Wu Huaide beamed with a full smile. "Thanks to your warning, we not only protected the people's property but also caught five criminals on the spot..."
Zhou Mingzhu's eyes widened sharply as memories rushed back like a tidal wave.
In the novel, this heroic deed of the second male lead was glossed over in just a few brief sentences.
Yet the original text clearly stated that it was Lu Haichuan who had captured the criminals, with one old person and one young person slipping away from the seven-member gang.
It was precisely these two who would set up a revenge plot in the subsequent storyline, leaving Lu Haichuan severely injured and hospitalized.
Originally, Zhou Mingzhu was supposed to arrive in Yunnan Province a few days later and would have missed this train entirely, which was why the novel never went into detail about the thrilling events on board.
When she first saw Lu Haichuan, Zhou Mingzhu never connected the man—who looked like a reckless ruffian—with the "sickly, roguishly handsome second male lead" that the readers were so obsessed with.
If he knew that readers envisioned him as a sickly character, he would probably be so furious that he'd sit right up on the operating table and cough up two liters of blood, wouldn't he?
Zhou Mingzhu knitted her brows, her heart a tangle of conflicting emotions.
Now that she knew the truth, she couldn't just tell Wu Huaide outright that there were still two fugitives at large. What should she do?
"Comrade Zhou, is something wrong?" Wu Huaide asked with concern, noticing the strange look on her face.
Zhou Mingzhu bit her bullet and decided to tell a white lie. "Comrade Wu, would you mind asking the comrades interrogating those five people where the older and younger members of their gang are hiding now?"
Wu Huaide's expression shifted abruptly, his gaze instantly turning sharp. "Are you saying there are actually seven members in the criminal gang?"
Zhou Mingzhu nodded, picking up her pace. "The first one to enter the carriage was a plump auntie. I realized something was wrong because she gestured to a middle-aged man wearing a patched cotton-padded jacket who was pretending to trip. Later, when I finished checking my parcels and looked up, I happened to see that man suddenly fall according to some kind of signal, and he even took the opportunity to swipe something from the other person and hide it in his sleeve."
She didn't mention that she had only shouted out in a panic because she felt murderous intent when their eyes met.
Zhou Mingzhu simply continued explaining, "He then shoved the thing into the arms of the Zhongshan-suited young man next to him, who was pretending not to know him and complaining. I understood right then and there that they were in it together. More importantly, when I shouted to catch the villains, the woman in the woolen skirt sitting beside that Zhongshan-suited young man gestured to the old person and the child who had just entered the carriage."
Counting on her fingers, she said with certainty, "The middle-aged auntie, the man in the patched cotton jacket, the Zhongshan-suited young man, the woman in the woolen skirt, the middle-aged man in the grey Zhongshan suit, and the grey-haired, hunchbacked old man supported by a child of twelve or thirteen—that makes seven people in total."
Wu Huaide's expression grew grave. "Comrade Zhou, the clues you've provided are crucial. We didn't reach out to you right away for two reasons: first, we were worried there might be accomplices still at large, and we were afraid they would recognize you and seek revenge; second..."
His voice suddenly choked up. "Comrade Lu, who was sitting across from you, was stabbed multiple times and is still on the operating table. We simply can't spare the manpower..."
Watching the eyes of this iron-willed, nearly forty-year-old man turn red, Zhou Mingzhu felt an unbearable ache in her chest.
Zhou Mingzhu didn't know what was happening to her.
Perhaps it was because she was born into an era of a powerful motherland built upon the blood and tears of these predecessors.
Because she had the chance to witness this generation giving everything to lift the country upward, she couldn't help but want to do something for them.
Maybe it was a sense of gratitude at play, or perhaps a salute to heroes, but her heart was currently a tumult of complex emotions, and she always wanted to help them out.
"Comrade Wu, you've considered everything very thoroughly. I'm just an ordinary citizen, and those people are all exceptionally skilled. If they really came after me, I'm afraid my chances wouldn't be good."
Wu Huaide didn't delay any longer. "I'm going to report this right away. The public security comrades might want to find you later to learn the details. Would that be convenient?"
"Don't be so formal!" Zhou Mingzhu hurriedly waved a hand. "I am a military dependent, but even if I weren't, as a member of this country, I should cooperate in catching bad guys. It's only right!"
The military dependent receptionist nearby chimed in immediately: "Don't you worry! The military will definitely ensure the safety of our dependents! If those slippery fish dare to come looking for trouble... Hmph! Then they're simply tired of living!"
Wu Huaide hurriedly jotted down their contact information and left. The receptionist turned to Zhou Mingzhu. "We'll still have to ask you to wait a moment. Considering your special circumstances, staying in a remote place isn't very safe, so I need to rearrange your lodging."
"Alright, I'm sorry to trouble you."
"What are you saying!" The young soldier flashed a wide grin. "Military dependents are the strong backing of our soldiers. Protecting you is our duty!"
When the young soldier returned, his face carried an excited expression. "When I was reporting the situation just now, I found out that Comrade Gu Yan has been promoted to Battalion Commander in the battle! You can now move directly into the nearby family quarters—it's safe and convenient!"
Zhou Mingzhu nodded, though a faint sense of discomfort stirred in her heart. So people back in those days already started pulling strings like this.
The young soldier seemed to sense something and quickly explained to Zhou Mingzhu, "Cadre dependents live close by because some cadres hold important intelligence. If they fall into a coma and need a family member to stay with them or do something similar, the dependents need to live nearby."
"In that courtyard, it's not just dependents of cadres; there are also some other people holding important..."
"Shut up!" A man wearing an army shoulder insignia of a red background with yellow borders emerged and pulled open the car door.
Lujun looked a bit scared, but he hugged Zhou Mingzhu tightly by the leg, doing his best to turn sideways and shield her.
Qitong grabbed the cotton-padded trousers of Zhou Mingzhu, staring with a frown at the person in the military uniform standing opposite them.
Zhou Mingzhu caught on quickly. The moment this person scolded the young soldier, she understood: military dependents lived nearby precisely so they could rush to the hospital in time to help wake up their husbands or sons, because those men held vital intelligence—that was why they were arranged to live close by.
It wasn't some bureaucratic hierarchy determining proximity based on rank, as she had mistakenly thought.
Zhou Mingzhu's face flickered between red and pale. She was now overwhelmed by the kind of guilt that makes someone want to slap themselves even if they woke up in the middle of the night: "How could I look down on these people who risk their lives for the country like that?"
The man said to the young soldier, "I happen to be driving to pick up a dependent anyway, so I'll drop Battalion Commander Gu's wife off on the way. You go back to the reception office!"
The young soldier snapped a crisp military salute. "Understood!"
This iron-willed soldier didn't look very old either, but his leg had a slight limp. He opened the back door of the military green jeep for Zhou Mingzhu, then climbed into the front seat himself.
Before the man could turn his head to help her shut the door, Zhou Mingzhu had already pulled the door closed herself.
"Ridden in a jeep before?" A deep, steady voice carried a hint of nonchalance.
Zhou Mingzhu frowned, speechless. In her past life, she had ridden in vehicles similar to this one.
But the Zhou Mingzhu of this world had not.
Zhou Mingzhu had no choice but to tell the truth. "No. But when I watched you close the door, I just copied you. I'm a pretty observant person, you see."