Urban Martial Saint

Gao Shibao has a cousin in the Capital, but his cousin’s situation is even worse than his. He works as a chef in a hotel and lives in a single-room rental. Fortunately, his cousin isn’t married, so Gao Shibao moving in with him doesn’t pose any issue.

Gao Shibao doesn’t have many other requirements now. After the divorce, his life will be brand new, and this time his starting point won’t be so low. He still doesn’t know which leader’s secretary he will become, but since Fan Wenshan values this matter so highly, it is undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Gao Shibao is currently adjusting his emotions to ensure he makes the most of this opportunity.

Gao Shibao’s cousin is still unaware of what’s happened and is quite surprised by his sudden arrival. However, he didn’t stay in the room long; after Gao Shibao sat for a while, he went off to work. As for Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu, they chatted with Gao Shibao for a while. Seeing Gao Shibao in stable spirits, Ye Qing felt much more at ease.

After six o’clock, Fan Wenshan called to ask where Gao Shibao was and directly sent a driver to pick him up. Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu didn’t stay long either, as they had to attend a dinner at the Su Family. When Fan Wenshan’s driver arrived, Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu bade farewell to Gao Shibao and headed straight to the Su Family.

The Su Family is also a large family in the Capital, with a large old mansion in the suburbs left by their ancestors. Although it’s a bit remote, the environment here is quite nice.

Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu took a taxi, but didn’t go directly to the Su Family’s door, as taxis aren’t permitted to go directly there. After all, Su Guoxuan’s identity has changed; he is now a state-level leader and his residence must be closely guarded, with special military personnel guarding the vicinity.

Fortunately, Su Kaicheng had been waiting there and drove Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu to the Su Family Manor. As they arrived, Su Guoli also happened to return.

Upon seeing Ye Qing, Su Guoli immediately ran over, grabbed Ye Qing’s arm and anxiously asked, ”Where is your friend? Where is Gao Shibao?”

”What’s wrong?” Ye Qing asked in surprise, ”He has a dinner to attend; he went over there to eat now.”

”Isn’t he coming tonight?” Su Guoli asked curiously.

Ye Qing replied, ”No, he’s not.”

”Oh!” Su Guoli sighed and said, ”Your classmate is really great, I wanted to talk to him more.”

”Uncle Su, why are you in such a hurry?” Ye Qing laughed and said, ”Didn’t you arrange for him to be your secretary? You’ll see each other tomorrow; whatever you have to say, just say it tomorrow!”

”It’s not the same,” Su Guoli said. ”I chatted with him for a bit this afternoon and found that he has his own insights. And you see, I have a speech to make tomorrow, and I specially wrote a speech draft thinking to ask him to help refine it. But who knew he wouldn’t come over tonight.”

Hearing this, Ye Qing couldn’t help but smile and said, ”How about this, after dinner, I can send him the speech draft and let him take a look at it, how about that?”

”That would also work.” Su Guoli paused, then suddenly shook his head, ”No, no, if he drinks too much tonight, he won’t be able to help me look at the speech draft! No, he can’t drink too much!”

”Well...” Ye Qing scratched his head and said, ”I just heard that it’s Director Fan treating him to dinner; why don’t you give Director Fan a call and mention this?”

”That’s a good idea!” Without a second thought, Su Guoli took out his phone and went to the side to call Fan Wenshan.

Over there, Fan Wenshan had just picked up Gao Shibao and hadn’t even sat down for the dinner when he got a call from Su Guoli. Su Guoli was straightforward and instructed him over the phone not to let Gao Shibao drink too much.

Fan Wenshan and Su Guoli were old classmates and had always had a good relationship. Seeing Su Guoli paying so much attention to Gao Shibao, he knew that Gao Shibao would surely have better prospects in the future, which made him pay even more attention to Gao Shibao.

Gao Shibao was dining with the main leaders of the North District; this dinner was a send-off banquet for him organized by the main leaders of the North District. The leaders attending this dinner were all aware of Su Guoli’s background, so they certainly paid much attention to Gao Shibao. His development in the Capital had finally taken its official first step.

On this side, Ye Qing, along with Huangfu Ziyu, followed Su Kaicheng and Su Guoli into the Su Family mansion, where Su Kaicheng’s mother, Luo Meiyun, was already waiting at home. The Su Family was now very familiar with Ye Qing, so there was no need for too many formalities when they met; they invited Ye Qing and Huangfu Ziyu inside to sit down.

Su Guoxuan was quite busy and only managed to come back in time for dinner, but he made time to come back despite his busy schedule. Given his position and status, he’s very busy every day; his ability to come back to accompany Ye Qing for this meal showed great importance to Ye Qing.

