Zhou Xuan walked to the front of the villa, which was brightly lit. He peered through the door and saw that Li Wei and Zhou Ying were in the living room, arguing with Zhou Tao. Zhou Ying and Li Li were laughing, while Aunt Liu was watching TV.
After not seeing her for several months, Li Li's belly swelled up, and Zhou Xuan was immediately overjoyed. It seemed he was going to be an uncle. Li Li was carrying a boy, and it looked like she was more than three months pregnant.
Reaching the villa's front gate, he paused for a moment before knocking. Li Li answered, asking as she walked in, "Who is it?"
She assumed it was a security guard from the residential complex, as only a security guard would knock on the door at this time.
The door opened, and Li Li was stunned to see Zhou Xuan standing there in the doorway light. It took her a while to realize what was happening. She opened her mouth to call out, but Zhou Xuan immediately put his finger to his lips and shushed her, stopping her from speaking.
Li Li couldn't hide her joy. After a moment of stunned silence, she quickly opened the door to let Zhou Xuan in, and then quietly asked, "Brother, what brings you here? Where's sister-in-law? Where are Sisi and Sizhou?"
After being bombarded with a series of questions, Zhou Xuan didn't answer a single one. He followed Li Li into the house first. When they reached the middle of the living room, Zhou Tao and Li Wei were still arguing, seemingly about a bet, which Zhou Ying found quite amusing.
While Li was arguing, he turned his head and saw Zhou Xuan. He was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed, "Brother Xuan, you're back!" His voice was full of joy.
Zhou Tao snorted, "Li Wei, do you think I don't know your tricks? You wanted to lure me to turn around so you could count grains, right? Trying to use my brother's name? Bah!"
Li Li, caught off guard, stammered, "Zhou Tao, it's...it's..."
Li Wei laughed instead and asked, "Brother Xuan, how did you get back? There shouldn't be any flights at this time, right?"
Zhou Xuan finally smiled and said, "How else could I come back? Of course I flew back!"
When Zhou Tao heard his brother's voice, he was startled and turned around. Who else could it be but his brother, Zhou Xuan?
Startled, Zhou Tao suddenly stood up, but before he could rush forward, Zhou Ying had already thrown herself into Zhou Xuan's arms and burst into tears.
While wiping away Zhou Ying's tears, Zhou Xuan laughed and said, "So you don't want to see your older brother? Then I'll leave!"
Zhou Ying was both crying and laughing, pounding Zhou Xuan's chest with her fists and angrily saying, "Brother, go away, go away, if you leave you're no longer my brother!"
Zhou Tao stepped forward and called out, "Brother!"
Li Wei glanced at Zhou Xuan, then looked behind him, but saw no one. He immediately ran to the door, opened it, and searched everywhere outside, but still couldn't find anyone. He then turned and went inside, asking in surprise, "Where's my beautiful sister-in-law? Where are my nephew and niece? Why haven't they come back?"
Zhou Xuan chuckled and said, "Your sister-in-law and nephew and niece can't fly, so they didn't come back!"
Li Wei couldn't help but laugh and said, "When did you become so glib? Hehe, you came back alone, probably looking for someone, right?"
Only Li Wei dared to spout such nonsense to Zhou Xuan. Zhou Xuan naturally didn't take Li Wei's words seriously, but Zhou Ying wouldn't let Li Wei off the hook. She immediately scolded him fiercely, "Li Wei, what nonsense are you talking about? Do you think my brother is like you? I'll go back and tell your dad, and then I'll tell your grandpa, and they'll give you a good scolding!"
Li Wei usually didn't dare to cause trouble with Zhou Ying, but now that Zhou Xuan was back, he became bolder. Zhou Xuan had always been his shield.
"Zhou Ying, don't you think about this? You married me, so you're bound to follow me no matter what. What, you think you can turn the world upside down?"
Li Wei suddenly became very bold and started arguing with Zhou Ying, which stunned her. Li Wei's audacity left her momentarily at a loss.
Zhou Xuan chuckled, ignoring him and Zhou Ying, and then said to Aunt Liu, "Aunt Liu, I really want to eat your hometown-style pickled cabbage and shredded pork noodles. Could you make me a bowl?"
Aunt Liu had been standing by, her eyes red. Zhou Xuan's family used to treat her like family, and now Zhou Tao and Li Li were just as kind to her. But seeing Zhou Xuan, she still couldn't help but get excited. Hearing what Zhou Xuan said, she nodded quickly and hurried to the kitchen, saying, "Okay, okay, just wait a moment, I'll make it for you right away!"
Zhou Xuan then asked Li Li, "Xiao Li, where are your parents?"
I knew before that Li Li had brought her parents to live with her, but I haven't seen them now, and it's not late, so I guess they're not home.
