In recent days, Gu Xiao had been waking up more frequently, and although he couldn''t speak due to the intubation, he could nowmunicate with others through writing.
Yan Zhao said he wanted to take Chen Men out for dinner and promised to take her to a hotel, but just then, Yan Dongxue called: "Sister-inw, Professor Gu was more lucid today. When I visited him, he kept asking to see you and Third Brother, and he was also insisting on seeing his secretary and returning to Southeast Asia. What should we do?"
Gu Xiao wanted to see Yan Peiheng and his son, saying he needed to return to Southeast Asia.
Regarding toxic waste, it was an industry that generated tens of millions of dors in profits annually.
Since Yan Zhao already knew the main cause of the situation, why didn''t he hurry to the hospital to tell Gu Xiao? Which hotel was he staying at?
But Yan Zhao remained unhurried, turning the steering wheel toward the International Hotel.
The International Hotel was currently the capital''srgest and most luxurious hotel.
A suite cost thousands of yuan, with the most basic standard room priced at 799 yuan. In her previous life, Chen Men had been here many times, so it wasn''t particrly novel to her. Besides, they had just bought Little Wang aputer, so it was better to be frugal.
"Let''s forget it and go home instead of staying here," Chen Men said.
The front desk staff at the International Hotel was naturally very friendly, smiling as they asked Yan Zhao, "Sir, which type of room would you like?"
After looking for a while, Yan Zhao pulled out eight hundred yuan from his pocket: "The 799 one."
The receptionist took the money, typed something, and said with a smile, "Sir, we also need a deposit of 800 yuan. Would you like to pay by check or cash?"
The dark-faced "King of Hell" was taken aback: "A deposit too?" He reached into his pocket again, but it was empty.
When they traveled for work, they always stayed at local police guesthouses, only needing a voucher. Clearly, Yan Zhao only had eight hundred yuan in his pocket, so would they not be able to stay at this hotel?
"Here''s the deposit," Chen Men quickly pulled out eight hundred yuan and said.
It seemed they would have to stay at this hotel now.
"Very well, I''ll get your room ready right away," the receptionist said with a smile.
Chen Men realized that Yan Zhao only had eight hundred yuan, which was enough for the room but not for the deposit.
However, she was still curious about where he got those eight hundred yuan from.
After getting the room key, Chen Men held onto it, not giving it to Yan Zhao, and asked first: "Officer Yan, where did this money reallye from?"
Although most corrupt government officials embezzled money for mistresses and lovers,
Some did it because they felt their wives lived too hard a life and wanted topensate them, thinking it was okay to take a little here and there. It would start with dozens or hundreds, then gradually increase to thousands and tens of thousands, eventually reaching hundreds of thousands or millions. But this kind of thing was like drugs - you couldn''t touch even a bit of it.
At this moment, Chen Men had already considered many possibilities.
But Yan Zhao gave her apletely unexpected answer: "During the two-month training at the Party School, we get an eight-hundred-yuan monthly allowance for room and board. I bring lunch and eat dinner at home, and don''t stay in the Party School dormitory, so they give me that money."
So this was his saved-up allowance from two months?
Chen Men had nothing more to say.
Secretly, she even felt touched. In her previous life, she had married two wealthy men.
Though they made lots of money, they were extremely stingy when it came to her spending any of it. In this life, she married a poor man, but he wanted to spend every penny he had on her.
This was the dark-faced man''s first time in such a luxurious ce, and he couldn''t even find the elevator. With the room key in hand, he wandered around looking for stairs. With his darkplexion and naturally imposing manner of walking, everyone in the lobby was staring at him.
Fortunately, Chen Men was quick to spot the elevator and pulled him there.
Upstairs, the corridor was covered with extremely thick wool carpet that felt like walking on clouds.
Opening the door to their room, they found the same thick carpeting, thick curtains, and a double bed that was both soft and wide with excellent spring. Lifting the bed skirt and sitting down gently, one would bounce right back up.
Yan Zhao took off his dress shirt, wearing only his undershirt, and his gaze fell on the 18-inch t-screen TV. This was his first time seeing a t-screen TV. He touched it, then sat on the edge of the bed, letting out an earth-shattering exmation: "This bed... it''s not stuffed with straw?"
