How refreshing.
Hu Ping felt exhilarated; after enduring great pressure, planting vegetables allowed him to release his suppressed emotions.
"Xiao Susu, did you deliberately keep us here to play?"
Su Xiaocai dangled her legs over the wooden railing, sitting in a defenseless posture, while Huahua lay on her belly, its tail flicking back and forth, enticing the leopard-spotted cat crouching nearby.
But the other cat wasnât lacking food and wasnât very interested in Huahua, so the two cats were lukewarm.
Su Xiaocai was trying to get the leopard-spotted cat to adapt because she couldnât let them have kittens too quickly, as a pregnant leopard-spotted cat might run away, and the kittens would be hidden away.
The mother cat had strong control issues and couldnât let the kittens escape.
"Huh?" Suddenly hearing her name, Su Xiaocai was puzzled, "What are you talking about? Iâm thinking."
"Ah." Hu Ping knew Su Xiaocai didnât have the persona of a warm heart, so he slumped his head and casually leaned to one side, "I was overthinking."
He ended up leaning against Wu Feiyang, who pushed him away in disgust, "Get off, stupid fox, Iâm a big straight guy."
Hu Ping glared, revealing a shocking scandal: "You freak, what Yun Ji did to you has nothing to do with me."
"Oh!" Su Xiaocai perked up, her eyes bright, intrigued by the scandal, "Tell us more."
Wu Feiyang quickly covered Hu Pingâs mouth, "If you dare to speak, youâre done for."
Hu Ping dropped his shovel, running away and shouting loudly: "Wu Feiyang almost fell when he was changing clothes in the restroom, accidentally got groped by Yun Jiâs pink freak; he wanted to hit him, but the guy dodged. Unable to fight back, he came to us to complain. Itâs hilarious."
It wasnât intentional on Yun Jiâs part, but Wu Feiyang still jumped around furiously, "Stop talking, or Iâm gonna kill you."
"Hahaha."
Laughter erupted on the farmâs edge.
Su Xiaocai watched with interest; at this moment, the vegetable farmers seemed alive.
Earlier, they were lifeless, like decrepit old men.
Their joy didnât last long before an unpleasant person showed up.
Just then, Yang Zhao arrived, pushing a wheelchair.
He came to deliver a report; Su Xiaocai needed materials from the appraisal department, so they were sent over, originally by a soldier, but Yang Zhao volunteered.
Feng Ruchuan just got discharged from the hospital and expressed her desire to visit Su Xiaocai to thank her.
Yang Zhao initially wanted to refuse, but considering there might be more topics between women, it could indirectly bring them closer.
Seeing Su Xiaocai, Feng Ruchuan lowered her head to look at her feet, her disheveled hair hung awkwardly on her shoulders, showing resentment.
"Miss, sir, who are you looking for?" Hu Ping ran back, followed by Wu Feiyang, who was patting the dirt off his body, defeated and unjust, got dirt all over himself.
"Iâm here to find your Coach Su." Yang Zhao smiled warmly.
Chen Heliu and Liu, two majors protecting Su Xiaocai, stepped out from a corner, while other intelligence officers hid in the shadows, watching Yang Zhao and Feng Ruchuan.
Xing Miao straightened up, took a step forward, blocking Su Xiaocai.
"What do you want from Caicai?"
Yang Zhao showed astonishment, quickly collected himself, "Iâm here to deliver a report. As for Miss Feng, she might be here to thank you."
"Iâm not here to thank; Iâm here to demand compensation."
Yang Zhao was surprised, compensation? Did he hear wrong?
Su Xiaocai lazily said, "Letâs hear it, what excuse are you using to extort."
"I want compensation." Feng Ruchuan barely finished her sentence before sobbing, "Arenât you ashamed? You caused this. Iâve turned into this; why are you still here joking around?"
The vegetable farmers firmly believed in Su Xiaocai, Hu Ping: "What nonsense are you spouting about? Whatâs the connection between your foot and our Caicai?"
