Speak your mind
Shen Ningyi, like Liu Tianhua and Jiang Rusu, was Zhang Deyue's childhood friend. Despite the ups and downs of the past fifty or sixty years, they remained best friends. Zhang Chenglin still remembered that when they were young, Shen Ningyi and Liu Tianhua often stayed at his house and took great care of him and Zhang Shengmin.
Over the past two decades, Chang Cheng-lin has experienced much and witnessed the coldness of human nature, but the kindness shown to him by Shen Ning-yi and Liu Tian-hua has never been given in return. Chang Cheng-lin is sincerely grateful to them, but the matter of becoming the KMT chairman is outside his plans; it's a matter of principle.
"Alright, you don't need to see me off anymore," Liu Tianhua said as they reached the gate, urging him to stop. "I hope we can meet again sometime."
"Yes, we will," Zhang Chenglin replied, and the old butler who was guarding the door opened the door for them first.
A car was parked at the entrance, but it wasn't Liu Tianhua's car. The curtains on the car windows were very thick, but Zhang Chenglin still managed to see Shen Ningyi sitting in the back seat.
Zhang Chenglin was helpless. He had originally planned to go over and say hello, but Liu Tianhua pulled him back and gently shook his head at him.
Zhang Chenglin understood, nodded, and made no further move.
Shen Ningyi has a really explosive temper. Liu Tianhua was also afraid that if Zhang Chenglin really went to make a call, he would beat Zhang Chenglin up in the street without saying a word.
After Liu Tianhua got into the car, the driver started the car and drove away from Zhang Chenglin's house.
After the car turned the corner, Shen Ningyi finally spoke, asking, "What was his attitude?"
“What could his attitude be?” Liu Tianhua sighed. “He never intended to stay with the Kuomintang. Old Zhang had foreseen this, and neither have we. Why go to such lengths to correct this?”
Shen Ningyi was silent for a few moments, then spoke in a deep voice: "What do you mean by overcorrection? Isn't this the responsibility he should bear? Are you just going to watch him do nothing all day? Doing nothing? How can he face Lao Zhang like this?"
"Do you really think he's just doing nothing all day?" Liu Tianhua chuckled helplessly and asked Shen Ningyi, "Don't you know what kind of person Lao Zhang is? They say like father, like son, so it's impossible for A-Lin to really be doing nothing."
“A man like him, like Old Zhang, will achieve great things.” Liu Tianhua turned his head and glanced at the street, which was not clearly visible through the curtain, before drawing his conclusion.
"What if he loses?" Shen Ningyi asked again, then added, "I don't think he will be completely defeated."
“Yes,” Liu Tianhua said thoughtfully, “a man like him, if he succeeds, will achieve great things; there is no possibility of him losing.”
"Hmph." Shen Ningyi snorted through her nose and said nothing more.
Shortly after Liu Tianhua and Shen Ningyi left Shandong, Sheng Dongsheng accompanied the General Secretary back to Shanghai. Before leaving, he asked someone to deliver a letter to Zhang Chenglin, telling him that he could withdraw his people.
The Kuomintang congress lasted five days. By the time they finished, it was already after the Gregorian New Year. After the Kuomintang members withdrew from Shandong, Shandong finally returned to its former peaceful and uneventful days.
When a person suddenly relaxes from a state of high tension, they are almost always prone to falling seriously ill.
On January 5th, the snow that had been falling in Shandong for almost half a month finally stopped, and it was a rare sunny day with bright sunshine.
Zhang Chenglin suddenly fell ill, and the illness came on so suddenly that it startled Xin Jie, who had been following him around.
When Xin Jie returned from fetching the doctor, Ji Yuxing was standing at the door of Zhang Chenglin's bedroom, arms crossed, looking like he was watching a spectacle.
For the first time, Xin Jie genuinely doubted whether this person was truly a good brother.
As he approached the door, he suddenly saw Feng Yue standing by Zhang Chenglin's bedside, holding a half-wet towel and wiping Zhang Chenglin's face.
Xin Jie paused as he walked in, his face almost showing the same amused expression as Ji Yuxing.
The old doctor went in to examine the patient and came out a short while later, his white beard twitching as he said, "Sir, you've caught a cold, but it's nothing serious. I'll prescribe some medicine, brew it for him to drink on time, and he'll be fine."
Xin Jie nodded, and was just about to reach out to take the medicine packet prescribed by the old doctor when a slender hand reached out first, "Give it to me."
“This…” Xin Jie hesitated for a moment, but Ji Yuxing’s look of amusement became more and more obvious. He said, “Then I’ll have to trouble you.”
The words were spoken to Fengyue.
Feng Yue accepted the medicine packet prescribed by the old doctor, nodded to Ji Yuxing, and went to the backyard to brew the medicine.
After seeing the old doctor off, Xin Jie returned to find Ji Yuxing still standing there and couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Ji trusts her that much?"
Ji Yuxing suppressed the smile that was about to burst from his face, glanced at him sideways, and said with undisguised disdain, "What do you know, you lonely bachelor who hasn't even started a family?"
After saying that, she left without waiting for Xin Jie to react.
Xin Jie: "..." Are you being polite?
Including the time she had already spent here, Fengyue stayed at Zhang Chenglin's residence for more than half a month.
