After quickly finishing the task at hand, Lin Fan's nagging anxiety finally dissipated. She stood up, sighed, and said, "I know you're special..."
She wanted to say "special forces," but swallowed the words back. Even though no one was around, she still felt it was inappropriate to blurt out such sensitive words. After a pause, she changed the subject.
"Since you've done a thorough investigation, you should be aware of my current living conditions. If I really had the ability you described, I wouldn't be in this situation now. At least I should know it myself, right?"
John Woo noticed Lin Fan's caution and admired her sense of confidentiality. Seeing that Lin Fan was ready to talk openly, he also responded frankly.
"I believe Ms. Lin did not deliberately conceal her abilities. So there is a possibility that Ms. Lin herself has not discovered her abilities."
"You may not know that some abilities are not always discoverable right from the start. Some people may show differences when they are very young, while many others only discover their abnormalities when they are in their thirties, forties, or even fifties or sixties."
"Some people's abilities may be very conspicuous, even earth-shattering, while others' abilities are very subtle, hardly noticeable, and may go undiscovered throughout their lives. Some abilities are quite useful, while others are relatively useless. These all require specific judgment."
"Moreover, there have been several cases before where people themselves were unable to detect the abnormality when it first appeared. Later, because the ability itself was extremely dangerous, there were incidents of people getting out of control and injuring or even killing people." John Woo explained patiently.
"The plane incident was indeed a cause for our attention. We certainly hope to find such a strong colleague to join us and increase our force. But it is also to prevent unexpected situations from getting out of control due to our own failure to discover them in time."
"Judging from the plane incident, you possess at least two abilities: the ability to fly and immense strength. You said you were unaware of them, which means you were unconscious and uncontrollable when your abilities erupted."
"We've estimated that to lift a fallen fighter jet and gently lower it to the ground, a lifting force of at least 50 tons is required. Although the last incident resulted in a positive outcome, can you imagine what would happen if at least 50 tons of force got out of control?"
"Not to mention the added ability of flight. Uncontrollable supernatural abilities are often more dangerous. We hope to confirm your situation and protect the lives of you and those around you."
Lin Fan hadn't expected the final mention of safety. It wasn't just about her safety, it was about others as well. She pondered for a moment, then said, "Even though you say that, I still don't think I have any special abilities. I live a very regular life, staying home all the time and rarely even leaving the house. If there were any anomalies, it's impossible for me to not notice them."
"Although I also want to be a useful person to society, my body won't allow it. Sometimes I even get out of breath when climbing stairs. It's hard to carry a bag of rice upstairs, let alone get it delivered by a courier, let alone put it on a plane. I don't know why you found me. I think you have the wrong person."
"Then Ms. Lin, could you please help me confirm a few questions?" Wu Yusen had known Lin Fan's caution since the first day he met her, and he was not discouraged.
"you say."
"About a week ago, you came here at noon, probably to feed the cats. But you usually go home after half an hour, but this day, a long time has passed and you haven't come out yet. You only appeared after dark. Can I know what's going on?"
"That day..." Lin Fan thought for a moment. She remembered that she came home late that day. "I was feeding the cat, but I don't remember much afterwards. Later I found myself lying in the woods. It was already dark. I think I might have had heatstroke."
John Woo discovered the key point: "You mean you have a period of amnesia?"
"right."
"Isn't this an abnormal situation? Didn't it catch your attention?" Anyone would find it strange to have lost memory for such a long time, right?
"It's not an abnormal condition. The medicines I took before had great side effects, which caused my memory to be not very good now. I always forget things. It's normal to not remember what I did for a few days." Lin Fan explained.
Although she has stopped taking the medication for a long time, the aftereffects obviously have not disappeared. This is also the reason why she cannot recover well and her memory is too poor.
"You mean that loss of memory happens often?" John Woo felt that the matter was more serious than he had imagined.
"I wouldn't say it's often, but it happens from time to time." Lin Fan thought for a moment and replied, "For example, I can't remember what I did the day before yesterday."
"I remember the noon of the day you mentioned, but I really can't remember much about the rest of the day. When I woke up, I was lying in a haystack. I thought I had heatstroke, so I didn't think much of it."
"Are you used to the state of having no memory and don't care about it?" John Woo was puzzled.
Lin Fan pulled the corners of his mouth together, like a wry smile. "At first, I was panicked and extremely anxious. You probably know that I can't be anxious in my situation. I went through a very bad period, but then I realized it had no impact on my life. Worrying about it would only make me more miserable, so I just let it go."
Lin Fan's understatement seemed like he was telling someone else's story.
"The clothes you wore that day had holes all over the back. What were you thinking?" John Woo heard that Lin Fan didn't care about him, so he asked more gently.
