Chapter 174 The boss wants to visit relatives, Ning Jinli helps choose a gift

Qi Zhan looked guilty. "Some nobles from the Sha Yue Kingdom escaped and fled there. I wanted to eliminate them completely, but alas..."

"Oh, I see," Ning Jinli quickly reassured her, "It's alright, you've already done very well."

Qi Zhan said, "It's not enough. We failed to wipe out the Sha Yue Clan this time. Given their nature, they will probably still be eyeing the Great Xuan with hostility, which may cause trouble."

Ning Jinli thought to herself that what he said was indeed true.

Even more than two thousand years later, the descendants of the Sha Yue tribe are still jumping around next to China, trying to bite China whenever they get the chance. They are a bunch of ungrateful wretches.

"Don't worry," Ning Jinli said seriously, "I promise to provide you with assistance in the future so that you can make up for this regret."

Qi Zhan was overjoyed, "Really, fairy? You're not lying to me!"

Xiao Qidi spoke slowly, his eyes cold and stern, "When has she ever lied to you? Don't you even trust her?"

"This humble general dares not!" Qi Zhan hurriedly lowered his head.

Ning Jinli pinched the flesh on Xiao Qidi's inner arm. "Alright, stop scaring him. He did a great job this time. You should forgive him for his previous plan to assassinate you, right?"

"Am I that petty?" Xiao Qidi said helplessly. "Let me tell you, I have already appointed him as the Grand General of the Expedition. After he recovers, I still expect him to continue fighting for the Great Xuan."

"This humble general will certainly live up to Your Majesty's high expectations!" Qi Zhan clasped his hands and said loudly.

Lian Qingbai, who was standing next to him, was startled by his sudden loud voice and muttered, "General Qi, you need to rest. You need to be quiet..."

Xiao Qidi and Ning Jinli both realized that Lian Qingbai was trying to get rid of them so as not to disturb the wounded soldiers' rest.

So they all wisely left.

Although the expedition to Yu Kingdom can be entrusted to Duan Wu with peace of mind, once the two countries go to war, the other five countries will definitely be watching closely. If they find an opportunity, they might even try to take action against Da Xuan.

Therefore, Xiao Qidi's truly busy days had only just begun.

He not only had to keep a close eye on the progress of the conquest of Yu Kingdom, but also had to guard against other countries and stabilize the situation in Da Xuan from the court to the common people.

Ning Jinli only spent a short time alone with him during her visit before he had to go about his business.

Ning Jinli could only laugh at herself. There was nothing she could do; after all, she had chosen a king as her partner, and not just any king.

When Ning Jinli returned to the factory, the bigwig from the national energy department had already left.

Shangguan Ying also had to take her leave. Before leaving, she told Ning Jinli that the leader from the national security department would stay in Xinghan City a little longer.

Ning Jinli then took the initiative to accompany them.

However, this big shot didn't bother Ning Jinli. He didn't even accept her invitation to dinner that day. It wasn't until the next morning that he called Ning Jinli and said he had something he wanted to ask her.

Ning Jinli held her phone, paying close attention, "Please speak, sir."

“Miss Ning, please stop calling me ‘leader’,” the other person said with a smile. “It’s too formal. You’ve been calling General Shangguan ‘Sister Ying’. My surname is Yang, so you can call me Old Yang.”

Ning Jinli readily agreed, "Okay, Lao Yang."

Old Yang continued, "I have a younger brother who lives in Xinghan City, and I want to go see him."

Ning Jinli asked in surprise, "You want to go see him? Is there a problem?"

“Sigh, I’m not afraid to admit it,” Old Yang sighed, “I haven’t been in contact with him for over twenty years. Even though I know he’s developing his career here, I haven’t asked him about anything.”

Ning Jinli asked curiously, "Did you have a fight with your brother?"

"I guess so..." Old Yang slowly explained the situation.

The two brothers, Lao Yang and his brother, lost both parents at a young age and had no relatives or friends, so they grew up relying on each other for survival.

My younger brother didn't like studying, so he went out to work early and even earned money to pay for Lao Yang's schooling.

Old Yang also worked very hard. After graduating from university, he entered the political arena and rose through the ranks. More than 20 years ago, he had already risen from his small hometown to Xinghan City.

His brother then thought that he could use his connections to pull some strings and smooth things over.

Old Yang refused without hesitation, and the two brothers parted on bad terms.

After explaining the general situation, Old Yang looked dejected and helpless.

