After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the male protagonist is not allowed to ge

When Wen Tianming sat down at the bottom of the conference room and looked at the documents in his hands, a military researcher above him who also wore a military rank badge on his shoulder was explaining some research results on recent events.

This is the best research team that the human government can form at present, and it costs a lot of money just to provide various cutting-edge technical assistance.

When I heard this cold voice, it seemed that I was about [-] years old, and the anthropologist with a lot of strange spoken words mentioned for the third time that if all animals want to solve the difficult situation before them, they can only explore the fire of the second evolution by themselves , as soon as possible to catch up with the rhythm of the three higher creatures, Wen Tianming, who was almost tired of listening to it for more than a month, finally raised his head and raised his hand to interrupt him, and asked in a calm voice,

"Researcher Xie, please don't lay the groundwork for me so much, you just need to tell me directly, what should I do if I organize personnel to find the second evolution fire now? If we want to catch up with the summer when the coastal microbes come ashore and the air microbes skyrocket Was it still too late before?"

Wen Tianming's simple and rude questioning made him thin and thin. The man with light hair and skin pigment gave him a faint look, lowered his head and unhurriedly turned over a page of the document in his hand, but he ignored it. Li Wentianming continued on with the research content he hadn't finished, but Wen Tianming, who was ignored by him and was a little angry, was about to slap the table and get angry when he saw this. The actual age was actually about the same as him, but his appearance showed a strange youthful appearance. Sensitive human researcher Xie Qin said in a lukewarm voice,

"My report is not finished yet, please show some respect to scientific researchers, don't always look so rude and reckless, Admiral Wen."

What he said made Wen Tianming even more angry. He and this Xie Qin were indeed old acquaintances, but they had never had a deep friendship.

I haven't seen him for many years. When Wen Tianming sees Xie Qin, who is also 49 years old like himself, and a man who is almost the same age as him, he must be a little bit envious and jealous.

However, this person not only looks younger than him, but after hearing that he was in such an unbelievable state because he was single all his life and lived a pure and ascetic life, he only made a scumbag all his life, so now he looks like a complete scumbag. The middle-aged uncle Wen Tianming was so depressed that he didn't know what to say.

After Xiao Ao's incident, his youngest son and his wife hurried away without saying hello. Wen Tianming talked to Wen Ying outside the hospital ward of the military region that night, and finally let him down with red eyes. Xiao Hong, who had been with her all her life, and the child whom he had harmed all her life, apologized.

It's just that many of his low-key words are completely useless to say now. It is impossible for Wen Ying to forgive him in this life, let alone agree with him, a father who has no real difference between living and dead.

Wen Rong also treated him like this. Although this kid is more talkative than Wen Ying, he already has a small family and doesn't have enough time to take care of his wife and children. He must never have thought that taking the children to see him is not a good relationship. dad.

So since several years ago, I have been alone every year during the Chinese New Year, and I have been alone during the whole year's birthday. Wen Tianming has nothing to complain about. I used to be alone at home with myself. Getting angry, now I feel that I am wronged, so I bear it so bitterly, and sometimes I even secretly go to sit in front of Xiao Hong's grave.

And Wen Tianming, who knew that the evil had already happened, and didn't know how to save Wen Tianming, who hated his sons so much, had been so calm for half a month, and finally had to accept this doomed ending of bleak old age, only thinking about the next Compensate them secretly from some aspects as much as possible, and then concentrate all your thoughts on the current major issue of life and death of the country.

"I'm sorry, I really respect the professional opinions of all scientists from the bottom of my heart, but the military department is really pressed for time. The air quality in the capital broke through the normal level again this morning, and the smog mixed with a large number of bacteria and microorganisms has begun. Gradually spreading, a large number of primary and secondary schools and even many units have been forced to suspend classes for a week..."

"Central Sichuan once again reported the post-disaster reconstruction report of that year. Even though the disinfection was thorough, many areas still experienced a surge of parasites. I can't imagine that one day when our young soldiers have to fight against this kind of enemy What should I do, I hope you can understand me, Mr. Xie..."

Wen Tianming's words caused Xie Qin, who was originally expressionless, to be slightly stunned. He had always had a bad impression of this man when he was young, and he only vaguely remembered that he was a frivolous soldier who liked to deal with all kinds of women and had a bad ideology. second generation.

