Chapter 340

Li Xuewu took out the white liquor Zhou Wang Yamei had hidden from under the coffee table and placed a teacup from the tea tray on the table.

Gu Ning thought Li Xuewu was going to drink, but she didn't expect Li Xuewu to ignite the liquor with a lighter after pouring it.

"Stretch them over quickly, otherwise the alcohol will burn out in a moment."

"Really... really no need."

Li Xuewu smiled, rubbed his hands together, and said, "You don't really want me to call you 'Mom', do you?"

"Mm~"

Gu Ning was covering her mouth and laughing when her feet were caught by Li Xuewu as he bent down.

"In our relationship, with no outsiders around, what's there to be embarrassed about?"

Li Xuewu grabbed a handful of fire, rubbed it in his hands, and rubbed it onto Gu Ning's ankles.

"Mm~"

Originally surprised by Li Xuewu's words, a scorching sensation immediately spread from her sore ankles, making Gu Ning's whole body go numb.

Li Xuewu looked at Gu Ning, who was lying on the sofa biting her lip, and said with a smile, "Bear with it a little; it won't hurt in a moment."

"Hmm."

Gu Ning's face was flushed, and her reply to Li Xuewu was no louder than a mosquito's buzz.

Snowflakes were already drifting outside when they returned; sitting in front of the warm fireplace now, watching the fluorescent specks outside the window.

This... this person seems to know how to do everything.

When Zhou Wang Yamei came out, she saw Gu Ning's face was like a red cloth; she didn't know what bad things Li Xuewu was doing.

But when she saw the white liquor on the coffee table, she smiled awkwardly.

"Where did you find that? I had forgotten about it."

Li Xuewu extinguished the flame in the teacup and said casually, "I have a heartache, and you can cure it. If you have a heartache, who do you find?"

As he spoke, he stood up and said, "I don't rely on alcohol to numb myself; I believe you are braver than me."

He stared into Zhou Wang Yamei's eyes, glanced upstairs, and then entered the bathroom.

Gu Ning felt her warm ankles, but when she stepped on the ground, a sharp pain came again.

She knew this was because the blood stasis had been rubbed away, and she would be fine after a night's sleep.

"He's right; alcohol isn't medicine."

Gu Ning endured the pain, walked to Zhou Wang Yamei, who was looking lonely, and pulled her hand.

"Mm-hmm, I know."

Zhou Wang Yamei covered her face and let out a long sigh.

"He seems to know all my secrets. He knew I smoked the first day he came to my house. I haven't touched that liquor since you two came, but he was still able to find it."

Gu Ning shook Zhou Wang Yamei's hand and said, "He is more painful than you, but he never talks about giving up or suffering."

Zhou Wang Yamei looked up at Gu Ning and said, "Actually, you understand him better than you think."

"Maybe."

There was no one in the living room when Li Xuewu came out, and the fireplace was still burning.

Checking the time, Li Xuewu walked to the coffee table, picked up the liquor on the table, shook it, and threw it into his fingers.

A morning after a snowfall in the Northeast is a kind of scenery that cannot be experienced elsewhere.

A thousand miles of ice, ten thousand miles of drifting snow, wrapped in red, exceptionally enchanting.

No wonder it makes countless heroes bow down.

Li Xuewu heard a surprising piece of news when he went downstairs.

The radio on the cabinet by the fireplace was still broadcasting news: Implementing family planning is an extremely important major event...

Li Xuewu rubbed his eyes, not expecting such a big thing to happen when he woke up.

After breakfast, under the gaze of Gu Ning and the other, Li Xuewu put on his overcoat and went to the steel mill.

Snowflakes were still drifting on the way there; Li Xuewu looked up at the goose-feather snow falling heavier and heavier, stomped his feet, and walked into the lobby of the guesthouse.

"Good morning, Li Chu!"

"Morning!"

After exchanging a few greetings, Li Xuewu went to the third floor, looked into the conference room, but there weren't many people eating breakfast.

"Come, come, come, eat breakfast."

Seeing Li Xuewu arrive, Yang Yuansong waved his hand to signal Li Xuewu to eat.

Li Xuewu smiled, raised the gloves in his hand, and said, "I'll go take off my clothes first."

As he spoke, he walked toward his room, said a few words to the security guard on duty in the hallway, pushed open the door, and entered the room.

"Just woke up?"

"No way! Just about to sleep!"

