Shanghai, China
More than three hours later, Zhang Chenglin came downstairs. He had only gone halfway down the stairs when he saw Zhou Zhu sitting in the middle of the first row of the hall.
Zhou Zhu heard footsteps and looked up, just in time to meet Zhang Chenglin's gaze.
One person's gaze was gentle yet inquisitive, with a hint of a subtle smile.
One of them had a cold, ruthless gaze, and a visible sense of rejection.
Fengyue followed Zhang Chenglin half a person's length behind him, and looking down in the direction of Zhang Chenglin's gaze, she also happened to see Zhou Zhu.
She didn't recognize the man, but Aunt Rong said he was a new regular who had recently arrived, and that the girls in the building should take good care of him.
Zhang Chenglin withdrew his gaze and walked down the stairs as if nothing had happened. When he reached the last flight of stairs, Zhou Zhu stood up from his seat and greeted him, "Mr. Zhang."
Zhang Chenglin nodded in response.
“Go back,” Zhang Chenglin said to Feng Yue, turning his head. “No need to see me off.”
Fengyue nodded gently behind him, without saying anything more.
Zhang Chenglin stepped out first, and Zhou Zhu quickly followed behind.
Inside the Flower Moon Pavilion, Aunt Rong walked quickly to Feng Yue's side, smiling as she looked at the red fur coat she was wearing, and the clothes she had changed into underneath.
"He made you wear it?" Aunt Rong asked, unable to hide her smile.
Fengyue paused for a moment, then nodded: "He said that winters in Shandong are too cold, and there's no need to wear so little. He should dress warmly next time he comes."
Aunt Rong's smile grew even brighter, but soon she sighed, "She really knows how to take care of people."
"It's a pity he frequents brothels."
Feng Yue's eyes flickered, and she lowered her head without saying anything.
*
Around 4 p.m., Ji Yuxing sat in his courtyard, drinking tea and watching the snow scene, enjoying a moment of leisurely bliss.
A quarter of an hour later, a subordinate came to report: "Sir, Mr. Zhang's men have arrived."
Ji Yuxing nodded: "Let him come."
Watching his subordinates go out to greet people, Ji Yuxing muttered to himself, "There's never a moment of peace..."
“Mr. Ji,” Xin Jie stopped a step away from Ji Yuxing and spoke respectfully.
Ji Yuxing straightened up slightly: "What earth-shattering matter does your master have that he has to bring up at this time?"
Ji Yuxing's tone was full of helplessness and teasing, it was rare for him to say such irreverent things to Xin Jie.
“The master said,” Xin Jie said, his tone becoming slightly more serious, which made Ji Yuxing take him a little more seriously: “You are to manage your subordinates well and stop them from meddling in other people’s business.”
Ji Yuxing was taken aback after hearing Xin Jie's words and couldn't help but ask, "What's going on?"
Xin Jie paused for two seconds and said, "If that's what you said, then I will convey it."
Ji Yuxing thought for a few seconds and nodded: "Okay, I understand."
Xin Jie is gone.
Ji Yuxing summoned the subordinate who had just delivered the message and asked, "Where did Zhou Zhu go?"
Subordinate: "I went out shortly after returning at noon and haven't come back yet."
Ji Yuxing suddenly stood up from the armchair, his tone carrying a barely perceptible anxiety: "Please, please don't let him be staking out the Flower Moon Pavilion!"
“If he really dares to stake out Zhang Chenglin’s location,” Ji Yuxing frowned, “not to mention him, even if it were me, I wouldn’t have enough heads to lose.”
Upon hearing his words, his subordinate couldn't help but ask, "What about Mr. Zhang at Huayuelou..."
His subordinate stopped abruptly, but Ji Yuxing understood and replied, "It is very important to him, extremely important, incredibly important, just as important to me as the Northeast is to me."
His subordinates remained silent, equally shaken.
——
Half an hour later, Zhou Zhu returned from outside, and Ji Yuxing summoned him directly to see him.
"Where did you go?" Ji Yuxing didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
"I went out for a walk." Zhou Zhu's answer was so frank that Ji Yuxing thought he had just walked around his front door.
"Did you go to Huayue Tower?" Ji Yuxing asked again, frowning.
"Yes, I went to listen to some music."
Ji Yuxing sighed and pressed, "Did you run into Zhang Chenglin?"
Zhou Zhu: "Hmm."
"Don't go staking out Zhang Chenglin's spot next time," Ji Yuxing said sternly, as if giving an order.
“I didn’t stake out the location,” Zhou Zhu retorted calmly.
Ji Yuxing didn't speak for a moment, and narrowed his eyes.
"Then make sure he doesn't run into you at the Flower Moon Pavilion next time." Ji Yuxing's tone was even colder than before.
"Why?" Zhou Zhu asked, puzzled and unwilling to listen.
"Why?" Ji Yuxing repeated his words carefully, then said, "Good question."
"Have you forgotten whose territory Shandong is? If you want to live well here, you'd better show some respect to them. Otherwise, I can't take care of you."
This time, Zhou Zhu didn't speak again, but a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.
It happened in the blink of an eye, so fast that Ji Yuxing didn't even see it clearly.
*
Zhang Chenglin, Tan Yuanbo, and their group arrived in Shanghai under the cover of night. Unlike the quiet of Shandong at night, Shanghai was still brightly lit and filled with singing and dancing, even at night.
Perhaps it was because there were too many people hiding in the shadows, but this lively atmosphere always revealed a suffocating sense of oppression.
Ji Yuxing frowned and was about to say something when Tan Yuanbo spoke first: "Alright, it's getting late. Let's go to the place Mr. Sheng arranged first, and we'll make plans tomorrow."
