Xu Zhengyang wasn't particularly opposed to this. After all, his family was his own, and the country was a larger family, which also belonged to him. If he didn't protect his family, who else could he protect?
In the warm, spring-like living room, Xu Zhengyang sat on the sofa, flipping through the newspaper and browsing current affairs news.
Wang Yonggan stood beside him, bowing slightly, and quietly reported a small matter.
Xu Zhengyang nodded slightly, smiled and waved his hand, it was nothing to worry about, let them do what they wanted.
"Daddy, Daddy, let's build a snowman, let's build a snowman..."
A childish voice came from the stairs, and Xu Xiaotian, a little guy who was only 75 centimeters tall, ran down the stairs quickly.
The nanny, Xiao Zhou, chased after him, both amused and exasperated. She wasn't worried about the little rascal falling, but his running around like this was likely to annoy Xu Zhengyang, and she knew she'd get another beating. To be honest, everyone in the family, except Xu Zhengyang, adored this mischievous and eccentric little guy.
"What are you doing building a snowman? Stay home and behave yourself!" Xu Zhengyang frowned and scolded angrily.
"Sigh. How boring..." The little guy sighed in a mature tone, a dejected expression on his face.
As he spoke, Xu Xiaotian took off the blue knitted cotton hat he had just put on his head. It had two fluffy white pom-poms embroidered on it, making it look especially cute. However, Xu Xiaotian tossed it onto the sofa and leaned against it helplessly. Wearing a thick blue down jacket, his little hands were clumsy because of the thickness, and he could barely manage to hook them together in front of him. He pinched his little fingers, pouted, and looked extremely aggrieved.
Li Bingjie walked down the stairs with a smile, saying, "Mom will take you outside when the snow stops. It's not good to go out now that it's snowing."
"But why can other people build snowmen outside?" Xu Xiaotian raised his chubby little face indignantly, "They look older than both of you..."
The unspoken implication was, of course, a complaint that her parents lacked passion.
Seeing his son's aggrieved expression, Xu Zhengyang couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. He put down his newspaper, stood up, walked to the coat rack, took off his black trench coat, and said as he put it on, "Put on your hat and gloves. Come on. Dad will take you out to build a snowman..."
"Wow! Long live Daddy!" The little guy jumped excitedly onto the sofa, put his cotton hat on his head, and rolled towards the door like a little cotton ball.
"Slow down!" Xu Zhengyang scolded irritably, but with a kind smile on his face.
Outside, snow was falling heavily.
The road surface was covered with a layer of snow at least ten centimeters thick, which felt soft and crunchy underfoot.
The world was a vast expanse of white, which soothed the mind and spirit.
Every now and then a gentle gust of cold wind would blow by, swirling snowflakes into clumps that pattered against the trees, walls, doors, and windows...
From the front of the house to the gate, Xu Xiaotian's clear little footprints were left. The little guy had already run to the gate, pulled open the wrought iron fence, and run onto the wide road outside the community. When he was in his room on the second floor, he saw through the window that the young couple in the apartment across the street were happily building a beautiful snowman on the road, which is why he was so eager to play and wanted to come out.
Xu Zhengyang thought that building a snowman in the yard would be just as good, right?
Seeing the child run out, Xu Zhengyang couldn't bear to spoil the child's fun, so he smiled and gave Wang Yonggan a few instructions in his mind before walking out.
The nanny, Xiao Zhou, chased after them, carrying a small plastic shovel used by children: "Get the shovel, get the shovel!"
Zhu Jun, who had already gone outside, quickly returned to take the shovel and ran out again.
Xu Xiaotian wasn't in a hurry to build a snowman. Instead, he ran to the two snowmen that the young couple had already built and circled around them with curiosity and excitement. Every now and then, he would carefully touch the snowman's carrot nose, feeling incredibly happy.
The young couple lived in a villa just across from Xu Zhengyang's residence, separated by two villas. They had moved there about two weeks ago. According to the investigation, they were the son and daughter-in-law of the CEO of a foreign-invested company in Beijing, and were currently on their honeymoon. The man's name was Jiji, 31 years old, and the woman's name was Kawai Kazuko, 29 years old.
To outsiders, the couple was a perfect match, with the man being handsome and dashing, and the woman being beautiful and charming.
For security reasons, the special department personnel have thoroughly investigated their identities, including their ancestors for three generations; even when the couple was away, agents from the security bureau conducted a detailed search of their villa.
The possibility of danger or espionage has been largely ruled out.
