Arranged marriage, love blossoms; a fiercely devoted soldier dotes on her alone.

at this time,

In the living room of the Xiao family compound.

Xiao Huai'an then said, "Both T and J countries are secretly moving troops to the border areas, and a major war is imminent."

Xiao Zhan raised an eyebrow and said, "The border friction between these two countries has never stopped. They fight small skirmishes every now and then."

"Thud!"

Xiao Huai'an lit a cigarette, then tossed the pack to Xiao Zhan, calmly saying, "This time, the two countries are truly at war, so we need to take all actions before they start the war."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhan's expression changed slightly. After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "You mean we should take this opportunity to dismantle the telecom fraud operation near the border between Thailand and Japan?"

Xiao Huai'an exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "Rescue our citizens from the telecom fraud park before the two countries go to war, and at the same time, take back all the money from the owner of the telecom fraud park, especially that girl named Su Zixing. She has a lot of money in her hands, and we must take back every single penny of it."

Xiao Zhan stared into Xiao Huai'an's eyes and asked, "What should we do with Su Zixing?"

Xiao Huai'an frowned and said, "She's Deng Zhi's woman. Go ask Deng Zhi. But you need to have your own opinion."

Xiao Zhan understood Xiao Huai'an's implication, of course.

"Thud!"

Xiao Zhan lit a cigarette and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, his eyes fixed on the rising smoke, as if talking to himself, "Old man, who exactly are you?"

Xiao Huai'an smiled calmly and said, "I am your grandfather."

Xiao Zhan nodded and continued to ask, "You were the one who brought down Liu Shiyuan, but I know that you not only have Old Master Deng behind you, but also other big shots secretly supporting you."

"You're just one of them."

"And all of this is part of your plan."

Xiao Huai'an nodded noncommittally and said, "To be honest, this plan has been in place for more than 20 years. It wasn't until last year, when that Boss J left, that we found an opportunity. Xiao Zhan, political struggles are far more brutal than you imagine, even more bloody and cruel than when you go to war. It's just that one is a real battle with real swords and spears, while the other kills people without shedding a drop of blood."

Xiao Zhan raised an eyebrow and asked, "I will not get involved in the struggles of your older generation, nor do I want to make any comments."

He paused, then added, "Old man, did you create the 'Sky Judge' system to deal with your political enemies?"

Xiao Huai'an neither admitted nor denied it, but instead asked, "Did Deng Zhi tell you?"

Xiao Zhan chuckled and said, "Haha, that's my guess. Deng Zhi is very tight-lipped. Even now, he hasn't told me the truth. Moreover, he even brought Deng Ying in to manage the 'Sky Judge' system with me. He's clearly wary of you."

Xiao Huai'an smiled calmly and said, "This is his way of protecting himself. Once he can no longer manage 'The Arbiter of the Azure Sky' due to health reasons, then he will not be far from death."

"He's not only wary of me, but also of others. Imagine if your secrets were discovered by others, especially if it's all money from dubious sources. Once exposed, it would ruin your reputation and all your years of hard work would vanish in an instant."

"What would you do?"

Xiao Zhan raised an eyebrow and said, "Of course, I hope as few people as possible know. Those who are not good to me can only be killed to silence them."

Xiao Huai'an nodded and said, "This is the logic of most normal people, but there is a small group of people who do not think this way. They not only want to kill you to silence you, but also want to take away the money and resources in your hands, as well as the money of others that you control, and seize them for themselves."

"This is what they call insatiable greed."

Xiao Zhan grinned and asked, "Why has the Liu family incurred public wrath?"

Xiao Huai'an: "There was a reason for the downfall of the Liu family. It was no secret among the high-ranking officials that Liu Chuanren was a member of the CIA. Back then, Liu Shiyuan relied on the support of Boss J to dominate the military. He was autocratic, buying and selling official positions, selling arms, and embezzling military funds. It can be said that he dragged down the military's combat effectiveness for the next ten years. Even I was forced to retire from active service by Liu Shiyuan at that time."