"It got caught on a branch, I guess. After all, there are a lot of branches in this small wood. I've been wearing that dress for years, so it's old and worn out. There were some holes in the corners, but I thought it wouldn't be a problem so I kept wearing it and threw it away after it got scratched."
Lin Fan gestured to Wu Yusen to look at the place in the woods where she fainted, and there were indeed many branches growing across the area.
"Are you suspecting I tried to hold the plane while I was unconscious?" Lin Fan wasn't stupid. "I remember there's a camera in the woods. Shouldn't it have captured it?"
She looked around and found a camera right at the entrance to the woods, facing the tree-lined path, which should be able to capture everything clearly.
John Woo followed his instructions, took a look, and said, "That's bad. Nothing was captured."
"Just because the surveillance didn't capture me, you suspect me? Isn't that a bit far-fetched?"
"If it was simply because the surveillance didn't capture you, we definitely wouldn't have come looking for you. We reviewed all the surveillance within a five-mile radius, and everyone was under surveillance. You were the only one who disappeared for several hours, and we couldn't find any trace. That's why you're the biggest suspect."
"And if you fainted from heatstroke, that's a serious symptom. If you don't go to the hospital for treatment, it will cause serious damage. It's impossible to faint for several hours and then wake up fine. Think about it, do you feel weak after waking up?"
No.
Lin Fan clearly remembered that he didn't feel anything special from that day on, except for a lot of mosquito bites.
"That doesn't prove anything." She still shook her head.
"When you emerged from among tens of thousands of clues, I knew it was you," Wu Yusen added. "After meeting you, I'm even more certain it's you."
"Intuition?" Lin Fan frowned. "Aren't you a scientific research unit?"
"Not entirely. Half of it is non-scientific research." Wu Yusen laughed. "Actually, my intuition is pretty accurate."
Lin Fan then remembered the special scope of the Special Affairs Office. They were already talking about intuition, so what else could they talk about?
"Ms. Lin, would you consider taking a test?" Wu Yusen suggested, "You don't believe what I say, and I can't agree with what you say. Why not take a test? After scientific identification, it will be clear whether it exists naturally or not."
"Is it really scientific?" This person had just reminded her what a special unit the Special Affairs Office was.
"There are scientific and non-scientific testing methods, but the results are definitely scientific," Wu Yusen said confidently. "Go and test it. If it's not, I promise to return you intact. And I'll also pay you a generous compensation."
"If the test shows yes, that's even better. I know your financial situation is very bad right now, and you don't have the ability to support yourself. If you join our company, the treatment and benefits will be incomparable to ordinary companies."
John Woo was trying hard to persuade them, not noticing someone saw them talking at the entrance of the woods and walked over.
"Let me first tell you about our entry-level employee benefits. New employees will be divided into grades based on their abilities, with a minimum base salary of 20,000 yuan per month."
Wu Yusen noticed someone entering his security zone, but since what he said next wasn't confidential, he didn't stop. Lin Fan, however, was blocked from view by Wu Yusen and didn't see anything.
"We work five days a week and have two days off, and we take breaks on national holidays. Working hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., a total of six hours a day. These hours are not fixed and can be adjusted flexibly. Working earlier or later depends on the specific nature of the work."
"Overtime work can be adjusted for time off or compensated with pay. Compensation is based on the normal hourly wage for weekdays, double the wage for weekends, and triple the wage for national holidays. Paid annual leave is 20 days per year, with an additional five days every three years. Family leave, marriage leave, and bereavement leave are all covered by national regulations. This can be accumulated over the years, and pay can be adjusted."
"The company has a cafeteria, and all three meals and a midnight snack are free. If you don't eat in the cafeteria, you get a meal allowance of 50 to 70 yuan per meal. There are dormitories, single rooms with separate kitchens and bathrooms, and the environment is good. If you don't live there, you get a housing allowance of 8,000 yuan per month."
"The dormitory has a shuttle bus. If you don't need it, you get a 6,000 yuan monthly bus allowance. From June to September, there's a high temperature subsidy and a cooling subsidy, totaling 5,000 yuan per month. From November to February, there's a low temperature subsidy and a heating subsidy, totaling 5,000 yuan per month."
"There's a monthly clothing allowance of 20,000 yuan, a monthly bathing and hairdressing allowance of 5,000 yuan, and other comprehensive allowances of 8,000 yuan per month. There's also a monthly performance bonus, plus a year-end bonus. The specific amounts of these two are calculated based on your performance. Adding it all up, an annual salary of one million yuan is definitely out of the question."
"If you get sick while working, you'll receive additional nutritional allowances. If you die in an accident, you'll receive generous funeral allowances. If a family member gets sick, you'll receive medical subsidies. If a family member dies, you'll receive a pension. If you retire or transfer, you'll receive resettlement allowances. If you're on business, you'll receive travel allowances. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"