Operation Brief Case - Part 2

Mobilization:

Another night, and another meeting. But this time the prospective patrollers were not assembled in An Jing's room but in the large common room of the dorm. The ghostly light of the projector played an image of the statuesque and imposing Li Hua on the wall, while the girls sat on the floor and listened intently.

"And that's how you do it," said the steely voice of Li Hua, concluding her presentation. "Remember, girls. Catching the perp is important, but so is protecting yourself and not breaking the law while you do it."

The teenagers nodded along, unwilling to contradict the CLO of the Wu Long group.

"Are there any questions?" Li Hua asked the assembled students. None answered her. Li Hua's remorseless gaze scanned them one by one as if probing them for their secret sins. When she was satisfied of their truthfulness, she said, "All right. Be careful on the patrol."

Then her eyes turned to An Jing, who was sitting in the middle of the front row. "Jingjing," Li Hua said, "Take care."

An Jing nodded knowingly and replied, "I will, Er-jie. Don't worry."

With that, the screen turned black, and the girls let out a collective sigh of relief as if they had just finished military service under a particularly ruthless drill sergeant.

An Jing got up and walked to the front. "All right. Now that legal training is done, we move on to the next step. Teams!"

The girls started murmuring excitedly among themselves.

"There are going to be three teams," An Jing continued. "Team 1 is in charge of patrolling. I will personally lead the patrols each night. Mei Lin will prepare the patrol routes and assign duties to everyone."

Everyone looked at Mei Lin and clapped appreciatively.

"Team 2 is in charge of..." An Jing pointed her fingers at the large white cloth-covered object sitting on a table at the far end of the room. Sun XiaoXiao grabbed the end of the sheet and pulled it up with a dramatic flair as An Jing announced, "The Drone."

The students let out a collective gasp upon seeing the sleek and impressive piece of technology, and the excitement grew to a new heights.

"The drone, Dragonfly-X, is a gift from the Wu Long Group's CTO. Professor Li's youngest sister."

An Jing looked at her subjects, who were still mesmerized by the drone, and clapped hard to get back their attention.

"Alright. Alright. It's cool, I know. But let's focus on the problem for now. Team 2 will be led by XiaoXiao. And only engineering students, or girls who are good with machines, are allowed on Team 2."

This reveal led to an outbreak of disgruntled murmurs among some sections of the student body.

"Because, if the drone gets damaged, all of us will be paying off that debt for the rest of our lives."

That unsubtle threat quickly strangled the burgeoning discontent.

"Coming back to the teams. Team 3 is a special one. You all know how much I like our university cafeteria food."

A groan of despair passed around the room.

"An Jing. Please don't make us eat cafeteria food," one of the girls begged dramatically.

"Only you like that food, Jingjing. Having to eat it every day is so terrible," another girl complained.

An Jing looked offended by this violent criticism of cafeteria food but decided to let it pass for now.

"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted... You all know how much I like our cafeteria food. But, since the patrols are a special occasion, there have been other arrangements."

A wave of relief passed over the assembled girls.

"Na-jie. Professor Li's third sister, and CFO of the Wu Long group, has promised us free food from one of their 5-star restaurants every night. And everyone..."

A communal cheer erupted from among the students.

"And everyone in the dorm can have it, not just the people on patrol."

The cheers only increased in intensity until An Jing had to quiet everyone down lest they wake the entire campus.

"And Team 3's job is collecting and distributing the food once it's here. And Chen Yi is in charge of Team 3."

The girls gave Chen Yi a loud clap and adoring looks, already hatching schemes on how to make her part with extra food.

"To sum up, Team 1 is patrols, Team 2 is drone, and Team 3 is food."

Just as An Jing was about to wrap up, Mei Lin whispered, "Jingjing, the hoodies."

"Ahh, the hoodies. Thanks for reminding me, Linlin."

An Jing walked up to a box that was placed in another corner of the room and took out a red hoodie. She put it on as she returned to the center.

"This, is a hoodie from..." An Jing paused for dramatic effect; "The top model," a wave of excitement passed through the crowd; "The goddess," the air was now electric with anticipation; "The CBO of the Wu Long group," it had now reached fever pitch; "Li Jing, herself." And the world erupted in a cacophony of cheers and screaming.

The commotion at the reveal of the drone and food was nothing compared to what happened now.

The frenzy swelled into an uncontrollable tsunami when XiaoXiao, after reading the label on the hoodie, gasped and said, "It's an authentic Leizu. It feels so soft and sturdy at the same time."

The girls would not quiet down until the hoodies were distributed.

"Jie, can we keep this?" A small girl in the back asked hopefully, clutching her hoodie like a precious treasure.

"Yes, yes. It's all yours. Oh, and about the hoodie, Team 1 should wear it compulsorily while out on patrols so that we can all quickly identify each other. It's not compulsory for the other teams.

"I'll wear it anyway," said Sun XiaoXiao.

"Me too," another girl offered.

Before long everyone had agreed upon the dress code.

