As the saying goes, you may have Zhang Liang's strategy, but I have a ladder to climb over the wall.
Yan Jun had long heard that he would be arrested upon landing, and he was prepared to face trial.
After all, in ten years of struggle, he had secured a lecturer position and published a book.
Yan Jun never regretted his past departure.
But how could Gu Xiao let Yan Peiheng have his way?
Even Yan Jun thought Gu Xiao had co to discuss investnts with the military district, but that wasn't the case.
Starting tomorrow, the capital's Investnt Bureau would hold a major investnt conference, inviting dozens of overseas investors to visit and inspect various large private enterprises in the capital, seeking investnts for private businesses.
And Gu Xiao was one of the invited investors.
As for Yan Jun, Gu Xiao had registered him as one of his accompanying personnel. As soon as they got off the plane, Investnt Bureau staff would hold a welco ceremony, present flowers, and pin VIP corsages.
Then they would ride in Red Flag limousines arranged by the Investnt Bureau, heading together to their designated hotel.
With Gu Xiao's pressure, the Investnt Bureau leadership would personally coordinate with military district leaders to prevent Yan Jun's arrest, at least during the investnt conference days.
After all, Yan Jun hadn't committed espionage or hard national interests, and Yan Peiheng had already filed a lawsuit to sever their father-son relationship - couldn't the lawsuit wait a bit?
In today's Hua Country, harmony was paramount, and no one wanted to anger capitalist investors, right?
Moreover, Gu Xiao had employed another strategy: he had pre-committed to a four million investnt amount. Unlike others who would only invest after seeing good projects and leave if they found none, he had prepared four million in advance, determined to invest it during this trip.
How could the capital's Investnt Bureau not take such an investor seriously?
With this leverage, how could the Bureau's leadership refuse Gu Xiao's requests?
So Yan Zhao and Chen ilan's efforts were in vain.
By the ti they arrived, Yan Jun and Gu Xiao had already been picked up by the Investnt Bureau staff.
After arriving at the airport and failing to intercept them, Yan Zhao sent the military law enforcent vehicle back and returned to Chen ilan's car.
The couple exchanged glances, both at a loss for words.
Zhang Xiangming had prepared extensively to welco Gu Xiao - planning to use official vehicles without authorization, implenting martial law to clear roads, and booking an entire hotel. If Chen ilan hadn't appeared halfway to veto everything, imagine the embarrassnt when Zhang Xiangming would have arrived at the airport with such fanfare only to find no one to receive - wouldn't that have been a resounding slap from a capitalist across the faces of all military district personnel?
Especially for Yan Peiheng, it left him completely disoriented.
What made it worse was that Zhang Xiangming was the First Commander's daughter-in-law, making it an even more bitter pill to swallow.
What a cunning old fox Gu Xiao was, so skilled at exploiting people's weaknesses and causing embarrassnt.
"Thank goodness for you," Yan Zhao sighed deeply, speaking to Chen ilan.
If she hadn't cancelled the martial law, road clearance, and hotel booking, the military district would have lost face internationally.
Chen ilan didn't take credit for this, but rather marveled at Gu Xiao's brilliance and dark heart. Whether in winning people over or driving them apart, using money to expose people's ugly, greedy nature, he had mastered it to perfection.
Perhaps only soone like her, who still maintained so principles, could match that old man.
But Chen ilan couldn't understand one thing: what was Yan Jun thinking?
He studied philosophy and should have so intelligence - how could he not see that Gu Xiao's constant care for him and his wife, bringing him back now, making him play this ridiculous VIP role, was all just to anger and embarrass his father?
The lawsuit would happen eventually, and he would have to face Yan Peiheng sooner or later. Why did he insist on following Gu Xiao?
What good would avoiding it do? Wouldn't he be arrested eventually?
Due to their age difference, Yan Zhao didn't really understand his older brother, but like Yan Peiheng, he had always held hope for him, believing that since he had served in the military, he must have so bottom line, so principles in life.
But to avoid detention, he had actually helped Gu Xiao play the military district for fools, making Yan Zhao's fists clench.
When they t, he would definitely give Yan Jun a few punches.
"Let's go to the Investnt Bureau to arrest him," he said.