Yang Zongfang took off his sweater, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, kicked off his shoes, and got into the quilt.

Li Xuewu threw out a cigarette; he didn't smoke it himself, but asked while taking off his overcoat, "Did he confess?"

"No."

Yang Zongfang wearily turned the cigarette in his hand, frowned, and said, "He really can persist. To be honest, even if I were in his place, I'm not sure I could hold out."

Li Xuewu put away his overcoat and asked, "Not eating breakfast? Fainting won't save you from death; what's the point of holding out?"

"I've already eaten; you go eat."

Yang Zongfang placed the cigarette in his hand on the bedside table without lighting it, closed his eyes, and lay on the bed, preparing to sleep.

Li Xuewu reached out and pulled the curtains, and the room immediately became dim.

Just as he walked to the door to open it, he heard Yang Zongfang's voice: "The Secretary said you recommended me; thank you."

"Hehe, we don't talk about that between us."

Li Xuewu opened the door and walked out; after closing the door behind him, his face returned to its natural expression.

A promotion from a section-level to a deputy-division-level, and an external appointment at that—this pie is indeed fragrant.

Li Xuewu didn't envy Yang Zongfang, even though he was still at the section level himself.

But he had already confirmed one thing: Yang Zongfang was someone Yang Yuansong trusted.

Rushing to the conference room, Li Xuewu smiled, took a lunch box, ladled some rice porridge, and added a small plate of pickles.

"I heard from Comrade Zongfang that he didn't sleep all night last night?"

He talked to Yang Shuji, walked to the table, sat down, and started eating breakfast.

Although he had already eaten when he came out, his body was still a bit cold, so he prepared to drink some porridge to warm his stomach.

"Hmm, didn't sleep well."

There were bloodshot eyes in Yang Shuji's eyes, and it looked like he hadn't slept much either.

After replying to Li Xuewu, he looked at Li Xuewu, who was drinking rice porridge in a relaxed manner, and Yang Yuansong felt that it seemed only his people were tired from this trip to Steel City, while this kid was like he was on vacation.

Actually, Li Xuewu also felt wronged; this wasn't a vacation at all, but running away to avoid the limelight.

"Tomorrow, one last day of interrogation tomorrow."

Yang Shuji looked at Li Xuewu and said, "No matter what the result is, we'll set off for Beijing tomorrow night."

"Hmm?"

Li Xuewu looked up at Yang Shuji, opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "In such a hurry?"

Generally speaking, discipline inspection cases don't have short durations; they basically last more than two or three months.

Now that Yang Shuji has been speeding up the interrogation and didn't hesitate to use his big moves, there must be news that Li Xuewu doesn't know.

"The wind is blowing~"

Yang Yuansong turned his head to look out the window; the wind and snow were heavy at this moment, and the north wind was swirling the snowflakes, making his heart even more chaotic.

There was no one else in the conference room at this moment, just Li Xuewu lowering his head to drink rice porridge and Yang Yuansong frowning as he looked out the window.

"You are a smart person."

Yang Yuansong didn't know why he said such a sentence, then looked at Li Xuewu and said, "Do you have any suggestions for the selection and transfer of cadres in the steel mill?"

"What suggestions could I have? I'm just a business..."

"I want to hear your honest opinion."

Yang Yuansong withdrew his gaze from the window and stared at Li Xuewu.

Li Xuewu's hand holding the lunch box paused, then he lowered his head and took a small sip of porridge to cover it up.

What is this for?

Li Xuewu wouldn't believe that Yang Yuansong asked this casually.

"Secretary, this steel mill is a division-level unit, and I'm currently at the section level. Even if I said something, it would be overstepping."

"Mm-hmm."

Yang Yuansong nodded, squinting his eyes, and asked again, "What about the rolling mill? The security department—what suggestions do you have for the security department?"

Li Xuewu looked at Yang Shuji sincerely and said, "I do have some thoughts on this: the security department needs to expand."

Yang Yuansong didn't expect Li Xuewu to have such an idea.

Li Xuewu held his lunch box and said, "Our factory merged with several steel mills last year, and the number of people has already exceeded ten thousand. It was fine at the beginning, but the security section now has only 80 people at full capacity, and that's assuming everyone is at work."

Yang Yuansong looked at Li Xuewu, unable to laugh or cry, and seeing his serious expression, he asked, "How many do you plan to expand by?"

"Expand by another two companies."

"Oh."