When he traveled for work, he always stayed at local police guesthouses where the mattresses were straw-filled. He had thought all hotel beds in the world used straw mattresses.
Since they were staying in such a nice ce, the couple naturally had to engage in some intimatemunication.
Just before their intimate moment, Yan Zhao made another muffled observation: "The springs in this bed don''t make noise."
The squeaky spring bed at home had been Yan Zhao''s lifelong nightmare.
But this bed had one drawback - you would sink right into it, making it difficult for Yan Zhao to exert force.
Chen Men, being older now, had developed certain preferences in intimate matters and also found it ufortable, so she pulled a pillow under her hips.
But this action startled Yan Zhao, who immediately stopped: "Men, other people still need to sleep on that pillow."
Using a pillow under one''s bottom was something this rule-abiding man couldn''t ept.
Chen Men, in the midst of her pleasure, murmured: "These big hotels always give you two pillows - one for your head, and one specifically for putting under your bottom."
If their first time together had been an initiation for someone as inexperienced as Yan Zhao, this was certainly the second. While he didn''t mind if Men used the pillow that way, he couldn''t help but think about whether others had used his head pillow the same way.
But using a pillow did add a special vor to things.
Being an old married couple staying at a hotel naturally meant their intimate timested longer than usual.
In the middle of summer, they were both sweating after their activities. Seeing the self-heating kettle in the room, Yan Zhao figured out how to use it without instruction and started boiling water to make tea.
"Wait, people might have tapped cigarette ash in that kind of kettle. Let''s dump this water and boil a fresh pot," Chen Men said as she reached for the tea tray, casually adding, "I remember the International Hotel usually provides ck tea bags in the evening, why is this green tea?"
Having been ustomed to this in her previous life, she called the front desk to request ck tea bags.
To Chen Men, this was perfectly natural.
However, watching this, Yan Zhao found it very unusual. Logically, Chen Men should have been staying at this kind of hotel for the first time, just like him, but why did she act as if she frequently stayed at such hotels?
Of course, Yan Zhao, being shrewd, didn''t question it at the moment.
New bed, new bedding made the old married couple feel like newlyweds as they cuddled together and slept beautifully through the night.
Chen Men had been reborn for many years but had never slipped up in front of Yan Zhao. However, tonight''sfortable atmosphere and soft mattress almost made her reveal herself. When the neighbors were making noise with drinking games and shouting, Chen Men momentarily thought she was with Lu Jingyu and pushed Yan Zhao: "Lu Jingyu, go see why it''s so noisy next door, call andin about it."
But she caught herself immediately and fell silent.
Fortunately, Yan Zhao was sleeping deeply and didn''t hear.
The next day was weekend, and they slept in naturally. Since Yan Zhao wasn''t in a hurry, Chen Men had no reason to be either. They enjoyed the buffet breakfast at the International Hotel, eating their fill before heading home.
At home, Yuanyuan was taking piano lessons from a teacher she''d found in the courtyard, Little Lang had gone to his familiar routine of gun practice, while Little Wang and Jim were squeezed together, ying with the newly installedputer.
Currently, Hua Country hadn''t yet joined the international inte, so they could only practice typing and y games. Jim, who frequently usedputers in America, wasn''t impressed and typed away loudly on the keyboard, but Little Wang was concerned, crying out with every loud tap from Jim: "Be careful! This was bought with my mom''s money, you''re wasting my mom''s money doing that!"
"What''s your problem? The keyboard won''t break," Jim deliberately typed even louder.
Little Wang bumped him away with his hip and took over the keyboard, typing gently while saying: "Nonsense, my friend said keyboards are consumables, they need to be reced every three to five years, without exception. That''s whyputers and the inte are such a vast market - they''ll have sustained consumer demand in the future."
"You''re always talking about business, it''s really annoying," Jim said.
Speaking of consumables and the inte, Chen Men suddenly had a realization. Recently, Little Wang had been discussing business with the future richest man of Hua Country. Logically, after finalizing the deal, he should have asked her for investment money.
The wholesale market had a rent of over 60,000, and although the money was in Xiping City, Chen Men could first transfer money from the milk powder factory''s ount for Little Wang''s investment, and bnce the bookster when she returned.
Buttely, the child hadn''t mentioned anything about it. What was going on?
"Little Wang, weren''t you discussing investment with a friend? Why haven''t I heard anything about ittely?" Chen Men asked.
