20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 868 Pursuit and Suppression
The following day, all the major newspapers featured the explosion at No. 207 Ping'an Tong, a residential area under the Nanchang Railway Company, on their front pages.

The details of the case are a mix of truth and fiction; the various conspiracies behind it are the subject of much speculation.

The cause of the explosion, the number of victims, and the attitudes and positions of both the Chinese and foreign sides are too numerous to recount in detail.

The people of Fengtian had something to talk about.

This matter will likely remain on everyone's dining table for at least the next month.

In comparison, another murder that occurred that night, the shooting at Naniwa-dori Nichiro Plaza, seemed rather insignificant.

Even after searching through all the major newspapers and magazines in the provincial capital, you can only find a few short articles in the margins. They are just snippets of information, and unless you pay special attention, no one will care, let alone bother to dig deeper.

If you look even closer, you can also find a missing person notice on the advertising pages of several newspapers:
"Li Jiaming, male, 34 years old, left the city from Warehouse No. 7 of the South Railway at around 11:00 a.m. on the 9th of this month and has not returned since. He has been searched for without success."

“Li was six feet two inches tall, with a well-proportioned figure and excellent footwork. He wore a dark blue mandarin jacket and a gray squirrel fur coat. His nickname was ‘Whistle Li’. He spoke with a Fengtian accent.”

"If any kind-hearted person knows his whereabouts, please send a letter to the Zongheng Insurance Company building in Xiaoxiguan, Fengtian, or call 17626."

"I will repay you handsomely and will never go back on my word."

"Respectfully addressed to Fengtian Zongheng Insurance Company."

The search for the missing person was a pretense; the real purpose was to hunt them down.

Although Qin Huaimeng and Lao Dou are dead, the whereabouts of Shaozi Li and Zuantianying are still unknown.

But in any case, the crisis that the Jiang family encountered this time has finally come to an end.

Commander Zhang quelled Guo's rebellion, and Jiang Lianheng purged heretics; both the righteous and the villainous were safe from danger.

Fengtian seems to be the same Fengtian, as if nothing has changed, yet everything has changed, though it's hard to perceive at the moment...

…………

That morning, the core members of the Jiang family gathered at the mansion in the north of the city.

Xue Yingqing, Zhao Guoyan, Wang Zhengnan and Li Zhengxi, all the people who were supposed to come, came. Even Chuang Hu and Fang Yan were invited to attend the meeting, which was an exception.

Before the meeting could even begin, Chief Chen of the Fengtian Police Department suddenly came to see him, saying he wanted to invite Jiang Lianheng to the police station to discuss the city's security work.

Since it was a personal invitation from a high-ranking provincial official, Jiang Lianheng dared not be negligent, so he led Hai Xinnian to leave by car first.

The others sat in the living room, quietly waiting for Hu Xiaoyan to come downstairs and take charge.

Everyone was busy, taking the opportunity to inquire about what happened last night, with the most crucial topic being the cause of Qin Huaimeng's death.

No one in the room could say for sure who killed Qin Huaimeng, and how they could do the dirty work so accurately, decisively, and without warning.

Everyone was puzzled and couldn't help but come up with all sorts of guesses.

Chuang Hu was most interested in these kinds of unsolved cases. After pondering for a while, he suddenly made a bold guess: "Brothers, do you think... the boss might have an illegitimate child?"

Everyone turned their heads in response, opened their mouths but didn't speak, and the living room fell into a deathly silence.

Not long after, they suddenly heard footsteps coming from the stairs.

Everyone bowed slightly and looked towards the corner of the stairs, only to see Zhang Zhengdong walking over alone.

"Brother Dong," Li Zhengxi stood up and asked, "Where's your wife?"

Zhang Zhengdong waved his hand and said, "My sister-in-law isn't feeling well, so she asked me to come down and pass on a few words. We'll talk about the rest tonight!"

After speaking, he secretly glanced at Xue Yingqing again.

Xue Yingqing sat quietly on the sofa with his arms crossed, seemingly detached from the situation, his expression unreadable.

Zhang Zhengdong then turned to Fang Yan and asked, "Where are the things your sister-in-law asked you to bring?"

Fang Yan patted the briefcase he had brought with him and said, "Don't worry, Brother Dong, I've already packed everything."

"Then let's take the things to the study on the second floor!"

"it is good!"

Fang Yan responded and then tiptoed up the stairs.

But just then, a series of "thump thump thump" footsteps came from the ceiling, making a loud noise throughout the room.

Everyone could tell that Jiang Chengzhi was running around wildly in the corridor.

The young master is lively and active, even more so than Jiang Ya'er was. But Jiang Chengzhi is not annoying; he can play by himself for half a day. He makes a lot of noise in the mansion all day long, seemingly with inexhaustible energy, which is a real headache for everyone.