Xiao Zhan: "So you guys started planning this back then, and then you created the 'Sky Judge' system to secretly control those big shots. Then you set up a series of so-called industrial bases in Southeast Asia, among which the telecom fraud park was an important part of the plan. Because, to bring down Liu Shiyuan, you had to get the support of the central big shots. You did a lot of things to support the big shots in secret, and of course the big shots had to reciprocate and tacitly allow you to bring down Liu Shiyuan. All of this can be said to be an exchange of interests."

Xiao Huai'an looked at Xiao Zhan very seriously and said, "I'm starting to regret bringing you back from the army, Xiao Zhan. Sometimes being too smart isn't a good thing. It's rare to be confused, and great wisdom can appear as foolishness. These are all survival philosophies that are hidden and contain profound wisdom."

"Being too assertive is not a good thing."

Xiao Zhan smiled and said, "Grandpa, you've taught me since I was little that a true man should be able to bend and stretch, and that a true man should know what to do and what not to do. I will handle things in my own way and with my own abilities. You don't have to give me the 'Sky Judge' system; there's still time."

Xiao Huai'an was about to speak.

Xiao Zhan's phone rang.

"Beep beep beep".

When Xiao Zhan saw that it was Deng Zhi calling, he answered and asked, "What's up, Brother Zhi?"

On the other end of the phone, Deng Zhi said, "Congratulations, brother, on getting your marriage certificate this morning. Tonight, I'll treat you and Miss Qin—no, I mean your wife—to dinner."

Xiao Zhan: "I'll go if there's anything else, but if it's just for dinner, then forget it, hahaha, I want some alone time with just the two of us."

Deng Zhi laughed and said, "Brother, you're too smart. You knew I needed to see you. See you at Fengzeyuan at six o'clock tonight."

Xiao Zhan laughed and said, "Brother Zhi, you're really well-informed. Bai Zerui and Kong Zhixiang booked rooms at Fengzeyuan this morning. Are you planning to host a hundred guests at one table?"

On the other end of the phone, Deng Zhi laughed half-jokingly, "Hahaha, I've said it's not good to be too smart, but the worst part is that you exposed me in public. I can't be friends with you anymore."

"Hahaha…."

After hanging up the phone, Xiao Zhan said to Xiao Huai'an, "Grandpa, there's one more thing. Why did you ask Deng Zhi to pressure my mother into letting me be with Deng Ying?"

"Aren't you going to give me an explanation?"

Xiao Huai'an: "Did Deng Zhi tell you that again?"

Xiao Zhan smiled and said, "That's my guess."

Xiao Huai'an: "Sharing benefits and maximizing benefits are the foundation of interdependence among families. Marriage can make the relationship between families even closer and more stable. Marriage binds families together, and everyone shares the same fate."

"If your relationship with Qin Huanhuan isn't deep, or if Qin Huanhuan's character isn't good, this test will reveal that. Some things you only know by trying."

"Don't you agree with this logic?"

Xiao Zhan said in a deep voice, "I've said before that I'm in charge of my own affairs, and I can compromise on some things, but regarding Qin Huanhuan, I don't want a similar incident to happen again in the future."

At this moment, Uncle Yu and Qin Huanhuan walked into the living room.

Uncle Yu stepped forward and said, "Old Chief, Young Master, lunch is ready."

Qin Huanhuan held an antique-style jewelry box in her hand and handed it to Xiao Zhan, saying, "Honey, this is the jewelry Mom just gave me."

Xiao Zhan took the jewelry box, opened it, and saw a full-green, glassy jadeite bracelet inside.

Xiao Zhan recognized it as a bracelet his mother used to wear; it was a family heirloom given to his mother by his grandmother when she got married.

Xiao Zhan knew that his mother had given the bracelet to Qin Huanhuan, which meant that she had accepted Qin Huanhuan and was also silencing him.

Her mother knew that this time she would come back to demand an explanation from her.

Xiao Zhan handed the bracelet to Qin Huanhuan and said, "Mom is giving it to you, so just keep it. It's a family heirloom of the Xiao family."

"Let's go eat."