Fu Ying spat, then said with a smile, "This Li Li, I think she's quite good, sensible and smart. I'll tell Mom when we get back."
Zhou Tai was startled and quickly said, "Yingying, you can't say that. You know my mom's temper. If you tell her, she might go to the store and scare the young girl. Besides, Li Li doesn't even know about this. Well, we'll have to see how Zhou Tao fares. If you tell her now, it might ruin things!"
"You know, right!" Fu Tai said with a grin, "I was just trying to scare you!"
Zhou Xuan grabbed Fu Ying's hand and kissed it hard. He laughed and said, "Yingying, I'm so happy!"
Fu Ying's hand trembled, one hand gripping the steering wheel, and the car veered off course on the road, almost crashing into the roadside railing. Both of them were startled.
"Are you trying to kill me!" Fu Ying quickly withdrew her hand, drove the car steadily, and then glared at Zhou Xuan. However, the tenderness in her glare was much greater than the ferocity, and it had no intimidating power whatsoever.
The two drove back to their villa in Hongcheng Garden, laughing and joking all the way. But when they arrived at the villa's entrance, they saw a military jeep parked there, with two young men in plainclothes standing beside it. One looked to be about twenty-four or twenty-five, the other about twenty-seven or twenty-eight; both appeared quite burly. Standing beside the jeep, they looked like straight tree stumps.
Look at this. Zhou Xuan felt he saw the appearance of Achang and Ade. Without a doubt, these two were soldiers.
Sure enough, as soon as Fu Ying stopped the car and got out, the two men walked straight towards Zhou Xuan, gave him a standard military salute, and said, "Sir, hello, I am Zheng Bing, the company commander of the 7th Special Forces Company of the 79th Division of the Southwest Military Region, who has been ordered to protect you. Please give your instructions!"
Zhou Xuan was stunned for a moment. He asked, "Company Commander Zheng?"
Zheng Bing bowed again and said in a deep voice, "Yes, sir, please give your instructions!"
Startled, the younger man snapped to attention and saluted, saying, "Jiang Jin, squad leader of the 27th squad, 7th company, Special Forces, 79th Division, Southwest Military Region. Please give your instructions, sir!"
Fu Ying was also baffled. She could tell at a glance from the dryness of their hands and their movements that these two were definitely skilled martial artists. She had seen Wei Haihong and his group before. People with such skills included Achang, Ade, and several Red Army soldiers, as well as the old man's guards.
"Are you sure you're not mistaken? I'm not some kind of leader!" Zhou Xuan said, frowning.
Company Commander Zheng then took out a photo from his pocket, facing it towards Zhou Xuan, and said, "Commander, I'm absolutely sure I'm not mistaken. May I ask if your surname is Zhou and your given name is Xuan?"
Zhou Xuan nodded in surprise, "Yes, I am Zhou Xuan!" He then looked at the photo in Zheng Bing's hand; it was clearly his own picture and person. It was indeed him. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly realized, "Oh, I know, were you sent by Li Lei?"
"Li Lei?" Zheng Bing paused, then asked, "Sir, are you referring to our military region's Deputy Commander Li?"
"Didn't he send you?" Zhou Xuan asked Zheng Bing, noticing his surprised expression, which seemed genuine. He was also a little puzzled.
Zheng Bing shook his head and said, "Deputy Commander Li, that's not someone we can just meet casually. We were ordered by the division headquarters to rush to Beijing last night. Our mission is to protect you!"
Zhou Xuan looked at Fu Ying awkwardly. Fu Ying, on the other hand, was really angry. She pulled Zhou Xuan aside and whispered harshly, "Have you gotten together with that Deputy Commander Li's daughter again? She looks just like Xiao Qing!"
Zhou Xuan, both amused and annoyed, said, "What nonsense are you talking about? I only met that Deputy Commander Li yesterday. How would I know if he has a daughter? Even if he does, it's none of my business." He finally managed to bring up the matter of treating Old Li yesterday.
Fu Ying knew that Zhou Xuan had some special abilities. In the sinkhole in America, she was injured and Zhou Xuan inexplicably healed her. Although she never asked Zhou Xuan about it, she understood that he possessed some peculiar abilities. (Because it was someone she loved, she didn't bother to ask him.)
When Zhou Xuan said that, Fu Ying understood. This was another thing that someone as grateful as the old man had done. But it was good. Although there was no danger for Zhou Xuan going to Yunnan, with soldiers from the military region there protecting him, he was even more secure. This made her feel more at ease.
It seems the matter was indeed settled; the soldiers didn't choose the wrong people.
Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then stepped forward and said to Zheng Bing, "Company Commander Zheng, I'm sorry, but I think you should go back and tell your superiors that I'm very grateful. However, I'm just going to Yunnan to buy raw materials for ordinary business, so there's no need for you to trouble yourselves!" Zheng Bing remained standing there. He said in a deep voice, "Commander, are you traveling with two others? We've already contacted another commander, and the luggage is all in the car. Please get in the car, it only takes forty-eight minutes to get to the airport."
