Chapter 686: Chapter 669: All Aspects
Yan Yijun and Li Qing took the earliest flight from Yangcheng City to the Forty-nine City, arriving even earlier than Lu Jiaxin. However, since they agreed to meet in the evening, Lu Jiaxin wasn’t in a hurry.
After eating and drinking her fill, Lu Jiaxin went for a walk in the back garden. Lu Hongjun followed along, pointing at several winter plum trees in the corner, boasting, “These came from the mountain of a relative of an old friend of mine. I got your Fifth Brother to go and buy them all to plant here. They blossomed last winter, very beautiful.”
It’s hard for transplanted trees to survive, but all of these did, which is indeed impressive.
Lu Hongjun continued talking about recent events: “You didn’t come back for the New Year, so Jiaguang and Jiazong brought the kids to my place for the celebration. The whole family gathered for New Year’s Eve dinner, it was very lively.”
Lu Jiaxin let her talk while thinking about other things.
“Jiaxin, Jiaxin, what are you thinking about?”
Lu Jiaxin snapped back to reality, “Nothing much, what did you just say?”
Lu Hongjun felt a bit miffed, as he’d gone out of his way to stay and walk with her, but she got distracted so quickly. But considering she wouldn’t be in the Forty-nine City for long, he chuckled and said, “I was talking about how your Fifth Brother’s business has been doing well these past two years. He told me privately during the New Year that he’s almost able to pay off your debts.”
Business at the border has become increasingly easy; making over eight hundred thousand in two years doesn’t seem like much. There was once a legendary figure who, like a trader between China and Russia, used several hundred trucks of canned goods to barter for four airplanes from Russia, selling them for over a hundred million. In the early ’90s, that kind of money was astronomical in the Mainland. But this was a few years after the dissolution; nowadays, it’s not as profitable as it was back then. After the dissolution, various conflicts and shortages during warfare made goods very expensive and highly tradable.
Lu Jiaxin said, “Have him give the money to Uncle to support impoverished students back home.”
Speaking of this, Lu Hongjun couldn’t help but smile, “Jiaxin, ever since you started supporting impoverished students back home, everyone in the county has been calling the Lu Family a benevolent family.”
Her daughter’s deeds truly glorified the family. Like last time, when he went back, everyone received him warmly and treated him with great respect.
Having already adjusted her mindset, Lu Jiaxin remained calm in the face of his praises: “How have you been doing while staying in Chaoyang?”
Lu Hongjun replied cheerfully, “It’s been great. Every morning I go to the park to practice Tai Chi, have breakfast, and then chat and play chess with people in the park. In the afternoon, I gather with bird enthusiasts for tea and conversation.”
He used to have a thrush bird, and earlier this year, he bought a Skylark from a fellow bird enthusiast. He carries the bird to the park in the morning and goes to a teahouse next door to listen to storytelling and chat in the afternoon. If the weather’s bad, he invites a few old friends over to play chess and chat. His house is spacious, with no younger generation to worry about, and he has a nanny to cook. His old buddies are so envious of his retired life.
After walking together for half an hour, Lu Jiaxin went back. Once she returned to the courtyard, she almost immediately received a call from Lu Jiaguang.
“Jiaxin, you’re back?”
Lu Jiaxin responded, “I arrived around four in the afternoon.”
“How long will you be staying this time?”
Lu Jiaxin’s schedule is relatively free, with company responsibilities handled by others. She said, “Tentatively three days, but if things don’t go smoothly, I might stay a couple more days.”
Lu Jiaguang chuckled, “I received a call from Jiajie at noon. He’ll be home tomorrow morning. Jiaxin, he’s saved up enough money to repay you.”
Lu Jiaxin replied, “My dad just mentioned it, too. He wants him to give the money to Uncle for helping those impoverished students.”
Lu Jiaguang paused briefly at this, realizing that she hadn’t forgiven Lao Wu yet. Well, he figured he’d let Lao Wu handle it himself and decided not to interfere: “Alright, I’ll tell him.”
Around eight in the evening, Yan Yijun and Li Qing arrived. They came as they were, without any disguise, just like the old days.
When Lu Jiaxin saw Li Qing, she was momentarily taken aback. Two years ago, Li Qing still had a bit of an edge, but now he seemed harmless and very easy to get along with. However, this made it easier for him to gather information.
Li Qing handed the bag he was carrying to Lu Jiaxin, saying, “Boss, everything is inside. Boss, I’ve been targeted by the SL’s Security Committee, so I can’t go back.”
During his time in SL, Li Qing was in disguise, looking completely different now.
“How were you discovered?”
Li Qing had several intermediaries helping him gather information, rarely stepping out himself. A few days ago, one government official was caught for corruption and revealed one of the intermediaries. He was always cautious during his dealings with the intermediaries. Once he knew one was arrested, he immediately hid. When he heard that the Security Committee was searching his residence, he knew he was exposed and quickly returned to the country without hesitation.
Lu Jiaxin said, “You can’t stay by my side anymore. When you return to Hong Kong, assist Gu Wenfeng in training our family’s bodyguards.”
Given her current status, it’s not uncommon for paparazzi to snap photos of her, though they typically don’t get published. But you never know; what if one day Li Qing gets caught in a photo and it gets published? Even though he was in disguise in SL, someone might recognize him from his bone structure or something!
Lu Jiaxin was eager to review the collected information, so she asked the two to go rest first. Opening the bag, the first things inside were two lists. The first was a list of people who sold information or confidential documents to Li Qing; the second was a list of those identified as bought by America or other European and American countries. According to Li Qing’s note, this was just the tip of the iceberg.
The first list was only two pages long, while the second extended to eighteen pages. And that was just what Li Qing had uncovered; countless others hadn’t been identified yet.
At Lu Jiaxin’s request, Li Qing gathered data on politics, economics, culture, military, education, and technology. The delivered information was organized according to her instructions.
After going through all six sets of data, it was already past midnight. Lu Jiaxin shook her head in disbelief, no wonder SL disintegrated in such a short time. In a country where the top leaders admired Western culture and economics to the point of inviting them to be economic advisors, following their advice; where the young generation idolized every aspect of America—freedom, equality, and inclusivity—how could the nation not fall apart?
She took a shower and immediately fell asleep when hitting the bed. Due to sleeping so late, she woke up late the next day, noticing it was already 8:30 when she opened her eyes.
After getting up to wash and heading out, breakfast was already laid out in the dining room. Xing Ziyang said, “Boss, the old gentleman, after his morning exercise, saw you weren’t up yet, and so had breakfast and left. He was worried you might need the car later, so he said he’d take the bus home. I wasn’t comfortable with that, so I arranged for someone to drive him back.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Jiaxin said, “One car is still too few; we need to buy another one.”
In Hong Kong, her family has so many cars that anyone can drive any of them at any time, while cars in the Mainland are still hard to come by, with imported cars being incredibly expensive. The country, though poor and backward, has many places where even basic needs aren’t met, and there are very few people who can afford cars.
Hearing this, Xing Ziyang was delighted. More cars made work convenient, and more importantly, it meant new cars to drive.