Yang Yuansong didn't show any surprise at Li Xuewu's statement, knowing that Li Xuewu was a transferred cadre and was used to counting in companies.

"A security section of over three hundred people."

Yang Yuansong hesitated for a moment and said, "Three people managing one hundred people—hmm, not too many."

Li Xuewu was surprised by Yang Shuji's words; he didn't expect it to be so easy to talk to.

I was just saying it casually, asking for a sky-high price! Waiting for you to counter-offer!

"You can submit an application after you take over the security department."

"Hmm."

Li Xuewu felt like he had fallen into this old Yang's trap.

"There is such a matter."

Yang Shuji seemed to have just remembered, looked at Li Xuewu, and asked, "Comrade Huaide communicated with me, wanting to promote Zhang Guoqi from the logistics department to take over as the head."

I knew there was no good news; hearing Yang Yuansong pull the topic back, how could Li Xuewu take the bait?

Seeing Li Xuewu about to speak, Yang Yuansong waved his hand, stopped Li Xuewu, and continued, "You are a member of the working group and know the situation here better, so I want to hear your opinion."

Damn it, the counter-offer is so ruthless?

Li Xuewu put down his lunch box, thought for a moment, and said, "I don't know much about Section Chief Zhang's situation; I've only met him once at a dinner table, and we had some exchanges regarding the guesthouse's business, but there hasn't been any other professional contact."

Talking about his situation, Li Xuewu lit a cigarette for Yang Yuansong and then lit one for himself.

"But from the situation in the steel mill, it really needs a cadre from our own rolling mill to come and sit in charge."

Watching Li Xuewu seriously thinking about his words, Yang Yuansong squinted his eyes and said, "Our factory's leadership team has never been full; you know that, right?"

"Hmm."

Li Xuewu nodded and said, "I know, it was adjusted when we merged with the Second Steel Mill, right?"

Li Xuewu knew this situation; the rolling mill had been receiving a pile of messes from factories that had taken steps too big and pulled their crotches in the past few years.

They had received quite a few large and small steel mills, expanding from a factory of three thousand people to the current large factory of over ten thousand people.

And the rolling mill was about to face a level adjustment, and the leadership here was being adjusted like a revolving lantern.

According to the current scale of the rolling mill, there should be one principal and four deputies, a configuration of five factory directors, and the Party Committee should have a configuration of one principal and three deputy secretaries.

According to the requirements, the factory director would hold the position of a deputy secretary, which formed a team of seven people.

Now there is only one principal and two deputies for factory directors, and only one principal secretary, Yang Yuansong, for the Party Committee.

This is also why the principal secretary is doing the work of a full-time discipline inspection secretary and running to Steel City to handle cases.

Yang Yuansong flicked the ash into his lunch box, frowned, and said, "I don't know if the level adjustment can be made this year, but there is already an opinion from above to supplement the team."

Li Xuewu finally knew why it was so lively over at the rolling mill; it was because the wolves were coming, and if this meal wasn't eaten soon, others would come in to eat it together.

"The steel mill must be handled with centralized power, plus two deputy-division-level positions."

Li Xuewu smoked and said softly, "Rather than not being able to eat it, it's better to settle the matter."

"You are young, yet you understand trade-offs, and your actions are very seasoned."

Yang Yuansong smiled and pointed at Li Xuewu, then said, "You are standing outside the circle, so naturally you speak easily, sigh!"

As he spoke, he sighed, then said softly, "Comrade Fengshan said that Zhang Guoqi lacks tolerance and has insufficient overall perspective, fearing that he cannot shoulder the heavy responsibility here."

Li Xuewu squinted at Yang Yuansong, knowing there would be a follow-up to this matter; if he had spoken rashly, hehe.

"Secretary, I dare not speak about the head, but I do suggest finalizing the deputy positions as soon as possible; there shouldn't be any problem with that, right?"

"Hmm?"

Yang Yuansong nodded and asked, "Tell me your thoughts."

Li Xuewu flicked the ash, pursed his lips, and said, "There must be a deputy factory director who understands business, a deputy factory director who understands internal affairs, plus Comrade Zongfang's supervisory ability; I believe the steel mill won't go astray."

"Mm!"

Yang Yuansong nodded noncommittally, his face showing thought as he said, "You mean to transfer one from the production department and one from logistics, finance, or personnel?"

"I can't really say about that."

