Under the moonlight

Right after Jiang Ying hung up the phone, he was called into his boss's office, where the document lay on his desk. He had a premonition, because he had spent several years there and was very familiar with both the embassy and the situation in S country.

"Take a look at this appointment document. Feel free to ask any questions," the director said to Xu Ao with a smile.

Xu Ao didn't answer. He picked up the document, glanced at it, and said directly, "I have no problem. It's just that I need to postpone it by one day. I have some personal matters to take care of."

"Hmm, no problem." The director was so pleased with Xu Ao's quick agreement that he grinned from ear to ear. If he hadn't agreed, he wouldn't have been able to report back to his superiors. Xu Ao was so agreeable that he was willing to delay for a day, and he had that authority, so he didn't procrastinate.

He had just left the office with the documents when he received a call from Huang Meng. He had originally intended to tell her, but he hadn't expected her to react so strongly to the situation in S country. Knowing Huang Meng as he did, he knew that if she knew he was going, she would definitely try to come along. If he went and explained later, he was afraid that, given her temper, she might divorce him.

Xu Ao looked at the documents in his hand, feeling troubled. He bit his lip and frowned, but he couldn't think of a solution that would satisfy both sides. So he simply stuffed the documents into his pocket. Anyway, he still had a week to think about it and he would eventually come up with a solution.

After hanging up the phone, Huang Meng lay in bed tossing and turning for a long time, but she still couldn't let herself get out of her sadness. She buried her head in the pillow and let out a muffled roar, which was both a release of her emotions and a way to vent her helplessness.

That night, she had a dream. She dreamt that she was wandering aimlessly through the streets of S country. There was no one around, and the sky above was gray, without a trace of blue. Smoke filled the air, and she couldn't see the road in front of her at all. She could only grope her way forward with her outstretched hands.

"Is anyone there? Is anyone there?" The street was so empty that she could hear her own echo weakly drifting in the air. Suddenly, she heard the sound of propellers coming from above. She reflexively crouched down, groped her way to the wall beside her, curled up with her hands covering her head, and lay down against the wall.

She prayed silently, but after a while, she heard neither the sound of falling shells nor the terrifying explosions. Hesitantly, she looked up and was surprised to find herself surrounded by a group of people from S country. They had her in the middle, their eyes empty and lifeless, as if they were already dead. Some of them even had large patches of pus on their faces, with worms crawling out of their festering skin. She screamed in fright, and the people seemed to be attracted by her voice. Their empty, lifeless, and deathly gray eyes all looked at her, as if they had received some kind of summons. They stretched out their arms, their expressions becoming ferocious, and it was hard to tell whether they were laughing or crying. They opened their mouths, saying something, lamenting something.

"Ah, ah, help!" She seemed to be shouting out in her dream with all her might, and at the same time, she woke up with a start. She knew it was a dream, but the despair and the oppressive fear of not being able to shout made her feel scared. Fortunately, it was just a dream.

She stared wide-eyed, slowly calming her breathing. After a while, she realized that she had fallen asleep lying flat on her back, her hands resting on her stomach. She remembered hearing that sleeping on your back makes it easy to experience dreams like "sleep paralysis." Although she could scientifically explain her dream, Huang Meng preferred to see it as a hint. Perhaps she shouldn't give up, and perhaps she could still think of ways to help them.

Huang Meng glanced at her phone. It was past 3 a.m. She got up, drank some water, and lay back down, but she felt unusually energetic. Lying in bed, she went through all the news she had heard about S country that day in her mind.

According to Yuri, the mercenaries would soon seal off the city, which would be nothing more than blocking the port and airport. In this way, the people in the city would only be left to die. They did this because no one knew that the plague was caused by them, and other countries thought it was just a natural disaster.

Furthermore, according to Zhao Meng's analysis, with the so-called "patriarch" behind this country as the mastermind, other countries would find it difficult to intervene. After all, S country had only gained independence from their country a few decades ago, and its foundation was unstable, leaving it isolated and helpless.

But what if everyone knew that this plague was deliberately caused by mercenaries? What would their attitude and actions be?

She didn't know that there was no standard answer to this question. She kept tossing and turning until almost 5 a.m. before she finally fell asleep. As soon as her alarm rang at 7:30 a.m., she got up groggily.

She quickly washed up, but the dark circles under her eyes were very noticeable. She quickly applied light makeup, which was barely acceptable, before hurrying out the door.

When she arrived at the company, she was surprised to find that everyone was there unusually early. When Liang Yuanyuan saw Huang Meng come in, she quickly greeted her: "Come on, have breakfast first. I thought you all hadn't eaten since you came so early, so the boss ordered breakfast. Everyone, please work a little harder today."

Huang Meng had no appetite, so she took an egg. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zhao Meng and several colleagues already busy in the conference room. There were many documents spread out on the table, and Zhao Meng was frowning as he spoke.

"Here you go, Huang Meng, these are your tasks for today." Liang Yuanyuan stuffed a large stack of paper documents into Huang Meng's arms. "Can you manage?"

"Oh, yes, definitely." Liang Yuanyuan smiled, glanced at Huang Meng, and turned to leave.