The personnel of Glorious Dynasty were extremely busy today, as they were scheduled to move to a military zone tomorrow for the "Great Battle."

This was a project involving hundreds of millions, a "Great Battle" level undertaking, not just for the recently established Glorious Dynasty, but even for the largest jewelry company in the entire nation.

Genuine smiles adorned every face, including the store security guard who was completely unaware of the situation, because the boss had suddenly announced that everyone's bonuses would be doubled this month—who wouldn't be happy?

Amidst this joyous atmosphere, Guan Yingying arrived at Qi Fei’s home to help her pack for the duration of the Great Battle, sorting out changes of clothes and daily necessities.

“Sister Qi, how many towels should we bring?”

“Four, two of them are for Wang Zhuo.”

“Got it!”

After packing a small bag, Guan Yingying was just about to leave the bathroom when her peripheral vision caught sight of a box in the wastebasket.

The box was hidden under a few pieces of adhesive backing paper; if she hadn't accidentally kicked the basket when she came in, causing the paper to shift, she would never have seen it.

Picking it up, Guan Yingying whispered in surprise, reading the label: “Early Pregnancy Test Stick?”

Her eyes immediately widened into perfect circles. She and Qi Fei had become inseparable confidantes over the past half year; she knew Qi Fei's menstrual cycle like the back of her hand. What was this test stick doing here?

“Sister Qi, Sister Qi?”

Rushing into the bedroom, Guan Yingying waved the box in front of Qi Fei, staring intently at her face, trying to catch any subtle clue.

Seeing the packaging for the early pregnancy test stick, Qi Fei’s face instantly stiffened. She managed a strained smile and said, “It’s not mine; a friend used it.”

“Your acting is terrible,” Guan Yingying shook her head with a knowing smile. “Stop lying, confess now—what’s going on?”

Qi Fei turned away to tidy the wardrobe and said, “It really isn’t mine. Why would I lie to you?”

“Aiya,” Guan Yingying’s eyes darted, and she suddenly yelled out in mock alarm. “Could it be Wang Zhuo?”

“No way!” Qi Fei immediately turned around and glared fiercely at her.

Guan Yingying remained unmoved, pulling out her phone and smiling smugly. “Then you better confess, or I’m calling Wang Zhuo and telling him you’re pregnant.”

Qi Fei was instantly mortified, lunging to snatch the phone. The two wrestled for a while, and Guan Yingying playfully patted her lower body, laughing, “Still not admitting it? Your period should have been over a week ago this month, yet you’re wearing a sanitary napkin. Did you get nervous because it was late and then try to cover your tracks with a test stick?”

Qi Fei managed to grab the phone back, but Guan Yingying sat up, rapidly counting on her fingers. With just a few calculations, she figured it out: it must have been during that trip to Yunnan!

“Did that little rogue Wang Zhuo actually take advantage of you?” Guan Yingying gasped in shock, then quickly reconsidered. “Or did you drink too much at a bar or somewhere, and some other man took advantage of you overnight?”

Qi Fei sat to the side, feeling somewhat lost. She hadn’t expected that after only a few days back in Jiangzhou, things would be exposed. It was happening too fast.

Seeing Guan Yingying adopting an air of, ‘If you don’t tell me, I’ll go ask Wang Zhuo,’ Qi Fei sighed bitterly, tossed the phone onto the bed, and began recounting the entire incident to her.

Since it couldn't be kept hidden anyway, she might as well lay everything out.

...

Guan Yingying was truly not an easy audience; this young lady insisted on getting every single detail straightened out.

She even dared to ask Qi Fei what it tasted like, which angered Qi Fei so much that she poked her a few times before Guan Yingying temporarily skipped that line of questioning.

“What? Sister Qi, you’re still a virgin, so why use a test stick? Do you even understand basic facts?”

There it was—after hearing the whole story, the young miss started exclaiming in shock again.

Qi Fei shot her a look that conveyed ‘What do you know?’ and snapped back irritably, “I checked. Sperm can travel at sixty-five kilometers per hour and can survive outside the body for twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Twice, he got some on his hand and then touched me. Do you think there’s a chance of conception?”

Guan Yingying shuddered and instinctively leaned back. “Sister Qi, you haven’t done it in the last forty-eight hours, have you?”

She was absolutely terrified. Sixty-five kilometers an hour—faster than a toad’s jump—and a two-day latency period? That was too horrifying!

“Do you understand basic facts?” Qi Fei flung Guan Yingying’s words back at her. “Survival outside the body requires a moist environment. Do you think it can crawl from me onto you?”

Guan Yingying snapped back to reality, smiling sheepishly. Right, if transmission through contact was possible, it would be more terrifying than tuberculosis; everyone would need to wear spacesuits just to live.

“I knew that kid was a rogue long ago,” Guan Yingying scoffed. “Last month, he even sent me a harassing text, completely out of the blue, something about using my mouth when my period came, disgusting.”

Qi Fei’s heart clenched. Guan Yingying pulled out her phone, found the message, and handed it over. “Here, I specifically haven’t deleted it.”

Looking at it, Qi Fei felt something was off. The message seemed disconnected, and the subsequent reply was there too. A closer analysis suggested Wang Zhuo might have sent it by mistake.

“Oh, right, his girlfriend’s surname is Gan, and yours is Guan—both start with ‘G.’ This message must have been sent to the wrong person.”