But I didn't expect that after so many years, this playboy who has been absurd for a lifetime seems to have aged a lot, and he seems to have a vague sense of a country's important weapon, but he didn't continue to argue with him endlessly, paralyzed Xie Qin put down the report with a pouty face, picked up his thin-rimmed glasses and put them on before speaking again coldly,

"I can understand, I'm sorry, I was too emotional, and now I'm starting to focus again, Xiao Zhang, record what I said next."

"Okay, Teacher Xie." The young assistant beside him nodded upon hearing this.

"...As I said in the detailed report I submitted with the military department, according to the Phoenix tree and the information we have shared so far, the first evolutionary fire of higher animals was hindered by microorganisms, so it is not Unsuccessful, the great evolution of the species that was supposed to bloom in a hundred flowers was forced to become single, but this is actually not complete."

"If you search for archives and records in detail, you can find the characteristics of some animals in modern humans, such as canine teeth, tiger teeth, rabbit teeth, chicken skin, the appendix of herbivores, and some incomplete evolutionary deformities that have nothing to do with environmental problems... "

"Teeth is the evidence of the ancient predation status of animals. The most direct evidence that these humans who look exactly like us are not primates is that no matter how long it has been in the past, they still retain teeth for eating and chewing. , This actually shows that other animals have not completely lost their ability to evolve, and there were cases of successful evolution back then, and now this situation is the best time for us to find the fire for the second evolution."

"According to my preliminary speculation, Gang Rinpoche mentioned in Phoenix Wood's mouth is very likely to be one of the places where the fire of animal evolution is scattered. A snow-capped mountain with ice and snow all year round, but the growth of microorganisms is bound to be used to hide the original microbial family. What important things were stolen, of course, this is just my guess."

"It's just that a lot of data at home and abroad have shown that the wild vultures used by Tibetans for sky burials on Mt. It grows bigger and bigger, and it is so ferocious that it can easily kill any creature that moves on the ground, so let's imagine it..."

"What kind of unknown things did these wild vultures live on the snow-capped mountains all the year round to become what they are now?"

"And what caused their terrible evolution? Do they have advanced intelligence close to that of humans?"

"Why don't the Tibetans and other lower creatures living there show any abnormalities that caught our attention?"

"If the time is enough and the conditions are enough, then what unknown form will these 88 demons... evolve into next?"

Speaking of this, there was a slight pause, Xie Qin raised his very pale eyes to look at Wen Tianming, who was frowning, and said slowly in a very thorough and professional angle,

"I personally think that it can be used as the first stop of the investigation, and a large number of fire team members will be sent to continue the search around this area. The plant government has been equipped with a special detection department about 80 years ago, and now it has just taken office. Yao Donglin, the head of the headquarters, also started the reorganization plan of the Discovery Division half a month earlier than us, but it is still too late to hurry up and form it, so...you should think about it quickly, Admiral Wen. "

……

On the white snow-covered plateau, colorful prayer flags and mani heaps can be seen everywhere fluttering with the wind. A group of seven or eight specially came from the opposite port city. Most of them are still pilgrims to Tibet for the first time. The donkey friends are slowly moving forward.

They all wore sunglasses and scarves to cover their faces, but it leaked a little bit. The obviously darker complexion still shows the hardship and exhaustion of this journey, and even with crutches, they can still feel the physical overdraw. As the biggest organizer of this donkey group this year, 41-year-old Ms. He Xiuli speaks Mandarin with a Hong Kong accent, but she is full of inspiring power when talking and laughing.

"Let's work harder, everyone. This is a rare opportunity to measure your own life with your footsteps. When you reach the Zhuomala Pass above, you will see a lot of people coming here in this season to kowtow and wait for their bodies to grow. The Tibetans and tourists who went up the mountain step by step for pilgrimage. When I came here three years ago, I happened to see the scene of 3000 people kneeling on the ground silently worshiping the holy mountain at the same time. The scene is very spectacular when I think about it now. "

Everyone was a little unspeakably excited because of Ms. He Xiuli's words. This team was originally a young petty bourgeoisie, financial practitioners and foreign college students who came to China to study abroad, and they usually spent most of their time sitting in offices and schools. Sitting, with a limited vision, I must be very yearning for the mysterious Buddhist environment in Tibet that she described.