Little Wang carefully typed on his keyboard and said, "Never mind, Mom. I only got third ce, didn''t I? We agreed you''d only invest if I got first ce. A man must keep his word. Since I got third ce, I won''t ask you for money."
Although Chen Men had already decided that the investment would be optional, who wouldn''t want more money? She felt quite regretful, so she tried saying, "Why don''t I give you the money anyway? You can decide whether to invest or not, how''s that?"
She wanted to give the child a way out and try to facilitate the investment.
Little Wang''s hands stopped on the keyboard, and he slowly turned around, speaking softly, suppressing his disbelieving joy: "Mom, do you really mean that? Do I still have a chance?"
"If you really think it''s worth investing in, Mom will get you the money tomorrow," Chen Men said.
Little Wang gently moved away from the keyboard, so excited that he became incoherent, even his nose running: "Don''t worry, Mom, I''ll turn it into a huge sum of money sooner orter, and then pay you back."
So this boy really believed in the richest man''s project and wanted to invest, but because he got third ce, he didn''t dare ask.
A real man should know how to handle both victory and defeat.
It had been half a month since the results came out. Little Wang must have been very disappointed about not being able to invest with the future richest man, but he hadn''t shown even a hint of it, nor had he ever lost his temper in front of Chen Men. This made him much better than Lu Dabao from her previous life.
Lu Dabao was a sore loser. Whenever he lost, he would throw tantrums, me heaven and earth, me everyone and everything, throw things around the house when angry. When he wasn''t happy, he wouldn''t let anyone in the family have peace.
But Little Wang? He continued doing housework, still took care of his younger siblings, as if nothing had happened.
Just for this, Chen Men decided she would advance the 60,000 yuan tomorrow and let Little Wang invest it.
Suddenly, there was a bang from the study, making Chen Men and the two children jump. They saw Yan Peiheng hade out of the study and ran into Chen Men. He said, "Let''s go to the hospital to see Gu Xiao."
Toxic waste - this was the first time such an old-school military man like Yan Peiheng had heard of it.
Gu Xiao''s persistence made Yan Peiheng somewhat emotional. As someone of Chinese descent, at least he had some bottom line.
During this time, Gu Xiao had been strongly requesting to return to Singapore, but Yan Peiheng had prevented him, not allowing him to go back. However, until now, they couldn''t find evidence that the Southern Ocean party wanted to harm him. Now that they had found it, if they told him, he should listen, right?
The military hospital had upgraded its security for Gu Xiao. Not only were all medical devices the most expensive ones, but he had also undergone nearly five blood transfusions. The resources used were at a national treatment level. If it weren''t for the 301 Hospital''s all-out efforts, he would have died eight times over.
Originally, Yan Peiheng was under great pressure because in many ways, his actions exceeded his authority.
But now, at least when reporting to his superiors, he could exin the significance of protecting Gu Xiao.
As long as Gu Xiao himself was willing to stay and receive treatment in the hospital, it would be good for both the country and himself.
Chen Men certainly had to go too. If she didn''t, Gu Xiao, who had just escaped danger, might end up in a physical fight with the Yan father and son.
The group walked for about ten minutes to reach the hospital. Gu Xiao was staying in the highest-grade cadre intensive care room in the hospital. Yan Dongxue took care of his daily needs, and doctors had restricted visiting time to half an hour per day. Even for police or the Southern Ocean conste personnel, only one person could enter at a time, and they had to undergoplete disinfection first.
Yan Peiheng was of course an exception - his whole family could enter together, though they still needed to be disinfected and wear protective suits.
When Chen Men came to the capital, she had wondered how the two old men would meet, but now the situation seemed somewhat ridiculous.
Their family was all wearing thick protective suits andrge masks, while Gu Xiao had a throat tube inserted and was wearing a catheter, covered in tubes.
One was obsessed with military matters, the other with money - neither of the old men had ever admitted defeat to the other.
But now, in this ce, they had no choice but to ept their mortality.
Especially Gu Xiao, who had be as thin as a rail. Although Yan Dongxue kept him very clean, his face was as white as paper, his breath was weak, and lying there, he looked like just a skeleton.
Gu Xiao seemed to have been prepared, so as soon as Chen Men''s family entered, he gestured for Yan Dongxue to take out something.
