Chapter 705

Jian Qiu smiled slightly, but instead of answering her, she said, "I heard the name Yue Lei from the waiter just now, and I wondered if it was you."

Yue Lei was stunned for a moment. She hadn't received a direct answer, but she could tell that Jian Qiu had a very close relationship with Zhou Andong. Because she had been looking for Zhou Andong, but it was Jian Qiu who came down, this already explained everything.

"Let's go!" Jian Qiu said, "Zhou Andong is upstairs; I'll take you to see him."

"Okay!" Yue Lei followed Jian Qiu to the second floor, and from a distance, she saw Zhou Andong sitting there, cracking melon seeds and smoking a cigarette, looking very relaxed.

"Dongzi!" Jian Qiu called out.

Zhou Andong turned his head, first glanced at Yue Lei, and then asked Jian Qiu, "A friend?"

Jian Qiu nodded with a smile, "Yue Lei!" Then she introduced Zhou Andong, "Sister Lei, this is Zhou Andong, my boyfriend."

Yue Lei's eyes widened instantly; she looked at Jian Qiu, then at Zhou Andong, and then began to laugh in disbelief.

"You guys..." Yue Lei shook her head as she spoke, "Really, this is such a surprise, but thinking about it, a talented man and a beautiful woman, a beauty loving a hero—you two being together is a true match made in heaven."

Zhou Andong laughed heartily and shook hands with Yue Lei very enthusiastically: "One look at Miss Yue and I can tell you are a truly well-read and cultured person; otherwise, you couldn't possibly say such high-level things."

Both of them were subtly flattering each other; it could be considered a match of wits.

Jian Qiu rolled her eyes. Yue Lei was just over thirty and had already reached the position of a department-level official. While there was her father's influence involved, she was also a person who was adept at handling all kinds of people, and her speech had always been watertight.

As for Zhou Andong, that mouth of his could trick a mute into speaking and could talk a dead man into jumping out of his coffin. Wasn't Gu Bing tricked by him back then until his IQ hit rock bottom?

There were many others who had been tricked by Zhou Andong's mouth until they couldn't tell north from south.

Now, with Yue Lei and Zhou Andong sitting together, it was truly a match of wits.

"Sister Lei?" Jian Qiu asked, "What is it you need him for?"

Yue Lei looked at Jian Qiu, truly feeling a bit unreal.

She had never dreamed that the eldest daughter of the Jian family and Zhou Andong were actually in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.

However, for her, this was a good thing; based on her relationship with Jian Qiu, things would be much easier to handle.

"This matter has to do with my father."

"It has to do with Uncle Yue?" Jian Qiu was a bit confused. What could Yue Guoqiang possibly have that would lead him to Zhou Andong?

"Yes!" Yue Lei fell into reminiscence, her eyes a bit distant: "Ever since I can remember, our family rarely ate meat. I often asked my mother why we didn't buy meat to eat."

My mother said there was no money at home; I didn't understand that back then. Especially during the New Year, seeing other children eating candy, I felt very aggrieved.

That year I was in junior high school, and suddenly one day, I heard my mother and father arguing and realized that, in fact, ever since they got married, my father hadn't brought home a single cent of his salary; my mother had been supporting the whole family."

Speaking of this, Yue Lei's voice suddenly became a bit low, "It turned out that all of my father's salary was donated to the families of his comrades who had sacrificed their lives."

At that time, I rushed into the room, yelled angrily at my father, and accused him of being selfish. Why donate all the money? During the New Year, my classmates all had new clothes and new shoes, but I didn't.

Since then, my relationship with my father had been very bad. Until one day, my father's colleague, Uncle Zhang, came to the school to find me and told me to go with him.

I don't know why, but I suddenly became very afraid and didn't want to go with Uncle Zhang, but there was a voice in my heart constantly reminding me that I had to go.

That afternoon, I saw my father lying on the hospital bed in the emergency room, covered in tubes, and my mother sitting on the floor at the entrance of the emergency room with a vacant look in her eyes, accompanied by two aunts in police uniforms."

Zhou Andong beckoned, and a waiter walked over quickly.

"Bring two glasses of cola."

"Okay!" The waiter walked away quickly.

Yue Lei's voice became lower and lower, and tears fell from the corners of her eyes, "At that time, for the first time, I felt that I might lose my father, which made me even more afraid."

At this moment, the cola was delivered, and Zhou Andong placed the cola glass in front of Yue Lei.

"Thank you!" Yue Lei wiped away her tears, lowered her head, bit the straw, and took a sip, "Then my mother and I begged all the gods in heaven to protect him."

Maybe the gods in heaven heard my mother's and my prayers, and my father miraculously pulled through. The first day he was discharged from the hospital, he took me to visit the family of a martyr."

That martyr had once been my father's comrade-in-arms; he got married the day before and sacrificed his life while carrying out a mission the next day. Perhaps it was fate; his wife was pregnant, and after giving birth to the child, she never remarried, taking care of the child alone, and life was very difficult."

For several days in a row, my father took me to visit one martyr's family after another. When these martyrs were alive, they sacrificed themselves to protect the people, but their parents, wives, and children lived so bitterly."

At this moment, I suddenly understood my father; he wasn't selfish, but selfless. He was just as great as those martyrs who sacrificed their lives."

Speaking of this, Yue Lei took a tissue, wiped her eyes, then put it to her nose and blew her nose.

"In recent years, my father has been pushing to improve the treatment for martyrs' families. Actually, the higher-ups also attach great importance to this issue, but the country also has its own difficulties; no matter what, there must be a sense of priority."

Jian Qiu understood Yue Lei's purpose in coming to find Zhou Andong: "Dongzi, Sister Lei's father is named Yue Guoqiang, and he is the head of our Beijing Municipal Bureau."

Zhou Andong looked at Yue Lei and sighed, "I understand, but regarding this matter, do you think this is something I can take on personally? Don't talk about one small Yugong Group; even ten of them couldn't afford it."

Yue Lei smiled: "The country can't afford it, let alone you personally. My meaning is, limited assistance. For example, those whose lives are too difficult, or those who have no ability to work."

"Soldiers and police are the people I respect the most. They sacrificed for the country and to protect us ordinary people, yet their families are struggling in life; this is very unfair."

As a responsible entrepreneur, I really should do something for them. But just giving money is definitely not a long-term solution."

Zhou Andong pondered for a moment: "How about this, I'll organize a team to visit and investigate on the spot. You, send two people, or lead the team yourself."

After understanding the details, we will study a concrete implementation plan to see if we can arrange jobs for the martyrs' families. If they are elderly and truly have no ability to work, then we'll think of other ways."

………………

(In the previous chapter, there was a small flaw in the rationality of the final plot, so I made a small change; everyone can take another look.)