Chapter 86
The little glutton brought her drink and was in a great mood. Tiger was even happier to see both the old and new Flying Tigers gathered together. He warmly greeted the young Flying Tigers and, in high spirits, immediately offered to treat them. It was only after Yu Xueli reminded him that Tiger's business was turned into a half-sale, half-gift deal.
Iris praised Yu Xueli, saying, "Ali, you were very good at handling people today."
With a blink of her eyes, Yu Xueli knew that her words also included the line he had spoken earlier while playing along with their act. Smiling, he raised his glass, admitting defeat: "No matter what, I can't compare to the two of you."
Iris didn't believe his nonsense. Her eyes darted back and forth between Yu Xueli and Su Wenqiang, her gaze full of gossip, but she didn't directly ask about their experience living together. She only said, "After a while, you two will be just as in sync."
"Will it take a while?" Zhuang Zhuoyuan began to reveal the truth without any tact. "Our Inspector Yu at headquarters is very concerned about the performance of the new recruits. He checks the report cards several times a day at fixed times. As for what he checks, BB, I don't need to tell you, right?"
Tiger was bragging to the Little Flying Tigers about his glorious past when, at some point, a burst of laughter erupted. Everyone turned to look, and when they returned to the conversation, the topic had been lightly brushed aside. Iris, being shy, didn't intend to tease her further. She looked at Su Wenqiang, about to tell him about her new book, when she noticed him rubbing his wrist. Before she could ask, Yu Xueli interrupted, "You hurt your hand?"
Su Wenqiang seemed still embarrassed by everyone's laughter earlier. She didn't look directly at her boyfriend in response, but turned her head and body slightly away, saying unnaturally, "I twisted my ankle a little during training."
She didn't want Yu Xueli to look at her, so she immediately pulled her hand back after it was grabbed. Helpless, Yu Xueli could only say, "I'll rub it for you when we get home."
When he mentioned "home," Su Wenqiang became shy again and simply got up from his seat, pretending to get other drinks. While they were talking, Wei Ge and Nick had already leaned over to eavesdrop. As soon as they left, the two mischievous friends laughed loudly at Yu Xueli: "Someone's getting a sour grapes."
Yu Xueli was already struggling to handle two people on his own, so Iris and Zhuang Zhuoyuan kindly refrained from helping. They moved their chairs and turned around to chat with Zhan Hantao and Xie Jiaxing. Seeing Xingzai reminded Iris of the nursing home. ULO acted quickly; after Iris provided the address, the foundation sent people to conduct an on-site inspection. The nursing home wasn't particularly high-end, but the overall environment was acceptable. After the foundation's负责人 added the nursing home to the list, they assigned someone to purchase a batch of basic supplies for donation and distribution. As for other areas that needed renovation, that couldn't be done so quickly and had to proceed step by step according to procedure.
Xie Jiaxing was already very grateful for Iris's help. He didn't ask for much, only that his godmother could stay comfortably, and now that Iris had helped, his wish had been fulfilled. "Sister-in-law!" Xie Jiaxing suddenly stood up, startling Iris. She quickly gestured for him to sit down, but Xie Jiaxing insisted on finishing his toast: "Sister-in-law, on behalf of my godmother, thank you!"
His formality made Iris blush. She picked up her lemonade, clinked glasses with Xie Jiaxing, and slowly sat down: "I just happened to be able to help, you don't need to be so polite. I asked them to hurry up so we could have a chance to inspect it. Otherwise, in two months, when Tangyuan is born, all my time will be given to him."
Iris's due date was in January, but there was a history of premature births in her family for generations, so she extended the timeframe to the end of December, preparing to stop 80% of her work as soon as December began.
Zhan Hantao nodded: "No wonder Ah Hua said you've been very busy lately."
Even when busy, one should still go out and relax. The week the foundation completed its donation, Iris chose a day off and, together with Zhuang Zhuoyuan and his brothers from the Flying Tigers, went to the nursing home to visit Xingzai's godmother. It was during this visit that they learned that Xingzai's godmother's biological son, Ah Yang, had been implicated and killed by a drug trafficking group.
Back then, Ah Yang's father fell seriously ill. To pay for his father's medical expenses and support the entire family, Ah Yang entered the workforce at a young age. In such difficult circumstances, the young man couldn't bear the burden of supporting his family and gradually ventured into the gray areas of society. The result was predictable: Ah Yang was caught up in it, unable to escape, and forced to start smuggling drugs. Xu Qixia's group threatened and controlled him. Ah Yang had no choice but to follow orders time and time again, finally being shot and killed by the police during a shipment. Ah Yang's father, upon learning of his son's death, took all the blame upon himself and ultimately committed suicide. That international drug lord, Xu Qixia, destroyed the family of Xingzai's close friend. What was once a happy family of three is now reduced to a mentally unstable, lonely old woman—a truly heartbreaking story.
