He just regretted that he would never see Bei Sining play the piano again.
Wen Zheng rested his chin on his hand, grabbed another sheet of paper, flipped it over, and began to write down the second cipher from memory.
fwao, rqaw, jtts, d□□m, qdqg, kqmv, rrwa.
The key is that line of poetry, written in pinyin: wang yun can gao niao，lin yuan xian you yu.
Four-letter English phrases don't necessarily have any specific meaning; often they're just for easier reading and to prevent miscounting.
With no reference materials, no codebooks, and no puzzle games to inspire him, Wen Zheng could only stare at the screen and try to match things up randomly—a typical brute-force approach.
However, he didn't have Xiaoyu's luck, and obviously, he couldn't figure out anything by trying.
What a pity.
He was carefully matching the data when an alarm suddenly went off in the hall.
The peak value reached 79.8.
One second later, the red light went out, the alarm stopped, and the number dropped back to 76.
Wen Zheng's heart suddenly raced, and his ears rang for a moment.
The time is 6:57.
Zhang Jincheng's hand trembled, and he stood up: "Have you finished writing? Let's get ready..."
The commotion below suddenly intensified, and the soldiers of Wen Zheng's squad rose from their seats and moved closer to him. They called him Captain.
“Brother Zhengzheng…” Chen Xiaochen also ran over, holding a file bag in her hands, her face pale with nervousness: “I have a form that I don’t know how to fill out, brother.”
Wen Zheng took the file bag and pulled out a document: "Which one?"
“This… this…” Chen Xiaochen pointed to a form, and Wen Zheng glanced at it: “It’s okay, someone will fill this out for you.”
"Oh, oh, oh!" He breathed a sigh of relief, a dimple appearing on his face as he smiled. "You scared me to death..."
Zhang Jincheng: "Put the written ones on the table, someone will come to collect them. If the peak value hasn't reached 80 yet, let's wait a bit longer."
Just then, someone entered through the door; it was Luo Yu, who had left sometime earlier. A dozen or so people followed him in single file. The scanner at the door paused briefly, then began calling out names one by one.
They all begin with "Former S-level combat unit".
Wen Zheng was talking to a teammate when his ears suddenly caught a name, and his heart skipped a beat.
He strode over, grabbed Bai Shuang by the collar, his eyes red, and hissed, "What are you doing here?! You've already retired!"
Luo Yu: "What are you doing?! Let go!... Wen Zheng!"
Wen Zheng's fingers went numb. When he met Bai Shuang's smiling face, his breathing became heavy. It took him a long time to regain his senses and slowly let go of her hand.
Seeing that the conflict had stopped, Luo Yu went to get the new college application form. Wen Zheng dragged Bai Shuang to a corner and scolded him, "What were you thinking? It's not certain you'll die, but what if you do? What can your broken back do? Do hundreds of people in the world need you?"
He paused, then lowered his voice even further: "If something were to happen to you, I wouldn't shed a single tear even if I went to your grave, but what about Xiaoyu?"
Bai Shuang, true to her pragmatic spirit of preferring to lie down rather than sit, leaned against a wall in a crooked and meandering manner.
"Nothing can be done, he'll be fine. He's so cute, the cookies he's baked lately haven't been hard on his teeth."
"You son of a bitch!" Wen Zheng's blood boiled, feeling that he was simply unreasonable: "He just told me outside the restaurant that he felt he had gotten what he wanted, and you just let him get what he wanted like that?"
Bai Shuang smiled at him and said, "Don't be afraid, little Zhengzheng. It's not like you're going to die. Your brother has always been lucky."
The "good luck" part refers to a mission where he encountered a spatial displacement, and his lower back and spine were severed in two on the spot? But the emergency treatment was quick, and he was saved, only his back injury never healed, allowing him to retire. He always says he was lucky.
Yes, if you just back out like that, you'd call it good luck. But what's the point of that luck if you come running back here all the time?