Yan Dongxue took items from the cab and handed them to Chen Men, exining: "Sister-inw, these were originally gifts from Professor Gu for Yuanyuan. Xiong Dapao has a share too - it''s stock in 271 and Baohezhi Medicine, and the Sanbao Paint Factory. He had already signed the stock transfer contracts when he came, originally intending to give them to you in person, but now..."
She nced at Gu Xiao and shook her head: now, he wasn''t giving them anymore.
Chen Men, wearing a mask and protective suit, was sweating so much she could barely breathe.
Although Gu Xiao wasn''t giving them anymore, she still took the stock certificates to look at them.
They listed that the 271 and Baohezhi Medicine stocks would go to Yuanyuan, and the Sanbao Paint Factory stocks would go to Xiong Dapao.
Gu Xiao had originally nned to return all those investments.
Although he had yed tricks on the military region and Zhang Xiangming this time, he had nned to give unprecedented returns to people like Xiong Dapao and Chen Men who were willing to run their businesses conscientiously.
In a sense, he was actually training and domesticating small entrepreneurs like her and Xiong Dapao.
Teaching them to understand standardized operations and how to properly run a factory.
For someone worth hundreds of millions like him, the investment in two small factories was just a drop in the bucket, but his patience and guidance were of enormous help to Chen Men and Xiong Dapao.
There was a reason why Gu Xiao had been called Professor throughout his life - for many people, he was truly a life mentor.
Chen Men wasn''t disappointed. The stocks weren''t everything - as long as Yan Zhao could exin the Southern Ocean situation clearly and Gu Xiao was willing to stay instead of returning to the Southern Ocean to die, that would be enough. As for the stocks, the bigger the business, the more money there was, and Chen Men didn''t mind sharing with people who had vision.
Yuanyuan didn''t need these stocks. She was living the best life Chen Men could provide in this lifetime.
But the good situation quickly changed. Yan Zhao was bending over, standing by the hospital bed, exining something, when suddenly Gu Xiao''s throat began to wheeze heavily.
His throat had been cut open, so he couldn''t speak, but he kept shaking his head.
Yan Dongxue quickly exined: "Professor Gu still doesn''t want to believe it."
Yan Zhao stopped bending over, straightened up, and stared at Gu Xiao.
Gu Xiao''s hand was moving. Yan Dongxue, being an experienced nurse, knew what he wanted and immediately handed him paper and pen, letting him hold them while she helped him write.
After a while, in weak and messy handwriting, Gu Xiao wrote out a few characters.
Chen Men''s eyes were covered in sweat. When she wiped them, the stic on her hand didn''t absorb the water, making her vision blurry. Yan Zhao was in the same situation. After they both struggled to read it for a while, Yan Dongxue said: "Professor Gu wrote, ''Southern Ocean, master and disciples!''"
He meant that the Southern Ocean shareholders were his students, his disciples.
They were children he had once saved. In his view, they were just like Xiong Dapao and Chen Men - people he had carefully selected, tested, and slowly nurtured over decades.
How could he believe it now if someone said Chen Men would kill him?
Of course not.
Because he had repeatedly pushed Chen Men to the edge of cliffs, forced her to face moral condemnation, pushed her to vite business ethics, but she hadn''t given in - she had persevered, as had Xiong Dapao.
He had tested the Southern Ocean shareholders the same way, and in the end, he had given them all his assets, just as he had done with Chen Men and Xiong Dapao.
He trusted those students because he believed in himself.
It should be noted that any one of those seven or eight people was hundreds of times more excellent than Chen Men and Xiong Dapao.
They were the most excellent business operators, and they had never expressed any intention of dumping toxic waste into Hua Country before Gu Xiao.
Then, Gu Xiao wrote another sentence: "Huaxia is homnd, viins block the sky!"
These characters were too clear and very neat.
Chen Men had to support Yan Peiheng, or he would have copsed from anger.
The crux of everything was that Gu Xiao had never trusted Yan Peiheng, and of course, he didn''t deserve Gu Xiao''s trust.
After all, Gu Xiao was poison in Hua Country, and now, Yan Peiheng was forcefully keeping him here.
It was already hot, and Yan Peiheng was wearing too much. His throat was hoarse with anger. The two old men didn''t look human anymore, but rather like two dying beasts, unable to fight or curse out loud, but the hatred in their eyes was enough to tear each other apart.
