CHAPTER 1881: CHAPTER 888: SURVIVAL ON A DESERTED ISLAND - LITTLE STAR OF XIAO FEI

The call was about that Hu San, and of course, Hu San is a pseudonym. What was said over the phone was very straightforward, just informing him that the situation has basically been investigated thoroughly, and this Hu San does indeed come from Japan.

Similar to what Yan Fei had suspected, there was a problem with the top-grade beef from Japan, and then the method from Yan Fei’s side that could cultivate top-grade beef in just a few months became even more coveted.

Last time it was considered commercial espionage, but this time they directly used long-term undercover agents dispatched by government departments.

Regarding long-term undercover agents, many people do not understand this field at all, and sometimes feel that it’s quite astonishing for someone to engage in such activities in a foreign country for many years.

In fact, it’s really not surprising. The longest duration of activities exposed later was thirty-seven years. Basically, this person’s entire life was all about doing or preparing for these activities — and that’s only the ones that have been exposed. Needless to say, there are many more who work in this field quietly without making a name for themselves.

According to the information obtained later, Japan has a special department with just over a hundred staff. However, their activity budget amounts to several tens of billions, not in Japanese currency, but converted to the currency of China.

What are these tens of billions used for? It’s to obtain intelligence from other places, covering everything from military to commercial, from politics to people’s livelihood, practically leaving nothing out. The main regions of activity, needless to say, are quite predictable to everyone.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that some people might not even know their hometown as well as these undercover agents know the terrain and resources.

Take Hu San, for example, who ran a small restaurant located in the urban-rural fringe. Doing business in this place is certainly not as good as in the city, but once he was caught, everyone discovered a new issue — although running a restaurant here might not make much money, it was extremely convenient for other activities.

From the restaurant, one could see the distant mountains, which had mines, and there were military stationed at the foot of the mountain. The mine was one of China’s four famous jade mines, and stationed there was a tank unit.

Compared to these, the fact that he was next to a national highway and railway seemed insignificant.

In addition, there were some local specialties from Wan City — the handicrafts passed down through Wan City’s long history, commonplace to locals, yet precious cultural heritage, such as pyrography.

Wan City also had more than sixty types of minerals, with the reserves of a certain mineral ranking first in Asia and second in the world...

So, although Hu San did not earn much money by running the restaurant for several years, just thinking about how much information he managed to send back is quite alarming.

To cite a well-known issue, everyone knows one of China’s four great inventions is papermaking. However, to this day, China’s rice paper quality is the best in the world, yet its sales only rank second.

That’s right, the first is Japan.

They rely on stolen technology, and if it weren’t for the fact that the environment and raw materials couldn’t be directly stolen, perhaps China would have to relinquish the first place in quality as well. Merely stealing technology isn’t enough, not only do they make money with this technology, but they also shamelessly apply for it as a world cultural heritage.

Other technologies such as cloisonné and silkworm medicine are even more numerous.

They even attempted to steal the technology of Yunnan Baiyao.

People generally think that the things around them are common and don’t see them as precious, but for some people with intentions, these are all things they want to steal — sitting on a treasure mountain without knowing happens every moment.

Because Hu San ran the restaurant for a long time, it also took longer to arrest him. Furthermore, due to the confidentiality system, Climbing Bean was always kept in the dark, and at this point, the other party also timely expressed their apology.

It is estimated that this is one of the reasons that their department easily leaves people dissatisfied. In the eyes of the general public, it seems a bit unfair. You give them your support without any benefits, and they still keep the information from you...

However, Yan Fei really didn’t mind. He hung up the phone and informed his wife of the fact, then said gleefully, "See, I told you it’s Japan’s doing. Wait until tonight when I go over there again..."

"Don’t!" The young woman reflexively opposed his suggestion.

"Why?" Yan Fei was puzzled. At this point, does his wife still not support what he’s doing?

"If you stir up some trouble again now, will that investigation team dare to come anymore?" The young woman gave him a reproachful look and scorned him. "If accidents happen occasionally, they might come to try their luck, but if it’s too frequent, who would dare to come?"

Yan Fei instantly understood his wife’s point. The reasoning was quite simple, and it was easy to understand.

If mysterious events occasionally occur in one place, then some people might bravely come to take a look, but if such events frequently happen, it becomes a bit scary. Unless they’re stupid, likely, no one would want to go.

Even though Japan is some distance away from where the aircraft carrier was lost, there’s a saying for this situation: the sound of the wind and the cry of the stork.

So many big and small ships were lost at once, and it’s easy to imagine that both America and Japan are on edge, and if something happens now, that investigation team might truly come to a dead end.

In fact, the entire world is on edge, and especially some nearby nations are also likely feeling a bit anxious.

Some people have always been studying the patterns of mysterious events, hoping to discover something. However, after working hard for a long time, they find there really is no pattern. As for the locations where incidents occur, at first, Japan continued to experience them one after another, then an American aircraft carrier had an incident, and then something happened in America as well... However, because the incidents in America involved explosive devices, there has been continuous skepticism.

In the end, the summary is that besides Japan, which is more consistent, the other locations are not very fixed. In terms of timing, it’s even harder to say. Sometimes several occur consecutively, and then a long period may pass without any...

This makes a portion of both public opinion and reality remain constantly anxious.

In this scenario, if Yan Fei messes with things again, who knows what reactions will come from different places — but it seems likely that most parties would choose to hide.

People aren’t foolish; who doesn’t have some advisors or something? It’s not a problem to draw attention, but if every time attention is drawn, something happens, and the enemy can’t even be found, everyone would have no choice but to hold back — you need an opponent to keep up the bravado, right? If the opponent is unknown and you’re only shouting at thin air, getting slapped for it, who would be silly enough to do that?

Yan Fei thought for a long time: "How about we go to the Capital? Anyway, in a few days, Meng Si’an will be opening; we can go now and play for a few days. There are fewer people since it’s cold; we can go and see the sights everywhere."

"Sure!" The young woman was currently a little bored with her ’internship’; whenever Yan Fei was busy with work, she could only fill forums with posts. Because she often acted as a confidante on the forums, she had gained a little fame.

Seeing his wife’s eager expression, Yan Fei laughed: "Weren’t you having a great time online? What happened?"

"It’s boring," Xu Xiaoyan said listlessly. "By the way, did you know that the software we use for chatting is about to close down? The boss is looking for money everywhere, and if there’s no money soon, it’s about to be curtains for them."

"Is that so?" Yan Fei was a bit surprised. "So many people use it..."

He stopped midway when he recalled that this Penguin was free and had never charged fees.

"They’re not charging at all, the more users they have, the greater the pressure, and they need to buy bigger servers," Xu Xiaoyan said directly. "They have no routes for profit! Actually, I find it quite convenient to use, but who knows how much longer we can use it."

"What forums do you browse to know even that?" Yan Fei was curious.

"All sorts of forums!" The young woman chuckled. "But I won’t tell you."

Yan Fei feigned genuine ignorance: "Fine, don’t tell... Or maybe you can tell me, then I’ll invest some money in that chat software afterward, to avoid regretting not being able to use it when it shuts down. How about that?"

He acted so convincingly, as if he truly didn’t know. Usually, the young woman wouldn’t guard against him, and with his sharp eyes, he often saw his wife composing ’acidic poems’ on Under the Big Tree Website and Tianya Website. Every time, she’d guard against him peeking, unaware that he had already seen them.

He even knows her online nickname and password, but he doesn’t dare to mention it, afraid of upsetting her.

Her online nickname, by the way, is Little Star of Xiao Fei.