Chapter 739

Chapter 739

Heading Into the Mountains

Despite having stayed up all night, Lin Nannan got up and headed out. On the way, she encountered many familiar people who assumed she, like them, had just woken up. Little did they know she had been up all night and was still busy.

Knowing she doesn't do well when hungry, Lin Nannan stopped by the kitchen before heading into the mountains. There, she found Chef Ma already hard at work, with the smell of food already filling the air. She quickly went over to ask for something to eat, taking some steamed buns and eggs to stave off hunger, along with a pot of water and some spicy pickled vegetables to eat with them.

"Where are you off to?" Chef Ma asked instinctively when he noticed she wasn’t eating there.

"I’m heading into the mountains. It’ll probably take all day. If anyone asks, could you let them know?" Realizing she had forgotten to leave a message and not wanting anyone to worry, she explained to Chef Ma.

Since early risers usually came to the kitchen for meals, Chef Ma was acquainted with them all. It didn’t matter who he told, as long as Yin Xu was informed.

"Alright, take care then!" Chef Ma urged, worriedly pressing more food into her hands. "You have a big appetite, and the mountains will drain your energy. Take extra so you don’t go hungry."

Lin Nannan accepted with a smile.

Not long after she left, Lu Yuan and the others woke up and came for breakfast. When Chef Ma mentioned it casually, it immediately caught their attention.

"Why did Sister-in-law go into the mountains?" Lu Yuan muttered to herself, puzzled.

Zhuang Guohua, sitting beside her, noticed her confusion and asked curiously, "Hadn’t she mentioned it before?"

Lu Yuan shook her head. "No, she’s been so busy, she hardly has time to eat. Why would she go into the mountains... Do you think something’s wrong?"

"Probably not," Zhuang Guohua reassured her. "Chef Ma said your sister-in-law came to get food herself and mentioned she had business in the mountains. I think she went to look for plants we haven’t recorded yet."

Lu Yuan suddenly understood. "You’re right! No wonder something felt off. We’ve been receiving plants from all over the country but forgot about the ones right here."

"Exactly. Your sister-in-law must have remembered that and decided to go. But there are wild animals in the mountains, so it’s risky. We should let someone know and see how they plan to handle it," Zhuang Guohua said thoughtfully.

He had heard from Lu Yuan about Lin Nannan’s skills—how she could take down a grown man—but when it came to wild animals, it was better to be cautious.

"Mr. Hu and the others probably haven’t arrived yet. We’ll tell them when we see them," Lu Yuan nodded.

But before they could say anything, Yin Xu and Mr. Hu had already found out. They had come to the cafeteria to eat, and someone had told them. The two senior figures, who had been chatting and laughing moments before, were immediately stunned.

"This is reckless! Going into the mountains alone without considering the danger!" Mr. Hu was the first to express his anger.

Yin Xu was also upset, but what could he do? He set aside his meal and immediately arranged for people to go into the mountains to search for her...

"She hasn’t been in the mountains for long, so she should be fine. There’s no need to worry, sir," Yin Xu reassured Mr. Hu after making the arrangements.

"I hope so!" Mr. Hu was so worried he lost his appetite.

Lu Yuan, who had been fully confident in her sister-in-law’s abilities, now found her own confidence shaken by Mr. Hu’s concern and also lost her appetite. Even with Zhuang Guohua comforting her and urging her to eat, she didn’t take another bite.

Unaware that her actions had caused such worry, Lin Nannan ventured into the mountains. After all, her skills were well-known, and she had made it clear she would return once her work was done. She had no idea they would go to such lengths, even sending people to search for her.

In the mountains, Lin Nannan moved as swiftly as a mouse falling into a rice jar. Not only did she not attract any wild animals, but she even startled those resting or foraging, sending them scattering in all directions.

The scene was almost comical: Lin Nannan running ahead, while the startled wild animals fled to either side. Anyone witnessing it would have burst out laughing.

Lin Nannan’s presence was truly intimidating!

Having been to these mountains before, Lin Nannan had a good memory and knew exactly what she needed. She headed straight for her destination, inadvertently avoiding the search party sent to find her.

The people searching for her estimated how far she had gone based on the time she entered the mountains, so by the time they realized something was wrong, Lin Nannan was already far ahead of them.

Moreover, there were troops stationed in the area, and the back mountain was an area they used for training and patrols. As a result, many traces left behind were from them, compounded by disturbances from wildlife, which made finding Lin Nannan difficult at first.

Fortunately, this news hadn't gotten back to camp, or else Mr. Hu and the rest would have been terrified.

"What’s going on?" Lin Nannan was fully focused on her own tasks and hadn’t noticed anything unusual until she saw a flock of birds startled into flight not far away. Frowning in puzzlement, she muttered, "Is there some large wild animal around?" she thought.

Only large wild animals could cause such a commotion among the birds.

However, she only murmured this to herself and didn't think much of it.

Since the military had stationed themselves in the area, villagers had stopped coming into the mountains, allowing many good things to grow undisturbed. After discovering several wild fruit trees, Lin Nannan took advantage of both the trees and the fruit.

Of course, she only harvested a portion of the fruit, not stuffing everything into her space—she simply didn’t have the time.

The main reason was that the fruits contained seeds, which provided a backup plan.

Lin Nannan’s path was unpredictable; whatever caught her attention would cause her to change course. As a result, the searchers didn't find her until she had nearly finished her two lunch steamed buns.

"Who’s there?" Hearing movement behind her, Lin Nannan immediately became alert, shouting as she stood up and turned to face the direction of the sound, she demanded.

"Sister-in-law," Chen Jin emerged from the bushes, catching his breath as he said, "Finding you was no easy task!"

"Looking for me?" Recognizing a familiar face, Lin Nannan relaxed her guard. She looked at Chen Jin and asked, "Why are you looking for me?"

"The institute was worried about your safety and sent us to find you. We entered the mountains not long after you left, but you kept veering back and forth—heading east one moment, west the next—and even climbing trees without leaving a trace..." That was why it took them so long to locate her.

Who, after entering the mountains, would climb trees and erase their tracks? Chen Jin’s expression as he looked at Lin Nannan was one of pure frustration.

Lin Nannan wanted to facepalm at his words.

She had climbed the trees simply because she saw fruit and wanted to pick some. Then, noticing the trees were close together, she had playfully leaped from one to the other, completely unaware that people were still searching for her.

Had she known, she certainly wouldn’t have done that.

"I didn’t know you were looking for me. If I had known, I wouldn’t have gone so far," she said apologetically.

Chen Jin and the others were well aware of the importance of her work. Especially since they knew that the people who had previously stayed in the area had disappeared for over two years, it was clear they were involved in important work for the country. So, no one was truly angry with her.