Lan Yuxi rushed to the Hongmen at top speed. After having breakfast with Elder Hong, the father and son sat under the banyan tree and chatted for a while before Lan Yuxi finally showed a relieved smile.
As her master had said, Nan Xiao was so outstanding that he shouldn't be confined to their small patch of land. If he wished, she would lend him a hand.
Once Lan Yuxi made up her mind, she called Lan Musi. Knowing that he had arranged for a teaching assistant to cover her classes for the day, she took a nap at her master's place.
Around noon, Lan Yuxi was awakened by the ringing of her phone. The moment she saw the number on the screen, a bright smile lit up her face.
"Wife..."
"Yes, I'm here! I finally hear your voice! Is everything going smoothly on your end?"
Nan Xiao let out a low chuckle. "Quite smoothly."
Lan Yuxi asked anxiously, "Then when can you come back?"
"I still have some matters to attend to here. The earliest I can be back is tomorrow noon."
Lan Yuxi pouted. "Okay, I thought you could come back today."
"It's not that quick. The reason it was so fast and smooth this time is that Ming Zicheng had already made all the arrangements. I just came to pick up the pieces."
Lan Yuxi pursed her lips. "I lectured Er Wan this morning. If I had known he was so good to you, I wouldn't have said anything."
Nan Xiao laughed. "You've already said it, and he's your junior brother anyway, so he won't be angry with you."
Lan Yuxi curved her lips into a smile. "That's true."
"Wife, I heard your side of things also went quite smoothly. I didn't expect my Xi Bao to be so capable!"
"Yes, I think I'm quite capable too. Just leave anything to me in the future, and you won't be so tired."
"If I'm not tired, can you be comfortable?"
"Pfft—"
"Haha..." Nan Xiao's hearty laughter came through the phone.
Lan Yuxi rolled her eyes. "Had enough laughing? I'm hanging up if you're done."
"Wait for me, okay? I'll pamper you properly when I get back."
Lan Yuxi pouted and ended the call.
After the call ended, she remembered that she hadn't asked Nan Xiao if he was injured. Lan Yuxi slapped her forehead in annoyance, then dialed her subordinate's number.
"Xi Zhu."
Lan Yuxi asked sternly, "The mission is complete, why haven't you reported to me?"
"I was afraid you were in class, so I sent you a WeChat message."
Lan Yuxi, who had intended to put on an air of authority, realized she had wrongly accused them and sheepishly stuck out her tongue.
"Are none of you injured?"
"President Nan didn't let us be the assault team, so none of our people were injured."
"What about his people? Any casualties?"
"Yes, but none of the injuries were severe... President Nan's subordinates are too terrifying. They were charging forward as if they didn't care about their lives. Forget the drug dealers; even we felt a chill down our spines watching them."
Lan Yuxi raised her eyebrows slightly. The Nan family's elite guards were indeed remarkable. Nan Xiao hadn't eliminated them but sent them to the Dark Night, not only giving them a new lease on life but also a legitimate identity. They would undoubtedly fight to the death for Nan Xiao in critical moments.
"What about Nan Xiao? Is he injured?"
"...No."
Lan Yuxi frowned slightly. "Why were you so quick to answer the other questions, but so slow to answer this one?"
"Xi Zhu, President Nan is coming over."
Lan Yuxi's heart sank. "Is he injured?"
"No, really, he's not."
Lan Yuxi let out a sigh of relief and ended the call.
"Knock, knock..." A knock came from outside the door.
Lan Yuxi got up and opened it.
The moment the door opened, she was pulled into a hug.
"Lan Yuxi, I'm here! Surprised, aren't you?"
Lan Yuxi pushed the person away. "No surprise, only a scare. Why are you here?"
Yan Chuting smiled and said, "I heard from President Luo that you were here, so I came to mooch a meal."
"Come in and sit." Lan Yuxi smiled and opened the door wider, inviting her in. "I heard you've been doing well lately. Shi Yi wants to promote you."
"No need. I feel there's still so much for me to learn. I'd rather gain more experience at the grassroots level for a while."
"Oh, you've matured!" Lan Yuxi grabbed a bottle of mineral water and handed it to her. "Did you run all the way here? Why are you all sweaty?"
"We need to prepare a batch of medicine to send to Daliangshan, and I've been running around with that. Our new pharmaceutical factory is still under construction, and the old one can't produce so many varieties of medicine in a short time. So, I've been borrowing my dad's name to beg for help everywhere."
Lan Yuxi smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. "This is the most brilliant 'borrowing your dad's name' you've ever done!"
Yan Chuting puffed out her chest proudly.
Lan Yuxi glanced at her. "Stop puffing, you're still a flat chest no matter how much you puff."
Yan Chuting playfully hit her. "You can't attack people like that!"
Lan Yuxi laughed. "By the way, Joyce has another batch of medicine to transport. You can communicate with him to avoid duplication."
"Vice President Luo has already communicated with him."
"I've realized that a few of you can do quite well without me. How about this: you continue to gain experience at the grassroots level for a while longer. Once the Daliangshan project is done, I'll have Shi Yi promote you, and you can work with him to build the pharmaceutical factory. It won't be for free, you'll get a share."
"Forget the share, just letting me eat my fill is enough."
"Your standards have dropped so low now?"
"Definitely." Yan Chuting smiled and tugged at her T-shirt. "Look at what I'm wearing. This T-shirt only cost fifty yuan."
Lan Yuxi burst out laughing. "You driving a sports car wearing a fifty-yuan shirt, who would believe that!"
"I sold the sports car. Now I'm going green."
Lan Yuxi frowned slightly. "Why did you sell your car?"
"I bought a small apartment in Kyoto. I didn't want to ask my dad for money, so I had to sell the car."
Lan Yuxi shook her head helplessly. "Didn't I arrange a place for you? What are you trying to do?"
"I'm not qualified to live in a public housing unit, and I didn't want people to gossip about you, so I had to return it."
"How could Luo Shi Yi not tell me about such a big thing!"
"It was I who told him not to."
Lan Yuxi was amused and exasperated. "It seems he listens to you quite a bit."
"He's not listening to me; he's afraid of you, so I threatened him."
Lan Yuxi's interest was instantly piqued. "How did you threaten him?"
Yan Chuting smiled. "I said if he told you, I would pester Ming Zicheng."
"Haha... You're something else!" Lan Yuxi hugged her shoulder. "What do you want to eat today? I'll have someone make it for you."
"I'm not picky. I'm easy to feed."
Lan Yuxi clicked her tongue. "It's only been a few days, and you've changed so much!"
Yan Chuting pouted. "Do you think I wanted to change? This is what they call 'poverty shortens ambition'."