Chuan Puxiezi seemed to have a special fondness for the neighbor's child. Upon seeing Xu Xiaotian, she dropped the wooden shovel in her hand and happily ran over, teasing Xu Xiaotian in slightly broken Mandarin.
Wang Yonggan and Zhu Jun, one ghost and one human, were about to rush forward when Chuan Pu and his daughter ran towards Xu Xiaotian.
However, Xu Zhengyang indicated that it was alright.
If anyone could harm his son right under Xu Zhengyang's nose, then Xu Zhengyang would not be worthy of being a high-ranking local deity.
That's right, the couple were indeed Japanese agents. Besides monitoring and investigating Xu Zhengyang, their most important task was to get close to him and, ideally, become his friend.
After learning their exact identities, Xu Zhengyang didn't get angry and didn't bother with them.
Actually, it was due to some unavoidable reasons. They couldn't just let the two of them die for no reason in the eyes of the world, could they? Just as Li Ruiyu and those high-ranking figures were worried, if Xu Zhengyang directly used cruel killing to deal with these kinds of people, it would inevitably cause a lot of trouble.
Furthermore, Xu Zhengyang doesn't mind that such people waste manpower, material resources, and financial resources on these futile efforts.
On Xu Zhengyang's turf, to have any improper thoughts about him is simply absurd...
However, their behavior today really displeased Xu Zhengyang.
These professional spies and agents are indeed exceptionally shrewd, capable of devising all sorts of methods. In order to get close to Xu Zhengyang or his family, they actually set their sights on Xu Zhengyang's precious son. Knowing that Xu Zhengyang's son was unusual and naturally mischievous and active, they deliberately went out of the villa on this snowy day to build a snowman on the road outside the yard, hoping to lure Xu Xiaotian out to play.
And it was done so perfectly that no one could say anything about it.
It's perfectly acceptable for young couples to go out and have some fun; in fact, it often makes others envious of their affection and happiness.
Xu Zhengyang admired them quite a bit for this.
However… although they currently harbor no malicious intent to assassinate or harm Xu Zhengyang's family, their actions have already made Xu Zhengyang uneasy. This is because Xu Zhengyang is at home and knows their identities. If they were in his hometown of Fuhe City, or anywhere else, and they appeared, luring the little one or family members out in various ways, wouldn't it be extremely dangerous if Xu Zhengyang wasn't home and they harbored other malicious intentions?
Xu Xiaotian had already taken the toy shovel and started shoveling snow, imitating the couple as they built a snowman.
Kijima and Kazuko Kawakita seemed a little tired, and they looked on with curiosity and joy as they watched the little one build the snowman.
Xu Zhengyang stood to the side, turned his head to signal Zhu Jun not to follow, and then walked towards Jiji Kiji.
The two men's eyes lit up with delight. They had planned to approach Xu Zhengyang a little later and say a few words under the pretext of praising the child, but they didn't expect Xu Zhengyang to come over on his own initiative.
"Hello, is this your child? He's really cute." Kijima Chima was the first to smile and say, taking off his gloves and extending his hand to shake hands with Xu Zhengyang.
Xu Zhengyang did not extend his hand, but a smile remained on his face as he calmly and softly said, "You are Japanese, aren't you?"
“Oh, yes.” Jiji paused for a moment, then nodded and smiled, “I thought my Mandarin was quite standard, but I didn’t expect you to recognize it. Hello, my name is Jiji.”
His hand was still outstretched.
Xu Zhengyang finally extended his hand and shook hands with him symbolically, saying, "My name is Xu Zhengyang, as you all know."
"Um?"
The two looked surprised for a moment, then Kawakita smiled and said, "Sir, may I visit your home often in the future? I really like your child; he's so adorable..."
"No." Xu Zhengyang shook his head and said directly.
"Why?" Kawaiko asked, somewhat surprised.
Jiji turned to his wife, signaling her to stop talking, and then bowed slightly politely, saying, "I'm sorry, my wife loves children too much. If this has caused you any displeasure, I hope you can forgive her."
Xu Zhengyang glanced at the two casually, then suddenly smiled with a hint of amusement: "Actually, in our country, we've given a common nickname to a segment of your people. Do you know what it is?"
“Sir, I must say, you are being very impolite.” Kawakami Kazuko showed her displeasure, just like any ordinary person would in this situation.
Chima Kiji feigned curiosity and asked, "Hmm? What is it?"
"Oh, that nickname is, 'Little Devil'." Xu Zhengyang didn't care about the couple's pretentious words at all and said to himself.
