Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 94: Minor Tactics

Chapter 94: Chapter 94: Minor Tactics

The next day, Gu Fan worked up the nerve to approach Professor Luo, asking to add another member to the team. This didn’t sit well with Professor Luo, who found Gu Fan to be lacking understanding. After all, this coming expedition was sure to be arduous and it wasn’t akin to a friendly group heading out on a vacation.

Gu Fan then explained that Su Hui was a police officer who had been trained in wilderness survival, and could protect everyone. She would be very useful.

Upon hearing this, Professor Luo gave his approval after some thought. After all, they didn’t know what they might encounter in the field. Having a policeman who knew how to survive in the wilderness would indeed make things much more reassuring.

Seeing that Professor Luo agreed so easily, Gu Fan breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that if Professor Luo steadfastly refused, he would have no way to explain it to Su Hui. Then Su Hui would lose her temper, lash out at people, and life would become unbearable for Gu Fan.

Gu Fan also knew that if he wanted to add more members, they’d have to demonstrate their value. So, what abilities did Lu Yi and Jie possess, and what qualities could convince Professor Luo to enlist them in his team?

Full of eagerness, Gu Fan relayed the situation to Lu Yi and asked him what he could contribute, however minor it might be, just to give Professor Luo some pretext for his acceptance.

Lu Yi affirmed that this wasn’t an issue at all, and he made a move to reach out to his connections.

This left Gu Fan rather exasperated, wondering to himself: "Who could Lu Yi possibly be contacting? Is it time for him to reveal some hidden talents?"

As it turns out, Lu Yi has a relative who runs a travel agency in New Night City. He often led tourists to desolate places in the wilderness and thus had an intimate knowledge of the geography of these wild areas. For a successful excavation trip, such a guide was indispensable.

Upon Professor Luo’s meeting with Lu Yi, and after a brief explanation of his intended contribution, Professor Luo also nodded in agreement.

Truth be told, the intended excavating sites were all in unfamiliar territories. Professor Luo’s plan indeed called for a competent guide. He had originally planned to find a guide upon arriving at the site, but that would be unreliable - and if no suitable guide could be found after a long search, wouldn’t that waste time? This decision, questionable on Professor Luo’s part, wasn’t going to inspire confidence in the team.

But now, learning that Lu Yi could find a suitable guide was exactly what Professor Luo needed. He happily agreed to Lu Yi joining the team and placed high expectations on him.

Furthermore, Lu Yi spent that time showering compliments on Professor Luo, talking about his vast knowledge and how he had mentored so many outstanding talents, demonstrating a great deal of respect for him. This made Professor Luo extremely pleased.

Next was Jie’s turn. Gu Fan hoped that an extra friend could lend additional strength to the team, but what could Jie offer that would convince Professor Luo to accept him into the team?

Surprisingly, Jie had something to offer - his brother Hai had been stationed in the wilderness during his military service. Although Hai was now discharged, he still kept in touch with his comrades who remain stationed there.

Using Hai’s connections, Jie could contact these soldiers in case of any emergencies, considerably increasing their chances for rescue.

This was undoubtedly a safety measure, and as Professor Luo prioritized safety, he agreed to have Jie on the team. No one could predict what exactly they would encounter in the places they were going.

From the conversations with Professor Luo, it was clear that the majority of the wilderness was steeped in desolation - even areas devoid of humans. Some places were often frequented by wild animals and there were many dangerous locales whose specifics were unknown. It was for these reasons that Professor Luo agreed to have Lu Yi join the team.

No matter how one looked at it, this was a satisfying outcome for Gu Fan - everyone could be included in the team. With unity and everyone’s effort, all members were ready to step into the fray. Each and every person by Gu Fan’s side was his steadfast supporter.

Since the team and their resources were all set, they agreed to embark in two days’ time. As excited and anxious as Gu Fan was for the upcoming adventure and the potential troubles and challenges that might arise, he was prepared mentally.

However, Professor Luo reminded Gu Fan repeatedly that this was an archaeological expedition with inherent dangers and uncertainties; it wasn’t a pleasure trip and should not be taken lightly. He hoped that Gu Fan would give it more thought.

But when Gu Fan remained steadfast in his decision to join Professor Luo on the expedition without much thought, it left Professor Luo puzzled. He didn’t believe his old aging eyes were fooled by Gu Fan’s claim to want to contribute to archeological research efforts for their country, to want to do something meaningful.

Professor Luo had a hunch that Gu Fan was concealing a secret, but he didn’t want to pry. In fact, he was rather intrigued to find out what Gu Fan intended to do.