Tan Yuanbo led Ji Yuxing and Zhou Zhu into the car arranged by Sheng Dongsheng, while Zhang Chenglin stood still.
Even though the car had already driven quite a distance, Zhou Zhu was still looking at Zhang Chenglin's somewhat lonely figure standing by the roadside through the right rearview mirror.
Tan Yuanbo wanted to say something, but when he looked up, he saw Zhou Zhu still staring at Zhang Chenglin. When he spoke, his tone was a little cold: "After Shandong lost Zhang Deyue, his return to Shanghai is like coming home."
After hearing Tan Yuanbo's words, Zhou Zhu, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, lowered his eyes and remained silent.
Ji Yuxing smiled and echoed, "Whether Zhang Deyue is in Shandong or not, Shanghai is his home."
"He said it himself."
He met Zhang Chenglin in Shanghai when he was eight years old, and they reunited in Cambridge, England ten years later.
During his years in Cambridge, whenever someone asked him where he was from...
He would answer without hesitation:
"China."
If anyone presses him further, his answer will always be: "Shanghai, China".
After getting to know He Zhonghua and Zheng Mingzhe, when someone asked Zhang Chenglin where he was from, He Zhonghua would answer, "China, Shandong."
Zhang Chenglin would immediately correct him: "China, Shanghai."
Later, He Zhonghua asked him if he didn't like Shandong.
Otherwise, since his parents are both in Shandong, why would he always say he's from Shanghai?
Zhang Chenglin never answered this question, so even after all these years, Ji Yuxing still doesn't know the answer.
He gradually came to believe, like Zhang Chenglin, that Shanghai was his home.
*
Jiang Xiaoxiao had originally agreed to pick up Zhang Chenglin, so Zhang Chenglin waited for her there when he arrived in Shanghai.
Zhang Chenglin thought that even if Jiang Xiaoxiao suddenly couldn't come, he would arrange for someone from the Jiang family who wasn't too busy to come.
But the person who came was Jiang Guanyu.
The car stopped in front of Zhang Chenglin. Jiang Guanyu rolled down the window and said with a smile, "Chenglin, get in."
Zhang Chenglin threw the box he was carrying into the back seat, turned around, opened the passenger door, and got into the passenger seat.
"Why did you come here in person?" Zhang Chenglin asked, puzzled, looking at the narrow road ahead due to the crowd.
"That's quite a formality," Jiang Guanyu said, staring intently at the road ahead and gradually easing off the accelerator. His tone betrayed a deliberate hint of displeasure. "You've come all the way to Shanghai in person, how could I not come to pick you up personally?"
"Hmph," Zhang Chenglin snorted, his tone unclear, "You've already said these kinds of things to me, and you still have the nerve to say I'm being distant."
Finally, they drove out of the crowded road and onto the deserted main road. Jiang Guanyu quickly glanced at him and said helplessly, "Why are you still as unforgiving as you were when we were kids?"
"Stop teasing me," Zhang Chenglin said in his usual cool tone, "You're such a grown man, yet you act like a three-year-old."
Jiang Guanyu: "...Fine, fine, I'm scared of you."
As soon as Jiang Guanyu's car entered the road in front of the Jiang family's house, it was blocked by cars parked on both sides of the road.
Those who came to attend Jiang Guanyu's wedding would invariably visit Jiang Yuanxing first when they arrived in Shanghai, so Zhang Chenglin was quite used to seeing such a grand scene at the Jiang family's door.
Jiang Guanyu parked his car in front of the Jiang family's house. Before getting out, he stared at the large red "double happiness" character pasted on the black door and suddenly asked Zhang Chenglin, who had already pushed the car door halfway open, "Do you have any thoughts about getting married?"
Zhang Chenglin paused as he pushed the car door, and Feng Yue's image inexplicably appeared in his mind.
But the answer came faster than he could think: "No."
Jiang Guanyu frowned slightly: "We're about the same age, and I'm already married, so why don't you hurry up?"
Zhang Chenglin closed the car door again, turned around and sat back down: "Establish a career and build a family, establish a career and build a family, how can you build a family if you haven't established a career yet?"
Jiang Guanyu stood there stunned for a moment, then reacted and asked, "Isn't it about settling down and starting a career? Isn't that the old saying passed down from our ancestors?"
"Did you drink all that foreign ink in Oxford for years and end up drinking it all into a cow's stomach?" Zhang Chenglin looked at him with a rare, very direct look of disgust.
"Although, I studied in Paris." If he weren't afraid of being seen, Jiang Guanyu would have rolled his eyes at him on the spot: "And what does that have to do with whether or not I've studied abroad?"
Zhang Chenglin: "...I choose to establish my career first, please respect that."
Jiang Guanyu watched his retreating figure as he opened the door and got out of the car without the slightest hesitation, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
Jiang Guanyu and Zhang Chenglin entered together. There were many members of the Jiang family, including well-known figures from all walks of life across the country.
In this situation, both Jiang Xiaoxiao and Jiang Qingju had to step aside.
Over the years, many people have speculated whether Jiang Yuanxing would retire due to his advanced age, but year after year has passed, and to this day, the person sitting in the main seat is still Jiang Yuanxing.
Zhang Chenglin and Jiang Guanyu went in to say hello. Zhang Chenglin didn't like this kind of occasion, so after greeting Jiang Yuanxing, he planned to leave and stood at the door like Jiang Xiaoxiao and Jiang Qingju.
Before he could even move, Jiang Yuanxing, sitting in the main seat, spoke up: "Ah Lin, you stay here and come with Guan Yu to get to know these uncles and elders."
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