The thirty-fourth is calmly chatting in the face of swords and soldiers

  The one who spoke was Xue Xiang. Xue Xiang had already changed to a table close to them, leaving only Kang Tong and Lei Xiaotian at the original table eating and drinking. He ordered a bottle of red wine and listened carefully to their conversation, and indeed it was about asking for calligraphy and paintings. Seeing that Hu Hongzhuo didn't say anything now, Xue Xiang knew she must be in a difficult position, so he made his move.

  Hu Hongzhuang was in the midst of a fierce ideological struggle, just about to respond, when she heard someone greeting her. She looked up to see that it was the tall young man whom her younger brother admired and who had visited their home before. What his name was, she couldn't recall, but she remembered that her brother called him "Third Brother". Hu Hongzhu took advantage of the opportunity to cover up her own awkwardness, smiling as she said to Xue Xiang: "Oh, it's you! It's been a long time since you've come home to visit. I recovered quickly, and for a while didn't think about where to go next. But my dad insisted that I join the Public Security Bureau, and I'll be reporting for duty next month." She cleverly called him "Third Brother", thinking that her younger brother's nickname for him was probably correct, and that he might not be older than herself. It was just as well that there was one more person present, which helped to ease the tense atmosphere from earlier.

  Hu Hongzhu invited Xue Xiang to sit down, which was exactly what Xue Xiang had in mind. He was still worried that Hu Hongzhu wouldn't recognize him, which would make it difficult for him to get close to An Weihong. Xue Xiang walked straight to the table and pulled out a chair, just about to sit down, when he was stopped by An Weihong.

  "This little brother, go eat and drink at another table. Whatever you want to eat or drink, just order it, I'll take care of the bill. I'm busy discussing important matters here, it's not convenient." An Weihong didn't get up, blew a mouthful of smoke in Xue Xiang's direction, and waved his hand.

  Xue Xiangli ignored him and sat down directly, snapping his fingers. The waiter brought over a set of tableware, and Xue Xiangli poured himself a glass of Port wine, took a sip, then opened the cigarette case, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and said: "Hong Zhuang sister, don't mind me smoking, I see this young brother is smoking, so I'll just follow suit."

  An Weihong was infuriated by Xue Xiang's disregard, his stomach aching with rage. When did even stray cats and dogs dare to be arrogant in front of him? He slammed the wine cup onto the table, his narrow eyes narrowing into slits, the corners of his eyes revealing a hint of a fish tail, making his already small eyes seem even smaller. With a sinister smile, he said: "You little brat, don't overstep your bounds, or I'll have you crawling out on your hands and knees."

  Xue Xiang hadn't spoken yet, when Hu Hongzhuo hastily said: "Third brother, why don't you go eat at another table first, and we'll catch up later." Hu Hongzhuo didn't understand Xue Xiang; she had no idea what his temperament was like. Although Xue Xiang wasn't as stubbornly unyielding as he used to be in his youth, he also wasn't someone who could be ordered around by others, even if he needed their help.

  Xue Xiang refused to give in, took a deep drag on his cigarette, and blew it out at An Weihong. The thick smoke went straight into An's face, who hadn't had time to dodge. His mouth was full of wine, but he was breathing through his nose, so the second-hand smoke went straight down his throat. An's face turned bright red as he choked, and the wine in his mouth sprayed out everywhere, mostly onto his crotch. He looked utterly disheveled for a moment.

  Xue Xiang hadn't had time to retort when An Weihong was choked by his own cigarette, feeling a thrill in his heart. Hu Hongzhuo looked concerned on the surface, hastily handing An Weihong a napkin, but in fact, she was secretly delighted: You little rascal, you dare to bully your aunt, serves you right.

  An Weihong jumped up in a rage and whistled at the two guards by the door. Instantly, the two tall guards rushed in, saluted An Weihong, and said "Please instruct, Chief". An Weihong's finger trembled as he pointed at Xue Xiangdao: "Take this little brat out and give him a good beating."