Even with interference from above, Yan Zhao was determined to arrest Yan Jun. Now, he was going to the Investnt Bureau to arrest him personally.
However, after leaving the airport, before getting on the highway, suddenly Hu Xiaohua pointed out the window and said, "Chief, look at that person, isn't he crazy? It's 37 degrees outside, and he's wearing a suit and tie. Does he want to die from heat?"
"Wait, isn't that... your older brother Yan Jun?" he called out again.
Chen ilan and her husband looked out the window as the car passed by. There was indeed Yan Jun by the roadside, carrying a large suitcase, dressed in a suit and tie, standing in the swirling dust, trying to hail a taxi.
Though they hadn't seen him in ten years, Yan Jun was recognizable with his hawk-like nose and deep-set eyes, looking very much like his grandmother. His distinctive features, combined with the unseasonable suit and the VIP corsage on his chest, made him instantly recognizable to Yan Zhao.
The car stopped beside Yan Jun, and Yan Zhao got out.
After ten years, Yan Jun still looked frail and scholarly, with innocent eyes - the typical appearance of an intellectual.
anwhile, Yan Zhao, in his early thirties, with his crew cut, white shirt, and black pants, looked ordinary but commanding, his slightly pointed crown making him appear as fierce as the sun at four in the afternoon.
The brothers faced each other in silence. After a long while, Yan Zhao picked up the suitcase and opened the car door, gesturing for Yan Jun to get in.
Yan Jun was like this: he had maintained so contact with Gu Xiao over these years because life was genuinely difficult, and as a philosophy scholar, he couldn't make much money, so he had no choice but to let Liu Xiuying ask Gu Xiao for help.
This behavior certainly counted as accepting a thief as his father.
However, since he had taken all the property from Su Wen, it proved he wasn't a person of particularly high principles.
So he had never felt ashad about it.
But today Gu Xiao had gone too far - first standing up the military district, then using him as a pawn, brazenly making him a VIP of the Investnt Bureau. He even said that if Yan Jun was willing, he would hire lawyers to fight his case, saying there was no need to fear the inheritance lawsuit because in Hua Country, no court would impose criminal sentences in inheritance cases, and for the father-son severance lawsuit, only the lawyer needed to appear in court.
If he could bring Yan Jun back to the country, he could safely get him out again, back to Arica.
How could Yan Jun not understand why Gu Xiao would do this?
He just wanted to compete with Yan Peiheng, to compete with so-called socialism, to make the Hua Country military realize how powerful capital could be.
Although he knew his father didn't love him, Yan Jun was still a Hua Country soldier, and he certainly wouldn't agree to such things.
That's why he had jumped out of the car halfway, planning to take a taxi himself to see Yan Peiheng.
Unlike the Investnt Bureau's Red Flag car with its excellent air conditioning, Food Factory 81's jeep rattled everywhere except for its horn, and let in drafts everywhere except through its air conditioner.
Chen ilan took over driving, with Hu Xiaohua sitting in the back. They had water prepared for Gu Xiao, imported from the foreign trade company, which they now offered to Yan Jun.
They also had a large fan, originally prepared for Gu Xiao, which Hu Xiaohua now used to fan Yan Jun.
"Brother, you've done well in Arica these years, haven't you? I heard your eldest son is applying to military school, the second one is studying dicine, and even the youngest one is excellent, speaking fluent English," Hu Xiaohua said with a smile.
Yan Jun was sowhat awkward. Seeing Hu Xiaohua in his suit and tie, he assud he was an educated person. Having just published a new book, and still in a proud phase, he opened his suitcase and took out a copy, saying, "Let give you a book, I wrote it."
Hu Xiaohua had no interest in the book, but when Yan Jun opened the suitcase, his eyes nearly popped out: "Brother, is that a suitcase full of US dollars?"
Yan Jun had $80,000 in royalties, plus $20,000 in personal savings from over the years, totaling $100,000, all in cash packed in the suitcase - ten stacks of US dollars, quite an eye-catching sight.
It was his first ti handling such a large sum of money, and as he touched it, he said, "This is for my father. Though he probably doesn't care, but as lambs kneel to nurse, children must repay their parents even if they don't love us."
