Chapter 40: The Neighbor's Daughter Has Just Grown Up

  When Erlong's reinforcements arrived, Li Sansheng felt that he didn't need to stay here anymore. The things that followed would naturally be handled by Erlong, who was fearless and reckless. Moreover, today's events were all caused by him. As for the man standing next to Erlong, Li Sansheng was very clear about his identity - Lao Nan, whose real name was Nanfang. Although his name meant "South", he wasn't from the South, but a true Northerner, a Han Chinese from Inner Mongolia's vast grasslands. This could be inferred from his standard height of over 1.9 meters, a typical Mongolian Han man. He was loyal and righteous, willing to risk his life for his brothers, not stabbing them in the back. Otherwise, Erlong wouldn't have befriended him. Li Sansheng's impression of Nanfang was that he was calm, cool-headed, and dangerous. According to Erlong, this man was one of the top five henchmen under the mastermind behind Erlong's back, with a powerful Northern-style boxing technique that was almost abnormal. Even Erlong himself wouldn't have a chance of winning if they were to fight at close range, which showed just how formidable Nanfang was.

  But such a man is ultimately too hard, and the things in his bones can't be changed. So even now, the figure behind Er Long can't subdue him, and naturally won't completely trust him. Otherwise, with his ability, it's impossible to only reach this level. As for how he can get along with Er Long, Er Long has self-deprecatingly said that maybe it's because he likes his taste.

  Li Sansheng knew about the situation in the south, and that was all. Even if there were more things to know, not even the people behind Er Long would be aware of them, so how could he possibly know?

  Xue Tong handed it over to Er Long, Li San Sheng and Nan Fang nodded slightly as a greeting. The two of them understood each other's intentions. When the captain of the Zhong Lou City Management Squadron tried to get close to Er Long, he was kicked away by one of Er Long's brothers from behind, rolling on the ground and crying out in pain. Li San Sheng smiled wryly, thinking that this man was indeed capable of being both humble and arrogant. With so many brothers around, he still dared to be reckless. The strength of Er Long's brother was not something to be underestimated. This kind of small-time character had been crawling at the bottom for a long time, and even after reaching this somewhat important position, they still retained their petty characteristics.

  The city management team of the Bell Tower saw that their leader had been kicked, and at this time, if they didn't take action, it would be considered cowardly. They were worried that in the future, the team leader would make things difficult for them, so one by one, they became a bit indignant, but no one dared to be the first to take action, which was pathetic.

  The dozen or so brothers behind the two dragons are not like these bastards, they spend their days doing nothing but drinking blood and being reckless, after all, in this line of work, if you're not ruthless, you'll never make it out on top. The probability of meeting a noble is even smaller than the probability of being born, nobody's an idiot.

  The city management team's people were excited, and before the two dragons had even spoken, this group of pure men was already restless, like a boar that hadn't been shot in days, wanting to go up and explode the red purple chrysanthemum.

  Li Sansheng had a slight headache, if it really got out of hand, it wouldn't be good for Er Long. Fortunately, things didn't go in the direction Li Sansheng wanted. After answering a phone call from the south, he whispered a few words into Er Long's ear, and then Er Long cursed a few times with a smile, looked at Li Sansheng and said, "Sansheng brother, let's go, we'll go to Xi'an Restaurant to eat something."

  Li Sansheng knew that things were over, someone had come forward, and after thinking for a moment, he still had to go pick up the unknown killer who was coming from somewhere, Qinling Academy's Tianzi No. 1 big demoness Yu'er, who was having a headache, smiled and said she still had something to do, leaving time for Xue Yun.

  The Southerner has his own business to attend to and cannot follow along, besides even if he didn't understand human relationships it wouldn't be to the point of being a light bulb.

