Chapter 959: Not a Thing

"Want one?"

"No, I'm quitting smoking."

Gao Zhen waved his hand, refused Li Xuewu's politeness, sat opposite him with his back to the scene after getting into the car.

He first sized up Li Xuewu, then smiled slightly and said: "Haven't seen you for a while. Busy?"

"It's okay, mostly traveling a lot."

Li Xuewu smiled, exhaled a puff of smoke, looked at the exhaustion on Gao Zhen's face, and said: "You have more white hair, pay attention to rest."

"Hehe, I'm old~"

Gao Zhen smoothed his hair and said with a smile: "Especially seeing rising stars like you who are more capable, I have to admit I'm old."

"What are you saying? I'm your soldier and have a lot to learn from you."

Li Xuewu flicked the ash, squinted his eyes and looked at the scene outside the window, and said: "Director Zheng..."

"Hmm, he has a sense of proportion, an old organization member."

Gao Zhen turned his head to look behind him, seeing Zheng Fuhua walking quickly toward the shopping mall building, nodded slowly, and said: "It's fate."

"Do you know?"

He turned his head, looked at Li Xuewu seriously and said: "Actually, news has come out from above that Lai Shanchuan was on the list for promotion after the New Year, to the West City."

"As deputy director?"

Li Xuewu smoked a cigarette, paused, and then exhaled smoke from his nostrils.

Gao Zhen nodded, sighed, and said: "To be in charge of security work. The leaders above think highly of his ability; he is a good hand at management. It's a pity~"

With a sigh, the car fell silent, leaving only the shouting and orders coming from outside the car.

Lai Shanchuan didn't hurt the security guard, only handcuffed the other party's hands and feet.

But the inside of the Mingde Building Restaurant was a bit tragic. Those young people were overwhelmed by emotions, and danger stimulated them to make the wrong choice.

Someone wanted to detonate the explosives stored in the basement, but was blinded by the flashbang thrown into the door.

People will have some stress reactions in the moment of blindness, mainly to protect themselves.

But in this environment, they were holding guns; what could they do?

Unable to aim and shooting wildly, they were naturally shot and killed by the special service who rushed in at the first moment.

Anything uncontrolled is dangerous, not just actions, but also thoughts.

The special service rushing to the first floor didn't need to rush upstairs, because every floor had people breaking in the moment the attack signal was issued.

I have to admit that these young people really have the combat skills inherited from their fathers, but it depends on who they are compared with.

The debris blocked the door, but they didn't care about the windows above the second floor. The special service team members who broke in were like catching chicks, easily solving everyone.

Of course, those few with good marksmanship were difficult to deal with, but without hostages, without light or heavy firepower threats, they dared to fire, and the other side dared to throw grenades.

Bulletproof shields plus tear gas—even God would have to raise his hands and surrender.

Ambulances replaced the Prairie Tigers at the building entrance. Stretchers were carried out from time to time, and the searchlights had been extinguished. It was unknown whether the people on the stretchers were dead or alive.

Don't ask why the searchlights were extinguished at this time, and don't ask why the cleanup work was maintained in the dark.

After seven or eight stretchers came out, the young people who had their hands handcuffed behind their backs and were escorted out by the special service appeared.

Want to know who is in there?

No, I don't know. No one knows who is on the stretcher, and no one knows who is being escorted out.

The parents waiting for news outside couldn't even get in, and looking with binoculars was of no avail.

They came too late, or rather, Gao Zhen never thought about taking time to find these young people's parents to come and persuade them to surrender.

These parents were jumping with anxiety, but it was useless. They could look for connections, but see who dared to take the initiative to get involved.

Gao Zhen didn't show any mercy. All the young people involved in this case had to accept punishment.

Even if Lai Yide gathered mostly second-generation children from within the system, it wouldn't work. Poor upbringing, involving parents—this was a problem they created themselves.

The order and requirement to quickly restore the surrounding residents' living order were implemented. Before the criminals came out, they were flipped over, their heads covered, and it was impossible to tell who was who.

After coming out, they were directly put into the covered trucks waiting at the door. Counting them, there really weren't many people resisting stubbornly in the building.

After the special service completed the mission, they handed over the scene to the comrades of the branch bureau and the Confidentiality Department, quickly assembled, packed their equipment, and then got into the Prairie Tigers waiting on the side of the road.

