Chapter 948: Sharing Weal and Woe

"The person is right here with us; it's a good thing we never let go."

Emerging from the conference room, Lai Shanchuan said this with a sense of relief.

Li Xuewu flicked the cigarette in his hand, shook one out, clamped it between his lips, and gestured for Lai Shanchuan to take one as well.

"Oh! High-end stuff!"

Lai Shanchuan smiled as he took the cigarette Li Xuewu had shaken out, made a quip, and lit it.

After taking a drag, he said with some emotion, "You guys really do have better perks~"

"It's just a pack of cigarettes, is it really worth all that~"

Li Xuewu exhaled a cloud of smoke and, at the corner, shifted his body to clear the passageway for the investigators coming down behind him.

With today's meeting concluded, they were again splitting into several groups. Li Xuewu would not be doing field work; he was only providing support for interrogations and analysis.

Lai Shanchuan invited him to join in re-interrogating Yu Lanfang, while the head of the Criminal Investigation Team would lead a team to investigate Zhao Ziliang.

Zhao Ziliang's unit, the Joint Venture Factory, Zhao Ziliang's home, the train station, the Zhili Guesthouse, and so on—all had to be gone over again.

At the very least, they had to determine whether Zhao Ziliang was dead or alive. If dead, it was possible the perpetrator was still at large, or that he had committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

If alive, then his disappearance was his greatest point of suspicion; both the fraud case and the murder case would center on him.

Regardless, this case had finally seen a glimmer of light. Being able to identify a suspect meant it wasn't a dead end.

Therefore, the two heads of Criminal Investigation and Public Security were in a great hurry to leave; they were the ones working on the front lines, and they were the ones suffering.

Coming down from upstairs, the heads of several small groups took the initiative to greet Li Xuewu and the other man as they passed.

Lai Shanchuan watched them leave with eyes full of hope, wishing that this time they could bring back new leads.

Yet he knew in his heart that with the case having reached this point, it could basically be closed.

It wasn't that all the evidence confirmed Zhao Ziliang was the killer, but rather that he held no hope of finding Zhao Ziliang.

If they couldn't break through from Yu Lanfang's side, or if they determined Yu Lanfang had no connection to this matter at all.

Then, in the end, they could only conclude that Zhao Ziliang and Zhang Shuqin had conspired to commit fraud, and then, due to an uneven split of the spoils, he had murdered her and fled.

The two-month duration of the case was not only consuming the bureau's manpower and material resources, but also the energy of the investigative force.

These people couldn't keep consuming themselves for this case forever; those fifty thousand yuan weren't worth it, and the two people—one dead and one disappeared—weren't worth it either.

Just after the meeting ended, he and Zheng Ju had already communicated privately that if this investigation yielded no results, they would temporarily close the case by issuing an arrest warrant for Zhao Ziliang.

If any changes appeared later, there would be room to handle them, and it would better alleviate the current problem of investigative consumption.

Li Xuewu had been sitting close by and had heard the two discussing this matter, but he didn't speak up; he didn't need to offer his opinion at this time.

The afternoon interrogation work would still be presided over by Li Xuewu. Although new problems had appeared, there were previous inquiry records, and Lai Shanchuan wanted to observe Yu Lanfang from a different angle.

Yu Lanfang was still the same as he had been when Li Xuewu saw him two days ago, only there was a bit more despair and gloom in his gaze.

Li Xuewu didn't pay much attention to this; if solving cases relied on looking at the other party's expressions to judge truth or falsehood, how foolish that would be.

"There's a new situation."

After sitting down, Li Xuewu moved the teacup in front of him aside, looked at Yu Lanfang, and said, "You beat your wife on the night of the 28th, right?"

Yu Lanfang was stunned when he heard Li Xuewu ask him this, then his expression changed drastically, and he said, "You suspect it was me...!"

Thump, thump~

Lai Shanchuan tapped the table, looked at him, and reminded him, "Calm down, we're asking you a question now."

Yu Lanfang glanced at him, then clenched his fists, pursed his lips, and fell silent.

Li Xuewu looked at him with interest and asked, "First there was an argument, then you beat her, that's how it was, right?"

"Tell us, what's the situation between you and Zhang Shuqin? What you told us and what you've shown us is a bit different from the results of the investigators' findings."

