Urban Seduction: Housewives Club

Xu Ran hadn't finished his sentence. Once the crowd had settled a bit, he continued, "The Wang Hai City Special Operations Force is hereby awarded a First-Class Collective Merit!"

This announcement sent the entire auditorium into an uproar. Every soldier's face lit up with excitement. This was real military merit.

Although the titles and rewards were the same as those given for training achievements, there was a significant difference in their hearts.

Even the soldiers who hadn't participated in the mission felt extremely proud. Their comrades had been involved, and to them, that was as good as being part of it themselves, because the entire special forces unit was like one big family.

With a gentle wave of his hands to quiet the crowd, General Zhou Shichang stepped forward with a smile and said, "Soldiers, to be honest, I'm very proud of you all. Wang Hai City is my old stomping ground, and as someone who started here, I'm truly proud to see what you've accomplished today!"

As soon as General Zhou finished speaking, the auditorium erupted in enthusiastic applause. However, Ye Fei's brow furrowed slightly. This old man was good at winning people's hearts. With just a few words, he had tied himself together with the soldiers.

After chatting casually with everyone for a while, and seeing that it was getting close to noon, General Zhou announced the end of the gathering. Once all the soldiers had left the auditorium, Ye Fei and Liu Junyi approached General Zhou, but Xu Ran spoke up, "General Zhou, it's almost noon. Should we grab a meal before continuing?"

"We need to eat, but not here," General Zhou said with a smile, pointing at Ye Fei and Liu Junyi. "They came specifically to take me to lunch. Old Xu, this is more of a family affair, so we won't be inviting you."

Xu Ran was well aware of the relationship between General Zhou and the Liu family, so he wasn't surprised. After bidding farewell, he left first. Ye Fei and the others soon headed back home as well.

Perhaps to avoid distracting Ye Fei while he was driving, General Zhou only discussed military matters with Liu Junyi during the ride and didn't pay much attention to Ye Fei. But Ye Fei knew that no matter whether his suspicions were correct or not, General Zhou would have a conversation with him eventually.

By the time they arrived home, everyone who was supposed to be there had already gathered. The scene wasn't as grand as when Shui Ying had returned, because General Zhou only had connections with the Liu family. So, the attendees were just Liu Fengyi and the girls, including Ye Siqi and Ye Yunqi.

Everyone greeted each other warmly before sitting down for lunch. After the meal, Ye Siqi and her sisters cleared the table and served tea to everyone present.

General Zhou picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and then looked at Ye Fei, saying, "Ye Fei, you've done pretty well lately!"

Here it comes, Ye Fei thought to himself. But on the surface, he remained very modest and replied, "Thank you, Grandpa Zhou. You're too kind."

"However, you've certainly stirred up quite a mess," General Zhou chuckled. "You managed to take down that old fox. That's something many people have wanted to do but couldn't."

"Who told him to mess with me!" Ye Fei's face took on a proud and defiant look, his eyes gleaming with triumph.

"He thought he could reach his grubby hands into the southeast. Like I'd let him!"

General Zhou's expression turned serious as he asked, "Do you realize that what you've done has sent shockwaves through the entire upper echelons? And then there's the incident with the Japanese businessman. That's made a lot of people very unhappy."

"Are you here to hold me accountable, Grandpa Zhou?" Ye Fei's face darkened.

"I've never done anything wrong, and I'm not afraid of anyone's accusations. Bring it on and see if you can even touch me!"

Liu Yiru was taken aback. Her son today seemed completely unlike himself.

Neither his earlier arrogance nor his current defiance was something she'd expect from Ye Fei.

But she knew he must have had his reasons.

No matter how close General Zhou was to them, he couldn't be closer than her son and husband. So, she played along and scolded, "Ye Fei, how dare you speak to your grandpa like that?"

But General Zhou waved his hand and said with a smile, "It's okay. Young people need some fire in them. If you were meek and mild, I wouldn't like you as much. But Ye Fei, you've misunderstood me. We're family. Why would I hold you accountable? I'm just trying to remind you to be more careful in everything you do."

"I'm sorry, Grandpa Zhou, and thank you for the reminder. I understand," Ye Fei said, his face a bit embarrassed, but his eyes clearly showed that he wasn't convinced.

General Zhou didn't press the issue further and instead started chatting with Liu Fengyi about the political scene in Wang Hai City.

"Grandpa Zhou, do you know someone named Bao Daren?" Ye Fei suddenly asked after a while, all the while observing General Zhou's reaction closely with his mind's eye. He had no choice but to ask directly.

He had already investigated Bao Daren before and found that he seemed to have no real backing, having climbed his way up from the bottom.

But that made the "general" Bao Daren mentioned suspicious. So, Ye Fei wanted to see how General Zhou would react.

"Bao Daren?" General Zhou frowned in thought and then said, "Now I remember. He's someone Old Li has been quietly supporting. Why do you ask?"

Ye Fei was taken aback. He knew that the "Old Li" General Zhou mentioned was none other than the legendary General Li Yunlong, who was on equal footing with him in the military. Could it be that he was wrong all along?

Was the "general" Bao Daren referred to actually General Li? With this in mind, Ye Fei casually replied, "That guy is now the vice mayor of Jinhai."

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"Jinhai? That's your turf, right?" General Zhou frowned again and warned, "You need to be careful then. Bao Daren may seem arrogant and overbearing on the surface, but he's very cunning. And with Old Li backing him up, it's best to avoid conflict with him unless necessary."

"But I've already had a run-in with him," Ye Fei said with a wry smile, then snorted, "When it comes to sheer power, cunning is useless. I'll have him out of the southeast in no time!"

"That's good to hear. It's not good to have someone like him around," General Zhou nodded. "If it's hard for you to handle it from your end, I can talk to Old Li when I get back. With our relationship, it would be easy to transfer him out."

"Thanks, Grandpa Zhou, but I've got it covered. Taking down a mere vice mayor is no big deal for me," Ye Fei said nonchalantly.