The old man sighed. Even without considering the future of the Wei family, it would still be a blessing for Xiaoqing. It was a pity that Haifeng always treated Zhou Xuan like dirt, failing to recognize a gem. There was nothing more to say. Logically, even if he had cured his own terminal cancer, he would have realized Zhou Xuan was no ordinary person. But Haifeng simply didn't care, always believing that even if Zhou Xuan possessed some extraordinary medical skills, he wasn't a distinguished elite in the military or political arena. How could he be worthy of the Wei family's daughter?
Zhou Xuan was unaware of the old man's many thoughts. At this moment, Li Lei was full of curiosity about him, seemingly wanting to turn the bottle inside out and see it clearly. He thought that since he had explained it to the old man and Li Changzheng, they would probably explain it to Li Lei as well. He wasn't worried about them revealing his secret, and they didn't know his true background. They just guessed that he might have some secret ancient medical skills, which he could use as an excuse.
Feeling genuinely tired, Zhou Xuan said to the enthusiastic Li Lei, "Thank you for your kindness. But I am indeed exhausted and need to go home and rest. Then I need to prepare for Yunnan tomorrow!"
Suddenly remembering something, she turned to Wei Haihong and said, "By the way, Brother Hong, there's something else I need your help with!"
Volume 1, Chapter 146: Military Background
Wei Haihong would never refuse Si Fu's request. Besides, Zhou Fu would never ask for something excessive.
"Tell me, and I'll get right on it," Wei Haihong said with a smile.
"I'm going to the Yunnan border tomorrow to buy a batch of jadeite rough. As you know, my antique shop has been practically empty since it opened. I'm planning to buy some rough stones and hire craftsmen to cut and process them myself. The prospects for jadeite are still very good. I was thinking of asking you to help me get a passport or something, just in case I might need to go to Myanmar."
It's easy for Zhou Xuan to ask Wei Haihong for help with this drug; it's a simple matter and not excessive at all. It's much better than having to ask someone else for help on his own. It only takes Brother Hong one phone call.
Wei Haihong was about to say he'd get it done right away when Li Lei grabbed Zhou Xuan and dragged him outside, saying, "Little Zhou, you're asking Lao San for this? Don't worry about anything else. How many people do you want to be included? Just give me their names. And hehe, if you're going to Yunnan, come with me. It'll save you trouble!"
Wei Haihong was stunned. He hadn't expected Li Lei to make such a move. It was quite different from the serious and composed Deputy Commander Li he remembered, who was just like his older brother.
The old man chuckled and waved his hand, saying, "Let him be. Lei Zi has good judgment, haha. Changzheng, it's rare for us old brothers to get together now that we're old. Today, you stay here with Lao San, and let's have a good chat and get together!"
Li Changzheng nodded in agreement. In fact, he also had many things and questions he wanted to ask the old man. He could keep them to himself, but he could have a thorough conversation with the old man.
Li Lei arrived with a guard in a car, while the old man's guard stayed with Wei Haihong.
Zhou Xuan followed them out. As soon as the guards by the car saw Li Lei and Zhou Xuan come out, they quickly opened the car door, waited for them to get in, closed the door, and then moved to the other side to get in.
The car wasn't particularly luxurious; it was a Cherokee. Before getting in, Zhou Xuan did notice the license plate. It was a military plate, and ever since that incident, ** had been flaunting the power of his license plate, so Zhou Xuan had become somewhat aware of license plates.
After getting into the car, Li Lei smiled and said, "Little brother, how about we have a meal first before going anywhere, or..."
"General Li, thank you for your kindness. I won't go anywhere else. I'll go home and pack my bags. I'm heading to Yunnan tomorrow. My shop is about to open, and I need to hurry up and get some goods back."
