"Ah!" Seeing another comrade die, the burly man was almost going crazy. However, although he was physically strong, it didn't mean he was short-circuiting his brain. He knew that the longer he stayed, the more Zhao Qiang would gain the upper hand. His companions were all injured, and only he could hold off Zhao Qiang's counterattack. If they didn't retreat, more people would die. So he chose to retreat without hesitation. Zhao Qiang wanted to chase after the others, but the burly man interfered, and he returned empty-handed. Even the burly man disappeared in the crisscrossing pipes. Zhao Qiang was concerned about the battle at another scene, so he gave up the pursuit.
Returning to the sixth floor of the shopping mall, Zhao Qiang observed from a distance. Since he and Su Xiaosu had left, the battle there had long ended. It seemed that Wu Cheng had been shot in the thigh, and he wondered if an enemy had stormed into the clothing store after Zhao Qiang left. Xiao Ping, however, was unharmed, though her face showed immense terror. Who knew if she would suffer any lasting effects? Zhao Qiang didn't want to get involved in that; he was going to find the invisible man and get Su Xiaosu back.
Zhao Qiang followed the direction the invisible man had disappeared in and found him on a rooftop. Zhao Qiang deactivated the anti-gravity device and landed on the floor. Su Xiaosu, huddled in a corner trembling with her arms crossed, stood up in surprise upon seeing Zhao Qiang: "Zhao Qiang!"
Zhao Qiang hugged Su Xiaosu: "Are you alright?"
With tears streaming down her face, Su Xiaosu said, "It's nothing, I'm just a little scared without you around."
Zhao Qiang patted Su Xiaosu on the back: "Okay, don't cry."
The invisible man, who had been observing coldly, finally spoke up: "So, the big star and you have this secret affair."
Zhao Qiang said, "Your wording is very inaccurate. What do you mean by 'illicit affair'? This is just selfless care between friends."
The invisible man said, "Come on, I've already investigated your womanizing ways perfectly well."
Zhao Qiang fell silent because he knew he was in the wrong. Take Su Xiaosu, for example; he had never intended to develop a purely platonic friendship. He wasn't a saint, but he was attracting too many girls right now, and Zhao Qiang himself was confused. He had no idea who to choose or who to give up. He just drifted through each day in a daze.
Su Xiaosu suddenly whispered in Zhao Qiang's ear, "She's a woman..."
Zhao Qiang's expression froze for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure. In fact, he had suspected the gender of this invisible person before because he could smell that her scent was different from that of a man. In addition, her figure was curvaceous. Although her breasts were not obvious, they might have been bound by strips of cloth or something. Yang Shiqi had done the same thing before.
Su Xiaosu is a woman, and the invisible person carried her a certain distance. With a woman's sensitive intuition, the close contact led Su Xiaosu to conclude that the invisible person was a woman.
However, Zhao Qiang felt relieved. Even if the invisible person was a woman, he still wouldn't know her identity. Zhao Qiang straightened his expression: "Thank you so much just now. If you hadn't saved Xiao Su, she would have been in danger."
The invisible man said calmly, "It's nothing. I'm just the kind of person who likes to help those in need."
She even started panting when he called her fat. Zhao Qiang said, "Then I'd like to ask you, who were those people who attacked us just now?"
The invisible man countered Zhao Qiang's question with, "What do you think?"
Zhao Qiang shook his head: "I don't know."
The invisible man said, "I don't know either."
Zhao Qiang was speechless for a long time before finally saying, "The other party is very strong. Such a person should be quite famous."
The invisible man said, "Strength doesn't equate to fame. Besides, you came back safely, which means they still haven't beaten you."
That's true. Although the battle was dangerous, Zhao Qiang still won. Two of his opponents were killed and two were injured. The burly man successfully retreated thanks to his indestructible Iron Shirt Kung Fu. Zhao Qiang was somewhat depressed despite his victory.
The invisible woman said, "I'll come find you tonight," and then leaped off the building. A metal wire was thrown towards a nearby building, and she flew away, pulling on the 'spider web'.
As dusk fell, Zhao Qiang sat in Yang Shiqi's military vehicle on their way to see her grandfather. Neither of them spoke. Everyone knew about the danger they had encountered that afternoon. Hu Qian and Yang Shiqi had listed all the powerful martial arts masters in Beijing for Zhao Qiang, but after some analysis, none of them were the people Zhao Qiang was looking for. Zhao Qiang even drew pictures of the five men, but Yang Shiqi and Hu Qian shook their heads after seeing them; these five masters were not people they knew.