Hu Xiaohua was left speechless with amazent: "Big brother, you've really made sothing of yourself."
In the eyes of this illiterate man, Yan Jun was the epito of success.
Of course, Yan Jun considered himself quite accomplished. Setting aside Mike's suicide attempt, his children's education had been relatively successful, giving him a subtle sense of pride. He smiled and said, "You're too kind."
Making small talk with Yan Zhao, he said, "Little Zhao, I hear your children are quite exceptional too."
Hu Xiaohua jumped in, "Yan Wangqi got second place in so Olympic math competition in Xiping City, and Yan Minglang's shooting skills make everyone envious."
Yan Jun, being more knowledgeable, said, "Olympic Mathematics, yes. It must have been hard work for you, Yan Zhao's wife, raising a child isn't easy."
"It's been fine," Chen ilan said, "They're self-motivated, I hardly had to supervise them."
"You're being too modest. Without hard work, how could children turn out so well?" Yan Jun was actually trying to justify himself while hoping to make Yan Zhao understand his own years of hardship. He continued, "When children are born, our era ends. Everything we do is for them. When I went abroad and accepted mother's property, I wronged Little Zhao and Yan Wei, but I was thinking of my children's future. You understand, right?"
It was the sa old tune - his most righteous excuse for taking all of their mother's property and still being able to live shalessly in this world.
Yan Zhao had always been direct in his actions and words, never sparing anyone's feelings.
Naturally, he wouldn't spare Yan Jun's feelings either, imdiately asking, "So your children are children, but what about mine? What about Yan Wei's children? At that ti, Qilin was sick - if mother had money, wouldn't she have used it first for Qilin's treatnt rather than giving it to your son?" It was clear he had stolen it, yet he insisted it was a gift, trying to muddy the waters.
Yan Jun was stunned for a mont, then stamred, "Little Zhao, at that ti mother really did give those things to voluntarily. Big brother admits to being a bit selfish, but philosophically speaking, the biggest difference between humans and animals is love and its inheritance. And mother, she loved , she wanted to give her things because she hoped I would achieve sothing, and now I've proven myself - big brother has done it, big brother has published a book..."
Yan Zhao had thought that when his brother jumped off the Investnt Bureau's car halfway, he had shown so remorse and recognized his mistakes. Now it seed he not only hadn't recognized his mistakes but had turned philosophy into a weapon to defend himself.
"So mother's love made you sell off all her possessions, even taking the jade from her neck? And your love for your sons - is that what drove Mike to attempt suicide three tis at military school?" Yan Zhao counter-questioned.
For parents, what's the greatest failure in life? It's when your own child attempts suicide, regardless of the reason.
And almost no parents would reflect on themselves because of this.
Instead, once sothing happens, they try their best to find reasons to absolve themselves, just like Yan Jun at this mont.
"There's severe racial discrimination in the Arican military, especially against Asians," Yan Jun quickly defended.
Arica did have serious racial discrimination, and in military camps, such discrimination was magnified countless tis.
After returning ho, Mike had told him that at military school, instructors called him nas like "girl," "whore," and other offensive terms, and during routine training, Asians were treated much more harshly than blacks and whites.
Yan Zhao imdiately retorted, "But brother, you've always said Arica is heaven. If it's heaven, how can there be discrimination? Knowing there was discrimination, you still sent your son there - is that your love for your son?"
Yan Jun and his wife had sent Mike to apply to West Point just to get green cards, not ntioning how difficult the process had been.
He had reflected on it for a long ti but didn't think he was wrong. Instead, he said, "But other Asian kids endured that discrimination, why couldn't Mike? I think his ntal illness must have been innate."
So, not only did he feel no sha for taking Su Wen's possessions.
From Jim's case, Yan Zhao could clearly see the consequences of his oppressive education, but now that things had gone wrong and the child had nearly died, Yan Jun was still trying to find reasons and excuses for himself.
"Other people's children are fine, why did you attempt suicide?"
"Other people's children could handle it, why couldn't you?"
This was Yan Jun's educational theory.
Just as Yan Zhao was about to speak, Chen ilan's phone rang.
It was Yuanyuan calling, who imdiately said, "Mom, my brother Xiaowang ran out of the yard, and I saw from upstairs that he got on a bus."