Pazile came to report on the work. After Li Xuewu listened, he looked at Gao Zhen. Seeing that he only said "thank you for your hard work" and nothing else, he took the initiative to jump out of the car and said a few words to him.

It was mainly about discipline issues, as well as the psychological problems of the special service who fired.

There was no need to overemphasize confidentiality discipline. As long as this kind of mission was executed, the team members would definitely be organized to study the confidentiality regulations.

Li Xuewu specifically emphasized psychological counseling, which was a task that hadn't been perfected at this time.

Appropriate entertainment and exercise could alleviate this kind of stress reaction and relieve the pressure brought by the action.

Of course, Pazile was an expert on these problems and knew them very well. He still had work to do when he went back tonight.

The action report had to be written tonight, handed over to the Third Guard Regiment's Political Department by Pazile, and then the two departments would coordinate.

After explaining to Pazile, he patted his arm and signaled that he could take the team back.

The mission was completed perfectly, without any casualties; it could be said to be very perfect.

Combat attrition would be reflected in the action report, and specific coordination work still had to be handed over to the Political Department.

Li Xuewu wasn't responsible for command today; he had long been off the front line.

Especially for this kind of small-scale combat action, it would be a joke if he really reached out.

Zheng Fuhua trying to get him to come over was because he didn't want Li Xuewu to work in vain, and even more didn't want to move the Third Guard Regiment across Li Xuewu.

The coordination and deployment work with the Third Guard Regiment at the scene were all completed by Li Xuewu. It looked very simple, but it wasn't difficult.

Of course, it depends on how you look at it. For Li Xuewu, who fully grasped the actual situation of the special service team, field reconnaissance and deployment weren't too difficult.

It could be done by letting the cadres responsible for the action on the branch bureau side coordinate, but it just wasn't as convenient as Li Xuewu.

I don't know if Zheng Fuhua had communicated with Gao Zhen about this arrangement. The few words Gao Zhen said in the car also seemed to be pointing at something.

Li Xuewu didn't take the bait. He didn't want to get anything from this case, nor did he want to pay anything.

Watching the Third Guard Regiment's cars leave with the transport trucks, Li Xuewu stood under the car, blowing the cold wind to keep his spirits up.

The branch bureau people were busy. They had to file the combat traces in the building before dawn.

Since the filing work was already being carried out, it meant that what happened here before dawn would be cleared to the greatest extent.

After tomorrow, the Mingde Building might be demolished, or it might be reassigned to other units.

But it would temporarily remain in a sealed state, and its story tonight could only exist in the legends of the city.

He didn't listen to Gao Zhen's arrangement of the aftermath in the command car, and didn't pay attention to who the orders were conveyed to.

Li Xuewu looked at the roof where Lai Shanchuan died and let out a long breath. It really fulfilled the question the other party asked him that day.

Recalling the day the investigation of the case was at a standstill, Lai Shanchuan sat on the bench in the branch bureau lobby and asked him for his opinion of him.

Li Xuewu didn't answer the other party's question, because he had already guessed the correct answer in his heart.

He wasn't a good policeman, and even less a good father.

"Did the Third Regiment comrades leave?"

Zheng Fuhua walked back from the scene with a strange sense of relief on his face.

Li Xuewu looked at him without answering, just pursed his lips and shook his head.

"Didn't have time to say a word of thanks."

Zheng Fuhua turned his head back to look at the Mingde Building Restaurant and the shopping mall building next to it, turned around and nodded to Li Xuewu: "Give them my thanks for their hard work."

"Good."

Li Xuewu took the cigarette butt from his mouth, threw it on the ground, stepped on it, shrugged his shoulders and asked: "If there's nothing else..."

"Leave the scene and other coordination issues to you. We'll meet at the branch bureau tomorrow morning."

Gao Zhen got off the car and gave Zheng Fuhua instructions, then raised his hands and said helplessly: "The leader is at Discipline Inspection; I'll go over there first."

"I'd better go."

Zheng Fuhua frowned slightly: "I've been responsible for this case all along; it's more appropriate for me to go."

"Forget it, it's not about merit and awards, what are you fighting for?"

Gao Zhen nodded slightly to Li Xuewu, patted Zheng Fuhua's arm and smiled: "This case falling on the branch bureau's head is truly deserved. You can't hold it; I have to come this time."

