Power and Wealth C.1599

Five days later.

Around ten in the morning.

A plane roared as it descended at the capital airport.

In the airport lobby, Dong Xuebing returned alone. After getting off the plane, he was still lightly packed with just a small bag in his hand. He walked leisurely and casually out of the airport, humming a tune as he exited the hall and queued up for a taxi from Yinjian Company. Dong Xuebing had a great time these days, first reuniting with his wife and child, then helping his wife build momentum and deal with certain people in the province. He met old classmates, and finally, he and his wife went to Macau for a big round of sightseeing, shopping, and enjoying the scenery. He wouldn't mention sleeping. Now, he felt that every cell in his body exuded a pleasant aroma and was completely relaxed.

"Master, go to Ping'anli."

"Okay."

"Can I smoke?"

"Go ahead, just roll down the window a bit."

"Alright, would you like one too?"

"Hehe, sure, I just ran out of cigarettes. Just got off the plane, young man?"

"Yeah, went out to play with my wife, just got back."

"The scenery in other cities is nice, but when it comes down to it, nowhere compares to our Beijing."

"Hey, you're speaking right from my heart. That's right. Any tourist city outside has mountains and water and looks beautiful. Even if it's not a tourist city, there aren't as many people or cars, inside and out, and it's quite comfortable. Honestly, Beijing isn't good in many ways compared to other places. We can't compete at all, but, hehe, I still think Beijing is good; I can't help it."

Dong Xuebing chatted with the driver most of the time. Beijing taxi drivers are very talkative, and Dong Xuebing can talk too, so once they started, there was no stopping them.

Ring ring ring.

The phone suddenly rang.

Looking at the number, it was from Beijing, but Dong Xuebing didn't have it saved in his phone, so he didn't know who it was, but he answered it anyway.

"Hello?" Dong Xuebing said.

The voice on the other end was a woman's, "Guess who I am."

Dong Xuebing recognized it immediately, "Uh, it's Sister Zhang, right?"

Zhang Longjuan chuckled, "Alright, you sharp-eared kid!"

Dong Xuebing smiled bitterly, "With your voice and tone, it would be strange if I couldn't tell. Huh, why did you change your phone number? Isn't this a Beijing China Mobile number?"

"You know me, I'm always in Beijing. My number in Fuzhou isn't working well, and there's always no signal there, so I temporarily changed it. I just tried calling you, but your phone was off. Where are you?"

"Just got off the plane, almost at... Dongzhimen, right?"

"That's perfect, just you? Come to Houhai, it's not far."

"Just me. Why should I go to Houhai? Where are you?"

"That's right, haha. Sister Zhang has been in Beijing for several days, waiting for you. Come quickly; don't waste time talking to Sister Zhang; I'll surprise you when you arrive!"

"A surprise? What surprise?"

"So many questions! You'll know when you get here!"

"Uh, where should I find you?"

"Call when you're almost here. Haha, bye."

The call was cut off, leaving Dong Xuebing helpless, so he just told the driver.

One minute...

Five minutes...

Ten minutes...

The car arrived, and Dong Xuebing paid and got out.

This should be one of the most central areas in Beijing, also the best environment in Beijing's boundaries. Although Houhai is not a sea, it's still an immaculate gorgeous lake, unlike the dirty moats or Liangshui River. The whole place exudes a refreshing and transparent atmosphere, surrounded by ancient buildings with a strong cultural heritage. The atmosphere is lovely by the lakeside, with willow trees swaying in the breeze. Of course, this is relatively well-maintained now. When Dong Xuebing was a child, the cultural atmosphere here was not as clean. Beijing has changed a lot in the past twenty years, almost a different place every year.

Standing by the lake, feeling the cool breeze, Dong Xuebing looked around. Finally, a hearty laughter came from behind. Hearing it, he knew who it was. Sister Zhang's laughter had a distinctive quality, just like her voice. Few people could laugh as sexy and free-spirited as her with a "haha." Even if Dong Xuebing didn't know her, his first impression of her from this laughter would surely be that she was a great beauty.

"Here, kid?"

"Yeah, here."

"I've been waiting for you for half a day."

"Uh, I came pretty quickly. You didn't tell me in advance. Fortunately, I took a flight today. Otherwise, where would you find me?"

Dong Xuebing turned around and saw Zhang Longjuan not far away.

Today, Sister Zhang was sexy, wearing particularly tight black leather pants that wrapped her plump legs with full elasticity, leaving no gap in between. She stepped on a pair of golden high-heeled sandals, revealing a hint of flesh-colored stockings between her feet and the pants. On her upper body was a leopard-print low-cut V-neck top, deep in the cleavage, stylish, and highly tempting.