Zhou Xuan politely declined Li Lei's invitation. After all, he didn't know Li Lei well, and he wasn't familiar with his character. Besides, Li Lei was over fifty years old, much older than him, and a high-ranking general, while he was just a novice. They didn't have any good topics to discuss. After speaking, he added, "General Li, Old Master Li's health isn't very good. I've only alleviated some of his pain. The real difficulties are still there. You should stay with him. If you really want to thank me, just take me home."
When Zhou Xuan addressed Li Lei, he didn't know how to address him. After hesitating for a moment, he simply called him General Li. Given his rank and age, calling him uncle or anything like that felt inappropriate and he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Li Lei hesitated for a moment. To be honest, although he wanted to get Zhou Xuan involved to build a better relationship, which would be more convenient in the future, Zhou Xuan declined. Secondly, he was genuinely worried about his father. His father had only just recovered somewhat, but he wasn't entirely sure of the situation. On the surface, he saw his father was perfectly fine, able to walk and talk, but he had no idea what the real state was. Since Zhou Xuan had brought it up, Li Lei, after a moment's hesitation, went along with it.
He reached out and patted Zhou Xuan on the shoulder, smiling broadly as he said, "Little brother, alright. I'll go along with your wishes today. We'll have a proper get-together when Grandpa's feeling better. Also, from now on, we're brothers, so you can call me Big Brother. I'm the eldest in the family, so don't make it sound awkward to call me General Li!"
Zhou Xuan readily agreed, saying, "Alright, I'll call you Brother Li from now on!"
"Hehe, that's more like it!" Li Lei patted him on the shoulder and asked, "How many exit passports do you want to apply for?"
"Zhou Xuan said briefly, 'Two, one for me, and one for my friend, Lao Junjie, who is also from the same hometown.'"
There's a reason why Zhou Xuan only calls Zhao Lao Er (Old Two Zhao). Zhao Lao Er just came from home and isn't familiar with anything else, especially antiques and jade. But he's absolutely trustworthy, making him the best helper. Zhou Xuan can trust him without worrying about revealing his secrets. It's also easy to fool people in front of Zhao Lao Er. That's why he doesn't call him ** (Zhao Lao Er's nickname). ** knows a bit about antiques, and the antique shop can't function without him. It's best to have him there to support the business. That's why Zhou Xuan entrusted him with the complete management.
His younger brother, Zhou Tao, was even less inclined to send him. The most important thing was for him to learn more skills from Lao Wu. This would be good for his future development, since he didn't have Zhou Tao's ice-based superpower. A stable life wasn't easy to come by; the big city was far superior to the countryside. And then there was Li Li's situation. Zhou Xuan had never seen his younger brother like a girl before. This was his first time experiencing this, and as the older brother, who else could help him if not him? First love is the most vulnerable time, and Zhou Xuan had to look after him.
Li Lei instructed Mu Baichi to drive the car to the villa of Hongcheng Garden as Zhou Fu had instructed. He didn't even need to see the car; he just told Zhou Xuan to give him and Zhao Junjie's ID cards.
Zhao Lao Er was still confused when Zhou Xuan took his ID card and gave it to the person in the car outside the villa. The car then started and drove away. After a moment of stunned silence, Zhao Lao Er asked, "Why did you give your ID card to someone else? What were you doing?"
Zhou Xuan naturally wouldn't explain Li Lei's identity to him; if he did, Zhao Lao Er would probably be dumbfounded again. He smiled and said, "Lao Er, come inside."
As we walked, he said, "I'm planning to go to Yunnan tomorrow to buy some raw jade. You'll come with me. I just gave my ID card to a friend to help him get a passport. If we need to go to Myanmar, we'll need to get our passports before we can cross the border."
Zhao Junjie was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses and exclaimed with delight, "Little brother, what did you say? To Yunnan? And even abroad to Myanmar?" Zhou Xuan nodded with a smile. It was good to take Zhao Lao Er on this trip. Once he was familiar with the area, he could have him do the work when he was busy. He could also give him some shares in the stone-cutting factory, which would significantly increase his annual income. It would be more motivating to work on it as if it were his own business.