Wang Zhengnan glanced at the ceiling, pursed his lips, and said, "With this kind of commotion, not to mention my sister-in-law's frail health, my head is about to explode."

"What happened to your sister-in-law?" Li Zhengxi asked hurriedly. "Didn't you go to call a doctor?"

Zhang Zhengdong said, "Xiao Bei had a military doctor come to check, but he couldn't find anything wrong. I'll go find Doctor Jia later."

“Xiaoyan is just exhausted!” Xue Yingqing suddenly said. “She suffered a lot when she was young, which left her with a lot of health problems. She didn’t realize it when she was young, but now she’s almost forty. How can she still be like before, meddling in everything and worrying about everything all the time?”

Wang Zhengnan nodded and said, "I think so too, but my sister-in-law's personality... sigh, it's no use trying to persuade her! Fortunately, Qin Huaimeng is dead now, so my sister-in-law can take this opportunity to recuperate and rest, at least she doesn't have to rush things."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Guoyan couldn't help but frown and hurriedly asked, "Dongfeng, you were the one leading the team last night. How exactly did Qin Huaimeng die?"

"Seventh Master".

"what?"

Everyone was stunned.

Zhao Guoyan frowned, Wang Zhengnan and Li Zhengxi's eyes lit up, but Xue Yingqing remained unmoved, still maintaining an attitude of detachment.

Zhang Zhengdong had to confirm again: "I just heard it from my sister-in-law. Seventh Master is back and is in Fengtian now."

"Is that the Seventh Master from Shanghai?" Chuanghu asked curiously.

"Don't speak yet!" Li Zhengxi interrupted him, bombarding him with questions, "How is Seventh Master doing now? Now that he's back in Fengtian, why doesn't he come home to see everyone? Where is he staying now? I'll come pick him up!"

Zhang Zhengdong said, "No! My elder brother and sister-in-law specifically instructed that no one is allowed to talk about Seventh Master to outsiders, nor are they allowed to inquire about Seventh Master's whereabouts without permission, and even less are they allowed to contact Seventh Master in secret!"

"Why?" Li Zhengxi asked, puzzled. "When Seventh Master left, we were still living in the old man's small courtyard! Now we've moved into a big house, and we're all living quite comfortably. We should bring Seventh Master over to enjoy the good life!"

"Maybe they're enjoying life right now!" Xue Yingqing muttered to himself. Wang Zhengnan thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's true. Seventh Master finally retired with great difficulty. Now that the Jiang family is so famous, if you go out of your way to find them, you'll just be pulling Seventh Master back. This is probably Seventh Master's own idea. Otherwise, he would have shown up long ago."

"But……"

Li Zhengxi was a man of deep affection and loyalty. Thinking back to when Seventh Master had saved him in Shanghai, he felt even more reluctant to leave. He quickly said, "We haven't seen each other for more than ten years. Now that we've come back, we should at least meet up, right?"

Zhang Zhengdong said in a low voice, "I estimate we will meet, but not now... Perhaps, when the time is right, Uncle Qi will come on his own. In any case, my sister-in-law specifically asked me to tell you not to disturb Uncle Qi."

"So, the place where Qin Huaimeng is hiding was also found by Seventh Master?" Zhao Guoyan suddenly asked.

"I think so, but I'm not entirely sure about the specifics."

"It seems... Seventh Master originally didn't intend to take action himself."

Zhang Zhengdong nodded and said, "Plans can't keep up with changes. At that time, the Japanese had already blocked all the major intersections in the square. Forcing our way through might have caused some accidents, and time was tight. Seventh Master was probably worried that we would mess things up, so he took the opportunity to clear things up."

"What a waste of such good skills..."

Many years ago, Zhao Guoyan had fought against Gong Baonan. At that time, both of them were still young, but Zhao Guoyan was completely powerless to resist.

Throughout his life, the sea owl has always adhered to one principle: "Quality over quantity when it comes to brothers."

Don't let the fact that the seven brothers are all big, rough men fool you; when they get down to work, they are very particular about "precision." Like owls hunting at night, they are silent and stealthy, hitting the nail on the head without any unnecessary movements, and they never waste a single bullet.

Thinking of this, Zhao Guoyan and the others couldn't help but feel ashamed.

Zhang Zhengdong continued, "In short, the news of Seventh Master's return is currently only known to a few of us. There's no need for us to tell anyone else, understand?"

No sooner had the words been spoken than a piercing cry responded to the east wind.

Li Zhengxi frowned, knowing it was his son crying, and couldn't help but complain, "Why is he crying again?"

"Hey, he's just a baby!" Wang Zhengnan said with a smile. "He's not even a year old yet. How many babies this big don't cry?"

"I was worried that the house would be too noisy and disturb my sister-in-law's rest."

"Hey, what you said reminds me of something."