And encouraged them a little with words, and led these people to continue walking forward, because there is no better way to walk within the scope of Kailash Snow Mountain, so every step forward needs to use your own feet a little bit. Walking out quickly, in this case, the physical burden on people is already very large, and they will not even carry extra luggage if it is not necessary.

Just when they were approaching the legendary Zhuomala Pass in the dark, far away, the foreign male student who was walking in front of the team suddenly let out an exclamation, and then he slowly took off his The windshield pointed in surprise at the team members rushing forward and said,

"Oh, God, look...is that a person walking forward with another person on his back?"

They raised their heads collectively because of the foreign boy's words. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, those people in the team who were tired of carrying a little thing and were about to vomit blood would not have believed that they would have seen such a miraculous scene. Five meters away, there was indeed a desolate gray-clothed figure with long hair and a shawl walking slowly in front of them with a person on his back.

Seeing this, she thought it was a tourist who had fainted from altitude sickness, and the elderly and kind-hearted Ms. He immediately asked the foreign student with good physical strength to catch up with them and ask about their situation.

And the foreign boy with a good heart also nodded and ran up when he heard the words. After finally stopping the man who was about to disappear, he panted at the strangely dressed man who covered his face and spoke in poor Mandarin and even worse. They all said hello in Tibetan, and began to explain their intentions with dancing.

But after hearing what he said, the man with a man whose face could not be seen on his back was only strangely silent for a while, then shook his head after a long time and replied in Chinese,

"Thank you for your kindness, but he doesn't have altitude sickness, he's just sleeping."

"Sleep? Oh... is it because I'm tired? In fact, I've been so tired for the past two days that I want to sleep all day long. Well, if I didn't want to take some photos to show off to my friends before returning home, I wouldn't want to come here ...Oh, I'd better not talk about it. I heard that there is a goddess on this mountain who is not easy to mess with. If a golden-haired foreign devil like me who doesn't like her likes offends her, it will be terrible... I haven't introduced me yet. Haha, I came from New York to study in China. My Chinese name is Cao Kongming. Because I like Cao Cao and Kong Ming, I named myself a crystallization of their love. Although I heard The real relationship between Kong Ming and Liu Bei is more like a same-sex couple, but no matter, I really can't appreciate the big ears that only know how to weave straw sandals, it's too unfashionable..."

The foreign guy who is very good at self-spoofing said a few nonsense with a smile, he didn't seem to feel that it was strange for him to pull a stranger to talk so much nonsense, but he looked at his natural chattering with a blank face, inexplicable Wen Ying, who was thinking of a guy who was still on the mountain, thought about it and didn't say a word, but there was a feeling of being on guard against outsiders all over his body.

And noticing his somewhat strange behavior, Comrade Cao Kongming also became inexplicably curious, and considering the issue of respecting the privacy of others, he just forcibly moved back his constantly divergent thinking, and again Looking a little lonely and tired in front of him, Wen Ying, who only brought her male companion and a small amount of luggage, smiled enthusiastically and said,

"If you don't mind, you can actually take your friends to our team to have a rest. We have camping tents and plenty of food. You can also sit and chat with everyone, because the friends on your back look like Tired, and you look really tired, too."

Hearing his words, Wen Ying, who frowned, subconsciously wanted to say no, but when the words came to his lips, he hesitated again.

In fact, he really doesn't want to get close to these people who are quite insignificant to him with Jiang Shanglu. His natural defensive awareness that has become more and more serious due to evolution has also made him more and more repulsive to people other than Jiang Shanglu, and now it is even worse. It's a somewhat abnormal state.

But he is not only himself now, he also has to consider Jiang Shanglu's physical condition, so even if he doesn't want to have contact with strangers at all, Wen Ying still has to make a little compromise, and after thinking about it, he is still at Cao Kongming's. He nodded at the invitation, and when he followed him back to the group of small donkey friends, he greeted these strangers who were looking at him curiously.

"...Huh? You came here specially from Xinjiang? Then you also come here for pilgrimage, young man?"

"Not a pilgrimage, come to find my friend."

Ms. He, who took off the scarf and sunglasses on her face, poured Wen Ying a cup of hot water from a thermos cup. A group of them are currently choosing an open space under the rock wall to sit and rest, because a new member of the team has joined , everyone's face also has a bit of obvious curiosity.