After speaking, he raised his hand to signal to the scene that was still busy, and said: "I'll leave the rest to you. Thank you for your hard work."

After shaking hands with Zheng Fuhua and Li Xuewu, he turned and got into the car that had driven over and left.

"What?"

Zheng Fuhua watched Gao Zhen's car leave and turned to ask Li Xuewu: "Are you going to the branch bureau with me, or..."

"It's too late, and there's nothing going on at Discipline Inspection, so I'll go back."

Li Xuewu saw Yu Daru signaling him from afar to wait.

He quickly said a few words to Zheng Fuhua, waved to Han Jiankun, got into the car, and ran.

It was already this time; what good could Yu Daru have for him? Did he really think that grandson was going to treat him to a midnight snack?

Even if he really invited him, he wouldn't eat it; he couldn't afford it!

The command car drove out of the scene range, slowed down slightly when passing the cordon, and gradually accelerated after crossing the crowd.

Li Xuewu looked at his watch through the streetlights outside the window; it was almost one o'clock.

Time passes especially fast when you're busy. It was just twelve o'clock, and after smoking a cigarette and saying a few words, it was one o'clock.

This is like the time spent singing and interacting with a beautiful girl in a commercial KTV box. A few songs, a few words, time passes so fast!

Of course, not every time time passes fast is worth lingering over. Without a girl hugging Li Xuewu's arm to the stairs, he didn't hope for the ghosts newly born in the building to send him to the intersection.

"Leader, are we going home?"

"No."

Going home was impossible. It was already this time; if he went home and tossed about, no one would be able to sleep.

Li Xuewu looked at the intersection, told Han Jiankun to send him to the entrance of the club, and jumped out of the jeep after telling him to come pick him up tomorrow morning.

Watching the command car leave, Li Xuewu turned and walked into the alley. The club had a place to stay, but waking up a bunch of people in the middle of the night was really inappropriate.

So he walked for more than ten minutes and arrived at the house of Tong Huimei and Jin Jiaojiao.

Of course, waking up Tong Huimei and Jin Jiaojiao was also inappropriate, but if they woke up and didn't have to sleep, but did something loving, it wouldn't be a loss, right?

"Ah! Who?!"

When Li Xuewu jumped over the wall into the courtyard and knocked on the door of the main room, it really gave Tong Huimei and Jin Jiaojiao a fright.

Afraid that the two would react too strongly and cause unnecessary misunderstandings, Li Xuewu quickly said it was him.

Recognizing Li Xuewu's voice, Jin Jiaojiao didn't believe it, turned on the lights in the room, looked carefully through the glass window, and then ran out chattering to open the door for him.

"You're really something, why come at this time~"

Jin Jiaojiao pouted, puffed up her not-so-small chest, and complained: "Scared us to death~"

"Just finished a mission nearby, too lazy to go home and toss about, looking for a place to stay with you."

Li Xuewu smiled, took off his cotton hat, and entered the room.

Tong Huimei was wearing pajamas and a cotton-padded jacket, walked out, and asked with sleepy eyes: "Hungry? I'll prepare something for you."

"Forget it, what time is it? We'll talk tomorrow morning."

Li Xuewu tapped his watch, signaled to the inner room, and said: "Go to bed, I'll wash my face."

"Woke us up~"

Jin Jiaojiao wrinkled her nose at him, bent down to pick up the thermos, removed the stopper, and tested the water temperature, saying: "Here, it's just right, no need to add cold water."

She poured the warm water from the thermos into the washbasin at the door, still muttering about Li Xuewu's sudden visit.

Tong Huimei scolded her for talking too much, put on her cotton shoes, signaled to the door and said: "I'll make you some noodles; it'll be quick. You wait."

As she spoke, she had already changed into cotton shoes and went out. Li Xuewu told her it would be fine, but she said it would be ready soon.

Coming here to sleep in the middle of the night and saying it was a mission, he must have been busy all along. How could Tong Huimei bear to let him go hungry?

Living in a Sihe Academy has one disadvantage: it's not very convenient in winter.

The living room and the kitchen are not in the same place, especially in this kind of big courtyard. If you want to make a fire and cook, you have to go to the kitchen.

Actually, if it were someone else, they would have moved the kitchen to the main room long ago for convenience.