Li Xuewu smiled and said, "You know my situation; I really don't know much about cadres above the deputy-division level, and I have no professional contact with them at all. If I talk nonsense, wouldn't that be making a fool of myself in front of you?"

"Hahahahaha."

Yang Yuansong looked at Li Xuewu and laughed, "You, you, you're full of tricks."

What is the security section for?

It has the task of internal security; he is the section chief of the security section—could he not know the situation of key figures in the factory?

He had been asking for so long today, and this kid was just talking in circles and spouting nonsense.

"Hahaha."

Li Xuewu stood up, took his lunch box, and said, "If you're not in that position, don't seek to govern; let you big shots worry about these annoying things."

As he spoke, he pointed to a piece of pickled radish left in his lunch box and laughed, "Don't look at me eating salty radishes, hahaha."

Watching Li Xuewu walk out of the conference room laughing, Yang Yuansong looked at the doorway with a very playful expression.

Does he really not "worry" at all?

Really, he said he wouldn't worry, so Li Xuewu spent the whole day quietly staying in the room accompanying Yang Zongfang to sleep.

Don't misunderstand; there were two beds.

The two of them competed in snoring, and in the end, Yang Zongfang couldn't beat Li Xuewu. He sat up and looked at the bastard who was sleeping even more soundly and deeply than himself; anyone who didn't know would think he had stayed up all night like himself.

"Damn your grandfather, you really have a big heart!"

Yang Zongfang cursed as he got out of bed, scratched his bird's nest hair, checked his watch, and kicked Li Xuewu's butt.

"Hey! Time for dinner!"

"Hmm?"

Li Xuewu turned his head to look at Yang Zongfang, lay back down, closed his eyes, and asked, "What time is it?"

"What time did you go to sleep?"

Li Xuewu thought for a moment, smiled embarrassedly, and said, "I came over to accompany you after having breakfast with the Secretary this morning."

"Get lost!"

Hearing Li Xuewu's ambiguous words, Yang Zongfang was so angry he laughed. He pointed to his watch and said, "Look at what time it is yourself?"

Li Xuewu opened one eye, raised his hand to check his watch, and said speechlessly, "Time flies so fast; I'm exhausted!"

Yang Zongfang was the one speechless.

Looking at Li Xuewu stretching, he said with quite a bit of envy, "You fall asleep the moment your head hits the pillow and sleep all day—how do you do it? Could it be that you stayed up all night with your girlfriend?"

"Hahahahaha."

Li Xuewu sat up, limped out of bed, and laughed, "Where did I rest last year? I was just working overtime. It's not easy to have a quiet moment, and you're still jealous!"

"Tsk tsk tsk."

Yang Zongfang got dressed, turned on the light, curled his lips, and said, "It's like you're the only one who's busy, and the rolling mill wouldn't turn without you."

"Yes, yes, yes, I was wrong."

Li Xuewu stood up to get dressed and said with a smile, "I shouldn't have complained, I shouldn't have grumbled; why didn't I pay attention to the influence when talking to a comrade from discipline inspection?"

"Your mouth is just vicious!"

Yang Zongfang got dressed, took his lunch box, and waited for Li Xuewu, raising his eyebrows as he asked, "Is that Xu Ning under you the same kind of person as you?"

"Hahahahaha."

Li Xuewu teased with a smile, "You haven't even married into the family yet, and you're already thinking about the dowry maid?"

"Go to hell!"

The two of them laughed and joked as they walked toward the conference room.

Yang Shuji was still sitting in that position, as if he hadn't moved since the morning.

Seeing Li Xuewu and the other enter, he even teased, "Comrade Zongfang has worked hard, Comrade Xuewu has worked hard."

"Hahahahaha."

Yang Yuansong laughed as he looked at Li Xuewu when he heard the Secretary's teasing.

Li Xuewu didn't care at all and just went about getting his food and eating.

The more he acted like this, the more reassured the Secretary was; if he were to go around the steel mill twice, then some people over at the rolling mill wouldn't be able to sleep.

Don't look at Yang Yuansong saying Li Huai De supports Zhang Guoqi; Li Xuewu wouldn't believe that even if he were beaten to death.

What kind of person is Li Huai De?

He's craftier than a monkey; would he support a fence-sitter?

This Zhang Guoqi was obviously not on the right path and was pushed out by Li Huai De to be a cannon fodder.

Who would start by playing two kings and four twos? You have to test the depth of the water first, right?