"All right, all right. Getting back to reality. Does anyone have any questions?"

The small girl clutching the hoodie slowly raised her hands and spoke up, "Ummm..., what's the ...ummm... name for operation?"

"What?"

"I think she is asking for the name of this operation," Mei Lin said helpfully.

The girl nodded.

"Hmmm...well, does anyone have any ideas?" An Jing asked the assembly.

"How about Operation Underwear?" Chen Yi suggested immediately.

"That's disgusting, Lao-Yi," XiaoXiao said, cutting down the idea ruthlessly. "It sounds like we are the ones who are about to steal underwear."

"Anything else other than Operation Underwear?"

"How about Operation Brief Case?" someone in the crowd yelled out.

"Hmmm..." An Jing contemplated the idea for a second. "That's a good one. We will stick with it. Operation Brief Case is a go."

The girls all clapped happily.

"All right. Before we divide everyone into teams, there is something I need to say."

Everyone straightened up and paid their full attention to An Jing.

"I want everyone to know that this isn't a game. We are here for a very specific reason. To get our dignity back. If anyone has doubts about this, now is the time to leave."

No one moved.

"Good. Now, once we start the patrols, I don't want to hear any complaints. I don't want to see anyone harassing Mei Lin to change their patrol route. I don't want anyone treating the drone like a toy. And I definitely don't want to hear any arguments about food. Everyone will have a specific job, and they will do it perfectly and let others handle the rest."

An Jing scanned the crowd. All were intently listening to her every word.

"And most importantly, I don't want anyone to be a hero. We are here to solve a problem, not create more victims. If you see the thief when out on patrol, you quickly alert Team 2 using your earpiece. Who will then use the drone to track him. Never, and I repeat, never, ever, engage him. If he comes at you, just run away. I will deal with the perp myself. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Boss!" the girls affirmed unequivocally.

Calm before the storm:

Operation Brief Case started the very next day. But, for a week there was no sign of the thief. Perhaps the patrols had scared him away, or maybe he was just biding his time. Whatever his intentions, the girls had a week of peace and unmolested underpants.

The patrols would start every evening at seven. Three or four girls, under the leadership of An Jing, would walk around the perimeter of the dorm, wearing their Leizu designer hoodies, while keeping an eye out for the thief and other malcontents, such as the occupants of the boys' dorm who would come around to watch the spectacle and tease the girls.

The drone was an ever-present but mostly invisible partner. It was operated by XiaoXiao and her team from a ground-floor room. Due to its infrared cameras and its whisper-quiet engines, it could see and track anything it set its gaze upon. Until now it had mostly captured footage of small rodents scurrying around, busy with their own lives.

Strictly at nine, the food trucks would arrive. Chen Yi—who had grown slightly more plump during the week—and her team would help unload them and distribute the food cooked by some of the best chefs in the world. The girls made a point of eating the luxurious meal in full view of the boys, and it had the desired effect of driving their opponents into jealous despair.

After dinner, the second group of girls would take over the patrol and carry on the same routine until eleven. An Jing would spend an hour with each patrol team and watched over the dorm alone from eleven to midnight.

But the real stars of the show were Professor Li Wei and his wife, An Mei.

Li Wei did not interfere with An Jing's plans, but he took his job as faculty mentor quite seriously. He would arrive every evening at seven and stay until eleven in one of the downstairs rooms. He would even attend the patrol meetings, mostly as moral support. And always accompanying him would be his dear wife, An Mei, who just wanted to keep him company during the lonely nights.

People around the campus had seen An Mei in person many times; she often came there to meet Li Wei or hang out with him. But the dorm patrol gave the girls a unique opportunity to get autographs from the famous novelist. On the first day of patrol, An Mei's fans had eagerly crowded her and Li Wei with their first edition copies of Blossoms in Rain, until An Jing made them all stand in a line and get them signed one by one.

The quiet routine of the couple became somewhat of a minor legend around the dorm. An Mei and Li Wei would spend most of their time together in the room, both working on their respective projects while snuggling against each other. They would have their dinners together, often picking what their partner liked so that they could share it with each other.

Their post-dinner walks were the best part. The girls looking down from the balcony would swoon whenever An Mei tightened Li Wei's scarf to keep him warm, and Li Wei made sure that An Mei's woolen beanie fully covered her ears. Then they would walk hand in hand, with An Mei usually leaning against Li Wei, happily engulfed in their own world of private conversation and inside jokes.

But this peaceful Eden filled with love, warmth, and good food would not last. A wild animal might turn tail and run from the campfire, but when the campers are dozy after a full belly and pleasant company, its primal urges will take over, and it will come seeking its prey.

*     *     *

Glossary:

Lao+Yi = It literally means old Yi. (Lao + Given name) is a term that can be used among friends, especially by a younger friend towards an older one.

Leizu = Legendary Chinese empress and wife of the mythical Yellow Emperor. She is credited with the discovery of silk worm farming. Here Leizu is a designer brand produced by a subsidiary of the Wu Long group.