But for the two women, moving the kitchen would be better than moving themselves to the kitchen to live.

Jin Jiaojiao giggled at Li Xuewu's duck-like way of washing his face, and added some hot water from the thermos on the ground to the washbasin.

"It's enough, just washing my face."

"Take off your clothes, I'll help you wipe."

Jin Jiaojiao ignored Li Xuewu's words, picked up a dry towel hanging on the rack and handed it to Li Xuewu, and threw another one into the hot water basin to rinse.

Li Xuewu saw her taking the initiative to help, smiled, took off his coat and sweater, and took off his shirt and pants with Jin Jiaojiao's help.

"You're already a big cadre, why do you still have to execute missions in the middle of the night~"

Jin Jiaojiao found a dark-colored cotton cloth pajama set from the cabinet in the inner room and placed it on the table.

Li Xuewu looked at it and asked: "For me?"

"Otherwise?"

Jin Jiaojiao twitched the corner of her mouth and said: "Sister made it, saying that every time you come, you're naked and easily catch a cold."

"Hmm, your sister is sensible and knows how to care for people."

Li Xuewu nodded and said deliberately: "Only this kind of girl is worth cherishing and loving."

"Do you mean I'm not sensible?"

Jin Jiaojiao pouted, bent down to pull off Li Xuewu's socks, and said angrily: "And I was going to help you wipe your body!"

"Over-interpreting, aren't you? I was just talking about your sister."

Li Xuewu smiled and tapped her nose, saying: "Both are good, both are worth cherishing~"

"I don't believe you~"

Jin Jiaojiao pouted, wrung out the hot towel, and helped Li Xuewu wipe his back and front.

"Are you going on a business trip again soon?"

"Not necessarily, why?"

Li Xuewu raised his eyebrows, looked at her, and asked: "Something up?"

"It's about the apprenticeship. We can't make up our minds."

Jin Jiaojiao changed a basin of hot water, served Li Xuewu to wipe his body, changed into pajamas, and soaked his feet with hot water.

At this time, Tong Huimei also brought a bowl of hot noodles into the room, greeting Li Xuewu to eat while it was hot.

"We don't know how to make hand-pulled noodles; this is the dried noodles you brought last time."

Tong Huimei pointed to the noodle bowl and introduced: "I put in some canned meat; it's hot and fragrant."

"It's a bit greasy."

Li Xuewu smiled and commented: "Eating so well in the middle of the night?"

"We only have this."

Tong Huimei smiled embarrassedly, then explained: "Jiaojiao and I found the location of the vegetable market and can buy vegetables and cook for ourselves now."

"Good, just pay attention to safety."

Li Xuewu held the noodle bowl and started eating. Busy until the second half of the night, his stomach was indeed a bit empty.

According to his habits, he wouldn't eat a midnight snack after mealtime, but people's hospitality was hard to refuse.

While soaking his feet and eating hot soup noodles, his feet were comfortable, his stomach was comfortable, and his whole body was comfortable.

"That..."

Tong Huimei added some coal to the stove in the main room, looked at Li Xuewu and hesitated: "Calling you last time wasn't intentionally disturbing your work..."

"It doesn't matter. You can call if you have something."

Li Xuewu looked at her and said: "The reason I left my phone number with you is so you can find me if you have something."

"Understood."

Tong Huimei smiled brightly. The tension and anxiety of the past few days were swept away, the pressure on her body was suddenly released, and she felt much more relaxed.

"I just asked Wu Ge about the apprenticeship."

Jin Jiaojiao came out of the inner room and said to her: "The case isn't over yet; it's better to wait."

"At least until after the New Year."

Li Xuewu drank a few mouthfuls of noodle soup, put down the bowl, let out a long breath, pursed his lips, looked at Tong Huimei and said: "I'll find someone to ask on my side too. Don't worry."

"Good, that's how it should be."

Tong Huimei nodded and explained: "I'm not in a hurry. Mr. Ma just left, so it's not appropriate to talk about apprenticeship matters."

"Hmm, thinking like that is right."

Li Xuewu nodded and said: "Finding someone to ask is mainly to see how the other party's character is. Don't worry."

"Understood."

Tong Huimei smiled, then restrained her emotions, looked at Li Xuewu seriously and asked: "Should we show filial piety to Mr. Ma?"

"Observing mourning?"

