Chapter 18: Special Treatment

After lying in the hospital for ten days, Zhang Anping refused to stay any longer. That very day, with the help of several secret agents, he packed up his belongings and returned to Guanwang Temple.

Whether it was leaked by someone with a hidden agenda or otherwise, word of Zhang Anping being taken away by the Bureau of Party Affairs for interrogation spread like wildfire among the trainees. Had the trainees not been in the middle of military training, they surely would have flocked to the hospital in waves to visit him.

Consequently, once Zhang Anping returned to Guanwang Temple, he found himself treated like a "dungeon" by the trainees, who swarmed him wave after wave. Compared to the colleagues who had visited him in the hospital with ulterior motives, the trainees' intentions were much simpler. Although Zhang Anping was certain there were those among them with their own agendas, the majority were genuinely concerned for him.

Take Xu Zhongyi, who was sneaking in right now, for instance.

This fellow had specifically waited until no one was around to slip in, bringing a gift with him—before Zhang Anping even saw him, he could already smell the aroma of duck meat.

Xu Zhongyi flaunted his gift: "Teacher, I heard the food in the hospital wasn't good, so I snuck out specifically to buy you some supplements."

"Not bad, you've got a heart," Zhang Anping praised with a nod. Xu Zhongyi smiled, but Zhang Anping’s next words left him completely dumbfounded.

"Breaking discipline by sneaking out during military training—go confess your mistake to your instructor tomorrow."

Xu Zhongyi was stunned. After a few seconds of silence, he forced a smile: "Teacher, I did this for you..."

"Exactly. If you hadn't done it for me, I might have suggested your instructor go easy on you." Zhang Anping watched Xu Zhongyi with a mischievous grin, his mood inexplicably lifting as he saw the other man’s despondent expression.

*Hmph, you little con artist,* he thought. *Do you take me for Li Weigong? Trying to corrupt me? Keep dreaming!*

Xu Zhongyi put down the duck and fruit with a look of grievance, pulled up a stool, and sat beside him, complaining: "Teacher, you’re too cold-blooded. I went to the trouble of sneaking out to buy you a gift, and you’re actually making me turn myself in!"

Zhang Anping ignored his complaints: "Usually, gift-giving is a sign of ulterior motives. Tell me, what do you want?"

"Teacher, I just wanted to see how you were."

"Oh—you've seen me, haven't you? You can go now. Go find your instructor tomorrow and confess your fault."

"Teacher, Teacher, let's just chat for a bit, just a few words." Xu Zhongyi was getting anxious; he had spent his own money on this, and the subsidy he was promised hadn't even arrived yet! He couldn't let it go to waste!

Zhang Anping looked at him with interest: "Speak."

Xu Zhongyi stammered.

"Let me guess—can't handle the military training anymore? Did you hear about the logistics platoon and want to join it now to avoid the rest of the training?" Zhang Anping sneered.

"Y-y-you, how did you know?" Xu Zhongyi looked astonished, as if he had seen a ghost. He hadn't told a soul about his little scheme!

How could he not know what kind of person this "little con artist" was? A repeat student in the special training class! Someone who failed and repeated a grade in a special training unit was hardly the type to endure hardship.

"I guessed—do you think I'm just sitting around doing nothing? Out of 268 trainees, is there one whose situation I don't follow? Take you, for example: you slack off all day, you faint three times every time you’re in the sun for two hours, you get diarrhea four times just standing guard, yet you somehow managed to help a classmate fire 10 shots and score 105 rings—a world-class feat!"

Zhang Anping couldn't help but vent. Back when he watched the television series, he thought the guy was hilarious. Now that he was his teacher and learned of his "heroic deeds," there was no humor, only a sense of disbelief—*this* is how you become a secret agent?

"It was an accident, that was an accident, I've had a weak constitution since I was a child..." Xu Zhongyi tried to quibble, but after seeing Zhang Anping’s cold sneer, he shut his mouth.

Seeing that Xu Zhongyi had stopped making excuses, Zhang Anping gave him a look that said "you're finally smart enough to shut up," then said: "From now on, come see me at eight o'clock every night."

Xu Zhongyi, having failed in his speculation, lacked enthusiasm: "What for?"

"I’m giving you remedial lessons—" Zhang Anping snapped, "With your performance, you'll definitely be at the bottom of the class when the term ends. If I don't give you extra lessons, do you expect me to let you repeat the grade?"

*Repeat the grade?* Xu Zhongyi was a university graduate; was he really going to repeat a secret agent course?

"I'll just quit then," Xu Zhongyi muttered.

"Quit?" Zhang Anping wore a cryptic expression: "In a few days, you'll know what it means to enter alive and leave horizontally!"

When his cousin visited him in the hospital a couple of days ago, he had shown him the latest regulations from the Secret Service. While the future "Six Prohibitions" of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics hadn't appeared yet, the new regulations did include a clause stating that once one entered the Secret Service, it was a lifelong profession—he wasn't sure if his influence had changed things or if history was just like that.

And these regulations would be issued in a few days.

*Quit?* That only happened when things were "humane" back at the Honggong Temple training class!

Xu Zhongyi was actually just blowing off steam; he didn't really have any intention of quitting. Ignoring Zhang Anping’s remark about leaving "horizontally," he muttered: "Teacher, these days are really hard."

Zhang Anping shrugged. Sorry, he couldn't help with that.

