Chapter 161 - 158: Worldly?
After seeing the elders off, Zhou Lian smiled knowingly. ’This matter should be settled for now,’ she thought. ’We’re benefiting from the lingering grace of our master. Li Xiu’s greatest fortune in his two lifetimes wasn’t marrying me, but having the good luck to meet our master and be taught by him.’
The elders who had just left all gathered at Elder Ping’s residence, as if by unspoken agreement. It wasn’t that they were particularly invested in Li Xiu, but they were doing it for the sake of their departed friend. Li Jincheng was their old friend’s only remaining attachment in this world, and they had to watch over him a little more on his behalf. That way, they wouldn’t have to feel ashamed when they met their friend again in the afterlife.
"Hasn’t Jin Chen already headed south? Did you all go see his wife?" Elder Ping asked calmly, looking at the solemn expressions on his old friends’ faces.
"Yes. The little fox taught by that old fox is certainly impressive. And his taste in wives is impeccable. We just don’t know what to make of this Zhou Lian!"
"What happened? Tell me," Elder Ping asked nonchalantly, taking a sip of his tea. ’These old fellows are really getting on in years,’ he thought. ’Their judgment of character is getting cloudy. That young lady, Zhou Lian, is a smart one. She’s worldly, but not jaded—a rare quality for someone her age.’
All talking over each other, they recounted what had happened. Elder Ping just smiled and had the Secretary-General hand several sheets of paper to his old friends, motioning for them to read. Then, he waited quietly for their reactions.
Had Li Xiu and Zhou Lian been there, they wouldn’t have been too surprised by those papers. After all, they had both lived for decades longer than this. The state apparatus versus an individual was like an egg being smashed against a rock—a complete mismatch. The papers documented the affairs of Li Xiu’s family and Zhou Lian’s family with crystal clarity and in meticulous detail.
Silently, they handed the papers back to the Secretary-General. The elders were all stunned. A boy from a farming family had reached such a level—was it innate talent, or Yun Qi’s excellent tutelage? Perhaps it was both. He had been taught by Yun Qi for ten years while also tutoring his younger siblings, yet none of his relatives had noticed anything unusual. And don’t forget, Li Jincheng had an uncle who was a battlefield veteran. To keep this hidden from his entire family for over a decade—to the point that no one suspected a thing even when he served as a pallbearer at Yun Qi’s funeral—that level of forbearance and composure was beyond any ordinary person!
"Why has everyone gone quiet?" Elder Ping asked gently, a smile playing on his lips as he looked at his old friends.
"Yun Qi was in a class of his own when he was alive. And even after he’s gone, he left behind a disciple who’s as unnervingly brilliant as he was. There’s just no competing with him!"
"Exactly. To have cultivated a figure of this caliber in a rural backwater like that... it’s impossible not to be impressed."
...
"And what about you all? You’ve only focused on Jin Chen. What about his wife, Zhou Lian? Don’t you have any thoughts on her?" Elder Ping asked with a grin. He knew his old friends were deliberately ignoring the topic of Zhou Lian. It served them right for misjudging her.
"We’re getting old. Getting old. To be so wrong about a young slip of a girl!"
"It’s not that we misjudged. We’ve been in high positions for so long that we’re bound to be overly suspicious. In fact, I’m only just now understanding why Jin Chen wasn’t so eager to meet us old acquaintances in the first place. Yun Qi lived with such clarity, and the disciple he raised is just as perspicacious. As for Jin Chen... Xiao Zhang, his security aide, was right: he who is without desire is strong. The boy wants nothing from us. Now that they’ve met us, they show us respect and admiration out of the sincerity of their hearts, and that’s the extent of it. Let him be. Just instruct our subordinates to keep an eye on them and offer help where needed," Elder Ping said with a sigh. ’It’s so rare to find someone of such outstanding character. If our old friend Yun Qi knew of this, he would surely be able to rest in peace.’
"Yes, let’s consider it the last thing we can do for our old friend Yun Qi."
"That kid Jin Chen is really something else. To find such a perceptive wife in a place like that... he’s one of a kind!"
"Exactly. His wife can be tough when she needs to be and gentle when she wants to be. She and Jin Chen are a perfect match!"
...
"We don’t need to watch them too closely. Let them follow their own path. If they happen to send you gifts, just accept them. Jin Chen is only trying to see a shadow of his master in us. He handles matters with great propriety and caution. If he were to enter the system... hehe, back in the old days, he’d have the makings of a Prime Minister. What a pity," Elder Ping said quietly.
"A Prime Minister?"
"What about Yun Qi? Do you think he could have been a Prime Minister?" Elder Ping asked with a smile.
"Yun Qi... he was brilliant, charismatic, and incredibly intelligent!"
"Indeed! A man in a class of his own! And this Jin Chen... the student has surpassed the master. Yun Qi always carried a hint of scholarly idealism, but the brilliant disciple he raised has an air of ruthless decisiveness. Jin Chen is exceptionally gifted. Though he may seem cold, he is also fiercely loyal and has his own internal moral compass. Just look at the wife he dotes on. A country girl with no formal schooling managed to get into a top university after having a child. That’s far beyond ordinary cleverness. And look at how she faced us old coots. Aside from some initial, shy nervousness, did you see any fear or timidity in her?" Elder Ping said softly. ’Now that’s talent.’
"You’re right. Forget her—my own daughters-in-law and granddaughters-in-law are still timid around me, but I saw no fear in Jin Chen’s wife. That presence and composure of hers is really something!"
"See? The young couple is a perfect team—one manages the home, the other manages the outside world. Like two swords working in perfect harmony. How far do you think they’ll go?" Elder Ping said with a laugh. He had truly come to admire the young couple. ’A pity everyone has their own path in life!’
"What’s the use? So what if he’s brilliant? That kid Jin Chen refuses to enter the system, no matter what. That old fox Ge Xingzhi must have put him up to it. The Wei Jin style... Wei Jin style my foot! I’ve studied it for decades and still don’t get it, and not a single one of the younger generation in my family gives a damn about it. No one’s even interested." The Secretary-General’s father shot his son a glare. ’When I’m six feet under and see Yun Qi, that old bastard will definitely laugh at me. Look at the Li Jincheng he taught—a true gem. No wonder the old coot was always showing off!’
Zhou Lian, for her part, had no idea what transpired after the elders left. Even if she had known, she would have only smiled. She and Li Xiu wanted nothing from these powerful men, which was why they could afford to be neither servile nor arrogant. The only thing they felt was a deep respect for the blood these men had shed on the battlefield.
Having lived for several decades longer, Zhou Lian knew better than anyone what could and couldn’t be done. She saw Li Xiu’s ambitions for this life clearly and couldn’t bear to shatter his hopes. Besides, she wasn’t the kind of woman who needed her husband to rise to power and prominence. She would never be the one to push him away in search of glory only to regret the loneliness later. Li Jincheng’s ambitions didn’t lie in that direction anyway. As for the saying "merchants value profit over parting"—from her knowledge of Li Xiu, that was the very thing he detested most.
’This time around,’ she mused, ’just as Li Xiu said, we should live more freely, more unrestrained. As long as we have a clear conscience and become the people we most want to be, that’s what Li Jincheng would truly want to see. Since I’ve already fallen for him, how could I bear to let him live with any regrets?’