch and shrink to achieve their goals without resorting to any means. In order to make use of the other party in the future, they were willing to condescend to give a military salute to a young woman as a high-ranking military officer of the party state. If it were themselves, they would be afraid that it wouldn't work, and even if they managed to get their hands on her, they would still have to coax her into listening.

  As expected, he saw a big man who was also an officer of the party and the country, and on top of that, he even claimed to have had a connection with his own father! That is to say, in terms of seniority, he had become his elder! But this person's family took the initiative to show kindness and even gave him a military salute! Fang Lan, who was well-read in poetry and knowledgeable about etiquette since childhood, was not a foolish woman. So she smiled at Wu Hanhuai with a hint of apology:

  "Director Wu, you're being too polite. At a time when the country is in peril, this is an internal matter for our citizens. Director Wu, there's no need to thank me."

  Having dealt with the saucy girl, Wu Han Hui took advantage of the situation and said: "Miss Fang, would you mind asking this child again if his mother's name is Li Minying?"

  After Fang Lan finished asking, she saw that the child's head was lowered again. Wu Hanhuai stared at the child and said, "Miss Fang, please ask him one more thing: where is his father?"

  "My dad is in a very far away place and will only come back when I grow up! I have never seen my dad."

  After Fanglan asked, this child stared at Wu Hanhuai with his eyes wide open. Although he was young, he also understood that all these questions were asked by Wu Hanhuai to him.

  Since everything matches the basic situation, Wu Hanhuai, who has always been steady in his actions, said: "Have you ever attended school? Where did you attend school? What is your principal's name?"

  Due to his emotional excitement, Wu Hanhua forgot to convey the message through Fang Lan and directly stared at Hua Yuan and asked.

  But at this time, Hua Yuan had obviously adapted to Wu Han's sharp eyes like a hawk. Looking at Wu Han, "I've already gone to school, I'm studying at Grosso Primary School. Our principal is Father Andrew."

  Wu Hanhua's eyes gleamed with excitement as he stared at Hua Yuan and asked, "One last question, where does your family live?"

  "49 Lanling Road." Another accurate answer Wu Hanhuai wanted.

  Wu Hanhua stood up excitedly and said to Fang Lan: "Miss Fang, I am now entrusted by the National Government to temporarily take full care of this child's life until we safely arrive in Chongqing."

  "Director Wu, are you saying that from now on I will have to take care of this child alone? What about the other children? I was entrusted by Ms. Shi Liang of the Wuhan Nursery Association to take care of all the children here. I cannot accept your proposal to take care of only this one child and neglect the others."

  Wu Hanhui, who knew the background of Fang Lan well, was not surprised by this performance of the rich and spoiled young lady. A young girl with a family wealth of tens of millions and influenced by progressive ideas would not care about so-called political needs. So he couldn't help but turn to Yan Wei for help. He believed that as a high-ranking military officer in the National Army, Yan Wei would not be as politically naive as Fang Lan.

  When Wu Hanhua came to ask for help, Yan Wei smiled and stepped forward, holding Fang Lan's shoulder again, and took him aside to whisper: "Lan'er..."

  Who would have thought that as soon as Yan Wei's words fell, Fang Lan immediately shook off Yan Wei's arm and angrily said: "How did you know my milk name? Who allowed you to call me that?"

  Fang Lan's words were shouted quite loudly! So much so that they attracted the attention of adults and children from all directions. Yan Wei also saw that many of his own subordinates were covering their mouths and laughing!

  Yan Wei awkwardly stretched out his right arm again to put it around Fang Lan's shoulder and whispered urgently, "Hey, this is where you're wrong! Didn't you tell me just now when we were lying in my arms watching them parachute that your mother used to hold you like this in your own courtyard to watch the stars? You said she would often point at the night sky and say, 'Look, child, how bright that star is! Look, how far away that star is!' How can you deny it now?"

  "Did I just say that?"

  Fang Lan's face was full of puzzlement.

  "I've said it! I've made it crystal clear! If not, how would I know again?!"

  Yan Wei's face was full of certainty.

  "Am I still in your arms?"

  Fang Lan continued to be puzzled.

  "It doesn't really count as lying down either, we didn't actually lie down! That's what I mean."

  Yan Wei's face was filled with willingness and consent.

  "Listen up, only my dad and mom can call me that way, from now on you're not allowed to call me like that again."

  Fang Lan's words seemed insincere.

  "I think I can love you more than your parents!"

  Yan Wei took advantage of the situation and made a bold move! Anyway, his subordinates had already laughed earlier, so what's the worst that could happen if they laugh again?

  Fang Lan listened and narrowed her eyes, those eyes that could hook out a person's soul, staring at Yan Wei: "On this journey, I'll have plenty of time to confirm with you what you just said. I'm not an ordinary civilian woman, if you're that kind of unscrupulous rogue who toys with me lightly, my father won't let you off! And you, Team Leader, can forget about your position!"

  Yan Wei smiled and said, "Which ordinary people would join the Children's Welfare Association? Ordinary people can't even afford to eat and are on the verge of starving! Who has the leisure and energy to do this thankless job? But honestly, since we met today, I'm not too keen on being the team leader anymore. After this task is over, let's discuss it further."

  Wu Hanhua on this side looked at them, sometimes loudly glaring, sometimes softly and charmingly, really couldn't figure out what these two were doing! He was anxious to rub his hands on his back non-stop! But he never thought that at this critical moment, the two of them could still find time to talk about their feelings!

  "One code for one, the child I mentioned earlier is indeed the son of an important figure related to the party and country's future. This Mr. Wu didn't tell me clearly, but I had already guessed it roughly! Besides, this Mr. Wu isn't a ordinary person either, we have to give him some face after all. From now on, let's pay more attention to that child, after all, the military and intelligence agencies even mobilized the air force for his sake! Back when we were fighting at the Great Wall during the war of resistance, we didn't even get a single plane for support!"

  Yan Wei saw that Fang Lan was no longer resistant, so he led the way back and said to Wu Huan: "I've talked it over with Miss Fang, she's willing to put everything on the big picture first. While taking care of the children, she'll also devote her energy to giving special care to this Huayuan."

  Wu Hanhuai saw that things had come to this, and could only smile wryly at Fang Lan behind Yan Wei: "It seems that we will have to trouble Miss Fang again. When we return to Chongqing, I, Wu, will definitely report Miss Fang's contributions to our superiors and ask for rewards on her behalf!" After speaking, he waved his hand at his subordinates standing behind him, and immediately saw Wu Hanhuai's men rush forward in unison.

  "Wu Han pointed at Xiao Hua from afar: 'Everyone, be clear about this. From now on, all of you must use your own lives to protect the safety of this child. There can be no mistakes!'"

  Hearing Wu Han's twenty subordinates respond in unison, Fang Lan only faintly felt that this seemingly ordinary child was not messing around.