Barbara Morse, agent codename 'Mockingbird,' while not ranking particularly high in the organizational hierarchy, was nevertheless one of the few people Nick Fury trusted most in terms of personal connections.
"Boss, you called for me?"
After receiving the instruction, Barbara appeared in Nick Fury office within minutes.
"Let me introduce you—this is Coulson and Mei."
Pointing to the two still in his office, Nick Fury made introductions for both parties.
"This is Barbara."
"Hi, nice to meet you."
"Hello."
In the storyline of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Barbara first appeared in the second season in the role of an 'undercover agent'.
Analyzing that brief segment of the plot, it's evident that she had never actually met Coulson or his team members before.
Despite working for the same organization with the same top boss, they didn't know each other at all.
This proved that Nick Fury was indeed a complete manipulator, worthy of his title as the head of spies.
"Barbara, didn't you say you wanted a vacation?"
Taking a sip of coffee and looking at Barbara, Nick Fury adopted a tone of 'see how considerate I am' as he assigned her a mission.
"Now there's a very relaxed, almost vacation-like long-term assignment that I'd like to give you."
"...Director, this isn't what we agreed on."
"Don't rush."
Calmly putting down his cup, Nick Fury raised his hand and pointed at Coulson.
"He'll brief you on the specific details later. Your mission is to find a storefront near the target residence and use the identity of a small shop owner as cover..."
Since the drug trading work had been transferred to the newly established company, it was no longer appropriate for Coulson to frequently appear in front of Shi Xiaolei as before.
Considering that the relationship with Shi Xiaolei couldn't be severed and surveillance couldn't be relaxed, Nick Fury naturally thought of assigning someone else to replace Coulson.
Excellent skills and being female made her less likely to raise suspicions, with a background as a gymnast, she naturally possessed an elegant bearing without having to act and her knowledge of biochemistry made opening a flower shop perfect.
Indeed, Nick Fury had not only chosen Barbara with a single thought but had even decided what kind of store she should open.
"Open a flower shop?"
From the description, the mission content did seem very relaxed, especially compared to previous assignments.
No wonder Barbara was surprised.
"You don't need to deliberately approach him, just act like a normal person and interact naturally."
Nick Fury smiled.
"How about it? Isn't this mission relaxed enough?"
"What about intelligence? Don't I need to collect any?"
"Not necessary. It's just a routine surveillance mission. Unless the target displays unusual behavior, you don't even need to report to me regularly."
"OK, I'll take this mission."
It was practically a vacation—rarely encountering such a relaxed assignment, Barbara immediately made her decision.
"Excellent. Coulson, give Barbara a briefing on the target basic situation."
Nick Fury nodded and sat back in his seat.
"Now, you can leave. Oh, Mei, please stay behind. I have a few questions about that matter last time that I'd like to confirm..."
"Yes, sir."
....
With HYDRA still lurking in the shadows, at this moment, S.H.I.E.L.D. still maintained extremely powerful operational capability.
Case in point, in just two or three days, the storefront directly across from Shi Xiaolei home had fallen into S.H.I.E.L.D. hands.
"Old Liu, good morning."
"Brother Shi, you're here."
Greeting Shi Xiaolei as usual, Old Liu smiled and approached, pointing to the store across the street with a mysterious expression.
"Look over there."
Looking up, Shi Xiaolei saw that the storefront opposite, which had previously been a pizza place, was now being remodeled.
A blonde woman in a floral print dress stood beside an engineer who held design plans, pointing and speaking.
"Hehe, see that?"
Taking a puff of his cigarette, Old Liu wore the knowing smile of a man.
"Looks like we're getting a new neighbor, and a beautiful one at that."
"Old Liu, you..."
Not knowing what to say, Shi Xiaolei laughed helplessly.
"What? I'm not hurting anyone, just looking."
With a grinning face and oily words, Old Liu seemed like an improper old rogue.
"Besides, I work with crafts, so I naturally like to look at beautiful, pleasing things. It's an occupational habit, you understand?"
It was only because his wife wasn't around that Old Liu dared to be so bold.
"I understand, haha."
What else could he say? Shi Xiaolei could only laugh and shake his head, while giving Old Liu a thumbs up.
"I don't believe you'd still talk this way when my sister-in-law returns."
"I'm not an idiot."
"Haha."
While laughing, Shi Xiaolei took out his keys and opened the rolling shutter door of his shop.
The door made a creaking noise, which was quite loud, especially in the morning when there was less random noise.
Barbara across the street heard the sound behind her, turned around, and met Old Liu gaze.
Looking next door, she saw Shi Xiaolei as well.
Thinking quickly, Barbara paused her conversation with the engineer, crossed the pedestrian street, and came to their side.
"Hello there, nice to meet you. I'm Vivian, the owner of the flower shop across the street."
Although it was a mission without much difficulty, Barbara habitually gave herself a fake name.
It was this unassuming decision that played a crucial role—if she had introduced herself as Barbara from the start, Shi Xiaolei, who had watched "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." would have likely become suspicious.
But now.
Since Barbara didn't have many scenes in the original plot, Shi Xiaolei memory of this character consisted only of a name and an impression of 'good figure and combat skills.'
Not remembering what Barbara looked like in the TV series, and hearing this beautiful woman introduce herself as Vivian.
Shi Xiaolei didn't suspect at all that the person before him was actually an agent, assuming she was just an ordinary young female entrepreneur.
"Hello."
Not only was he completely unguarded, but with a neighborly attitude, he actively greeted Barbara.
"Welcome to Chinatown. Since we're all running shops on the same street, if you need any help in the future, just ask. Don't be shy."
"Rock is right. We Chinese people are always willing to help others. You'll understand after spending some time here."
"Thank you."
Barbara smiled in gratitude, and to make an even better impression, she deliberately told a small lie.
"Actually, I had a roommate in college who was from China. After living together for a few years, she left a very, very good impression on me. I like Chinese people, their attitude toward life, and the food they make... Well, I admit, I specifically looked for a storefront here because there are so many Chinese restaurants around."
(T/N: Like the story fellow daoist?you can read 20 chapters ahead on my P@treon [[email protected]/DaoistRongyi] Thanks for your support! 😊)