Seeing that Zhang Anping wouldn't take the bait, Xu Zhongyi had no choice but to extinguish his little schemes and inquire further: "Teacher, when the training ends and we’re assigned, do you think I could get into the logistics platoon?"

Zhang Anping sized him up. This guy was a master at logistics; he would definitely be able to weave a massive web of corruption—so...

"Putting you in logistics would be a waste of your talents—enough nonsense. Be here at eight tomorrow night. Oh, and bring Qi Siyuan with you."

"Qi Siyuan? Why call him? He’s always looked down on me. If it weren't for the fact that he was Gu..." Xu Zhongyi caught himself just in time.

Zhang Anping started shooing him away: "If I tell you to bring him, you bring him. Do you have to talk so much? Get out if you’re done!"

"Yes."

Xu Zhongyi muttered as he stood up. When he reached the door, he couldn't help but ask one last time: "Teacher, is it really not negotiable?"

Zhang Anping gestured: "Come here!"

Seeing the look on Zhang Anping’s face, Xu Zhongyi turned and fled.

Only when the sound of Xu Zhongyi’s footsteps faded did Zhang Anping drop his act, smiling to himself: "This kid... he’s quite interesting."

He had already made plans for Xu Zhongyi the moment he met him—Xu was an excellent undercover agent. Since that was the case, he would throw him into the Global Trading company in Shanghai. He believed that an undercover agent as crafty as Xu Zhongyi would surely make the business thrive. After the full-scale War of Resistance broke out, he would definitely be able to form a community of interests with the Wang puppet government and Japanese officials...

If he were to join forces with Ming Lou...

As for Qi Siyuan (Young Master Qi), he had to be Xu Zhongyi’s deputy. It was true that the two of them were rivals who loved to bicker, but Qi Siyuan’s operational ability was undeniable. As long as Xu Zhongyi didn't cause trouble, he was definitely a top-tier talent!

Adding 17-year-old Gu Yufei to the mix, those three would form an intelligence unit capable of incredible feats!

Yes, this was definitely not just a twisted sense of humor.

...

The next day, the injured Zhang Anping sat in a wheelchair to supervise the military training.

Of course, he wasn't training; he was there as an observer.

The future backbone of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics were still just hot-blooded students. Aside from the troublemaker Xu Zhongyi, who habitually cut corners during training, the others possessed a natural capacity for hardship.

Chen Peng, who would later be known for being "henpecked," looked like a passionate youth at the moment. His only flaw was that during training, he would always steal glances at the women's unit, which consisted of only nine people—there was no doubt he was checking out his future wife, Yu Xiuning.

Through Zhang Anping’s observations, the best-performing trainees were Gong Shu and Lin Nansheng.

Gong Shu was a bit older; at 24, he was like an older brother to the group, but he wasn't good at socializing. Judging by the "cliques" that formed during breaks, he wasn't very popular.

Lin Nansheng, on the other hand, was quite well-liked. If there were an election for class monitor, Zhang Anping was confident he would win.

As for the others, like Yu Zecheng, Lu Qiaoshan, Li Ya, Ming Cheng, Qi Siyuan, Qi Peilin, Li Bohan, Sun Dapu, Song Xiao'an, and Zhao Jianzhi, they didn't show anything particularly outstanding at this stage.

Who could have guessed that all of them would become the core middle-management of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics in the future?

As the days passed, the military training transformed the students, and Zhang Anping, who was required to be present every day, gained a deeper understanding of them.

During those nights, Zhang Anping also gave private "remedial lessons" to Xu Zhongyi and Qi Siyuan.

The content he taught Xu Zhongyi focused less on infiltration and more on operations and speculation—the boy picked it up instantly; he was a natural-born wheeler-dealer!

The content he taught Qi Siyuan was mostly operational, and the young master picked it up as if he had installed a cheat code.

However, the two still didn't get along. Qi Siyuan looked down on Xu Zhongyi for his incompetence, and while Xu Zhongyi wanted to curry favor with his brother-in-law, his own skills just weren't up to par.

Eventually, Zhang Anping lost his temper: "If the two of you can’t pretend to be close in front of me, don't bother coming for these extra lessons!"

Qi Siyuan, who had learned so much in just three days, was naturally reluctant to stop, so he immediately acted like they were the best of friends. Xu Zhongyi, however, started acting temperamental, making Qi Siyuan grind his teeth in frustration, though he still had to wear a smile.

Whether it was someone leaking the news or the fact that their "suspicious" behavior had been noticed by others, from the fifth night on, other trainees started showing up to "audit" the class.

By the seventh day, twenty or thirty trainees pooled their money together, euphemistically calling it "tuition," and wanted Zhang Anping to take them all on.

Zhang Anping was at his wit's end—this was meant to be volunteer tutoring, and if they paid him, wouldn't they be digging his grave?

Helpless, he had to open a classroom. Adopting a "take it or leave it" attitude, he taught whatever he felt like from eight to ten every night.

If this were the future, it would be amazing if half the students showed up, but these trainees, who had been lured in by the Bureau’s "Anti-Japanese" banner, all attended Zhang Anping’s free remedial class without exception.

By the third day, many agents from the Bureau started showing up to listen, including the three part-time resident instructors: Wang Tianfeng, Xu Baichuan, and Zheng Yaoxian.

There was no other reason; the content Zhang Anping taught was incredibly rich, and while it involved little practical application, most of it was highly original and ingenious.