Li Li quickly replied, "Brother, my parents went back to their hometown to visit relatives. Now that conditions are better, they don't need to work so hard anymore and don't need to do business. I just let them go home to visit relatives and get some exercise!"
Li Wei then said, "My dear brother, you're finally back! My old man has been missing you a lot lately. If you were here, things wouldn't be so difficult!"
Zhou Xuan asked in surprise, "Why? Is your father having some kind of problem right now?"
"No!" Li Wei shook his head and said, "It's not that I'm making things difficult. My father has been promoted, but he doesn't seem happy. He's been looking gloomy these past few days. I asked him, but he wouldn't say anything, so I just stopped asking. My old man only talks to Grandpa and Xuan-ge. He treats everyone else like he's selling beef. I don't even want to see him!"
Zhou Ying was quite indignant and said angrily, "How can you talk about Dad like that? I'll go back and tell him what bad things you've been saying outside!"
Li Wei retorted angrily, "You're so talkative! Go ahead and say whatever you want. If you insult me too much, I'll run off to New York and live with Xuan Ge, and I'm not coming back!"
If someone else had said this, Zhou Ying would have ignored it and not believed it, but when Li Wei said it, Zhou Ying was genuinely a little scared. You should never take Li Wei's words lightly or as a game. This guy sometimes makes jokes, but sometimes he takes them seriously. Even if it seems impossible, he can take a game seriously when he's angry.
Aunt Liu brought out a steaming bowl of sauerkraut and shredded pork noodles. Zhou Xuan took a deep sniff and then exclaimed with delight, "It smells so good! I really miss Aunt Liu's noodles. Eating them in New York just doesn't taste the same!"
Aunt Liu's eyes also welled up with tears, and she said softly, "Xiao Zhou, I'll make it for you as long as you want to eat it!"
Zhou Xuan slurped down his noodles, and Li Li quickly handed him a glass of warm water, which he drank in one gulp. Then he said, "You guys, come sit down, I want to ask you something!"
Li Wei was the most enthusiastic, immediately plopping down next to Zhou Xuan. After Zhou Tao, Zhou Ying, Li Li, and the others had all sat down, Zhou Xuan finally asked, "How's business now?"
Zhou Tao nodded, pointed to a few people, and then replied, "Business is pretty good. We've recently hired some more skilled people. The better the business, the more people we hire, and the more we realize our shortcomings. So, just like my brother used to, I've gradually stepped back and let the skilled people we hired manage things. Besides, Xiaoli is a few months pregnant again, and I don't want her to be overworked, so I haven't let her work lately. She's been resting at home every day, and Aunt Liu is taking excellent care of her. I'm just going through the motions at work these days. I go to sit for a while and then I start thinking about things at home, so I can't sit still."
Zhou Xuan pondered for a moment, then asked, "Zhou Tao, Xiao Li, Li Wei, Xiao Ying, if—I mean, hypothetically—I bought a piece of land or an island somewhere and built it into a private place, would you be willing to live there?"
Li Wei and the others were taken aback, not understanding Zhou Xuan's meaning. After a long while, Li Wei asked, "What do you mean? Buy an island and build a villa?"
Zhou Xuan shook his head and then said, "We want to build an independent kingdom, a place that belongs only to us, free from the control and coercion of any country."
Li Wei was taken aback. While the others hadn't yet grasped the meaning, Li Wei understood. Zhou Xuan's intention was to establish a place not under the jurisdiction of any country. However, to create such a place, one needed a strong backer to stand tall; otherwise, it would be easily conquered by pirates.
Although Li Wei knew Zhou Xuan's abilities were extraordinary, they were still far from enough to make those bigwigs give him face. So, setting up such a place was still somewhat unrealistic. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Brother, your idea is good, but to do something like this, you usually need to have strong and powerful capabilities. Only with capabilities can you gain the fear of others and prevent them from easily messing with you. Otherwise, they can wipe you out with a single move. Power comes from guns and cannons. These days, whoever has the strongest fist is the boss!"
Ultimately, Li Wei's understanding was better, mainly because he came from that kind of family and was exposed to national affairs every day. With so much exposure, the words he spoke naturally carried that meaning.
Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then smiled and said to Li Li, Zhou Tao, and Zhou Ying, "You guys continue chatting. I'm taking Li Wei somewhere tonight, so don't wait for him and me. Let's talk about it tomorrow!"
If it were anyone else, Zhou Ying would definitely object, but it was her own older brother who pulled Li Wei along, and he was the one she was closest to and loved the most. She also knew that he wouldn't lead Li Wei to do anything bad, so she had no choice but to let them do as they pleased.
Upon hearing that Zhou Xuan was going to take him out again, Li Wei became excited. Every time Zhou Xuan took him out, they would do things that made his blood boil. This time, it would probably be the same thing again!
Zhou Xuan pulled Li Wei out of the villa and whispered at the door, "Li Wei, take me to your house. I want to meet your father and talk to him about something!"