Restarting life in Siheyuan

"You're back. Have you seen your classmates?"

Xia Yuhong took the man's coat and smelled it, then asked in confusion, "Two old men met and didn't drink any wine?"

"Well, he can't drink much, he doesn't want to drink, and I didn't force him."

Zhu Xuefeng took the towel handed over by Lin Na and washed his face. "I want to take my younger sister to Hong Kong in a few days to meet Uncle Yang."

"Do you want Master Yang to teach her acupuncture?" Lin Na stood aside and watched. After thinking for a while, she asked.

"This thing can't be learned in a short time. I want her to experience the magic of acupuncture and persuade her to study medicine there."

Both women knew about the self-funded study abroad and knew that this was the man's last attempt.

"It doesn't seem like there will be any possible changes right now. Are you worrying too much?" Xia Yuhong still had some doubts about Zhu Xuefeng's judgment. Everything was peaceful now and nothing seemed to be wrong.

"Didn't I tell you that Xie Junjie and the others have left the Forbidden City? There are some things we can't see, but there are others who can see them. Let's not talk about it anymore. You two should keep your mouth shut. I'll take her there to have a look. Besides, the medical department of Hong Kong University is also very famous. If she wants, it's no problem to send her to East German or Bald Eagle to study."

The medical research and teaching levels in these two places are very good, so it should be possible to study abroad at your own expense, it's just a different path.

Seeing that the man had made up his mind, Xia Yuhong stopped asking questions, but she was still a little worried.

"You know Xiaomei's temper. Try to persuade her and don't force her. If it doesn't work, if there really comes a time like that, you can send her away then."

Zhu Xuefeng washed the towel, wrung it dry, and shook it, then handed it to Lin Na. "Your idea is good. Let's give it a try. By the way, do you two have a chance to go this year?"

Both girls shook their heads regretfully. Lin Na hung up the towel and said, "We are both too inexperienced. There is no hope this year, but there may be a chance next year."

Zhu Xuefeng frowned. He had never revealed the specific time, but next year would be 1966. There would be many variables when the two girls went to Hong Kong, and perhaps they would have to use the backup plan at that time. However, he still comforted them.

"It's okay. This year is not a big deal. Everything is going according to plan. It's going smoothly. Except for the airline company, which is slowing down, everything else is developing rapidly. Qianqian predicts that the profit will increase by 50% this year."

Lin Na's eyes widened, "Qianqian is so amazing!"

Xia Yuhong was not very interested in the data. She exchanged a glance with Lin Na and pointed to the backyard. "Your junior sister knows you are back and has been waiting for you for a long time. She said she has something to tell you. I think she seems to be in a bad mood. It's still early now. Why don't you go find her?"

Lin Yilan already knew that the three of them were hanging out together. Lin Na and Xia Yuhong were both living in the unit dormitory under the guise of staying there. Whenever they got off work, they would go to accompany Xiaomei and then come over to live with her. After a while, even if the senior brother was not there at all, Lin Yilan guessed it. There was nothing she could do. These two of them would rest in the senior brother's room every day.

"Okay, you two wait for me." The man smiled and hugged the two of them, then changed into a cool vest and went out.

Lin Yilan did not rest, but was still concentrating on studying academic subjects. The two-year further study was over, but it was not easy for her who had never attended high school. Now she studied whenever she had the chance. Her senior said that the future would be an era of competing for knowledge.

"Junior sister, open the door." The soft call from outside the door startled her and made her realize that the person she was waiting for had returned.

Her heartbeat suddenly accelerated, as if it was about to jump out of her chest. The breeze outside the window blew gently, bringing the fragrance of flowers from the flower bed. She stood up suddenly, clasped her hands together, her eyes flashing with excitement, and slowly walked towards the door, every step seemed to be stepping on clouds.

She gently opened the door, and outside was indeed her senior brother whom she hadn't seen for a year. He was still so energetic, and his eyes were full of concern. She couldn't help but smile.

"Senior Brother." Thousands of words turned into a light call. The man was stunned. He heard the friendship in it. He smiled bitterly and walked in.

"Sister Na, do you think that guy will...?" Xia Yuhong was in a state of confusion. They were both women, and they could both clearly feel the special feelings that Lin Yilan in the backyard had for their man.

Lin Na grabbed Xia Yuhong's anxious hand and clenched it tightly. "We have to believe him. Hey, Lin Yilan is actually quite pitiful. She is even more miserable than I was back then. Let him do whatever he wants. I don't want to get involved."

Xia Yuhong reminded unwillingly, "Sister, we have three in our family now. When the two from the autonomous region come in, plus this one, there will be six. I can't stand it. Not to mention Fusang still has two, and there is also his incredibly beautiful maid. I think he will get ten sooner or later."