"I didn't..."

Yu Lanfang hung his head low, sitting there somewhat hunched over. After a long while, he said again, "I didn't kill her... I didn't..."

"That's not for you to say, and it's not for me to say, right?"

Li Xuewu looked at him, paused, and said, "There was conflict between the two of you; you know whether you laid a hand on her or not."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Lai Shanchuan, then looked back at Yu Lanfang, and said, "If you don't want to talk, then forget it, but we also have reason to suspect you have a motive for murder."

"Especially with your hesitation right now!"

Lai Shanchuan wore a stern face, pointed his finger at him, and said, "Every second you waste adds to the suspicion. I hope you consider this carefully and cooperate actively."

"If you don't say it, we can still guess it."

With Lai Shanchuan playing the bad cop, Li Xuewu naturally had to play the good cop: "The person can't be found, the money can't be found; you know how it will be handled in the end."

"Even if the money really can't be found, leaving behind a suspicious hanging question, you still won't be getting out."

"That's not even the point."

Li Xuewu looked at him and asked, "Are you willing to let your wife rest unpeacefully in the ground? Do you want to take the fall for the real killer?"

"It... it... it was her."

Yu Lanfang's body collapsed instantly; he shrank his neck hard, and said in a somewhat suppressed voice, "She... Shuqin... had someone else outside."

"With whom?"

"When?"

"How did you know?"

Lai Shanchuan exchanged a look with Li Xuewu, then raised his eyebrows and asked urgently, "Why didn't you say so during the initial questioning?"

"It's..."

Yu Lanfang spread his trembling hands to support the table and slowly explained, "I don't know who it was with; it had been a long time."

"I... I actually knew, but... sigh~"

He let out a long sigh and said intermittently, "On the 29th, I had thought she was going to leave; she was going to leave with him."

"Leave with whom?"

Lai Shanchuan frowned and asked, "You don't know?"

"I don't know, I really don't know."

Yu Lanfang slowly raised his head, looking at them with eyes full of tears, and said, "On the 30th, someone from the supply and marketing cooperative came to say she was missing, and I had a premonition."

"Just because you beat her? Right?"

Li Xuewu raised his eyebrows and asked, "What exactly is going on with you two? And why did you say you had a premonition she was going to leave? Tell us about it."

"I... practiced martial arts and... injured my body."

Yu Lanfang said with a somewhat embarrassed expression, "I... cannot perform as a man. She had said she wanted to go out and find someone, and I... tacitly consented."

"When did this start?"

Li Xuewu tapped the table and asked, "How long after you injured your body, and how long ago was that?"

"Five or six years ago; it's been five or six years since then."

Yu Lanfang took a deep breath and said, "For the first two years, she was still fine, taking care of my emotions. But later, the resentment ran deep; small quarrels were constant, and big ones never stopped. Sigh~"

"It's all my fault; it's me who harmed her~"

Yu Lanfang said with a face full of grief, "I should have let her leave long ago; I shouldn't have cared about face and held onto her without letting go. It's me~"

This reason was indeed beyond Li Xuewu's expectations, but the situation was within his expectations.

He knew that opera actors needed to practice, but he didn't know how they practiced to the point of ruining their ability to perform as a man.

Is there a "Sunflower Manual" in opera?

Yu Lanfang had no father or mother since he was a child; he was picked up by an opera troupe, and by a stroke of fate, he apprenticed to a master and learned the craft.

Even after they got married, the husband and wife were in harmony, loving and affectionate. He never expected such a thing to happen suddenly.

At the very beginning, he was generous, urging his wife to divorce him and marry a good man, telling her not to worry about him.

But at that time, the two were sharing hardships. Zhang Shuqin had words for him: "Better to marry a reformed woman than to have a wife who climbs the wall." In her current situation, whose house would she go to without suffering and losing out?

A couple who share hardships when young are more intimate than a couple who meet halfway.

Zhang Shuqin said she wouldn't leave, fearing that if they left, both would regret it and both would suffer. So they just lived their lives like that.

Love—without the nourishment of love, affection slowly faded away.

The initial emptiness couldn't withstand the shared life, but as time went on, people's hearts changed.

Not even two years later, Zhang Shuqin couldn't take it anymore. Once her work stabilized, she proposed breaking up.

