It was now September, and the nights at Fortress 178 were already getting chilly. The residents working outside the fortress began to return home with a rich amount of pay. Due to the generous wages received from working outside the fortress, many residents would return home to rest after working for half a year outside. For the rest of the winter, they would be on break.
Of course, that was also because winter in the Northwest was freezing cold.
A lot of residents were still working in the factories outside the stronghold. By the end of October, the roads outside would be blocked by snow.
At that time, only the soldiers of Fortress 178 would be left outside to guard the border outposts. They would be manning their positions throughout the winter without any entertainment and would also have to perform sentry duty. As such, some people would teach themselves a craft, learn the harmonica or accordion, as well as pick up many other strange skills while on duty.
It was not because they were eager to learn new skills; rather, they were bored. This was just their way of coping with the loneliness at those border outposts.
In the evening, six off-road vehicles drove in from the southwest direction. The convoy was like a sharp arrow flying true at Fortress 178.
When they were about 170 kilometers away from Fortress 178, they were suddenly pulled over by the patrolling troops. The patrol from Fortress 178 came through the vehicle intercom, “You are now entering a zone with restricted radio communication. Please turn off your radio equipment and pull over for inspection.”
Luo Lan, who was in one of the off-road vehicles, chuckled and said, “Let’s pull over then. Fortress 178’s defensive measures have always been really strict, and even our Qing Consortium can’t compare to them in this area. After all, their mission is to guard against external enemies.”
All six of the off-road vehicles turned off their onboard radios and slowly pulled over. On the side of the road, three platoons stood up in the wilderness and approached them in full combat gear.
Luo Lan got out of the vehicle first and raised his hands high. Wearing a pair of sunglasses on his face, he looked like a crime lord who engaged in smuggling. “Friends, I’m Luo Lan from the Qing Consortium. I’ve already informed your Commander Zhang about this trip!”
A Fortress 178 soldier calmly said, “Please wait a moment. I need to report this to the General Staff first.”
As he spoke, the other soldiers’ guns stayed aimed at Luo Lan. However, he was not flustered at all.
Beside him, Zhou Qi curled his lips and said, “Why’re they acting like we’re bandits? Let’s quickly deal with the business here. We still have to hurry to the Central Plains. It’s turmoil over there.”
“Don’t get so anxious,” Luo Lan said with a smile as he looked at the black muzzles of the guns pointing at him. “Why aren’t you behaving like a subordinate at all? As a subordinate, you should understand that any business of the Qing Consortium’s leader has to be handled with the utmost urgency.”
Zhou Qi adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. “I’m not a subordinate. I’m just working for money.”
“Haha, we shouldn’t be thinking about anything other than our objective,” Luo Lan said with a laugh.
When the soldiers of Fortress 178 saw how this fatso kept a straight face, they were somewhat impressed. He was a brave person indeed.
Suddenly, the company commander to the rear agreed to let them through after contacting the General Staff and confirming the legitimacy of Luo Lan’s visit to Fortress 178.
But before the Fortress 178 troops allowed them to carry on with their journey, they collected all their weapons and made the group transfer to the patrol vehicles to proceed on.
When the convoy arrived at Fortress 178 in the night, Xu Xianchu came out to receive them instead of Zhang Jinglin.
Luo Lan looked at Xu Xianchu with a smile. He put his arm warmly over Xu Xianchu’s shoulder and praised, “Brother Xu is such a young and promising man. I’m sorry you had to suffer in the private troops of our Qing Consortium’s stronghold. How about this? Why don’t you come back to the Southwest with us? I guarantee you’ll have meat to eat and wine to drink, and you’ll also get to enjoy a life of endless riches.”
Xu Xianchu politely rejected his offer. “Stop dreaming.”
However, Luo Lan was unfazed. He continued with a laugh, “It gets freezing cold in the Northwest every winter, and it isn’t as prosperous and interesting in the fortress compared to our South. If you go back to the Southwest, I’ll find ten concubines for you!”
Next to them, Zhou Qi said with a sigh, “Fatty Luo, you really sound like the villain of a story right now.”