"you……"
Chuan Puxiezi glared at Xu Zhengyang with a displeased expression.
Jiji was puzzled, secretly wondering if his identity had already been discovered, or if Xu Zhengyang's personality was simply like that. After all, according to the information he had, Xu Zhengyang had no formal education, had not received higher education, and was often rude and socially inept.
So, still clinging to a sliver of hope, Chiji laughed nonchalantly, "That was in the past. After all, our two countries have a history of war and hatred. But we are now friendly nations, and I hope there will never be another war between us. I have many friends here..."
"You two are hiding something too!" Xu Zhengyang continued talking to himself, completely ignoring what the other person was saying.
"Oh? What do you mean by that, Mr. Xu?"
Xu Zhengyang looked at the two calmly and asked, "Do you know what I do?"
The two looked puzzled.
"I specialize in dealing with ghosts, tearing out their tendons and skins, ripping out their hearts and shattering their bones..."
"Oh, is it the legendary Maoshan Taoist magic?" Chuanpu Xiezi was quick-witted and curious, like a very curious girl. In the blink of an eye, she put aside her previous dissatisfaction and asked with curiosity.
Xu Zhengyang laughed heartily and nodded to indicate that he did not deny it, but his face darkened and he said contemptuously, "Also, I also despise you little devils... and I also enjoy inflicting some cruel punishments on you."
"you……"
The two were stunned.
“If you two didn’t have ulterior motives, if you didn’t deliberately exploit my son’s childlike innocence to lure him out today… I wouldn’t mind if you continued to stay, or even give you many opportunities to be my friends, even if it’s just superficial friendship, because I have a hobby of toying with kids.” Xu Zhengyang narrowed his eyes and said coldly, “Go back to your country and die, and by the way tell your leader that your deaths are worth it, as I’m making an example of you to warn others.”
After saying that, Xu Zhengyang ignored the two of them, turned around and walked to his son's side, squatted down and smiled as he scooped up snow with both hands to help his son build a snowman.
Xu Xiaotian stuck the toy shovel into the snowdrift, stood there with his head tilted, somewhat dazed, pondering the conversation between the adults just now.
Kijima and Kawaiko stood blankly in the snow, still not having recovered their senses. They didn't understand what went wrong and how someone had discovered it.
Pfft!
Two clumps of snow hit their faces, stinging so badly that they even drew blood from their mouths and noses.
Clad in thick clothes and looking like a ball, Xu Xiaotian clapped his hands, glared, and said angrily in a childish voice, "Didn't you hear what my dad said? Get out of here! You damn little Japanese devils..."
Xu Zhengyang was both amused and exasperated, secretly blaming himself:
I didn't do it on purpose, how did I end up raising such a hothead? Isn't this a bit too much to condemn everyone? Every country has good people and bad people...
This situation immediately heightened Zhu Jun's vigilance. He quickly stepped forward and stood between the two sides, coldly watching Jiji and Kawai Kazuko.
At the same time, Qingling, who was already standing at the courtyard gate, slowly walked over.
"It is a disgrace to be neighbors with you!" Chuanpu Xiezi said bitterly, then turned and walked into the courtyard where she lived.
Jiji was also helpless. At this point, it was impossible to achieve any further progress. He could only express his dissatisfaction like a normal person who had been humiliated: "Mr. Xu, we can understand the child's behavior, but your behavior not only hurt us, but also damaged the honor of your country..."
"Oh." Xu Zhengyang turned around and smiled, "Go ahead and call the police."
"you……"
Jiji said nothing more and turned to leave.
Unexpectedly, Xu Xiaotian suddenly jumped up. After running a few steps, his round body suddenly sprang up and landed on Jiji's neck. He swung his little fist at Jiji's head, cursing, "You damn little devil, I'll beat you to death!"
Xu Zhengyang was taken aback.
Jiji instinctively raised his hand, grabbed Xu Xiaotian, and threw him away.
It's important to understand that Chima Kiji is no ordinary person; as a spy, he also underwent rigorous combat training. How old is Xu Xiaotian? Even if he's incredibly powerful, he has no chance against Chima Kiji.
However, he was careless in the end, and he quickly withdrew some of his strength after making the move, for fear of hurting the child.
Therefore, he was destined for tragedy.
As the series of actions was completed in an instant, a flash of surprise still lingered in my mind: Oh no, I can't hurt this child, how can he jump so high? How did he jump onto me... and so on.
Crack! A crisp sound.