Chapter 74 Beijing Storm
Three days later, in Beijing.
Lu Jingyan returned to Beijing.
He didn't return to the military compound, nor did he go to see anyone else. A jeep stopped deep in an unnamed alley.
Inside the car, Gao Jianjun looked at the people around him and felt a chill creep up from the soles of his feet.
For three days, Lu Jingyan did not close his eyes. His bloodshot eyes were filled with blood vessels, and he looked like a stone statue whose soul had been taken away, leaving only deathly silence and murderous aura.
In front of him lay more than a dozen file folders, each one meticulously organized.
“Brother Lu… once this is handed over, there’s really no turning back.”
Gao Jianjun's voice was hoarse. He had never seen Lu Jingyan like this before; his madness terrified him.
Lu Jingyan didn't look up. His fingers traced the cover of a file, the movement as light as if he were caressing a lover's skin.
"She's not coming back, so why should I turn back?"
Gao Jianjun shut his mouth; he knew he couldn't persuade a mad beast that was determined to die.
That night, several unsigned urgent letters were quietly placed on the desk of a leader in the military discipline inspection commission, as well as in front of the doors of several families that had always been at odds with the Lu family.
...
The storm came quickly and fiercely.
The day after the anonymous letter was submitted, Lao Wang, the deputy director of the Logistics and Equipment Department of the military, was drinking tea and humming a tune in his office when he was "invited" to isolation and investigation by two expressionless men.
The reason given was "lifestyle issues," and it was rumored that he had inappropriate relationships with several female clerks under his command.
On the third day, Director Liu of the Municipal Construction Commission was taken away in front of everyone while giving a report at a meeting. The people who took him away were from the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, and the charge was "serious economic problems".
His wife had just deposited a large yellow croaker into the bank when his house was raided.
Day 4...
For a time, anyone in Beijing who was close to Lu Wenbo or had benefited from him lived in fear and unease.
In just three days, Lu Wenbo's meticulously woven network of relationships, built over a decade, was severed by an invisible pair of scissors, cutting off several crucial threads.
He was like a tiger whose teeth had been pulled out; he was still roaring, but no longer had the sharp teeth to hurt people.
This isn't over yet.
Friendship Store, the largest department store in Beijing.
Lu Wenbo's wife, Zhou Yafen, was arm in arm with her best friend, pointing arrogantly at a "Spider Treasure" brooch that had just been shipped from Hong Kong Island. Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but loud enough for half the floor to hear.
"Wrap this up, and this one too."
Her well-maintained face was full of the sense of superiority of being the second wife of the Lu family.
"Wow, sister-in-law, that jade bracelet on your wrist is so beautiful, the quality is amazing," her best friend complimented.
Zhou Yafen proudly raised her wrist, the emerald green bracelet gleaming under the light. "Of course, Wenbo specially sourced this for me from Hong Kong; it's one of a kind!"
As soon as she finished speaking, several uniformed business administration personnel walked over, the one in the lead looking very serious.
"Comrade, we have received a report that you are suspected of purchasing and wearing smuggled goods. Please come with us for investigation!"
Zhou Yafen's smile froze on her face.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the second wife of the Lu family was led away like a prisoner. The news spread like wildfire throughout the entire Beijing compound.
The face of the second branch of the Lu family was shattered by this slap, making them a laughing stock in the entire circle.
In a secluded teahouse, Gao Jianjun slammed a stack of documents on the table and said to Lu Jingyan on the other end of the phone:
"Old Lu, they're all shut down. I had all seven companies that Lu Wenbo was hiding in the shadows taken down! Now he's completely cut off from funding!"
"Let me tell you, the whole compound is in an uproar! Everyone's saying you've gone mad! You're trying to overturn the table and kill Lu Wenbo!"
Gao Jianjun spoke with great enthusiasm, but there was only dead silence on the other end of the phone.
After a long while, Lu Jingyan's voice, like sandpaper being rubbed, finally came through.
"not enough."
Gao Jianjun was stunned.
Is that not enough?
...
Inside the Begonia Space.
Su Wantang walked to the wooden building that housed countless rare and secret manuals, pushed open the door, and went straight up to the second floor.
She pulled a yellowed ancient book from the bookshelf—"Shennong's Art of Disguise."
This is not some kind of divine magic, but a strange art that uses medicine, massage techniques, and even changes in a person's spirit and energy to achieve the goal of changing their appearance.
Su Wantang opened one of the pages, her fingertips brushing over the ancient characters.
She returned to the spring, fetched some water, and picked several herbs from that magical land. Following the instructions in the book, she carefully ground them and mixed them into a dark-colored ointment.
Walking up to the huge full-length mirror, Su Wantang looked at herself in the mirror.
It was a face of breathtaking beauty, yet it also carried a pallor and fragility, as if she were recovering from a long illness.
She's too easily recognized.
It's too easy; it reminds one of Su Wantang, who is "already dead."
Su Wantang stretched out her finger, dipped it in the ointment, and began to gently apply it to her face.
She didn't drastically change her facial features; she simply darkened her originally fair and snow-white skin slightly, giving it a healthy wheat color.
Then, using the special massage techniques recorded in the book, she repeatedly pressed the acupoints on her brow bone and around her eyes, making the lines of her originally slightly charming peach blossom eyes clearer and more heroic.
Most importantly, she washed her body with the spiritual spring water again and again.
The spiritual spring water not only healed her injuries, but also completely eliminated the trace of weakness and illness that remained in her body, which belonged to the original owner.
The person in the mirror is changing little by little.
The facial features are still the same facial features, and the facial contours are still the same facial contours.
But his entire demeanor underwent a dramatic change.
If the previous Su Wantang was a delicate begonia blooming in the misty rain of Jiangnan, with thorns.
The woman in the mirror is like an ancient sword, serene yet sharp, hidden in its sheath.
She looked at herself in the mirror, a reflection that was both unfamiliar and incredibly familiar, and whispered:
"Su Wantang is dead."
From now on, she will give herself a new name.
His surname, naturally, was his mother's, Bai.
She thought for a moment and chose a name from a traditional Chinese medicine.
Atractylodes macrocephala.
It has the meaning of "healing" and also the function of "checking and balancing".
She, Bai Shu, has returned.
Three days later, in Shanghai, at the Peace Hotel.
Su Wantang stood in front of the full-length mirror in the suite.
The woman in the mirror was wearing a sharp black suit trousers and a white silk shirt. Her long hair was tied up high, revealing her smooth forehead and slender neck.
Her appearance was six or seven parts similar to her past self, but there was no trace of weakness in her eyes anymore, only a calm that saw through everything and a bottomless sharpness.
She walked to the table, picked up the black internal telephone, and dialed a number.
The phone rang three times before being answered.
On the other end was Du Kangnian's weary and suppressed voice: "Hello, who is this?"
Su Wantang interrupted him, her tone leaving no room for argument.
"Manager Du."
"The Bai family needs a new leader."
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