It was just a matter of the daughter of the Gallic ambassador speaking out of turn and later being publicly contradicted by the Chinese side.
After the visiting delegation members returned to their respective homes, the incident still spread like wildfire in the embassy district.
Jiang Si was unaware of all this, so it didn’t affect her good mood in the slightest.
As she went downstairs, the car sent to pick her up was parked in its usual spot.
Jiang Si was surprised that the person hadn’t come out to greet her today.
Just then, the car door suddenly opened.
Upon seeing their mother, the two little ones, who had been giggling moments before, froze as if someone had hit the pause button.
Huo Tingzhou finally had a chance to smooth down his disheveled, bird’s-nest-like hair.
Jiang Si was speechless, her face stern and silent.
Suisui and Zhaozhao immediately knew their mother was angry.
The moment Jiang Si sat down in the car, the two little ones crawled over, eager to please.
If they could talk, they’d probably be clapping and singing something like,
"Our dear mother, coming home from work~"
Huo Tingzhou smoothed his hair and said, "Sweetheart, they just missed me too much..."
"So you just let them pull your hair like that?" Jiang Si retorted irritably. "Spoiling children ruins them!"
They had originally agreed that one would play the strict parent and the other the lenient one, but he had completely failed at his role.
Suisui and Zhaozhao were already eight months old, yet they had never even been scolded, let alone spanked.
Huo Tingzhou couldn’t bear to raise his voice at them.
Though it wasn’t something to make a huge fuss over, Jiang Si still brought it up when the two of them lay in bed that night.
Thanks to the spiritual spring water they drank, the two little ones were more advanced than ordinary children.
They could already understand what adults were saying.
They knew what was acceptable and what wasn’t.
A simple glance from her was enough for them to grasp the boundaries.
She didn’t mind Huo Tingzhou doting on them, but there had to be limits.
They shouldn’t be indulged just because they were young.
For instance, if the two little ones got into the habit of pulling hair, what if they did it every day?
Jiang Si said, "We’re usually too busy to watch them all the time. If this keeps up, it’ll be their grandparents who suffer."
"Sweetheart, I’ll be more careful next time."
Huo Tingzhou had also noticed how precocious the children were today.
While admitting his mistake, he shared his true feelings.
Eight-month-old babies were at their most adorable stage, and he hadn’t seen them in months.
He had missed them terribly.
Hearing their tiny voices calling him "Daddy" had completely melted his resolve.
Jiang Si, who saw the children every day, couldn’t fully relate, but she understood.
After discussing the children, Jiang Si selectively recounted the events of the past few months.
Everything at home was fine—that had already been covered in their regular calls.
What she wanted to talk about was Chi Heng.
Huo Tingzhou hadn’t asked, but Jiang Si felt it was necessary to explain.
So she told him everything—how Chi Heng had deliberately reminisced with her in front of everyone earlier that day, and how she had taken on the embassy dormitory project.
She laid it all out honestly.
Huo Tingzhou listened quietly. He hadn’t asked because he trusted his wife.
But the fact that she was willing to share made him happy.
Still, he asked, "You’re saying he did it on purpose?"
"Yes."
According to Chi Heng, his actions were orchestrated by his mother.
If he hadn’t done it, she would have assigned the task to someone else, so he had played along.
He had also deliberately handed the project to Jiang Si.
This way, with one overseeing construction and the other handling design, they would have plenty of legitimate reasons to interact frequently.
And no one would suspect a thing.
Father Huo had already briefed Huo Tingzhou about Chi's mother’s identity at noon.
Huo Tingzhou immediately grasped the key issue. "She’s trying to gather intelligence on high-level affairs?"
Jiang Si thought for a moment. "Possibly more than that."
Barring any surprises, the foreign affairs hotel would officially open next year.
Soon after, China would enter a pivotal year in diplomatic history—1972!
And all these foreign guests would inevitably stay at that hotel.
If anything were to happen to them while in China... the consequences would be unimaginable.
After a pause, Jiang Si added, "Chi Heng also mentioned that his mother has people inside the Construction Ministry."
He didn’t know who yet.
He only knew that they had submitted several design proposals, but no one expected Jiang Si to end up with the project.
Honestly, when she heard the news that afternoon, Jiang Si had been stunned.
She wasn’t sure what would happen to the others, but as the chief designer, she wouldn’t escape unscathed.
The only silver lining was that she had been frequently inspecting the construction site.
Every decision in the project team went through her.
From the looks of it, the other side hadn’t succeeded yet—otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent Chi Heng to get close to her.
Still, until the mole was uncovered, Jiang Si couldn’t relax.
Fortunately, after an afternoon of pondering, she had made some progress.
At the very least, she could confirm that Professor Li and Director Yang were clean.
If either of them had been the mole, she wouldn’t even be involved anymore.
Second, the mole likely held some authority within the Construction Ministry.
But judging from the selection process for the design proposals, they weren’t a top decision-maker in that area.
In other words, their influence was limited.
As she spoke, Jiang Si picked up the notebook from the bedside table and began circling names from a list.
After this round of elimination, more than half the names were crossed out.
"This person has been quite supportive of you at work," Huo Tingzhou remarked as he massaged her shoulders, noticing her furrowed brow.
"Or at least, you have a decent relationship."
If it were someone she barely spoke to, it would be harder for them to interfere unnoticed.
But after a moment, he reconsidered.
Given that this concerned his wife, Huo Tingzhou was being extra cautious.
"Then again, they might not act directly..."
"What did you just say?" Jiang Si suddenly interrupted.
Huo Tingzhou repeated, "I said they might not act directly."
"Right! They wouldn’t do it themselves—they’d need a scapegoat!"
Jiang Si followed this train of thought. "Someone careless, indifferent to their work... That way, the blame could be shifted seamlessly..."
Their eyes met.
Simultaneously, they uttered a name:
"Ling Yunfei!"
Yes, it had to be Ling Yunfei!
His personality and background made him the perfect fall guy.
Jiang Si suddenly recalled another detail—when the project was first established, the original contractor had been the Second Engineering Bureau.
Later, it was because the Ling family saw this opportunity and had someone lobby for them that the matter ended up in Ling Yunfei's hands.
In other words, the person who spoke up for the Ling family was very likely the mole they were looking for.
Coincidentally, this was the same question Jiang Si had asked Professor Li months ago.
As these thoughts crossed her mind, Jiang Si's gaze unconsciously fell on the notebook in front of her—
