Chapter 439: A Welcome Feast

“That was probably why I lost my composure just now!” Liu Xiang explained to himself in his heart.

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!” The ceremonial cannons fired. It was customary to fire a salute when an Elder returning from an outside post docked. This was a system created by the Elders from the navy, port affairs, and other departments. You have to admit, when the cannons fired, a person’s “bīgé” (coolness factor) instantly maxed out. To get a taste of this, the director from neighboring Wenchang would never take the land route back to Lingao, insisting on passing through Liu Xiang’s territory to take a boat back—there was no cannon salute for the land route. Of course, Liu Xiang estimated that his other main purpose was to get his hands on his special supply of Elder-only cigarettes. Although Liu Xiang could smoke with him, he himself was not addicted, while the director from Wenchang was a heavy smoker. Every time he passed through Qiongshan, Liu Xiang’s supply of special cigarettes would be one carton short…

“There’s a chief waiting on the shore…” Guo Ling’er said.

“It’s Old Qian,” Liu Xiang said nonchalantly. “He’s really enthusiastic—”

Qian Shuixie was waiting on the special pier, his cigar glowing on and off. For the Otaku Party, Liu Xiang, as the director of a dispatched county office, was an Elder with real power. When he was in Lingao before, he often attended the parties on the Flying Cloud, and was considered an outer member. However, after Lin Chuanqing and a few others formed the “Scale Model Club,” a hobby group with specific activities, Liu Xiang gradually only participated in the activities of this small organization.

Because this club had a complex composition, Liu Xiang and the Otaku Party gradually drifted apart.

Later, when he became the county magistrate of Qiongshan and made several trips to “lobby the ministries for funds,” Qian Shuiting also helped a lot, and their relationship slowly recovered.

However, today’s welcome feast was at Qian Shuixie’s own invitation—Zheng Shangjie, through various actions of the Guangzhou Station in the past six months, had come to the conclusion that there would be a major change in the Guangzhou Station—it was very likely that the chief official would be replaced. The people at the Guangzhou Station had held several secret discussions and had obtained some information through Qian Shuiting, confirming this possibility.

Qian Shuixie had guessed a few possible candidates to take over the affairs of Guangzhou. Liu Xiang was the most likely among them, because he was the Elder with the most administrative experience among all the dispatched county office directors. It was most likely that he would be appointed as the mayor of Guangzhou.

Therefore, as soon as he received the news that Liu Xiang had handed over his duties in Qiongshan County and was returning to Lingao, Qian Shuixie invited him to a welcome feast on the Flying Cloud. Originally, he had suggested that he stay on the boat for a few days, on the grounds that he already had a child and his original bachelor apartment was certainly not suitable for continued residence, and it would take several days to tidy up the newly arranged room.

However, Liu Xiang replied that the General Office had already arranged a house for him at the guesthouse. Although the Flying Cloud was advanced and comfortable, it was after all a small boat, and daily life was inconvenient—especially since he was traveling with a baby. In this time, there were no disposable diapers, and just washing and drying diapers every day would take up a lot of space.

However, he gladly accepted Speaker Qian’s offer of a “welcome feast” on the Flying Cloud. The barbecue parties on the Flying Cloud were a popular topic of conversation among many Elders. Some Elders were still resentful because they had never received an invitation and were unwilling to shamelessly invite themselves.

Liu Xiang disembarked with a large group of people. The band at the pier was the “team” he had brought from the Qiongshan County Party Committee compound. The transfer order clearly stated that he should “select 10 naturalized cadres to participate in cadre training (short-term class) in Lingao without affecting the normal operation of the Qiongshan County Government.”

Although the team of naturalized cadres in Qiongshan County had been fully strengthened after the arrival of the deputy director, it was still a headache for Liu Xiang to take away ten people. Because the new deputy director had limited administrative experience, he had to leave a few capable cadres in the local area. And these cadres had better be able to speak Cantonese. Liu Xiang had a hard time picking ten people.

The naturalized cadres were taken away by a special person, and only then did Qian Shuixie greet Liu Xiang.

“Ho! Little Liu, what kind of treasure is this? It looks quite heavy!” Qian Shuixie, who was exchanging pleasantries, noticed that the crane at the port had unloaded a “special shipping container for valuable/fragile large items” from the ship and placed it on the flatbed truck Liu Xiang had booked.

“Hehe, this is the thing I need to borrow a place for, a 1:20 scale model of a ship,” Liu Xiang answered casually, but he couldn’t hide his smugness.

“A big guy over three meters long! It’s already surpassed the so-called ‘museum-grade.’ Even in the ‘bathtub-grade,’ it’s considered big!”

“Oh, hehe. Then I’ll have to appreciate it properly. But this model should still be in parts, right? What, are you planning to gather people to assemble it?” Qian Shuixie had been taken for a ride on the Ogura countless times by his own little girl, and he really looked down on a ship model that was only 3 meters long.

“Yes, but I have to wait until I’m settled. I might have to leave in a hurry, and this thing might just be left here for the other members of the club to play with.”

