Siheyuan: Starting from a Truck Driver

The two walked out of the cave. It was night, the mountain breeze was blowing, and the starry sky was dotted with stars.

Li Aiguo turned on his flashlight and followed Yan Zi closely along the rugged trails of the camp. Since arriving at the camp, the leader of the investigation team, Lao Mao, seemed to have disappeared. Now that he came to find him late at night, there must be something new going on.

Could it be that the collapse of the cave was really caused by the enemy?

Who is that person? A member of the exploration team or a logistical supporter?

With his heart filled with excitement and anxiety, Li Aiguo began to ponder.

The mountain wind suddenly rises,

He couldn't help but shiver, fastened his clothes around his neck, and strode towards the "Old Cat's" tent.

Step into the tent,

The old cat was sitting alone on a huge rock, puffing on the cigar in his hand.

The flickering firelight cast an up-and-down shadow on his facial expression.

, the white dog and the short man stood beside him.

Everyone frowned.

The atmosphere in the tent was heavy and depressing.

He pursed his dry lips tightly and said cautiously: "Captain, I have doubts about one thing."

His eyes were fixed on the changes in the old cat's expression.

"You can ask as much as you want. The investigation team doesn't have the final say!" The voice was hoarse.

"Li Aiguo was originally a small driver. It's acceptable for you to make an exception and let him join the team, but is it necessary for him to be deeply involved in this case?"

"Once information that shouldn't be exposed is leaked..."

At this point, 's speech was suddenly interrupted.

His body bent naturally to avoid the thin old man.

With a light cough and a cloud of white smoke, the old cat squinted and pondered, ", let's count, I've been working with you for five years, right?"

"That's right. Since returning from the battlefield, Bai Gou and I have been under your command." He lowered his body even more, and Old Bai beside him nodded in agreement.

The old cat raised his eyes and stared: "In the past five years, we have captured 203 enemies together and interrupted hostile actions 32 times."

"What do you think is the essential element of our job?"

The tone was calm and full of authority.

He stood up straight and answered: "Obey the party, stick to the faith, mobilize the wisdom of the masses, overcome difficulties and hardships, and eliminate all invading enemies!"

"It seems that you haven't forgotten your training camp motto yet?"

The old cat nodded in approval, stood up and walked towards him, his eyes becoming sharp and direct.

The sharp gaze in the turbidity shot straight into his eyes.

"If you can do this, it means you are a qualified investigator."

"If you want to become a top investigator and uncover the despicable criminals hiding in the darkness, you must have insightful observation skills."

“You can tell from a branch what kind of creature just walked by it, and you can tell who the person was talking to before he died.”

Who can do such a miraculous thing? He seemed a little unconvinced and hesitated to speak.

"I know that each of you has a keen sense, otherwise I would not have chosen you from among the hundreds of applicants."

"But insight is a gift. Some people are born with this skill, which allows them to easily notice details that are difficult for us to notice." The old cat patted his shoulder gently.

After he finished speaking, he put out his cigarette and sighed, "This case is really difficult. We arrived at the scene at the beginning of the incident, but after several days of investigation, there was no progress. We really have no clue."

"I feel like we've fallen into a ruthless situation where we've hired an amateur as a 'bait' to get into a critical position in the game."

"According to Li Aiguo's files, he once identified a spy who had been hiding for five or six years based on two sentences in the dialect."

"Finally, it was verified that the spy was actually Wu Jingzhong's subordinate."

"He has proven himself to be trustworthy within the organization and has been trained to maintain strict confidentiality. There is no need to worry."

At this point, Lao Hei finally understood the team leader's intention. His cheeks turned slightly red, and he lowered his head in silence.

slam-la-

A cotton door curtain was lifted, and Yan Zi led Li Aiguo into the scene.

"Team leader, Comrade Li Aiguo has been brought here!" she reported loudly.

Li Aiguo stepped forward and saluted to the team leader, Lao Mao: "Please give the order, the train driver will act immediately."

"No need to be too formal. This is not a formal organization." Lao Mao gestured and asked Lao Bai to take out a file and hand it to Li Aiguo.

The standard Northeastern dialect came: "The mission you are taking on involves top secrets. Please raise your right hand and swear with me that you will never disclose the information to any relatives or friends, even your spouse, parents, siblings, and children, for the rest of your life."

This kind of oath has become a common occurrence since I entered the Railway Technical Secondary School.

Railway safety was of vital importance, and he was often required to swear an oath to maintain secrecy. In that era, people valued the integrity of their oaths, and consistency between words and deeds was considered enlightenment.

It is different now. The oath is like empty talk. I don't even believe what I said. Under the hanging lantern, the light flickered, and Li Aiguo looked more solemn than ever before.

