Chapter 387: Dark Night Burns the Heart
Late spring.

The drizzle is still falling.

Qingming Festival has not yet arrived, but Jiangchuan City is already filled with a gloomy and murderous atmosphere. Zhang Yunqi, the young man in the eye of the storm, finally appeared in the wind and rain.

In the past few days, his tired figure shuttled between the office buildings of major financial institutions in Jiangchuan City, including the Jiangchuan Branch of the Agricultural Bank of China, the Jiangchuan Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Jiangchuan Branch of the China Construction Bank, and the Rural Credit Cooperative.

By his side have always been Li Jilin and Yu Lin, the two absolute core figures of the Lianzhong Liansheng system.

The three of them were extremely low-key, but the work they did seemed extremely difficult.

The three of them often appear on the streets late at night.

In fact, it is normal to think about it. In the past, Zhang Yunqi was definitely a VIP of all major financial institutions in Jiangchuan City. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is closer than his own father! Because the huge cash flow generated by Zhang Ji's several industries is what they are salivating over! However, the current situation in Jiangchuan is turbulent, and this young man has reached the end of his rope. There are even rumors in the outside world that Zhang Yunqi is going to transfer his property and run away!

It was a great honor for the leaders of the financial institutions to meet with him at this time.

If you still want to do something, how easy is it?

In fact, the situation has developed to this point and it is no longer as simple as the grudges and hatreds between Zhang Yunqi and anyone else, but he can only be determined and see through the layers of fog and search for the ray of light that pierces the clouds in the darkness.

The next day, late at night, after Zhang Yunqi came out of the backyard office building of the Agricultural Bank of China's Jiangchuan branch, he, Li Jilin and Yu Lin found a fried rice stall on the roadside and had a hearty dinner. Without saying a word, the three of them went straight back to the Liansheng Group office building.

In Li Jilin's office, Zhang Yunqi took paper and pen and started writing materials.

Li Jilin and Yu Lin revised the rough draft of the material that Zhang Yunqi had written late last night over and over again. The three of them smoked cigarettes and waited until the sky turned from dark black to light blue. After the manuscript was compiled, Li Jilin ran to print it out.

By then, the sky was already bright.

Zhang Yunqi took the paper materials from Li Jilin.

Li Jilin opened a bottle of Moutai from the wine cabinet on the side, poured three glasses, and handed them to Zhang Yunqi and Yu Lin. His voice was hoarse from staying up late for many days and smoking like crazy: "Have a drink, and I wish you a triumphant return!"

Zhang Yunqi drank it all in one gulp.

Under the gaze of Li Jilin and Yu Lin, Zhang Yunqi put down his wine glass, turned around and walked out.

In the office building, more than 200 headquarters employees have already started work.

Recently, Liansheng Group has encountered a series of changes. Various vicious attacks and negative reports have flooded here like a tide. These employees are already very panicked. When they saw Zhang Yunqi, who had not appeared for a long time, and looked at this figure who was like a beacon to Liansheng Group, they all stopped the work at hand and stood up.

Immediately afterwards, a series of “Good morning, Chairman” rang out in the Liansheng office building.

Zhang Yunqi went out with a smile on his face.

The news came from somewhere, but there were actually a lot of reporters waiting outside the door. When they saw Zhang Yunqi, they swarmed over. The Liansheng security guards, who had been fighting with suppliers and reporters for many days, were all facing a powerful enemy. They blocked the reporters and protected Zhang Yunqi as he got into the car.

The driver drove the Mercedes-Benz around the rainy streets of Jiangchuan City at a very high speed. After leaving the reporters behind, he got out of the car at a secluded street corner.

Zhang Yunqi drove alone to Yang Jiarong's office.

He shouldn't have been here at such a sensitive moment, but he came anyway.

Why come? It goes without saying that it is a major matter that needs to be discussed. Of course, he has been to Yang Jiarong's private residence before, but now, it is better to come here than to go there. Because if you go to a private residence, official business will become private business; if you come here, official business is official business, and it can be seen in the light of day!

Over the years, Zhang Yunqi had no idea how many times he had come to the office building where Yang Jiarong worked. In the past, when he came here, people from various offices would appear at the door with enthusiastic smiles on their faces. Now, people who appeared at the door of the office and familiar people he met in the corridor would subconsciously avoid his gaze and walk past him quickly when they saw him.

Yang Jiarong's secretary Li Biwen was as polite as ever to Zhang Yunqi. This was naturally a matter of interest. The current situation seemed to be becoming clearer and clearer. Once Zhang Yunqi fell in this storm, Yang Jiarong would definitely fall! If Yang Jiarong fell, how could Li Biwen, who had such a deep relationship with Yang Jiarong, not fall with him?

However, Li Biwen seemed to have something to hide. After inviting Zhang Yunqi into his office, he said, "Boss, I'm busy with official business and may not be able to see you."

Zhang Yunqi glanced at the materials in his hand, was silent for a long time, and nodded: "Thank you."

He stood up and left the office, walked through the silent corridor and went downstairs.

Li Biwen did not watch him go. He accompanied Zhang Yunqi downstairs and walked all the way to the door before whispering, "Someone's coming from above. Let's talk to him."

After a pause, he continued, "He has his own plans. If you have any ideas, you should do it as soon as possible. I don't know a lot of things at the top, but Huo Jianzhong is in trouble. There is no time! The boss asked me to bring you a message before."

Zhang Yunqi looked at Li Biwen.

Li Biwen pointed to the sky and said, "Anything that can be reported on the stage is not a big deal."

Zhang Yunqi nodded.

He turned and strode out of the gate into the rain.

And at the end of the rain curtain, at the entrance of the office building, a girl was standing there.

