Chapter 2433: Chapter 2497: Nonsense
"Oh?" Li Yifei raised his eyebrows slightly, a faint smile on his lips, and said, "Then... the servant who introduced you at the door, does he have a mole in the middle of his forehead? What direction is his fringe combed to? Is he wearing black shoes or brown shoes? Does he wear a ring on his hand, and is he single or double eyelid? Since you speak Japanese, roughly where is this servant’s accent from? What is the color of his eyes?"
Li Yifei asked a string of questions, leaving Zhang Dabao almost speechless. He wanted to yell, how the hell would I know all that? At the time, his mind was not on such trivial matters, so when confronted with the questions, Zhang Dabao bit his lip a little awkwardly and said, "I didn’t notice those things."
Li Yifei then said, "The primary skill of a spy is observation—observing everything around you, because you never know what information will be useful. So... that servant has a black mole in the center of his forehead, his fringe is combed to the left, he wears brown shoes, no rings on his hands, but a black watch, single eyelid, his accent is not from Jingdong, but... from the Kyushu area, his eyes are brown."
Damn, I’m truly dumbstruck, what are you? Zhang Dabao’s gaze at Li Yifei changed slightly, unable to hide his surprise, and then he said, "If you observe carefully, it’s not that difficult, but at the time I was quite excited about the prospect of seeing Miss Aoki Reiko soon, so I didn’t bother with those details."
"Really?" Li Yifei replied with a sarcastic smile.
Zhang Dabao chuckled and said, "Of course, there’s no reason to lie about it. I came to Japan from the Middle East just to see Miss Aoki Reiko. Since the hurried farewell last time, I’ve missed her dearly."
"Mr. Mu Fei, how long has it been since we last met?" Aoki Reiko suddenly asked.
Honestly, I can’t even remember, Li Yifei thought to himself.
Aoki Reiko noticed Zhang Dabao’s eyes dodge the question and not answer immediately, pursing her lips slightly, she said, "I imagine you’ve also overlooked this matter, so it’s okay if you can’t answer."
"Apologies, Reiko, I only remember roughly how many days, but if you ask me exactly which day it was, I fear I can’t really tell you, especially given the recent events I’ve experienced, my emotions have been disturbed!"
"What kind of events?"
"You know, I was on a mission in the Middle East, it’s been unstable there recently, so... I lost a few comrades, sigh, just mentioning it breaks my heart. I’ve been feeling quite down these past few days, and upon hearing news of you, I wanted to come back and see you right away." Zhang Dabao spoke with apparent excitement.
Li Yifei noticed Aoki Reiko seemed momentarily affected but quickly calmed down, saying, "That’s truly sad, but the dead cannot come back..."
"I know, our profession is like licking blood off a knife edge, we might die any day, so there’s really no point in sulking over it. Therefore, while we’re alive, we should try to live well." Zhang Dabao said with apparent poignancy.
Li Yifei chuckled and asked, "So are you a mercenary in the Middle East?"
"Mercenary?" Hearing this, Zhang Dabao’s eyebrows raised, then he shook his head saying, "How could I be? I am not a mercenary."
"Then you said you were on a mission there, and a few comrades died?" Li Yifei pressed on.
Zhang Dabao straightened his back and said, "I am not a mercenary; I am with the peacekeeping force. You ordinary folks can’t imagine the chaos over there right now, terrorists are everywhere. The denser the crowd, the more likely you are to find terrorists among them. They are strapped with bombs, ready to blow themselves up anytime and anywhere, and suddenly, everyone gets blown into pieces, bodies torn apart, gruesome beyond imagination."
Zhang Dabao thought he described it as terrifying, but the two people across from him... He sensed a hint of disappointment on Aoki Reiko’s face, while the man named Li Fei simply wore a teasing expression.
"Aren’t you afraid?" Zhang Dabao faltered, finally realizing that he was talking to the daughter of Japan’s top tycoon, and the man beside her was an unknown but seemingly well-informed individual. Their insights and experience far outmatched his, making his boasting quite misplaced. But if he didn’t say these things, what would he talk about? It was all a façade anyway, meant to trick online encounters with fabricated tales, with ample time to check information. Now, he has to rely on quick wit.
Li Yifei chuckled, nodded, and said, "Afraid, of course, afraid!"
"Actually, we’re also afraid, but for peace, we have to sacrifice ourselves and fulfill our greater purpose. A man has to show some responsibility, but I still say those countries in the Middle East are too dangerous; every person is a threat, their beliefs are twisted, they..."
"I am actually more curious about one question." Li Yifei interrupted him, Zhang Dabao was in mid-flow, irritated by the interruption, but still asked, "What question?"