  Yu'er had a 9 o'clock flight that night, just when the lights were first lit. Fortunately, it wasn't an early morning flight, or else it would have been after 4 pm and he really wouldn't know what to do with himself. After Er Long and Xue Lin left, Li San Sheng looked at the time and thought that if he went back to school now, he wouldn't make it in time to pick up Yu'er. From the Bell Tower to the airport would take almost an hour, and going back to school would also take over an hour. After thinking about it, he decided to give up on the idea of going back to school. The Bell Tower was not far from Bei Lin, a place that was considered good in Old Master's dictionary. That place was a paradise for antiques, and many of the goods smuggled out of Guanzhong were also sold there. These were all things that Old Master had said.

  From the South Gate of Xi'an Bell Tower, head south and turn east at the intersection, you will arrive at Shuyuanmen Ancient Culture Street. At the entrance of the street stands a majestic ancient-style archway with three golden characters "Shu Yuan Men" on top, flanked by a pair of eye-catching couplets "Stele Forest stores national treasures, Academy nurtures outstanding talents". The buildings along the street are all in a uniform dark green color and imitate ancient architecture. The street is paved with bluestone slabs. Walking east to the end of Shuyuanmen Street will lead you to Stele Forest.

  The Stele Forest and the Academy Gate are much stronger now than they were in the past. The old man said that before liberation, the Stele Forest was extremely chaotic, with all sorts of goods from the northwest gathered there. One could easily find a large batch of treasures just by turning around. If someone had privately hoarded a large quantity back then, they would have become rich by now. After liberation, the government cracked down hard on this aspect, especially during the Cultural Revolution when the "Four Olds" were smashed. Whoever dared to possess these things would be paraded through the streets in a cow cart and publicly denounced the next day. That was also the time when antiques were worth the least. The number of antiques destroyed or ruined far exceeded the number that survived to this day.

  Nowadays, the Stele Forest and the Academy Gate no longer live up to their former glory. Most of the goods on the road are not sold here because they are too eye-catching, and most of them are underground transactions. However, there are still many authentic things on the Stele Forest and Academy Street, as long as you are a connoisseur, you can still find overlooked treasures.

  Li Sansheng remembered that Old Master had said that during the late Qing dynasty, Erlong's grandfather and he often came here to dig up treasures and have fun. Because Erlong's ancestral home was less than 200 meters away from the Academy Gate, which is now a top luxury shopping paradise in the northwest, Zhongda International. The name "Academy Gate" originated from the Guanzhong Academy inside it, also known as one of the four most famous academies in the country, and the highest institution of learning in Shaanxi during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now, the Guanzhong Academy is home to Shaanxi Normal University and its affiliated primary school.

  At the end of the Qing Dynasty, many high-ranking officials, scholars and talented scholars often lectured at Guanzhong Academy, and both old men inherited their ancestral genes, so they were naturally more interested in this aspect.

  Old Li's family stayed in Xi'an for only a short period of time, just a few years, and then due to the turmoil of that era, the voices calling for the overthrow of the Qing Empire grew louder and they retreated back to Wei Bei. However, Old Guo's family persisted and later rose to prominence.

  The Stele Forest was the old master's favorite haunt back then, because of the treasure trove of calligraphy from China's most renowned scholars throughout history hidden within. Every character was worth a thousand pieces of gold, and the old master, who had a deep love for calligraphy, spent a lot of time there.

  From Zhonggu Tower to the Academy Gate, it doesn't take much time. Li San walked for ten minutes and arrived at the Academy Gate. The street in front of the Academy Gate is a gathering place for antique transactions, opposite is Yunnan Colorful Clouds.

  Li San Sheng was about to enter the academy gate to kill time and take a look at the "Dao Yin Fa Shi Bei" in the stele forest. This stone tablet was mentioned by his old master when he was at home, because his old master was most skilled in Ou's style among the three bodies of Wang Liu Ji, and Ou's style was strong and powerful, with strict structure. The "Dao Yin Fa Shi Bei" was carved by Ouyang Tong, the fourth son of Ouyang Xun, one of the eight great masters of the Tang and Song dynasties. Ouyang Tong had fully inherited the true tradition of Ouyang Xun, and this stone tablet was a rare treasure passed down through the ages.

