Chapter 106: Assassin

He Yuzhu returned to Liugongguan with Liu Rusi, and all three of them collapsed onto the sofa, feeling as if a lifetime had passed.

He Yuzhu had taken on nine men alone and managed to return alive; even he felt it was a stroke of luck, especially when bullets were flying wildly over his head.

Liu Rusi had no heart to discuss matters with him for the moment either. She just sat there blankly.

Only Pingping looked dazed at the car, which was riddled with bullet holes and missing its front and rear windshields, and sighed: "I'm afraid this car is unusable."

Seeing that He Yuzhu's shoulder was still oozing blood, Liu Rusi immediately said: "Take off your coat, let me see!"

"This, wouldn't that be inappropriate!" He Yuzhu was still hesitating.

"You haven't even grown all your hair yet, what are you being shy about!" Seeing that a new wound had been added to the gruesome old one on his shoulder, she couldn't help but gasp: "What is the story with this old wound of yours?"

"It was left behind during a clash with the Security Regiment last time." He Yuzhu told a lie, because he certainly couldn't say it was caused by the assassination of Yi Xiansheng, "I didn't pay attention to it at first and just bandaged it casually; who would have thought it would get infected and fester later."

"With such a severe wound, Battalion Commander Liu didn't even mention a word? Truly derelict in duty!" Liu Rusi said.

"Sister, it's already fine; it's just that this time, the bullet hit the same spot again, which is strange enough."

"What do you mean it's fine! It wasn't fully healed to begin with, and now it's injured again; it must be treated."

Liu Rusi immediately dialed the military doctor's number.

Half an hour later, a doctor arrived. He used alcohol to clean He Yuzhu's wound, bandaged it, and applied medicine. He Yuzhu gritted his teeth, and fine beads of sweat seeped from his temples.

Just at this moment, the telephone rang suddenly.

Liu Rusi went upstairs to answer the phone. Shen Shichang's voice on the other end of the line was clearly audible even to those downstairs.

After hanging up the phone, Liu Rusi called He Yuzhu into the study.

"Wang Siyuan, who is Zheng De's father-in-law, is about to take office as the Deputy Mayor of Beiping. He holds quite a few pieces of leverage over my father. This assassination attempt on me was very likely carried out by them; my father was also attacked on the road just now, fortunately, he is unharmed."

He Yuzhu felt a jolt in his heart, but his face remained calm.

He guessed that all of this might be related to his killing of Yi Xiansheng; Wang Siyuan might have pinned this account on Shen Shichang.

"Sister, what do you want me to do? I will definitely do my best!"

"I want you to be the second assassin." Liu Rusi looked straight into his eyes, "If the sniper we arranged misses, you will fill in. This time, we absolutely cannot let Wang Siyuan return to Nanjing alive."

"Then how do I get close to him?"

"You will pose as Zhao Ying's boyfriend, and she will take you to the welcome banquet."

He Yuzhu pondered for a moment and said: "Assassinating him, I am confident; it's just that the retreat is a bit difficult. It is relatively easy for me to leave, but I cannot take Zhao Ying with me, so what will happen to her?"

"You don't need to worry about other people's concerns; as long as you can escape, that's enough!"

"Then I agree." He Yuzhu also wanted to get rid of Zheng De; with him lurking nearby, there was no guarantee that his family wouldn't meet with misfortune.

The two discussed some more details, and then He Yuzhu left.

The snow outside was falling even harder.

He stepped through the accumulated snow to Wang Jiazhi's residence and discovered that Li Xiangxiu and her daughter had already moved in.

In the courtyard, Li Xiangxiu was building a snowman, and Wang Jiazhi was on the side attaching a nose and eyes to it.

When they saw He Yuzhu, they both revealed smiles.

"Zhuzi, thank you so much for arranging a place for me; the environment here is good, and it's close to where I work," Li Xiangxiu said happily.

"Don't mention it, you two should look after each other."

"Don't you worry, from now on, let us handle Miss Wang's meals and laundry," Li Xiangxiu promised.

"Just help me cook some meals; I can do the rest. I was never some young lady of high status anyway!"

He Yuzhu looked at the snowman the two had built, "This snowman actually looks a bit like me!"

"It was built exactly according to your appearance!" Li Xiangxiu said mischievously.

He Yuzhu and Wang Jiazhi went into the room; a stove had been lit inside, and it was quite warm.

He Yuzhu told her about the plan to open a new shop, and at first, she was a little worried.

"I don't understand anything! Can I do it?"

"The renovation is very simple; our old He Ji shop was renovated by the Yangshi Lei family, and they are very experienced. You just need to supervise, and if anything is missing, just have someone go buy it," He Yuzhu explained.

Wang Jiazhi's eyes shone as she asked: "After opening, can I have the final say?"

"No problem. I estimate that the people on Jin Hai's side don't know the trade, but you should go to the shop to learn a bit recently."

As the sky grew dark, Yan Bugui returned to the Siheyuan humming a little tune, his glasses covered in a layer of mist.

Yang Ruihua helped him pat the snow off his cotton robe and asked: "Did you manage to take over 'our family's shop'?"