At this point, Yu Lanfang wouldn't have it. The courage he had mustered at the beginning to let go had been shaken by Zhang Shuqin, and now he no longer had the courage to face a life of gossip alone.

One wanted to leave, the other wouldn't let her leave; you tell me, could this life be easy?

Small matters lead to small arguments, big matters lead to big arguments, and as they argued, Zhang Shuqin would threaten divorce, so Yu Lanfang went directly to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

The units at this time were different from later generations; they managed everything, including your marriage and your divorce.

If an employee who abandoned her husband appeared in the unit, everyone would feel they couldn't save face, and the leaders would look bad.

So the organization took turns persuading Zhang Shuqin, doing work on her, and at the same time providing some help.

Having reached this point, what other options did Zhang Shuqin have? The organization's stance was already very clear; if she dared to insist on a divorce, she might not even be able to keep her position at this unit.

She could only swallow her anger and continue to maintain this rotten life of sleeping in the same bed but dreaming different dreams.

But I don't know when it started, Yu Lanfang suddenly discovered that Zhang Shuqin's temper had converged a lot.

At first, he thought his persistence had yielded good results, and his wife was going to tolerate him and understand him.

But later he realized something was wrong. Judging from what he heard from neighbors and what he felt from Zhang Shuqin, she had someone else outside.

Yu Lanfang hadn't asked her, but every time, it was either a direct denial, silence, or an argument.

When the quarrels became intense, Zhang Shuqin could curse anything out of her mouth. He was afraid of the bad influence, so he endured it all.

He couldn't do those things, and the couple wasn't in the same unit, so he couldn't watch her or prevent her. Her heart wasn't with him anyway; what was the use of watching her?

Carrying guilt and apology toward his wife, he didn't care about this matter anymore and threw himself into his performing career.

I don't know if God was playing a joke on him, but while the couple was in discord, his career took off.

He gradually became a pillar in the troupe and even gained some fame.

At this point, even if he wanted to cause a scene, he didn't dare to; the couple lived their own lives separately, and it had been peaceful for a period of time.

It was precisely because his fame grew and his progress became faster that when he heard his wife leading another man home, the concern he showed erupted all at once.

He questioned his wife why she bullied him so much, and why she didn't leave him even a little bit of face.

Zhang Shuqin was also full of anger. She was swallowing her anger here, while Yu Lanfang was successful and becoming more and more glorious.

What should have been a happy event for her husband became a pressure she had to face.

More and more people knew she was Yu Lanfang's wife. The reputation she hadn't cared about before now had a counterproductive effect.

The looks outsiders gave her were full of contempt and disdain, feeling that she had betrayed Yu Lanfang, and the criticisms were all directed at her.

How could Zhang Shuqin endure this anger? Like a broken jar being broken, she began to deliberately lead people home.

What the neighbors saw was mostly what Zhang Shuqin deliberately let them see, and also deliberately let Yu Lanfang know.

According to Yu Lanfang, he proposed divorce at the end of last year, setting Zhang Shuqin free.

But Zhang Shuqin refused. On one hand, Yu Lanfang's salary had increased; on the other hand, it was revenge and unwillingness.

Yu Lanfang now understood his wife's meaning; that was hatred for him. Hatred comes from love; how much she loved him then is how much she hated him today.

He admitted that he had beaten Zhang Shuqin more than once, and the last time was on the night of the 28th, because he found a man's clothes at home.

"But I guarantee, I didn't kill her."

Yu Lanfang looked at Li Xuewu and said earnestly, "From the moment she threatened to make my situation public, and even constantly brought men home to deliberately take revenge on me, I knew I had to let go."

"Threatened?"

Li Xuewu looked at him and asked, "Don't you think her threat had weight, and would have an impact on your career?"

"Hehe~"

Yu Lanfang gave a miserable laugh, took a deep breath, and said, "Even if she didn't say it, how could it be hidden from people? It was just face."

After speaking, he looked at Li Xuewu and said, "An opera actor is of the lower nine classes. It was the new era that gave us status and let us be human beings."

"But in our line of work, how many have truly walked out and truly gotten rid of the shackles in their hearts?"

"This half-disabled body."

He lowered his head and looked at himself, saying, "Compared to others, I'm not even a fart, but at least I'm still a man."

