20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 767: Frequent Strange Phenomena
"hiss--"

In the office, Jiang Lianheng covered his cheeks with his hands, humming from time to time, with a frown on his face and a worried look.

Toothache is not a disease, but it is really painful when it happens.

Recently, Jiang Lianheng has been suffering from toothache. Now half of his face is swollen, and he has a headache and fever. He is unable to think and his temper has become more and more irritable.

Fang Yan took a glass of cold water from the windowsill, put it on the desk, and asked softly: "Boss, didn't you go to the hospital?"

"I checked it out. It's a tooth that has just come out. The doctor said we have to wait and see. It can only be extracted after the swelling subsides." Jiang Lianheng picked up the water glass and couldn't help but sighed, "Damn it, I don't know what's wrong with me this year. Nothing goes well."

Fang Yan smiled and said, "Don't think too much, Boss. Your zodiac year is almost over. We will definitely have better luck next year."

Jiang Lianheng took a sip of water and held it in his mouth, without any intention of saying anything.

"Boss, do you still remember Liu Baotou over there on the railway?" Fangyan asked again.

Jiang Lianheng frowned and waved his hand, indicating that he should continue.

Fangyan explained: "He told me yesterday that several trains from Fengtian to the interior of the country suddenly stopped running."

"And then?" Jiang Lianheng swallowed the water.

"Oh, the company recently insured two orders of goods from Fengtian to Liaoxi, but they were delayed because of this matter."

"Just get down to business. Do you want compensation or something?"

"No, no, no, that's not necessary. This is a problem with the Jingfeng Line. It has nothing to do with us. The goods are not lost. They are all in the warehouse!"

The situation was briefly explained in dialect. Due to the establishment of a monopoly bureau in the three northeastern provinces to monopolize opium, the Jiang family's insurance business was largely destroyed. Now the main business has become fire and water insurance for various shops. Although there is also freight insurance, it is all for food, medicinal materials, furs and the like. The profit is limited, and they only do business with acquaintances.

Although the freight delay was a problem with the Jingfeng Line, the insured always came to inquire about the situation.

Jiang Lianheng had a severe toothache and was in no mood to ask, so he turned around and scolded impatiently: "Don't bother me about this kind of thing. What can I do if the train doesn't leave? I can't just push it, right?"

"That's, that's..."

Fang Yan noticed that his boss was upset, so he quickly put on a smile and said, "Boss, I just mentioned it casually, I didn't mean anything else."

"You decide for yourself. Is there anyone who wants to ask for help later?"

"Nothing."

"Okay then," Jiang Lianheng stood up while biting his back teeth, "I'll go back first, you stay here and keep an eye on me. If anything happens, call home and find me."

Fangyan agreed repeatedly, walked quickly to the clothes rack, took down the black wool coat, helped his boss put it on, put on a scarf, and respectfully escorted him out of the company building.

Jiang Lianheng lowered his head and got into the car. Without saying a word, he immediately told the driver to drive home.

……

The beginning of winter has passed and it is snowing lightly.

The weather was already very cold. The street vendors on both sides had already put on their cotton-padded jackets. Passers-by shivered in the cold wind and walked quickly.

In the past three or two months, the situation has been turbulent and warlords have been fighting each other. It can truly be said to be a turbulent time.

Before October, Feng and Zhang had occupied the three northeastern provinces, Rehe and Chahar, Beijing, Tianjin, Zhili and Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui, and formed a long snake formation, with half of the country in their sight. Although the territory was not yet solid, their momentum to conquer the world and dominate the Beiyang government had already begun to emerge.

In the struggle for supremacy among the Zhi, Feng and Anhui factions, the most despised Feng faction seemed to have finally had the last laugh.

Unfortunately, the good times are not long.

Not long after, Marshal Sun in southern Fujian appointed himself commander-in-chief of the five-province coalition army, raised an army to attack Feng, and marched to the Jiangzuo area.

The Fengtian Army's battle line was too long and narrow from south to north, and its elite main force was always stationed near the capital to guard against attacks from Feng's army in the northwest. The troops stationed in Jiangsu and Anhui were all incompetent, with no military management skills and good ways of disturbing the people. When they saw Marshal Sun coming in full force, they immediately fled and were defeated without a fight.

In less than a month, Marshal Sun successfully captured Jiangsu and Anhui.

The Fengtian Army's plan to expand southward was also declared a failure, and it turned to strategic contraction, with all troops retreating northward.

The current situation is important, it is not as important as caring about family affairs.

Although Lao Zhang suffered a defeat in the interior, the Jiang family did not care about it. Hu Xiaoyan even breathed a sigh of relief.

As the Fengtian Army retreated, the good news was that the north wind was finally about to return.