"It's settled." Yan Bugui took off his glasses to wipe them, "Thanks to the fifty Big Ocean that Xu Fugui lent us. That bunch of bastards refused to lower the price no matter what; the ghosts took our shop and only gave 50 Big Ocean, but now these people from the Bureau of Property Disposal want to sell it for 150 Big Ocean. They really aren't decent people."

"Didn't you tell them that it was originally our shop!"

"It didn't work. They don't buy that!" Yan Bugui shook his head, "This time, it's thanks to the money Xu Fugui lent, otherwise I would have returned empty-handed."

"He Daqing really isn't a decent person; he has so much money at home but refused to lend any." Yang Ruihua curled her lips, "You say Xu Fugui lent the money so readily, could there be a trap in it?"

Yan Bugui shook his head: "Probably not. He likely has his eye on that two-percent interest. Borrow fifty Big Ocean and return sixty at the end of the year; he won't lose out on this deal."

"Then what business will our shop do?" Yang Ruihua asked.

"The shop is next to Peking Union Medical College Hospital, so let's just sell some funeral supplies!" Yan Bugui pushed up his glasses, "Burial clothes, wreaths, paper figures, and paper horses—these things don't spoil. We'll just hire an honest clerk to watch it, and we can take turns looking after it."

Three days passed in the blink of an eye; today was the day for the assassination of Wang Siyuan.

He Yuzhu arrived at Liugongguan early in the morning.

Liu Rusi was wearing a green tight-fitting outfit, looking sharp and capable.

Zhao Ying was also there; she was wearing an exquisite Western-style suit, looking very fashionable. There was even a chicken feather stuck in her hat.

This reminded He Yuzhu of a line: "We're all classmates, why put on airs." Thinking of this, he couldn't help but laugh.

His laughter made Zhao Ying feel very unnatural, thinking there was something wrong with her clothes. She nudged He Yuzhu and said: "What are you laughing at?"

"I'm laughing at that chicken feather stuck in your hat."

Zhao Ying slapped him hard, "You country bumpkin, what do you know!"

"Stop messing around, you two. Such a dangerous matter, and you don't even take it seriously." Liu Rusi handed a suit to He Yuzhu: "Hurry up and put it on to try it."

He Yuzhu put on the suit; he looked quite good and rather spirited, only when standing next to Zhao Ying, he was a bit shorter. It felt a bit like Pan Jinlian and Wu Dalang.

Liu Rusi circled the two of them, looking them over: "The way you and Zhao Ying stand together, no matter how you look at it, it's a bit awkward."

"If you think I'm too short, just say it directly; there's no need to beat around the bush," He Yuzhu said.

"That's not it; it's just that I think the fake eyebrows and fake mustache you glued on are strange." Liu Rusi kept circling around He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu grew a bit impatient: "Sister, the two of us aren't getting married; good enough is good enough."

Liu Rusi asked: "There will be an inspection when entering the door, and you definitely won't be able to bring your gun in. I have already sent someone to arrange it; he will give it to you when you go to the restroom."

"Sister, this really isn't necessary; I can bring it in myself."

Zhao Ying said seriously: "This is a grave matter; there cannot be the slightest slip-up."

Seeing that they were both serious, He Yuzhu said: "Then I'll tell you now, I have already hidden the gun in Zhao Ying's schoolbag."

Zhao Ying looked at him as if he were an idiot.

He Yuzhu looked at her bag and laughed: "Reach in and check for yourself."

Zhao Ying opened the schoolbag and was shocked to find a Box Cannon inside.

"Can you perform magic? But they check very thoroughly," Zhao Ying still did not believe He Yuzhu could really bring the gun in.

"Don't worry, if I say it's fine, then it's fine. If you don't believe me, look in your schoolbag again; see if the gun is gone."

Zhao Ying opened the schoolbag again; the gun was gone, and she was stunned in disbelief.

"You two just need to tell me what to do; don't worry about anything else," He Yuzhu said with a smile.

He Yuzhu and Zhao Ying left Liugongguan by car and headed straight for the Liuguo Fandian.

After going through an inspection, He Yuzhu and Zhao Ying entered the hotel lobby together.

Zhao Ying greeted acquaintances, while He Yuzhu felt a bit uncomfortable; everyone was looking at him with strange eyes, perhaps thinking the two were truly ill-matched.

As it neared eleven o'clock, they were both arranged to stand at the hotel entrance to welcome guests.

Zhao Ying stared at He Yuzhu and asked: "Do you have that thing on you?"

"Big sister, you've asked three times already, aren't you annoyed? I said I brought it, so I brought it. You should worry about yourself; if I fire the gun, you'll be a suspect too," He Yuzhu said.

Just then, two cars drove up to the entrance, followed by two military vehicles with dozens of security personnel on them.

Wang Siyuan got out of the car surrounded by everyone, and several high-ranking government officials stepped forward one after another to shake his hand.

A gunshot rang out.

The bullet grazed past Wang Siyuan's ear, drawing a tiny bit of blood.

"What a damn waste!" He Yuzhu cursed under his breath.