The girl was wearing navy blue jeans, a black and white hooded wool coat, and a black baseball cap turned upside down on her head, revealing her delicate face and a few strands of bangs. The wind blew, and the camphor tree behind her creaked in the rain.

Standing behind the girl was Wang Guibing, holding an umbrella for her.

The girl is Ji Ling.

Ji Ling looked at Zhang Yunqi silently, and suddenly she felt that they had not seen each other for a long time. He had lost weight, a lot thinner.

She waved: "Here!" Zhang Yunqi saw her, stopped in the rain, then walked quickly to the girl and said with a smile: "Actually, if you don't come to find me, I will also come to find you."

Ji Ling also smiled: "I'm hungry."

Zhang Yunqi said, "Get in the car."

Mercedes drove away from the city office building and arrived at a rice dumpling shop on the back street of No. 1 Middle School.

Just like when Ji Ling first brought Zhang Yun here to eat rice dumplings three years ago, the rice dumpling shop was still the same, not big, about 20 square meters, not much decorated, the lime-washed walls were cracked in many places, and spider webs were hanging on the beams. The owner was a gray-haired grandmother with an indescribable kindness on her wrinkled face.

The two found a seat and sat down. Zhang Yunqi said to the old lady, "Boss, I want two servings of rice dumplings. I want more chili in my portion, but not in hers."

Just as he finished speaking, a car horn suddenly sounded outside the rice dumpling shop.

Zhang Yunqi turned his head and saw a Santana appear outside the door. Ma Shi and Xiao Wu got out of the car.

Ma Shi nodded towards Zhang Yunqi.

Zhang Yunqi turned to Ji Ling and said, "I'm going to go out for a while."

Ji Ling nodded.

Zhang Yunqi got up and went out. Ji Ling saw him take a thick stack of yellow paper bags from Ma Shi. The three of them stood on the street and chatted for a few words, and then Ma Shi and another young man drove away.

Zhang Yunqi turned back and saw that the rice dumplings were cooked and on the table. He sat down, picked up a pair of chopsticks and said to Ji Ling, "Have you finished the exam?"

"Yeah." Ji Ling nodded and took a bite of the rice dumpling: "I looked for you for a long time last night. In fact, everyone is very worried about you. Especially... when we first met."

"I know." Zhang Yunqi buried his head and stuffed rice dumplings into his mouth, with little emotion in his voice.

In the current situation, how can this young man care about love affairs and family matters? If he cannot get through the danger, not to mention that the Zhang family will fall into an abyss! Jiangchuan will also face a major earthquake. There are also the thousands of employees of Liansheng Group and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of farmers in Longwan Town and Yunxi Village, which have already been weighed on his shoulders like a heavy burden.

He quickly ate up a large bowl of rice dumplings, wiped his mouth with a piece of paper and said, "I'm going to Lijin."

"My dad is in Jiangchuan."

"I want to see your mother."

"Okay! When are you leaving?"

"Wait till you finish eating the rice dumplings, and go overnight."

"So urgent?"

"I don't have time."

"Boss grandma, pack it up!"

Zhang Yunqi paid the bill, and after the old lady packed up the rice dumplings that Ji Ling hadn't eaten, the two got into the car.

Zhang Yunqi stepped on the accelerator, and his Mercedes-Benz cut through the rain curtain of Jiangchuan under the night sky and roared towards the direction of Lijin, the provincial capital.

When the car passed through Xiangzui Road and passed by Jiangchuan City First People's Hospital, Ji Ling opened his mouth, but finally couldn't help but said: "Your mother is in the hospital."

"I know, you're waiting for me here." Zhang Yunqi stepped on the brake. In the stopped car, he looked out the window for about 10 seconds, then pushed the door and got out.

He walked through the lobby of the No. 1 Municipal Hospital, went upstairs, and came to the corridor filled with the smell of disinfectant.

The ward at the end of the corridor was empty white.

Except for Chunlan, who was kidnapped and still missing, and Zhang Yunqi, who was missing, all the Zhang family members were here. The atmosphere was extremely gloomy and depressing. Zhang's mother was lying on the bed, her face pale, her dry mouth opening and closing, and no one could hear what she was mumbling. Qiulan's eyes were red as she kept telling Zhang's mother that Yunqi and Chunlan would be fine. Zhang Yunfeng and Niu Fen squatted outside the ward door and smoked dully. The precarious Zhang family had obviously reached the brink of collapse.

Just at this moment, Zhang Yunfeng and Niu Fen, who were squatting outside the door smoking, suddenly froze for a moment, and then quickly stood up.

They looked at Zhang Yunqi walking towards them from the end of the corridor.

By the time Zhang Yunqi appeared at the door, Mother Zhang had already sat up from the bedside without saying a word. She looked quietly at her son in front of her. In just a few days, he had lost a lot of weight.

After an unknown amount of time, the old woman suddenly waved her hand at her son and said, "Go and get busy, Third Brother. Now is not the time for you to worry about this family."

Zhang Yunqi opened his mouth, and his voice seemed to come from deep in his throat: "Mom."

Aunt Zhang angrily said, "I can't die! You don't need to worry about me. Go and do what you want!"

Zhang Yunqi lowered his head.

He turned around and strode out of the ward.

After waiting for a while, Aunt Zhang staggered to her feet from the bed and was supported by Qiulan as she walked to the door of the ward.

At the end of the corridor outside the door, there is a ceiling lamp, casting Zhang Yunqi's figure on the gray ground.

The old woman just stared at the figure on the ground, her withered fingers tightly gripping the door edge, but she did not move or make a sound. She waited until the figure completely disappeared around the corner before tears fell from her eyes.

******
(End of this chapter)