Chapter Forty-Two: Never Let a Villain Gain the Upper Hand

Jiang Huan put away her pistol and stood where she was, frowning and even pressing her hand to her head, feigning discomfort. She was never good at acting; she had always been straightforward since childhood, and doing something like this felt utterly unnatural. Still, with half her face covered, she did look genuinely unwell.

“Miss, I’m very sorry, this was a failure of our management, and you were frightened because of it.” Jiang Huan heard someone approach her, greeting her and even reaching out to shake hands.

She pulled her hand back. “I just wanted to contribute in some small way. I didn’t expect…”

“Miss Jiang, rest assured, we’ll handle this matter seriously.” Someone exchanged a subtle glance with Li Pingchuan, stepped forward, and assured her it was all a misunderstanding. Li Pingchuan, being so rigid, had probably given her the wrong impression: “As compensation, I’ll have him apologize to you in person, and he’ll take full responsibility for this matter without any reward—if it means he has to move all those supplies by himself, then so be it—”

Jiang Huan glanced at the man speaking. Despite the cold, he wore an administrative jacket, carelessly draping an overcoat over his shoulders, making sure to leave it open enough to show the jacket beneath. The affectation was almost comical. He was practically announcing to the world that he was in charge.

She understood what he meant: “Come on, beautiful, let him move your goods as punishment. Isn’t it enough for a grown man to bow his head and apologize?” It was, and the apology was deserved, but… “First he surrounds me with armed men, then tries to detain me somewhere, calls my self-defense weapon a public disturbance, and when he realizes I might report him, he threatens to kill someone in front of me. With people like this in the base, I have to wonder if my ton of rice and grain is even worth giving.”

Li Pingchuan’s superior had intended for him to redeem himself, but Jiang Huan refused.

Just then, she caught a familiar face out of the corner of her eye. Oh? She pointed at Captain Guan. “Captain Guan, hello there.”

Captain Guan, who had been standing quietly by his superior’s side, was caught off guard at being singled out. Jiang Huan pulled down her mask, and Captain Guan recognized her immediately. “Ah, it’s you, Miss Jiang.”

His direct superior turned and asked warmly, “You two know each other?”

Captain Guan answered honestly, “We’ve met twice.”

“Oh, then perhaps it would be best to let someone you know handle this. What do you think, Old Wu?” Li Pingchuan’s superior said.

“Minister Li, you’re right, but this is really a matter for our logistics department. The security team is already doing so much for us—it feels wrong to trouble them further. How about this: once the supplies arrive, we’ll distribute them to the security department first.”

“But the supplies are specifically for Captain Guan’s team,” Jiang Huan interjected, deliberately emphasizing Captain Guan’s name. “Captain Guan is a man of integrity; he braved the cold to deliver supplies to us. Having someone like him nearby makes me feel safe. That’s why, when I came across a batch of supplies by chance, I thought of Captain Guan and wanted to bring them as a token of gratitude. After all, he was the one who helped us when we most needed it, delivering communication equipment through the freezing weather and giving us hope.”

Her words were precise and left no room for misinterpretation. She made it clear that her gratitude was not for those who stayed holed up in their base, but for those who risked themselves to help others.

For a moment, Minister Wu and Li Pingchuan’s group looked frozen in place. But Minister Li himself remained all smiles, patting Captain Guan on the shoulder. “Miss Jiang is too kind. Protecting the people and upholding justice is our duty. It was, is, and always will be what we’re here for.”

“Well then, since no one is taking me to any dark rooms for questioning, Captain Guan, let’s arrange a time and place for the handover.”

Captain Guan, nudged forward by his superior, stumbled a few steps and managed to steady himself before Jiang Huan. After a moment’s effort, he squeezed out a simple, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Jiang Huan added, “Among the supplies I found, there’s also liquor and cigarettes. It’s all white liquor. I’d like to request two firearms for self-defense—would that be possible?”

Captain Guan turned back, and his superior silently cursed his simple-mindedness, stepping in to negotiate with Jiang Huan himself. “Those are controlled items. The base doesn’t sell them to outsiders.”

“Twenty cases,” Jiang Huan added. “Six bottles per case.”

The polite refusal that had been on the tip of the leader’s tongue was abruptly redirected. “But since Miss Jiang is such a good friend to our base, we can certainly make an exception as a gesture of goodwill. You’ll have to promise not to ever turn those weapons on innocent civilians or any of our defenders.”

“Of course,” she replied. Why on earth would she shoot someone like Captain Guan, who risked his neck for the common good?

Jiang Huan set the time and place for the delivery herself: two o’clock tomorrow afternoon, at the same residential building she’d visited while scouting the police station—the place where she’d rescued that mother and child.

As for why? That was open to interpretation.

Jiang Huan noticed someone had been trying to speak to her, his face red with anxiety. She waved him over. “You were the first to help me spread the word just now, weren’t you?”

He nodded vigorously, afraid she might not notice him. “Yes! That was me!”

“Once the supplies are back, you can collect your share from Captain Guan, all right? I didn’t bring them out with me today—I was only here to scout things out.”

The man glanced at Captain Guan, who nodded, so he agreed—hard to rush someone who was giving you something for free.

Jiang Huan handed him a pack of cigarettes. “Thank you for your trust.”

The informant broke into a huge grin.

Jiang Huan didn’t overlook the dozen or so people who’d run off with him before. “As for the instant noodles, Captain Guan, could you please verify everyone who helped? However many packs are needed, I’ll provide them myself.”

“All right, looking forward to working with you.”

“A pleasure,” Jiang Huan replied, bidding farewell to Minister Li, Captain Guan, and the others. She climbed onto her delivery cart and gradually disappeared from sight.

Minister Li, not wanting to antagonize the logistics department further, cheerfully invited Minister Wu to join him for drinks and headed back with his people. It was cold out, and if not for such a windfall, he wouldn’t have bothered coming out himself.

“Hahaha, Captain Guan, tell me how you came to know such a principled young lady.”

Captain Guan scratched his head. The first time was delivering supplies; the second time… she was reported for hitting someone?

When Jiang Huan returned to the complex, the familiar young men helped carry the gold jewelry up to the fifteenth floor. Liu Ling recorded it in a separate ledger, not adding it to the main inventory, since Jiang Huan was sure to take it with her soon.

To get herself out of trouble and teach Li Pingchuan a lesson, Jiang Huan had taken on yet another responsibility. After going upstairs, she sorted through the supplies: a ton of rice, over a dozen barrels of cooking oil, one hundred packs of instant noodles in various flavors, twenty cases of white liquor, and ten cartons of cigarettes—everything to be deposited in the residential building tomorrow.

When she finished, Jiang Huan collapsed onto the sofa with a sigh. She’d escaped danger this time, but there were lessons to be learned. Fighting alone was not a wise choice. If she’d had a few more capable people beside her, all armed, surely the deterrent would have been enough.

Night passed in the blink of an eye. Jiang Huan got up early, bundled up warmly, and headed to the agreed location. She arrived before anyone else, found a door that hadn’t been locked in time, and brought the supplies inside. After stacking everything neatly, she enjoyed a rolled pancake and a cup of hot soy milk. Only then did she hear the sound of vehicles arriving downstairs.