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Luo Lan said unhappily, “Although I’ve committed murder and arson, I’m still a good person overall.”
“Pfft.” Zhou Qi and Xu Xianchu spurned him at the same time.
“Alright, enough chattering for now. Let’s get down to business.” Luo Lan said to Xu Xianchu, “Hurry up and find a place to swap documents so we can leave.”
When Xu Xianchu led Luo Lan and the others to a remote and quiet street, he said, “Commander Zhang informed only me about today’s meeting, so you don’t have to worry about your secrets getting revealed. And while we at Fortress 178 don’t claim we’re better than others in most things, we definitely have the least number of spies from other organizations active here.”
“Alright, enough with your bragging. I know you all are capable.” Luo Lan chuckled.
Then Xu Xianchu asked, “Where’s the hostage you brought along? Is it this four eyes beside you?”
Zhou Qi said unhappily, “I have a name, y’know. What do you mean by four eyes?”
However, Luo Lan gave a hand signal to a soldier behind him. Xu Xianchu was taken aback for a moment. “Is that the hostage the Qing Consortium is sending us? Y’all better not be sending someone unimportant to us.”
The soldier took off the peaked cap, and a head of black, silky hair rolled down behind her back like a waterfall.
Luo Lan said with a smile, “This is the woman our Qing Consortium leader is fond of. Will she do?”
Xu Xianchu frowned and looked behind him. Then a middle-aged soldier walked out and said, “She’ll do.”
Luo Lan was amused. “You must be Wang Fengyuan, right? I’ve heard so much about you!”
Xu Xianchu did not say any more. If Wang Fengyuan said that she would do, then it was definitely enough.
Wang Fengyuan did not answer Luo Lan. “Aren’t y’all afraid that by sending her to us, we’ll use her against your Qing Consortium in the future?”
“Don’t worry, our Qing Consortium does not have any plans of unifying the world. I hope that our two sides will never need to fight each other!” So saying, Luo Lan turned around and left.
Zhou Qi chased after him and asked, “We’re leaving just like that? Why didn’t I hear about Qing Zhen liking a girl?”
Luo Lan answered in disregard to the question, “That lady was originally an opera performer in Stronghold 111. She was even a ‘main lead’ too. Back when the Board was trying to get ahold of Qing Zhen’s weakness, they realized he had never been to the same opera theater twice. He just left whichever girl performed to fate.
“Even though they did not know which girl Qing Zhen had his eyes on, what the Board did not do wrong was to shutter all the theaters and arrest all the women. Then, Qing Zhen realized it was useless even if he visited a different theater each time. The moment he stepped into the arena, his opponents would all be cruel beyond imagination. Moreover, the opponents he would be facing in the future would definitely be much crueler than the last.”
Zhou Qi sighed and said, “So Qing Zhen decided to send her here as a hostage? That’s even more bewildering.”
“Hehe, Zhang Jinglin is one of the few honorable people left in the world. Sending her here to be a hostage is actually the safest choice.” Luo Lan said with a grin, “Soon, it will no longer be safe at our Qing Consortium. At that time, Qing Zhen won’t be able to divert his attention to protect her anymore.”
“But Fortress 178 did not exchange hostages with us, so why should we hand over a hostage to them?” Zhou Qi wondered.
Luo Lan said firmly, “For the railroad of course.”
The Qing Consortium had wanted to connect their railroad to Fortress 178’s railroad and open up a route to the Central Plains. However, Zhang Jinglin rejected them.
After two long months of negotiations, the two sides finally reached a consensus on this point. Although the Qing Consortium paid a heavy price, Qing Zhen thought it was worthwhile. He even took the initiative to offer a political hostage to Fortress 178.
Luo Lan understood that this girl might appear to be a hostage on the surface, but it was actually so that Fortress 178 could protect her. As long as the Qing Consortium did not declare war on Fortress 178, this would be the safest haven for her.
Zhou Qi clicked his tongue. “She’s no ordinary person either, judging by how calm she was even after being sent here as a hostage.”
“Well, any woman my younger brother likes would definitely have to be extraordinary.”