What should be done?
Chen Men didn''t know.
However, Yan Zhao turned around, surveyed the surroundings by the window, and suddenly said, "How about this, Professor Gu, I''ll find evidence for you. Give me one hour, okay?"
Gu Xiao stared at Yan Zhao, his throat making hissing sounds, his eyes unblinking.
But he shook his head; clearly, he still didn''t want to trust.
Yan Peiheng was willing to believe his son. In such hot weather, he couldn''t be bothered to wear the protective cover anymore. He pulled open the istion gown, found a chair, and sat down right next to Gu Xiao''s bed, sitting imposingly, and said to Gu Xiao, "Then let''s wait. My son will go find evidence for you, and I''ll stay here to keep youpany!"
Yan Zhao pulled Chen Men along and had already left the room.
Once outside, they both pulled off their head covers and gasped for air.
After taking off their protective clothing and signing out, they fled downstairs. As soon as they reached the bottom, Yan Zhao said, "Those shareholders from Southeast Asia won''t give up easily. If I''m not mistaken, they must have hired international assassins who are probably lurking nearby."
Since her rebirth, Chen Men only wanted to raise children, sell clothes, and deal in milk powder, with no grand ambitions.
But today, she heard an extremely novel term: international assassin.
Of course, if Gu Xiao returned to Southeast Asia and died there, that would be fine too, but dying in Hua Country would save a lot of trouble - the shareholders could take over his businesspletely.
But this wasn''t good news for Yan Zhao''s family. If Gu Xiao died, the Southeast Asian side would frame him for it.
And since he had used so many resources for Gu Xiao, the Hua Country military wouldn''t let him off either.
The military hospital''s security was strict; the Southeast Asian shareholders'' people couldn''t get in, but would they give up after one failed assassination attempt?
Of course not, they must be waiting for another chance to strike.
Yan Zhao was in public security; this was his expertise.
Chen Men thought he had already found someone, so she said, "Assassin? Where are they? If you can find them, quickly point them out to me."
Yan Zhao looked down at his wife for a while, teasing her by saying, "Chen Men, let''s make a bet. I can''t find the international assassin preparing to kill Gu Xiao, but I bet Little Lang can find them. Want to bet?"
If Yan Zhao said he could find them, Chen Men would believe it.
But Little Lang was just a confused little fool, obsessed with shooting and guns. Besides ying with guns and eating ice cream, he had no other hobbies. Chen Men couldn''t convince herself to believe he could find an assassin.
"What''s the bet?" she asked first.
Yan Zhao slowly crossed his arms, looked Chen Men up and down, and said, "You know that five-star hotel pillows are used for sitting on, and that some people tap cigarette ash into kettles. You even know that international hotels provide green tea in the morning and ck tea in the evening. Chen Men, you act as if you''ve lived in such hotels for a long time. Let''s make a bet - if Little Lang can find the assassin, you''ll tell me what this is all about, okay?"
So after one stay at a five-star hotel, the couple had lost trust in each other?
Could he be suspecting that she had been to hotels with other men?
Or had he discovered that she was reborn?
Of course, Chen Men was reborn, and if Yan Zhao hadn''t noticed, that would be fine, but if he really discovered it and seriously questioned her.
Chen Men would tell him.
She was somewhat relieved that Yan Zhao hadn''t heard the name Lu Jingyu.
Just Yan Xishan alone made him restless. Even though they were both in their thirties, and she was just an ordinary woman, Yan Zhao''s personality was protective and possessive, as if afraid someone would steal her away.
If he heard about Lu Jingyu, he probably couldn''t handle it, and might die of anger like his father.
Besides feeling relieved, Chen Men was also rxed because she simply didn''t believe Little Lang could find an international assassin.
"Let''s bet," she said, extending her hand to her husband.
Yan Zhao must have felt quite defeated at this point - after five years, he finally had the ability to take his wife to a high-end hotel, but she acted as if she were staying at a market.
Putting that aside, Yan Zhao was true to his word and indeed took Chen Men home to find Little Lang.
Little Lang was still at the shooting range, so the couple went there.
They called him out from there.
Back in Chen Family Vige, Chen Men had been good at farm work. During the years she was married to Yan Xishan, although she hadn''t done business, she had been busy with household chores non-stop, developing thick calluses on her feet.