Li Xuewu had said quite a bit in the morning, and he had also put forward his suggestions, but those suggestions didn't name names—so who could he offend?

Don't think that what the two said couldn't be leaked; Li Xuewu didn't believe anyone's mouth, nor did he believe there were no walls without cracks in this world.

Leaders like Yang Fengshan aren't scary, and ones like Li Huai De aren't scary either; what's scary are people Li Kezhang Guoqi.

"If we're talking about hard work, the Secretary is the one who works hard."

Li Xuewu held his lunch box and said, "Look, the Secretary's hair has turned white from exhaustion."

"Hahahahaha."

Everyone looked at Yang Shuji's white hair and all laughed.

Yang Yuansong had premature graying; his hair was already dotted with white when he was young, and now he was in his prime, but his hair had indeed turned completely white.

He looked like he had achieved immortality and returned to his youth, with not many wrinkles on his face, but he looked like an immortal.

After everyone finished eating, Yang Zongfang started his night shift again; this time he went to Yang Mingsu's room.

In the eyes of Yang Shuji and Yang Zongfang, this Yang Mingsu wasn't a difficult character to handle.

His wife had already confessed, so even if he held out, it would just be bringing humiliation upon himself.

Li Xuewu stood at the end of the hallway and watched the snow outside the window for a while before going downstairs.

The heavy snow had been falling for a whole day and night; it wasn't that heavy when Li Xuewu went downstairs.

But the snow on the ground had already accumulated to the depth of a calf, and the wheels were buried more than halfway.

"Section Chief."

Just as Li Xuewu walked to the entrance, he saw Han Zhan stand up from the lobby lounge area.

"Back?"

He gestured for Han Zhan to follow him and took the lead in exiting the guesthouse.

Li Xuewu's command vehicle had been parked at the entrance, and team members would come over from time to time to warm up the car.

So it wasn't too cold when he got in.

After Li Xuewu started the car, Han Zhan jumped in.

"Section Chief, it's been investigated clearly."

Han Zhan glanced in the direction of the lobby and whispered to Li Xuewu, "The one who died was a new technician recruited by the steel mill this year, just graduated. These people were in training and snuck out to play during the holiday."

Li Xuewu handed Han Zhan a cigarette, lit one for himself, and asked, "Have you checked his family background?"

"Checked."

Han Zhan took Li Xuewu's cigarette but didn't rush to light it; instead, he held it in his hand and reported, "Worker's child, father is a workshop section chief in the factory, sixth in the family, several older brothers all work in the workshop."

As he spoke, he hesitated for a moment, then said, "I saw Nie Liansheng take people to their door, but he came out with a dark face. Neighbors said this family is not to be trifled with."

"Hehe."

Li Xuewu took a puff of his cigarette and asked, "Is there any movement from the steel mill side?"

"Doesn't look like it, it's quite quiet."

"Then that's not right."

Li Xuewu pinched the cigarette butt and said, "What kind of scale is that factory? If Nie Liansheng could handle it, he wouldn't have taken people to their door."

Han Zhan also couldn't gauge the situation inside and asked, "Then what should we do?"

"No more waiting."

Li Xuewu opened the window, flicked the cigarette butt away, turned his head, and asked, "Did you bring your gun?"

"It's in the car."

"Go get it."

"Yes."

Just as Li Xuewu turned the car around, a security team member ran out of the lobby and greeted Li Xuewu, "Section Chief!"

In this era, having many people in a family meant having many laborers; if the timing was good and everyone in the family was an employee, then the conditions of this family would be extraordinary.

The Zhong family had six sons; the father was a workshop section chief in the factory, and five sons all worked in the workshop—this meant their words were more effective than the workshop director's.

The five sons were all unpromising, each one a blockhead, only able to eat physical labor in the workshop.

It was hard to get one with a sharp mind, who had just entered the factory as a technician, but he was shot dead before he even started his post.

How could the old Zhong family be reconciled to this?

Although the factory sent people to explain the cause of the incident, and the city also sent people to provide an explanation.

But Old Zhong just didn't believe it; he didn't believe the sixth son would do those things.

If it were any other son, he might have believed it a little, but how could a child who studied so well as the sixth son molest a woman?

"No matter what, I can't swallow this breath!"

Old Zhong looked at the eldest and asked, "Didn't you ask for the license plate number? Haven't you found the car yet?"

