Chapter Thirty-Two: Unexpected Words from an Unlikely Source

  "Come, come, kids, sit next to Uncle, and Xiao Yi, come here too, let Uncle hold you." Xue An Yuan beckoned the four siblings of Xue Xiang to gather around him on the sofa. On his left and right legs sat Xiao Di and Xiao Yi respectively. Holding the two little ones, Xue An Yuan asked: "Xiao Yi, good girl, have these years been good for you? You must have suffered a lot."

  "It's no good, Big Brother, Big Sister is dead, and nobody cares about me." The little guy took the opportunity to tattle, and after tattling, he even made a ghostly face at Xue Xiang.

  Xue glared at the little guy and sighed in his heart: Did I buy you so many delicious things for nothing? Do you sleep on me every day for nothing?

  Xue Anyuan patted the little guy's head and comforted, "Don't worry, my dear girl. Later, your uncle will help you deal with him. You say how to deal with him, and we'll do it that way, for my dear girl's sake."

  "Great uncle, don't blame big brother, just as long as he doesn't stop others from eating meat, I'll forgive him." The little guy tilted her head and looked at Xue Xiang, saying this while staring at Xue Xiang with her eyes, implying that she wasn't thanking her quickly enough, since she had pleaded on his behalf. The little girl didn't think for a moment that it was actually her who had reported him earlier.

  Xue Anyuan curiously asked the little guy: "Why doesn't he let my dear daughter eat meat, is it because he wants to eat alone?"

  The little guy blinked and said: "No, he said that eating too much meat will make you grow up to be a chubby girl, but I just like to eat it."

  Xue An-Yuan became even more curious: "Do you often eat meat?"

  Little guy said: "Not often, but every day, big brother only allows others to eat a few pieces, he and third brother eat the most, it's not fair."

  Xue Anyuan knew that asking the little guy wouldn't get any answers, so he could only wait until later to ask Xue Xiang. Xue Anyuan turned his head and asked Xiao Wan: "Second daughter, you're in junior high now, can you keep up with your schoolwork? Is studying very tiring?"

  "Uncle, don't worry, I'm doing very well in school and I'm ranked first in my class. Now that we have big brother to take care of us, we're living a good life. Uncle, look, this is the gift we brought for you." Xiaowan put down the water cup in her hand and pointed at the paper box on the table.

  "Haha, okay, let me see what goodies my kids have brought."

  Xue An yuan put down Xiao Yi and Xiao Shi, pulled the two boxes forward and opened them, only to see that they were filled with good things. He couldn't help but ask out of curiosity: "Lao San, where did these things come from? Your living expenses can't afford this, can it?" Xue An yuan still addressed Xue Xiang as "Lao San" according to the family's ranking, while addressing Xiao Wan as "Er Nü", because there were only three girls in their family, besides his own daughter Xue Lin, who were Xiao Wan and Xiao Shi. Xue Ping yuan, Xue Xiang's third uncle, had two sons, with a small age difference between them. The eldest son, Xue Yang, was only a few months younger than Xue Xiang, while the second son, Xue Yuan, was a few months older than Xiao Wan.

  Xue Xiangdao said, "Don't worry, Uncle, it's not from any evil or crooked means. Here's what happened..." Xue Xiang told Xue Anyuan about his journey to wealth and success.

  "Big brother is really clever, why didn't you tell me earlier? I was still telling second sister that all the good food we eat every day was stolen by big brother, and also told third brother not to bring it to school to eat. Stinky big brother." The little guy praised and scolded in turns, slid down from Xue An Yuan's leg, and ran to Xue Xiang's side, shaking his body.

  The little guy's words made everyone laugh loudly, Xue Xiang picked up the little guy and said: "In your heart, big brother is so bad, you still grab the stolen things to eat."

  "Hehe, the stolen food tastes better because after eating it, others won't be able to find out. And also, after eating, I don't know if big brother will still be able to steal more next time, so it's delicious! Now that it's all gone, I know big brother has a lot of money, and in the future, it won't taste good anymore, and there's no fun competing with third brother." The little guy stretched his waist and said to Xue Xiang.

  "I didn't snatch from you, it was all you snatching from me. Didn't you take the sugar from my drawer last time?" Little Yi rarely spoke up, but it seemed she had been wronged too much and couldn't help but speak out to defend herself.

  "I just ate a few pieces and put them back for you, Third Brother is so petty." The little guy said with a tone of self-righteousness, as if he had already shown great restraint. Not only did Third Brother not appreciate it, but he even dared to speak out in protest, which was utterly despicable behavior.

  Two little guys started arguing, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became lively. Xue Xiang finally managed to stop the two little guys' quarrel, instructing Xue Wan to take them to the table in the northwest corner to play for a while, while he had something to say to his uncle. The little guy didn't protest, walking forward while staring at him with big eyes, meaning to say, "Look how obedient I am, when we get home, you can't tell on me and bully me."

  ………

  Xue Anyuan said: "You have opened up three small branches, what do you want to say to me?"