Zhou Xuan, somewhat helplessly, shrugged and said, "Company Commander Zheng, thank you so much. Please go back now, we can go by ourselves!"
Zheng Bing replied without hesitation, "I'm sorry, sir, our mission is to protect you until you get everything done in Yunnan and safely return you to Beijing. Please get in the car!"
Zhou Xuan turned his head speechlessly to look at the villa's main entrance, where Zhao Junjie stood excitedly. Clearly, Zheng Bing and the others had contacted Zhao Lao Er beforehand; this guy never refused a task that offered prestige.
While Zhou Xuan was still hesitating, Fu Ying readily said, "Zhou Xuan, I think it's a good idea. They're on a mission, and a soldier's duty is to obey orders. If you tell them to go back, wouldn't that be asking them to disobey military orders?"
Fu Ying stared at Zhou Xuan and added, "Military orders are absolute!"
Fu Ying was secretly delighted. With two highly skilled special forces soldiers protecting Zhou Xuan, the journey, which was already not dangerous, would be even less so, which would put her at ease.
Seeing the defiant expressions on Zheng Bing and Jiang Jin's faces, as if they wouldn't turn back even with a knife to their throats, Zhou Xuan sighed. He waved his hand helplessly and said, "Six, alright, one, two. Come on, get in the car and let's go!"
He thought to himself, "That Li Lei, when he didn't believe me, he treated me like a liar, but now that he does, he's overly kind to me. It's really absurd that he went to all this way to have two special forces soldiers transferred from the Southwest Military Region to protect me while I went to do business."
Fu Ying offered to drive him home. Zhou Xuan stopped her, took Fu Ying's hand gently, and said, "Yingying, stay home and keep your mother company. I'll be back as soon as I'm done with my business, and then we'll get the wedding done!"
Fu Ying blushed. She lowered her head and softly hummed in agreement.
Zhou Xuan glanced around, then suddenly leaned down and kissed Fu Ying on the cheek before turning around and getting into the jeep with a grin.
Fu Ying exclaimed "Oh dear!" and covered her face, about to get angry. But then she saw Zhou Xuan already in the car, and Jiang Jin was driving slowly up the riverside path.
She stood there, lost in thought for a long while. A sudden, dull ache gripped Fu Ying's heart. She knew Zhou Xuan would be back in a few days after finishing his business in Yunnan, but the pain of being apart from him was unbearable. It felt like a knife was cutting into her heart. She clutched her chest, not crying, but tears streamed down her face.
Jiang Jin drove the car to the front of the international airport terminal, where two other soldiers in uniform were already waiting. Jiang Jin handed the car back to them and said goodbye before entering the airport terminal.
Zhou Xuan and Zhao Lao Er didn't bring any luggage at all, just two small suitcases, so they didn't need to worry about anything. Jiang Jin just said it and carried it, so they didn't need to do any physical labor.
After waiting in the airport waiting hall for about forty minutes, it was time to check in. Jiang Jin and Zheng Bing were both calm and didn't say a word. Zhou Xuan was also fine. Only Zhao Lao Er, who was flying for the first time, was obviously very excited and seemed particularly nervous until he boarded the plane and calmed down a bit.
Ji Lei gave us first-class tickets. The seats were much more luxurious and spacious than economy class, and they were even reclining.
Generally speaking, non-provincial cities don't have large aircraft if their airports aren't large enough. However, Baoshan City, located on the border with Myanmar, has the largest jadeite rough stone wholesale market in China in its subordinate Tengchong County. Jewelers from major cities across the country flock here, making it the most important economic pillar of Baoshan and Tengchong.
Baoshan, located in the Hengduan Mountains, does not have very convenient transportation. The main modes of transport are air and road. Baoshan Airport was initially built in 1940 as a military airport. It is the main take-off and landing airport for the famous "Hump" air route. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) Baoshan Station was officially established, the first prefecture-level local civil aviation station established by the CAAC nationwide. It was later expanded in 1948 and completed in 1959.
On the plane, a gentle flight attendant served drinks to Zhou Xuan and Zhao Junjie. After the flight attendant left, Zhao Lao Er leaned over and whispered to Zhou Xuan, "Little brother, everyone says flight attendants are the most beautiful of all the flight attendants, so why are these ones old and not pretty?"
Zhou Xuan almost spat his drink onto Zhao Lao Er's face, barely managing to hold it in. He grumbled, "Who told you that flight attendants have to be young and beautiful? Besides, where are these flight attendants old or ugly?"
"It's not pretty!" Zhao Junjie shook his head and sighed, "It's not pretty at all! It's not as pretty as your Fu Ying or even a single finger of Miss Xiaoqing!"
Zhou Xuan simply put his drink aside. This idiot. Doesn't he realize that girls like Yingying and Xiaoqing are so beautiful and have such great figures? But this guy still can't forget Xiaoqing. He sighed and didn't say anything more.
We arrived in Baoshan at 3:40.
Two soldiers in camouflage uniforms came to pick up Zheng Bing and Jiang Jin in the airport terminal. They greeted them with smiles and said, "Company Commander, Squad Leader, the car is outside!"