Zhong the eldest had a gloomy face and shook his head, saying, "Two cars, one wasn't local, and one was Luo Cheng's car from the steel mill, but Luo Cheng was beaten up and taken away the night before last."

Old Zhong stared and asked, "Then you haven't found anything at all?"

"No."

Zhong the second took over the conversation, "Luo Cheng is missing, so we went to the steel mill to ask and found out that two cars from Beijing came to the steel mill."

"Then go find them!"

Old Zhong tapped the table in front of him and said, "So what if they're from Beijing? Find them out!"

Zhong the second looked at his eldest brother and signaled for him to speak.

Zhong the eldest looked up at his father and frowned, "They aren't simple characters; the head and deputy head of the steel mill were arrested by those people and are being interrogated at the steel mill guesthouse."

"So what if they aren't simple characters?"

Old Zhong pointed his finger at his son and scolded, "Look at your cowardly appearance; where's the energy you have in the workshop?"

Zhong the second pursed his lips, looked at his eldest brother, and then said, "Dad, it's not that we're cowardly; you'd be cowardly too if you went!"

"What! Did they set up cannons?"

Old Zhong glared and said, "I don't believe a small factory of two thousand people can turn the world upside down. The principle of 'a life for a life' is always valid!"

Zhong the second ignored his eldest brother's attempt to stop him and curled his lips, "They didn't set up cannons."

"Hmph hmph."

Amidst Old Zhong's hmphing, Zhong the second curled his lips and said, "They set up guns—a light machine gun upstairs and a light machine gun downstairs."

Old Zhong was almost choked to death by his second son and stood up with a 'whoosh', "How is that possible!"

"How is it impossible!"

Zhong the second put his hands in his sleeves and said unconvinced, "Little Gaze from the east end said so, and he even took me to see it; they really have the equipment set up there!"

Old Zhong got the news from his son and sat down with a gloomy face.

"Dad."

Zhong the eldest looked at his father's face and hesitated.

But he still asked, "Dad, didn't the captain who came this afternoon say he would mediate? It's time; are you going or not?"

"I don't approve of going."

Zhong the second curled his lips and said, "This is some kind of red something banquet."

"What does it have to do with your aunt?"

Seeing his father ask, Zhong the eldest nudged his arm and said, "It's not that red banquet, it's a Hongmen Banquet."

"Right, right, Hongmen Banquet."

Zhong the second wiped his nose and said, "I'd say this captain has no good intentions; he wants you to go so he can detain you and deal with you."

"Deal with whom?"

Old Zhong glared and said, "Not to mention your aunt, I'm a cadre of some size; who dares to deal with me?"

As he spoke, he waved his hand to signal his sons to stand up and said, "If you say so, then I really have to go and see which true god it is!"

Watching his father's stubborn temper flare up, Zhong the eldest couldn't stop him anymore and could only put on his cotton-padded jacket and follow his living father out the door.

Zhong the eldest knew that they wouldn't necessarily get any benefits from this trip, and he had wanted to call a few neighbors.

But the overbearing behavior in the past had exhausted the Zhong family's popularity.

When the sixth son had an accident, only a few close relatives came to see, and the rest of the neighbors didn't even come to look.

Li Xuewu arrived at the restaurant from last time with his people and saw the jeep and a few bicycles parked at the entrance, knowing Nie Liansheng had arrived.

Standing outside the door, he could hear the commotion inside.

When he lifted the door curtain and entered, the room immediately went quiet.

Li Xuewu looked into the room and saw six or seven people sitting around the table, their faces full of righteous indignation.

And Nie Liansheng was standing in front of these people with his men, seemingly saying something.

The rest was the woman he saw that day.

"Li Chu."

Seeing Li Xuewu enter, Nie Liansheng greeted him with a smile.

Li Xuewu nodded, then looked at the food and wine on the table and asked, "What's the meaning of this?"

Nie Liansheng pulled Li Xuewu toward these people and introduced, "It's like this; these are the parents of the young man who passed away the other day."

Li Xuewu tilted his chin, looked at the table of people with a hanging eye, then turned to look at Nie Liansheng and asked, "Hmm, and then?"

Seeing Li Xuewu's bad attitude, Nie Liansheng hurriedly stood on tiptoe and whispered in Li Xuewu's ear, "This Old Zhong's younger sister is the city..."

After explaining to Li Xuewu, Nie Liansheng turned to Old Zhong and said, "This is Li Chu, who handled the matter that day..."