Li Xuewu didn't understand this psychological construction, so he turned his head to look at Lai Shanchuan, who nodded.

It seems this circle is truly chaotic; it didn't just become chaotic in later generations, it was chaotic at the root.

"In my situation, my illness isn't considered an embarrassing matter, especially since it can gain sympathy."

Yu Lanfang said quite frankly: "If I divorce Zhang Shuqin, I won't suffer any losses; if she wants to cause trouble, she will be the one affected in the end."

Li Xuewu agreed with this point; Zhang Shuqin had already ruined her own reputation, so if she went to cause trouble with Yu Lanfang again, wasn't she just digging her own grave?

"On the night of the 28th, she suddenly lost her usual silence and said she would find a convenient time to go divorce with me."

Yu Lanfang closed his eyes slightly and said, "She said she was relieved and didn't want to live with me anymore. I understood what she meant."

As he spoke, he opened his eyes again, looked at Li Xuewu, and said, "People like us are now like rats crossing the street; her resentment naturally disappeared."

"And you didn't want to divorce anymore?"

Li Xuewu listened to his narration, feeling like he was watching a Korean drama. It's just a marriage; can they really pull each other like this?

It's just that neither of the couple was a generous person. After their hearts were separated, neither hoped for the other to have a good life, so they became what they are today.

Yu Lanfang paused and said, "I was willing, and I agreed. I'm tired; it's better for both of us if we divorce."

"And then?"

Lai Shanchuan narrowed his eyes and asked, "Did Zhang Shuqin have plans to run away from home? Or did she have the intention to take that money and fly far away?"

"A reminder for you."

Li Xuewu tapped the table and said to Yu Lanfang, "If you are sure you are innocent, then there must be someone who appeared between you and your wife."

"You need to think carefully: did Zhang Shuqin have plans to leave you and leave Beijing? Did that person threaten her or have the intention to incite her to leave Beijing?"

"I don't know."

Yu Lanfang frowned in pain, thinking hard about this question, trying hard to recall the last night the two spent together.

"There must have been some manifestation."

Li Xuewu inspired him, "According to our investigation, Zhang Shuqin's documents, clothes, etc., hadn't changed positions, and she hadn't expressed any intention to leave to anyone in the unit."

"Leave... impossible."

Yu Lanfang thought for a moment and said, "I have no parents, but she does. She has two younger brothers at home who aren't successful, and she relies entirely on her to support them."

"Hmm, continue."

Lai Shanchuan felt he had already grasped the key point and could continue to dig deeper.

"Documents... are all there. On the 29th, she didn't have any abnormal behavior."

Yu Lanfang recalled, "That slap you mentioned, I didn't hit her for real. How could I really hit her?"

"Clothes."

Li Xuewu reminded him, "You said you saw a man's clothes. Where are the clothes?"

"Gone."

Yu Lanfang shook his head and said, "They were gone the next day. She must have put them away."

"Not really."

Lai Shanchuan said, "We went to search your house. All the items registered and filed at the time were identified and registered by you, all of them."

"I really don't know where she put them."

Yu Lanfang said, "If she stuffed them into the stove, it's impossible for me to know."

There was indeed that possibility. Lai Shanchuan glanced at him and didn't pursue this question anymore, but gestured for him to continue.

"The divorce was agreed upon, but it wasn't that urgent. After the divorce, she also had to find a house; it's impossible for her to leave Beijing."

Yu Lanfang hesitated and said, "She couldn't bear to part with her job at the supply and marketing cooperative, and even less would she abandon her parents."

"As for that money from the fraud, and whether anyone forced her to do so..."

Yu Lanfang thought for a moment and said, "My salary was always with her. Actually, our family wasn't short of money to spend."

"Even if we divorced, she wouldn't worry about money, so I don't believe in the fraud at all."

He said very earnestly, "As for being forced, that's even more impossible. Her character is the most unyielding; how could she compromise?"

"The only problem is deception."

Yu Lanfang thought for a moment and said, "The two of us are actually quite stupid; we don't have those kinds of twists and turns in our hearts, otherwise we wouldn't have reached this point today."

"If you say she was deceived, I can't guarantee that possibility doesn't exist..."

"Do you have any suspected targets?"

Lai Shanchuan asked, "Relatives, friends, or even that person you heard about."

"Hehe, it's been almost two months."

