The Lin family's little boy returns to being eight years old, taking his family to new heights.

Chapter 161 Research Trip to Country H

"I've been waiting for you. Did you tell Fang Ting about Lin Xi?"

Others might not know who Niulanshan was referring to, but Ma Zhaoqian knew perfectly well, yet he remained silent to protect the little girl.

Even when reporting on human trafficking cases, Lin Xi's existence was concealed.

Niu Lanshan pulled Ma Zhaoqian aside and whispered, "He said some things, but not all of them."

Ma Zhaoqian felt relieved, and the two walked and talked. "As long as you know what's going on, that's fine. Although she's capable, she's still young. Don't let her be taken advantage of by people with ulterior motives. After all, well, our police force isn't that clean either."

"Yes, I've heard about that too. There's been no movement from above. I guess they've secretly formed an investigation team, preparing something big."

"I think so too. It's impossible for the higher-ups to be inactive; they've probably already started taking action, and they probably have enough manpower..."

As if remembering something, Ma Zhaoqian paused, "You think Fang Ting wouldn't report Lin Xi to the authorities?"

Niu Lanshan said nonchalantly, "Let it be reported. At most, it will say that she is a genius with a talent for solving cases, which will not attract much attention."

Seeing that he didn't understand, Ma Zhaoqian explained, "I mean, will he report Xiaoxi to the old man and put her in the investigation team?"

Niulanshan was stunned on the spot. "Damn, it's really possible!"

Logically speaking, it's a pipe dream for a provincial public security bureau chief to try and get people into the central investigation team.

But who is Fang Weiguo's father? It's Fang Zonglin! He's the secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission and the head of the investigation team!

Ma Zhaolin continued, "Think about it, Lin Xi's family are all ordinary citizens, none of them are police officers or politicians, and she herself has not had much contact with the police. Not only is her background clean, but she is also capable and experienced."

You know Secretary Fang's personality; he's unconventional in his personnel choices and never judges people by age. If he's certain Lin Xi is truly capable, he might just bring her into the investigation team as a covert informant.

Ma Zhaoqian became more and more certain as he spoke, while Niu Lanshan frowned more and more as he listened.

This matter is only beneficial to the investigation team, with no drawbacks. Given Lin Xi's abilities, she will certainly not be mediocre and will greatly contribute to the team's work.

But for Lin Xi, it was very dangerous.

Purge the police force of its internal traitors—it's not that simple.

Once the cleanup is done, it's a major achievement, and she'll catch the eye of a big shot. Even if she doesn't become a police officer in the future, it will be of great benefit to her future career development.

If you don't clean yourself up properly and expose yourself too early, you'll be in danger.

Those people never care about human life. If you're not eliminated, they'll eliminate you.

The better they perform, the sooner they disappear; there are precedents for this.

The investigation team has changed over the years, with one group after another coming forward, only to inexplicably die or disappear whenever progress was made...

After discussing the matter for a long time, the two bureau chiefs, Niu and Ma, finally realized that they couldn't get involved and left with mixed feelings.

Niulanshan had been thinking about this matter ever since that day. Just when he thought Fang Weiguo would not make any further moves, he was suddenly notified this morning to come to the police station without saying what his purpose was.

I guess they came here for Lin Xi.

He originally wanted Lin Xi to come and review the case files again tomorrow, to avoid Fang Weiguo, but then he thought it was really unnecessary. If Fang Weiguo really had that intention, he would come to Lin Xi sooner or later.

Lin Xi, unaware that she was about to be drawn into the power struggle at the top, was leisurely eating her breakfast.

"Second Brother, you won't be coming to my house for dinner every day from now on, will you?"

Gu Zheng found a house yesterday morning and moved in that evening; the efficiency was astonishing.

There was no special reason; I just wanted to come to the Lin family's house for a free meal.

"You want me to come and eat here every day? I don't have time yet. I'm going to H country in a few days, and I don't know when I'll be back."

Lin Xi frowned. "Country H? It seems there's a war going on there. What are you going there for?"

"Yes, that's why we went there, because of the war. This is valuable material for our creative work."

Lin Xiteng stood up. "Are you crazy? Going to a place like that to gather material?"

Gu Zheng is actually an adventurer at heart. Fu Wenyuan always says that he is never home because he is either in the snow-capped mountains, plateaus, deep seas, or remote rainforests.

He has his own theory about writing. He believes that only by personally experiencing and feeling can one write something truly moving.

"Oh, why are you getting so worked up? It's just a small-scale war, it's perfectly safe."

Lin Xiqi slammed her hand on the table and shouted, "What are you talking about? Someone could die! When you used to do all sorts of extreme sports, at least there were safety measures in place. When you went to dangerous areas, at least you were in China and had professionals to protect you."

If you go to Country H, who can protect you?

Besides, do you think you can just go to a place like that whenever you want?

Lin Xi was furious, but Gu Zheng wasn't angry at all. He even refrained from arguing, listening obediently. He knew his junior sister was concerned about him.

"Junior sister, I have a friend who is a war correspondent. He has been doing it for many years and is very experienced. I'll go with him."

I've been learning from him recently, so don't worry, I'll make sure I'm fully prepared.

Lin Xi almost jumped onto the table. "No way! I don't agree! My master won't agree either! What war correspondent? Even if you found a whole company of special forces soldiers, I wouldn't trust them. One artillery shell and they'd all be wiped out!..."

Lin Xi was so agitated that she didn't even notice Wu Zheng coming in. It was the first time Wu Zheng had seen Lin Xi so angry, so he quietly asked Lin Guiying, "Aunt Lin, what did Gu Zheng do? Why is he so angry?"

Lin Guiying sighed, "Oh, Xiao Zheng is going to H country to gather material."

Wu Zheng's eyes widened in disbelief. "Is he crazy?!"

Having said that, he rushed in without even taking off his shoes, yelling, "Gu Zheng, are you fucking crazy?! What kind of place is H country? Do you know how many people die there every day? Someone like you wouldn't last a day before getting shot!"

Gu Zheng raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes. "What's it to you? Why are you everywhere?"

Wu Zheng's eyes were bloodshot, and he looked even angrier than Lin Xi. "How can it not have anything to do with me! I'm a policeman, and protecting the people is my duty. I have an obligation to warn you to stay in the country and not to seek your own death!"

Gu Zheng ignored him and looked directly at Lin Xi, "Junior Sister, I want to see and hear those scenes with my own eyes and ears, and record them in writing."

The ruins, the thick smoke of gunpowder, the pungent smell of gunpowder, the fighting soldiers, and the suffering civilians there can only be truly felt by experiencing them firsthand. These details are simply impossible to experience or imagine in a peaceful environment.

We take different paths. You can build a wonderful world for your readers based on your imagination, but I must experience it firsthand to write what I want.

Words have power. I want to use my own way to depict different forms of war and peace. You understand what I mean.

Lin Xi listened and fell silent. She understood, so she could no longer persuade her.

For the second senior brother, confining him was tantamount to cutting off his path of writing; he would rather not write a single word than see it with his own eyes.

Wu Zheng also fell silent. He didn't understand Gu Zheng's reckless actions for the sake of writing, but he could feel his determination and his love for words.

"But you don't even dare to kill a chicken, what will you do when you get there?"