The atmosphere was a bit tense. Yang Shiqi spoke up, "Don't overthink it. Anyway, those people are no match for you."
Zhao Qiang said, "If they join forces again and command properly, I'm sure we can't beat them."
Yang Shiqi said, "Didn't I already let you kill two? And two more were injured. If people like this were everywhere, our country would have been strong long ago, so your worries are unfounded."
Zhao Qiang said, "Any one of them could deal with your people, and everyone's situation is somewhat dangerous."
Yang Shiqi said, "We have more people and better access to information. If they really dare to attack our residence, you should be able to get back in time."
Zhao Qiang said, "I hope so."
The car drove into a secluded residence. There were almost no other houses in sight, and the view was very open. There were soldiers on guard at the entrance. It seemed that this was a public residence of a national leader. The car had already been checked twice before entering the place. Ordinary people could not get in.
Yang Shiqi said, "My grandfather is actually very easy to talk to, but you have to go along with what he says. Otherwise, once he gets stubborn, nothing can stop him. I'm begging you this once, please don't take it to heart. I know our Yang family has wronged you, and I'm willing to bear all the blame. I just beg you not to take your anger out on my grandfather."
Yang Shiqi was pleading for her grandfather. After all, Old Yang had offended Zhao Qiang before. If Old Yang made any unreasonable demands when they met and Zhao Qiang refused, the two sides would have another big fight, and things would be over.
Zhao Qiang said, "Alright, I promise you." Even if he didn't care about Yang Shiqi's request, how could Zhao Qiang refuse?
Upon entering the study, Yang Shiqi stood obediently to one side. An elderly man was flipping through documents in front of the desk. He glanced up slightly but said nothing. Yang Shiqi didn't take the initiative to disturb him and stood quietly. Zhao Qiang stood behind her, and the two of them just waited like that. It's true that leaders with high positions have airs, which is what is called official authority.
After a long while, when it was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, Old Master Yang finally looked up and said to Yang Shiqi, "You can go out now." Yang Shiqi said "Oh," turned around and left the study, not forgetting to give Zhao Qiang a meaningful look before leaving.
"We've finally met." These were Old Master Yang's first words. To be honest, if it weren't for the sudden attack, Zhao Qiang really wouldn't have wanted to meet this old man. First of all, the man was too arrogant, and secondly, Zhao Qiang disliked dealing with officials, especially high-ranking ones. Why put on airs? Just come in and talk; why give him a hard time before he'll open his mouth?
Zhao Qiang nodded but didn't speak. It wasn't that he was putting on airs, but rather that he didn't know what to say to the old man, so he simply listened. Too much talk leads to mistakes; sometimes silence is the best form of protest.
Volume 2 [596] Not Giving Face
Old Master Yang put down the documents in his hand, placed his hands together on the desk, seemed to sigh, and then said, "Are you still angry with me?"
Zhao Qiang honestly replied, "I wouldn't dare."
Grandpa Yang said, "Don't play these tricks on me. You tricked my granddaughter away, and I haven't settled the score with you for that yet."
Zhao Qiang said, "You can't control the freedom of young people, and I can't control it either. Shiqi is acting entirely voluntarily, so how can you say she's 'deceiving' her?"
Old Master Yang said, "Oh dear, you're trying to argue with me now."
Zhao Qiang said, "At worst, you can order another encirclement and annihilation."
Grandpa Yang remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "Young people aren't very broad-minded."
This time, Zhao Qiang was speechless. He was afraid that if he continued talking, he would anger the old man. He was such an old man, yet he was so petty.
Grandpa Yang's voice softened a bit: "Alright, let's not start arguing on our first meeting. I already know what happened this afternoon."
Zhao Qiang said, "Besides what just happened, there was the time the Wang family caused trouble, and they actually dared to shoot at your Yang family. Don't you have any thoughts on that?"
Old Master Yang countered with, "What are your thoughts?"
Zhao Qiang said, "I don't know. You officials are unpredictable. Even if I did guess, you wouldn't admit it."
Grandpa Yang chuckled: "You seem to have a lot of hatred for officials."
