Just as Jiang Si was pondering whether her recent streak of good luck with money was a bit too much, someone arrived at the siheyuan that very night.
The door opened, and when she saw Huo Tingzhou and Huo's fourth uncle standing outside, Jiang Si was momentarily taken aback.
As she welcomed them inside, she quietly asked,
“Why are you here so late?”
“Fourth Uncle said he had something to discuss with you, so I brought him over,” Huo Tingzhou replied.
He hadn’t asked what it was about, but when Fourth Uncle said that, his usually stern expression softened into a faint smile. Huo Tingzhou took it as a good sign.
Suddenly, a meow cut through the intimate atmosphere between the two.
Jiang Si looked closely and realized there was a little creature hiding inside Huo Tingzhou’s military coat.
“Since you’re here, why did you bring this along too?” she said, though when she saw Mimi, she couldn’t help but reach out and stroke its head.
Huo Tingzhou gently placed Mimi into her arms. “You weren’t home tonight, and she was a bit unsettled. She searched for you upstairs and downstairs for a long time, and she wouldn’t even eat when I tried to feed her.”
It wasn’t just Mimi who was unsettled; Huo Tingzhou himself felt the same.
Even though they had only been apart for a few hours, his mind was filled with worry.
As Huo’s mother put it, Jiang Si had returned, but his soul was still lingering on his daughter-in-law.
“Si Si—”
“Hmm? What is it?” Jiang Si looked up at him.
Huo Tingzhou suddenly shook his head. “Nothing.”
He felt a bit regretful now. If he had known it would be like this, he wouldn’t have held that labor banquet.
Jiang Si was focused entirely on the little kitten in her arms, completely unaware of the way Huo Tingzhou was looking at her.
Until Huo Tingzhou made a double entendre, “Mimi misses you very much.”
Jiang Si burst out laughing.
It wasn’t that Mimi missed her—it was clear the kitten was longing for the little fish snacks in her room.
The group chatted as they walked inside.
Fourth Uncle hadn’t gone to bed yet. When he saw Jiang Si leading a uniformed police officer inside, he instinctively thought something must have happened.
“And who might this be?”
Jiang Si answered, “Fourth Uncle, this is Zhou, the person from the Capital City Public Security Bureau I told you about.”
Hearing it was Huo family’s Fourth Uncle, the old man immediately understood.
He quickly invited them in, “Come, come, have a seat.”
From a distance, Fourth Uncle extended his hand. “Old sir, sorry to disturb you so late.”
The old man smiled and shook his head. “We’re family, no need to be so formal. We’re glad you came. Have you eaten dinner? If not, I’ll ask Zhong to fix you something.”
“No need, no need. I ate at the station before coming out,” Fourth Uncle replied.
Just as he sat down, Uncle Zhong brought over a pot of tea.
“I’ll take it,” Fourth Uncle said, taking the teapot and pouring tea with a shy smile. “I should have come to visit you earlier today, but things at the bureau kept me tied up.”
The old man nodded in understanding. With just three days until New Year’s Day, the security tasks in the Capital City were understandably heavy.
But coming this late—could something have happened?
Jiang Si instinctively wondered if some case had come up. Thinking this, she asked directly.
"Fourth Uncle, you coming so late—could it be that another case has come up?"
"No, no," Huo's fourth uncle smiled and waved his hand. It was already quite late, so he got straight to the point.
"I've been on a business trip these past few days. I just got back and barely had time to sit down before the National Security Department came looking for me."
The moment she heard "National Security Department," Jiang Si said, "Is it about that enemy agent caught not long ago?"
"Yes, exactly."
Huo's fourth uncle nodded, smiling. "They heard from Captain Liu at the Criminal Police Unit that you managed to piece together the sketch of that enemy agent in less than half an hour using the newly created facial template database. Now they're in a frenzy."
"They’re very interested in this, so they quickly urged me to come over to finalize the contract."
Saying they were interested was putting it mildly. In fact, the National Security Department had already decided to order 50,000 sets.
After explaining everything, Huo's fourth uncle took a contract out of his briefcase.
"This contract was drafted jointly by the Ministry of Public Security and the National Security Department. You can take a look at the details and the amount."
"If there’s no problem, you can sign here."
"Once the finance department transfers the funds, I’ll send someone with you to the bank to deposit it directly."
Government contracts rarely have major issues, especially with Fourth Uncle here. Jiang Si skimmed through it and, seeing no problems, flipped to the last page.
When she saw the amount stated at the end of the contract, she looked at Huo's fourth uncle in disbelief.
"Fourth Uncle, why is it so much?"
She knew the set of templates custom-made for Su Country last time had cost 30,000 yuan.
She had always thought she’d get at most half that amount, or something close to it, and that would already be amazing.
But this contract was for 80,000 yuan!
Huo's fourth uncle shook his head when he heard this, his tone full of pride.
"The male template set you left at the police station—we tested it using the method you provided before. The portraits generated now have at least a 70% similarity to the suspects."
"Su Country drew 50 templates and charged us 30,000 yuan in foreign exchange. That breaks down to 600 yuan per template."
"Your templates include versions for the elderly and children, and altogether there are over 600 images. The accuracy is far superior to Su Country’s."
"By that calculation, you’re actually the one getting the short end of the stick."
But there was no helping it. The higher-ups dared to approve 360,000 yuan, and Huo's fourth uncle dared to collect it on her behalf.
Eighty thousand yuan was a bit on the low side, but steady income was better than nothing.
Seeing Jiang Si hesitate for a long time without signing, Huo's fourth uncle said, "Eighty thousand yuan might be a little low, but steady income is better."
Jiang Si wasn’t complaining about the amount. "Fourth Uncle, I’ll accept the money. But no one will use this against me in the future, right?"
Huo's fourth uncle narrowed his eyes. "No, don’t worry. Just accept it."
Since he said so, Jiang Si didn’t refuse anymore.
Drawing these 600 images had taken a lot of brainpower.
Besides, this was money she earned through her own skill—why leave it on the table?
After signing the contract, Huo's fourth uncle took out two envelopes.
One of them contained Jiang Si’s salary for the month, issued by the Capital City Public Security Bureau.
This had been agreed upon when Jiang Si was given her temporary work permit.
For the two months she spent creating the facial feature template database, her compensation would be the same as that of an active police officer.
The other envelope came from the Ministry of State Security.
Jiang Si was already very familiar with this procedure.
Only this time, things were rushed, so there was no honorary certificate yet.
The bonus was the same as last time—1,000 yuan—along with some common receipts.
Jiang Si smiled and said, “Seems like my luck is pretty good today.”