"The person I owe the most in my life is him, but I still can't abuse my power for him, especially after becoming the top leader in national security. I have to be even more cautious, so I have to cut off all ties with him..."

"I don't know much about his situation over the past twenty years. After all, I'm afraid that if I care too much, I might make a mistake and inadvertently violate my principles."

"Now that I'm getting old, and I've heard he's doing quite well in Xinghan City, but his health isn't very good, I'm wondering how many more times I'll be able to see him in the future. And since I happened to be in Xinghan City this time, so..."

Hearing this, Ning Jinli understood Old Yang's situation.

It really wasn't easy.

"So, what kind of help do you need?" Ning Jinli asked.

Old Yang pondered for a moment and said, "This time, I want to visit my brother as an ordinary person, as an older brother. I won't bring any bodyguards. I hope Miss Xiao Ning will accompany me."

“Okay, no problem!” Ning Jinli readily agreed. “Shall I meet you now?”

"Then I'll trouble you. I'm at..." Old Yang then gave him a location.

Ning Jinli drove there and picked up the person on a street in the city half an hour later.

Old Yang was dressed in very ordinary casual clothes. Apart from his neatly combed hair and upright and elegant demeanor, no one on the street would guess that he was a high-ranking national figure.

"Look, Miss Ning, I even got a pair of black-rimmed glasses specially," Old Yang said with a smile as he put on the glasses. "I don't usually need to wear glasses, so doesn't this make me look even more different from my usual self?"

Ning Jinli observed carefully for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's right, if you don't look closely, they really do look like two different people."

"That's good, that's good," Old Yang said with a relieved look. Then he added, "I still need to buy some gifts. I can't visit empty-handed, but I'm really not good at picking out gifts."

"What does your brother like?" Ning Jinli asked as she drove.

"Well..." Old Yang fell into deep thought. "When he was little, he liked knives, guns, and sticks. Of course, we were poor back then, and we couldn't afford decent toys like those. So we made them ourselves out of wood and bamboo... Ah, sorry, Miss Ning, I've gone off on a tangent. Now we're both quite old, and I can't exactly buy him something we couldn't afford when he was a kid."

"Then how about we buy him some things he might need?"

“What could be of use… Well, he’s not short of money now, and I really don’t know what I could send him that would be of any use to him.”

“Let me think,” Ning Jinli pondered. “Hmm? What about antiques and collectibles? Middle-aged and older men generally like these kinds of things.”

Old Yang nodded. "Speaking of which, it seems he was already interested in antiques and collectibles when he was young, and even did some related business for a while. He should be able to do it."

"Okay, I'll take you to buy it!"

"Don't take me to those high-end shops," Old Yang said with a self-deprecating laugh. "Although I have a high-ranking position, I really can't afford expensive collectibles or antiques."

Ning Jinli said with a smile, "Don't worry, I have a great place where you can definitely find high-quality gifts at reasonable prices."

A dozen minutes later, the car stopped in front of the Bao Yun Tang antique shop.

“We’re here,” Ning Jinli introduced. “This antique shop belongs to my company. The owner is called Master Wu. He’s very capable and has an excellent eye. If you ask him to help you choose, you can’t go wrong.”

Old Yang looked out the car window at the closed shop door. "Is this place... not open for business?"

"Master Wu has been traveling out of town for business recently and only returned to Xinghan City this morning. I called him on my way to pick you up. He should be here soon, probably within half an hour."

"Okay, okay, thank you so much for your help."

The two sat in the car waiting for Master Wu to arrive.

at the same time.

Su Qiang, who was still sleeping in his hotel room, was woken up by a phone call.

He groggily picked up his phone, glanced at it, and answered the call, immediately cursing impatiently: "Damn it, calling so early to disturb my sleep! Are you looking for trouble? I drank all night, didn't you know that?!"

"Brother Qiang, Brother Qiang, calm down, calm down," the person on the other end of the phone said politely. "I wouldn't dare bother you if it wasn't important."

"Ugh...so noisy..." A gaudy woman lying next to Su Qiang muttered with a frown.

Su Qiang lowered his voice and said, "Spit it out, you son of a bitch."

"Brother Qiang, I just got word that Master Wu has finally returned to Xinghan City, and he's on his way to his antique shop right now!"

"You're back?!"

Su Qiang jolted awake and hurriedly got out of bed. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely certain! Our people have been watching him ever since he got off the plane and left the airport!"

"Alright, gather everyone together and get your weapons ready!"

"Yes, Brother Qiang!"

Su Qiang hung up the phone and shouted excitedly, "Damn! Finally, we can really make a big splash!"

