Chapter 3: The Insider!

This was the code for the rendezvous. According to the original script, Zhao Xuan should have answered: Since there are no reds left, make it all red.

Then Tiger Girl would take Zhao Xuan to the break room to wait a while.

But times had changed, and Zhao Xuan did not dare make the slightest move.

What was more, given the personality Zhao Xuan had displayed before Ding Moqun and Dao Yan, there was no way he would waste time over something like this.

On top of that, No. 76 might already know that Tiger Girl was meeting an asset today, but they did not know the code phrase.

And it was highly likely they also understood that whoever Tiger Girl led into the break room was the rendezvous contact.

The appointed time had already passed.

So the only way to identify the target was right here: whoever entered the break room would be the unlucky one.

Then the presence of an informer became glaringly obvious.

That was the only explanation Zhao Xuan could think of.

Otherwise, when the rendezvous time arrived, the men from No. 76 would likely already have stormed in.

Yet they had still made no move. They were waiting, waiting for the poor soul who went into the break room with Tiger Girl.

If Zhao Xuan had not crossed over here, if not for Edith, then by now both Zhao Xuan and Tiger Girl would already be finished.

Just as Zhao Xuan was pondering how to break the deadlock, Dao Ya’s inner voice rang out again.

So it really is flowers ordered for my sister, and he even knows my sister’s lucky numbers, twelve and thirty-six. Looks like this pretty boy has learned a lot from Aunt Liu. Interesting.

Hearing this, Zhao Xuan already had an idea. He smiled at Tiger Girl and said, “No need. I am in a hurry. This will do.”

Zhao Xuan’s words instantly drew Tiger Girl’s attention. Though her gaze was still on Zhao Xuan, the corner of her eye had already fallen on the bouquet he had lifted from the counter, and on the four fingers of his right hand moving in rhythm.

Morse code. That was the only thing Zhao Xuan could use now.

Luckily, before crossing over, Zhao Xuan had been with the criminal investigation unit and had picked up a variety of skills. Otherwise, he would have been helpless now.

And Morse code could indeed convey information, but absolutely not the way spy dramas made it seem, where one could simply tap out an entire paragraph at will. That was impossible.

If one really tried that, one’s fingers would go numb, and the other side might still not be able to decipher it.

After all, not everyone has a photographic memory or a mind built for logic and abstraction.

Without those two things, trying to translate a long stretch of Morse code would be pure fantasy.

The only message Zhao Xuan sent to Tiger Girl consisted of two digits: 76.

For an operative, those two numbers were enough.

Tiger Girl was horrified. Though she did not know how Zhao Xuan had found out, she trusted him from the bottom of her heart.

So now, what Tiger Girl had to do was cooperate with Zhao Xuan, or, in the worst case, preserve Zhao Xuan.

Whether it was cooperation or protection, she made up her mind in the very next second.

“Zhao Xuan, what do you mean by that? What do you mean, this will do?”

“You can marry my sister only because you’re punching above your weight. And now you’re buying flowers for her, and you say this will do!”

Dao Ya stormed up to the counter in anger, snatched the flowers from Zhao Xuan’s hands, and flung them to the floor before glaring rudely at Tiger Girl.

“Ma’am, twelve red and thirty-six white. Get them ready again right now!”

“I’ll pay!”

That damn brother-in-law. If my sister weren’t already married to you, I wouldn’t bother at all. At the very least, take back twelve white and thirty-six red; maybe that would cheer my sister up a little.

Hearing this, Tiger Girl hurriedly said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It was my delay that wasted your time. It will take a little while to prepare them again. Would you two like to go to the break room for some tea or coffee and wait there briefly? I’ll be done very soon.”

Zhao Xuan’s heart tightened. Was Tiger Girl understanding what he meant, or had she not caught on at all?

They absolutely could not go into the break room!

Just as Zhao Xuan was thinking of how to refuse, Tiger Girl’s inner voice sounded.

Axuan said 76. Looks like the florist has been exposed. There must already be a crowd of No. 76 men outside.

This little girl is Ding Moqun’s niece. Perhaps she can be used. Axuan should understand what I mean.

If I do not run, then Axuan is the one who will truly be exposed!

At the very least, if I bolt now, I can throw their vision into chaos, buy Axuan some time, and give the others time to cover their tracks. That way, Little Tiger can be saved!

Zhao Xuan froze. He did not answer Tiger Girl, but turned to look at Dao Ya beside him.

Meeting Zhao Xuan’s gaze, Dao Ya bared her teeth and said in a sweetly fierce voice, “What are you staring at? We’ve been in the car all the way, and I’m thirsty. Just right, let’s go have some coffee. You’re coming in with me too.”

This guy’s lips are cracked from thirst. If not for this lady’s sharp eyes, you’d be dried out already.

As she spoke, Dao Ya walked toward the break room Tiger Girl had indicated, and Zhao Xuan, having understood Tiger Girl’s plan, followed Dao Ya toward it as well.

Across from the flower shop, on the second floor of a commercial building, in a room facing the shop, Dao Yan—wearing the gray-green uniform of No. 76 and holding binoculars as she watched the flower shop—was now frosty-faced and staring in disbelief at the fact that her own younger sister had also gone into the shop.

“Section Chief, the rendezvous time passed quite a while ago. Miss entering the flower shop should be nothing more than a coincidence.”

Dao Yan lowered the binoculars and waved her hand with a dark expression.

“Move!”

Dao Yan was the chief of the communications section, and Ding Moqun had personally appointed her to lead this operation.

Otherwise, it would have been the men from the operations section who came.

However, the operations section had also sent Fan Dingfang to serve as Dao Yan’s deputy.

The one who had just explained Dao Ya’s presence was the operations section leader, Fan Dingfang.

Hearing this, Fan Dingfang let out a sigh and led his men rushing down the stairs.

Inside the flower shop, in the break room.

The moment Tiger Girl entered, she drew a gun and pointed it at Zhao Xuan and Dao Ya.

“Aaah!”

Dao Ya screamed in panic. Tiger Girl shot her a vicious look.

“Shut up, or I’ll shoot you dead right now!”

At her words, Zhao Xuan hurriedly shielded Dao Ya and covered Dao Ya’s mouth as well.

“I thought we had dragged this out until now and would never get away. Turns out there is light after the darkest road.”

After muttering that to herself, Tiger Girl forced Zhao Xuan and Dao Ya to sit in adjacent chairs, tied them together, and even casually attached a booby trap to them.

At that sight, Zhao Xuan was stunned. This booby trap—was she really putting it here?

Only when the booby trap was placed in Zhao Xuan and Dao Ya’s hands, and their hands were joined together, did Tiger Girl use a rope to bind their wrists.

Only then did Zhao Xuan realize that Tiger Girl was dead serious.

Snap—

While Dao Ya was still shaken and unable to recover, Tiger Girl struck the back of her neck with a knife-hand blow and knocked her out cold.

“Little Tiger, time is short. I can’t explain everything to you now. Remember, before the new handler contacts you, stay silent.”

“Seeing how you performed today, I am very relieved. Remember: stay silent. Do not try to be a hero!”

“The day we win, I will take you home!”

Having said that, Tiger Girl delivered another knife-hand strike and knocked Zhao Xuan unconscious as well.

Axuan, even if I have to die, I will protect you. This time, I’m afraid we can’t escape...

That was Tiger Girl’s final inner voice as she left.