Yu Lanfang said helplessly, "Here, I've told you everyone I know and everyone I can think of."

"Of course, except for today's matter."

He nodded and admitted, "I find it hard to speak about this, and I feel no shame in asking."

"I hope so."

Lai Shanchuan glanced at Li Xuewu, stood up, and said, "Don't think about deceiving us again, otherwise it won't just be you who gets delayed."

"That~!"

Yu Lanfang saw the two stand up to leave and raised his hand, saying, "Shuqin's funeral...?"

"Wait a bit."

Lai Shanchuan watched Li Xuewu walk out the door first, then turned back to Yu Lanfang and said, "The forensic team is still looking for clues. We'll talk about it once we have some."

After speaking, he didn't care about Yu Lanfang's expression and followed him out of the interrogation room door.

In the lobby lounge, Li Xuewu sat there smoking. Lai Shanchuan glanced at him and sat in the row in front of him.

"What are the chances it's Yu Lanfang?"

Lai Shanchuan lit a cigarette for himself, turned his body back, leaned against the back of the chair, and looked at Li Xuewu.

Li Xuewu exhaled a cloud of smoke and said, "I can't think of a motive for him to lay a hand on her~"

"Betrayal? Threat? Or is there another hidden story?"

Lai Shanchuan took a drag of his cigarette and said, "He might be too good at disguising himself. Is he hiding something from us?"

"For example?"

Li Xuewu shifted his gaze to Lai Shanchuan's face and asked: "Did he conceal this fact, or does he know the person who went to his house?"

"It's hard to say."

Lai Shanchuan narrowed his eyes, thinking as he spoke: "Especially that piece of clothing; it wasn't necessarily Zhang Shuqin who hid it."

"By concealing this, is he cutting off the clues to him killing Zhao Ziliang?"

Li Xuewu tilted his chin and said: "The train station side might not necessarily find anything, including Zhili."

"That's true~"

Lai Shanchuan sighed deeply and said: "Too much time has passed, and Zhao Ziliang was planning to run to the countryside; if he was really killed in some mountain gully, we'd never find him in eight lifetimes."

"Then that's a good thing?"

Li Xuewu looked at Lai Shanchuan with amusement and said: "Yu Lanfang is cleared of suspicion, and you can close the case."

Lai Shanchuan looked at Li Xuewu with his eyes half-closed and didn't speak, always feeling that there was more to his words.

Of course, he also understood Li Xuewu's personality and knew that he had overheard the case-closing method he had discussed with Director Zheng.

This didn't matter; he couldn't drag the entire team down to suffer just for the sake of his own face.

If any problems arise in the future, he would bear what he should bear and suffer what he should suffer; after so many years, were there ever a shortage of problematic cases?

In this line of work, there's no such thing as not receiving disciplinary action; for a frontline team, especially in the position he holds, this isn't a job a "good person" can handle.

Don't look at Li Xuewu sitting there making sarcastic remarks; if he were really made to sit in this position, he would be just as anxious.

Back then, Li Xuewu was the Deputy Director of the Security Division; why didn't we see him come to work?

You think he's really holding onto the work and not sharing it with Li Xuewu? This isn't some precious treasure; he is the head, and the benefits will never be lacking for him.

This Li Xuewu is cunning; he couldn't get anything out of Yu Lanfang's mouth just now, and look, is he still listening to him talk about handling Zhang Shuqin's aftermath?

Lai Shanchuan knew very clearly that the question he asked, to which Li Xuewu gave no answer, was already the answer itself.

Yu Lanfang has no motive for the crime.

Don't talk about betrayal or threats; the business between this couple had already spread everywhere back when he tacitly accepted it.

If they really cared, the couple would have had a showdown long ago; why wait until Zhao Ziliang was about to go on a business trip?

Compared to Zhao Ziliang's sudden disappearance, Yu Lanfang's level of suspicion has already greatly decreased.

The silence Lai Shanchuan returned to Li Xuewu was the answer; he had already made a decision in his heart.

Li Xuewu also saw it; his support this time could be considered to have ended without a clear result, but the outcome was still good, at least finding a reason to close the case.

He sat in the lobby waiting just to see Lai Shanchuan's opinion; if there was nothing else, he was going to head home.

A tiger's head and a snake's tail?

