Chapter 290: The Yi Family's Treasure

"Big Brother, I want to follow you in the next life too," the three members of the Southern Fists said, all looking moved.

"Hahaha, good. Let's rest for a while, and we'll leave the city at daybreak."

"Understood, Big Brother."

The next day at six, as the sky was just beginning to brighten, the four of them disguised themselves simply and left the city in batches. It wasn't until they had walked five or six li outside Sijiucheng that the four of them breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"We'll go in pairs. Meet at the old spot in Yun Province. Anan, you come with me."

"Yes, Big Brother."

"Keep a low profile on the road. We might be wanted now. Axi, your personality is impulsive; Adong, you keep an eye on him."

"Understood, Big Brother."

The four of them parted ways. They had no intention of taking a vehicle for now; in any case, traveling on foot was a daily routine for them. In the past, walking forty or fifty kilometers a day was nothing out of the ordinary.

Not long after they left, Sijiucheng was already plastered with their wanted posters, and Zhang Ping'an naturally saw them too.

"It seems someone really did tip them off."

Li Baoguo would never let them off the hook. At this moment, Zhang Ping'an was even more certain that it was Zheng Zhiming who was behind this, though it was a pity he still didn't know what this guy looked like.

At this time, Zheng Zhiming was also furious. He didn't even know where the Public Security side got the information, especially when he saw these wanted portraits all over the street, which looked seven or eight parts similar to the Qi Lu and the others he had met.

Now Qi Lu was nowhere to be found. Since they hadn't gone to the pre-arranged location, it meant they had run off, and it was very likely they had already escaped Sijiucheng.

"Find a few people to monitor the Sub-bureau. They must be cleaned up before they are caught." There were two people in that group who had seen his face; he absolutely could not let them be caught.

"Yes."

"Trash, all trash. Zhang Ping'an, you're lucky this time."

The guard hesitated for a moment, but still decided to tell his superior about Zheng Zhiming's situation.

"You're saying you went to tip off the human traffickers? And it was Zhiming's idea?"

"Yes, Chief."

"You... forget it. Keep Zhiming in check in the future and don't let him offend again. We'll let it go this time. Go."

Zheng Shenghua let out a long sigh. For this only seedling of the third generation in his family, he truly couldn't bring himself to be ruthless.

"Yes, Chief."

"Chief, what about Zhang Ping'an?"

"No need to worry about him for now."

"Yes."

"Zhiming, oh Zhiming, when will you ever grow up? This old bone of your grandfather's can't hold on for much longer."

Zheng Shenghua had hoped to use a marriage alliance with the Zhong Family to further elevate his son's rank in the Ministry of Public Security, but unfortunately, it fell through. His son was now only a Deputy Director in the Ministry of Public Security, a Department-level Cadre.

So, to say he had no resentment toward Zhang Ping'an would be a lie, even though this matter had little to do with Zhang Ping'an. But who told him the Zhong Family's daughter rejected his family precisely because of Zhang Ping'an?

However, Zheng Shenghua was an entrepreneur of the older generation; his blood was still red. He couldn't bring himself to do things that intentionally harmed others.

But since his grandson had done something wrong, as a grandfather, while he would subconsciously protect him, he would also try his best to make him correct his ways.

Zhang Ping'an did not yet know that he had entered the line of sight of a big shot. At this moment, he was looking through the confession of Lao Er, the Northern Legs.

"Huh?"

In '51, the Northern Legs had once trafficked a pair of siblings to Sijiucheng in Handong, but because the situation was tense at the time, they had dumped them at the entrance of an orphanage to make their escape. When they returned to look for them later, they found they had already been adopted.

At the time, they didn't dare to look for them and had to leave Sijiucheng in a hurry.

This made Zhang Ping'an think of the Yi Jiabao siblings. Everything matched. When Yi Zhonghai adopted them, it seemed they had also just been taken in by the orphanage.

"This..."

It was no wonder the Deaf Old Lady hadn't found any clues for such a long time; it was completely because the Northern Legs had just tossed them aside on the road for the sake of convenience in escaping back then.

