Chapter 1961: The Qu Family Crisis

"Dad!"

Qu Wenfeng's aunt, Qu Lan, was very close to her eldest brother. Seeing the situation, she couldn't help but speak up to help.

"This isn't the time to talk about education. It's about how to save Wenfeng's life. Even if he's sentenced to life, we'll accept it."

Seeing Qu Lan speak, the second, third, fourth, and fifth brothers, along with Qu Wenfeng's own older brother, younger brother, and younger sister, also began to plead for him.

Qu Zhengnong looked at his sons, daughters, and grandchildren, and suddenly began to laugh, though the smile looked somewhat chilling.

"Do you really think my Qu family can cover the sky with one hand and do whatever we want?"

Qu Zhengnong felt extremely disappointed in his children, and a very pessimistic emotion appeared in his eyes.

"If a son is not taught, it is the father's fault. I give these words to Yanhai, and I give them to myself."

"Dad!" Qu Lan said with some dissatisfaction: "What's the use of saying these things? Wenfeng's life is what matters."

"Wenfeng's life?" Qu Zhengnong seemed to age several years in an instant: "Do you know which department took him away?"

No one answered. They only knew he was taken away by the military. As for which specific department, they had been pulling strings and digging for connections for days, but hadn't been able to find out any news.

"It was the Second Department of the General Staff."

Qu Zhengnong's words made everyone fall silent.

"Why is no one talking now? Weren't you all quite capable?"

Qu Zhengnong glanced at the second son, Qu Yanfeng: "Yanfeng, hand over all the shares we hold in the seventeen iron mines and nine copper mines to the state."

Hearing the old man's words, everyone's expressions changed drastically.

"Why?" the fifth son, Qu Yansheng, asked: "Is it for Wenfeng?"

"Fifth brother!" Qu Yanhai said with dissatisfaction: "So what if it's for Wenfeng? He is your nephew, your own nephew. Are you going to watch your nephew eat a bullet just for a few mines?"

"Is this a question of giving up a few mines?" The fourth son, Qu Yanqing, said with an ugly expression: "Now that we have reform and opening up, the whole country is under massive construction. Iron and copper prices are rising every month."

"Seventeen iron mines and nine copper mines—their future income will account for half of all our assets. For the sake of your son, are you going to disregard the interests of our entire family?"

"What do you mean 'my son'?" Wu Yanxia let out a cry: "Doesn't Wenfeng carry the Qu surname? Doesn't the blood flowing in his body belong to your Qu family?"

"Ha!" The third son, Qu Yanyi, sneered: "In our Qu family, did we ever let you go hungry or cold? What legitimate business couldn't he do? Why did he have to go and traffic drugs and smuggle arms?"

"Third brother!" Qu Yanhai said angrily: "Wenfeng has always been very respectful to you, his third uncle. Now that he's in a bit of trouble, are you really not going to help, and instead push him to his death?"

Following this, Qu Lan also joined the fray. Naturally, she had to help her eldest brother, with whom she had a close relationship.

Only the second son, Qu Yanfeng, sat there without saying a word, as if he were watching the commotion.

"Sigh!"

Qu Zhengnong couldn't bear to listen anymore and sighed.

The sound wasn't loud, but it made the few people arguing all shut their mouths.

"Do you really think this is just a problem for Qu Wenfeng alone?"

Everyone was stunned. Qu Lan asked, not understanding: "Dad, what does that mean?"

Qu Zhengnong was becoming increasingly disappointed. Their superior living environment and invisible power had caused them to lose their necessary vigilance. He was now truly worried about how long the Qu family could exist once he was gone.

"Why don't you think about it? Even if Qu Wenfeng trafficked drugs and smuggled arms, he wouldn't have the qualifications to make the Second Department of the General Staff move to arrest him."

"Eldest brother, third brother, fourth brother, fifth brother." The second son, Qu Yanfeng, who hadn't spoken until now, finally said: "The General Staff mobilized the Second Department. Their goal isn't Wenfeng, but our entire Qu family."

The entire space suddenly became eerily silent; everyone could hear the sound of their own heartbeats.

"Second brother!" the fifth son, Qu Yansheng, said: "You'd better explain things clearly."

"I've already spoken clearly enough. Do you still not understand?"

Qu Yanfeng took out a cigarette, lit it, and then took a deep drag.

"The higher-ups suspect us of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country, which is why they mobilized the Second Department and took Qu Wenfeng away."

"What do they want to do?"

The fourth son, Qu Yanqing, stared with wide eyes, looking extremely angry.

"Whether we betrayed the country or not, don't we know it ourselves? If they want to investigate, let them investigate. What is there to fear?"

"We have a clear conscience, so we indeed don't need to fear."

Qu Yanfeng took two consecutive puffs of his cigarette before continuing.

"But just because you aren't afraid doesn't mean the trouble won't find us."

Speaking of this, Qu Yanfeng looked at the fourth son: "You were right. With reform and opening up, the whole country is under massive construction. Iron, copper, and aluminum will definitely become the most scarce materials."

"Moreover, domestic iron ore mining alone cannot meet domestic demand. We will definitely have to go abroad and spend large sums of money to import it."

"Under these circumstances, the iron, copper, and aluminum mines our family controls are a great crime. If it weren't for Wenfeng's incident, even if the higher-ups wanted to take them back, they wouldn't find a reason."

"But now, Wenfeng has gotten into trouble, which has given the higher-ups a reason to move against our Qu family. Whether we betrayed the country isn't important; what's important is that the higher-ups want us to have betrayed the country."

"If we hold onto the iron and copper mines and refuse to let go, within half a month, the Second Department—or even the Third Department—of the General Staff will appear before each and every one of us."

Silence. Everyone was silent. At this moment, they finally realized that the seriousness of the matter had exceeded their imagination.

After a long while, the fourth son, Qu Yanqing, looked at his eldest brother and said through gritted teeth.

"The good son you raised has dragged us all down."

Qu Yanfeng glanced at the crowd: "Do you know why the Second Department of the General Staff acted, and not the Ministry of State Security?"

The words had already been spoken so thoroughly; if they still didn't understand, then apart from the second son, the Qu family truly had no one capable of being used.

"I know!" Qu Lan nodded: "Because the people behind our family cannot reach into the military."

Qu Yanfeng nodded and looked at his eldest brother and sister-in-law: "Don't think about Wenfeng's matter anymore. Whether he lives or dies, leave it to fate."

The old man leaned his hands on his knees and slowly stood up: "We still have other mineral assets, including overseas industries. Even if we hand over the iron and copper mines, and perhaps even the aluminum mines one day in the future..."

"It's no big deal. It won't hurt our bones or move our feet; at most, it's just losing a bit of blood. Besides, don't forget that Yunzhe is still laying out rare earth investments in Ganzhou. In the future, we can take back all the interests we've lost."

Qu Zhengnong walked toward the study: "Alright, everyone leave!"

"Dad!" Qu Lan's voice was somewhat choked: "As for Wenfeng..."

Qu Zhengnong waved his hand without looking back. His back, which had been straight, now looked much more hunched.

His footsteps as he walked were not as forceful as before. ===== CHAPTER 1962 =====