And after noticing that Wen Ying took the glass of water and didn't drink it himself, but used it to moisten the chapped and pale lips of the motionless man in his arms with the upper half of his face covered, these more or less People who have seen this kind of special relationship in the society were stunned for a moment, and then their eyes inevitably became a little subtle.

"...Oh, so it is like this. When I saw this gentleman, I thought you came here to pray for him. In fact, there are many Tibetan children around here who will take their children with them when they are sick. They took their children to the Dromala Pass to kowtow, because there has been a mysterious custom in the past at the Dromala Pass. Anyone who passes through this place will lose something on their body here. God will take away the sickness of the children, I thought you came here after hearing about this..."

Ms. He, who also noticed the special atmosphere between these two people, kindly resolved the embarrassment for Wen Ying. She does not discriminate against people with any emotional orientation. I was moved by my lover's perseverance to get here step by step.

But not everyone has Ms. He's open-mindedness. At least a few men and women in the team have written expressions of astonishment and complexity on their faces. I don't quite understand what happened to them.

And Wen Ying, who was covering his face, lowered his head and hugged Jiang Shanglu without saying a word. After a long time, he slowly stood up by himself, first put the disposable cup on the ground and said thank you to Ms. He, and then took the initiative to sit down. Go away from them.

"It should be a gay couple, right? It's fucking disgusting, and they even came to this kind of place to disgust people."

As soon as he saw Wen Ying leaving, he murmured unbearably. The gentleman who spoke was said to be an elite in the financial industry, but his tone of voice was really unrefined. Ms. He and Cao Kongming were stunned at the same time, and Cao Kongming, who came back to his senses after a long time, frowned speechlessly in his poor Mandarin,

"So is it still a primitive society now? Anyone who wants to be with others is their own freedom, so there is no need to hurt others like this?"

For the first time, there was an unexpected dispute in the team that had always had a good atmosphere when we came here. The man who was inexplicably cursing was blocked and was very upset, but everyone, including Ms. He, was persuading them back and forth. So dark and silent.

But after such a stalemate for a while, Cao Kongming stood up with an unhappy expression and took the initiative to take the canned coffee in his bag to refresh himself, compressed biscuits and some Harbin red sausage that he particularly liked and was reluctant to eat all on the way. Wen Ying who looked very lonely sitting on the edge.

After a while, the girl among the two white-collar couples who came together also took out a box of chocolates, two boxes of oat milk, and a few packs of wet tissues, and asked her boyfriend to bring them to her with an urging face. Wen Ying.

I didn't expect things to develop like this at all. In fact, I wasn't particularly angry just now, but Wen Ying, who subconsciously wanted to find a quiet place to sit, didn't speak.

He turned his head lightly and looked in the direction where the group of people were resting, and noticed that after the young couple secretly cheered him up with tacit expressions, Wen Ying, who had always been very cold and aloof, didn't know what to say. What's the matter.

Just to see that it was getting late, he didn't stay any longer. He lowered his head and took away the packs of wet wipes given by the girl, and put them in his luggage. He didn't take any other food and simply stayed where he was, and then Then he stood up and carried his lover on his back, and walked up the mountain without even saying hello.

Noticing his behavior, she had told them in a low voice just now that they don't need to bring him food, and he would definitely not take it. Ms. He only smiled helplessly and slowly slowed down to the dazed people sitting beside her. open the mouth,

"There are many people with different personalities in this world, and it's rare to find someone like this young man. He doesn't need us to help him or pity him at all. He has the ability to walk to the top of the mountain easily by himself. You can tell by looking at his shoes. It is impossible for a pair of normal sheepskin boots to wear out the soles of the feet when the backs are still brand new. He said he came from Xinjiang, probably along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway Walking here alone with a grown man on his back, that's not something an ordinary person can do..."

After what Ms. He said, everyone realized that these are ordinary people who usually go to work, so naturally they don't pay attention to such details, and Ms. He just smiled emotionally when she saw their subtle expressions road,

"During my several pilgrimages to Gang Rinpoche, I have had many adventures and met many different people, but I swear, this young man must be the most amazing person I have ever seen in my life. Just look at his eyes and you will understand, we ordinary people can't get into his eyes, his proud heart is empty, maybe he really doesn't care about anything except the lover in his arms .”