Zhang Longjuan flicked her wavy curls and provocatively touched Dong Xuebing's cheek with her hand, "Missed your Sister Zhang?"

Dong Xuebing's face flushed, "Missed you."

Zhang Longjuan said, "Am I beautiful today?"

Dong Xuebing awkwardly replied, "Beautiful, you've always been beautiful."

Zhang Longjuan's laughter made her chest tremble, "You little thing, you know how to sweet talk. I loves it."

Sister Zhang's smile was not as graceful as Xie Huilan's, as gentle as Qu Yunxuan's, as reserved as Yu Meixia's, as cold as Geng Yuehua's, as maternal as Xu Yan's, or as elegant as Jiang Fangfang's. It was a kind of bold and hearty smile, particularly genuine as if one could feel the air of confidence emanating from her bones just by seeing her laugh.

It had been a long time since they last met, and Dong Xuebing couldn't help but look at her a few more times, especially those beautiful legs and buttocks bursting out of the leather pants, which were... quite attractive.

Zhang Longjuan grinned, "Hey, stunned?"

Dong Xuebing hurriedly said, "No, definitely not."

"Let's walk and talk, haha." Zhang Longjuan boldly put her arm around Dong Xuebing's shoulder and walked forward.

Dong Xuebing felt quite awkward. He least enjoyed Sister Zhang's enthusiasm, both in the past and now. He didn't know how to respond. With Sister Zhang's embrace, the large chest wrapped in the leopard-print top rubbed against Dong Xuebing's arm with the rhythm of her high heels. He could feel the softness, as if the bra inside was thin, almost like not wearing one, very soft.

"Sister Zhang, don't."

"What's wrong? Look at you blushing."

"Cough, if there's going to be an embrace, it should be me embracing you. It's not common for a woman to hug a man."

"Hey, our little handsome guy still cares about his face, huh? Alright, you can hug me while walking, haha." Zhang Longjuan let go of his hand and generously lifted her shoulder.

Dong Xuebing cleared his throat, but he didn't dare. He changed the subject: "So, why did you come to Beijing? For business?"

"Yeah, the company has some matters to deal with here. Recently, our business and investments have gradually shifted to domestic. Also, I wanted to give you a surprise."

"What surprise?" Dong Xuebing asked.

Zhang Longjuan smiled, "I can't say now. You'll find out when you get there. Haha. Anyway, let's talk about how your trip to Macau went."

"It was okay. I just wandered around casually, and then..." Suddenly, Dong Xuebing paused. "Hey, how did you know I went to Macau?" It just dawned on him that he hadn't even told his unit leader, Dong Xuebing, about his vacation, so how could others know?

Zhang Longjuan lifted her chin, "What doesn't I know?"

Dong Xuebing quickly said, "Seriously, you... I didn't tell you?"

"Do you think I don’t know when you didn’t tell me? Are you sure you didn't go to the Wynn Casino? Don't forget that I made my first fortune in the casino. Naturally, I know quite a few people. I just heard a few days ago from a friend that a young man recently listed on the first page of the danger list went to the Wynn Casino and scared the biggest casino in Macau. You may not understand this list; it consists of people with extremely high gambling skills who are not welcome in the casinos. The higher the page number, the more dangerous they are, and only three people are on the first page. Hehe, I immediately guessed it was you. It's said that on the night you went, all the casinos in Macau were in an uproar as if facing a major enemy. Haven't you heard about it? Some gamblers of your age and similar appearance were denied entry, and they were even asked to leave during security checks."

Dong Xuebing realized, "So that's what happened? I didn't pay attention afterward; I just went to some tourist spots and didn't go to the casinos."

Zhang Longjuan patted his hair, "You, causing such a stir and not even knowing about it, really something. You gave them a hard time these few days you were there. I heard that a casino with some connection to the gambling ship we went to even closed down for a day. Haha, I was amused when I heard about it."

Dong Xuebing wryly smiled, "I never intended to gamble. You also know my current position. These people... aren't they going too far?"

Zhang Longjuan chuckled, "They don't know you're a disciplinary inspection cadre. They don't even know your name. Seeing you in the past, they probably thought someone had offended you. Were you planning to settle scores with the casinos? That's why they were so on guard. You, young man, became a legend by winning over ten billion RMB with the lowest-value chip. Based on that, which casino wouldn't want to keep their distance from you? They're afraid you'll come to them. They can afford to lose millions, tens of millions, but billions? Nobody can handle that!"

Dong Xuebing laughed, "They're being petty, doubting a gentleman's integrity. I told them I just went to take a look and had no intention of placing bets."