Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 47: Farewell in the Heavy Rain
After the meeting at Shanggong Garden, Chen from Foshan said goodbye.
Wu Chengjian returned to Ritianju and just dozed off for a while beside the rose garden when Ye Youyu came over. She glanced around and Dongxue, who had come with her, left with Xia Qing, who had been serving Wu Chengjian.
Ye Youyu asked: "Why did you arrange it this way?"
Wu Chengjian opened his eyes and said, "I must go to Beijing. During my absence, if you are in charge, my sister-in-law will only be more suspicious, and this family will definitely be restless and disharmonious. If someone outside puts some pressure on us and uses some tricks, the Wu family will fall apart from within. But if my sister-in-law is in charge, her previous doubts about me will immediately dissipate. There will be no rift between us uncle and sister-in-law, and you two sisters-in-law will be able to reconcile soon. My sister-in-law is not a mean person who seeks power. Once she believes in us, everything will be easy to talk about."
Ye Youyu was stunned. This principle was not difficult to understand even if it was explained. Moreover, based on her understanding of Cai Qiaozhu, most things would be as Wu Chengjian thought. However, this approach of retreating for the sake of family harmony was something she had never thought of before. It was not because of her lack of intelligence, but because of her habit.
Wu Chengjian added, "After I leave, my sister-in-law will take over most of the housework, so you can rest assured and take care of your pregnancy. However, she is good at internal coordination, not external calculations. The daily business of Yihe Bank will be handled by several big shopkeepers, so you don't need to worry about it. If there are really a few big shopkeepers who can't handle it, report it to my sister-in-law. If she can't make a decision, you can help to calculate it at that time. Anyway, it's just a matter of a few months, and it's not likely that there will be a world-shaking change. Even if there is a world-shaking change, there is no need to rush. Stabilize the bottom line first and wait for me to come back to deal with it."
Ye Youyu asked: "What's the bottom line?"
Wu Chengjian said: "The safety of my family."
After hearing this, Ye Youyu couldn't help herself and crawled on Wu Chengjian, crying, "A few months...really coming back in a few months?"
In fact, what she wanted to say was, can she really come back? However, she couldn't say such ominous words!
Wu Chengjian laughed and said, "Life is like the waves, sometimes fierce and sometimes calm. Whether it's our hometown in Fujian or our new home in Guangdong, who dares to say that every time we go out to sea to beg for a living, we will be safe? If you don't have the courage to take risks, don't even think about begging for a living on this Maritime Silk Road! If we have to cry like this before every time we go out to sea, then we won't be able to live like this."
Although I knew my husband was trying to comfort me, it was true, so I just wiped away my tears.
Fujian and Guangdong live by the sea and make their living from the sea. The adventurous spirit of the men going out to sea and the perseverance and endurance of the women at home are all things that have been slowly built up over countless generations.
Even if you know there are dangers, you must move forward!
Even if you know it's sad, you have to get through it!
The couple hugged each other and talked for a while, then Xia Qing came over and said that her fifteenth uncle and several big managers wanted to see her.
Wu Chengjian nodded: "Please ask them to come over." Ye Youyu calmed down, stood up and said: "I'll go prepare some tea."
As soon as she left, her fifteenth uncle and the three big managers Liu, Ou and Yao all came.
Wu Qi brought a chair, but Manager Liu refused to sit down and asked, "Officer Hao, what's going on?"
"Sit down first." Wu Chengjian waved his hand and dismissed the servants. Then he said, "I'm going to Beijing. I'll probably be gone for a few months."
Several shopkeepers were stunned for a moment, and then they all seemed to understand.
Manager Liu said, "You left right after you said that. By the time we reacted, everyone in the room was in chaos. We are still running around like headless flies."
Wu Chengjian said, "The people who can come to Shanggong Garden today are people that my sister-in-law trusts, and they are also people that my father and I trust. You can tell them later, and only tell the outside world two things: one is that my sister-in-law, my nephew and I have severed our relationship, and the other is that from now on, my sister-in-law will be in charge of Yihe Bank. As for the outsiders, let them spread rumors and gossip as they please."
Ou Jiafu asked: "Officer Hao, is it dangerous in Beijing?"
Wu Chengjian said, "You don't need to worry about these. Just take care of the affairs of the bank. If you can't decide on the affairs of the bank, go to Lirongyuan and ask my eldest sister-in-law. Fifteenth uncle, please help sort out the affairs of the clan. Don't let anyone cause trouble in Wujiayuan before I return from Beijing."
Uncle Fifteen asked, "How long will it take you to come back?"
Manager Yao Si suddenly interrupted and said, "Everything else is fine, but if someone takes advantage of your absence, Hao Guan, to kill Yi Hexing again , like the previous two times..."
Wu Chengjian raised his hand and said, "I will talk to Qi Guan. If we can reach an agreement, he will help you. If we can't reach an agreement, it doesn't matter. In short, what you have to do is to stabilize the internal affairs of Yihe Bank. As for external affairs, you don't need to worry about them. If you encounter an attack, retreat if you can, and don't fight back."