"Why are you doing this? I'm not dead yet." Bai Shuang glanced at the camera, picked up a cigarette but didn't light it, and there was a little soy sauce on his collar, as if he hadn't noticed it during the meal. Wen Zheng was annoyed when Bai Shuang ruffled his hair, and slapped his hand away, hearing him say, "What if I'm the only one missing? We'll all be finished together."
In some ways, Bai Shuang is a real scumbag. Back when Wen Zheng had just transferred back to Rongcheng, the first time he went out to dinner with him, he was introduced to a beautiful and gentle woman.
Wen Zheng remembers calling her "sister-in-law" in a silly way, but a week later Bai Shuang gave him a male sister-in-law.
Two months later, the sisters-in-law changed hands repeatedly, and Wen Zheng stopped calling her that, refusing to see these fleeting women whose names he could not even remember.
He didn't remember when Bai Shuang stopped, but in his memory, he had always been indifferent to finding a partner until he met Xiao Yu. Wen Zheng originally thought it would have a good outcome.
He glared at Bai Shuang, who sighed helplessly, "I'm not good enough for Xiao Yu, I mean it. I received the message when you did, and I thought about it carefully before coming over. You see, I'm much later than you."
He added, "People's happiness and sadness are all temporary. Even if I really die, he's so adorable, I'm sure I'll meet someone who likes me and treats me well. But what if the operation fails? What if I'm really the only one missing?"
Wen Zheng lowered his head, his breath stuck in his nasal cavity.
"If the world were to end, not only would we be gone, but Xiaoyu would be gone too." Bai Shuang said, biting the filter of her cigarette. "I just wanted him to live, otherwise I wouldn't have come."
Wen Zheng cursed under his breath and turned away from looking at Bai Shuang writing her college application.
Bai Shuang was a seasoned veteran. He was five years older than Wen Zheng and had filled out such documents many more times. His handwriting was flamboyant, and he would save as much as possible. Even his final letter consisted of only two sentences before being folded up and stuffed into a paper bag.
"What a pity about my vast fortune." He threw the paper bag on the table, trying to cheer up Wen Zheng, whose eyes were red: "It all went to the neighborhood committee."
Wen Zheng ignored him and took out a letter to try out the password.
The number on the screen remained around seventy-five. After a brief period of excitement, the crowd gradually fell silent again, some staring blankly, others sleeping.
Wen Zheng became increasingly annoyed by the attempt and scolded Bai Shuang, "What are you doing coming over here?"
"Let's see if you can do math. This is the second password, isn't it?"
"Hmm, I can't figure it out, but I'll give it a try." Wen Zheng said, then, remembering the three people who must be completely baffled, he added irritably, "It's all your fault for insisting on coming. What are we going to do with the other three?"
Bai Shuang: "Hey, we're just filling in anyway. Isn't the show supposed to be held up by Yanghe and your beauty? You'd better pray that this fluctuation is slow. Our show doesn't start until after 9:30. If we set off after that, we can watch a replay after leaving the base and before reaching the Arctic."
Before Wen Zheng could answer, Bai Shuang suddenly leaned close to his ear and whispered, "You like the one with long hair?"
“…Bei Sining.” Wen Zheng’s forehead veins throbbed.
"Oh—" Bai Shuang smiled, something hidden in her eyes that Wen Zheng couldn't understand. He said, "That's good. If she gets out this time, we'll go and see what happens."
Wen Zheng: "You and Deng Puyue were in cahoots?"
"Haha, to be honest, I think he likes you too." Bai Shuang narrowed her foxy eyes: "He looks like an angel, yet he's playing with you. Who would believe he doesn't like you? It won't hurt to pursue him, and what if it works out? You'd be hitting the jackpot."
"..." Wen Zheng could no longer bear it. His secret thoughts had been spoken so bluntly. His eyes turned red, which spread to his neck. He gritted his teeth and said, "That's only if I can get out."
