179: Professor Gao's network

His fingertip slid across the contact list, finally resting on a long-dormant name.

Qin Zhan.

Following the name, there was no job title, only a solitary internal short number.

In the conference room, everyone's movements froze.

The Man with Gold-Rimmed Glasses stopped adjusting his spectacles.

Young Teacher Xiao Wang froze the hand that was about to scroll down the list.

Everyone held their breath, focusing on the old yet steady finger of Teacher Gao Zhengguo as he pressed the dial button.

But no one dared to look directly; they pretended to be busy with their own work.

"Doo... doo... doo..."

The monotonous dialing tone echoed in the dead silent conference room, each sound hammering against everyone's hearts.

Teacher Gao Zhengguo's face was calm, but his other hand, which held a cigarette, trembled almost imperceptibly.

He hadn't done something like this in many years.

Or rather... he had barely ever done it.

Using private connections to handle professional matters.

Especially when the entire phone call was being recorded.

The call connected.

"Qin Zhan."

There was no greeting, no question, only an extremely calm name coming through the receiver.

Teacher Gao Zhengguo cleared his throat.

"Little Qin, I'm Teacher Gao Zhengguo."

"Teacher."

The response from the other side was still brief, but it carried a touch more warmth.

Teacher Gao Zhengguo felt slightly relieved. He knew that with the utterance of "Teacher," half of today's task was accomplished.

"There's something I might need your help with." He carefully chose his words, speaking each one slowly and clearly, ensuring the recording captured his "standard procedure."

"We have a special examinee whose situation... is very complicated."

"He needs an extremely difficult and unpredictable combat environment for his final assessment."

Silence reigned on the other end, broken only by a faint static sound.

"I was thinking... of assigning him to your team for one mission."

The moment Teacher Gao Zhengguo spoke, he immediately added, "Of course, I know this isn't according to regulation. If you find it inconvenient or risky, just pretend I never mentioned it, and we'll figure out another solution."

He kicked the ball back, adopting an extremely humble posture.

This was the only way he could achieve his goal while protecting himself procedurally.

The Man with Gold-Rimmed Glasses and the others nearby were terrified.

Stuffing an examinee into a combat mission with the Fangs?

Truly... unimaginable.

Teacher Gao's influence was genuinely far greater than they had anticipated.

However, Teacher Gao Zhengguo wasn't finished.

"You can check out the kid first."

"Set an initial threshold for him, test him however you like. If he can't even get approval from the lads under you, then the first step of his assessment will count as a failure."

"This way, it'll be easier for us to report back."

This sentence was the core of his entire plan.

It sounded like he was giving the other party absolute initiative and veto power.

But in reality, he was openly and legitimately shifting the responsibility of "eliminating Lin Yu."

Just rough him up a bit.

It's best to eliminate him at the very beginning anyway.

Teacher Gao Zhengguo couldn't utter these true thoughts.

He could only use the most high-sounding reasons to conceal his true objective.

The other end of the line fell into a prolonged silence.

A deathly silence.

The air in the conference room seemed to solidify, and everyone could hear their own hearts pounding like drums.

Teacher Gao Zhengguo's hand resting on the table had stiffened at the knuckles.

He even began to regret making the call.

Was it worth using his most cherished connection for a poor soul messed up by the rules?

The small red light on the communicator, indicating "Recording in Progress," flashed, resembling a mocking eye.

Just as Teacher Gao Zhengguo was about to say, "Forget it," Qin Zhan's voice sounded again.

"Fine."

Only two words.

Clean, crisp, and without the slightest hesitation.

Teacher Gao Zhengguo's taut nerves instantly relaxed.

An indescribable sense of exhaustion welled up in his heart.

"When?" Qin Zhan asked again.

"Send the file over."

"Alright, alright." Teacher Gao Zhengguo replied repeatedly. He leaned back in his chair, completely relaxed. "I'll have someone handle the follow-up procedures with you. Thank you for your trouble, Little Qin."

He felt as if he had just fought a battle.

As the call was about to end, Teacher Gao Zhengguo, on a whim, added one more sentence.

"When this is done, come home sometime."

"Your teacher's wife... she's been asking about you, saying she hasn't seen you in a long time."

There was another brief silence on the other end.

"...Mm."

The communication ended.

Teacher Gao Zhengguo gently placed the red communicator back in its spot, where it made a soft sound.

He let out a long breath, only then realizing his back was slightly damp with sweat.

He looked up and saw a room full of dumbfounded faces.

The Man with Gold-Rimmed Glasses had his mouth open, unable to close it for a long time.

Young Teacher Xiao Wang looked at Teacher Gao Zhengguo as if he were looking at a god.

One phone call.

A 288-star difficulty problem that, in their eyes, was enough to overturn the entire Ministry of Education and potentially trigger a diplomatic incident.

It was just... solved?

The Fangs Special Operations Team!

What kind of place was that?

That was the military's sharpest blade, executing top-secret missions with near-zero survival rates!

Stuffing a high school student in there for an "assessment"?

How could you even think of that!

And the other side actually agreed!

It just goes to show that sometimes, a person's reputation can accomplish things that are truly boundless.

"T-Team Leader..." The Man with Gold-Rimmed Glasses' voice was shaky. "Your connections..."

"What connections!" Teacher Gao Zhengguo glared at him, shaking another cigarette out of the box. This time, his hand was much steadier.

"Just following the regulations."

He lit the cigarette, took a deep drag, and the smoke enveloped him.

"Alright, Lin Yu's matter is settled."

Teacher Gao Zhengguo tapped the table, drawing everyone's attention back.

He pointed to the names listed below "288" on the screen.

"One is solved."

"As for the remaining four individual nine-star difficulties, it's your turn to worry about how to handle them."

"Get to work!"

Having said that, he ignored the others, spun his chair around to face the massive floor-to-ceiling window, and smoked in solitude.

Outside the window was a bustling metropolis, with heavy traffic.

And the fate of one young man was completely altered during that short phone call.

Teacher Gao Zhengguo held the cigarette and looked into the distance.

It's just an assessment.

Hopefully... no one will die, right?

... On the other side.

In a brightly lit, stark operational command room.

Qin Zhan fumbled in his pocket for a fruit-flavored lollipop, slowly tore open the plastic wrapper, and popped it into his mouth.

The sweet, artificial flavor melted on his tongue.

After quitting smoking, this was his replacement.

However, he hadn't had one in a long time.