  Hu Hongzhuang saw the urgency of the situation and hastily mediated: "Wei Hong, this is just a misunderstanding. For my sake, let it go this time. I agree to what you said."

  "No, everything else is easy to say, but this matter won't work out. Whoever tries to persuade me will be useless. Even if you agree to give me 'Liu Xiang's Sticker', I still want to take care of that kid." An Weihong said hatefully, ignoring Hu Hongzhuang's persuasion.

  Two warriors saw An Weihong give the order, drove away the service staff who came to persuade them, and approached Xue Xiang. Xue Xiang was still sitting in his chair drinking wine with a big knife. He took a sip, the wine flowed over his tongue, letting the molecules fully contact his taste buds, savoring the enticing aroma. From afar, Kang Tong and Lei Xiaotian had already known that something was brewing on Xue Xiang's side, and suddenly saw two soldiers in uniform walking towards Xue Xiang's table, so they knew things might go bad, got up to intervene, but were stopped by Xue Xiang's subtle gesture, sat back down, closely watching the situation, if it went wrong, he would rush forward, even if the other side had guns, he would fight.

  "This bottle of Port shouldn't be the 43-year-old Fattoria wine, but rather the 47-year-old Sogevinhos. And it's a mass-produced one, right? Am I correct, An Da-shao? This must be something you brought yourself, as Lao Mo-ke doesn't have any Port. Although even now, a 47-year-old is still a rare find. Unfortunately, An Da-shao didn't store it well, or else the quality of this wine would be even higher." The two guards had already taken positions on either side of Xue Xiang, who remained seated and unmoving, yet still managed to offer some commentary on the red wine brought over by Hua Wei-hong.

  An Weihong sneered, "You little brat recognize me? You came prepared, I didn't think you had such a petty bourgeois sentiment. I underestimated you earlier. Since you know who I am and still dare to chatter in front of me, your guts aren't small. Forget it, I'm too lazy to ask who you are, a beating is unavoidable, whatever you have to say, come crawling back after the thrashing. Xiao Ma, Xiao Huang, take him away."

  Two warriors received the order, stretched out their hands to grab Xue's shoulders. Xue's shoulders sank rapidly, avoiding the two men's hands, his fists clenched and thrust forward, heavily striking the two men's waist eyes. Taking advantage of the two men's weakness, he quickly transformed his fists into palms, swiftly inserting them into the two men's chests, then withdrew his hands again, raising his elbows high to strike the two men's chins, knocking the two warriors unconscious. Xue's recovered hands now held two black 54 handguns, and all this was done in a flash. Xue removed the magazine from the gun in his left hand, ejected the bullets, and placed the gun in his right hand on the table, covering it with a napkin, only exposing the muzzle, which was aimed upwards at Hua Weihong.

  In an instant, the situation took a drastic turn for the worse. An Weihong's body was already trembling like a leaf, and he could barely stand upright with his hands tightly grasping the edge of the table. He couldn't believe that one day he would be held at gunpoint. Usually, wherever he went, he was met with applause and flowers, or at most, he would encounter two or three people who didn't recognize him. His two bodyguards would flash their IDs, and all obstacles would be cleared, everything would go smoothly, without him having to say a word. But today, he encountered this guy who first drank his wine, then blew smoke in his face, and finally, surrounded by his two tall and burly bodyguards, still dared to attack and snatch the gun. When did Beijing produce such a desperate character? The public security is too chaotic! Are you guys doing your job or not?! An Weihong lamented in his heart. He was blaming himself for being unlucky - running into a desperado on the way out; he was also angry at the Public Security Bureau - failing to maintain local stability, and even more furious with his two useless bodyguards. The two heavily armed men couldn't even take down an unarmed young punk.