Li Xuewu frowned and said: "Too much is as bad as too little. Sincerity is enough."

After speaking, he thought for a moment and added: "Ask Mr. Mai to help communicate with Mr. Ma's family to see what time is convenient, okay?"

"Hmm, I'll listen to you."

Tong Huimei nodded and said: "We were just struggling with this. Mr. Mai said Mr. Ma's funeral should be kept simple, and there won't be a memorial service."

"The impact isn't very good. Their consideration is right."

Li Xuewu nodded, looked at her and asked: "Did Mr. Ma leave any other instructions for you?"

"It's... it's just that he gave us a piece of jade each, saying it was a gift for recognizing us as goddaughters, and told us to follow the master and learn the craft well."

Tong Huimei explained: "At that time, Mr. Ma was already in the hospital, and the gift was promised orally when recognizing the relationship, and brought to us by Mr. Mai afterward."

"Then just see how it goes."

Li Xuewu raised his feet, cooperated with Jin Jiaojiao to wipe them, put on the slippers the other party brought, and said: "You will ultimately have to make a living in this line of work. Not being convenient now doesn't mean it won't be convenient later."

"Art always has its value in the world. The status of Peking Opera as a national treasure won't change. The identity of the practitioner is limited to the individual and won't last too long."

After explaining this to them, Li Xuewu didn't say anything more, stood up and walked to the inner room, saying as he walked: "If Mr. Ma's family has the intention to be close, just treat it as having an extra relative."

"If the other party is unwilling,"

He kicked off his slippers and sat on the bed, shrugged his shoulders and said: "Just burn some paper money during the Qingming Festival and the fifteenth day of the month. Being too pushy is easy to get hurt."

"I said the same thing~"

Jin Jiaojiao tidied up the main room and chattered: "Sister is just afraid of being too polite, and also afraid of being impolite, so she's always worrying about it in her heart."

"I'm not afraid of causing trouble for Wu Ge~"

Tong Huimei washed her hands and walked into the inner room, explaining: "What kind of status do we have? If they accept us, it's all because of Wu Ge."

"I didn't say anything else."

Jin Jiaojiao washed her hands afterward, took a towel, wiped it while entering the room, looked at Tong Huimei who was getting on the bed, and said: "Look at you worrying for the past few days; it's just not worth it."

"Sigh~ you know me."

Tong Huimei got into the quilt, lay down on one side of Li Xuewu, sighed slightly, and said: "I can't let go of anything in my heart; I have to let my imagination run wild."

"You know it~"

Jin Jiaojiao pouted, turned on the bedside lamp, and turned off the fluorescent lamp on the ceiling.

She took off the cotton jacket she was wearing over her pajamas, walked into the canopy bed, took off her embroidered slippers, got into the quilt, and lay down on the other side of Li Xuewu.

"If Wu Ge hadn't come over today, I'm afraid you wouldn't have been able to sleep well and would have been nagging about this little thing."

"Not necessarily."

Li Xuewu hugged Tong Huimei, who was leaning over, patted her shoulder, and said: "Live well, don't have so many concerns."

"Human relationships, right? Only when people are willing to associate with you will feelings be generated, right?"

Saying this, Li Xuewu hugged Jin Jiaojiao, who was also leaning over, with his other hand.

"They want to be wary of me, but isn't it also after seeing you that they decided to take you as apprentices?"

"Without this strength, do you think I could say who they should take as an apprentice and they would?"

"Not to mention whether I have this influence, just looking at Mr. Ma taking you as goddaughters on his deathbed and asking Mr. Xun to take you as apprentices, this is a heart of cherishing talent. Don't let it down."

"Hmm, understood."

Tong Huimei raised her head and looked at Li Xuewu with embarrassment: "I'm really stupid, I always can't understand what you mean."

"Not only stupid, but also stubborn."

Jin Jiaojiao twisted her body and lay on Li Xuewu's chest, complaining to Tong Huimei on the other side: "I don't know how many times I've told you, but you just won't believe it, stubborn as a mule."

"Yes~ yes~ yes~"

Tong Huimei raised her hand and tapped Jin Jiaojiao's nose: "You're the smart one, you're the clever one."

"Ah~ are you going to mock me again~"

Jin Jiaojiao pouted, and the two were using Li Xuewu as a boundary, one after another, inevitably bringing forward the things they originally planned to do in the morning.