Lin Na burst out laughing, "Ten? He will be the prince of the autonomous region in the future. When I went to the autonomous region, I knew this day would come. I can only blame him, not others. These silly girls are just like me. They know they are like moths to a flame, but they still rush to him one by one. You haven't even mentioned Miss Li from Hong Kong and your childhood friend. I don't believe you didn't notice that they look at Xiao Feng differently."

Xia Yuhong was even more depressed. "Well, ever since we rescued my childhood friend at the ice rink, I felt that something was wrong with her about Xiaofeng. At that time, she even wanted Xiaofeng to pretend to be his girlfriend to scare Guo Junjie away. I was sure that she was moved, but she was worried about me and never dared to approach me. Fortunately, the dead ghost didn't seem to care and let me send him to Xiangjiang."

After thinking for a while, Xia Yuhong wiped away the tears that came out unconsciously and forced a smile. "It doesn't matter if you think about it. Now we have more sisters and can do bigger things. Now that the family is big and prosperous, we need everyone to take care of it together. And his three daughters, if he doesn't ask, these three will never get married, especially the eldest daughter. Qianqian has mentioned it to me several times. I think we should let him do it all at once, so that we don't have to think about it every day and bother him."

"Silly sister!" Lin Na hugged Xia Yuhong with pity. Her heart had never been calm. Seeing that the sisterhood was getting bigger and bigger, she was helpless.

Zhu Xuefeng in the backyard was not as bad as the two men thought. The news that Lin Yilan brought to him really surprised him.

Section Chief Ma, who was involved in the Xizhimen Railway Station case, was released a long time ago. It was said that he was acquitted because he received a secret order at the time to hide his identity and investigate a secret case. It was all a misunderstanding.

"You mean, just catch him and let him go?"

Lin Yilan nodded. "This is what Xiaoyu and the others just found out. They said that he was secretly released on the third day after being arrested, and then a secret case was solved. He was only publicly exposed a few days ago."

"Are you worried that Ma will come back to the steel mill and take revenge on you?" Lin Yilan shook her head. "I have nothing to worry about. What can he do to me? Besides, he has returned to the Municipal Bureau and will not come to the steel mill."

"Then what are you worried about? Didn't you say you were going to promote him to deputy section chief before the New Year? I asked Old Yang about it, and he said it wouldn't be a big problem."

"Brother, let me put it this way. Xiaoyu and the others found out that Section Chief Ma is not only Deputy Director Li's man at the steel mill, but he is also Guo Junjie's father's man. The secret mission at that time was assigned by Deputy Director Guo. You may not know that Deputy Director Guo is now in the Municipal Bureau and even the Director cannot control him."

Zhu Xuefeng was shocked. It seemed that the man surnamed Guo had not only established his foothold, but had also grown strong. Last time, he heard from Xiao Hei that he had recruited some people. It seemed that the man surnamed Ma was one of them. Some of the unreasonable things in the incident at the station seemed to be explained.

"Are you worried that he will retaliate against us?" Zhu Xuefeng gave up the targeted investigation because he found out last time that Deputy Director Guo seemed to be making some big moves and probably didn't want to pick on a few young men.

"Brother, why are you so confused? It's not a matter of worrying or not. It's obvious that he has already taken action. Otherwise, why would Xiaoyu and Minghui be sent to two remote corners when they just entered the Municipal Bureau? This is revenge. You are not in the country, so he can't do anything to you, but I conclude that he still holds a grudge and will deal with us when he has the chance. You have to be more careful now that you are back."

Zhu Xuefeng had a headache. He hated this kind of intrigue the most. He didn't even want to know about the affairs of the steel mill's leadership. It involved Lao Yang and Lao Xia, his father-in-law, but he didn't bother to pay attention to them. But now it might involve himself and his friends. No matter how difficult it was, he had no idea how to deal with it. He couldn't just fire Deputy Director Guo for no reason. This was in China, and he couldn't be as casual as he was in North America. There was a bottom line to the struggle, at least he had one.

"What else do they have to say?" Zhu Xuefeng judged that since both of them started the investigation spontaneously, they must have some ideas, and they would probably ask Lin Yilan to bring them to him. Sure enough, Lin Yilan continued.

"They are not very interested in continuing to work now. They said that they have almost learned everything that Senior Brother asked them to learn and master. If Senior Brother agrees, they will stop working and wait for your arrangement."

Next year is only 1966. We finally got into the public security system, but we were removed before we could help at all. It's a pity. But now we are one in the west and one in the north, so it is really difficult for us to help.

Zhu Xuefeng touched his pocket as usual, and found the match that Lao Yang had given him today. He shook out a match, touched it, and changed his shirt. He didn't bring any matches with him. Seeing this, Lin Yilan took out a match from the drawer and helped him light it.