"Are you just hiding behind these people, afraid to speak? My foot is like this because of you; if it wasnât for your need to have people enter underground, we wouldnât have gone there. If it wasnât for you breaking the system, we wouldnât have triggered othersâ traps. Youâre the source of everything."
Feng Ruchuanâs words somehow placed the blame on Su Xiaocai; if one listened with empathy, they might side with her out of pity.
Anyone slightly sympathetic might blame themselves for involving others.
Yang Zhao realized it was a mistake to bring her along, trying to rectify: "Miss Feng, I was there too. You canât just blame Miss Su for your misfortune."
"Why do you still defend the Su surname? Yang Zhao, Iâm your senior. Iâve crippled; what about my future life? My foot, no matter how you touch it, itâs empty, non-existent." Feng Ruchuan teared up; she didnât know where to vent, blaming Su Xiaocai to lighten her burden.
If she didnât offload this negative energy, she didnât know how to resolve her accumulated grievances.
Yang Zhao glanced at her foot, she wanted future life security, and he couldnât entirely blame her.
"I can pay for Miss Fengâs prosthetic; the military has developed an advanced mechanical limb indistinguishable from a normal leg. Itâll be on sale soon..."
"I want my foot; if you canât deliver that, donât make empty promises." Feng Ruchuan liked Yang Zhao; he came from a good family, was gentle and handsome, very pleasant to be with.
But after losing a foot, she saw through Yang Zhao; he didnât like her.
When a man doesnât like you, it means he wonât willingly do anything for you; even kindness seems rigid.
Yang Zhao turned to Su Xiaocai, "Miss Su, it seems weâre not suited to stay long. Her mental state isnât good, Iâll give you the report and take her back."
Su Xiaocai shrugged; she wasnât planning to keep him anyway.
Others might feel guilt and take some blame; Su Xiaocai wouldnât.
"I donât understand. I didnât do anything wrong, and youâre blaming me because you canât find anyone else to blame for the crime? Cowardly and hypocritical." Su Xiaocai continued, "Besides, anyone who found the underground lab would send you guys in. If you want to blame the wrongdoer, youâre saying itâs all because of me. Should I blame myself for being too capable and causing fear? Itâs nonsensical; what era is it where victim blaming is still a thing?"
Su Xiaocai rested her chin in her hand, "If you insist on demanding compensation, do you want me to counter-sue for extortion?"
Feng Ruchuan lowered the corners of her mouth, sternly saying, "I understand your intention. You wonât compensate, and I canât do anything about it, but the appraisal departmentâs dozen or so comrades will never assist you again. Youâre cursed, wherever you go, thereâs casualty."
Su Xiaocai found Miss Feng amusing but held back her laughter, lest she demands compensation for defamation.
"Iâd like to visit the underground lab again, see if there are any remaining clues. Can you arrange some personnel to help me?" Su Xiaocai pretended to need manpower, messaging Colonel Yuan.
Colonel Yuan: "Alright, weâll arrange it on our end."
"But Miss Feng says she represents the appraisal department colleagues, unable to help me further. Is this true?"
With the sound on loudspeaker, Colonel Yuan could catch subtle noises in the background, immediately guessing Su Xiaocaiâs intent, "The appraisal department personnel at Blue Star arenât limited to those from the department; we have official staff too. How many you need, we can select some to go on-site; when do you need them?"
Su Xiaocai raised an eyebrow, "No rush, just asking."
Afterwards, Su Xiaocai ended the call; clearly, there were more people in the appraisal department than just those at Blue Star.
The official ones were more skilled than Feng Ruchuanâs, at least they had escape training and wouldnât hold back soldiers during danger.
In the labâs traps, a Blue Star colleague had died, not even a trace left.
Shouldnât Feng Ruchuan blame herself for not aiding the Blue Star colleague, leading to their death?
Feng Ruchuan was like a mentally ill person complaining without cause; her emotional struggles from amputation were understandable.
But blaming others and trying to shift hatred onto them, labeling them as the source of chaos, indicated a problem with her mentality.