Chapter 35 The Grand Courtyard

  Xiao Ping knew that eating at Raffles was not something you could do on a whim, at least not without booking a table the day before. But for him, this wasn't a problem - just a phone call to Pierre would take care of it.

  However, before Xiao Ping could call Pierre, Song Lei received a phone call. After speaking softly on the phone for a few sentences, Song Lei apologized to Xiao Ping: "Sorry, I got a call from home saying there's an emergency and I need to go back, so I probably won't be able to have dinner with you today."

  "It's okay, just consider it a debt of one meal. Xiao Ping smiled and said: "I still have to stay in the provincial city for a few more days, I'll contact you again before I leave."

  "Alright, then... goodbye." Song Lei reluctantly bid farewell to Xiao Ping and quickly walked in the direction of her dormitory. She was really reluctant to part with Xiao Ping, but since her family had called to say there was an urgent matter, she could only hurry back as soon as possible.

  Song Lei's slender figure and beautiful back view, especially the way her small waist swayed lightly, was particularly alluring. Xiao Ping stood still, watching Song Lei disappear into the distance until she completely vanished from his line of sight before leaving.

  Xiao Ping directly returned to the hotel, carefully locked the door of the room, and then brought the knife fish into the Lian Yao Hu space.

  Recently, Xiao Ping hasn't bought any jade material for the Lian Yao Hu to absorb, and there haven't been any changes in the space either. Only the oak tree has grown a lot taller, and the ginseng is also higher now. Xiao Ping didn't pay much attention to his surroundings and went straight to the edge of the new pond that appeared after the Lian Yao Hu last absorbed jade material. He carefully put the knife fish from the aquarium into it.

  After using a drop of spiritual liquid, this pair of knife fish has been revived and is swimming leisurely in the portable aquarium. After being released into the water pool, they are even more free and easy, sometimes floating to the surface and stirring up a small splash, sometimes sinking to the bottom to find food that can be eaten. The pool water is crystal clear, so this pair of knife fish seems to be swimming in the air, with the silver scales reflecting bright light, which is the color of money in Xiao Ping's eyes.

  Keeping the knife fish in the Lian Yao Hu space, Xiao Ping was absolutely at ease. This magical space is almost like the legendary Dong Tian Fu Di, raising two knife fish is not a trivial matter? Xiao Ping believed that it wouldn't take too long before he could accomplish what Song Tianming had been trying to do for several years but couldn't, successfully breeding a large number of knife fish fry.

  The environment of the Lian Yao Hu space was very pleasant, making Xiao Ping feel relaxed and comfortable. He lay down on the grass by the water pool and soon fell asleep. When Xiao Ping woke up and left the Lian Yao Hu space, it was already the next afternoon.

  With two days to go before the arrival of Songluo, Xiao Ping decided to take a stroll around the provincial city. On the one hand, he wanted to survey the market and see which agricultural products were most popular; on the other hand, it was also a way to relax and unwind, as the saying goes, "work without forgetting entertainment".

  However, Xiao Ping hadn't even left the house yet when he received a call from Zhang Jiaman. The little girl's voice was filled with criticism: "Uncle Xiao, you're not keeping your promises again! Last time you promised to visit me often, but it's been so long and you still haven't come!"

  The little girl's words made Xiao Ping sweat, and it seemed that he had already become a professional liar in her heart. However, Xiao Ping had a good impression of Zhang Jiaman's grandparents and also liked this lovely little girl, so he immediately smiled and said: "Jiaman, uncle is busy lately, but when I have time, I will definitely go see you, okay?"

  "Can't you come today?" The little kid had no patience, and Zhang Jiameng was still expecting Xiao Ping to go see her immediately.

  Xiao Ping bitterly smiled and said: "I'm afraid it's not possible today, Uncle is on a business trip in the provincial city."

  On the other end of the phone, Zhang Jiameng burst out laughing and happily said to Xiao Ping: "Uncle Xiao, you don't know that my grandfather and I usually live in the provincial city too! Come visit me today! My home is at 19 Xiawei Road, Building 3, hurry up!"

  Since Zhang Jiameng was in the provincial city, Xiao Ping agreed to go and take a look at the little girl. He wrote down Zhang Jiameng's address and hung up the phone. If Xiao Ping were a local of the provincial city, he would definitely be shocked after hearing Zhang Jiameng's home address. Those who can live in the courtyard of 19 Xiafei Road are either leaders of the province or the city, where there is a armed police guard post, ordinary people cannot enter at all.

  But Xiao Ping is a person from Suzhou, and he doesn't know what Xiafei Road is. Zhang Jiameng is just a little kid who has lived here since childhood, and she didn't think there was anything special about it either. These two people, one confused and the other too young, naturally had a very inauspicious encounter when they came together.

  Xiao Ping knew that Zhang Guoquan didn't like receiving gifts, but going empty-handed was not proper. So he went to the mall and bought a long-haired plush toy for Zhang Jiamin, then hailed a taxi to head to the appointment. The driver was surprised when Xiao Ping gave him the address, and kept glancing at Xiao Ping through the rearview mirror on the way. Xiao Ping also noticed the driver's unusual behavior, but didn't think much of it until the taxi stopped, and only then did he understand why the driver had reacted that way.

  There were no signs at the entrance of No. 19 Xiafei Road, but two armed police officers stood guard, and several others rested in the sentry box behind them. Xiao Ping carefully checked the door number and confirmed that this was indeed the place he was looking for, so he slowly approached the police officer on duty and asked: "Excuse me, is this No. 19 Xiafei Road?"

  "Yes, who are you looking for?" The armed police officer's attitude was quite kind.

  Xiao Ping replied straightforwardly: "I'm looking for Zhang Jiameng in Building 3... or Zhang Guoquan is also okay."

  Xiao Ping's words made the armed police officer wrinkle his brow. He, of course, knew that Zhang Guoquan, the deputy provincial governor, lived in Building No. 3, but Xiao Ping had also mentioned another name that the armed police officer had never heard of. This was not surprising, as who would come looking for Deputy Governor Zhang's little granddaughter? It was normal that he didn't know.

  "Excuse me, sir, do you have an appointment?"

  "Do I need to make an appointment?" Xiao Ping scratched his head and said: "It was Zhang Jiameng who invited me, I don't know anything else."

  "What's your name?" The armed police became vigilant and signaled his companion to check the registration book.

  Xiao Ping.

  The armed police responded quickly: "Sorry, there is no reservation information for you. You can't go in. Please leave here."

  Xiao Ping didn't want to give Zhang Jiaman the impression that he was a liar again, so he hastily told the armed police: "I really am here at Zhang Jiaman's invitation. If not, I can call her right now and have her come out to pick me up, okay?"

  At the time when Xiao Ping and the armed police were haggling over the price, a car with a provincial party committee license plate slowly drove into the No. 19 courtyard. Xiao Ping's voice was slightly louder in his anxiety, and the middle-aged man in the back seat of the car heard what he said, and couldn't help but think to himself: "Zhang Jiamin, isn't she the granddaughter of Governor Zhang? How could someone come looking for her?"

  The middle-aged man instructed the driver: "Stop here for a moment and see what's going on."

  "Yes, Governor Wen!" The driver respectfully responded and stopped the car steadily by the roadside. The middle-aged man in the car was none other than Wen Zhiping, the governor of Jiangsu Province.

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  Oh no, the new book ranking dropped two places again, so sad! I'm begging on my knees for all kinds of support! Clicks, collections, recommendation tickets, everything is needed! Please everyone, give me more support, thank you!

  PS: Tonight is the third watch, there's still more tonight.