After Qin Changsheng left.
Rong Zhaonan looked down at the person in his arms.
Ning Yuan's fair cheeks were flushed red by the firelight, stained with soot and a few bloodstains.
Her fair hand was scraped raw, and tiny beads of blood oozed out, which were particularly glaring in the flickering firelight.
She was probably cut by flying shards of stone or glass when she fired the gun at the tires.
He carefully took her hand, his voice hoarse yet gentle: "Your hand is injured, let's put some medicine on it first?"
Ning Yuan finally broke free from the all-consuming flames and the surging memories of her past life.
She glanced at her scraped hand, then looked up to meet Rong Zhaonan's handsome face, illuminated by the firelight.
His features were familiar, refined to the point of being sharp; his long, dark eyes held a distant, aloof light.
The dust and traces of blood on his military uniform could not conceal his upright posture.
She gave a slight smirk, her gaze sweeping over the area on his left shoulder hidden by his combat uniform—
"It's nothing, just a minor injury. But your old shoulder injury hasn't healed yet, and you took a lot of flying debris on your back while protecting me. You should take care of yourself first."
Her tone was flat, revealing no emotion.
Rong Zhaonan paused, his heart felt as if it had been clenched by something, and a fine pain spread through him.
He gazed into her calm, unwavering eyes, his voice hoarse: "Are you concerned about me?"
Ning Yuan suddenly smiled, a very faint smile—
"Yes, my ex-husband sacrificed his life and his remains were never found. As his sister-in-law, isn't it only natural and reasonable for me to care about his only brother?"
Rong Zhaonan's breath hitched. Looking into her clear yet cold eyes, he murmured hoarsely, "Ning Yuan... I'm not Zhou Yan. I've been honest with you..."
Her voice remained calm: "When did Superintendent Zhou speak of honesty? What was it like?"
"Was it a few months ago, when you and Miss Cha Meiling announced your engagement in front of everyone, all the rage, and then you cornered me in a small room outside the banquet hall, saying those ambiguous hints and allusions, but without really explaining anything?"
A look of pain and suppressed emotion appeared on Rong Zhaonan's face: "A-Ning..."
He never liked calling her by nicknames like Yuanyuan or Xiaoning, like other people.
Ning Yuan didn't give him a chance to speak at all, her voice growing colder and colder: "Or... when you later came to me and asked me to contact Ning Bing'an and Fourth Uncle, seeking their cooperation to deal with Chen Jingsong?"
Rong Zhaonan froze, his heart tightened, and a momentary feeling of suffocation rendered him speechless.
He recalled the extraordinary calm she displayed whenever she faced him after their engagement party, a calm acceptance that showed neither joy nor sorrow.
He recalled her silent cooperation during this period, never asking him a single question, remaining distant – a tacit understanding of secrecy.
I remember the unfathomable calm in her eyes every time she looked at me…
Only now did he suddenly realize—it wasn't reconciliation! It wasn't that he didn't mind his deception!
That was just... just that she suppressed all her personal feelings in the face of national righteousness and fulfilled the responsibility she felt she had to bear!
A wave of panic and pain instantly gripped Rong Zhaonan's heart.
It was more intense than any other wound on his body!
He instinctively reached out, wanting to grab her, to hold her tightly in his arms, and to explain and apologize with all his might!
"...I'm sorry...I...I really had no choice...These past years, I've been infiltrating behind enemy lines, every step fraught with danger, life and death hanging by a thread, every little thing affecting everything. I couldn't return to your side immediately...I really couldn't do this!"
Ning Yuan didn't avoid his hand; she looked at him and smiled softly.
“Of course I understand, I know. It’s already Jiajia’s greatest fortune that Superintendent Zhou came back alive. We can’t break the rules. If I blamed you, how could I let you get close to Jiajia? You are her father.”
Her gaze passed over his shoulder, landing on the still-burning wreckage of the car in the distance, her voice as soft as a breeze—
"Alright, this isn't the place to talk. Go and handle the aftermath. I should also go back to the Ning family. Cha Shenlou is dead, but this isn't over. The capital behind him has been angered, and the financial war will become even more intense."
As soon as she finished speaking, Ning Yuan turned around and walked steadily toward the factory exit.
Rong Zhaonan stood frozen in place, his throat feeling as if something was blocking it, unable to utter a single word.
She wasn't angry; her voice was gentle, just like any understanding family member.
But this very calmness and acceptance was like the sharpest knife, precisely piercing the softest part of his heart and then violently stirring it up.
That tone... that tone was just like...
It's like they're an ordinary couple, fine when they're together, and indifferent when they're apart... it's the same whether they see each other or not.
He clenched his fists and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart, more painful than when he fell into the sea, more painful than when he was shot, more painful than all the injuries he had suffered in his life combined!
He'd rather she beat him up!
I don't want her to be like that!
...