Zhao Zhengbei has been with the army since last year and has not been home for nearly two years. In his last letter, he said that the army had changed its guard and he would be able to return to Fengtian before the end of the month. He also sent some money home and asked his sister-in-law to take care of herself so that they could reunite at the end of the year.

Although he did not gain any military merit on this trip, in the eyes of his family, returning safely was a blessing, and apart from that, they had no other extravagant requests.

The car suddenly stopped.

Jiang Lianheng covered his cheek, frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"

The driver pointed forward and turned to explain, "Boss, there is a military vehicle ahead that needs to pass through. We have to wait for a while."

As he was speaking, he heard a roar outside the car window.

Jiang Lianheng looked around and saw several military trucks loaded with supplies driving in a convoy on the road. Naturally, the people along the street gave way.

The soldiers in the car looked relaxed, talking and laughing. It did not look like they had encountered any emergency situation, but rather that it seemed like they were carrying out a routine mission.

The driver couldn't help but complain, "We just saw a convoy coming into the city yesterday, why are they here again today?"

"hiss--"

Jiang Lianheng's toothache continued, and he immediately teased, "Why don't you go down and take care of it?"

The driver was startled and quickly shut up.

Jiang Lianheng went to the hospital yesterday and did not see the military vehicles entering the city. Even if he did see it, he did not think about it and just felt a splitting headache.

The situation of military supplies entering the city has happened before, so it is really not worth making a fuss about.

The car stopped on the side of the road for a few minutes until the military convoy slowly left, then it started again and sped towards the north of the city.

After winter comes, the days become shorter and the nights become longer.

By the time the car drove into the house, the sky had already turned gray.

Jiang Lianheng got out of the car and walked straight into the mansion. He was planning to go upstairs to take some painkillers and lie down to rest, but when he glanced, he saw Hu Xiaoyan and others sitting in the living room. Looking carefully, he found that it was Xifeng's family who came to visit with their children.

Hu Xiaoyan and Sister Hua were keeping the children company in the living room. Jiang Ya and Jiang Chengye had just finished school and were taking turns holding Xifeng's child to play with him.

The child is a boy, just one and a half years old. He can barely take two steps by holding on to the coffee table. His eyes and brows look exactly like Xifeng when he was a child.

"Brother——" Guyu quickly stood up and greeted: "Is your toothache better?"

"Oh, don't mention it, it's just a living hell!" Jiang Lianheng walked to the main seat and sat down, then asked, "Where's Xifeng? Why didn't he come with you?"

Guyu looked worried and sighed, "I'm busy. I don't see anyone here all day. I came here to have some peace and quiet."

"Hide away in peace?" Jiang Lianheng didn't understand.

Hu Xiaoyan explained, "Winter is coming soon. Every year at this time, Xifeng calls those little kids who have nowhere to live home. My sister-in-law is taking care of the kids at home, and it's too noisy. We can't stay here."

"Hey, then chase them away!"

"Don't chase them away. Xifeng has good intentions. If you really chase those little fans away, they will freeze to death and he will feel bad."

"Those guys under him who rely on fans are not young anymore, right?"

"Yes, they have grown up, but the world is so chaotic now. There are always children begging on the streets. If they really can't survive, it won't be a big deal if Xifeng takes care of them."

Hu Xiaoyan did not object to Xifeng's approach.

After all, Xifeng is already married, and as the eldest sister-in-law, it is not easy for her to be too controlling.

On the other hand, she did value those little fans, knowing that they were the Jiang family's eyes and ears. As for Lai Zi and others, they were another matter.

However, since Grain Rain had arrived, Hu Xiaoyan could not just sit there and watch, so she quickly suggested, "Sister-in-law, why don't you move here in the winter? There are a lot of empty rooms anyway, and there's a place for you and your mother to sleep, and everyone can help you take care of the child."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ya suddenly perked up, picked up her younger brother, and begged, "Aunt, please live in my house!"

Guyu didn't say anything and looked a little hesitant.

Jiang Lianheng naturally expressed his opinion immediately: "Then come and live here, there is plenty of room, and you can stay at home and accompany your sister-in-law to relieve her boredom."

As he spoke, he hissed again, turned to Jiang Ya and ordered, "Go upstairs and get me some painkillers."

"No more at home."

"Then go buy it for me!"

"My great aunt bought it for you," Jiang Ya pointed out the window, "Uncle Dong took her there, and she left not long ago."

Jiang Lianheng was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Is that possible? Who else went with him?"

"My little brother, and Uncle Yuan." Jiang Ya asked back, "Didn't you see that Uncle Yuan wasn't at the door just now?"

