Chapter 825
Lu Qiaoge has arrived from Jiangcheng.
Chapter 825 Lu Qiaoge has returned from Jiangcheng
Bai Jinyan was only moved by the blizzard. Seeing Lu Qiaoge looking up at the sky with a touch of melancholy, she quickly took Lu Qiaoge's hand and said, "It's cold outside, let's go home quickly."
Meanwhile, Lu Qiaoge's little darlings were all comfortably staying in the space. No matter how cold it was outside, the temperature inside remained constant. At this moment, the space also automatically switched to night. Lu Qiaoge took a moment to look at the little things, and they were all resting.
She got into the car and drove towards the compound.
The north wind was still howling, and snowflakes were falling, but the car kept moving forward. Of course, if the car had good performance and enough fuel, it would go faster, just like in this era.
At the same time, a sudden, urgent telephone ringing, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, abruptly broke through Lou Zhe's office, which was filled with various precision instruments and chemical reagents.
Lou Zhe was leaning over the lab bench, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, his eyes behind the lenses intently focused on the solution in the beaker that was undergoing subtle color changes.
Hearing the ringtone, he frowned almost imperceptibly, but his hands didn't stop moving, and he didn't even lift his head.
He never likes to be disturbed at times like this.
His assistant, Wu Dongdong, was sitting at a small desk in the outer room organizing data. She had very sharp ears, and as soon as the bell rang, she practically sprang up and rushed into the inner room.
Seeing that Lou Zhe was extremely busy, she picked up the receiver and answered the phone skillfully.
"Hello? Who is this?" Wu Dongdong's voice was soft, worried that she would disturb Lou Zhe.
The voice on the other end of the phone was a little muffled, but the person lowered their voice and said, "Looking for Lou Zhe, something's up. Tell him it's me, Xiao Liu."
Wu Dongdong frowned, but she didn't dare to delay. She put down the receiver and said, "Professor Lou, there's a phone call. It's from Comrade Xiao Liu!"
Lou Zhe paused for a moment, then slowly put down the glass rod in his hand, and habitually put his hands into the pockets on both sides of his white coat.
He always wore his white lab coat impeccably, exuding a unique aura that blended the competence of a soldier with the refinement of a scholar, even in the laboratory.
He started walking, seemingly slowly, but his feet seemed to carry him on a whirlwind. In just a few steps, he stepped out of the laboratory and headed towards his private office.
Wu Dongdong followed behind him and opened the office door for him.
Lou Zhe walked in and picked up the old-fashioned black telephone receiver with a dial.
Just as he answered the phone, his gaze inadvertently shifted and landed on Wu Dongdong, who was still standing at the door and hadn't left.
His gaze was indifferent and devoid of warmth, but Wu Dongdong instantly understood its meaning: he wanted her to leave.
Wu Dongdong was stunned.
This is very unusual. In the past, when Lou Zhe answered the phone, even if it involved confidential matters, he never avoided her presence.
After all, she was Lou Zhe's personally promoted assistant, and the two had long since developed a tacit understanding and trust. So what's going on today?
Wu Dongdong stood in the doorway, her feet seemingly nailed to the ground. She opened her mouth, about to tentatively ask, "I..."
Lou Zhe had already said "hello" into the microphone, then turned his head and fixed his gaze on Wu Dongdong's face again. This time, although his tone was still calm, it carried an unquestionable command: "Go out first and close the door behind you."
These words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing the last remaining warmth in Wu Dongdong's heart.
Now that the leader has given the order, if she continues to linger, it would be a breach of etiquette.
Wu Dongdong's young face immediately fell, her lips pouting, her heart filled with resentment and grievance. She turned away sullenly, glancing back several times as she walked out, slamming the door shut with a loud "bang."
Standing in the empty corridor outside the door, Wu Dongdong kicked the base of the wall angrily.
She then strained her ears to listen to what was happening inside through the crack in the door, but the old-fashioned soundproof door was of excellent quality, and apart from a faint buzzing sound of electricity, she could hear nothing else.
Moreover, several colleagues in blue overalls were walking towards them, chatting and laughing, not far away. If she were to actually do something despicable like eavesdropping by pressing her face against the door, she would lose all face.
"Hmph, they must be up to something behind my back!" Wu Dongdong could only mutter to himself as he walked toward the laboratory, full of suspicion.
Her mind raced, and as a young woman, her first thought was that it must be about a certain woman!
But Lou Zhe has always been a man of impeccable morals, with almost no private life outside of work. So, which woman is he secretly inquiring about?
At this moment, Wu Dongdong felt a mix of emotions. Her relationship with Lou Zhe was, in essence, that of a superior and subordinate, but within this secluded research base, Lou Zhe was the person she respected most and longed to be close to. In order to stay by Lou Zhe's side, Wu Dongdong had even turned down several opportunities to transfer to better departments.
In her view, Lou Zhe was like an iceberg; though difficult to approach, once you got close, you would find him reliable.
Now that this iceberg suddenly has its own secret, a secret that she's been pushed away from seeing, Wu Dongdong feels an unprecedented sense of loss and rejection.
Behind the closed office door, Lou Zhe was quietly listening to the message coming from a person named Xiao Liu on the phone.
This is a specially encrypted dedicated line that can be used to make or receive calls directly without going through a switchboard. This was a requirement that Lou Zhe had specifically requested from his superiors.
He didn't want any information to leak out because of the operator's transfer. Of course, for a research base of their level, telephone control is very strict, so he wasn't worried about being eavesdropped on.
"Lu Qiaoge has returned from Jiangcheng." Xiao Liu's voice came through the radio waves, with a barely perceptible pant: "However, the station is under martial law, and the checks are very strict. I think she came back on a special train, so it must be a high-level operation. I saw from afar that people from the State Administration of Foreign Trade were also there, but later she left with Bai Jinyan. I guess she's almost at the compound now."
Lou Zhe's fingers tightened slightly around the receiver, his knuckles turning white, but his voice remained calm and even: "She came back alone. Didn't Qin Hengzhi come with her?"
“No, I can confirm that.” Xiao Liu paused on the other end, seemingly recalling the scene at the time: “However, she didn’t come back alone. Two cadres from Jiangcheng came with her in the same car. It seemed they were going to Beijing for some business… I didn’t hear the specifics.”
"Okay, I understand," Lou Zhe said succinctly, without uttering a single unnecessary word.
The sound of the phone being hung up was exceptionally clear in the quiet room.
(End of this chapter)