Before learning about Su Guoxuan’s identity, Ye Qing was quite composed. But now knowing Su Guoxuan’s identity, sitting with him made Ye Qing feel a bit pressured. Luckily, Su Guoxuan was very amiable and unassuming, which significantly eased Ye Qing’s pressure.

The meal didn’t last long; after dining, Su Guoxuan directly invited Ye Qing and Su Kaicheng to his study.

Su Guoxuan’s study was simply furnished with only three bookshelves. However, every book on the shelves was quite old, indicating frequent reading. It seemed that the books in Su Guoxuan’s study were not for decoration but were genuinely read.

The three sat down, Luo Meiyun came in to deliver some tea and left, leaving the three to sit face-to-face. Su Guoxuan didn’t speak, and Su Kaicheng sat up straight; the atmosphere in the room made Ye Qing feel slightly tense.

After a while, Su Guoxuan finally spoke, ”Ye Qing, I heard from Kaicheng about the situation with the orphanage in Shenchuan City. You’ve done a great job. There are many wealthy people in our country, but not many are willing to spend their money on charity!”

Receiving praise from Su Guoxuan, Ye Qing felt a surge of excitement, and he slightly bowed and said, ”Uncle Su, the money I earned actually shouldn’t have been mine. Using it for charity brings some peace to my heart.”

Su Guoxuan glanced at Ye Qing, nodded slightly, and said, ”Wealth, whether or not it is rightly yours, bringing it out is quite commendable.”

It was evident that Su Guoxuan didn’t care much about how Ye Qing earned his money in Shenchuan City; what mattered was that Ye Qing was willing to use it for charity. After all, for Su Guoxuan to reach his current position, he had seen all kinds of people and situations. In fact, to him, Ye Qing’s earnings from Shenchuan City were even cleaner than some legitimate businesspeople’s profits.

”By the way, I heard from Kaicheng that you used to be in the military on the border and later applied for discharge.” Su Guoxuan looked at Ye Qing and asked, ”Why did you apply for discharge? Was it because you didn’t want to be a soldier anymore, or was there another reason?”

Towards Su Guoxuan, Ye Qing didn’t hide anything and fully explained his brother Ye Jun’s situation. Throughout the explanation, Su Guoxuan showed no change in expression, much like Su Kaicheng, who seemed to already know about it.

After recounting his brother Ye Jun’s situation, Ye Qing suddenly realized: Su Guoxuan and Su Kaicheng clearly already knew about his brother Ye Jun. Considering when he first met Su Kaicheng, Su Kaicheng already knew a lot about him. With the Su Family’s capabilities, investigating his affairs would be no challenge. But since they knew, why ask about it?

After listening to Ye Qing, Su Guoxuan nodded slowly and said, ”So you didn’t leave the military because you didn’t want to be a soldier, but for your family’s sake?”

”Yes!” Ye Qing nodded, speaking honestly. If not for his brother Ye Jun’s situation, he would probably still be in the military.

Su Guoxuan picked up a cup of tea from the table and said, ”If I offer you a choice now, if you find your brother Ye Jun, allowing you to return to the army, would you be willing?”

If Su Guoxuan had asked this before, Ye Qing would have agreed without hesitation, as he truly missed life in the army. But now, with this question from Su Guoxuan, he hesitated. After all, there were many things he couldn’t abandon outside. Like the orphanage, his brothers in Shenchuan City, or Huangfu Ziyu—how could he let them go?

Seeing Ye Qing’s hesitation, a peculiar light flashed in Su Guoxuan’s eyes as he exchanged glances with Su Kaicheng. Both appeared somewhat disappointed.

After a while, Ye Qing finally raised his head and said, ”Uncle Su, in Shenchuan City, there are too many things I can’t let go of. My friends, my orphanage, and the ones I love, they all need me. Returning to the military, I really can’t do it!”

”Then...” Su Guoxuan suddenly said, ”What if you don’t have to return to the military?”

”Ah?” Ye Qing was taken aback, looking at Su Guoxuan in astonishment, and asked, ”Uncle Su, what do you mean by not having to return to the military?”

Su Guoxuan took a sip of water and softly said, ”I mean, if you can continue living in Shenchuan City and lead a normal life, yet still retain your military status?”

”Is that... is that possible?” Ye Qing was even more astonished.

”Haha...” Su Guoxuan chuckled lightly and said, ”I believe you have the potential to be a general, but unfortunately, you have already left the military. However, serving the country doesn’t necessarily require being in the military. Sometimes outside the army, you can achieve even greater things.”

”How... how can that be done?” Ye Qing became interested. If he could stay in Shenchuan City while still serving in the military, that would be ideal.