Before Nie Liansheng could finish introducing him, Old Zhong sized up Li Xuewu with a hanging eye, then looked at Nie Liansheng and asked, "Is this the bastard who killed my son?"

"No, no."

Nie Liansheng waved his hand and said, "The one who killed him was security; he is his..."

"Then you instigated it?"

Nie Liansheng was interrupted twice, his face very dissatisfied, but thinking of this person's connections, he endured it.

Old Zhong bit his cheek, glared at Li Xuewu, and said, "You have a lot of nerve, daring to stand up for your subordinates! Fine, then I'll settle the account with you!"

Li Xuewu looked at Nie Liansheng, wanting to hear what he had to say.

But Nie Liansheng didn't dare to look at Li Xuewu at this moment; instead, he waved his hands between the two and said, "Comrade Old Zhong, things always need to be solved. Both sides are here; speak your mind and handle it as it should be handled. People are gone; can't we just stop the noise?"

"I'm making noise?"

Old Zhong looked at Nie Liansheng and said, "Would you think so if your son were gone?"

Old Zhong didn't know that Nie Liansheng's son was indeed gone, but he didn't care about Nie Liansheng's thoughts at this moment either.

"Fine, you said you'd solve it, so I'll solve it."

Although Nie Liansheng was full of anger, it was a good start that Li Xuewu didn't say anything at this moment.

Thinking that Li Xuewu also didn't want to cause trouble, Nie Liansheng said to Old Zhong, "In that case, you state your conditions, and I'll discuss it with Li Chu here."

As he spoke, he said with a serious face, "But let's solve the matter; don't yell at me. Who am I doing this for? Don't you think so?"

Old Zhong gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, fine; every debt has its debtor, every wrong has its perpetrator. I won't target you."

As he spoke, he looked at Li Xuewu and said, "You want me to state conditions? Fine, I have one condition: a life for a life."

"Old Zhong."

Nie Liansheng stood between the two and advised Old Zhong, "How about economic compensation?"

As he spoke, he turned to look at Li Xuewu and said, "Look, how about giving some compensation? I'll even subsidize you a bit."

Li Xuewu finally understood after watching for so long; this was Nie Liansheng preparing to "help" him mediate.

"Hehe, is this the explanation you said you'd give me?"

Li Xuewu pushed Nie Liansheng in the face with his palm; since he had helped him before, Li Xuewu didn't use much force, just pushed him away.

But Nie Liansheng's face turned red at this moment; he had no choice—he didn't expect a workshop section chief to have such deep connections.

Before Nie Liansheng could step forward to advise again, there was a "crack."

When he looked up again, he saw Li Xuewu holding a beer bottle from the table and smashing it on Old Zhong's head.

"Crack~ Splash~"

Beer and blood mixed together and flowed down Old Zhong's head.

Li Xuewu didn't stop there; ignoring the screams of the woman standing at the checkout counter, he took another beer from the table and smashed it down on Old Zhong, who had already fallen to the ground.

Old Zhong had brought five sons with him; seeing their father beaten, could these sons just stand by and do nothing?

One by one, they rolled up their sleeves and were about to come up.

But who would have thought that there would be a "clatter" at the door, and four or five big guys carrying Type 56 rifles rushed in, hitting whoever they saw.

This Type 56 rifle had only one move for hitting people, and that was using the butt of the rifle.

The rifle butt was made of wood, and one hit left a bloody mark.

These security team members didn't care about that; the order they received was that no one was allowed to be standing in the room except for the Section Chief.

Good heavens, these Zhong family big guys hadn't even figured out what was going on before they were knocked down by the rifle butts.

Knocking them down wasn't enough; the steel-toed boots went straight for these people, beating them until they cried for their fathers and mothers.

Even Nie Liansheng, who came up to stop them, was hit in the forehead by a rifle butt, immediately dizzy and falling to the ground with a clatter.

The two people Nie Liansheng brought didn't dare to come up either and could only wisely hide by the checkout counter.

Li Xuewu didn't care about the others but dragged Old Zhong by his collar, picked him up, took another beer from the table, and asked with a smile, "Is it a life for a life?"

"Crack!"

"Is there someone above you?"

"Crack!"

Another hit; even the few people standing near the checkout counter felt their foreheads ache.

The woman at the restaurant was even more so; the elegant young man who came last time was actually so irritable.