Before setting off, there was one matter Gu Fan needed to take care of - quitting his job at the restaurant. So, he went off to inform Leng Le, his boss at the restaurant.

When Leng Le found out that Gu Fan was resigning, he was shocked for a while before quickly asking, "Why would you quit when things are going so well? Are you complaining about the salary I offer? Conscience, man! I offer the best treatment in the field. You can’t be this kind of person."

Feeling this was a big misunderstanding, Gu Fan quickly explained, "Sister Leng, don’t overthink it. I need to leave for a while, and since I don’t know when I’ll be back and it wouldn’t be proper to ask for a leave, so..."

After hearing these words, Leng Le’s eyebrows furrowed as he pondered, "What does he mean, how long is he going to be away, what is he up to? Could it be that he’s planning to make a move?"

On the surface, Leng Le didn’t betray any emotions, instead putting on a disappointed look, "Since I cannot keep you here, I have no choice but to let you go. But you just ran over today saying you’re quitting. I don’t even know where to find someone else to cover for your work. Have some professional decency, see your duties through to the end. How about you finish off with work today?"

"Sure, absolutely." Gu Fan always felt Leng Le was kind to him, and since he had finished preparing everything, it was no big deal to put in a day’s work for Leng Le. Consider it a show of gratitude for his kindness during this time.

However, Leng Le had different thoughts. He kept Gu Fan around for an extra day so he could dig through his backpack while he was working, but he still couldn’t find the map.

This caused Leng Le to become anxious. He was sure Gu Fan was about to make a move, but the problem was that he had yet to obtain the map and key from Gu Fan. With this development, Leng Le would be unable to keep pace with Gu Fan.

According to Leng Le’s original plan, when the time was right, he would split into two groups: one to snatch the map from Gu Fan, and the other to grab the key from Lu Yi, then head straight to the final target.

Well, now that Gu Fan was about to act, Leng Le has made no progress at all. This fact made him feel like he was losing face as he had not managed to handle a young man.

"No, no, I need to find a way to keep this boy in my control." Leng Le wanted to keep Gu Fan around for another day to figure out how to deal with him. After some thinking, he finally came up with a foolproof measure.

First, Leng Le had someone check out the brand of mobile phone Gu Fan was using, then claimed his own phone was out of power, the charger forgotten, and wanted to see if Gu Fan’s charger was the same.

Gu Fan was taken aback for a moment, thinking the brand of phone Leng Le was using was high-end much like his own. Suddenly, the quality of Leng Le’s phone seemed to have dropped a notch.

Of course, Gu Fan did not know that for Leng Le, getting a similar phone to his own was a piece of cake.

Then, Leng Le took Gu Fan’s phone under the guise of comparing models, and proceeded to lecture about phone specifications, making up a lot of technical knowledge just to impress Gu Fan.

Following Leng Le’s planning, someone came over and called Gu Fan to work. Without giving it a second thought, Gu Fan left to work. Being naive and with Leng Le’s acting skills, Gu Fan was quickly deceived. By the time he got his phone back from Leng Le, he had no idea that a tracker had been installed.

"Kid, don’t think you can escape my control. We’re not finished yet." Leng Le laughed devilishly to himself when handing the phone back to Gu Fan.

When the day ended, Gu Fan packed up his things and bid Leng Le goodbye. He lamented that he was leaving the shop at a time when they needed staff the most and promised to continue working for Leng Le when he returned.

Leng Le shrugged it off as a small matter. Anyway, he had never expected the restaurant to make money. It was just a cover for him, so even if it went bankrupt, it made no difference. Plus, it looked like Gu Fan was about to make a major move so he had no intention of running the restaurant anymore. He also had to rush back to mobilize all the people he could. A big operation was about to begin.

However, Leng Le did not consider that stopping the restaurant’s operations would turn out to be a key factor in revealing his identity in the future. He consistently underestimated Gu Fan, even letting Gu Fan turn the tables on him.

When Gu Fan collected his final day’s salary, rode his bicycle home full of ambition and saw Su Hui, Lin Xi, Lu Yi, Jie all busy preparing in his house, he couldn’t help but feel heartwarmed.

Seeing Lu Yi drenched in sweat from all the work, she couldn’t help but remark, "Oh my god, you’re finally back. Weren’t you supposed to go to the restaurant for a bit and then come help? Were you slacking off?"

"Not at all, I just worked an extra day, earned a bit more for our upcoming journey." Having said this, Gu Fan laughed and then went to help out.

Concerned about potential issues before they set off, Gu Fan gathered everyone to stay under the same roof for the night for safety’s sake. They planned to do the same the following night, and then set off early the day after.