  Li San Sheng received a call from Guan Ming Yue, who was overjoyed to hear from him after he had disappeared for five or six months. The night before, Li San Sheng and Liu Yi Ran left, and Guan Ming Yue bombarded him with text messages until Li San Sheng couldn't take it anymore due to exhaustion. It wasn't that Li San Sheng didn't like Guan Ming Yue, but rather that this little girl from next door was growing up right in front of his eyes, yet he couldn't do anything about it, making him feel helpless. Moreover, this little girl would definitely be a femme fatale when she grew up, and Li San Sheng wondered who could possibly match her or win her heart.

  Not long after, the little girl came running from Paris Spring Square, not far from the south gate, with her own little friend, Xiao Shuangshuang, who was very familiar with Li Sansheng. The little girl and Mingyue were of the same type, only not as arrogant as Mingyue. Although she had just entered junior high school, the little girl's figure was not to be underestimated, especially her development was extremely fast. Although it wasn't as exaggerated as Tongyan Juru, it was absolutely more impressive than some sisters. Fortunately, Paris Spring was not far from the academy gate, otherwise Li Sansheng wouldn't have dared to let these two girls run over alone.

  Seeing the two girls dressed so cool, all they need is a pair of high heels to become queens. Li San Sheng asked puzzledly, "Guan Mingyue, Xiaoshuang classmates, it seems today isn't Sunday, right?"

  Xiao Shuangshuang, with a scowl on her face and big eyes staring angrily, said "Don't call me Xiao Shuangshuang!" At the same time, she shook her small fist in a threatening manner towards Li San Sheng. However, this only added to the humor of the situation, and Li San Sheng pretended not to notice. Ming Yue secretly smiled to herself.

  Xiao Shuang saw Guan Mingyue laughing at herself, and instantly turned her spearhead towards Guan Mingyue, scratching her itchy spot and shouting, "You dare to laugh at me, you dare to laugh at me."

  Li Sansheng has a very close relationship with Xiao Shuangshuang, mainly because of Mingyue. The two girls have been inseparable since childhood, attending the same school and class from kindergarten to junior high school. They are bone-gray level BFFs. Xiao Shuangshuang's original name is Xiao Shuangshuang, but Li Sansheng gave her a nickname "Xiao Shuangshuang", which Mingyue and others also followed, making Xiao Shuangshuang helpless every time.

  Xiao Shuangshuang's family background is not ordinary, Li Sansheng heard from Zhao Ayi that Xiao Shuangshuang's grandfather came from the Central Party School and later took root in Shaanxi. Although he has long since retired, he still holds a professor title at the Shaanxi Party School. However, his influence and power are not ordinary. Xiao Shuangshuang's parents are also not ordinary. His father is the third-in-command of the Provincial Committee Organization Department with unlimited potential, while his mother is a high-ranking executive at China National Petroleum Corporation's Shaanxi branch, possibly with further advancement.

  Xiao Shuang, just surrender to us three brothers now, and I'll consider making you the youngest later. Ming Yue escaped from Xiao Shuang's clutches and hid behind Li San Sheng, saying with a sly smile. In an instant, Xiao Shuang's face turned bright red with shame.

  Li Sansheng

  Helpless Li San Sheng turned his head and pretended to be angry, asking, "Guan Ming Yue, you still haven't told me why you didn't attend class today." Ming Yue also looked at Li San Sheng with a serious expression, saying in a pretentious tone, "Li San Sheng, we had exams this morning and were let off in the afternoon. We're good kids."

  Knowing that the two people didn't skip class, he felt at ease and didn't need to cover for them. Otherwise, Zhao's phone call would definitely reach him soon, because such things had happened frequently before, and the two little ones always asked Li San Sheng to cover for them, making Zhao feel quite helpless.

  Watching the two little girls playing with small toys on Shu Yuan Street, Li San Sheng smiled and said, "I bet you two are going to Paris Spring again to eat Haagen-Dazs, you little brats."