"Hiss, I didn't notice. It's so cold outside, why did you let the old lady go out?" Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but blame, "Where's Song Ma? There's no medicine at home, but you don't want to go buy some. Does the old lady have to worry about this?"

Hu Xiaoyan said hurriedly: "Don't blame others. It was my aunt who felt too bored at home, so she took the initiative to buy medicine for you and go out to relax at the same time."

Jiang Lianheng was relieved after hearing this. He nodded and said, "That's good. The old lady hasn't had any seizures in the past two years. Judging from her current spirits, she will soon be well."

This is true. Xu Ruqing hasn't had an attack for many years.

The physical pain is not unhealable, but the key is the mental blow, which caused the once famous Chuan'erhong in Fengtian's entertainment scene to disappear from the limelight.

At the beginning, Xu Ruqing could not stand any fright. If there was any slight disturbance around him, he would immediately become crazy and want to commit suicide.

However, with the rest over the years and the care and precautions of his family, Xu Ruqing's mental state has improved a lot. Gradually, he can go for a walk on the street with the company of Dongfeng and others. Although the number of times is not many, he is no longer so sensitive and fragile.

Jiang Lianheng was very pleased about this.

Thinking back to those days when that person called me “Aunt” and “Little Dao”, it was clearly a chance meeting, but it seemed like it was destined, just waiting to recognize each other.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "Hiss, my aunt still loves me."

After that, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, it's almost the end of the month, why hasn't Bei Feng made any move yet? Didn't he say he would be back in the next few days?"

"We were just talking about this!" Hu Xiaoyan said, "He wrote in his letter that he came back yesterday, but there's still no news. If it doesn't work, why don't you go to the Security Headquarters and ask someone you know?"

"Oh, that's a military deployment. If it's here, it's here. If it's not here, it's not here. Even if I ask, what's the use?"

Jiang Lianheng was still rubbing his cheeks, and suddenly remembered what Fang Yan had said, so he said, "Oh, by the way, I just heard that the trains from here to the interior seemed to have stopped running a few times yesterday. I guess it was delayed by the railway maintenance over there."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Yu also said: "I heard that several trains on the Jingfeng Line were indeed suspended yesterday."

"Hey, you are a family babysitter, you are well-informed!" Jiang Lianheng asked, "Did those little idiots in your family get the news?"

Guyu shook his head and said, "I went to my second sister-in-law's house yesterday and sat for a while. She said that the grain and oil shop run by my second brother also had several hundred kilograms of corn grits that were not delivered yesterday."

"hiss--"

Jiang Lianheng took a deep breath and said impatiently but confidently, "It must be a railway maintenance. I guess someone has torn down some section of the road."

"No way?" Hu Xiaoyan refused to make a hasty judgment. After thinking for a while, she said, "Don't they have a dedicated line for transporting troops? And since it's a rotation, how could it be delayed because of the railway maintenance? They have to rush back on foot!"

"Then we are on the way!" Jiang Lianheng picked up the cup on the table, "Jiang Ya, go get me a glass of cold water!"

Jiang Ya was happily holding the child and looked reluctant; seeing this, Jiang Chengye quickly stood up and took the cup of water.

At this moment, there were footsteps in the yard. It turned out to be the family's bodyguard who was hurriedly walking towards the mansion. After entering the entrance, he immediately reported:
"Boss, there's a guy named Meng Duo outside the door who wants to come in to see you."

"Meng Duo?" Jiang Lianheng was extremely impatient. "Who the hell is this?"

Sister Hua and Guyu also have no impression.

Hu Xiaoyan reacted immediately and quickly ordered: "That's one of our family members, working in the office, quickly call him in!"

Among the young servants supported by the Jiang family, Meng Duo is definitely the best. He graduated from Tongwen Commercial School and was later arranged by the Jiang family to work in the Municipal Government Office. It has been more than three years now, and he has been doing well in the office. Now he is also considered a small official in the Commercial Port Bureau.

Meng Duo never goes to the Jiang family. This was Hu Xiaoyan's instruction, in order to hide his relationship with the Jiang family as much as possible.

Now that he has come to visit suddenly, he must have something extremely important to say, and it is urgent and must be reported to my sister-in-law in person.

The bodyguard took the order and left the living room and returned to the front door of the house.

Soon, Meng Duo, wearing a black suit, was seen walking through the courtyard breathlessly. He then strode into the living room, skipping all the polite greetings and immediately explaining his purpose.

"Brother and sister-in-law, it's bad, General Guo has rebelled!"

Everyone was subconsciously stunned, and for a moment they didn't react, and hurriedly asked: "Who rebelled?"

"General Guo, deputy commander of the Third Army Group, the Guo devils are rebelling!"

(End of this chapter)