What puzzled her most was that Bai Junbo was also abroad and not coming back for the New Year. For the past six months, he had been as busy as a spinning top, traveling for business every day for a month or two at a time. Occasionally he would come back to stay for a couple of days and then go on another business trip.
Lin Xiazhu asked Bai Ruan, who replied, "Second Uncle is busy expanding into overseas markets."
In fact, Songbai Group already had branches overseas, but after the Bai family returned to China, they focused their efforts on the domestic market, and the development of the overseas companies was not as rapid.
For a long time, Bai Junbo remained stagnant, with no expansion activities for several years. Bai Ruan once thought that he was getting old, had lost the ambition he had when he was young, and no longer wanted to run the company, but only wanted to retire.
It seems he was just making assumptions. My second uncle has big ambitions. He has rebuilt the branch in the United States and increased its turnover several times over in just six months. He has also invested in other businesses, and it seems he wants to expand overseas. Could it be that my second uncle wants to retire abroad?
It's not impossible, after all, he grew up abroad and only returned to China when he was a teenager, so it's normal that he prefers being abroad.
In fact, if Bai Ru'an had just sent someone to investigate, they would have found out that Bai Junbo's ambition had suddenly grown. All he had done was to cover his tracks, to plan for the future, and to think long-term.
Half a month later, Lin Xiazhu suddenly received a call from Lin Chacha one night. It was already past eleven o'clock, close to midnight. Lin Xiazhu had long been asleep. It was March, a rainy season.
When Lin Xiazhu received the call, she was still in a daze. She said "hello" several times but there was no response. She squinted and sat up to check the caller ID. It was indeed Chacha calling. Why wasn't she saying anything? Did she accidentally press the button?
Just as she was wondering, she heard a noisy fight coming from the other end of the line, and then Lin Chacha’s loud voice came over, “Sis, something’s happened here. Zhang Yu brought some people to cause trouble downstairs in my apartment complex. I’m fighting with them right now… Hey, you bastard, you dare to hit my husband? I’ll beat you to death.”
Lin Xiazhu suddenly woke up, all sleepiness gone. She quickly shook Bai Ruan awake, "An, something bad has happened. Chacha and Song Cheng are in trouble. Let's go take a look."
Actually, he had woken up when she sat up to answer the phone, but he kept his eyes closed and didn't get up because he felt it wasn't his business. Now he immediately sat up and said, "Change your clothes."
Before leaving, Bai Ru'an called several bodyguards, just in case.
It was late at night, and it was cold. There weren't many cars on the road, but they quickly arrived at the residential area where Lin Chacha lived. When they got out of the car, they found that there were quite a few people gathered in the residential area, including what looked like police officers.
It took Lin Xiazhu and the others more than half an hour to get here. It seemed that a lot had happened in the meantime. Lin Xiazhu was anxious. She strode into the crowd and smelled blood as soon as she got close. Her heart skipped a beat. She was afraid that Lin Chacha or Song Cheng had been injured.
There were many people, but Lin Xiazhu was strong and easily pushed her way through. She saw seven or eight people lying on the ground, one of whom was lying on his back with a knife stuck in his abdomen. His eyes were wide open, and he was unsure whether he was alive or dead.
"Cha Cha, Song Cheng..." Lin Xiazhu called out their names loudly.
"Sister, we're here, we're fine, don't worry." Lin Chacha was being handcuffed by the police, and Song Cheng was also there. It seemed that the police had just arrived.
"What's going on? What happened? Why are you being arrested?" Lin Xiazhu was furious and momentarily lost her temper, rushing over to try and snatch the people away.
Fortunately, Bai Ruan pulled her back and hugged her tightly. "Xiao Zhu, don't be impulsive. Cha Cha and Song Cheng are not injured. The matter is still unclear. Let's go to the police station to find out more. Don't worry."
Upon hearing this, Lin Xiazhu came to her senses. She had been too hasty and almost assaulted a police officer. In that case, even if she was in the right, she would have been in the wrong. Fortunately, Xiao An was there.
"That person is Zhang Yu, and it seems she's not breathing," Bai Ruan whispered in her ear.
Lin Xiazhu turned around abruptly. She had been so worried about Lin Chacha and Song Cheng that, and the light was dim, that she only knew that someone looked like they were dead, but she couldn't see who it was.
It really is Zhang Yu. What is he doing here? What is he doing here looking for Cha Cha and Song Cheng?
"Zhang Yu, Zhang Yu, wake up! How could you die? How could you just die like this..." Lin Xiazhu was in tears, but she didn't realize it. She only felt that her vision suddenly became even more blurred.
This area was cordoned off, but she suddenly rushed in; no one expected her to do this.
"Where's the ambulance? Save people first! Why isn't the ambulance here yet?" Shouldn't the ambulance arrive around the same time as the police car?
Zhang Yu changed. Everyone, including Lin Xiazhu, cut off contact with him. They thought he was dead. But when he really died, Lin Xiazhu was heartbroken and couldn't bear the pain. Suddenly, her hand tightened. A large, rough hand gripped hers.
"Xiao...Xiao Zhu, I don't want to...die...but it's too late, it's not Song Cheng...it's not Cha Cha, it's not them, Xiao Zhu, I, I was wrong, I..." Before he could finish speaking, he really breathed his last.
"Zhang Yu, Zhang Yu..." Lin Xiazhu raised her hand to check his breath. He wasn't breathing. He was really dead this time.
She covered her mouth, sobbing softly with heartache, as memories of the past flashed through her mind again and again: their first meeting when they were catching fish in the river in Shanhe Town; later, Zhang Yu and his gang of underlings were beaten up by thugs from another town, and she lent him money to go to the county town for treatment; and afterwards, they all worked hard to earn money.
Collecting scrap metal, carrying bricks on construction sites—these were the hardest jobs ever done. A group of teenagers, step by step, went from poverty to wealth. They grew up, matured, and eventually got married and had children.
Things should have gotten better and better, so how did they end up like this?
Everyone else is doing well, so why did you go down the wrong path? Lin Xiazhu wanted to question her, but looking at Zhang Yu's tightly closed eyes and paper-white face, she couldn't say a word.
"Xiaozhu, sigh, if you want to cry, just cry." Bai Ruan hugged her and didn't say anything more.
"Zhang Yu, you bastard! You wanted to kill me and Song Cheng. Even on your deathbed, you couldn't do anything good. I shouldn't have been soft-hearted and lent you money. You're such a bastard! Why did you have to die now of all times?" Lin Chacha cried and cursed.
Song Cheng stood beside her, his face pale, looking at Zhang Yu with a complicated expression, and shook his head weakly.
Later, Zhang Yu's body was taken away, and Lin Chacha, Song Cheng, and the other people lying on the ground were all taken to the police station. Lin Xiazhu and Bai Ruan followed in a car.
"If we had asked one more question and helped him, perhaps he wouldn't have died." The "he" he refers to is Zhang Yu.
"Xiao Zhu and Zhang Yu are adults. Even the best of friends can't keep an eye on him all day long. Zhang Shengli and Zhang Longfei are the closest to him, but they were also kept in the dark."
"Adults need to be responsible for their own actions. Xiaozhu, you don't need to hold a grudge about this." Bai Ruan didn't know how to comfort her, and her tone sounded dry.
He didn't have much affection for Zhang Yu; they had only known each other for a time and had rarely seen each other since.
"I know what you're saying, I'm just feeling bad." Lin Xiazhu leaned against him, closed her eyes, and stopped talking.
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