Although the soldiers had arrived at Shi Xiaolei restaurant after nightfall and used the back door where few people passed, this didn't mean their appearance went completely unnoticed.
After all, they had come in military vehicles and more than one at that.
"Oh dear, what can be done about this?"
Old Liu, who ran the shop next door and lived not far away had gone out to his balcony to smoke and get some fresh air when he happened to witness what had just occurred at the back door of Shi Xiaolei restaurant.
Due to their usual friendship, Old Liu couldn't help but start worrying about Shi Xiaolei.
"What do you mean 'what can be done'?!"
Compared to Old Liu, his wife clearly had different thoughts.
She grabbed Old Liu ear and dragged him back into the house with fierce determination, nagging as she pulled: "You blockhead, I told you last time to have less to do with him. You wouldn't listen, even said I was short-sighted despite my long hair, and insisted on being buddy-buddy with him. Now look what's happened—soldiers are showing up at his door!"
"That's not..."
"What do you mean 'that's not'? Look at everyone else on this street—who else is like him? Tony Stark is what kind of person? If he didn't have something special about him, if he were just a restaurant owner, could he possibly know Stark? I said long ago that this Shi fellow isn't someone who keeps to himself—he definitely has plenty of secrets he can't let people know about."
"The way you talk, does that mean I also have secrets I can't let people know about?"
Having finally broken free and rubbing his bright red ear, Old Liu continued to argue: "Last time when I went to Xiaolei place, I also met Stark and had a pretty good chat with him. In fact, the day before yesterday he even sent me a message asking what brand that liquor we drank together was."
"So you're pretty proud of knowing Stark, aren't you?"
Another slap came flying, and fortunately it was cold weather so Old Liu was wearing thick clothes or else there would definitely be a bright red handprint on his thigh.
"No, why are you being so unreasonable? When was I ever proud? Let's stick to the facts—what I meant was..."
"Reasonable? Ha!"
Giving her husband a big eye roll, Old Liu wife raised her eyebrows: "I haven't even asked you about that young girl from a few days ago. Now I've found the perfect excuse—so you learned it from Stark!"
"Don't talk nonsense. I already told you, that's the niece of a brother from back home. She came here to study abroad and doesn't know anyone, so I helped her arrange a place to live. What's so strange about that?"
"Helping her find a place is one thing, but did you need to help pay her rent too?"
"I only helped pay the first month's rent, okay? I never said I'd keep helping her pay. The girl just arrived and hasn't found work-study opportunities yet, so money tight. What's wrong with helping out? After all, her father calls me brother—can't let that be for nothing."
Actually knowing that Old Liu wasn't that type of person—not someone who would fool around with other women—she was deliberately picking a fight now just to distract Old Liu attention and prevent him from constantly worrying about Shi Xiaolei being taken away by the soldiers.
Truth be told, Old Liu wife wasn't a bad person and couldn't even be called opportunistic.
That's right—all those complaints about Shi Xiaolei just now were intentional on her part.
In reality, not a single sentence represented her true feelings.
After all, as Old Liu wife who often helped out at the shop and saw Shi Xiaolei regularly, over time she actually understood quite well what kind of person Shi Xiaolei was and had a certain degree of understanding of his character.
The reason she deliberately spoke ill of Shi Xiaolei was purely out of protection for her own husband.
Whatever might happen to Shi Xiaolei was beyond Old Liu's wife concern.
In her heart, there was only one thought: she absolutely had to hold back her husband and prevent him from getting involved, lest he also get dragged into trouble.
As an ordinary immigrant family without background or connections, honestly speaking, Old Liu wife actions were completely understandable.
The wealthy and powerful Tony Stark was no ordinary person and after hearing about this incident, his attitude was completely different from Old Liu family.
After receiving 2B phone call, Stark, who was still recovering in Los Angeles, immediately went to his underground laboratory: "Jarvis, pull up the traffic surveillance footage from around Rock restaurant."
"At your service, Sir."
The projector flickered to life, and after a few seconds, a nine-panel grid appeared on the white screen.
After scanning it once and finding that the top-left panel had the best angle, he pointed at it and dragged it out separately, then spread his fingers to enlarge it several times to fill the screen.
Looking at the footage, Stark continued his instructions: "Help me check which unit these vehicles belong to."
"Yes."
Although the vehicles belonged to the military and their registration data was locked, for Jarvis—who was capable of hacking into flying aircraft carriers—this firewall was still far too weak.
It took only three seconds for Jarvis to find all the detailed information about these vehicles.
"This squad belongs to Hamilton Military Base. Based on their most recent transfer report, we can determine their current direct superior."
While answering Stark previous question, Jarvis posted a photo on the projection screen: "Thaddeus Ross, current Air Force Lieutenant General, director of the XXX Military Laboratory. The ongoing projects within that laboratory are as follows..."
"Thaddeus Ross?"
As if he had heard this name before and looking at the photo which also seemed familiar, while searching through his memories Stark clicked on the project name directory that Jarvis had listed.
Originally, he just wanted to see if there were any projects he was familiar with, hoping to find clues to confirm the general identity.
But upon looking, Stark couldn't help but show a surprised and astonished expression.
"Super Soldier Program? Wasn't this project shelved and archived?"
As the son of Howard Stark, Tony remembered very clearly the project that his father had personally participated in leading and was most proud of.
"According to previous intelligence, yes."
After a pause, Jarvis continued: "But judging from these current materials, this project was only moved underground and not completely terminated."
"..."
With some confusion and some inexplicable unease, Tony clicked on the files related to the 'Super Soldier Program'.
Upon further examination...
"I see."
General Ross orders weren't backed up here, but through analysis of the research materials Tony Stark immediately guessed the whole story—the materials not only prominently mentioned the pharmaceuticals that Shi Xiaolei had provided, but also somehow obtained footage of Shi Xiaolei battle with the Hulk.
Through analysis of this footage, the military had not only confirmed Shi Xiaolei identity but had also thoroughly investigated his background, address, family environment, and other intelligence.
At the end of the file, there was one more sentence.
Whether it was a suggestion from the researchers or something Ross himself had written, this sentence conveyed one meaning: they could make a move on Shi Xiaolei, using him as a breakthrough point to continue research on the 'Super Soldier Program'.
(T/N: Like the story fellow daoist?you can read 20 chapters ahead on my P@treon [[email protected]/DaoistRongyi] Thanks for your support! 😊)