"Don't turn off the light!"

How rich can the way people with sentiment express "love" be?

Wyman Wong: Please give me more advice for the rest of my life.

Wong Kar-wai: At that moment, I was very warm.

Natsume Soseki: The moon is beautiful tonight.

Eileen Chang: You haven't come yet, how dare I grow old.

Vincent Fang: The sky is waiting for the drizzle, and I am waiting for you.

Wang Xiaobo: Hello, Li Yinhe, it's great to see you.

Lin Xi: You are the gift I have waited half a lifetime for in this life that I haven't unwrapped yet.

And you, will you be like Li Xuewu, smiling evilly and saying: "Keep the light on, let me see..."

"Leader, the work transferred from the foreign affairs office, businessman Andrew wants to meet you, saying he wants to talk about the shipyard."

Peng Xiaoli was organizing the documents on the table while reporting Li Xuewu's schedule for the day.

"The Personnel Department reported the implementation plan for the next recruitment of workers. After reporting to Director Li, it was transferred to you."

"Why transfer it to me?"

Li Xuewu was drinking tea and looking at the briefing in his hand. After wasting half a day, the work in his hand suddenly increased.

It was mainly a matter of energy. He didn't get any rest yesterday, and it was almost dawn after settling the two women last night.

Breakfast was eaten after nine o'clock, and he arrived at the office at eleven.

No one came to ask him why he was late, and no one asked why he didn't attend the welcome banquet yesterday.

Anyone with a bit of insight knew that Director Li was very angry now, so it was best not to provoke Deputy Director Li.

The only person who could appease Director Li was Deputy Director Li. If Deputy Director Li was really provoked, the steel mill's fuse would blow.

Peng Xiaoli's report was interrupted, and he quickly explained: "Director Li is busy with other things today and instructed the office to transfer it."

Li Xuewu scratched his eyebrows helplessly, didn't say anything more, nodded and signaled him to continue.

"The budget audit for the new worker village next year has started. The Finance Department has set up a special financial accounting group, ready to report work to the Economic and Trade Office at any time."

"The production plan and trade of the joint tertiary industry..."

The work on Li Xuewu's desk was increasing. In the past, there was only the Security Department, which later expanded into a Security Group.

Now, there were also the Technical Office, the Economic and Trade Office, etc., and he held the post of deputy director in many temporary leadership group offices.

The work of the deputy director of the management committee office was the most, and what was coordinated over were all things the leader had already approved and asked him to look at, or handed over to him to execute.

The only person who could directly dump work on Li Xuewu was Li Huai De, but transferring business-related work to Li Xuewu was something even deputy directors could do.

Li Xuewu also pushed back some work, or pressed it down directly from the management committee office, falling directly on a certain department.

His identity was a bit complicated now. The people who came to his office to report work weren't just from the Security Department, but even deputy directors of other offices.

He was already so busy; do you think anyone would still have the face to trouble him?

"Li Chu, why are you so fast!" 【95

"Director Li, why are your legs so fast!"

Peng Xiaoli's report was interrupted again, this time not by Li Xuewu, but by Yu Daru, who had appeared at the doorway.

He had no other choice but to look at Li Xuewu, his eyes asking if he could brew a cup of top-tier tea for the guest.

"Schedule the meeting with the merchant for next Monday at nine in the morning. Arrange the location at the International Hotel and notify them to be prepared."

Li Xuewu instructed, "Hold off on the recruitment plan until we have Deputy Director Gu's opinion. Coordinate this point with the Committee Office."

"Coordinate the budget meeting for the Workers' New Village with the Committee Office. See when it's convenient for Director Li and Deputy Director Jing. The resolution still needs to go to a meeting, so get their opinions first."

"So busy~"

After Yu Daru entered the room and gave that greeting, seeing that Li Xuewu didn't pay him any mind, he had no choice but to sit on the sofa, light a cigarette, and wait.

It wasn't until Li Xuewu had finished coordinating all the work with Peng Xiaoli that he made small talk to greet him.

Li Xuewu glanced at him and said, "I'd be a lot more relaxed if you didn't come."

"I've been wronged to death~"

Yu Daru stood up, walked to the opposite side of Li Xuewu's desk, sat down, and complained, "I really didn't know......"

"Mm, speak, continue."

