Guests who come to offer birthday felicitations are expected to arrive before the meal is served, as at least a show of respect to the host.
To arrive after the banquet has ended and then require the very household to come out and welcome them personally is quite another matter.
Song Heping concluded that these latecomers must be of no small significance.
Otherwise, they would never receive such treatment.
As Song Heping speculated about the identities of the arrivals, three off-road vehicles pulled up to the entrance.
From the vehicles in front and back, seven or eight armed bodyguards descended, chattering and laughing with their weapons at the ready as they spread out to occupy key positions in front of the building.
The people inside came out to greet them, with the leader warmly exchanging greetings with someone who got out of the co-pilot seat, evidently an old acquaintance, as their interaction appeared quite intimate.
Finally, the door of the middle vehicle opened, and out came two Western bodyguards followed by a lean, tall Caucasian.
"A Caucasian?"
Song Heping was taken aback.
"What's the situation?" he turned and asked Jing Wengui.
Jing Wengui's forehead was beaded with sweat as he shook his head, "I don't know who it is. According to intelligence, there shouldn't be such a person appearing. We'll have to wait for confirmation from the intel."
Grey Wolf, holding a camera, aimed his lens at the lanky figure and began to snap photos rapidly.
Even in the darkness, the figure could not hide from the reconnaissance camera, and Grey Wolf soon captured this person's visage.
Swiftly, the captured images were transmitted directly to a military PAD and sent back via satellite for facial recognition analysis.
Jing Wengui immediately took out a satellite phone to notify Lei Ming about the new development, asking him to run the incoming photos through their database to confirm the stranger's identity.
Five minutes passed quickly.
"Has the identity been confirmed?" Song Heping asked.
Jing Wengui watched the screen and said, "Not yet. We have only a few satellites of our own, so the transmission speed is limited; it will take a bit more time."
In the distance, the two groups had finished their cordial greetings and were heading together towards the house.
Grey Wolf's lens remained firmly focused on the shorter man, not daring to slack for even a moment.
The walk to the house was the only chance to capture a clear frontal shot; identifying them would be much more difficult once they entered the building.
In the work of intelligence collection, identifying individuals is of paramount importance; unexpected appearances of important figures without identity confirmation could lead to unnecessary losses if acted on rashly.
Therefore, any unexpected occurrence would need to be assessed and conclusions drawn before any action could commence.
But the party that had descended from the vehicle had already walked into the courtyard and soon disappeared inside the building.
Sweat beads formed on Song Heping's forehead.
He didn't like this feeling.
Any snag in the operation implied that luck was not on their side tonight.
After another five minutes, Jing Wengui's satellite phone vibrated at last.
He rushed to answer it, and after a brief conversation, a trace of excitement appeared on his face.
"Confirmed?"
He quickly hung up and then told Song Heping, "It's Joyce!"
"Who?!"
Song Heping was completely baffled.
"He's a CIA operative, the head of operations at their Southeast Asia station!" Jing Wengui said. "His presence here means something big is happening – he's a big fish!"
Song Heping said with a wry smile, "You seem rather excited?"
Jing Wengui stated, "Captain Lei said we have to capture him alive!"
Song Heping remarked, "That's going to be tough!"
Jing Wengui paused, only then realizing the significant impact Joyce's presence could have on their operation.
Two more bodyguards and eight more militiamen joined.
That meant the difficulty had just increased.
Besides, the two Caucasian bodyguards were surely from the CIA's action team, not just any ordinary militia or white-faced group's bodyguards.
These were all tough nuts to crack.
But he also understood that if the operation were successful, the rewards would be immense.
"The target has been confirmed, should we proceed with the mission?"
Grey Wolf seemed quite excited, ready and eager to start.
Song Heping sighed, "This time it's going to be quite the challenge, everyone damn well be careful, don't get yourselves killed tonight. If I'd known we were gonna run into CIA guys, I would've had Jiang Feng and his team come over..."
Song Heping was truly annoyed now.
He had now confirmed that he just did not mesh with the CIA.
He bumped into those guys wherever he went!