Xu Zhuohua had considered several reasons why Xu Jixin might reject her.
Perhaps they thought she lacked experience, didn't know how to command respect, and was unfamiliar with arms transport routes...
She had done her homework on all of these things and thought of the right words to persuade Xu Jixin.
However, Xu Jixin's first words were of concern for her safety, which was something Xu Zhuohua hadn't expected.
Xu Zhuohua's fingers tightened suddenly around the jade cuff, her pupils trembled slightly, and her eyelashes fluttered like startled butterfly wings.
After a long while, he slowly raised his head, his eyes clouded with a persistent mist: "Huh? What do you mean?"
Xu Jixin's pale eyebrows furrowed into a tight knot, his gaze sharp as an icy blade. "Do you know what you're saying?"
His voice was filled with anger, "Arms! They're like a gaping maw that can devour an entire family! Everyone avoids them like the plague! Do you think the Xu family wants the Eastern and Southern routes to get involved in this kind of dangerous business?"
The Dongxing-Nanxian route holds the lifeline of the nearby residents, and many people rely on it for their livelihood. Now, with Germans and Japanese in Dongzhou, the Chinese have no way to survive.
If the eastern and southern routes are also lost, many people will lose their livelihoods.
If it weren't for the Xu family's benevolence, the Eastbound Southbound Route would have been lost. The current situation is the result of a unanimous discussion among the Xu family members.
Even if it means getting involved in arms dealing and being caught up in conflicts, we must protect those who unconditionally pledged allegiance to the Xu family back then.
Xu Jixin leaned back in the carved mahogany chair, the dim light casting interplay of light and shadow on his face. The scene of the Xu family sitting together discussing whether to stay or leave the southern route to the east flashed before his eyes again.
Those arms transport manifests stained with the smoke of gunpowder, those customs documents that needed to be processed overnight—each and every one of them was like a heavy shackle, firmly trapping the Xu family in this vortex.
But this seems to be the only way to preserve the southern route eastward.
He took a deep breath. Xu Zhuohua's loose hair covered her pale face, but it couldn't hide the stubborn light in her eyes.
“We are all ordinary people,” Xu Jixin’s voice seemed to be squeezed from the deepest part of his chest, hoarse and heavy. “To survive in this chaotic world, we have to see if those big shots who hold guns are doing well.”
He stood up and walked to the window. "Getting involved with weapons was a last resort. It was like dancing on the edge of a knife with the lives of generations of the Xu family."
He turned around abruptly, his gaze sharp, staring directly at Xu Zhuohua: "But anyone can touch you, but not you!"
Xu Zhuohua didn't understand, "Why can't I? I'm Cheng Muyun's wife. If something happens to him, I can't escape responsibility at all. Besides, the Eastbound Southbound Line is under my name. If someone really wants to investigate, I'll still be the first one to be sacrificed."
The mutton-fat jade pendant at her waist collided with the pear wood tabletop, the clear sound piercing the stagnant air, like a sharp blade severing the last restraint between the brother and sister.
A stubborn flame burned on her pale face.
Xu Jixin's knuckles, which were gripping the carved chair back, suddenly turned white, and his pupils contracted violently.
"Are you going to use the family's jade pendant to pressure me?" His voice was like shards of ice squeezed from his throat.
Xu Zhuohua's fingertips dug deeply into the hem of the brocade skirt, the fabric wrinkling in her palms.
Her eyes welled up with tears: "I didn't mean to threaten you..." Her voice trailed off with an undisguised sob.
"The Eastern Southern Route is the Xu family's century-old foundation; arms dealing will inevitably backfire. I just want to..." She raised her head, her eyelashes glistening with tears, "to cut this line off completely, so as not to implicate Cheng Muyun and the Eastern Southern Route..."
"Ha—" Xu Jixin suddenly let out a short laugh, the laugh filled with sarcasm and sorrow.
"So you were thinking of Cheng Muyun after all." His voice was terrifyingly low.
Xu Zhuohua clenched her fist. "Not entirely, but part of it is also true."
The carved sandalwood table groaned under Xu Jixin's iron fist, the celadon teacup clattered, and the emerald tea spilled onto the table.
The ripples on the water reflected Xu Jixin's face, contorted with rage.
"No matter what, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse! Even if Cheng Muyun is under investigation and confined to his quarters!" His voice suddenly rose, "Backed by Governor Cheng, who controls the military and political affairs of three prefectures! He has the entire Eastern Prefecture army as his backer, and what about you?"
Xu Jixin was truly enraged, almost roaring, "If Zhou Minhai targets you, you won't even have a chance to defend yourself! He'll drag you straight to the execution ground on the outskirts of the city and shoot you dead. The Xu family will even have to sneak around to collect your body!"
The steam rising from the tea table blurred Xu Zhuohua's red-rimmed eyes, and she staggered back half a step.
"How could it be that serious!" the girl retorted, her neck veins throbbing with each rapid breath. "Whoever is behind Cheng Muyun, I'm behind him too!"
Xu Jixin stared at the madness burning in Xu Zhuohua's eyes, his chest trembling with anger, and a metallic taste rising in his throat.
"How can he protect you? His father beat him half to death! He's still in jail. How can he save you?"
Xu Zhuohua was jolted, feeling as if he had been hit on the head with a club. He was completely dizzy, and all he could think about were Xu Jixin's words.
She stopped abruptly. "What did you say? Cheng Muyun is in jail?"
Xu Jixin's Adam's apple bobbed violently. He belatedly realized that the words "beaten half to death" and "locked in jail" that he had just blurted out were like venomous snakes coiling around his tongue.
He lowered his head, his slender fingers twisting the hem of his robe tightly, the dark-patterned brocade crumpled into a ball, as if this would force back the words he shouldn't have said.
"Second Brother!" Xu Zhuohua's voice exploded with sobs. Her slender fingers gripped Xu Jixin's sleeve tightly. She stood on tiptoe, and large tears fell onto the back of Xu Jixin's hand.
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