A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

The two men, like startled birds, abruptly separated. Dr. Witt even staggered, his face drained of color, staring in horror at the entrance that was barely covered by an old canvas.

The team leader tried to remain calm, but his tense body and suddenly contracted pupils betrayed his inner horror.

Why is someone here? Who is it?

A corner of the canvas curtain was gently lifted by a slender, pale hand, and the dim light spilled out, illuminating a beautiful face with a calm and serene expression...

It's Mulan!

"Oh, I'm sorry to bother you, I forgot you have a habit of knocking before opening the door..."

Mulan was completely unconcerned about the awkwardness of the two people inside the shed. She even "politely" raised her hand and pretended to knock on the straw shed wall, which was hardly a door.

Of course, a soft haystack couldn't possibly make any decent noise.

Following closely behind Mulan was the young warrior known as Monkey.

Seeing Mulan's actions, a smile spread across the monkey's face. He slightly pursed his lips, puffed out his cheeks, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he subtly squeezed out a few short, clear sounds from deep within his throat:

"Boom, boom, boom."

The onomatopoeia was so lifelike that, in the quiet suburban night, it actually had a certain texture of knocking on a solid wooden door.

"Pfft..." Dr. Witt almost couldn't hold back, but then realized the situation was inappropriate and quickly covered his mouth, his face looking strange.

The team leader's lips twitched uncontrollably as he stared at the absurd scene before him...

A woman who had driven them to the brink of despair was "knocking" on the door of a dilapidated shack, while her men were "voicing" the sounds with their mouths!

"Hehe," Mulan seemed quite satisfied with the effect, lowering her raised hand: "There are skilled ventriloquists in the capital... I met one today, and he truly lives up to his reputation. The comrades from Tianjin are indeed humorous."

The team leader felt a surge of anger rush to his head, but even more so, a profound sense of powerlessness.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the curse that was about to burst out, and squeezed out two words through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse: "Come...in."

"Oh, you forgot to add 'please'... But I'm in a good mood, so I forgive you!"

After Mulan finished speaking, she lifted the canvas, bent down, and walked in. The monkey followed closely behind, glanced warily at the dimly lit environment inside the shed, and then stood like a shadow inside the entrance, blocking most of the light and making the shed feel even more cramped.

However, in order to let the two people in front of him see what Mulan brought, the monkey thoughtfully lit a kerosene lamp.

"You really are... polite, Miss Mulan." The team leader stared at her, almost forcing the words out of his stomach.

"I can't believe we found a place like this."

"Ah, when in Rome, do as the Romans do." Mulan brushed off non-existent dust from her hands, her gaze calmly sweeping over the messy surroundings and the two haggard-looking people, her tone remaining completely unfathomable:

“We’ve always been rule-abiding citizens. But…”

She paused, took two steps forward, and the glow of the kerosene lamp stretched her shadow long, casting it on the rough wooden wall, where it swayed slightly.

"We will follow the rules, but we will just slightly... extend the scope of the rules."

Seeing the two people with dejected eyes, Mulan stopped talking and took out a thick printed copy of the C language technical document from the seemingly inconspicuous briefcase. Without even looking at it, she casually threw it on the bundles of hay scattered on the ground between the two of them.

The papers scattered with a soft "rustling" sound, which was particularly clear in the quiet shed.

"Chat?"

"What's there to talk about? What's there to talk about now! You devil, you've ruined everything..."

"Wait, Jack..."

Dr. Witt suddenly pulled the excited team leader aside, gesturing for him to take a closer look at what Mulan had brought.

“C Language Reference & Examples (IEC Draft)”

"What is this? What do you want to do?"

"What do you want?" Mulan tilted her head slightly, a barely perceptible smile curving her lips, but no smile in her eyes. "Of course, I'm giving you a chance to be... a hero who endures humiliation and bears heavy burdens."

"Hero?" The team leader seemed to have heard the most absurd joke.

Before the other person could continue, Mulan interrupted the leader again, speaking in a nonchalant yet seductive tone:

“You go back to China, no, you don’t need to go back to China, you just need to stand at the crossroads. You don’t need to admit defeat, and you don’t need to make excuses for ‘personal issues’.”

All you need to do is tell your superiors, those who question you, and the reporters a completely new story: Everything—from questioning Jin Zhen's lineage to the fierce clashes with the Chinese delegation, even the later "unpleasant" episodes…—was a carefully designed and orchestrated "ruse" by you.

“When I was in China, I heard about this kind of scheme involving self-harm!” Dr. Witt interjected upon hearing this.

But this only earned him a glare from the team leader.

"Yes! Not bad, but your understanding is only superficial, just like the knowledge you teach our children!"

Mulan glared at Dr. Witt, and only after he shrank back into a tiny form did she turn to the team leader, Jack, and begin to reintroduce him:

"This is an ancient Eastern strategy. By proactively accepting losses, suffering humiliation, and even sacrificing a certain amount of reputation, one lowers the enemy's guard in exchange for the opportunity to get closer to the core objective and obtain key intelligence. The goal is to ultimately achieve a more profound strategic objective."

Mulan pointed to the documents on the haystack: "And this is your 'core objective.' You 'did not hesitate' to put yourself and Dr. Witt in a scandalous vortex, subjecting them to immense pressure, and ultimately 'successfully' used the chaos and the other party's 'triumph' to reach the core members of the Chinese delegation and 'maneuvered' to obtain this complete compilation of C language technical references and examples, which is far more in-depth than the draft they presented at the conference."

The team leader was completely stunned, his brain racing to process this utterly subversive script.

Mulan continued to paint a portrait of him as a "hero": "You can tell them that you have long recognized China's potential for breakthroughs in system programming languages, but conventional methods cannot access its core."

So you turned the tables on him, using Dr. Witt's past relationship as a pretext to deliberately provoke a conflict and push the situation to an extreme.

You anticipated that the other party would try to put pressure on you by exposing your 'weaknesses' in their counterattack, and you bravely endured it all.

Ultimately, at the moment when the enemy thought they had won a great victory and were least vigilant, you completed this crucial intelligence exchange through secret channels.

Everything you've done is for the United States' leading position in the computer age. The stigma you bear is a soldier's medal.

Mulan paused, admiring for a moment the renewed light in the leader's eyes.

"Does this script, rather than a pathetic loser's ending, better reflect the kind of 'chivalry' you currently champion—the willingness to walk the edge of darkness for a noble purpose?"

"Like Darth Vader from Star Wars, which young people love to watch these days? He may outwardly submit to darkness, but perhaps harbor a more complex plan in his heart?"

The team leader's breathing became heavy.

This script is too bold, too outrageous, but...

In dire circumstances, it exudes a devilish allure.

"No!"

"Hmm?" Mulan looked up at Dr. Witt.

Dr. Witt shrank back:

"I just want to say that the knight who walks in the darkness is a bat man!"

……

"Doctor, your jokes aren't funny at all!"