During the time Zhang Chenglin was ill, she took care of him personally. Even Xin Jie couldn't help but sigh that having a woman take care of him was indeed much more meticulous than having him, a grown man.
Illness strikes like a landslide, and Zhang Chenglin's illness has lasted for almost ten days.
Actually, it shouldn't have taken this long. He felt better after taking the medicine prescribed by the doctor, but he started handling official business again that night, and he handled official business all night with a high fever.
The next morning, a heavy snow fell, and he was so badly injured that he couldn't even get out of bed or speak. Xin Jie knew something bad was going to happen as soon as he saw him like that.
The senior doctor came to check on me again, and sure enough, this time he prescribed twice the amount of medicine as before.
Before leaving, they repeatedly urged him, "You all need to persuade him properly. What kind of talk is this? If he really ruins his health, won't he be the one suffering?"
Finally, under the combined persuasion and threats of Ji Yuxing and Feng Yue, he was able to avoid touching a single page of the document for the next few days.
Xin Jie handled what he could himself, and handed over what he couldn't to Ji Yuxing. What Ji Yuxing couldn't handle, he instructed Tan Yuanbo to handle directly.
After Zhang Chenglin recovered slightly, he found out about this and gave Xinjie a severe dressing-down. Xinjie looked aggrieved but dared not argue back, and could only leave Zhang Chenglin's bedroom with a wronged expression.
Just then, Ji Yuxing came in from outside and, seeing his dejected appearance, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and ask, "What's wrong?"
Xin Jie turned to look at the closed door of Zhang Chenglin's bedroom, shook his head and sighed, ultimately saying nothing.
Having known Zhang Chenglin for so many years, Ji Yuxing knew exactly what he was talking about. He took two steps forward, patted Xin Jie on the shoulder, and reassured him, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
Xin Jie still looked dejected, nodded, and left.
"What's wrong?" Ji Yuxing asked as he pushed open the door. "Why is Young Master Zhang in such a bad mood today?"
Ji Yuxing didn't even need to look at him; he could tell through the door that he was still angry.
Although it was he and Fengyue who persuaded him not to handle official business, Ji Yuxing knew he was in the wrong for submitting the matter to Tan Yuanbo without Zhang Chenglin's consent.
"Knowing I have a bad temper, why don't you get away from me?" Zhang Chenglin glanced at him, his face even more tense.
"I..." Ji Yuxing began to speak, but before he could say anything, Feng Yue brought in lunch from outside. As she served Zhang Chenglin the food, she said softly, "Why are you so angry again? You've just recovered, don't you care about your health?"
Ji Yuxing watched and listened, then quietly took two steps back and leaned back against the door, gazing at the peaceful scene before him.
During Zhang Chenglin's illness, Fengyue stayed by his side the whole time, cooking, brewing medicine, and feeding him medicine every day. Ji Yuxing thought that, no matter what, this period must have been a rare period of happiness for Zhang Chenglin.
If only this happiness could last forever...
But Zhang Chenglin has his own ideals and ambitions. He is not someone who will be trapped by love. So I'm afraid that such tenderness will not last in Zhang Chenglin's heart.
Let alone thinking about the future and the rest of one's life through a woman.
Even if it was someone he knew best from many, many years ago.
As Ji Yuxing pondered, his thoughts drifted away. He didn't know how much time had passed when Zhang Chenglin, who was sitting on the bed, suddenly spoke up: "Get to the point. What are you standing there for?"
Ji Yuxing suddenly realized that Zhang Chenglin had finished eating and Feng Yue had cleaned up the dishes and was about to leave.
Ji Yuxing casually pulled up a chair and sat down next to Zhang Chenglin's bed. Feng Yue watched him, and when he reached the door, he closed the bedroom door behind him.
Outside the door, Xin Jie was waiting for Zhang Chenglin and Ji Yuxing to finish their conversation before summoning him. When Feng Yue came out, he immediately reached out his hand: "Let me do it."
He intended to take the dishes that Fengyue was holding that needed washing.
"No need," Feng Yue said with a smile when she saw it was him. "You can wait here. He hasn't been feeling well these past few days and his temper has been bad. He'll be worried if he can't find you later."
Xin Jie was taken aback for a moment, then immediately nodded after realizing what he meant: "Okay."
Inside the bedroom.
Ji Yuxing watched Zhang Chenglin sit on the bed, rubbing his temples. He swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He didn't think Zhang Chenglin could handle what he wanted to say.
"Get to the point. When did you become so indecisive?"
Zhang Chenglin looked up and saw Ji Yuxing hesitating to speak, so he frowned and reminded him.
"During the time you were sick, seven high-ranking members of the Kuomintang have died."
Upon hearing Ji Yuxing's words, Zhang Chenglin's brows furrowed instantly, and his voice was frighteningly deep as he asked, "What do you mean?"
“These seven people have one thing in common: they all voted for you at the KMT annual convention,” Ji Yuxing added. He knew that Zhang Chenglin would have guessed even if he hadn’t said it, but he still added it anyway.
"Where are Liu Tianhua and Shen Ningyi?" Zhang Chenglin suddenly asked.
"Liu Tianhua and Shen Ningyi are currently safe. They hold high positions within the Kuomintang, so Zhuang Yanbin is unlikely to be crazy enough to target them."
"If he really targets Liu Tianhua and Shen Ningyi, then he will truly lose the hearts of the people he has worked so hard to win over."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
