Chapter 458: A Contest
Chapter 458: A Contest
When Nie Zhan arrived at the Lu family home after work, he encountered two new faces.
Li Qing was polite, but Yan Yijun eyed Nie Zhan warily, making him feel uncomfortable. Nie Zhan went upstairs to find Lu Jiaxin and inquired about the identities of the two strangers.
Lu Jiaxin smiled and said, "The taller one is Yan Yijun, and the shorter one is Li Qing. They are bodyguards I asked someone to find for me from the mainland."
She didn't mention Su Heyuan to spare him from jealousy.
Nie Zhan said, "If you're not comfortable with Nick and Arthur, I can find you other bodyguards."
Lu Jiaxin shook her head. "It's not that Nick and Arthur aren't good enough, it's a matter of trust. I can entrust my life and wealth to Gu Daguo and Xiao Xiao, but not to them."
"So, you trust these two men? You've never met them before?" Nie Zhan asked.
"No, I haven't, but I believe that if I were in danger, they would protect me with their lives just like Gu Daguo," Lu Jiaxin replied.
"Nick and Miaona could do the same," Nie Zhan added.
Lu Jiaxin felt that the discussion was pointless, so she changed the subject. "By the way, I went to the fruit store today and overheard two ladies talking about stocks. One of them said her son made over 300,000 yuan from stock trading, and she gave him all her savings to continue trading. The other lady said her daughter wanted to mortgage her house to get money for stock trading, but she disagreed. So her daughter sold her house to invest in the stock market."
Nie Zhan looked at her, waiting for her to continue.
"I think these people are getting a little obsessed with stock trading. It doesn't feel like a good sign," Lu Jiaxin said.
Nie Zhan thought that the two ladies and their families were still relatively normal. "Some people, when they see how lucrative the stock market can be, go to extremes by borrowing from loan sharks or even embezzling public funds."
After making his point, Nie Zhan steered the conversation back to the bodyguards. "Since you haven't met these two men before and don't know their capabilities, it's best to observe them for a while."
Lu Jiaxin wasn't too concerned. As long as she didn't do anything to harm the public or the people, she believed that Yan Yijun and Li Qing wouldn't betray her. "That's easy. We can have them compete tomorrow to see their skills."
Nie Zhan was also curious to witness their abilities.
Lu Jiaxin brought up the topic of the kidnappers again. "I called the police station today, but they still haven't made any progress."
It seemed they couldn't rely on the police, and she hoped that the private detective would find something useful.
Nie Zhan hadn't mentioned this to her to spare her from disappointment. "Five bodyguards are still not enough. I'll hire a few more for you."
Lu Jiaxin shook her head. "No need. Zong Jinghua will be back from his vacation soon, and Wang Lin will also recover and be able to return to work."
She had another plan—to select a group of high-quality retired soldiers and have Gu Wenfeng help train them. That would solve the problem of the shortage of manpower.
Seeing that she had a plan, Nie Zhan didn't press the issue further. After dinner, as they took an evening stroll, Nie Zhan brought up another matter.
"Fu Yue has agreed to break off his engagement with Yu Meotong," Nie Zhan said.
Lu Jiaxin was surprised. "He agreed? Just the other day, he was talking about getting you to fire her. Why the change of heart so quickly? Is he up to something?"
Nie Zhan hadn't expected Fu Yue to be perceived that way by his girlfriend. "I persuaded him. Yu Meotong is willing to live on a meager salary and cheap meals just to be rid of him. She's even willing to give up her comfortable home. It shows that she's truly determined to break up, and it's not just a temper tantrum as Fu Yue thought."
Knowing about Yu Meotong's current living situation, Nie Zhan felt that Fu Yue shouldn't be so stubborn about holding on to the relationship.
Lu Jiaxin scoffed, "Nie Zhan, if you ever fall out of love with me, let's part ways amicably. But if you cheat on me behind my back, I'll never forgive you."
Nie Zhan was half amused and half exasperated as he replied, "Fu Yue is Fu Yue, and I am me. Don't compare us."
Lu Jiaxin's expression remained stern as she said, "Hu Zhifeng has a female confidant, Fu Yue brazenly dates other women, and Feng Qinglei changes girlfriends every now and then. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. All your friends are so unfaithful; how can you be any different?"
She had learned about Hu Zhifeng's situation from Yu Meotong, who also revealed that Zong Shimen had known about it all along. With three children relying on the Hu family, she chose to turn a blind eye and stay married.
"I can," Nie Zhan asserted.
Lu Jiaxin wasn't convinced. "Your words mean nothing, and neither do mine. Only time will tell."
"Jiaxin, do you want me to rip out my heart and show it to you?" Nie Zhan asked.
Lu Jiaxin replied in a rather unromantic manner, "Nie Zhan, if you rip out your heart, you'll die, and proving your innocence won't matter then."
Nie Zhan could only laugh at this predicament. What could he do but spoil his girlfriend?
The next day, Yan Yijun and Li Qing faced off against Nick and Arthur. In hand-to-hand combat, Yan Yijun ranked first, followed by Nick and Arthur, with Li Qing in last place. In the wooden dummy technique, Yan Yijun again took first place, Nick second, Li Qing third, and Arthur fourth.
Before the match, Lu Jiaxin had known that Li Qing was quick-witted but lacked prowess in other areas. Of course, this "lack" was relative to experts like Yan Yijun and Nick.
After witnessing the two matches, Nie Zhan acknowledged the professional capabilities of Yan Yijun and Li Qing. However, he still reminded them to master Cantonese and English. In Hong Kong, not knowing Cantonese could be a significant hindrance, and as Lu Jiaxin would eventually travel abroad, she needed to be proficient in English.
Lu Jiaxin didn't see this as a problem. "It's fine. Gu Daguo didn't know any Cantonese before he came to Hong Kong, but now he's fluent in both Cantonese and English."
Li Qing smiled and said, "Don't worry, boss. Yijun and I can speak a little Cantonese. But since we didn't use it often before, we hope you can arrange for us to have language teachers if possible."
The day before, in the hospital, Gu Wenfeng had also mentioned the language issue. He wasn't worried, as he had a talent for languages, and Yan Yijun picked things up quickly.
Lu Jiaxin smiled and said, "Alright, I'll ask Secretary Zhang to arrange it. If there's anything you need to buy, just tell Meng Yi, and she'll get you the best."
Upon hearing this, Yan Yijun eagerly asked, "Brother Feng mentioned that the pistol he used before had exceptional performance. I wonder if I could take a look at it?"
The pistols used in the match were ordinary, far from the one Gu Wenfeng had described, and he was curious to try it out. He had a particular fondness for firearms.
Lu Jiaxin called for Miao Na to come in and said, "Take them to the basement."
All the weapons were kept in the basement. When Lu Jiaxin was at home, the weapons would be locked up there, and she would take them with her when she went out. Gu Wenfeng enforced strict military standards when it came to gun management.
The two men happily went down to the basement and then lingered there, reluctant to leave.
(End of Chapter)
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