Book 4, Chapter 235: Back Home, And Welcomed With Admiration

Back in Yangzhi City’s Department of Administrative Affairs, Zhu Xian was handling paperwork when his secretary strode in. He whispered, “Mr. Zhu, we have a telegram from Central City to receive someone.”

Zhu Xian stopped writing. “Which official is visiting?”

“Director Chen Chuan of Central City’s Defense Bureau.”

“He really did come back, then.” Zhu Xian might be the chief of civil affairs of a peripheral city, but he paid attention to news from Central City and informed when new people were assigned to important positions in Central City.

The director of the Defense Bureau was of the same rank as the chief secretary of Central City. This meant that Chen Chuan was two ranks higher than him.

Back when he first received the news, he had guessed that Chen Chuan might come back to celebrate the New Year, so he had started getting ready in advance.

However, decorating the city for a welcoming party too early would make it look like he was trying to lick Chen Chuan’s boots, and he was pretty sure that Chen Chuan wouldn’t like that, so he didn’t do anything obvious. He only ordered some trustworthy people to do what was needed. Now, all their preparations were already in place.

Zhu Xian checked the telegram. It had been sent a little over an hour ago. When he did some calculations, he found that Chen Chuan was going to arrive in less than an hour.

Considering Chen Chuan’s current status, regardless of where he went, he needed to tell the local authorities, but this wasn’t an official trip. If he notified them ahead of time, he would end up causing trouble to the local government officials and their subordinates. It also wasn’t right not to notify them at all, so he only sent his message when he was almost in Yangzhi City.

As for reporting his tracks due to him being a martial arts master? All he needed to do was tell the National Martial Artists Council where he was going. He didn’t need to alert local authorities about it. That was exactly how Zhuan Liang had entered Yangzhi City back then without anyone noticing him.

“Xiao Pan, tell the others to welcome Director Chen, ”Zhu Xian told his secretary.

“Got it,” Xiao Pan immediately replied.

Half an hour later, the entrances leading to the constables’ residential area were all sealed up.

Guan Yuming came over personally, and his aide-de-camp looked around before saying, “Is there really a need for this? I don’t think Director Chen will like it.”

“Mr. Zhu asked us to do it. We just need to follow his orders,” Guan Yuming simply said.

After a while, Zhu Xian’s car also arrived. Along with him were other important government officials from the Department of Administrative Affairs. It could be said that aside from the people who needed to keep Yangzhi City operating, every other official had arrived. Guan Yuming brought his constables to greet Zhu Xian before standing beside him to wait.

Wei Laohu stood at the back of the crowd and started talking with his colleagues. His voice was so loud that it felt like the people from two blocks away could hear him. “My son is coming back to visit me this year. He got his citizenship already!”

When a captain saw how smug he was, he said, “Damn it, Wei Laohu is so high up on his horse.”

Another person beside him said, “If my son became a citizen in Central City, I’d be boasting nonstop like him as well.”

“His son didn’t get that citizenship on his own. He received it through Brigade Commander Nian’s nephew.”

The first captain shook his head. “Damn it, Wei Laohu is so lucky. His son is riding on such a powerful coattail!”

Everyone stared at Wei Laohu with envy. Damn it. Why didn’t their children get so lucky?

They had learned that Chen Chuan had become a martial arts master some time ago, but it didn’t cause much of a ruckus. Yangzhi City had a lot of martial artists, but most of them were in the First and Second Limit. Some of them were in the Third Limit, but they were all in Martial Valor University or the Constabulary. However, since they haven’t fought, they did not know just how strong they were and didn’t really have a concept as to how strong a martial arts master was.

However, they understood ranks. Chen Chuan’s rank was apparently even higher than Zhu Xian’s right now, so he was a super mega huge government official.

Not too far away from the constables’ residential area were Nian Fuli and Yu Wan. They were standing with Nian Lu and Nian Mo. Even though it was winter, there was no wind. The sun was also bright, so they didn’t feel that it was cold.

A large number of neighbors were peeking at them. They were all envious of Nian Fuli’s family.

Over the years, whenever Chen Chuan came back to visit Nian Fuli’s family, he would always give the neighbors new discussion topics, which they would keep going for half a year. Soon, they could start talking again about how Chen Chuan shocked them each time more than the last. This time, the situation far surpassed their imagination. Many of them were excited and were happier than anyone else in the area, as if they were the ones who were related to Chen Chuan.

As Nian Mo watched the crowd talk excitedly, he asked, “Daddy, so many people have come to welcome Chen Chuan. Did he get promoted again?”

Nian Fuli sighed happily. “Your cousin is amazing.”

He then looked down and gestured forward with his chin. “Don’t look at me. Look at the people ahead. Those people are ranked higher than I am, and they’re all here. So, it doesn’t matter where I stand.”