Wang Zhengnan turned to look at Dongfeng and said, "Back then, my sister-in-law invited all of us to live together to prevent Qin Huaimeng from sending people to smash the kiln. Now that the old lady's funeral is over, Lao Dou and the others have disbanded, and Qin Huaimeng is dead, shouldn't we all go back to our own homes? It's not that I'm inconvenient, but it's always a bit awkward for so many people to live together!"

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Although the old house is big enough, it can't accommodate all the trivial matters of family life.

In daily life, whose stove doesn't smoke, and whose spoon doesn't clink against the bowl?
Sifengkou grew up together and were inseparable, so they didn't feel awkward at all. However, Chengfang and Guyu, the sisters-in-law, often bickered and teased each other over how much work they did, and would often go to their sister-in-law for judgment.

Little did they know that even an upright official finds it difficult to settle family disputes—is this a matter that can be judged?

On the other hand, Zhuang Shuning knew that Hu Xiaoyan disliked her, so she stayed in her room all day, not daring to even breathe, which was quite stifling. Although she did not explicitly say that she wanted to leave, she would inquire about the repairs of the outer residence from time to time. Her intentions were self-evident.

Most importantly, after the deaths of Song Ma and others, the Jiang family did not hire any other nannies or long-term workers to ensure the safety of the house.

There are many "masters" and few "servants" in the family. Apart from Jiang and Hu, no one can order anyone else around.

Previously, with the threat of external enemies, everyone made concessions to each other and managed to maintain appearances. Now that the Qin family has been destroyed, how can things remain peaceful if we continue to live like this for a long time?

It's far more difficult for this large family to maintain unity and harmony than for them to fight and kill each other online.

Zhang Zhengdong said, "My sister-in-law just mentioned this to me. Although Qin Huaimeng and Lao Dou are dead, the whereabouts of Whistle Li and Sky Eagle are still unknown. Moreover, the New Year is just around the corner. My sister-in-law's idea is that we shouldn't delay for a few more days and can discuss everything after the New Year."

"With so many people celebrating the New Year, we can't go without some help!" Wang Zhengnan immediately suggested. "Anyway, I don't have much to do lately, so how about I hire a few nannies?"

"Let's hire short-term workers first to get through this year. We need to think carefully about hiring long-term workers, since they will be taking care of my elder brother and sister-in-law at home in the future, so we can't be careless."

"Don't worry, I have a plan!"

Wang Zhengnan stood up, then realized that his elder brother and sister-in-law were not present and the meeting was canceled. So he simply informed everyone and went out to find some boatmen to help find some quick and efficient day laborers for the family.

Zhang Zhengdong then called Xifeng over and said, "Come with me to the underground parking lot. Your sister-in-law wants you to distribute reward money to the Kaoshan Gang. You need to appease the Kaoshan Gang about Tang Wenbiao's matter."

Li Zhengxi nodded in response and followed Dongfeng toward the corner of the corridor.

As a result, only Xue Yingqing, Zhao Guoyan, and Chuang Hu remained in the living room.

Xue Yingqing maintained a cold expression. After sitting for a short while, he got up and left, looking somewhat bewildered.

Chuang Hu watched her leave the mansion, then turned to look at Zhao Guoyan. Suddenly feeling a little embarrassed, he rubbed his hands together and asked, "Brother Yan, it's just the two of us now, do you want to chat for a bit longer?"

"I don't quite understand what you're talking about, excuse me."

Just as Zhao Guoyan was about to get up, he suddenly heard someone calling him from the stairs.

"Uncle Zhao!"

Jiang Ya, wearing a light yellow cotton-padded jacket with white fur trim on the collar, waved to him and said, "My mom wants you to come upstairs."

Seeing his niece relaying the message, Zhao Guoyan was still a little unaccustomed to it, and asked as he walked, "What is it?"

"Why don't you go upstairs and find out? Why do you have to ask me?" Jiang Ya turned and led Zhao Guoyan towards the bedroom on the second floor.

As I reached the door, I could faintly hear a soft cough.

Hu Xiaoyan sat by the window, bundled up in layers of clothing, holding a stack of account books in her hand, which appeared to be documents that Fang Yan had just delivered.

“Sister-in-law,” Zhao Guoyan approached and asked in a low voice, “what is this?”

"The accounts of the family's arms business over the past two years."

As Hu Xiaoyan spoke, she handed the ledger to Zhao Guoyan, then took the tea that Fang Yan brought and took a small sip.

Zhao Guoyan glanced through the ledger and noticed many annotations, which puzzled him slightly.

Just as he was about to ask a question, Hu Xiaoyan spoke first: "Guoyan, the Ping'an Tong bombing case has caused too much of a stir. Although it has nothing to do with you, you'd better go out and lay low for a while. Also, take some business trips for your family, and bring more brothers and trolls with you."

"Business trip? When?"

"It would be best to leave this afternoon."

Faced with such an urgent order, Zhao Guoyan frowned and hurriedly asked, "Sister-in-law, where am I going?"

(End of this chapter)