But in recent years, having a car to drive, and with Yan Zhao giving Chen Men foot massages every night, the thickyer of calluses on her feet had disappeared, and consequently, she couldn''t walk as much anymore.
Now her legs were not only sore and shaking, but the muscles in her lower abdomen were also cramping.
She couldn''t walk anymore.
But Chen Men didn''t believe that the confused Little Lang could find an international assassin.
She was curious to see what an international assassin looked like.
What a novel thing - her life would beplete now that she could see an international assassin.
So she gritted her teeth and followed Yan Zhao and his son out again.
When he was young, Little Lang looked especially like Yan Zhao, with thick eyebrows, narrow eyes, and deeper pupils than ordinary people. His eyes were very simr, but his skin was too white, not looking like someone Yan Zhao could have fathered.
But for the past half month, he had been at the shooting range, practicing shooting under the instructor''s guidance, particrly his favorite long-distance sniping.
Lying at the shooting range every day under the sun''s exposure, his skin had darkened considerably, and the child had also lost weight. Walking side by side, they looked like exact copies of father and son.
Taking Little Lang to the 301 Hospital, they had to apply again and disinfect again. This time, Yan Zhao also brought binocrs. The family dressed heavily again and entered the ward.
Chen Men was thin, so wearing protective gear wasn''t much of an issue. Yan Zhao was like a mountain, and Little Lang''s protective suit didn''t fit quite right - the child looked like a round, rolling white ball. If he fell, he could roll into the ward just by rolling.
Entering the room, Yan Zhao took Little Lang straight to the window, then bent down and gave the binocrs to his son, saying, "Yan Minng, starting now, dad gives you half an hour. Look at all the buildings outside, using this room and dad''s head position as units, and find the sniper positions, okay?"
Little Lang was covered in clothing. He pulled open the stic cover on his head, exposing his square yet round little head. A professional doing professional work, he still needed to be lifted by Yan Zhao. Holding the binocrs, he looked around and first pointed to the sewage treatment nt building opposite: "Dad, this building is the closest, but the height isn''t right, it''s one floor too short."
The nearest was a low building only six stories tall. Although the distance would be closer, the cadre ward was on the eighth floor, so its height wasn''t enough.
Yan Zhao said in a muffled voice, "Keep looking, don''t limit yourself to an 800-meter sniper distance. Look further, within a 2000-meter range, because current new sniper rifles mostly have a range that can reach 2500 meters."
Little Lang held the binocrs, looking slowly, until finally he eximed, "Dad, that one would work, but it needs an M21, otherwise, at a distance of over 1300 meters, the wind would deflect the bullet."
"Look again, are there any other positions?" Yan Zhao said patiently.Aliali: 6753d5eff9bc45f2bbcd8c6c
He probably had more suitable sniper positions in mind, but he was guiding Little Lang, letting him discover it himself.
Yan Dongxue wasn''t quite clear what Little Lang was doing and said, "Sister-inw, why can''t anyone understand what your child is saying?"
Chen Men gave a bitterugh, thinking to herself, cunning Yan Zhao always managed to run circles around her.
In the bustling capital, finding an international assassin among the millions of people is no easy task. However, Gu Xiao''s position remains unchanged; he is currently unable to sit up, but he will recover, eventually sitting up and moving around.
The shareholders from the South Seas, who handle waste disposal internationally, are all top talents nurtured by Gu Xiao. To send their mentor on his final journey, a sniper is the bare minimum required.
Yan Zhao''s approach is ingenious; instead of searching for the assassin, he identifies potential sniper locations, targeting them directly.
If there truly is an international assassin, Little Lang standing here could spot him through a telescope.
Yan Zhao, the bastard, is indeed a formidable figure who has seen battle and killed enemies. Known as the living King Yan in Xiping City, his method of solving cases is unparalleled. An hour is more than enough.
Gu Xiao is unusually lucid today, stretching his neck to watch Little Lang. The child represents a harsh truth, one that could erase the two decades Gu Xiao spent in the South Seas, raising children with money and blood, and whether they truly wish to kill him.
Meanwhile, Yan Peiheng remains seated with an air of authority, watching Little Lang and Yan Zhao as if their actions are entirely ordinary and natural.