Chapter 27

Lin Yuan gathered the heads of various departments for a meeting in the conference room. Chen Fei, due to his injuries, did not attend. He was wrapped in thick bandages and was taking a walk on the deck. He saw several search helicopters preparing to take off, knowing they were going to look for Xu Feng. Afraid of being in the way on the deck, he decided to find another place to walk.

For some reason, he slowly walked to the place where he first met Matsushima Eiko—the lifeboat hangar. To his surprise, it was very similar to that day, with a small boat docking at the aircraft carrier to transport Japanese wounded soldiers.

After the previous incident, the Beijing warship had clearly strengthened its security forces. Not only were there marines on guard duty, but also special agents from the Confidential Affairs Department. Chen Fei stood outside the crowd, eagerly searching, as if hoping to see that figure that had captured his heart again.

As if in a dream, her figure really appeared before his eyes.

At this moment, Matsushima Eiko also saw Chen Fei. She widened her eyes, her face full of surprise. As she was at a loss, Chen Fei quickly walked up to her and tightly hugged her with his left arm.

Escaping death and then embracing the person he loved!

Chen Fei closed his eyes, greedily inhaling the scent of her hair, his left arm holding her warm and delicate shoulders. She did not resist, as if she had been waiting for this moment. Her hands instinctively rested on her chest, silently caressing his firm chest.

In the moment of the embrace, both of them suddenly thought of something—they were mortal enemies on the battlefield! So they both let go of each other. They looked around, fortunately, no one was paying attention. As a doctor, Matsushima Eiko immediately noticed that Chen Fei's right arm was injured. She asked with concern, "What happened to your arm?"

Chen Fei smiled indifferently and said, "It's nothing, just a minor injury." Then Chen Fei asked, "How are you? Has anyone bullied you?"

Matsushima Eiko blushed and shook her head with a smile.

Then the two fell into silence. With so many people around, neither of them felt comfortable speaking. Suddenly, Matsushima Eiko stammered, "Do you speak Chinese?"

Chen Fei laughed heartily and said, "I'm Chinese, how could I not speak Chinese?"

Matsushima Eiko covered her mouth and laughed shyly, looking especially cute. She said, "I didn't mean that. I meant, can you teach Chinese? A few of my sisters want to learn. Can you come and teach us?"

Chen Fei nodded quickly and said, "Of course, I can start teaching you right now."

Matsushima Eiko's eyes lit up, and she said happily, "That's great, let's go now. Can you bring a few more people?"

Chen Fei said, "Sure, I'll get some people."

The Beijing warship was operating in waters close to Japan, and the higher-ups knew they would have to deal with the Japanese. Therefore, they specially selected personnel who knew Japanese, like the reporters from CCTV-7, who almost all spoke Japanese.

Chen Fei had good relations with everyone, so it didn't take much effort to gather about ten comrades. They followed Matsushima Eiko on a lifeboat to the Japanese prisoners' camp.

Matsushima Eiko and Chen Fei sat alone at the stern of the boat. Matsushima Eiko asked, "Where are you from? Why do you all seem so strange?"

Chen Fei smiled and said, "What's so strange about us?"

Matsushima Eiko said, "The medical equipment your doctors use, I've never seen before. For example, one of our wounded had lung damage, and your doctor put a mask over his mouth and nose. Another had an infected wound, and your doctor gave them some medicine, and they all got better. Do you know that out of a hundred people with infected wounds, not even one might survive!"

Chen Fei smiled bitterly. She had never seen a ventilator or antibiotics, but how could he explain that they were from the future? She wouldn't believe it!

Chen Fei quickly said, "How would I know about your doctors? By the way, do you like music?"

Matsushima Eiko smiled and said, "Of course, I have a phonograph at home, and I listen to it when I have free time." Then she saw Chen Fei take a small white square from his pocket, with a long wire attached.

Chen Fei held an MP3 player with headphones and said, "This has a lot of music. You can listen to it when you have free time. The long wire is called a headphone, and you wear it in your ears."

So Chen Fei taught her how to use the MP3 player. Receiving a gift from a boy was something Matsushima Eiko had only read about in Western novels, as Japanese society at the time was very conservative.

Matsushima Eiko felt a sweet warmth in her heart. As she happily learned how to use the MP3 player, the lifeboat had already docked.

Matsushima Eiko suddenly said, "I'm really sorry, but you can't come to our place today. Please come another day."

Chen Fei didn't understand why she had changed her mind, but seeing her determined attitude, he had no choice but to go along with her. So, Chen Fei and his group returned to the Beijing warship.

As soon as Chen Fei and his group boarded the ship, they saw Lin Yuan in the distance, who was talking to the person in charge of the search. Lin Yuan asked, "Have you found Comrade Xu Feng?"

The person in charge of the search was Wang Rui, who replied in his usual calm tone, "We can't find any signal from the communication device Comrade Xu Feng was carrying. It must have been damaged during the parachute jump. Moreover, he landed in the mountainous area northeast of Pyongyang, which has extremely complex terrain, making it very difficult for our helicopters to search."

Lin Yuan felt a deep sadness. After all, Xu Feng was his college classmate and a longtime comrade. He had gone missing because of Lin Yuan's poorly planned operation. He forced back his sadness and said, "Do your best."

Wang Rui nodded and organized the next batch of search efforts. At this moment, Lin Yuan turned around and saw Chen Fei. Chen Fei walked up to Lin Yuan and asked, "Captain, how did the meeting go? What's our next plan?"

Lin Yuan said, "Why aren't you resting and recovering? Where did you go?"

Chen Fei laughed and said, "It was the Japanese military doctor who wanted to learn Chinese. So, I went to teach her, but for some reason, she didn't let us go."

Lin Yuan frowned and said, "Is it that simple? Just to learn Chinese?"

Chen Fei laughed and said, "Captain, don't you think too much every day? Their commander has been captured by us. What tricks do they have left? Tell me about our next plan."

In the Japanese prisoner camp, Matsushima Eiko stood in front of Ito Hirohito with her head lowered, like a child who had done something wrong. Ito Hirohito suddenly raised his hand and slapped her with all his strength, knocking her to the ground. Blood flowed from the corner of her mouth.

Matsushima Eiko had always been a good girl in front of her parents. She had never been hit, let alone spoken to harshly. Today, being slapped hard, she felt both wronged and afraid. She covered her swollen cheek and sobbed.

Ito Hirohito said harshly, "Women can't be relied on. Didn't I tell you to lure the Chinese here?"

Matsushima Eiko cried and said, "I didn't expect to meet him so soon. I wasn't prepared. I will definitely complete the task next time!"

After learning about Matsushima Eiko and Chen Fei, Ito Hirohito naturally knew what had happened between the young couple. So he wanted to use Matsushima Eiko to lure a group of Chinese to the prisoner camp and kidnap them as leverage to negotiate with Lin Yuan! He should have captured Lin Yuan and Shen Wanqing from the start! Now, capturing Chinese was almost impossible!

Ito Hirohito waved his hand, telling Matsushima Eiko to leave. She got up, covering her face, and whispered, "Can you give me that thing back?" She was referring to the MP3 player Chen Fei had given her.

Ito Hirohito glared at her, and Matsushima Eiko was so frightened that she quickly left. In Ito Hirohito's mind, a more sinister plan was slowly forming!