  Xue Xiang took out a pack of cigarettes, handed one to Xue An Yuan, lit it for him, and then lit one for himself. He took a deep drag and said, "Uncle, I think your situation is about to take a turn for the better."

  "Oh? When did you start caring about ZZ, what rumors have you heard?" Xue An Yuan was about to put the cigarette in his mouth when he was startled by Xue Xiang's words and withdrew it again, looking at Xue Xiang and asking.

  Xue Xiangdao: "It's not a rumor, you should be able to watch TV here too. How long has the old man not shown his face?"

  Xue Anyuan was shocked and then spoke hastily with a stern expression: "You little scoundrel, how dare you speak nonsense? You've always been reckless, but did you ever think you'd dare to think of such things?"

  Xue Xiangdao: "What are you thinking? I didn't say anything about the old man, I said his recent situation might not be too good?"

  Xue Anyuan looked outside and Xue Xiang said, "There's no one outside. Your team leader Luo Zili specifically took a look." Xue Anyuan didn't ask Luo Zili why he was giving Xue Xiang face, he knew that his nephew had always been "unruly" with too many wicked ideas.

  Xue Anyuan lowered his voice and said: "I am too close to Old Chief, this matter must not be mentioned again."

  Xue Xiangdao: "Uncle, I know that the repeated turmoil in recent days has numbed you, but this time it's absolutely different. You'd better be careful."

  Xue An-yuan is good at fighting, but when it comes to ZZ's twists and turns, he really can't keep up. Xue An-yuan rarely guesses the riddles in Xue's mouth, his current mood is a bit like the old monk's "winning is delightful, losing is also enjoyable", being able to go out is of course very good, but if not, staying inside is also peaceful.

  Xue Xiang saw that Xue An yuan was not speaking, and continued to comfort him: "Big brother, there are some things I can't say clearly. The darkness will pass, the historical trend is unstoppable, just wait and see."

  Xue An-yuan finished his cigarette, carefully looking at his nephew. He had never discovered that the nephew in front of him, who was always fighting and causing trouble, would say such things. Although it sounded a bit childish and empty to him, it was not like before when he was just a kid who only knew how to fight.

  Xue Xiang smiled: "Uncle, what are you looking at? Do you think I still have some tricks up my sleeve? These past few years, I've really studied hard and learned a lot. You can ask me anything, I won't say it's all memorized, but I'll answer whatever you ask."

  As the former director of the Party History Office, Xue Xiang had thoroughly researched these theoretical things.

  Xue An-yuan smiled: "You little rascal, you can't hide your true intentions. I know some things can't be spoken out loud, and I've roughly guessed what you mean. You're a man with your own ideas, but this matter is too big, if we reveal even a hint of it, there might be unforeseen consequences."

  Xue Xiangdao said: "Uncle, I understand what you're saying. The most urgent thing now is to get you out of here. No matter how clearly I see through these things, I can only stand by and watch."

  Xue Anyuan leaned back on the sofa and said, "It's not easy to talk about. I'm too closely related to Old Chief, and he's not doing well now. Let alone me." Xue thought for a moment and said, "What if General An comes out and says something?"

  Xue Anyuan's eyebrows tightened, and he sat up straight, staring at Xue Xiangdao: "You little scoundrel, don't get involved in this, you can't intervene, don't make things worse by trying to be clever."

  Xue Xiangdao said: "Don't worry about this, I just have a general idea. Will it work if you just tell General An Lao to give the order?"

  Xue An had been stuck in this place for five or six years and had longed to get out. Now, seeing Xue Xiang's words seemed to have a turning point, he couldn't hold back the excitement in his heart. He grabbed Xue Xiang's hand: "Old three, I want to go out, but you must not sacrifice yourself. General An is already 55 years old and has been promoted to general, now he is a key figure, with great weight. If he speaks up, my chance of getting out should be very high."

  Xue Xiang nodded: "I'll be careful, even if this matter doesn't work out, you'll suffer for a few more months at most. I'll act according to my abilities. Uncle, it's almost time, let's go back first, take care of your body." The visiting time was almost up, Xue Xiang stood up and hugged Xue An Yuan, bidding him farewell.

  Xue Anyuan, sitting at the table, beckoned to the three little ones: "Come quickly, let Uncle hold you again." The three little ones ran over and hugged their uncle, who was squatting down. One of the little ones touched Xue Anyuan's whiskers with his small hand and said: "Uncle, I heard Big Brother say that we can only come to see you once a month, right? What if someone misses you?" The little one didn't use any honorifics, just directly saying "you" this and "you" that.

  Xue Anyuan didn't mind at all, he was very fond of this little niece whom he had just met for the first time. The little girl was innocent and lovely, making Xue Anyuan feel relieved in his heart. Holding the little one's hand, he said: "Soon, Uncle will be leaving, when Uncle leaves, I'll take you out to play every day."

  "Visiting time is over, you should leave." The staff of the visiting group came to urge. This was still Luo Zili who specially made an appointment, otherwise the visit would have ended early.

  Xue Xiang accompanied by a few small Yiyis and Xue An, bid farewell at the gate, waving goodbye until Xue An disappeared into the distance carrying something.