  An Weihong didn't have time to think more, the desperate man in front of him had already opened the safety catch, and he could see the black muzzle of the gun aimed at his forehead. He didn't dare move a muscle, afraid that if he did, the other person would accidentally pull the trigger in his excitement, and his own life would be lost unjustly. He hadn't enjoyed this colorful world enough yet, and exchanging lives with this guy wasn't worth it. An Weihong's voice trembled as he said: "Brother, let's talk things over, we don't have any deep grudges or hatred, do we need to resort to this? Be careful not to misfire."

  "Yes, Third Brother, hurry up and put the gun away, apologize to Wei Hong, and let's just consider this matter settled. Wei Hong, you won't make trouble for him, will you?" Hu Hongzhuang was also scared out of her wits, almost witnessing a murder during dinner, if An Weihong died here, her whole family would be finished, why didn't she just agree with An Weihong earlier and avoid all this trouble?

  "No need, no need to apologize, it's me who should be apologizing to this brother, what trouble am I causing? It's me who is causing trouble for this brother." An Weihong didn't have the heart to ask Xue Yang to do this or that, his whole mind was focused on quickly returning home, hiding in his own room, drinking a few packets of calming tea, and trembling under the covers. He had grown up in a honey jar, playing tricks and schemes was his family's specialty, but making him face knives and guns was something he didn't have even half the courage for, being afraid to die was a common illness among these pampered young masters.

  Xue Xiang pressed down with his left hand, laughing: "An Da Shao, Hong Zhuang sister, sit down, I originally came to say hello to Hong Zhuang and coincidentally have a meal together. Who would have thought An Da Shao's temper is so violent? This is also a rascal move on my part, it can be considered self-defense."

  An Weihong scolded, "You're just here to freeload, I already said I'd take care of dinner, and you're still lingering around. And you say I have a bad temper? I was just trying to get someone to clean up after you, didn't expect you to actually pull out a gun! Who's got the worse temper between us?" An Weihong had no choice but to sit down with Hu Hongzhuang, while his two bodyguards were still sleeping on the floor. The waiter tried to come over and help them get up, but was scolded away by An Weihong, who was already fuming and needed someone to vent at.

  An Weihong chose a relatively quiet table location, because he wanted to discuss official business with Hu Hongzhuang, so they settled on a window seat in the northwest corner. The surrounding seven or eight tables were empty, and for the time being, no one noticed that anything was amiss. Kang Tong and Lei Xiaotian saw that the two guards had been knocked down by Xue Xianggan, and knew that San Ge had taken control of the situation, so they put their minds at ease and continued drinking.

  Xue Xiang saw An Weihong sit down, lifted the napkin covering the gun, put it away, turned it around in his hand a few times, and pushed it onto the table. The pistol stopped twenty centimeters away from An Weihong. Xue Xiang smiled: "An Dashi, don't be nervous, come on, you take the gun, let's continue eating and drinking."

  An Weihong and Hu Hongjuan were both confused by Xue Xiang's actions, not understanding why he was so proactive in returning the gun loaded with bullets. Didn't he fear that An Weihong would cause trouble for him after escaping? Neither side had discussed any conditions.

  An Weihong's eyes were fixed tightly on Xue Xiang, slowly stretching out his hand to touch the gun, finally getting close to the gun body, grabbing it. He quickly pulled back his hand, the muzzle turned around and aimed at Xue Xiang, also learning from Xue Xiang's example, covering the gun body with a napkin. An Weihong laughed, laughing so hard that he was out of breath, tears streaming down his face. The loud laughter attracted the attention of the diners in the hall, everyone wondering what interesting thing had happened over there to make someone laugh so wildly. Kang Tong and Lei Xiaotian were paying close attention to Xue Xiang's table, their faces changing color, really not understanding how San Ge could have lost his grip.

  An Weihong smiled, and Xue Xiang also smiled.

  An Weihong laughed so hard he was crying, Xue Xi laughed as brightly as a sunny morning.