Li Xuewu picked up the newspaper on the desk, shook it open, and pointed to the headline above.

After Yu Daru saw the newspaper, he shut his mouth, feeling awkward and not knowing how to continue making things up.

There had been several important pieces of news recently, such as the passing of Mr. Ma, the world's first synthetic crystalline insulin, and the basically successful first flight test of the developed medium-range rocket, among others.

What concerned cadres like Li Xuewu the most, however, was the removal of those two people from their posts mentioned above.

No one knew how great the risks were in this, or whether last night's case was actually involved in it.

Li Xuewu would not take the initiative to investigate, let alone let his imagination run wild; he had already tried his best to avoid these things.

Of course, he knew such things would happen, but who could remember the exact time they occurred?

The Confidentiality Department definitely counted as one of those capable of predicting the precise time in advance, because they had far too many ears.

"How do you want me to explain this to you~"

Yu Daru scratched his head in a dilemma and said, "Actually, at the very beginning, I didn't think this case would involve so much, so broadly, and there's also that something..."

Li Xuewu looked at him, put down the newspaper in his hand without responding to his explanation, and continued reading the document in his hand.

Yu Daru racked his brains trying to think of a reason, but after thinking it over, there wasn't a single direction that could fool Li Xuewu, who was sitting across from him.

So he could only confess helplessly: "It was later, the leader told me, that thing, that the case might have problems. I really didn't think too much about it at the time, really."

"I also only felt there was another reason for the matter after I traced Du Xiaoyan's economic problems and found relatively large loopholes, especially the situation where those 50,000 yuan didn't match the accounts."

Yu Daru watched Li Xuewu remain unmoved by his explanation, slumped his shoulders in discouragement, nodded, and said, "Fine, fine, fine, I admit I'm not a good person, I didn't have good intentions, okay!"

"There is one thing I can guarantee you!"

When he saw Li Xuewu look up, Yu Daru said earnestly, "I have never had any intention to harm you! Really!"

"Then should I thank you?"

Li Xuewu looked him up and down and said with a fake smile, "You're actually quite a good person!"

"Stop mocking me. If I didn't know your skills were excellent and your punches were quite heavy, I would have wanted you to hit me twice to vent your anger."

Yu Daru nodded shamefully and said, "I owe you this time, I will definitely pay it back later, really, I keep my word."

"So?"

Li Xuewu squinted at the person opposite him and asked, "Are you going to take Lai Shanchuan's position?"

"Stop joking, how is that possible?"

Yu Daru waved his hand and said with a dry laugh, "Jumping from a section-level chief to a division-level chief, there's nowhere that jumps like that."

"However..."

He hesitated for a moment, then looked at Li Xuewu with some embarrassment and said softly, "A deputy position is also fine."

"Also fine?"

Li Xuewu looked at him amusedly and asked, "Do you want me to talk to Director Zheng and have him give you his deputy position?"

"Alright, that's enough, just say a couple of words~"

Yu Daru felt ashamed by Li Xuewu's sarcasm, lowered his head, lowered his voice, and said helplessly, "I'm already thirty. If I don't jump out now, I won't ever have a chance to advance in this life."

"Mm, am I blocking you?"

Li Xuewu raised his eyebrows, squinted, and asked, "Who was it that told you to come find me at the time? That idiot leader of yours?"

"Don't be angry, don't be angry, it's not worth it."

Seeing that Li Xuewu was about to get truly angry, Yu Daru hurriedly advised, "Consider it my eagerness for advancement, it's my fault to you. You are a big person with a big heart, consider it rewarding a brother with a bite to eat, consider it fulfilling a brother, okay?"

Li Xuewu looked at him with a cold face and said, "Go back and tell your leader to hurry up and find a place to store your train; we don't have any space here."

After finishing, he stopped paying attention to Yu Daru and lowered his head to read the documents again.

Seeing that Li Xuewu was serious, Yu Daru begged and pleaded, saying nice things and apologizing to Li Xuewu.

What he did was truly a bit unprincipled; if anyone who knew heard about it, they would all curse him as a grandson.

The branch bureau side was Li Xuewu's connection, and the case was also one Li Xuewu intervened in first; especially regarding Zheng Fuhua, Li Xuewu had specifically pointed out Yu Daru.

Promising to help him contact Xiang Yunnian was work done only after he had given guarantees and had communication with Zheng Fuhua.