Zhao Qiang asked, "Old man, do you think there are still many good officials left?"
Old Master Yang seemed to ponder deeply for a moment before saying, "Yes, it's hard to find an official who isn't corrupt these days, but I don't intend to discuss that today. Who do you think might have done what happened this afternoon?"
Zhao Qiang said, "I was also going to ask you, sir. Those people are very strong and they cooperate closely with each other. If they recover their original strength and attack again, I'm afraid no one will be able to stop them."
Old Master Yang was somewhat surprised: "Including you?"
Zhao Qiang said, "I might be able to beat them in a one-on-one fight, but if they cooperate closely, the outcome is hard to predict."
Old Master Yang rubbed his forehead, indicating that he was deep in thought. Zhao Qiang then said, "My opinion is to find them and eliminate them while they are injured. I don't believe that such powerful figures would be completely unaware of entering the capital."
Grandpa Yang looked up and said, "Actually, I have already investigated. None of the people with special abilities registered in the country could have made a move, and their strength is not enough to contend with you. If there are no people with special abilities in the country that have not yet been discovered by the state, then I can only say that the person who attacked you this afternoon was not from the country."
Zhao Qiang was somewhat surprised: "They're not from China? But they look no different from us, and they even speak Chinese."
Grandpa Yang said, "Do you think it would be difficult for someone with special abilities to learn Chinese in Ronghe? Besides, there has always been the saying that there are traitors among the Chinese people, and it is not surprising that Chinese people oppose China."
That made sense, and Zhao Qiang felt relieved. If the attackers weren't from China, the matter would involve a wider range of people, making it much harder to find them. Old Master Yang said, "However, foreign experts wouldn't attack you without reason. It would be understandable if your products threatened their economy, but to go to such lengths to attack our capital is clearly not their style. Wouldn't it have been more advantageous and successful to act in Donghai City? There's another question: who leaked your identity? You know, ordinary people don't know what's behind you."
Zhao Qiang nodded; he thought so too. Those who knew his secret were no ordinary people, and whoever leaked it was a major issue. Furthermore, the other side chose to act in Beijing. Beijing's police and armed police react quickly; if they hadn't arrived in time, Wu Cheng and Xiao Ping would have been killed by the gunman that afternoon. Moreover, national leaders are always surrounded by highly skilled individuals, and there are many plainclothes officers hidden among the citizens. Unless assassinating him was an extremely urgent matter, they had no reason to act in Beijing.
Old Master Yang said, "I thought that assassinating you was just a spur-of-the-moment decision. It just so happened that we encountered some experts in Beijing. They thought that dealing with you would be a trivial matter, but they did not expect that you would be able to break their joint attack."
Zhao Qiang's super biochip could naturally deduce this, but that wasn't the point for him. He just wanted to find that group of people; he couldn't rest easy until he eliminated them.
Grandpa Yang continued, "Young Zhao, I have high hopes for you and hope you can shoulder the great responsibility of the nation and the people..."
Zhao Qiang interrupted Old Master Yang: "Don't give me that nonsense. I just want to know who they are and where they are hiding now."
Old Master Yang answered very simply: "I don't know either. Although I hold a high position, sometimes my eyesight is not as good as that of ordinary people on the street."
Zhao Qiang fell silent. After exchanging a few words of small talk, Old Master Yang could tell that Zhao Qiang was distracted. Zhao Qiang was probably the first person to dare to act like this in front of him. Old Master Yang was extremely displeased, but he really couldn't do anything about Zhao Qiang. He couldn't beat him, and he couldn't subdue him. So, with a wave of his hand, Old Master Yang dismissed Zhao Qiang.
Leaving the study, Yang Shiqi excitedly asked, "How did it go? Did my grandfather mention us?"
Zhao Qiang shook his head: "No."
Yang Shiqi then asked, "Have you made any progress on that group of people with special abilities?"
Zhao Qiang shook his head again: "No, your grandfather said he has less information than the ordinary people on the street."
Yang Shiqi was somewhat indignant: "Does this mean we came all this way for nothing?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Pretty much. Even during the last conflict with Wang Yipeng, your grandfather didn't give any instructions." Actually, Zhao Qiang was being a bit unfair to Lao Yang. First, he knew that the opponent might not be Chinese, and second, the opponent definitely had someone in Beijing to meet them.