  Isn't it that only kids eat ice cream? But I see most of them are adults, Xiaoshuang refuted in discontent. These two girls' favorite thing to do is argue with Lisan, but after he disappeared for five or six months, they suddenly lost their opponent. Unfortunately, the one who suffered was Guanyu Shan, who treated these two little brats as precious jewels and dragon's reverse scales.

  Xiao Shuang's words left Li San Sheng speechless, and he didn't bother to argue with the two little brats. He took the two extreme Lolita girls to stroll around Shuyuan Street, not taking it seriously.

  In a small jade store, two little girls each picked out a blue田玉. The jade wasn't top-notch, but what mattered was that the two pieces were a matching pair, with a dragon on one side and a phoenix on the other. Naturally, the older sister, Mingyue, took the piece with the dragon, while Xiaochuang could only pout and take the piece with the phoenix. The store owner was a middle-aged woman who didn't have any of the usual mercantile airs about her; perhaps it was being surrounded by all these jade pieces that had refined her, giving her an otherworldly aura. She wasn't beautiful, but there was something about her that made you feel very comfortable - maybe it was her temperament that made you forget what she looked like.

  The boss had already stopped the work in his hand when he saw Li Sansheng and two little beauties coming in, and he kept sizing up the three of them with a faint smile on his face that made people feel neither strange nor disgusted. The two little girls were messing around in the store, touching things randomly, but the boss didn't say a word. Li Sansheng could only confirm that the boss's wife was not an ordinary person.

  When Li Sanyuan saw the blue ceramic vase, the boss's eyes also lit up and finally walked over. His body had a fragrance of carnations that made people feel comfortable. Mingyue quietly asked what this scent was, but Xiaoshuang shook her head in ignorance. Mingyue and Xiaoshuang were used to smelling roses and other noble flowers, so they naturally didn't know it was the ordinary scent of carnations. Li Sanyuan smiled and said it was the fragrance of carnations. The boss heard him but didn't show any unusual reaction, as if he wasn't surprised that Li Sanyuan could identify the scent of carnations.

  The middle-aged woman laughed and praised, "Good eyesight, young man! You must be a connoisseur!" Li Sansheng shook his head and said, "It's just that the old master at home collects some jade, and I've been taken by him to recognize them from time to time. I'm afraid of making mistakes." The boss nodded and didn't ask further, only saying, "These two pieces of jade are not top-grade, but they're quite round and smooth. I estimate that they were worn by someone for a very long time, and this is a auspicious jade, not an inauspicious one." Li Sansheng knew that if the jade was an inauspicious one, it would not only fail to bring good fortune to the wearer but also bring some bad luck.

  A middle-aged woman holding two pieces of jade said, "This was just sent by a friend and I haven't had time to look at it yet. You guys arrived so quickly, I guess it's fate."

  Li Sansheng saw the two maidservants fondling the dragon and phoenix jade, and asked, "Boss, how much is it?" The middle-aged woman also saw that the two maidservants liked it very much, and smiled, saying, "This was left in the store by a friend. He said he wouldn't sell it for less than 5,000 yuan."

  Li Sansheng was certain that the boss's friend was an outsider, and he was put here because he looked up to the boss as an insider. He was afraid of being taken advantage of, because the value of this jade was far more than 5,000, not even 50,000 would be enough.

  Alternatively, Li Sansheng turned his head and asked casually, sizing up the polished jade products in the store. Mingyue and Xiaoshuang, two girls, nodded their heads. Since the two girls had already agreed to buy, Li Sansheng didn't say anything else and settled on a price of 6,000 yuan with the boss's wife.

  Li San Sheng definitely didn't have that much money on him, he never carried more than 100 yuan in cash when going out. He also didn't bring any cards, so it was naturally Guan Ming Yue who paid the bill. Xiao Shuang Shuang didn't have that much money either, after all, her parents were both part of the system and managed their children's finances quite strictly, they wouldn't give Xiao Shuang Shuang that much pocket money. However, if she needed a certain amount, they would probably give it to her. But Guan Ming Yue had been spoiled by Zhao Yi since childhood, Zhao Yi always gave her and Guan Yuan Shan as much spending money as they wanted, and every month she would regularly deposit a fixed amount of money into their cards. Otherwise, Guan Yuan Shan wouldn't have been able to spend money like water since he was young.

