When Xia Lei was about to walk out of the distribution market, he saw a shop selling wheat, beans and other crops. He also saw the boss, a man with a turban and a big beard, about forty years old, very tall and a typical Pashtun.
When she approached the grain store, Tang Yuyan whispered: "Right here, standing at the door is Kalam, our guide."
Xia Lei looked around. There were fewer people here, but it was still very lively. Although he didn't find any suspicious personnel, he didn't know why he always felt a little uneasy in his heart. It always felt like there was a pair of eyes peering at him and Tang Yuyan.
He has the ability to see through things, but this is not omnipotent. In such a complex environment, he cannot observe everyone carefully. In addition, he also lacks some experience.
Tang Yuyan led Xia Lei to the food store, but did not stop. Instead, she passed by it and walked into a gold and silver jewelry store next door.
Pakistan's gold and silversmiths are world-famous. Jewelry stores are filled with all kinds of exquisite jewelry, mostly silver jewelry, but there are also gold jewelry, but very few.
The owner of the jewelry store is an authentic Punjabi. When he saw the two Chinese people, Tang Yuyan and Xia Lei, his enthusiasm was unbearable. Tang Yuyan spoke fluent Urdu and chatted with the boss for a while, then picked out some exquisite silver jewelry. The owner of the jewelry store only charged the cost price.
After leaving the jewelry store, Xia Lei thought Tang Yuyan was going to go back and enter the food store, but she didn't even look in that direction and walked directly to another exit of the distribution market.
Xia Lei couldn't help but look back, and happened to see Kalam entering the jewelry store. His left eye twitched slightly, and the scene in the jewelry store suddenly came into his sight. He saw Kalam talking to the jewelry store owner, and then took out a piece of paper currency as if to exchange for change. Then while the jewelry store owner was giving him change, he bent down and picked up a piece of paper from the wastebasket.
Seeing this, Xia Lei withdrew his gaze.
There was not a word exchanged during the whole process, but what I wanted to say was all on that piece of paper.
Xia Lei felt ashamed. He was just admiring the exquisite silver jewelry, and he didn't even know when Tang Yuyan put the note. However, even though he saw this scene, he pretended not to know. When he left the market, he said, "Aren't we going to see Kalam? Why did we leave?"
Tang Yuyan said calmly: "He already knows what to do. Let's go back. He will be waiting for us outside the city tonight."
Xia Lei didn't ask any questions and followed her to the intelligence station. Xia Lei didn't walk a while before he looked back and observed the environment behind him. The feeling of being spied on always followed him, but he could never find the suspicious target. Especially the women here were wearing black veils, covering them from head to toe, and it was impossible for him to see through every woman.
"Did you notice anything?" Tang Yuyan also noticed Xia Lei's unusual behavior.
Xia Lei said: "I always feel like someone is watching us, but I can't find that person. Do you feel this way?"
Tang Yuyan said: "I don't have this feeling. If someone is following us, I will find it. This area is within our surveillance range. Even if I don't find it, our intelligence personnel will be aware of it. Don't be nervous , it is your first time to perform such a task and you will inevitably be nervous, and it was my first time too."
After hearing what she said, Xia Lei relaxed a little and looked back a lot less.
When passing an intersection, a Toyota Camry lowered its window, and a blond girl stuck her head out of the window, opened her mouth and spit out a piece of chewing gum towards Lei.
Xia Lei hid in a hurry and said angrily: "What are you doing?"
The blonde said in Russian: "What did you say? I don't understand. You should be more careful, next time it's not gum, it's bullets."
Xia Lei's brows suddenly furrowed and he said in Russian: "Are you threatening me? Are you still polite when you spit gum at me? You have to apologize to me."
The blonde gave a toothy smile and said, "You should be more careful, next time it won't be gum but bullets."
"You guy!" Xia Lei walked towards the Toyota Camry.
Just then the red light turned green, and the blonde kicked the accelerator, leaving Xia Lei behind.
Tang Yuyan pulled Xia Lei back to the sidewalk, "Forget it, although I don't understand what you are talking about, I don't think you need to worry about this with an uneducated woman. You have to remember what we are here to do. It’s okay to be angry, the mission is the most important thing.”
Xia Lei was still looking at the Toyota Camry driving forward.
The blonde stuck her head out of the car window again, shook her middle finger at Xia Lei, and muttered something.
"Damn it, if she comes back, I'll beat her up for you!" Tang Yuyan was also angry. This blonde girl really deserved a beating.
Xia Lei, however, was still staring blankly at the Toyota Camry that had driven away. In his mind, he replayed the blonde girl's middle finger flicking at him and her muttering lips. He lip-reads the blonde's Russian, and the blonde says: gum, gum, gum.