Having been in this world for so long, he has come to understand the rules of confidentiality. The levels are usually classified into: secret, confidential and top secret. Personal information is considered secret and can only be viewed by individuals and designated departments; the plan of the railway line is secret, the specific details are kept confidential, and the general information can be made public. Oil exploration missions and Gobi experimental planting are top secret and must not be disclosed.

The lecturer of the railway confidentiality course once explained that secrets mainly involve individuals, confidential information is related to economic activities, and top secret information covers overall strategies. Deputy driver Liu Qingquan once mentioned that above these two levels, there is an even more mysterious "Top Secret 0" - referring to certain cognitive events that go beyond the scope of science and subvert the norm.

In this regard, Li Aiguo believes that Liu Qingquan is making up stories. This is a world dominated by materialism. There is no immortal cultivation, blue planet, QQ farm, or the immortal sword formation in "Zhu Xian". After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was clearly forbidden for animals to become demons and make trouble, and no one could disobey.

The camera zooms in on the scene inside the tent.

Under the guidance of Lao Mao, Li Aiguo took the oath. Lao Mao took the file and said, "Read this document first, and then tell us what you think." The cover of the file was made of kraft paper and the word "top secret" was written on it.

The file was thick and heavy, as heavy as an entire Xinhua Dictionary, and it felt heavy in the hand.

There were no stools inside the tent. Li Aiguo sat cross-legged on a huge rock with a briefcase full of information in his arms, and took out two documents.

There were dark pen marks on the paper, the font was delicate, and it should have been written by a woman.

Li Aiguo flipped through it quickly.

One of the contents involves the rock properties survey team.

The other is the detailed investigation record of the investigation team on the collapse accident.

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The data records are detailed and specific:

Name, family background, educational experience, family relationships and important achievements are listed one by one.

Just looking at the two names, Li Aiguo's expression turned serious.

Both of them are top scientific researchers in our country, and their names, Li Aiguo, have been seen in newspapers several times.

Behind them there is often a powerful sentence: "Our country's well-known scholar and scientist XX has made remarkable achievements in a certain field and broken many blockades."

Li Aiguo had never expected that this group of bigwigs were actually part of the rock properties team.

He had been puzzled about this issue before.

He has always been puzzled as to why information about the rock properties that may contain new oil fields has received so much attention from senior management.

So far, the rescue team has reached more than 2,000 people, including the Ministry of Petroleum Industry, local units, railway departments, and even special railway troops.

The human and financial resources invested were enormous, and even trains were used as a means of transportation for emergency distribution of supplies.

Each unit is not stingy in using its treasures at ordinary times.

It turns out that the key to the problem lies in the identities of these characters.

After a detailed study, Li Aiguo's emotions became tense.

The five experts recorded in the document are all top academic masters in the country, and they have a persistent belief in science and have made outstanding contributions.

Their loss may cause research in related fields in their country to stagnate or even regress for several years.

However, the good news is that

The rescue team and railway soldiers are working day and night, the rescue work is in full swing, and those scholars and experts are just one step away from being rescued.

As a member of the investigation team, Li Aiguo slowly opened the cover of the second file.

It records in detail the specific information the team has collected. Compared with the intelligence from the Ministry of Railways or the rescue team, it is more comprehensive and even contains some secrets that are little known to the outside world.

In fact, this is not the first time that the rock physics team has entered such a cave for exploration.

The team arrived at the cave just a month ago.

After the initial exploration, the report sent back by paleontologist Professor Zheng, the leader of the rock properties team, pointed out that

The petrophysical team discovered key clues to the distribution of underground oil deposits in the cave, so another in-depth survey is needed.

After receiving the news, the Ministry of Petroleum Industry immediately dispatched several senior exploration personnel with supplies to support the rock properties team.

After the supplies arrived, the rock properties team conducted five more rounds of investigations, but the results were not made public.

The accident occurred during the sixth and seventh attempt of the total exploration.

Surveyors outside revealed that the expedition team may have found key clues.

After completing the data calculation, Professor Zheng immediately summoned the four experts in the tent.

Due to the team members' security level restrictions, they did not attend the meeting.

Nevertheless, some people remember that the meeting lasted a total of twenty-one minutes.

It was already midnight when it ended.

Despite the possible dangers of midnight cave exploration, Professor Zheng and four experts insisted on starting the seventh expedition.

When the expedition team entered the cave with light source equipment and detection equipment,

The other five team members waited outside, keeping a close eye on their watches to prevent any unexpected situations.

The mission is full of risks due to the complex cave environment and the extremely toxic fumes occasionally released between the ancient rocks.

If there is no signal from them within three hours...

The collapse occurred within the first hour of their entry into the cave.

When the cave shook, they mistakenly thought it was collapsed and rushed into the cave, only to find that it had collapsed.

Li Aiguo has learned the follow-up situation from the railway maintenance department.