Yang Shiqi touched her short hair and said, "My grandpa is always like this, he likes to act mysterious and make others guess. Never mind, I'll ignore him. Since you're here, I'll take you to my room. We'll have dinner with my parents tonight."
Zhao Qiang asked, "Does this count as meeting the mother-in-law?"
Yang Shiqi said, "You should divorce Xu Xiaoya first before you talk about giving me a proper status."
Zhao Qiang touched his nose and remained silent. Yang Shiqi said, "I knew you wouldn't be willing to part with either of them. Let's meet them first and then talk about it."
Zhao Qiang was quite depressed. Are all men so fickle? They seem reluctant to abandon any of them, as if abandoning any one of them would be like taking their own lives.
Yang Shiqi led Zhao Qiang away from the villa, walking along a tree-lined path. They could still see sentries from time to time, but luckily Yang Shiqi was leading the way, otherwise they would have been in serious trouble. After walking for about ten minutes, they arrived at another villa. A girl was bending over watering flowers in front of the door. Watering flowers late at night was a bit of a novelty for Zhao Qiang, but when he got closer, he realized that it was Yang Shiyun.
Yang Shiqi happily went over and hugged Yang Shiyun from behind: "Second sister, why aren't you welcoming the guests?"
Yang Shiyun glanced up at Zhao Qiang, then continued watering her flowers. In her eyes, Zhao Qiang wasn't a guest, and she didn't even bother to greet him. Was Zhao Qiang really that annoying? This made Zhao Qiang very unhappy. He was being disrespectful. Old Yang didn't give him face, and now Little Yang wasn't either.
Yang Shiqi noticed her second sister's displeasure and asked, "Second sister, what's wrong? What did Zhao Qiang do to offend you?"
Yang Shiyun said, "Please don't go around fooling around with him anymore, okay? Your parents are very worried about you."
Yang Shiqi said, "Nonsense? What nonsense did he do? That's what Mom and Dad said?"
Yang Shiyun said, "Do you know how many people he has offended now?"
Yang Shiqi said, "I don't know. Zhao Qiang never offends anyone. It's just that others are jealous of him."
Yang Shiyun put down the watering can and said, "Jealous? He shouldn't have been so high-profile."
Yang Shiqi was surprised: "High-profile? I never thought Zhao Qiang was high-profile. He's usually too low-profile."
Yang Shiyun snorted coldly: "Low-key? Yes, he is low-key personally, but what about you girls? There aren't many people in the world who don't know about this now, right? You think a few security guards and soldiers can protect your safety? That's ridiculous. He doesn't even respect the enemy. He hides in the shadows while pushing you into the light. What are his intentions?"
Zhao Qiang was sweating profusely as he listened. It was indeed true, but he had never thought about it like Yang Shiqi had. Was he really wrong?
Yang Shiqi retorted, "Zhao Qiang never wanted to be famous. We were the ones who sought advancement ourselves. It's not that he's cowardly and afraid of trouble that he hides in the background. What am I doing this for? Isn't it for the Yang family? Do I have to be like you? You're so old, still studying. Can't you do anything for our Yang family? We don't need bookworms."
Yang Shiyun was speechless. Being scolded by her younger sister was something she hadn't expected. She kicked the watering can angrily, glared at Zhao Qiang, and went inside. Yang Shiqi followed behind, asking, "Where are Mom and Dad? They didn't even come out to greet the guests? They're really disrespecting me."
Zhao Qiang also felt that the Yang family was disrespecting him. When he went to see Old Yang, it was already late, and he didn't even offer to invite him to dinner. Was this the way to treat guests? Zhao Qiang felt it was necessary to give the Yang family a warning, but how? Should he stop cooperating with the Yang family? That would only harm Yang Shiqi. Damn it, did the Yang family really rely on their daughter to control him so completely?
Yang Shiyun suddenly turned to her sister and said, "I forgot to tell you, Mom and Dad have something to do tonight and won't be home for dinner."
Yang Shiqi stood there dumbfounded, while Zhao Qiang was secretly pleased. This was good; he didn't have to meet Yang Shiqi's parents, saving him the trouble of not knowing how to face them.
Yang Shiqi turned around and took Zhao Qiang's hand: "Come on, let's go out to eat. We're never going home again."