Chapter 481: Supreme Order! Able to Mobilize All Forces!

Returning from Shanghai to the Capital City, Prince Saleman, carrying the contract worth 20 billion US Dollars, boarded his gleaming Boeing 747 with satisfaction.

Before departing, he clasped Lu Qingshan's hand tightly, his eyes filled with almost fanatical sincerity: "Mr. Lu, my great friend, the doors of Saudi Arabia will always be open to you. I will wait for you in Riyadh with the richest camel milk and the fattest roasted whole lamb. Please be sure to give me a chance to repay the friendship and future you have bestowed upon me!"

After seeing off the man who practically handed over the keys to the national treasury and oil reserves, Lin Yueqiang was still immersed in a huge, unreal shock, feeling as if he were walking on clouds, floating.

On the way back to Fuqiang Hutong, he sat in the passenger seat of the red‑flag car, his whole body stiff, turning his head several times to look at the sleeping Lu Qingshan in the back seat. He wanted to ask but dared not, and finally could not hold it in, stammering, "Sister… brother‑in‑law, that… that 20 billion, is it real? Is it in US dollars? My heavens, how much money is that? I calculated for a long time, the zeros are too many, my brain crashed. Could that sum buy the mountain behind our Shanwan village?"

"What would we buy that mountain for?" Lu Qingshan didn't even open his eyes, a faint smile curving his lips. "That's a small mindset. With this money we could hollow out the mountain, line its interior with gold, then replace the summit, so that at a glance it shines golden."

Lin Yueqiang opened his mouth like a fish flopped onto shore, then fell completely silent. He felt his imagination, in front of his brother‑in‑law, was as barren as a single grain of sand in the Sahara Desert.

At the dinner table, the atmosphere was especially warm.

Wang Guilan used a small portion of the huge sum—the ten thousand yuan Lu Qingshan had given as a filial offering a few days earlier—to buy the finest pork belly at the market and simmer a signature braised pork. It was fatty yet not greasy, and the aroma nearly burst through the roof. Lu Xiaoxue ate with oil on her mouth like a greedy little kitten, and even slipped the biggest piece of meat under the table to stuff into Jin Hu's mouth.

Just after Lu Qingshan used a handkerchief to wipe his daughter's oily little mouth, the black Satellite Phone on the table rang abruptly, its ringtone sharp and urgent.

When the sound rang, everyone at the table instinctively set down their chopsticks, even Jin Hu stopped wagging his tail. They knew that each ring of this phone signaled a world‑shaking event far away.

Lu Qingshan picked up the phone, nodded apologetically to his family, and walked out into the courtyard.

"Brother! It's me!" on the other end was Lu Qingjun's voice, suppressed to the extreme but brimming with excitement; in the background roared heavy machinery, the harsh sound of diamond ore being crushed, and a jumble of incomprehensible African dialects. "Brother! You're a god! Chief Engineer Ding and his team are amazing—they just used a geological hammer to tap around the mountains of our mining area and drew a treasure map! It shows a diamond vein three times larger than the Kimberley Mine in Nan Fei! There's also some kind of industrial‑gold rare‑earth mine! And even a hundred miles away they surveyed a gigantic uranium mine! Chief Engineer Ding says the three together are worth ten times the value of the arms we sold to Saudi Arabia!"

"The chief of Anmeng, named Manuro, is practically going mad! He sends his deputy every day to invite us, almost laying a red carpet from his camp to our mine's gate! Comrade Su says he has already read the opponent's cards and price point crystal‑clear; the timing is scorching hot and we can cast the net at any moment!"

Lu Qingshan listened to his brother's report, his face expressionless, simply watching the old locust tree in the courtyard rustle in the night wind.

"Where's Old Qian? What did he say?"

"Old Qian is even more extreme! He brought a few senior officers from the General Staff and pored over the terrain maps here for three days and three nights, saying that the equipment we sold to Saudi Arabia would be a tailor‑made dragon‑slayer sword if placed in Angola's jungle mountains. He said that as long as Manuro's men aren't all fools, following his tactics they could, in at most three months, push the current pro‑Soviet government forces all the way to the Atlantic to feed sharks!"

On the other end, Lu Qingjun grew increasingly excited, his voice trembling: "Brother! Comrade Su and Old Qian both say we can negotiate! As soon as we give our nod and send the equipment and military advisors over, the exclusive mining rights in all of Angola for the next fifty years will be ours! They'll belong to the Lu family!"

"No rush."

Lu Qingshan's two calm words were like a bucket of icy water, instantly dousing Lu Qingjun's fervor.

"Huh? Why, brother? This juicy meat right at our mouths…"

"Tell Comrade Su that the net can be tightened, but not sealed shut. Keep the fattest bait firmly in our own pockets," Lu Qingshan said evenly, his voice bearing undeniable authority. "Tell Old Qian to study his prized bottom‑drawer tactics carefully and not rush to display them. What we're selling is the key that opens the treasure vault, not the lock itself; don't hand over the key first."

He knew that, like Manuro—a warlord who clawed his way out of a sea of corpses and blood—the easier something was to obtain, the less he would cherish it. He had to make Manuro beg, to feel a piercing, bone‑deep longing, so the deal could be maximized.

"So… are we just supposed to wait?" Lu Qingjun sounded a bit unwilling.

"Wait for me."

Lu Qingshan finished, then hung up the phone.

He returned to the dinner table, sat down as if nothing had happened, picked up his chopsticks, and lifted a piece of the tender, stewed lean meat that his mother Wang Guilan loved.

"Mom, eat more; the meat is stewed just right today."

"Qing Shan…" Wang Guilan looked at her son, her lips moving, but she couldn't hold back; her eyes were filled with unrelenting worry. "The phone… where are we going this time? It sounds farther than last time."