Not far away, two figures, both dressed in camouflage and with their faces painted, stopped in their tracks as they were about to emerge from the nearby woods.
They heard Ning Yuan say, "A sister-in-law cares about her brother-in-law"...
The tall man spoke in a low voice to the lean, wiry figure beside him, "Old Xu... shouldn't we be having a happy ending with all the hardships, the couple reuniting, and everyone crying in each other's arms? Why does the atmosphere feel off?"
Old Xu grabbed Chen Chen and dragged him backward, yelling, "What the hell! Didn't you see the look in your sister-in-law's eyes?!"
"Now that those scum outside have been dealt with, and the conflict between us and the enemy is over, it's time for the internal contradictions to become the primary contradiction! This is settling scores after the fact! Are you still going to push forward? Can't you see the captain's face has turned green?! Hurry up and get out of here! Take the brothers and retreat quickly!!"
Is the captain's antics entertaining?
When there is no danger, the captain is their biggest danger!
Chen Chen was pulled so hard that he stumbled, shrank back, and immediately called to the other team members who were about to watch, and quickly retreated.
I'm outta here!
...
Just as Ning Yuan had predicted.
Cha Shenlou's death did not abate the storm in Hong Kong's financial markets.
International short sellers did not back down because of the demise of a front man.
Cha Shenlou is merely a relatively conspicuous piece on the chessboard; the vast majority are pawns used for money.
The huge sums of money from international capital are being held by the Hong Kong government by an invisible hand, preventing them from being withdrawn as originally planned.
The initial investment was about to vanish, and they were about to suffer huge losses.
This enraged and drove the hidden Ansar Capital, a massive financial Cthulhu monster whose tentacles had been severed, into a frenzy and madness.
Sell orders rained down like snowflakes, with short-selling institutions creating a variety of unfavorable news about the Hong Kong market with unprecedented force, attracting hedge funds to join in attacking Hong Kong stocks.
The offensive became even more ferocious, with a frenzied sell-off in an attempt to completely destroy market confidence and create irreparable panic.
The glimmer of hope that had just been ignited in the Hang Seng Index was instantly extinguished by a cold downpour, causing it to plummet by half again!
A war without gunfire, yet far more brutal than any real battle, has erupted in the financial sector.
However, the Ning family, which was at the forefront of the storm, was like a leading giant ship that had experienced many ups and downs in the storm, and did not back down.
With their two key generals, Ning Man'an and Ning Bingyu, stationed at the Central headquarters, backed by the official document in Ning Yuan's hands, they worked together with the other three leading families, battling the Hong Kong stock market by day and the US stock market by night!
A series of calm and precise instructions were issued.
Sell off! Support the market!
Hold your ground and don't give up an inch.
The battle in the financial arena has reached a fever pitch.
The two sides engaged in an extremely fierce battle at every point on the index!
Every second, astronomical sums of money evaporate or change hands.
The air was thick with the stench of money, a time of great hardship...
On the waters of Victoria Harbour, the ship's horn sounded a long blast.
Several cargo ships flying unfamiliar flags cleaved through the dark waves and slowly entered the port.
At almost the same time, several private planes quietly landed at Kai Tak Airport.
A group of middle-aged men with sharp features and composed demeanor walked out quickly, surrounded by bodyguards.
They spoke Cantonese or English with heavy Hokkien accents, their expressions resolute.
These people are representatives of Fujianese businessmen all over the world.
They didn't attract media attention or hold a press conference; they just arrived quietly.
One of the leading Fujianese business tycoons met with the Ning family patriarch at the villa in Repulse Bay and said in a deep voice.
"Grandpa said that family matters are the business of the children outside. Anyone who dares to bully their neighbors will have to ask us first!"
Immediately afterwards, a peculiar scene appeared outside the vaults of major banks in Hong Kong.
A row of unassuming vans were parked at the entrance, directed by men speaking with a Hokkien accent.
One by one, heavy metal boxes sealed with tape were unloaded from the vehicle.
The box was opened, and inside were not gold or documents, but neatly stacked, brand-new, emerald-green US dollars!
When hundreds of boxes of US dollar cash flooded into the trading hall, it shocked the entire press and the market.
Like the most direct and hottest blood, it is ready to be injected into the Hong Kong government's failing financial heart!
...
Meanwhile, in a busy port in Europe.
A short, refined-looking, white-haired Eastern man put down his phone.
He stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the fleet of ships that resembled a steel forest.
Behind him, his assistant respectfully reported: "Boss, in accordance with the agreement with the Li family and the Zheng family, all ten 200,000-ton heavy-duty cargo ships have set sail for the Hong Kong government."
"As you instructed, priority will be given to transporting various supplies urgently needed to stabilize the market, and the four major families of Hong Kong have been notified that transport capacity is ready to be coordinated with their deployment at any time."
The man nodded slightly, his gaze behind his glasses deep and unfathomable.
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