Shopkeeper Yao Si asked, "What if there is no way back?"
"There is nothing to retreat from." Wu Chengjian said, "If someone really schemes against us, we will give them the land, the shop, and the tea plantation. It doesn't matter if we have to take all our employees with us. When the time comes, we will tell everyone: just continue to work and live peacefully. Everything will wait for me to come back. When I come back, I will take everything back. It's that simple."
Several big shopkeepers looked at each other. It was indeed very simple to do this, but they just couldn't understand it.
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "Why, you don't believe I can do it?"
Shopkeeper Yao Si laughed first: "If someone else said this, I would just treat him as a cannon.. But since Hao Guan said so, let’s do it.”
Late at night, heavy rain.
This was a sudden storm.
Guangdong is close to the South China Sea, and the sea breeze brings huge amounts of water vapor, causing violent storms that are beyond the imagination of inland provinces. Guangzhou is also the only way for the Pearl River system to flow into the sea. In normal times, this is the realistic condition for Guangzhou's developed inland shipping, but when it rains heavily, it will cause flooding that is rare in the country.
Tan Sanniang was running around in the dark night. Fortunately, the charity cemetery was well located and well built. The flood rushed through the nearby river but did not accumulate in the cemetery. Before nightfall, the wind and rain were still very loud. The old and weak knew that the charity cemetery was fine, so they all went to sleep. Only Tan Sanniang and a few others were patrolling around the cemetery.
As they were walking, suddenly a familiar figure approached. When Tan Sanniang saw him, she was surprised - it was Tietou Junba.
Tan Sanniang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Brother Junba, don't worry, everything is fine here at the charity cemetery. Auntie should be asleep now."
Wu Chengjian thought this charity cemetery was remote and crude, while Yu Lian'er also thought it was too shabby. Among the people around Wu Chengjian, only Tietou Junba kept praising it and believed it was a place that could "last forever."
After the charity cemetery was built, Tietou Junba settled his mother here. Tan Sanniang just thought he came for his mother.
Unexpectedly, Tietou Junba said, "Come with me, someone wants to see you."
This is a semi-abandoned ancestral temple outside the village. The house is very narrow and leaks in several places. The dim lights flicker in the occasional breeze.
Tan Sanniang rushed in hurriedly, Tietou Junba closed the door from the outside, and Wu Chengjian had already walked over and helped Tan Sanniang take off her bamboo hat and raincoat.
"You, you...why do you come here at this time!" Tan Sanniang shouted angrily.
Here in Yizhuang, whether you come from Xiguan or Wujiayuan, you have to cross the river! Crossing the river in this kind of weather is like playing with your life!
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "You still care about me so much."
Seeing him smiling playfully, Tan Sanniang became even more angry.
Before she could get angry, Wu Chengjian suddenly said, "I'm going to Beijing."
Tan Sanniang was startled for a moment, then she thought of something and asked, "Beijing?"
"Yi Jin was captured and taken to Beijing." Wu Chengjian stopped smiling. "If I don't go, he will be beheaded. He will be executed in the autumn. There is not much time left."
Tan Sanniang was shocked. She had been drifting further and further away from Wu Chengjian recently, and she could no longer be the first to know about his affairs. But after all, she was the most popular courtesan in Shenxianzhou. She thought about it and immediately understood: "No! You can't go! It must be a trap!"
"I know." Wu Chengjian said, "Heshen took Yijin to Beijing just to wait for me to rescue him. But I have to go. Heshen doesn't care about Yijin's life at all. He won't show mercy for other things. If I don't go, he will die."
"Is it a trap set by Heshen?" Tan Sanniang was even more frightened: "That is a den of dragons and tigers!"
"If you don't enter the dragon's den, how can you pull out the dragon's horns? If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the tiger cub?" Wu Chengjian smiled, "So I may not be able to come back this time."
Suddenly, Dan Sanniang knew why Wu Chengjian came tonight. He knew that his life or death was uncertain, so he came to see her before leaving!
She forgot everything and threw herself into Wu Chengjian's arms, crying, "Don't go, don't go! Don't go to Beijing."
Wu Chengjian was stunned for a moment, and wanted to hug her, but his hands froze. He hadn't been so close to Sanniang for a long time since he got married, so much so that he almost forgot her warmth.
Feeling the tears of the person in his arms soaking the clothes on his chest, Wu Chengjian stopped his hands and still hugged her.
At this moment, he didn't feel like he was hugging a lover, but rather an old friend. In the dim light, there was no trace of beauty, only bitter melancholy and warmth.
"Sanniang," Wu Chengjian cried, "I'm sorry for you."
Tan Sanniang shook her head: "You have never let anyone down, but you have never let me down."
"You said that, that's good, I said..." Wu Chengjian couldn't find the right words to say, so he just said: "I'm sorry for you."
The two stopped talking. After an unknown amount of time, they separated without realizing it, just as they had just been hugging each other.