Xia Lei's expression suddenly changed, and the corner of his eye fell on the chewing gum on the sidewalk. The gum still had the blonde's teeth marks on it. It looked like just a piece of chewed gum, a piece of trash. This is what confused him. If the blond woman cursed two curse words at the end, it was actually normal, but why did she say "chewing gum" three times in a row
What the blond girl said in an argument with him suddenly came to Xia Lei's mind - you should be more careful, next time it won't be chewing gum, it will be bullets.
The blonde also repeated this sentence twice. This is definitely not how Russian women speak.
"Let's go, stop looking." Tang Yuyan let go of Xia Lei's hand and continued walking forward.
Xia Lei walked onto the sidewalk, stepped on the piece of chewing gum with his foot, and then followed Tang Yuyan towards the intelligence station.
At this time, he had actually determined that there was something wrong with the piece of chewing gum. The correct way to deal with it was to tell Tang Yuyan and then check the piece of gum. However, a character that suddenly came to mind made him give up this idea.
The character he thought of was his father, Xia Changhe.
Last time, his father Xia Changhe also sent a Russian woman to contact him, but she was killed by Liang Siyao. This time it is still a Russian woman, and the hint is very obvious. Behind this woman is most likely her father Xia Changhe. If this situation is true, he told Tang Yuyan, isn't this just shooting himself in the foot
Back at the intelligence station, Tang Yuyan gathered all the agents she brought with her to formulate an action plan. Xia Lei listened for a while and then left on the pretext of going to the toilet. After returning to his room, he took off the chewing gum stuck to the sole of his shoe and carefully opened it.
There was half a piece of sticky note rolled inside the chewing gum, with a message written on it: Son, you have been targeted. Leave Pakistan and don’t go to Afghanistan. It’s dangerous.
There was no signature, but it was no longer needed because Xia Lei already knew who wrote the note.
"Dad..." Xia Lei's heart beat rapidly, and his hands could not help but tremble, "He is still alive, he is really alive, this is his handwriting, I recognize it, this is his handwriting! He is also here nearby!"
Xia Changhe's voice and smile appeared in Xia Lei's mind like a video tape being rewinded, and two lines of tears rolled out of the corners of his eyes and fell to the ground along his cheeks. But the corner of his mouth couldn't help but reveal a smile, which was joy and excitement from the bottom of his heart.
Suddenly there were footsteps outside the door.
Xia Lei quickly crumpled the note into a ball. He raised his hand and was about to throw the note and the chewing gum into the trash can. They stuffed them into their mouths together and swallowed them into their stomachs.
This place is no ordinary place. Everyone here is a battle-hardened and experienced agent. The slightest negligence will expose the father's secret!
After swallowing the gum and note, Xia Lei quickly wiped away the tears from the corner of his eyes with his sleeve.
As soon as Xia Lei wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, Tang Yuyan opened the door and walked in, "It's time to eat. I have to call you every time, so can't you come down by yourself?"
Xia Lei frowned, "Eating so early?"
"Eat in advance and set off after dinner." Tang Yuyan said.
"So fast?" Xia Lei's father's warning sounded in his mind.
"Kalam has left the city early, we have to catch up with him." Tang Yuyan said.
"Okay, let's go have dinner and then go to Afghanistan." Xia Lei walked towards the door.
His father Xia Changhe sent a note, letting him know that he was being targeted, asking him to go back and not go to Afghanistan, but this warning came a little late. If his father Xia Changhe had sent this note before he set off, he might have refused the mission. The current situation was such that the arrow was on the string and had to be fired. How could he leave Tang Yuyan and ten agents and escape? If nothing else, the nature of this matter can be characterized as desertion or even treason!
However, this was not the reason why Xia Lei decided to go to Afghanistan to continue his mission. The biggest reason for him to make this decision was his father Xia Changhe. His father has been missing for six years with no news. He finally found out that he was nearby. How could he let go of this opportunity to find his father!
"I'm being targeted. Nine out of ten people are from the CIA. Just target me. I, Xia Lei, have never been anyone else's target. If you want to catch me or kill me, you have to ask me. A gun will do." Xia Lei was already prepared in his heart.
After eating, Xia Lei said to Tang Yuyan: "Yuyan, please lend me your sniper rifle."
Tang Yuyan was also happy and handed her sniper rifle directly to Xia Lei, but then said: "I can lend it to you, but you have to modify one for my brother when you get back."
Xia Lei looked at her speechlessly.
"Do you want to do it or not? If you don't, I'll knock you down." Tang Yuyan reached for the gun again.
Xia Lei held the gun tightly in his hand and said, "Deal."
ps: My cousin is getting married tomorrow and I have to help pick him up, so I can’t update, I’m really sorry. It's normal to be delayed by one day a month. Please forgive me, brothers.