Chapter 709: Chapter 612

On Sunday afternoon, Gu Qiming, who hadn’t been home from work for over ten days, returned for a visit. The Gu and Tang Families gathered once again, and Xiao Man was also picked up from school. After dinner, they split into two groups for tea as usual: the men in the small inner hall, and the women and children in the main hall. Xiao Man helped bring in the snacks and fruit. The men, young and old alike, were gathered around the tea table, sipping tea and chatting. Gu Qiming was slightly tipsy, having drunk a couple of extra glasses of the yellow millet wine Xiao Man brought back from Gongdao Village at dinner. Zhou Hui Lan told him not to have any tea yet. For now, he could only sit on a sofa near the entrance, drinking plain water and waiting for Zhou Hui Lan to prepare and bring him some sobriety soup.

After arranging the tea snacks, Xiao Man took a small bamboo skewer from the toothpick holder and speared a few pieces of candied peach. She walked over to Mr. Gu, sat down beside him, and offered him the treat. This was a product from her pocket dimension; it could cleanse impurities, detoxify, and nourish the body, so naturally, it also worked to sober him up.

Gu Qiming ate the dried peach and, with a happy expression, reached out to pat Xiao Man’s head. ’After my eldest son was born, I secretly hoped for a sweet, precious daughter next,’ he thought. ’Unfortunately, heaven had other plans, and I got another troublesome little rascal instead.’

’But things are perfect now. The well-behaved and gentle Little Manman is the very image of the daughter I always wanted. She may be my daughter-in-law, but I can still treat her like my own little girl.’

Zhou Hui Lan came in with the sobriety soup and saw Gu Qiming chatting cheerfully with Xiao Man, looking to be in high spirits. The effects of the alcohol had apparently passed. She placed the bowl in front of Gu Qiming and listened with a smile as the two of them spoke for a bit, but finding the conversation dull, she left again.

Xiao Man and Mr. Gu were discussing Cultivation and elixirs, a topic Mrs. Zhou naturally found uninteresting. However, Xiao Man was about to learn from Mr. Gu about some things she had been curious about.

Mrs. Hao’s analysis from the day before had been spot on. Mr. Bai really had been angered to death by his unworthy descendants. The Bai Family was now a case of "when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter," with nothing but an empty shell left. And it seemed this empty shell wouldn’t even belong to the Bai Family for much longer—Bai Lihua and Bai Qingyue had both incurred massive external debts and would have to sell off family assets to repay them. The Bai Family’s ancestral home would not be spared!

While this was partly the Bai Family’s own doing, external pressure had been essential. This pressure came from all sides—not just the Gu Family, but also the Jun Family, the Huang Family, the Meng Family, and even a Jiang Family she had never heard of. They all had a hand in it.

Months ago, an anonymous tip had been filed against Bai Lihua. Just before the Spring Festival, he was suspended from all duties as a formal investigation was launched. Mr. Bai, who was already suffering from an accumulation of Dan Poison that made him as irritable and miserable as a caged beast, flew into a rage upon hearing the news. He immediately suffered a cultivation deviation, vomited blood, and collapsed, losing half his life in the process.

That was when Bai Qingyue had run to the Tang family to beg for an elixir and pester Tang Qingshan.

Not long after that, an official notice arrived from the Northwest District stating that Bai Junfan had received a severe reprimand and would soon be transferred back to a local post. That was the blow that truly finished Mr. Bai off.

Mr. Bai was doomed to die, so there was no point in letting him into De Ren Hospital. They had all seen the Bai family’s shameless and pestering ways before. Moreover, Gu Qiming privately felt that with his own Little Manman interning at that hospital, he didn’t want the Bai family to taint the place in the slightest.

That was why he had Lu Jianguo make arrangements to ensure, by any means necessary, that Mr. Bai was not admitted to De Ren Hospital.

’So the repeated obstructions on the road must have been the work of Lu Jianguo’s men,’ Xiao Man guessed.

Lu Jianguo had a Spirit Root and could practice Cultivation. The incredibly shrewd Gu Shaojun had recommended him directly to his father, Gu Qiming, to personally guide him in Cultivating his Body. As a result, Lu Jianguo had become a disciple under the Gu Family.