Xiang Yunnian was still quite honest; he knew this case was a pit dug by Li Xuewu, and perhaps he had calculated when to start the pit long ago.

Now that someone had intervened and wanted to start it early, it was naturally beneficial to him; if the case was handled on a large scale, there would naturally be benefits for him.

But for Li Xuewu, not to mention the damage to his connections in the branch bureau, it was also possible that he had made wedding clothes for someone else.

He didn't know what arrangements Yu Daru had on his side, but he had very clearly asked for Li Xuewu's requirements, and as long as it was something he could do, he agreed to everything.

Having picked up such a big bargain, if there was no initiative or expression, he could forget about catching a ride on Li Xuewu's plane next time.

Under the circumstances where Li Xuewu clearly stated he didn't want anything and had no requirements, Xiang Yunnian was also straightforward and understood Li Xuewu's meaning very well.

This thunder was started too early and too urgently; it wasn't the fruit Li Xuewu wanted, so he would rather give it up than eat half-cooked rice.

Li Xuewu could choose not to take it, but he couldn't choose not to give it; this is called human nature.

And Yu Daru was too happy, only caring about seeing the case was big and the fruit was ripe; instigated by their leader, his brain didn't get enough blood and he bit down hard.

Calling Li Xuewu last night, and Li Xuewu leaving without paying him any mind, made him surprised while also making his feet cold to the back of his head.

Finding a sheltered place to light a cigarette and recalling the thread of the case carefully, he realized that his taking the initiative to come to the door was no different from snatching peaches.

He only remembered what the leader said: the confidentiality system was too single and fragile, and if one wanted to advance quickly, one had to jump left and right.

If one could jump to the branch bureau, that would naturally be the best, especially if one brought merit over; returning to confidentiality or going to other systems later would be the best springboard.

The desire for advancement for so many years made him ignore the change in Li Xuewu's attitude when he heard him talk about this case.

He also didn't notice that he was investigating in the direction pointed out by Li Xuewu, and the result of the truth coming out was probably already in Li Xuewu's expectations.

Snatching credit is a big taboo in any unit, especially in their frontline departments; the thing people look down on the most is this point.

If it were brothers helping each other, supporting each other, and taking the initiative to yield, it would naturally be easy to talk about, but he knew very well that his relationship with Li Xuewu was not that intimate.

At least not as good as the relationship between Xiang Yunnian and Li Xuewu; this could be seen from the attitude of their conversation when they were handling the case last night.

At the time, he thought Li Xuewu's slight alienation and indifference toward him were due to the difference in status; last night, after the case ended and the cold wind blew, his brain cleared up.

Having been busy for a whole night, and finding time at noon, he had to come to Li Xuewu's side to apologize no matter what.

If he didn't know at the time and couldn't figure out the twist, that would be one thing, at most letting people call him an idiot.

But if he got the benefits and still pretended not to understand, that would be a real grandson.

He was only thirty years old, so of course it was impossible for him to be in that deputy division position for his whole life; he was eager now, but what about five years later?

Li Xuewu's layout in the branch bureau was definitely not that simple; this could be seen from the evaluation of him by the branch bureau leaders and the respectful attitude of those agency personnel toward him when he returned to the branch bureau for meetings.

What the leaders of the Confidentiality Department asked him to do was naturally for his own good, but there were also small thoughts that couldn't be stated clearly.

It could be seen from the incidents that happened in these two days; who knew if anyone was deliberately pushing this case?

He was a small character, and the deputy division position before his eyes was very good; it was something he had longed for for a long time.

But whether there was a fishing rod extending from the darkness in a higher and more mysterious position, and the bait on the fishing line was this deputy division position, he didn't know.

He didn't dare to think any deeper; the old leader and old relationships naturally had to be cherished, while new units and new relationships had to be maintained even more.

Especially on Li Xuewu's side, he was filled with guilt and didn't dare to destroy the unit's funding and financial resources.

"Director Li? Big Brother Li!"

Yu Daru leaned forward and pleaded with Li Xuewu in a low voice: "That car is worth a fortune in your hands, but in ours, it's just a pile of scrap iron. What ability or qualification do I have to bring the car back?"

His tone was extremely low, and he took the initiative to say: "From now on, I am your younger brother, and you are my older brother! You speak, if I have even one..."