181: The fourth brother already said it, that's for sure.

“Fourth Brother.”

Qin Zhan called out.

The young man called Fourth Brother, Zhong Huai, acted as if he hadn’t heard, still buried in a pile of complex energy circuits, his fingers flying so fast they almost left afterimages.

Qin Zhan didn’t rush him.

He found a relatively clean metal parts box to sit on and watched him calmly.

He knew Zhong Huai’s rules.

When that kid was doing research, even if the sky fell, he had to finish the step he was on.

Among the entire Fangs team, only Qin Zhan, their captain, could prevent him from directly throwing people out with a mechanical arm.

After a full ten minutes.

Zhong Huai finally stopped his movements. He took off his goggles, revealing a handsome but slightly tired face. His messy hair made him look like a college student who had just rolled out of bed.

“Done.”

He let out a long breath, then turned his head and saw Qin Zhan.

“Yo, Brother Zhan.” Zhong Huai immediately put on his usual cynical smile. “What brings a big shot like you to my junk heap? A rare visitor indeed.”

Although in terms of background, ten Qin Zhans couldn't compare to one Zhong Huai.

But Zhong Huai called him “Brother Zhan” willingly.

He admired Qin Zhan’s strength and character, and the two had a life-and-death friendship, with nothing to hide from each other.

“I have something I’m unsure about; I need your advice,” Qin Zhan said without preamble, getting straight to the point.

“Oh?” Zhong Huai became interested. He took a bottle of iced energy drink from a nearby cooler, threw one to Qin Zhan, and said, “Tell me, what could stump our impartial Captain Qin?”

Qin Zhan twisted open the cap and took a gulp. The cold liquid slid down his throat, but it couldn’t extinguish the irritation in his heart.

Hearing the words “impartial” made him blush a little.

He recounted Teacher Gao’s phone call exactly as it happened.

He added no personal conjectures, only stating the facts.

“...A special candidate, with a very complex situation, requires an extremely high-difficulty combat environment for assessment.”

“The teacher’s idea is to put him in my team for one mission.”

“He also told me to set a threshold, saying that if he fails, it counts as a failed assessment, and it will be easier for them to report back.”

After Qin Zhan finished speaking, he looked at Zhong Huai.

He wanted to see what his teammate, who naturally had a few more turns in his brain, could deduce from these few sentences.

Zhong Huai initially leaned against the workbench, listening lazily.

When he heard “special candidate” and “complex situation,” he sat up straight.

When he heard the three words “report back,” the playful smile on his face completely froze.

“Pfft.”

Zhong Huai almost spewed out a mouthful of energy drink. He coughed violently a few times, finally recovering with great difficulty.

“Brother Zhan, my dear brother.” Zhong Huai looked at Qin Zhan, his expression like he was looking at a pure innocent youth who had just emerged from the mountains. “Do you still need advice on this? Isn’t it obvious?”

Qin Zhan was stunned: “What is it?”

“It’s gilding!” Zhong Huai said decisively.

Qin Zhan thought to himself, 'Sure enough,' the teacher's way of speaking indeed meant that, and he hadn't overthought it.

Zhong Huai leaped off the workbench and walked a few steps to Qin Zhan, lowering his voice and analyzing mysteriously.

“Taste it again, really taste Teacher Gao’s words.”

“‘Special candidate’ translates to ‘candidate with a special identity’.”

“‘Situation is very complex’ translates to ‘background is too strong, too complex to discuss over the phone’.”

“‘Extremely high-difficulty combat environment’—isn’t that us, Fangs? Is there any unit in the entire military region with a ‘higher difficulty’ service record than us?”

With each sentence Zhong Huai spoke, Qin Zhan’s expression grew a little uglier.

He wasn’t clueless; he just didn’t want to think in that direction.

“The most crucial part is the last sentence!” Zhong Huai extended a finger and wagged it in front of Qin Zhan. “‘It will be easier for them to report back’! That’s the core, Brother Zhan!”

“Report back? To whom? Teacher Gao is a retired old leader; who does he need to report back to?”

“This is clearly about reporting back for that kid named Lin Yu, to the kid’s family!”

Zhong Huai’s fluent interpretation left Qin Zhan dumbfounded.

He really didn’t understand the hidden meanings in those words.

“You mean...”

“It means that some big shot with an incredible background wants their child to take a shortcut, but doesn’t want it to look too bad, so they found Teacher Gao’s connection.”

“Teacher Gao couldn’t refuse, so he had to grit his teeth and accept it, calling you to dump this hot potato.”

“The so-called ‘threshold’ is just a formality, for appearances. You have to let him pass, and he has to pass beautifully, but it can’t be too fake.”

“The so-called ‘failed assessment’ is insurance. If this young master is too useless, or if something goes wrong, Teacher Gao and you can both use the reason ‘insufficient ability, failed assessment’ to extricate yourselves, and no one can blame you.”

Zhong Huai finished in one breath, took a big gulp of his drink, and had an expression that seemed to say, “Aren’t I amazing?”

Qin Zhan fell silent.

He had to admit that Zhong Huai’s analysis was logically rigorous, meticulous, and perfectly explained the parts of the teacher’s phone call that had made him uncomfortable.

The key was that it also largely matched his own judgment. It seemed... he too was inevitably falling into the big dye vat of human relationships.

It’s just... “But the teacher isn’t that kind of person.” Qin Zhan still found it hard to accept. “He hated this kind of thing most his entire life.”

“Alas, Brother Zhan, you’re still too upright,” Zhong Huai patted Qin Zhan’s shoulder, speaking earnestly. “People live in this world, often against their will. At Teacher Gao’s position, there are always some favors owed from youth, or orders from above, that cannot be refused.”

“He called you, instead of someone else, precisely because he trusts you and knows you can handle this matter flawlessly.”

“This is both giving you a difficult task and protecting you. Think about it, if this resume gets gilded, you, Qin Zhan, will be the ‘guide’ for that big shot’s nephew or niece. This connection will be very valuable in the future.”

“Your teacher is still good to you... You are now the captain of Fangs; it’s hard to advance further by ability alone; you need someone to promote you.”

“Teacher Gao helping that kid might not necessarily be not helping you.”

Qin Zhan felt a headache coming on.

He hated this kind of circumlocution, this kind of human politics.

But Zhong Huai was right; the teacher entrusted this matter to him, and he couldn’t mess it up.

If he messed it up, he would not only betray the teacher’s trust but also potentially bring enormous trouble to the teacher.

“Then what do you say we should do?” Qin Zhan rubbed his temples irritably.

“What to do? Do it! And do it beautifully!” Zhong Huai’s eyes lit up, like a child who had found a new toy.

“Leave this to me!” He patted his chest, guaranteeing, “I’m familiar with this business!”