The Gu and Tang Families’ network of connections was complex and intricate. As fellow aristocratic families, they had already infiltrated the Bai Family to some degree. Therefore, having Lu Jianguo secretly collect evidence of Bai Lihua’s crimes was a very safe and discreet move that was guaranteed not to tip them off. Lu Jianguo’s subordinates were also quite sharp. They discovered that the Jiang and Meng Families held major grudges against the Bai Family, so they cleverly maneuvered to bring them in as allies. These two families then became key witnesses in the case against Bai Lihua.

The Gu family’s principle, even with sworn enemies, was to apply appropriate pressure but always leave them an out. If Bai Junfan had just kept his head down and behaved, he could have lived quietly in his own little corner for the time being. It might have even been possible for him to climb back up the ladder later based on his performance. But who would have thought he’d bring about his own downfall and get severely reprimanded by the district? The Gu family hadn’t lifted a finger in that matter.

Upon closer inspection, it was likely that Bai Junfan or the Bai Family had provoked the Jun and Huang Families. The two families were related and shared information. If Huang Yuxuan had truly thought highly of Bai Junfan, things might have been fine. But if not, they would have had more than enough reasons to take down a mere deputy team leader like him.

"Mr. Gu, what did Bai Junfan do to get reprimanded?" For a scion of an Ancient Martial Arts Family, being demoted and sent back to a local post against one’s will was an extremely severe punishment.

"His case... back when the Bai Family still had influence, there might have been some leeway. But things are different now, and the people he provoked are not from ordinary families. First, there’s the Bai family’s old problem: improper conduct. It’s a classic case of ’the fish rots from the head down.’ Bai Junfan was clearly dating Vice Director Huang’s daughter and preparing for marriage, yet he was secretly involved with other girls—all daughters or sisters of various district leaders. On top of that, there were rumors from Beijing that he was going to marry into the Jun Family. The Huang girl’s younger sister came back to the Northwest from Beijing and exposed all his dirty laundry. She claimed the Jun family’s daughter was so heartbroken after being abandoned by him that she had a nervous breakdown. With that news spreading, how could he possibly escape unscathed?

"Second, he disregarded all rules and regulations, showing a complete lack of organization and discipline. As a commanding officer, he neglected his duties and abandoned his post, disappearing for days on end. When he finally returned, the self-criticism report he submitted was full of lies and offered no convincing explanation for his absence... He is simply no longer fit to remain in the organization!"

’Bai Junfan really was just asking for it. His enemies only needed to give him a gentle nudge, and he’d fall right into a pit,’ Xiao Man thought, speechless.

On Friday, while Xiao Man was on duty at De Ren Hospital, she received a call from Yang Liu’er.

This year, Yang Liu’er and her sister-in-law, Lu Jianling, hadn’t spent the Spring Festival in Beijing. Lu Jianguo had arranged for them to go abroad. They had traveled to France and attended a fashion exhibition in Paris, and were only just now returning.

Xiao Man deliberately put on a teasingly jealous tone. "Well, Boss Lady, was it fun going abroad? How did it feel to get a taste of the high life overseas?"

"Oh, please! For a young and beautiful lady like me... well, okay, people get upset and glare when they call me ’Miss.’ ’Madam’ or ’Mrs.’ would be perfectly fine, you know. But ’Boss Lady’ is just so unsophisticated! Hurry up and come over, I brought you back something good. Come and see us—I bet you won’t even recognize us! Weiwei said we look more like Westerners than actual Westerners do, hee hee hee..."

Yang Liu’er’s joyous, uninhibited laughter over the phone was so infectious that Xiao Man couldn’t help but laugh along with her. "I’m still at work. What’s so great about being a ’Westerner’ anyway? You go abroad one time and suddenly you’re obsessed with all things foreign? You go again, and you might not come back at all, right? Planning to move abroad?"

"Of course not! It’s fine to visit for a vacation, but I would never settle down there. No matter what, our Great Huaxia is still the safest and most comfortable place to be! But foreigners have their strengths, too. We just go and learn from them, then bring it back to use for ourselves."

"You sound smart enough, but you’d better have brought back something good. Don’t fly thousands of miles just to bring back junk!"

"Pfft! We’re not that stupid. With the two of us, we have four eyes. You think we can’t tell what’s what? Just wait, I’ll drive over to pick you up after your shift!"

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