……

Wen Ying was completely unaware of the discussions that the people at the foot of the mountain had about her. In fact, after leaving them, Wen Ying continued to walk up at her normal speed, leaving them behind by an unknown distance.

After noticing that the sky was almost dark, he found a windshield rock wall and put down his belongings, and carried Jiang Shanglu to the ground where he had carefully spread the velvet blanket, and then he moved his palms. Let the Sha Shenghuai, which had not yet fully grown from the ground, surge up crazily, and surrounded Jiang Shanglu lying inside with his eyes closed like a natural and beautiful guard.

Seeing him lying comfortably in the bushes full of light purple buds, Wen Ying stood up and planned to find some cotoneaster leaves that could light a fire for the two of them later to keep warm.

It's just that he just took a few steps, and there was an abnormal and terrifying aura vaguely suppressed in the clouds above his head, and he flew over quickly after a terrifying wind.

When he subconsciously walked to the edge of the cliff and frowned and looked down, he vaguely noticed a few black spots hovering around the rocky mountain at the bottom of the mountain.

The thoughtful Wen Ying simply looked away after vaguely confirming that it seemed to be a few birds, and then did not delay his business. The crazy little plant shouted Phoenix, Phoenix, why are you running to Tibet? We all want to die from your excited shouts, and found a large piece of cotoneaster leaves that had completely withered and died because the life of the plant had completely ended.

It's just that on the way back, he happened to see a jellyfish snow hare in the crevices of the rocks that bloomed quite beautifully, but seemed to be trampled to death by some passing animal.

And casually rescued this little girl who was forced to die in the early stage of flowering. Wen Ying saw her slowly waking up and asked her if she felt better, and got this jellyfish snow rabbit that had just been revived. The girl said thank you with tears in her voice.

And Wen Yan gently touched the little girl's head before slowly standing up, and when Wen Ying slowly returned to the bottom of the rock wall just now, Jiang Shanglu, who was lying among the purple sand-grown pagoda tree flowers, had already put on his clothes. Wearing a red dress, he sat up by himself, lowered his head again, crossed his legs, and slowly wrote something in the black notebook on his lap with a carbon pen.

"came back?"

First, he continued to move his hands and didn't raise his head immediately. His complexion was still not good, but the man who insisted on this kind of translation and recording work all the way finished writing the last few words before he shook his wrist and rushed to him again. Wen Ying raised her head and smiled.

After seeing Wen Ying sitting next to him and rubbing his wrists for him, he raised his eyebrows and said thank you first, and then stretched out after handing him the densely written notebook in his hand Leaning on him casually,

"Next, continue to the east, and the temple of Lord Shiva on the top of the mountain is not far away. This route is the safest, avoiding the pilgrimage to the Zhuomala Pass, where the celestial burial platform is very dangerous, Wang Zhimo said. The 88 demon mentioned in the book should also be there, let's find him and the person who suppressed suffering first, don't cause unnecessary trouble, I already feel that there are many things under this mountain that make me feel unsafe. "

"Do you feel uncomfortable after entering here?"

"Fortunately, they are still too weak to infect me, and I can even kill them easily with the current me, but the number of these things is really very large, so it seems very difficult Solve it, find their people after we go up, let's talk about how to deal with the problem here."

Under such circumstances, it is always right to listen to Jiang Shanglu's words. At least he has walked alone in various dangerous no-man's lands in Tibet several times before, and has accumulated countless experiences in this aspect of wild survival. In the difficult mountains, there are almost no problems that can overwhelm him.

Ke Wenying carefully read the detailed road map he wrote for a while, but out of habit, he turned over a page in his notebook.

Jiang Shanglu, who immediately raised his hand when he saw this, was about to stop him subconsciously, but he was stunned when he saw Wen Ying turned over, and then turned his head and pursed his lips uncomfortably, his face seemed to be a little red.

"Why... still keep it."

"This is a love letter you wrote to me word by word. How can I just throw it away?"

He also laughed uncomfortably, Jiang Shanglu touched his nose and then slowly replied to him as he leaned against him.

In fact, speaking of it, I also have the habit of keeping a diary occasionally, but as long as Jiang Shanglu wakes up during this time, when he is free, he will re-cut and clip the letters they wrote when they didn’t see each other. After each paragraph, I copied a few sour poems to the side.