Xiaowang was the most unruly child in the family.
In Xiping City, Chen ilan wouldn't worry about wherever he went, after all, that was his territory.
But now they were in the capital, such a big city with all sorts of people, and just two days ago, a young troublemaker about Xiaowang's height had tried to scam money from him. So today, before leaving, Chen ilan had instructed Yuanyuan to keep an eye on him and to call her if he tried to sneak out.
Sure enough, Xiaowang had run off.
"Did you see which bus line it was?" Chen ilan asked.
Yuanyuan said, "The building's too tall, I couldn't see."
Hanging up the phone, Chen ilan said to Yan Zhao, "Your son probably really was lured away by that little scamr. He just finished his exams yesterday, and today he sneaked out alone."
Yan Zhao thought for a mont and said, "Let's go to Wangfujing to find him."
"How do you know he went to Wangfujing?" Chen ilan asked.
Yan Zhao said, "The day before yesterday, he asked for so KFC and McDonald's coupons, probably wanting to treat that little scamr to a al."
"A 60,000 yuan business deal, and they're discussing it over hamburgers with al tickets?" Chen ilan couldn't help but laugh.
Speaking of Xiaowang's absurdity, Yan Zhao also broke into a rare smile: "Children's world is always innocent."
It was both amusing and not - twelve-year-old Xiaowang, eting a scamr about his height, had beco completely enchanted and was actually going to discuss investnt seriously.
Chen ilan turned the steering wheel and headed straight for Wangfujing.
Yan Jun could probably tell that Yan Zhao's son had been scamd by soone to discuss investnt and business, and 60,000 yuan wasn't a small amount even in Arica.
He was surprised by how relaxed Yan Zhao and his wife were at this mont. In his view, an excellent child shouldn't go into business; they should pursue research or beco doctors, lawyers - more lucrative professions.
Moreover, for his sons to study efficiently, they had never had vacations since childhood. They would return ho right after school, and he had never let them make friends. The results were obvious - the children didn't waste ti on ineffective socializing, and their grades were always top of the school.
At this mont, Yan Jun secretly found so balance.
His own son was attempting suicide, while Yan Zhao's son, at such a young age, was secretly going out to discuss business behind his parents' backs.
They all loved their children enough, but children would always deviate from their parents' expectations.
Therefore, Mike's suicide had nothing to do with him, and it wasn't his fault.
Perhaps, as Liu Xiuying often said, it was because they fed the children too well, gave them too good living conditions, never let them suffer or experience hardship, that they beca so fragile.
"Throw them onto the Gobi Desert in Qinghai, let them eat coarse grain buns with ice chips for a few als, and all that nonsense about depression will disappear - it's all from spoiling them," Liu Xiuying would always say.
Yan Jun agreed with this theory - Mike was so fragile because they had protected him too well.
After an hour, the car entered the city center, and soon they arrived at Wangfujing.
First, they went to KFC. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, they could see it was packed with people. Chen ilan and Yan Zhao looked around but didn't see Xiaowang.
So Chen ilan drove a bit further, heading towards McDonald's.
After driving a short distance, Yan Zhao said, "Stop the car, he's there."
After parking, the couple didn't get out but turned their heads to look out the window at their child.
"Should we call him back?" Hu Xiaohua eagerly said, "Commander, shall I go catch the child for you?"
Yan Zhao said, "No need, I just want to rember what that person looks like. Let Xiaowang play."
In the crowd, Yan Jun imdiately spotted Yan Zhao's son. The boy bore a three-part resemblance to Yan Zhao and seven parts to Zhou Xueqin, making him a particularly handso young lad. Judging by his slim fra, he couldn't have been more than eleven or twelve years old. He sat on the steps holding a McDonald's tray, talking animatedly with another child who had a notably large head, was very thin, and had big eyes.
"Xiaozha, you should get out and call the child back," Yan Jun suggested.
Since the boy was good at mathematics, he should be studying continuously, striving to beco an expert in mathematics and physics. In Yan Jun's view, it would be unacceptable to let him waste his pri years making friends and boasting.
Moreover, Chen ilan had just ntioned that the child was about to be scamd out of sixty thousand yuan.