That doesn't exist; from beginning to end, this case has been twisted like a braid, and all parties involved in the case were exhausted from dealing with it, all thinking about closing the case early.

Is this case very difficult?

Li Xuewu didn't feel that his coming here to support them provided much help; the only role was to help them find a reason to close the case.

If this reason had been found by Lai Shanchuan alone, he probably wouldn't have been able to explain it to his superiors.

Asking for experts from above to assist, they might not necessarily be willing to endorse them.

As a new expert from the Ministry, he still had a little bit of fame, and Lai Shanchuan was also very tactful, constantly flattering him.

Therefore, those investigators were in such a hurry to go out this afternoon, all thinking about sifting through it one more time, then signing to confirm.

With all the evidence combined, even if the money wasn't found, and the murder weapon and the primary crime scene weren't found, there could still be an explanation.

Because the perpetrator ran away and had been misleading them, the murderer decided upon had sufficient reason to commit the crime.

Zhao Ziliang, having an affair with Zhang Shuqin, learned the credit union's operating procedures through his wife Du Xiaoyan, frequently went on business trips, and had rich experience in traveling...

With all the circumstances listed together, he believed the credit union would be satisfied, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative would be satisfied, and the superiors would also be satisfied with this result.

As for Yu Lanfang, he had already saved his life and ended a disharmonious marriage; what did he have to be dissatisfied about?

Du Xiaoyan, who herself was at fault, with her husband missing, what could she possibly have to complain about?

Everyone tacitly accepted and was satisfied; wouldn't this case be perfect then?

Li Xuewu accompanied the silent Lai Shanchuan to smoke the last puff of his cigarette, pinched out the butt, stood up, and was about to leave.

Just after taking two steps, Lai Shanchuan's voice came from behind: "I'm not a good police officer, right?"

How was Li Xuewu supposed to answer this?

Should he say he was a good leader?

Li Xuewu couldn't say words against his conscience; that knife he gave him back then didn't look like something a good leader could do.

As for saying some sarcastic words, that wasn't necessary either; he wasn't that narrow-minded.

Without stopping his steps, Li Xuewu waved at him while walking and turned his head, smiling slightly as a farewell.

Good and bad should never be used to describe a person; at least in his heart, there is no distinction between good people and bad people in this world.

Those who do good deeds are not necessarily good people, and those who do wrong are not necessarily bad people, but those who do wrong and still don't know how to repent are definitely not good people.

After leaving the branch bureau on Thursday, Li Xuewu didn't bother with this case anymore.

There was no need for him to sign anything, and even less need for him to give any endorsement speech to the superiors.

The branch bureau would definitely put his name on the case-closing report when they formed it.

But he was no longer a person in this system, at least the affiliation wasn't that direct; in the name of supporting the case, it was even less about bearing any responsibility.

Although there were still some doubts in his heart that hadn't been eliminated, this case had nothing to do with him anymore.

Early Sunday morning, Li Xuewu woke up from the bed in the guesthouse, stretched his back greatly, and then yawned.

Zhang Songying was almost knocked breathless by his arm and kicked him hard under the quilt.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you!"

"Hiss~ take it easy!"

Li Xuewu winced in pain and complained: "I'm not wearing any pants!"

"Did I kick you hard?!"

Zhang Songying was stunned when she saw his expression; she hadn't really used force just now.

Knowing that this bad guy was used to teasing her, she still couldn't rest easy, lifted the quilt, and dove in, asking while inside: "Here?"

"Hiss~~~"

Li Xuewu suddenly widened his eyes, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

"Down~ up~ that's it! Right~ right~"

"Here?"

Zhang Songying's voice came out from under the quilt, muffled and with a hint of doubt: "I could kick this hard?"

"Yes, that's right!"

Li Xuewu said with a mischievous smile: "Look, is it kicked swollen?"

"..."

Zhang Songying knew this person wasn't a good thing and had tricked her again.

But she was a kind person; even if it wasn't her responsibility, could she ignore it seeing someone hurt and uncomfortable?

After finishing washing up, Zhang Songying had already gone to put on makeup, still using that same set of equipment; she had been to Yangcheng and added a few more magical tools.

"Who won and who lost last night?"

Zhang Songying looked at Li Xuewu in the mirror and asked: "Deputy Director Shi's complexion doesn't look right; did he lose his temper?"

