CHAPTER 288: CHAPTER 280: MR. YUN RETURNS TO THE JIANGHU

"Ah Nan, snap out of it!" Tian Xinhua waved her hand in front of her eyes.

Sisi came back to her senses, her face blushing furiously, and she glared at Tian Xinhua. How annoying, why do you have to be so irresistibly handsome?

Tian Xinhua was somewhat smug, grinning as he took Sisi’s hand to get into the car. Mr. Yun and the others at home were waiting!

Mr. Yun was lying on a vine chair in the front yard, leisurely drinking his cup of Plum Blossom Dew, seemingly at ease, but his eyes occasionally darted towards the gate, betraying his somewhat anxious mood.

"Grandpa Yun, I’m back!"

Her voice arrived before she did, and Mr. Yun immediately lowered his head to sip the Dew, pretending to be in a relaxed state.

Sisi walked up to Mr. Yun with a giggle, leaned on the armrest of the vine chair, and whispered in his ear, "Grandpa Yun, stop pretending. I know you’re thrilled. I’m going to stay with you longer this time. Are you happy? Surprised?"

"Go away, don’t lean on me, it’s too hot, who misses you, it’s so annoying!" Mr. Yun said, but by the end, he couldn’t help but start laughing, his three chins quivering.

"Grandpa Yun, you really need to lose some weight! Just look at all this fat on you, you could probably render thirty pounds of oil," Sisi said disdainfully, eliciting a proud little eye roll from Mr. Yun.

******

After stepping down, Mr. Yun returned to the Jianghu on the pretext of recovering his health, but his appearance shocked everyone in Beijing! Where did this rotund, chubby, man come from? And the old man, strolling in slippers and a white undershirt, whence did he emerge from the alleys?

No matter how peculiar the returned Mr. Yun’s style was in Jianghu, he still high-profile returned to the Central South Sea, taking up a relatively easy-going position, yet no one dared to look down upon him!

Mr. Yun sneered: Those who underestimated me have all gone with the wind!

Luo Datou: Dare to look down on our Mr. Yun, I’ll squash you in a minute!

Sisi did not hide the Hong Kong affair from Mr. Yun; she reported everything to him as it was last year. At that time, Mr. Yun immediately arranged for all traces of Sisi’s visit to Hong Kong to be erased. Although there was no evident worry now, he had always preferred to think ahead: it was better to be wrong than to make mistakes!

And so, Sisi could confidently use her Hong Kong ID card and boldly invest and make money in Hong Kong. Having such a powerful backing allowed for such caprice!

"Grandpa Yun, I made 600,000 Hong Kong Dollars from the movie I invested in last year! This year I’ve invested in another movie, and I’m sure I’ll make another tidy sum. Plus, Uncle Qiao gave me 10% of his movie company as a dowry, and then I also dealt with my cheap step-brother...."

Sisi chattered on to Mr. Yun about all the affairs in Hong Kong without missing a word, even mentioning the possibility that He Chunfeng might be homosexual.

"What nonsense are you thinking about all day, child? What do you mean by ’glass’? That’s called homosexual love, and you have no culture at all!"

After speaking, Mr. Yun gave Sisi a stare. Really, he always said that places like Hong Kong, with all their glitz and glamour, were no good. Now Sisi, a young girl, had been there and even knows about homosexual love; the bourgeoisie are indeed corrupting!

Sisi: Hehe.....

Sisi brought back some treats like water chestnut cakes from Guangzhou, which were very popular. Mr. Yun also loved them and gobbled down three pieces before stopping, sighing, "I haven’t tasted these cakes for decades; when was the last time I ate them? I think it was in the ’40s. I was working in Guangzhou back then and would buy these every day to eat."

"Grandpa Yun, feel free to eat more if you like them. When these are finished, I’ll make more for you. I have learned how to make all these pastries."

"That would be great, no more worries about snacks then."

In the afternoon, Tian Xinhua, He Chengsi, and Kang Mianhua went to school for classes, and Mr. Yun also shuffled in his slippers to the office, to avoid the impression he was freeloading on a salary. After showering and taking a short nap, Sisi went to visit the Yang Family.

In this life, thanks to the overt and covert reminders from He Xuewen, and some hints from Mr. Yun as well, Yang Haoyuan didn’t get involved in the capture operation of those four people. His career went smoothly, and he is now the Commander of the Beijing Military Region. He’s always busy, but he seems more and more spirited.

Only Mrs. Yang and Xiang Yingchun were home at the Yang Family; everyone else was either at work or at school, and during the day, Xiang Yingchun was usually the only one home. Sisi brought some pastries with her, had a chat with Xiang Yingchun for a while, and sat for a bit before getting up to say goodbye.

As she left the Yang Family, Sisi checked her watch; it was only three-thirty. After some thought, she decided to drive over to Zhang Mingliu’s house. Zhang Mingliu did not live in an apartment complex; similar to Mr. Yun, he had a separate small courtyard house, which was quite serene.

However, Zhang Mingliu’s door was tightly shut; nobody was home. Sisi had to leave a note tucked into the door seam, then she turned around and went to Tang Tieshan’s house. Tang Tieshan’s residence wasn’t in the same complex as the Yang Family’s; he lived in a different complex.

Fortunately, Tang Tieshan was home, otherwise Sisi wouldn’t even have been able to enter the gate. Tang Qiubai came out to greet Sisi.

"Sisi, when did you get here?"

Tang Qiubai was overjoyed. He had been missing his friends from Yuequan Village since he arrived in Beijing. Luckily, he still had He Chengsi and Tian Xinhua in the city; otherwise, he would have felt utterly lonely. The childhood friends he made in the complex felt different now, after not seeing each other for years; it just wasn’t the same anymore.

"I got here this morning. I went to Grandpa Zhang’s house first but nobody was there, so I came to see you guys." Sisi let Tang Qiubai get into the car. In this life, she and Tang Qiubai maintained a relatively peaceful relationship—neither warm nor cold—pretty much friends.

"Grandpa Zhang has gone to Tianjin on official business; he won’t be back until next week."

"Oh, how come you didn’t go to school?"

Tang Qiubai’s face suddenly fell, and his good mood dropped to freezing point. The thought of those people at home made him worry. If Sisi saw them, it would be so embarrassing!

"Sisi, we have some guests at home. If they say anything unpleasant to you, please don’t take it to heart." Tang Qiubai decided to give Sisi a heads-up.

Sisi raised an eyebrow and looked at Tang Qiubai, her face a mix of embarrassment, anger, and helplessness. What was going on? It seemed she came at a bad time!

"Don’t worry, as long as it’s not too much, I won’t mind." Miss Sisi was still very easy to talk to.

Tang’s house was a small two-story western-style building with two courtyards, front and back, both full of vegetables, lush and full of farm charm.

However, this ambiance was somewhat at odds with the over ten men and women in the living room—adults and youths, along with children. Each bore an unpleased expression on their face. Tang Tieshan, meanwhile, sat on the Taishi Chair at the higher end, coldly observing the people below.

"Grandpa Tang."

"Ah Nan has come, quickly take a seat. You must be hot, Qiubai, quickly pour some Plum Blossom Dew for Ah Nan to drink."

Upon seeing Sisi, Tang Tieshan’s face bloomed like a chrysanthemum, instantly going from gloomy to sunny, and he warmly invited Sisi to sit down.