“If I become super important in the future, I’ll let you stand right in front when I come back,” Nian Mo promised.

Nian Fuli gave the back of his head a light tap and laughed. “What on earth are you saying, you brat? You want your own father to welcome you? Who cares how successful you become in the future, I’m still your dad!”

Nian Mo covered his head. “Don’t hit my head, Daddy. I’ll become stupid.”

“Stupid? I’d say that you’re too much of a smart ass. You have to finish your homework today, and don’t skip any questions!”

“Aw...”

Yu Wan smiled as she listened to them talk. Then, she turned to the front and thought, Since Chan’er has become so successful, he won’t disappear like Yu Zhen did, right?

She tightened her hold over her children.

Suddenly, someone shouted in the front, “He’s here!”

All the noise died down, and it became so quiet that there was not a single peep in the alley.

The people had been craning their necks to look down the road, but soon, someone pointed up. “Over there!”

They looked up and saw a black dot in the sky. As it got closer, they saw that it was a silver airship. They could even hear the sound of propellers.

Next, they saw that the airship wasn’t alone. It had two smaller companions. However, the first airship was simply too big, so the other two did not stand out.

Xiao Pan quickly went to Nian Fuli’s family and bowed to them, “Hello, Brigade Commander Nian.”

Then, he gave Yu Wan a nod. “Mrs. Nian, I’m Mr. Zhu’s secretary. You can call me Xiao Pan. Mr. Zhu asked me to tell you that we’ve confirmed that Director Chen is on the airship. Would you like to go to the front?”

Nian Fuli hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “I don’t think I should.”

“Thank you, Mr. Pan,” Yu Wan chimed in. “We’re fine with staying here with the neighbors. Sorry to have you come here to tell us about this.”

Xiao Pan understood that the family didn’t want to show off and preferred to keep a low profile. He smiled and said, “Don’t say that. I’m in charge of running errands. This is my job, you know? What I do isn’t as hard as Brigade Commander Nian’s job. Mr. Zhu has seen all the hard work the Constabulary has done over the years. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

Once Xiao Pan left, Yu Wan jabbed at Nian Fuli lightly. “It’s not like you to not go up.”

Nian Fuli gave her a mock glare. “Am I that sort of person now?”

When he looked down, he saw that Nian Mo and Nian Lu were staring at him too. The moment they saw him narrow their eyes at them, they quickly ducked their heads down.

Yu Wan smacked him on the back and huffed. “Why are you scaring the kids? Trying to show off how important of a government official you are? Go to the front, then. There are plenty of people there who want to kiss your butt.”

Nian Fuli took his hat off, revealing a crew cut, and said in resignation, “I really do want to stay here. I was just thinking that Xiao Chuan is at the center of this much attention, so we shouldn’t parade ourselves around, or everyone will try to visit and bother us. Besides, we can’t help Xiao Chuan with anything, so at the very least, we shouldn’t be a burden to him.”

Yu Wan stared at him for a bit. “Well, aren’t you reliable?”

Nian Fuli huffed and patted his hat before putting it on again and straightening his back. “When have I ever not been reliable?”

Yu Wan straightened his hat and helped smooth out his collar before dusting his shirt. Then, she hummed in approval. The children watched them for a bit before getting closer.

The airship in the lead kept getting bigger, and once they could use the buildings around them to compare to the airship, they found that it was around three hundred meters in length. Since there was no mooring tower close, they had to clear out the entire road.

Soon, the airship arrived above it. The propellers roared, and the air that it stirred up caused the trees to sway.

As they watched, the three airships slowly came down. The noise grew louder, and they were forced to cover their ears.

When the airships were around ten meters above ground, the combat airships released rope ladders. Armed guards came down and swiftly stood at both sides of the road.

Then, a ten-meter-long platform suspended by thick ropes came down slowly from an opened hatch under the airship.

The afternoon sun was blinding, and the light reflecting off the airships was equally bright. When the crowd squinted, they could see a number of people standing on the platform. Soon, the platform landed on the ground and caused a ball of dust to fly up.

Chen Chuan straightened his hat and smoothed out his uniform before walking off the platform. As the sun shone on him, his bronze buttons and epaulettes shone brightly.

Wei Changan, Wu Han, Feng Xiaoqi, Luo Kaiyuan, and the others followed. All of them wore the Resolution Department’s uniforms. When they stepped forward, their boots clacked on the road uniformly.

Everyone held their breaths from the pressure the group gave off, especially Chen Chuan. Even though he didn’t posture, his height still made the crowd nervous.

Zhu Xian sucked in a deep breath before moving his slightly numb legs. He led the group over and looked up at Chen Chuan upon reaching him. The youth was now half a head taller than he was. Zhu Xian smiled, bowed a little, and used both his hands to shake Chen Chuan’s hand hard. “Welcome back, Director Chen.”