This kind of small and fresh behavior is very inconsistent with Uncle Jiang's usual arrogant behavior. In fact, he only does it secretly when he is alone. Usually, he is too embarrassed to let Wen Ying know.

And he would do this because he always thought in his heart that if everything is done in the future, and both of them are old, they will still have the opportunity to take out these things and remember the passion of their youth with Wen Ying, by the way Then read the poems belonging to the two of them to Xiaowen, who must have had gray hair back then.

"Hey, do you still respect personal privacy...Let's see."

Seeing that Wenying just turned back slowly page by page, I was always afraid that Jiang Shanglu, who saw the stupid words written by him when he was most sad, really wanted to see Wenying, and was afraid of not seeing him when he died Helplessly, he smiled and complained.

But seeing that the young man in his family seemed to be in a good mood, he didn't seem to want to give it back to him. He didn't make any further arrangements. He just watched him slowly turn to the page where he remembers the birthdays of all his family members, and said slowly with the corner of his mouth curled up. ,

"It's too early for your birthday."

"Well, it's about the same time as you."

Both of them have their birthdays in the second half of the year. Because of so many messy things happened last year, they missed them together. However, they didn't pay much attention to it. If they have time this year, they might just find a place to spend it together. never mind.

And since they started running around together again, Jiang Shanglu could feel that Wen Ying was suffering a lot for him, even if he was not awake most of the time, so after thinking about it, he only held the young man slowly and inexplicably rough Putting many hands on his knees, he rubbed his shoulders in fear of the cold and said,

"Did you meet someone during the day?"

"Did you hear it all?" Wen Ying looked at him with a flat expression.

"Well, I have a vague feeling...as if a foreigner is talking to you? In fact, I'm quite surprised that you can talk to people..."

Knowing Wen Ying's bad temper better than anyone else, knowing that his temper has become increasingly difficult to figure out since the flowering period, Jiang Shanglu didn't say much, but in his heart he really hoped that he would have more contact with the normal outside world, Don't always tie your young self with him who is destined to be unable to lead a normal life for the rest of his life, and don't treat yourself badly.

And Wen Ying, who also understood his thoughts, but never thought of changing everything proactively in the past, only gave him a soft kiss, then frowned and said indifferently,

"A bunch of irrelevant people."

His stubbornness made Jiang Shanglu speechless immediately, and after asking him a few words on the sidelines, Jiang Shanglu finally understood why this stupid wood didn't seem to want to talk about it, and he aimed at the person who insulted the relationship between the two of them to appease him. After a few words of Wen Ying, Wen Ying was worried that he would be angry, but Jiang Shanglu, who didn't look very angry, just smiled casually and said,

"It's okay, maybe it's because I've been with you for too long. It's really getting harder for me to get angry with people. I used to tell Shu Hua all the time that some people who hurt people behind their backs don't need to worry too much. Reasonable, he doesn't dare to tell you face to face, which in itself shows that this person is not very courageous, but he is just a villain who can stand on the stage, but you see, the contrast between people's kindness and malice is quite obvious? You are still young Well, it’s good to take a lot of things lightly. Don’t expect too much from some people, and don’t expect nothing at all. In fact, there are still many good people in this world. The people we send things to can see if they need any help, and favors must always be paid back.”

"kindness."

Listening to Jiang Shanglu being so eloquent, Wen Ying didn't say much. In fact, he liked Jiang Shanglu, who was well-informed, mature and confident, talking to him so slowly about running a family, about interpersonal relationships, about Some things that Wen Ying was not interested in at all, but he felt very meaningful when he said them.

But after the two chatted in such a good atmosphere for a while, when Wen Ying was about to hold Jiang Shanglu in his arms and lay down together in the sandy locust tree exuding a faint fragrance, and then kissed him for a while, because of the talents of their respective species, their senses of smell and senses were so different. The two of them who were extremely sensitive felt at the same time a very unusual bloody smell coming along with the miserable screams in the wind.

And Jiang Shanglu, who was lying in the flowers and slowly narrowed his dark red eyes, only listened for a while with those old ears scattered in the air on his body, and then looked at Wen Ying, who had already sat up beside him, with a slight look in his eyes. A little dangerously, he slowly opened his mouth and said,

"...Perhaps the time has come for the two of us to repay the favor?"