"Brother, it seems that smoking has become a habit now."

Zhu Xuefeng nodded and said, "It seems like there are a lot of things going on these days, and I start smoking when I get annoyed."

After walking a few steps in the room, he still shook his head and said, "Let them wait a little longer. We don't ask for any merit, but we just hope to avoid any mistakes. Let's wait and see."

"Okay, brother, if you make any moves, you must tell me."

"I understand, but it would be a shame to throw away such a good deputy section chief. Are you really willing to do that?"

Lin Yilan felt a little aggrieved, "Brother, it's meaningless for you to say that. You don't know my feelings yet."

"Okay, it's my fault, Senior Brother. I will definitely tell you if there is anything. You study first, and I will go practice and then rest."

How could Zhu Xuefeng dare to let Lin Yilan make things clear? These were all good girls, but he really didn't want to provoke them. Others might not understand, but he really thought so. His experiences in his previous life made him a little worried about this aspect, so he had never been very proactive, except towards Wu Qianqian.

Lin Yilan stood at the door, watching her senior brother flee in a panic. She wanted to laugh, but also felt a little sad. She was different from Zhou Xiaoyu. Zhou Xiaoyu found out that her senior brother already had Xia Yuhong, and knew that she couldn't go against her will, so she followed her senior brother's wishes and quickly got together with Xie Minghui.

But although Lin Yilan knew it was impossible, she still stubbornly guarded the obsession in her heart. Even if there was no result, as long as she could watch and guard from afar, she would be satisfied. Maybe in the eyes of others she seemed to live a humble life, but as long as her senior brother still cared about her, cared about her, and needed her, she was willing to guard silently like this.

Ever since her senior brother took her away from that heartless family, her heart has been firmly tied to him. She has already saved up the original 500 yuan in the drawer, but she just doesn't dare to take it out.

Zhu Xuefeng did not think about these things. He had already practiced the Overlord Spear Skill selflessly. After a year of persistent practice, he improved a lot. Now he has broken through the fifth level. Compared with the previous spear skills, this one is more to his liking.

In the middle courtyard, the moonlight was like water. Zhu Xuefeng was shirtless, holding the Overlord Spear in his hand. The shadow of the spear was heavy, and his heart was filled with heroic spirit. Every move and every style revealed a strong murderous aura. His figure was like a dragon, and his heart was like fire. Every time he swung the spear, it seemed like the momentum of thousands of troops, which was frightening.

It took him a while to quietly finish his training, he was already sweating profusely. This kind of spear technique consumes a lot of energy on the body, and it is difficult to perform it without a superhuman physique. Now he is restricted by the Overlord Body Training Technique and can only reach the fifth level. If he wants to improve further, he must practice the Body Training Technique to a higher level. However, the Body Training Technique seems to have encountered a bottleneck and is stuck at the fifth level. Zhu Xuefeng plans to try again, and if it doesn't work, he will rely on experience points to accumulate more.

Under the moonlight, Zhu Xuefeng sat cross-legged. He needed to practice Taiyi Gong to restore his spirit and physical strength. Taiyi Gong is basically perfect now. If nothing unexpected happens, he will make a breakthrough in the near future. This time when he goes to Hong Kong, he will have to ask Uncle Yang for Taiyi Sect's most mysterious top-level mental method to practice.

Three days later, Zhu Xuefeng had brought his sister to Hong Kong. It had been a year since they last visited, and Hong Kong seemed to have changed a little.

It should be the decline in the property market that has affected the lives of ordinary citizens in Hong Kong. The traffic in the shops on both sides of the street has decreased a lot, but there are many more people strolling on the street. In the previously bustling commercial streets, there is a closed store every few steps, and the big word "Transfer" is particularly eye-catching.

Even for the shops that have not closed, the windows are no longer crowded and there are fewer goods. The once bustling streets of Hong Kong now seem a bit deserted. The lives of residents must have been greatly affected. It is estimated that many people have lost their jobs due to the decline in the property market and their lives have fallen into difficulties. People looking for jobs can be seen everywhere.

"Brother, how did this place become like this? I remember the last time I came here with my second brother, it was very lively here."

I am very confused. It has only been two years, but the feeling is completely different. There are fewer people rushing around, but more bored men wandering the streets. They are out here to try their luck and find odd jobs to supplement their family income.

"There are some problems in the property market here. Many real estate companies are in trouble and have to stop working. Many people have lost their jobs."

"Oh, so that's it." The younger sister nodded, not quite understanding. Zhu Xuefeng couldn't explain to her that a cold winter in the real estate market would mean a winter for countless related industries. A large number of people would be unemployed, and the entire economy would be seriously affected. Everyone would be short of money, so naturally the business would not be able to be prosperous.

(End of this chapter)