Yan Zhao turned his head and coldly asked his older brother, "Why should I call him back?"
"He'll be deceived," Yan Jun said.
"Society is so complex. If he doesn't experience so setbacks and deceptions while young, how will he learn to distinguish between those who want to deceive him and those who truly care about him when he grows up?" Yan Zhao countered.
"But he's wasting ti, and ti is life..." Yan Jun was a philosopher, but how could he out-argue Yan Zhao, who handled guns for a living?
Yan Zhao imdiately responded: "In my view, being deceived is aningful. At least after being cheated, he'll understand how to protect himself in the future. Otherwise, he'll end up like you, big brother - forty-four years old and still naively believing Gu Xiao is a good person. Isn't that because father protected you too well when you were young?"
This left the philosopher Yan Jun montarily speechless, unable to counter his rough-and-ready younger brother's argunt.
Chen ilan didn't stop the car either; she simply turned the wheel and drove away.
She had decided that if Xiaowang reached an agreent and wanted to invest, she would provide the money.
Because she had discovered that the person discussing investnt with Xiaowang wasn't a child his age at all, but rather soone at least twenty-six or twenty-seven years old - soone she actually recognized. In the future, he would beco the richest man in Hua Country, whom all won would have to call "father." It was only because of his short stature and thin fra that they had mistaken him for a child.
Even the future richest man had his down-and-out tis. Clearly, this was during his entrepreneurial phase. Because he was working in the internet industry, hardly any serious investors would invest in such ventures during this era. That's why he had to resort to discussing cooperation with a child like Xiaowang.
She figured that if the negotiations went well, he would probably visit them to convince her and Yan Zhao to invest.
Investing in the future richest man ant Xiaowang's path to wealth would be secure for life.
What reason did she have not to invest?
This was thanks to Yan Zhao - if he hadn't allowed the children to boldly take risks, Xiaowang wouldn't have stumbled upon such a great investnt opportunity.
In this aspect, Chen ilan couldn't match Yan Zhao's broad-mindedness.
But that aside.
Yan Jun had gone to the capital at a very young age. While Yan Wei had Mrs. Wang Gebi and her daughter to care for him, he and Yan Peiheng were essentially left to fend for themselves. From the age of nine, they had to cook their own als and make coal balls. The noodles they cooked were often undercooked, frequently giving them both stomach problems.
In contrast, Yan Zhao and Yan Xing had their mother's love back in their hotown.
He had always believed he was the one unloved by both father and mother, with only his grandmother showing him true affection - until his father forcefully took him away from her.
It was both a grudge and Yan Jun's subconscious belief that his father had never loved him. After thinking for a mont, he raised his voice and said, "Xiaozha, if father really wanted to protect , why would he send to Qinghai for rural work? He was obsessed with his work, only cared about himself. Otherwise, how could he live apart from mother for so many years? He wasn't even there when she died. Who has he ever loved, except for showing slightly more affection to Yan Wei? If it weren't for his heartlessness and coldness, why would I have thought about going abroad to change my fate?"
Yan Jun knew he was unfilial.
But he felt his father was even more contemptible.
Twenty years of separation, not even returning for his wife's death - Yan Peiheng wasn't a qualified father or husband.
"I wasn't good to mother, but what about our father? He didn't even co back when mother died. You say he loved , protected - isn't that ridiculous?" Fearing he hadn't provoked Yan Zhao's anger enough, Yan Jun repeated.
The reason he had agreed to co with Gu Xiao was that in his mind, his father had shown little care for any of his children except for slightly favoring Yan Wei. He was cold and heartless, obsessed with work, not even returning for his wife's funeral. How could such a father earn his children's respect?
Moreover, he believed this point could convince Yan Zhao.
Because Yan Zhao was also a child who had never been loved.
Yan Zhao suddenly turned around, looking at him as if he were a stranger: "Mother passed away in July 1983. I was at the front lines then and couldn't get away. The Yangtze River was flooding, and all personnel stationed in the Central Military Region were involved in flood control efforts for a whole month. Father was even swept away by the flood and went missing for several days. Didn't you know?"
Although Yan Zhao was angry about that incident, he had nothing to say.