Li Xuewu looked at Old Zhong, whose face was full of blood, looking like a dead pig, only breathing and not daring to bare his teeth anymore, so he let go.

"Plop."

As Old Zhong's body hit the ground, there was no one left standing in the room except for the few people standing by the checkout counter.

Li Xuewu pointed his finger at the few "sons" and the dead pig on the ground and said, "Cuff them, take them away!"

"Wait... wait."

Nie Liansheng had recovered a bit by now and stood up, not caring about the blood flowing from his forehead, and said to Li Xuewu, "Forgive others when you can; don't be the same as them. If this gets big..."

Li Xuewu walked up to Nie Liansheng, stood still, looked at the bleeding forehead, and said with a light smile, "I thought you had some guts; with such little courage, you dare to say you'll handle things for me?"

As he spoke, he bypassed the swaying Nie Liansheng and said to the security team members, "Action."

"Yes!"

These team members didn't care who was in their hands; Li Xuewu ordered action, and they went straight to work.

Handcuffs, back-cuffing, kicking stomachs.

Then they carried them out of the restaurant one by one like big shrimp.

Nie Liansheng finally witnessed Li Xuewu's arrogance this time; he didn't leave any face at all, directly turning it into a deadly feud.

Li Xuewu didn't care about Nie Liansheng behind him either and drove straight back to the steel mill.

He hadn't even reached the entrance when he saw a car parked at the villa entrance.

Li Xuewu slowed down, and only when he got close did he see the villa's lights were on.

He parked the car in front of this one, opened the car door, loaded his gun, and walked toward the villa.

Just as he entered the entryway, a sound of conversation came from the room.

Li Xuewu looked into the living room and quite unexpectedly discovered that the person sitting on the sofa was the one he met at the club last night.

"Have guests?"

"Yes."

Zhou Wang Yamei walked over to help Li Xuewu take his overcoat and explained, "He said he met you last night and is holding the pack of cigarettes you sent away."

"Oh?"

Li Xuewu walked into the room with a smile and shook hands with the young man who stood up.

"Hello, sorry to keep you waiting. I encountered something after work and was delayed for a while."

"I also visited rashly; I hope Li Chu won't mind."

"Sit, sit."

Li Xuewu gestured for the young man to sit and then sat in the single seat himself.

"My friend was tired after playing yesterday, so we came back first, and I didn't have a chance to thank you."

Knowing Li Xuewu was talking about the oranges, he smiled and shook his head, "A small gesture; I know Li Chu wouldn't care for it, it's just a token of my heart."

Zhou Wang Yamei poured tea for the two and went upstairs, leaving only Li Xuewu and this young man in the living room.

"I still don't know who you are."

Li Xuewu handed the young man a cigarette with a smile.

The young man took Li Xuewu's cigarette and first took out a lighter to light it for Li Xuewu.

Li Xuewu looked at the young man's movements and lowered his head slightly to support the flame with his hand.

Only after the young man finished lighting Li Xuewu's did he light his own.

After extinguishing the lighter, he said to Li Xuewu with a smile, "I really admire Li Chu's style, especially the action of wheeling the beer bottle; it had more charisma than that electric punch the other day."

"Oh?"

Li Xuewu raised his eyebrows; he didn't expect that the person waiting at home would know about the indecent behavior he had just committed.

Seeing the change in Li Xuewu's attitude, the young man smiled and said, "I'm not someone like Nie Liansheng; you can rest assured."

After explaining this to Li Xuewu, he introduced himself, "My surname is Yu, Yu from 'gan-gou', given name Min, working at the Workers' Club."

Li Xuewu squinted and nodded, signaling the young man named Yu Min to continue.

Yu Min didn't mind Li Xuewu's attitude; he had come uninvited, and not being hit by an electric punch or a large beer bottle was already polite enough.

"I also heard your name by chance, including the matter with Ma San'er and those matters at the steel mill."

"Am I that famous?"

Li Xuewu looked at Yu Min with a smile and asked, "These matters don't seem to have anything to do with the Workers' Club, right?"

Li Xuewu nodded in confirmation and said, "Only books that can be read and applied are good books."

"Hmm."

Seeing Gu Ning walk out, Zhou Wang Yamei said, "I'll read the manuscript first; I roughly understand your train of thought."

Li Xuewu nodded, signaling Zhou Wang Yamei to go take a bath, while he sat on the sofa looking at Gu Ning's puzzled expression.