233 On the brink of war (1/2)
Hu Shuo had been pretty joyful all day. He practiced tai chi in the morning before holding classes for the children. Ren Xiaosu wasn't around then, and oh boy, was it a comfortable day.
Just as Ren Xiaosu had guessed, Hu Shuo could have sent someone else to fetch Yan Liuyuan and the others instead. If he had done that, it would have saved him a great deal of trouble. But of course, he had his motives for doing it this way.
If he had brought back Yan Liuyuan, Wang Fugui, and the rest of them himself, how could he have sent Ren Xiaosu away with an excuse?
All other reasons aside, it was totally worth the effort to grant Ren Xiaosu the status of officer of the Li Consortium if he could send him away from the outpost for the rest of the day.
As expected, Ren Xiaosu was busy almost all day. The return journey to town alone already took six hours and could even go up to eight hours if there were any delays.
This was as good as being given a day off!
But he couldn't have expected that someone would bring a satellite phone to him by the afternoon, saying that there was a call from the head of the Audit Department who was stamping with fury.
At first, Hu Shuo did not understand the issue. But after he took the call, he realized Ren Xiaosu had involved himself with investigating smuggling in town! Within a system, there was a clear division of duty. If you encroached on other people's authority, that wouldn't be acceptable at all.
Hu Shuo was shocked to hear that. 'Didn't you go back to town to fetch your family? So why did you get yourself involved in investigating smuggling?!'
When he hung up, he looked at Ren Xiaosu. ”Did you investigate smuggling?”
Ren Xiaosu laughed and said, ”I was just helping your department expand into new areas. Aren't I great?”
Hu Shuo said bitterly, ”When did I ask you to help us expand our area of activity? Why didn't you take on the duties of the Public Order Division as well then!”
Ren Xiaosu was not happy to hear that. ”You didn't say that I couldn't do that. Before I departed, what did I ask you? You even asked me what I could possibly be capable of doing when I asked if you were afraid that I would abuse the position.”
Hu Shuo's eyes looked like he was about to fly into a rage. But at this moment, Yan Liuyuan came over and smartly said, ”Hello, Grandpa Hu Shuo, nice to meet you.”
When Hu Shuo saw a clean-cut Yan Liuyuan speaking to him, he held back his anger and said with a smile, ”Hello, nice to meet you.”
”Mhm.” Yan Liuyuan said, ”I've heard about you from my brother. He said that you're a really great man who is so learned that you can tackle any questions that they pose to you during classes. When I grow up, I wanna be as educated as you!”
”Hahahaha, is that so?” Hu Shuo's anger immediately dissipated. ”Did that kid really say that?”
”Yeah,” Yan Liuyuan said, ”so please don't be angry anymore. He didn't do it on purpose anyway.”
”Forget it then, I won't be angry.” Hu Shuo said with a cheerful smile, ”Hurry up and bring your belongings into the house. We're going to start preparing meals for everyone. Oh, there are so many young ladies here as well?”
”Then let me thank you first, Grandpa Hu Shuo,” Yan Liuyuan said as he turned around and gave Ren Xiaosu a wink. The argument was resolved just like that. Ren Xiaosu did not even know whether to laugh or cry at this. That Yan Liuyuan was able to become a friend of the women in town was really a testament to his talent.
Then Hu Shuo looked at Ren Xiaosu and said, ”Your younger brother is much smarter than you. Go and clean up the house. I don't want to see you right now!”
Meanwhile, Chen Wudi took Xiaoyu and the others around on a tour of the outpost. It wasn't a big place, and after Xiaoyu had seen all of their houses, she said with a frown, ”Why is it so dirty in the houses? Don't you big boys know to clean the place on most days?”