Because there was war at the front lines then, and flooding at ho, Yan Peiheng was overwheld with work.
So while he resented his father, it was because of the twenty-year separation from his mother, not because of this incident.
Yan Jun really didn't know about this, but he imdiately countered: "Xiaozha, our father was a leader - his participation in the flood control was just for show, wasn't it? What's happened to you? Weren't you the one who hated our father the most when you were young? Why are you constantly speaking up for him now?"
Wasn't Yan Zhao always the one who hated Yan Peiheng the most?
Now he was suddenly defending Yan Peiheng, even speaking with the sa righteous tone as him.
Yan Zhao turned his head back, speaking coolly: "Big brother, I don't know if you're foolish or just don't understand the dostic situation. You and your wife had six-month visas but overstayed in Arica and refused to return. Dad was only a division-level cadre then. If he hadn't been on the front lines of disaster relief, how do you think his position in the military region would have fared? What reason would the military region have had to believe you would definitely return? Do you know that because of Dad's insistence, they kept your professional files until 1985? And he naively believed you were being detained by the Aricans, which was why you couldn't return?"
On one side was his eldest son who had overstayed in Arica; the old father had to exhaust himself proving to the organization that his son would definitely return, so that when his son ca back, he could be properly placed in a job.
On the other side was his chronically ill wife. Because Su Wen had been in good physical health apart from her ntal condition, Yan Peiheng never thought she would pass away so soon.
By the ti he finished his work and returned ho, Su Wen had already passed away, and the funeral was over.
He and his wife never saw each other one last ti.
And the son he firmly believed was being detained by the Aricans had stayed away for exactly ten years before finally returning.
Moreover, he had returned alongside his father's enemy.
How could Yan Peiheng's heart not be riddled with wounds?
As the car drove on, Yan Zhao added coldly: "Don't try to control your children, and don't love them too much. Father wanted to control you, and you fled abroad to escape. Your son is the sa - he wanted to escape from you, but you should be grateful that he had more conscience than you. At least he never thought about hurting you."
If Yan Peiheng didn't love him, would he have fought so hard to keep his personnel files?
If he didn't love him, would he have firmly believed in his return when everyone else was convinced he wouldn't co back?
Mike wanted to escape from his father, but chose suicide to avoid hurting him.
While Yan Jun escaped from Yan Peiheng by choosing to hurt him.
To protect his son and his job, Yan Peiheng, a division-level leader, had rushed to the front lines of disaster relief. If he hadn't been swept away by the flood, if he hadn't nearly died, how could anyone in the military region have willingly accepted his promotion to commander?
What right did Yan Jun have to say his father didn't love him?
He sat in the back, holding his book, remaining perfectly still for a long ti.
For every point Yan Zhao made about Yan Peiheng and Su Wen, Yan Jun could find a perfect excuse to explain it away.
But there was one point he couldn't escape, one he had to face.
Aliali: 674df8b98ee49abd4e65fbd9
That Mike had actually committed suicide because he wanted to escape from his control?
So he really was a sinner?
Not just to his parents, but to his child as well?
Impossible. Yan Jun refused to believe that his son's suicide was because of him. He just couldn't find a reason to defend himself at the mont, but he kept thinking, searching for excuses for himself.
Just then, Hu Xiaohua suddenly rembered sothing and leaned forward to tell Chen ilan, "Sister-in-law, speaking of suicide, do you know what Jim told yesterday? He said his life in Arica was like hell. If it weren't for waiting for Yuanyuan to grow up so he could marry her, he would have committed suicide long ago. Have you ever thought about whether Yuanyuan should marry Jim when she grows up?"
Chen ilan turned her head during the red light and rolled her eyes at Hu Xiaohua.
They could see Yan Jun's face turning waxy yellow, with large beads of sweat erging from his fine hair partings, rolling down from his temples.
Jim had told Yan Sanye about Arica being hell and his suicidal thoughts, and he had shared this with many people in Yanguan Village.
After going to the capital, he would tell this to everyone he t.
If it was just Mike, Yan Jun might still have found excuses for himself, but what about Jim? He was only a 9-year-old child, and his parents were his whole world. Without any external influences, why would he also have thoughts of suicide?
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