"Hey, you're so noisy!" The woman lying on the bed grabbed a pillow and threw it at Su Qiang.

Su Qiang beamed and pounced on the woman, cupping her face and giving her a big kiss. "My chance to shine has finally come! Do you know what this means?!"

The woman frowned and pushed him away, then casually picked up the cigarette pack on the bedside table, took out a cigarette, lit it, and blew smoke rings as she said, "You've said it eight hundred times already. Wasn't it just over half a month ago that you hung out with your friend, and then in front of that... Young Master Yang, you took a hit on the head with a bottle, but managed to get a chance to help Young Master Yang? I'm sick of hearing it! I don't even know if what you're saying is true or false!"

"Of course it's true!" Su Qiang lit a cigarette and said smugly, "If that bastard Wu Sanye hadn't run off to another city before I was ready, I would have made my move long ago! Let me tell you, now that he's back, I'm going to smash up his place in a bit! After this is done, I'll definitely be able to get Young Master Yang's favor!"

The woman pursed her lips, still maintaining an indifferent expression.

She has always been money-oriented. About a month ago, she met Su Qiang at a bar and found that he was generous and had a group of followers. So she casually flirted with him and got him hooked.

Later, it was discovered that this guy didn't have a proper job at all, had children at home, and a wife who wanted to divorce him.

The reason he was so extravagant was because about half a month ago, someone under that Young Master Yang, who was also his friend, gave him a large sum of money.

According to him, part of the compensation was for medical expenses and emotional distress caused by the blow to his head, and the other part was to ask him to recruit people to prepare for the operation.

He's almost run out of money, and there's still no sign of anything happening.

The woman was already planning to break off the relationship with him today, so as not to delay her from finding her next sugar daddy.

"You keep talking about Young Master Yang, but who exactly is he?" the woman asked casually.

Su Qiang said mysteriously, "I didn't know much before either. Last night, when I was drinking with my friend, he gave me some inside information. Don't be scared if I tell you."

The woman rolled her eyes. "Who are you trying to fool? What kind of people haven't I seen?"

"No, no, no, this will definitely scare you," Su Qiang said seriously. "I'm not joking with you, so sit tight and listen."

Seeing his unprecedented seriousness, the woman stubbed out her cigarette, sat up straight, and said, "Alright, go ahead, I'm all ears."

Su Qiang lowered his voice, "Young Master Yang's father used to be a gangster in Xinghan City. Everyone in the underworld had to call him 'Big Brother.' About ten years ago, he laundered his identity and went ashore through various business means."

"Tch..." the woman said impatiently, "So this is the kind of person he is? At best, he's just a rich businessman. How rich can he be compared to the four major families of Xinghan City?"

"Let me finish!" Su Qiang glared at him. "Young Master Yang's father has retired now and recently handed over all his businesses to Young Master Yang. Although they can't compare to top-tier families or large corporations, there's one thing about them that few in the country can match."

The woman started getting dressed, muttering, "I think you're just bragging. Keep bragging to yourself. I have something to do, I'm leaving now."

Su Qiang panicked and blurted out, "Young Master Yang's father's older brother, who is also Young Master Yang's uncle, is a high-ranking leader in the national security department!"

The woman paused slightly, her mouth forming an "O" shape. "You've gone too far with that..."

"What nonsense!" Su Qiang wanted to swear to the heavens, "If I'm lying even a little bit, may I be struck by lightning! Otherwise, do you think Young Master Yang can be so successful in Xinghan City? My friends all said that Young Master Yang's father used his brother's name to settle things quite a few times in the past!"

The woman thought for a moment, "Then... if you handle this matter well, it will be equivalent to getting on Young Master Yang's good side?"

"There are no 'ifs,' it'll definitely be done!" Su Qiang stubbed out his cigarette forcefully. "I've had a grudge against that Third Master Wu for a long time. This time, with Young Master Yang's support, I can not only vent my anger but also help Young Master Yang vent his anger—a win-win situation! In the future, I'll be Young Master Yang's right-hand man. With him as my backer, isn't that the same as having his uncle as my backer? Not just in Xinghan City, I can walk sideways all over the country! I'll have face and money!"

The woman became even more tempted, and took off the skirt she had just put on. She hugged Su Qiang with a smile, saying, "If that's the case, don't leave me behind."

"Don't worry, don't worry, I definitely won't abandon you," Su Qiang swallowed hard. "I've already thought it all out. I'll divorce my wife in a while and then marry you. Aren't you happy?"