Zhang Ping'an felt a bit conflicted. If he didn't know, that was one thing, but now that he did, should he tell Yi Zhonghai and the others?

"Forget it, let me confirm with Zhu Dachang and the others first. After confirming, I'll discuss it with San Jie Fu."

"Hmm? Wait, Handong? Damn, Handong? Is it *that* Handong from the show?"

Zhang Ping'an wasn't quite sure, so he immediately went to Procurement Section 1, where there were maps of cities across the country.

"Section Chief Zhang, a rare guest," Zhu Jianshe said, who was currently arranging and assigning tasks, writing and drawing on the map.

"Section Chief Zhu, I happen to have a small matter. Could I borrow the map for a look?"

"Naturally, I happen to be looking at the map myself."

After the Zhu Family decided to get on Li Huaide's boat, they naturally became friendly with Li Huaide's faction.

"There really is a Handong Province," Zhang Ping'an muttered.

"Section Chief Zhang is looking at Handong? That's a major economic plain province. The potential of every city there is quite good; perhaps in the future, their economies will all be able to advance side by side."

As a Procurement Section Chief within the plan, Zhu Jianshe had basically traveled to every province in the country and had a basic understanding.

"Mm, thank you. I understand now."

On the map, Zhang Ping'an not only saw Handong Province, but there was actually a Linjiang Province as well. He remembered that Jinghai City from *The Knockout* belonged to Linjiang Province.

"Oh my, I think I've discovered something incredible," Zhang Ping'an was a bit dazed.

"Not necessarily. What if it's just that the province names are the same?"

Even if it were true, it wasn't something Zhang Ping'an should be worrying about right now. Some of the original protagonists might still be wearing split-crotch pants at this moment.

At the cafeteria at noon, Zhang Ping'an found Zhu Dachang and the others to ask about some details regarding the Yi siblings.

"Xiaobao and his sister did indeed come to the orphanage in '51, but they weren't there long before they were adopted."

"Mm, good. I know now." Then it should be correct; everything just happened to line up.

After dinner that evening, Zhang Ping'an walked into the Jia Family home.

"Uncle," X4

"Great-uncle," X4

"Alright," Zhang Ping'an gave a few White Rabbit creamy candies to each person, then found Lao Jia.

"San Jie Fu, there is a matter I would like to discuss with you."

"Sure, go ahead," the two walked into the bedroom.

"It is about Brother Yi."

"What is wrong with Lao Yi?"

"I accidentally discovered some clues regarding the background of Jiabao and his sister, and I don't know if I should tell Brother Yi."

"This..." Lao Jia pondered for a moment.

"Ping'an, are you sure about this?"

"Mm, it is almost certain."

"Let me think about it first."

Lao Jia rubbed his chin, feeling somewhat conflicted; he understood his old friend Lao Yi very well, and knew that he valued children more than anything else, which was precisely why he did not want to say anything.

"Forget it, Ping'an, let's just pretend we don't know about this. Right now, whether it's Lao Yi or Jiabao and the others, they are all living very well. If we were to tell them everything, it would only add unnecessary trouble for them."

"Alright."

In truth, Zhang Ping'an also leaned toward keeping it hidden, though he was still somewhat influenced by the mindset of his past life, believing that children should know the truth of the matter;

but the current situation was just as his San Jie Fu, Lao Jia, had said: Lao Yi and the three of them were getting along very well, and there was no need to cause them to develop rifts.

In the early hours of the morning, Zhang Ping'an released the Gray Wolf and began tracking the four people including Qi Lu. The Gray Wolf sniffed the scent and arrived at the dilapidated Siheyuan where the four had stayed, and from there, they were heading out of the city.

"They really did run away, but they are cautious enough not to even take the train."

Zhang Ping'an lost the urge to continue the pursuit; at their pace, they had likely already traveled forty or fifty kilometers, and he simply did not have the time to chase them now.

"Forget it, let's wait until news comes back. There will be plenty of opportunities to silence them in the future."