"To Africa," Lu Qingshan said lightly, as if he were merely going to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative across from Wangfujing to buy a pack of cigarettes.

"Africa?!"

Everyone at the table was startled, and even Lu Xiaoxue stopped gnawing on the bone.

Lu Hong and Lu Fang exchanged a look, their faces full of disbelief. Lu Qinghe put down his bowl and chopsticks, his brows knit tightly.

"Second brother, that place… I've heard on the news they're at war every day, there's even plague, it's chaotic! Why are you going there? Can't the subordinates handle the business?" Elder brother Lu Qingyuan asked gravely, his tone carrying a hint of reproach.

"Qingjun is alone over there, I'm uneasy," Lu Qingshan gave the simplest, unrefutable reason. "Moreover, this opponent isn't ordinary; he's a warlord who licks blood on the knife's edge. If I don't go myself to keep him in check, things could go wrong."

Lin Yue'e remained silent, silently watching him, her clear eyes shimmering like a deep pool. When everyone had finished speaking, she finally spoke softly, her voice light yet clear, as if carrying a soothing power.

"How long?"

"At most half a month, at least a month."

"I'll pack your things," Lin Yue'e said, standing up, asking no further questions, shedding no tears, and calmly walking back to the room.

Seeing his wife's resolute silhouette, Lu Qingshan felt a warm surge in his heart, along with a deep pang of guilt.

"Dad, does Africa have big castles and pineapple buns?" Lu Xiaoxue asked innocently, her chubby little face tilted upward. "Can Jin Hu come too? He might fight! He can protect dad!"

Lu Qingshan smiled and patted Jin Hu's head, his softest spot touched: "Africa has no big castles, but it has giraffes taller than a horse and elephants bigger than our house. Jin Hu is a manly cat; he should stay home to guard the house, protect Mom and Grandma, and can't go with dad."

It was late at night, and only a dim bedside lamp remained in the bedroom.

Lin Yue'e was packing Lu Qingshan's suitcase: neatly folded shirts, impeccably ironed dress pants, and a few thin sweaters she had knit herself.

"It's hot there, why bring a sweater?" Lu Qingshan gently embraced her from behind, his chin resting on her warm shoulder hollow, inhaling the familiar scent of her hair.

"I asked around; they said Africa has a huge temperature swing between day and night, and nights are as cold as an ice cellar," Lin Yue'e said in a muffled voice, pausing her motions to smooth the collar of a shirt repeatedly. "I also brought you some common medicines—digestive, cold remedies. And… Mom insisted on packing two bottles of medicated oil and cooling oil, saying they repel mosquitoes; the mosquitoes there can bite people."

Lu Qingshan said nothing, just held her tighter, feeling her slight tremor.

"Is it… dangerous out there?" Lin Yue'e finally turned, lifted her head, and under the dim light examined his face carefully, reaching out to gently trace his resolute features, as if to etch his image into her heart.

"Don't worry, we're not going to fight, we're going to do business," Lu Qingshan grasped her cool hand, pinching her nose to make her laugh. "Besides, when has your man ever taken a loss?"

He lowered his head and kissed her lips.

The kiss lacked the usual lingering tenderness, yet carried a scorching promise and reluctance of an imminent departure. After a long moment they part, a single crystal‑clear tear slipped from the corner of Lin Yue'e's eye.

The next day, Nanyuan Airport.

It was still the white Bayu‑Liu aircraft, parked quietly on the runway like a raptor poised to strike.

Only Old Chen and Wang Shanghong came to see him off.

"Comrade Qingshan, this trip to Africa is far from trivial; it can be called a top priority in our nation's future strategic layout," Old Chen said, clasping Lu Qingshan's hand, his expression solemn, his ever‑deep eyes showing a hint of movement. "Remember, safety first. You are our country's treasure, the stabilizing anchor; there must be no mishap. Old Qian and his team, along with a special security detachment we hastily withdrew from Libya, are already waiting for you around Johannesburg Airport."

"I understand, Old Chen, you can rest assured."

"Also," Old Chen reached into the inner pocket of his Zhongshan suit, produced a wax‑sealed leather envelope, and solemnly slipped it into Lu Qingshan's hand. "This is the supreme commander's handwritten order. When you get there, if extreme circumstances arise, you may use this order to mobilize all our African embassies' forces, including the military attaché office, and… some forces that don't appear on any map and are unknown to outsiders."

Lu Qingshan felt a chill in his heart, and solemnly tucked the envelope—warm with his body heat and weighing a thousand pounds—close to his chest.

He climbed the gangway, and at the cabin door, looked back.

In the Capital City's winter, the sky stretched far, the sunlight crisp and cold, outlining the western hills in golden silhouette.

He seemed to see the warm little courtyard of Fuqiang Hutong, his daughter chasing Jin Hu wildly in the yard with laughter like silver bells, and his wife standing on the porch, her gaze gentle yet resolute, praying for him.

He turned around and resolutely walked into the Aircraft cabin.

The Aircraft, amid a massive roar, pierced the clouds and flew toward that distant, scorching, and unknown continent.

He picked up the Satellite Phone and dialed the Nan Fei number.

"Qingjun, I'm on the Aircraft. I'll arrive in Johannesburg in twelve hours."

"Tell Qian Lao, Ding Zong, and Su Canzan to run through all the current plans again, factoring in the worst-case scenario. When I arrive, I will hold a meeting."

Lu Qingshan watched the rapidly receding cloud layers outside the porthole, his gaze becoming as deep as the sea, as cold as a blade.

"I want to see with my own eyes whether our new friend, who wants to gamble a nation's future, is a cooperative Africa Majestic Lion or a forever untamable white‑eyed wolf that requires its spine to be broken."