"Is that so? Didn't notice~"

Li Xuewu straightened his leather jacket, looked in the mirror from her side, and said casually: "I only won less than twenty, didn't you take it all away~"

"Director Li won a lot, I'm afraid it was nearly fifty."

He took the wooden comb from the table to comb his hair, returning to his lightning-struck hairstyle once again.

Zhang Songying raised her head to look at Li Xuewu and scolded: "You didn't have any capital in your pocket, and you only won those twenty yuan?"

"That's right!"

Li Xuewu wasn't embarrassed at all and said seriously: "Don't you know I'm famous for getting something for nothing?"

"I know now~"

Zhang Songying asked with amusement: "Winning makes everyone happy, but what if you lost?"

"Playing with them, could I lose?"

Li Xuewu raised his eyebrows and said indifferently: "Last night was clearly a game of giving away money; those who lost money were all big fools!"

"Eww~~~"

Zhang Songying curled her lips and said: "People were giving the leader a chance to win, aren't you afraid the leader will hold a grudge against you for intercepting the win?"

"If I didn't intercept, he would be the one annoyed!"

Li Xuewu threw the wooden comb in his hand and explained to Zhang Songying: "Deputy Director Shi hasn't played with Director Li before and doesn't know Director Li's temper."

While speaking, he took the bag from the cabinet and put on his leather shoes.

"Director Li is a vain person, but he hates people being fake with him at the card table; last night I saved Deputy Director Shi's life."

"You just know how to talk nonsense~"

Zhang Songying stood up, took the money from the bedside table, and called out to Li Xuewu who was about to leave: "You haven't taken your money~"

"If you snatched it, it's yours."

Li Xuewu turned his head with a smile and said: "Keep wishing me wealth, and next time I'll win more so you can snatch more."

"Then this counts as illegal income~"

Zhang Songying said with a smile: "Perfect, today I made an appointment with Qin Huairu to get my hair done; the two of us will eat something good outside, then go shopping for fabric to make clothes."

"You're determined to spend it all~"

Li Xuewu nodded and said: "Fine, it's all up to you, you spendthrift woman~"

"Who are you talking about! ~"

Zhang Songying scolded and went to chase him, but Li Xuewu had already gone out and locked her inside the room.

"Hmph~"

She pouted angrily, put away the money in her hand, and continued to draw her eyebrows.

Last night, Director Li was entertaining several cadres who came from branch factories to hold a meeting here and called Li Xuewu to accompany them.

They drank plenty of alcohol, and after the game broke up, they went upstairs to play cards and chat.

Because Zhang Songying was already preparing for the opening of the Six Nations Hotel, she had long since stopped participating in the duty roster here.

But knowing Li Xuewu wasn't going home last night, she naturally wanted to stay; it had been a long time.

Qin Huairu was on duty last night but didn't go upstairs; on one hand, it wasn't convenient, and she didn't like being together, and on the other hand, she didn't want to be annoying.

The current Li Xuewu was no longer the little brother from before; she was different from Zhang Songying and didn't have that much capital to play with.

Watching Li Xuewu go downstairs, Qin Huairu came out of the office and invited him to the canteen to eat.

Li Xuewu looked at his watch and waved his hand, saying he was in a hurry.

Qin Huairu didn't know what Li Xuewu was busy with all day now, not even having time to eat breakfast on a big weekend.

If he said he was in a hurry to go home, at this time, wasn't it a bit late?

Li Xuewu certainly wasn't going home; he had called home last night, and Han Jiankun hadn't gone back either, so Qin Jingru was staying at the Haiyuncang side.

Last week, Yu Li was complaining to him, saying he was a hands-off manager, looking more and more like a capitalist, and she even had to come to him to report on work.

In fact, he also understood Yu Li's inconvenience; he wasn't blind, and even Han Jiankun could see Qin Jingru's cautious little gaze.

When sending Yu Li back, Han Jiankun even took the initiative to say a few words to her, which was considered easing the relationship; this was a rare initiative for him, who usually practiced "closed-mouth Zen."

So don't wait for Yu Li to get annoyed and pester him again; he had already made an appointment to meet the Lou Yu couple, so it was better to go early, rather than waiting for something else to come up that he couldn't avoid.