"Are you Taiwanese?" Li Yifei asked.
Zhang Dabao stiffly nodded and said, "Yes, I am born and raised Taiwanese."
Li Yifei leaned back, his chin slightly raised, and said, "As far as I know, Taiwan is not a country, at most it’s considered a province, not recognized internationally. Do you agree with this point?"
Zhang Dabao knew the person opposite him was from Huaxia, so after thinking for a few seconds, he nodded and said, "I agree with that. There’s no avoiding it; there are too many political factors involved that we shouldn’t discuss too much. Of course, I still consider myself a Huaxia person, a descendant of the dragon."
You’re thinking of changing nationality, Li Yifei sneered inwardly, shifted his tone, and asked, "Then may I ask, how do you guys deploy a peacekeeping force?"
Bang! Zhang Dabao felt a heavy blow to his heart. He was just a graduate student, at most studying abroad, but his knowledge of military matters was limited. Besides the few types of guns he knew from shooter games, he couldn’t name many types of firearms. Originally, he brushed off this aspect, thinking Aoki Reiko wouldn’t be interested in these matters and that he could just bluff through if asked. But he didn’t anticipate a man beside her who bombarded him with difficult questions, most of which he didn’t understand, making it impossible to answer.
How would I know how they deploy peacekeeping forces? Without sovereignty, isn’t it impossible to have a peacekeeping force? Zhang Dabao was led into a trap by Li Yifei, prompting a subconscious desire to shake his head, but he paused before doing so. He just claimed not to be a mercenary, boasted about being in a peacekeeping force, and now faced the question of whether Taiwan could have peacekeeping forces...
"I said earlier, I went there secretly, so it can’t be openly publicized. As for other matters, as a soldier, it’s not up to me to consider; the organization assigns me a task, and I complete it without asking more." Zhang Dabao quickly thought of an excuse.
"So, does that mean Taiwan cannot deploy a peacekeeping force?" Li Yifei pressed aggressively. Sitting next to him, Aoki Reiko wasn’t foolish either; she felt something was wrong since Mr. Mu Fei arrived, and through their conversation, she realized he was far from the Mu Fei in her memory, especially now, as she found his words increasingly nonsensical, full of errors, her heart gradually cooling, frowning slightly and not stopping Li Yifei’s tough stance.
Zhang Dabao felt his scalp tingle, the situation unfolding differently from what he imagined. The mostly silent Aoki Reiko opposite him exerted immense pressure, and the man... how terrible, can’t you keep quiet for a few sentences? But anger as he might, he couldn’t let it show.
"Mr. Mu Fei?" Li Yifei waved a hand as if checking whether Zhang Dabao was zoning out. The latter was forced to ’snap back,’ gritting his teeth and nodding, saying, "Yes, deploying a peacekeeping force is not permitted."
Li Yifei looked enlightened, uttered a long oh, and said, "So that’s how it is. I used to have a few friends who were soldiers from Taiwan, bragging to me that they were part of a peacekeeping force, involved in UN peacekeeping missions, claiming to be members of the Marine Corps, turns out it was all boasting, haha, talking about their units as having extreme combat capabilities recognized by the UN!"
Thud, Zhang Dabao felt his heart was punched, a bit painful, so his face didn’t look so pleasant. The other party was clearly deliberately making it difficult... no, he was playing him, knowing the truth but still asking misleadingly! Zhang Dabao felt a sense of humiliating anger but couldn’t vent it.
"Please don’t mind, I truly don’t understand, so I just wanted to ask you, someone who knows!" Li Yifei said, emphasizing the words ’someone who knows.’
Thigh likely bruised purple, Zhang Dabao was relieved as he let go, body twitching from pain. After a few seconds, he squeezed out a smile, saying, "It’s alright, some things are better left unsaid. You’re from the mainland, so you’re aware of our relations on both sides; we don’t involve ourselves in the upper-level political games, just complete the task responsibly."
"That makes sense, fulfilling responsibilities is all that matters!" Li Yifei said, tapping the table with his finger, "Then surely you have encountered many guns, fired a lot of them?"
"Of course, how could I not have handled guns?" He breathed a little easier when realizing he wasn’t being pressed on the previous issue, quickly nodded as he spoke.
Li Yifei looked intrigued and asked, "So... have you killed someone?"
"What’s that matter... Miss Reiko, didn’t I also kill someone when saving you back then? Of course, I’m not someone bloodthirsty. I only kill the bad or deserving people, never abusing my significant strength to recklessly harm innocents. Such actions are things I would never do." Zhang Dabao said, feigning righteous indignation.