Derek stepped forward and patted Xie Jiaxing on the shoulder. He had recently found himself to be much more emotional and was constantly reminded that this was not a good sign. However, he still comforted Xie Jiaxing at this moment: "Breaking news, Xu Qixia has been arrested by the Myanmar police and is now being taken back to their country for trial."
Given the legal situation there, it's too early to call this good news. But the capture of the drug lord is certainly a positive development. Xu Qixia has been extremely adept at protecting his personal information; rumors circulate that he has many false identities, so most of the leads circulating about him are fabricated, and his photograph is nowhere to be found. Even if he isn't convicted in the end, his arrest has opened a loophole in his security, and future arrests will only be a matter of time.
"But the sooner we catch him, the fewer people will suffer."
"certainly."
With a sense of relief, everyone hoped that this notorious drug lord would be brought to justice soon.
Derek now had an extra task at work. Since he didn't want to attend folklore classes anyway, Iris told him to focus on gathering information from Xu Qixia and see if he could get the latest secondhand or thirdhand news as quickly as possible. Derek was truly grateful that she had left him a "secret weapon," but having something to do also allowed him to avoid Ding Huihui's invitations. Having met those Little Flying Tigers, he was quite disappointed; it seemed unlikely that any of them would pique Ding Huihui's interest. So, quietly, he bypassed Iris and went to a bar for a chance encounter with Jacob, inadvertently mentioning Ding Huihui and unwittingly revealing her whereabouts.
Jacob and Ding Huihui seemed to have a special connection. Last time he came to Hong Kong, he happened to be on the same flight as her, and he even escorted her through the VIP lane. This time, they met again on the plane. Jacob had recently developed a crush on a Japanese actress, and when Derek mentioned Ding Huihui, he started having feelings for the pretty flight attendant again. Japan was too far away, and Larine was in Hong Kong on serious business. If he went to Japan alone, he'd definitely get a scolding from his father. Weighing his options, he decisively chose Ding Huihui, who was closer to him. After all, it was all just for fun, so one more wouldn't hurt.
Ding Huihui was truly troubled by her love life. The person she loved didn't love her, and the person she didn't love kept bothering her. Although she and Jacob had once chatted warmly, all that joy was based on their friendship. Now that Jacob wanted to take things further, she could only say it was inappropriate. And faced with Derek's repeated avoidance and rejection, she decided to give it one last try.
Ding Huihui didn't send a text message, so Iris didn't know she was coming to see her. At that moment, her whole family was at the airport, waiting for Edward's arrival. With her daughter in her late pregnancy, Edward had handed over the group's affairs to his future successor, William, with Topaz assisting him. After finishing his business in New York, he came directly to Hong Kong.
Things were going very smoothly at first, and the family was having a great time. But shortly after they walked out of the VIP passage, they saw police officers dispersing the crowd. The three of them exchanged a glance and waited tacitly outside the police line. Sure enough, a few moments later, an SDU vehicle drove in.
Police cars and ambulances... When they picked them up, they didn't hear of any terrorist incidents occurring at the airport. Iris suddenly remembered the last time Flying Tigers appeared at the VIP exit and guessed that they might be performing G4 duties again, protecting some important person who had health problems and needed an ambulance to accompany them.
“Xu Qixia,” Edward said casually.
"What?" Iris didn't react at first, but after understanding her father's words, she repeated the two words she had just uttered, raising her voice more than three times: "How could it be him? Does he need police protection?" Iris really wanted to cry for help for her husband. She didn't know what bad luck the Flying Tigers had gotten into. Before, they protected important figures, but they were protecting a bunch of good-for-nothing rich kids. Now, they were protecting a major drug lord. She felt incredibly frustrated just thinking about it. Most of the people in the SDU were probably furious, especially those who knew about Xie Jiaxing's childhood friend.
Edward raised his hand, signaling the driver to start the car. Iris knew her husband wouldn't be home right after finishing his mission, and she wasn't going to wait for him. She just glanced back at the airport one last time before sitting up straight. Edward looked at her and said, "This could be a test for Zhuo Yuan."
Testing endurance and professionalism? Iris believes her husband, the top sniper, has no problem with either. Previously, they were able to focus on protecting the quirky and demanding Shu siblings; now, facing Xu Qixia, who is about to face legal consequences, the difficulty is clearly not much higher.
Edward smiled but said nothing.
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