Bai Shuang whistled, leaned her chair back until only one leg was touching the ground, and swayed as she said, "It definitely will, Major Wen is so strong."
Then he turned around and shouted, "Xiao Chen, my darling, come here and let your big brother give you a hug—"
8:20 PM.
The entire Beihai base was blocked from the outside internet, so everyone could only stare at that curve, and the tension made the air thick and sticky.
Wen Zheng was affected by the atmosphere; his heartbeat was slow and heavy, pounding against his chest, even giving him the illusion of pain.
The party had already started when he suddenly felt anxious. He really, really wanted to see Bei Sining play the piano.
In the midst of the silence, the alarm suddenly blared loudly, startling everyone in the conference hall, who stood up silently as their hearts raced.
82.3, 83.1, 81.2, 84.5.
We're about to set off.
Wen Zheng's original squad was temporarily at full strength, while Bai Shuang went to the newly formed squad and told Wen Zheng that she would keep an eye on Chen Xiaochen.
The soldiers left the conference room in silence and boarded the aircraft carrier.
Winter City was already cold, and after dark, the wind howled even more. One of the young soldiers, who wasn't very mentally strong, suddenly burst into tears before boarding the ship.
"Damn it," someone cursed, "Is he wailing like a mourner?"
"Stop talking, it's the child's first time going," someone else advised.
Wen Zheng asked the team members to count off. After they finished, he saw Chen Xiaochen, called him over, squatted down, and said, "Stay close to your brother Bai Shuang."
Chen Xiaochen remained calm, not at all like a child going to the battlefield for the first time, and saluted.
The Chinese ship has undergone inspection and is about to take off.
Team Leader Luo and Zhang Jincheng came up to give their final speeches before the countries gathered.
"The myriad lights you see here are a microcosm of our cherished family, friends, and all that is beautiful."
"Your names will not be buried forever; the day of victory will be the day you proclaim it to the world."
"Ten minutes later, the Chinese ship will sail out of the Beihai base. You have half an hour to go online. Do whatever you want to see or say."
Wen Zheng folded the paper with the password written on it and stuffed it into the pocket closest to his heart.
The pendant around her neck was also placed securely.
Before the network signal came in, he put on his headphones, opened the official website of Aimao Live, and waited for the green dot to light up when the connection was successful.
A touch of disappointment creeps up my heart like a spiderweb, light as a feather, yet densely packed.
Unfortunately, he broke his promise. Did the big cat obediently wait for him at home? If he clearly listened but didn't see him, would he be sad?
Will I hate him?
The green dot lit up, and the homepage refreshed instantly. The gala was at the very top of the recommended section. Wen Zheng clicked on it, and sure enough, it had already started.
There were three unfamiliar female anchors dancing on stage, accompanied by cute electronic music. They were wearing cat paw gloves and were making meowing noises. Wen Zheng had never heard of this song before.
After the noisy program ended, two fat men went up and performed a crosstalk routine, talking about the various aspects of live streaming platforms. Wen Zheng understood some of it and laughed a few times.
During the break, he wondered, why isn't the camera panning to the audience yet?
I clearly saw the seating arrangement during the morning rehearsal. They could sit in the audience and watch right before the performance, so that position was sure to be photographed.
Hurry up and take the picture!
Wen Zheng thought anxiously, "Why isn't the filming started yet? Time is almost up."
I want to see if the cat spirit is sitting obediently.
Just one glance.
As if the director had heard Wen Zheng's prayer, the camera actually cut to the audience.
Wen Zheng held his breath, and the camera quickly moved to the spot where he had sat during the day, but then suddenly stopped.
His heart stopped, and he felt a sudden discomfort in his ears.
How did it break? Just like that... it broke?
Wen Zheng was so overwhelmed by intense resentment that he was almost driven mad. At this moment, the negative emotions in his heart were so overwhelming that they exploded, and deep regret surged up.
What kind of life did he lead?