“You’re right, it really does look that way. Maybe I misjudged him.”

“It must be that. Otherwise, why would it only happen this one time?”

“Forget it, I’ll let him off the hook. Sister, tell me more about his… that thing…”

Qi Fei was utterly defeated. She realized that Guan Yingying also possessed the hidden potential of a sassy rogue; perhaps she and Wang Zhuo were a better match after all.

...

Qin Jingzhong’s connections were indeed impressive; Wang Zhuo’s large jadeite received the treatment of an armored vehicle escort.

In a water town situated on the border between Jiangzhou and Nanjing, Wang Zhuo and his party were housed within the Security and Investigation Company of the local garrison. A Major company commander named Jiang Yufu was specifically in charge of this matter.

Company commanders were usually Captains, but the Security and Investigation Company was different, hence Major Jiang’s slightly higher rank structure.

The Security and Investigation Company was actually the predecessor of the renowned Special Operations Company. Although its functions had diminished, its importance remained substantial. The unit housing Wang Zhuo’s group was directly under the regiment headquarters, meaning Jiang Yufu’s immediate superior was the Colonel.

At lunchtime, Jiang Yufu treated Wang Zhuo and his group to standard military rations, which surprisingly included meat and fish, and the flavor was quite good. Furthermore, it wasn't a special meal prepared for guests; the regular soldiers were eating the same.

Wang Zhuo couldn’t help but quietly speculate: why were the troops being fed so well? Was a battle imminent?

He tried to probe with a few casual questions. The Deputy Company Commander Li Dayong, who sat with them, burst into loud laughter. “Wang Zhuo, you don’t know what our company does, do you? Once you understand how things work in the military, you’ll know why our mess hall food is so good!”

Wang Zhuo mumbled an embarrassed acknowledgment, thinking to himself, who doesn't know you guys are special ops? Well, it makes sense; if the army is going to shortchange anyone, it certainly won’t be the special ops guys…

Qi Fei took small bites of her food and seized a moment to ask, “Commander Jiang, does our unit have any confidentiality clauses or anything? Could you give us a heads-up?”

“That…” Jiang Yufu paused, then seeing everyone stop eating and direct their attention to him, he chuckled. “What could there be to keep secret? America’s satellites can photograph whether our military dogs are male or female. You just need to avoid asking too many questions and stop taking pictures everywhere.”

Everyone laughed at that. Right, modern warfare was vastly different from the past. With such advanced technology, even if they wanted to leak secrets, the enemy likely didn't need the information they might inadvertently reveal.

“Brother Jiang, when are you holding target practice? Could you let me join?” Wang Zhuo asked with a smile.

His main purpose for being at the base was to lend weight to the operation; he couldn't help much with the jadeite business, so finding some entertainment on the side wouldn't hurt.

“Sure, no problem,” Jiang Yufu replied with a grin. “I heard you scored a perfect bullseye during your military training. I’m eager to see how capable you really are.”

That evening, Wang Zhuo’s party of seven—three men and four women—were assigned four double rooms in a small yellow building belonging to the Special Operations Company.

Double rooms in a military base? Wang Zhuo learned that these were actually for visiting military dependents and were usually empty, making them perfect for their use now.

Qiu Lu and his apprentice Liang Xu shared one room; the Pan sisters, Pan Fengying and Pan Fengqing, shared another; Qi Fei shared a room with Pan Fengqing’s daughter, Ma Ling; and Boss Wang, given his higher status, got a room to himself.

Slap, slap, slap. After closing his door, Wang Zhuo killed over twenty mosquitoes. The Jiangnan water region was notorious for these pests. Back in his northern hometown, at this time of year, there wouldn't be a single fly, let alone a mosquito.

It was only thanks to Wang Zhuo’s exceptionally sharp eyesight that he could spot the mosquitoes and cockroaches as soon as they appeared, swatting them down one by one. The other three rooms fared much worse. Qiu Lu and Liang Xu managed okay, but the Pan sisters couldn't handle standing on the window sill swatting flies on the ceiling.

Finally, a young soldier brought over several coils of mosquito repellent incense, which provided temporary relief.

Changing environments made it hard for Wang Zhuo to sleep. Using his X-ray vision, he checked the other rooms and saw that everyone else seemed to be asleep.

Seeing Qi Fei’s graceful figure under the duvet, along with her slightly upturned nose and rosy lips, Wang Zhuo felt a sudden surge of heat. He took out his phone and sent her a text message.

“Sister, are you asleep?”

The phone by her right hand vibrated. Qi Fei, who was drifting between sleep and wakefulness, woke up from the vibration and picked up her phone.

Separated by one room and two walls, Wang Zhuo watched the beautiful older sister pick up her phone and give a wry smile as she read the message. He found this sensation new and amusing; texting while watching the recipient in person was a first for him.

“Not asleep. Chatting with Ma Ling. You should go to sleep now.”

Seeing this reply, Wang Zhuo smirked. The beautiful sister was clearly lying because she didn't want him to invite himself over.

“Then I’ll come over. The three of us can chat.”

“Don’t. We’re about to sleep,” Qi Fei quickly replied.

“Let her sleep. Come over and we can talk for a bit.”

Will that little rogue talk seriously? He’ll be handsy within three minutes, Qi Fei retorted testily with just two characters: Don't go. X