The convoy split into two. One carrying the luggage went to the guesthouse, while Liu Xiang’s family, traveling light, went to the Lingao Cape Park. By this time, the sun was only a sliver of its former self.

The carriage clattered along and soon arrived at the special security zone in Lingao Cape Park. The Flying Cloud was quietly moored at its dedicated berth. Five years had passed, and this yacht, once dazzlingly white and known as the “Princess of Lingao Cape,” was now showing signs of fatigue. The peeling paint, though repaired, was no longer a brilliant white, and the surface was pitted. The tall mast and white sails had also been removed. The white awning, though intact, had been yellowed by the sun and was no longer recognizable as white.

Now this boat no longer went out to sea. Firstly, the fuel was completely gone, and the boat was listed as an “emergency combat reserve ship,” to be kept for emergencies. Therefore, the engine, sails, and other sailing facilities had been sealed. Secondly, with the Ogura, this light dinghy was more suitable for sailing at any time, rather than using the treasure-filled Flying Cloud.

Although the facilities on the Flying Cloud were advanced and comfortable, over the years, due to the lack of modern spare parts and materials, despite the great efforts of the Qian brothers in maintenance, it was getting worse day by day. Many of the luxury facilities on the boat had been damaged—for example, the famous open-air massage pool was now just an ordinary bathtub.

But fortunately, the barbecue grill was still there, and you could still enjoy the sea breeze on the spacious deck. Surrounded by a few rattan chairs, drinking cold rice beer and eating barbecue in the summer, that was a pleasure not even a king would trade.

At this time, the charcoal fire on the barbecue grill was already red, the large ice bucket was full of rice beer, and the table was full of fresh ingredients.

“Hey, where’s Big Brother Qian’s family?” Liu Xiang asked when he saw that only Qian Xuanhuang, who was busy with the barbecue, was on the Flying Cloud and everyone else was gone.

“Big brother will be back soon. Sister-in-law probably won’t be back until twelve. Duoduo probably took her girls’ commando out on the boat again,” Qian Shuixie said, and then also mentioned the matter of the Ogura.

“You two brothers are really willing to let her go. Aren’t you afraid of accidents?” Liu Xiang said, watching his own little girl wander around, and having to constantly prevent her from performing various grab-and-throw combos.

“It’s alright. I was quite worried when I first heard about it. My brother and his wife are often not at home, and my wife and I, not to mention, are both dispatched to different places. We can’t manage her even more. She played a few times, and with that ‘naturalist from Lisbon,’ Sonia, following her, we just let her go. Fortunately, she’s been much more careful since the incident on the Wenlan River.”

“Oh? The one at the auction I also attended! If I had known, I would have gritted my teeth…” Liu Xiang had a look of extreme regret. “Speaking of which, you’re a busy man too. It’s been rare to see you since you went to the Special Reconnaissance Team. I thought I’d have to come to District 63 by myself this time, at most Duoduo would come to pick me up. I really didn’t expect it to be you.” Seeing that the conversation was about to get to the main point, Liu Xiang picked up his daughter, called his own Guo Ling’er to come in and take the daughter out.

“Yes, I just came back a few days ago. I’ve been training for a month or so on island landing and beachhead control. I just finished the training subjects and came back to rest for a while.” The room was quiet. Qian Shuixie took out a bottle of chilled fruit brandy, self-brewed by Xue Ziliang, from the wall cabinet refrigerator.

“How about a glass?”

“I’ll just have beer. That stuff is too sour.”

“I think it’s too sweet,” Qian Shuixie said, shaking his head. “From the training content, we should be preparing to fight in Ryukyu.” Qian Shuixie poured himself a glass of wine and clinked glasses with Liu Xiang.

“Do we still need to fight for that broken place Ryukyu?” Liu Xiang almost spat out his wine when he heard this.

“It’s a contingency plan!” Qian Shuixie replied nonchalantly.

“The Black Ships can achieve it in one go. What’s the point of fighting! If they don’t listen, just bombard the shore, and they’ll be obedient.” Liu Xiang shook his head. Although he understood that 90% of the contingency plans were useless, he still felt it was a waste of resources. “If you ask me, we might as well practice how to fight in Hanoi. Oh, is it called Thang Long now?”

“Hey, our Special Reconnaissance Team’s specialty is urban warfare, but the army is being sent to Guangzhou!” Qian Shuixie had a resentful look on his face, and inadvertently revealed some “valuable intelligence.”

Liu Xiang was stunned when he heard this—he had always thought they were going to Guangzhou to set up an underground government! What’s with the army?

“What’s the situation?” Liu Xiang couldn’t help but ask.

“After that incident in Lingao, Little Zheng and the others received orders to transfer the families and property of their reliable employees within six months. Little Zheng and the others came up with the idea of sending the children of their employees to Lingao to study and learn a trade, and sent the families of their shopkeepers and craftsmen out of Guangzhou City,” Qian Shuixie slowly revealed the information he had already sorted out.

“This is the rhythm of going to war.”