  Mingyue is a girl, so she wouldn't spend money like her brother. She usually just spends money on going out and buying food, and her clothes are all taken care of by Aunt Zhao. So, she has been saving money all along. After Lisan came to live with them, Mingyue naturally handed over her own little treasure trove to Lisan as well, since there were no secrets between them. Lisan then handed it over to a friend to manage, and the amount of money wasn't much, just around 100,000 or so. For an ordinary person, this might be a considerable sum, but for Aunt Zhao's family, it was just average. Every month, the interest would be deposited back into Mingyue's bank card on a regular basis, and over the years, Mingyue had also become a little rich woman with tens of thousands in her pocket.

  Li Sansheng was about to go out with Mingyue to get the money when the boss smiled and stopped him, saying that they could swipe their card in the store if they felt at ease.

  Li Sansheng didn't have the slightest doubt, someone like her wouldn't do something as petty as taking a small bribe. Mingyue took out the VIP card that Zhao Yi had customized for her and her brother Yuanshan at China Merchants Bank to pay, after which they didn't have time to linger anymore. When Li Sansheng and the others left, the boss smiled and saw them off, welcoming them to come often.

  Li San Sheng spent some time on Bookstore Street and didn't go to the Stele Forest again. He accompanied two little girls, Ming Yue and Xiao Shuang, strolling along South Main Street. Along the way, Ming Yue and Xiao Shuang noticed that Li San Sheng's Omega watch was a bit old. As they walked to the entrance of Zhongda International, Ming Yue quietly asked, "Third Brother, let me buy you a new watch?" Her voice was very soft, afraid of being overheard by others. This was because when Li San Sheng, an ordinary-looking young man who wasn't particularly handsome or cool, entered with two beautiful girls who were the envy of many, people would naturally make assumptions. Ming Yue feared that Third Brother would be humiliated, so she spoke very softly. Xiao Shuang also looked expectant.

  However, the Earl watch on his wrist, which is considered to be a high imitation by most people, has a different meaning for Li San Sheng. Every time he sees this watch, he thinks that this life is not in vain, and there are such a group of buddies who eat meat, drink wine, and fight with him.

  Li Sansheng naturally knew what the two girls were thinking, and smiled as he patted Mingyue's head, saying, "You see if your Third Brother Li can afford this or not. I'm still afraid that when we're on the bus, someone will steal it from us, and then we'll be in big trouble. You two will have eaten me out of house and home, and you still won't let up." He had tactfully declined, and since Li Sansheng had already made his decision, the two slender girls no longer insisted.

  Finally, accompanied by the two girls at the Bell Tower Starbucks for a while, Mingyue received a call from Zhao Ayi, saying that Xiaosha's mother had returned from Yulin and learned that the two girls were with Li Sansheng. Mingyue handed the phone to Li Sansheng, who spoke with Zhao Ayi for a couple of sentences before agreeing to send the two girls back home. Originally, Zhao Ayi had hoped that Li Sansheng would take both Xiaosha and Mingyue to the Xiao family's house, as she wanted Li Sansheng to meet Xiaosha's family members because Xiaosha had often spoken highly of him at home. The Xiao family was naturally very curious about who could tame their little princess, but they hadn't had the time or opportunity to meet yet.

  Aunt Zhao learned that Li San Sheng still had something to do at night, and smiled, saying, "Next time you have time, get familiar with Xiao Shuang's family." Li San Sheng naturally knew that Aunt Zhao was paving the way for him, so he tacitly agreed.

  After sending the two girls to the car that Zhao's aunt had sent someone to pick them up, Li San Sheng watched as the two girls reluctantly walked away, then hailed a taxi and rushed to the airport.

  Because Li Sānshēng knew that if he let the demon wait for him for a minute, he would suffer who knows how much bitter retribution, so he dared not be late by even one minute.