Of course, there's no news about it yet, so there's no need to mention it to him.
Zhao Junjie was both happy and annoyed. He was happy because he had something to do right away, and it was a great job, like a business trip or vacation. Although he didn't know if there would be any income or how much it would be, judging from Zhang Laoda's attitude, he was sure that his younger brother wouldn't mistreat him, just like at home. Zhou Xuan was still confident enough to entrust him with the affairs at home.
Zhou Xuan didn't go out in the afternoon either. Fu Ying, her mother Jin Xiumei, and Aunt Liu bought a lot of vegetables and came back.
Watching Fu Ying bustling around with her mother, Zhou Xuan suddenly felt a warm feeling in his heart. This must be family affection. Seeing these scenes, Zhou Xuan felt that what he was doing was worthwhile and what he should do. Things were different now than before. Now he had a large family and friends who needed his efforts and support.
Zhou Xuan thought of his younger brother Zhou Tao and Li Li, and couldn't help but smile. He wasn't in a hurry to tell his mother about this, lest she get anxious and might even go to see the young lady, which could easily cause trouble.
We need to calm things down and let Zhou Tao and Li Li have some time to see if they are meant to be. If they are, great; if not, we can't force it. Zhou Xuan is worried that his younger brother will get hurt, but he sees that Li Li isn't as vain as other girls, and he likes her quite a bit.
After dinner, Li Lei's guards returned his passport and ID card, along with two plane tickets. One ticket was for Baoshan City in Yunnan Province, while the other was for Tengchong County, which borders Myanmar.
Tengchong is a county under Baoshan, and it's one of the two largest border areas for jade trading between Yunnan and Myanmar. Zhou Xuan didn't specify where he was going, but he mentioned he was going to buy a batch of raw jade. Li Lei, of course, understood. As the deputy commander of the Southwest Military Region, he was very familiar with border affairs. Even though Zhou Xuan hadn't said, he immediately knew where Zhou Xuan was going and sent him the plane ticket directly.
Zhao Junjie stood there dumbfounded, holding his passport and plane ticket. He'd never flown before, much less traveled abroad. This sudden arrival was quite unsettling. Anyone could adapt gradually, but to be suddenly in the air, living in a grand villa, riding in luxury cars, and flying everywhere with his passport and plane—it was far more extravagant than any dream he'd ever imagined. It was all so unexpected!
Fu Ying frowned and asked, "Why are we going to Yunnan again? If you're going, book me a plane ticket. I want to go with you."
"Look, you're being willful again!" Zhou Xuan reached out and pinched Fu Ying's delicate face, then smiled and said, "I'm going to Yunnan to buy a batch of raw jadeite. I plan to open my own jadeite cutting factory in Beijing, supply my own jadeite, and then hire a few experienced craftsmen to do the work myself. This way, I can gradually expand the shop. We're a big family, and I have to work hard to make money. I can't let you suffer!"
Upon hearing this, Fu Ying's tense expression disappeared. She understood the importance of sourcing goods and knew that doing legitimate business in China was not very dangerous. However, she still did not want to stay here alone.
For Fu Ying, as long as she wasn't with Zhou Xuan, she was alone.
With a humph, Fu Ying said again, "I want to go with you."
Zhou Xuan sighed and said, "Yingying, look, these plane tickets were a gift from a friend. There are only two, one for me and one for Lao Er. You can stay home and prepare for the wedding. I'll ask Brother Hong to come over and help with the wedding preparations as soon as I get back!"
Fu Ying blushed whenever she heard about marriage, so Zhou Xuan quickly pressed on, saying, "I need to get married to you as soon as possible, lest someone else snatch you away!"
I recommend my friend Liu Daoyu's excellent book, *Xing Shi Lu*. Those interested can take a look. (Address omitted). (Nai Jin Wu Lian)
Volume 1, Chapter 147: The New Girl Is Strange