The command vehicle came out of the guesthouse and walked all the way out, meeting the second batch of little brats who came to the factory to visit and study at the gate.

Li Xuewu looked at these progressive students with clear and foolish eyes and thought to himself, how many more terms could this reception station for external affairs last?

Letting people work so hard like this, sooner or later it would stink up the whole street!

"The earthen bed is not good at all!"

"Broken house, no air conditioning!"

"I don't want to eat steamed buns, I want to eat bread!"

Just as Li Xuewu got out of the car, he saw Lou Yu coaxing a little brat.

It really wasn't that he didn't have manners; the hat worn by the child Lou Yu was coaxing had two rabbit ears on it.

His car entered the courtyard, and Lou Yu had already seen it; he was waiting for him right now.

"Yo! This hat is really cute!"

Li Xuewu smiled and sized up this little rabbit, didn't greet Lou Yu, but teased the child first.

Lou Ting also discovered that a car had entered the courtyard; seeing a tall, fierce-looking man get out of the car, he immediately hid behind his grandfather.

He had heard his family talk about it and had seen it in photo albums; those dressed like this were mostly called "Great Commanders."

It's "Great Commander," a noun, not an adjective.

His grandmother told him that these Great Commanders were mostly bandits and bearded men by origin, just like the person in front of him.

Wearing a tower hat on his head, a scar on his face, a woolen coat on his body, leather gloves pinched in his hand, and big leather shoes on his feet.

He knew from a young age that bearded men eat children.

Lou Yu hugged his eldest grandson hiding behind him, looking at Li Xuewu with complex eyes; the grandfather and grandson were the same, both carrying a bit of fear.

"When did you arrive?"

Li Xuewu grinned, scaring Lou Ting so much that he didn't dare to look at him at all; he teased the child and added: "Was the journey smooth?"

"Everything is fine."

Lou Yu looked down at his eldest grandson, tugged his hand, and taught him: "Call... call Uncle."

"I won't call!"

How could Lou Ting dare to look at Li Xuewu? He shook off his grandfather's hand and ran hard toward the room he stayed in yesterday.

Getting on the boat from Hong Kong, he was imprisoned in the cabin like a little piglet; he didn't dare to cry or shout.

He ate obediently when given things and didn't dare to shout at people when hungry; it was rare for him to have such discipline after so many years.

Once he got off the boat, he was stuffed into a car again, and even his mouth was blocked; he didn't dare to let tears flow until he saw his grandfather.

These were his true relatives; he cried five or six times and ate three big steamed buns before he stopped.

"No manners."

Lou Yu watched his grandson run away, scolded helplessly, and then looked at Li Xuewu with some apology, saying: "Lacking discipline, he was spoiled by his father."

"He's just a child, teach him slowly."

Li Xuewu raised his hand and signaled: "You go wait for me first, I'll go find you after eating at the restaurant."

"Let's go, eat at home."

Lou Yu patted Li Xuewu's arm lightly, sighed, and said: "Spoiled, can't eat coarse grains, let his grandmother make breakfast."

"That's really great."

Li Xuewu smiled, didn't stand on ceremony at all, and followed him into the courtyard.

These days, Lou Yu had originally cleaned up a room to live in here; later, due to the changes in Hong Kong, Tan Yali was worried, so she came down from the mountain to accompany him.

She had also heard about her daughter's actions in Hong Kong and was afraid the old man would have an accident, so they waited for Li Xuewu together here, which could be considered husband and wife as one, sharing joys and sorrows.

During the pleasantries, Lou Yu had no dissatisfaction or complaints about his wife, daughter, or even him, just nagging in his words that his grandson was not promising.

Li Xuewu didn't pick up his topic, listening while humming and hawing, which was considered giving him a straight man's response.

Once they entered the courtyard where they lived and saw Mother Lou waiting in front of the door, he greeted her with a smile.

"Mom, are you here waiting for me?"

"Ah... just heard Lou Ting say you came, haven't eaten yet, right? Quick, it's served for you."

Tan Yali was stunned by Li Xuewu calling her "Mom," then looked at her lover with some embarrassment and greeted Li Xuewu into the room.

Lou Yu didn't care about this; this form of address was meant for him to hear, and it was very meaningful.

Showing off? Threatening? Or appeasing?

The boat is already in the harbor, and things have reached this point; what else could he say?