Chapter 110: Chapter 110: Liu Rushi Not Seen in the Human World (Second Update)

To be realistic, Second Young Master Xu’s company had very strong self-generating capabilities.

Had it not been for the forced expansion of production capacity to compete with imported goods, the company could have slowly but steadily established itself on its own growth.

They had never expected the bank to cut off funding at such a critical juncture —of all the good projects to not finance, why not finance this one?

Initially, for the bank to loan them money, they had to engage in all sorts of requests and blockades for a while before reaching their goal.

Fortunately, the five Xu siblings, despite each having their own situations, were quite united when facing external challenges—the offensive moves by the others were just too repulsive, did they really think the Xu Family was dead? Together with Second Young Master Xu’s wife, they managed to pool together nearly fifty million to help the company overcome its difficulties.

As long as they could weather this storm, the company would undertake a strategic contraction strategy, and within two years at most, Second Young Master Xu would be able to repay all debts and expand vigorously once more.

By then, the company would rely solely on its natural regenerative powers, no longer needing to act according to others’ whims.

However, at this critical moment, a major client refused to pay for the goods, claiming there was a problem with the paint and demanding a hefty compensation, resulting in the company’s accounts being forcibly frozen.

This blow was too ferocious; suppliers immediately began demanding payment in droves, and the company’s financial chain was on the verge of collapsing. Second Young Master Xu, after much thought, could only turn to his younger brother for help—he swore that with just about forty million or so, he could revitalize the company, and there would be no need to rely on others ever again. Fatty Xu’s relationship with his two older brothers and two older sisters was actually quite average. He made his living in Zhengyang, while the other four were in the Forty-Nine City, and they seldom interacted.

The villa he lived in was purchased jointly by him and his mother, and before she passed away, she made it clear that it was the youngest child’s house and that the other four should not covet it.

The four of them acknowledged this, each saying that since the youngest took care of their mother, he deserved it—anyway, they would not return to Zhengyang, so why would they need that house?

But as soon as Second Young Master Xu opened his mouth, Fatty Xu thought: The villa I bought was actually under my father’s name, and strictly speaking, it belonged to all five siblings.

Of course, the money for it was put up by him and his mother, a mere six hundred thousand or so, but the other four had never contributed money, only bought some household appliances for their mother. Moreover, their mother left words indicating that, in principle, the house should be his. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

But now, Second Young Master Xu was in trouble, not insurmountable trouble but the kind that could be overcome with a helping hand.

Fatty Xu had no other choice but to sell the house. But the villa was not only a rare resource but also a legacy from his deceased mother, and he thought that if possible, he would definitely redeem it.

To Zhang Weihong, Fatty Xu’s actions seemed a bit foolish, “Your brothers and sisters have been in Forty-Nine City for so long and can’t come up with this amount of money? Besides, how do you know for sure forty-five million will be enough? If it isn’t, won’t you have lost everything for nothing?”

Fatty Xu didn’t find her directness offensive but explained carefully, “My eldest brother, sister, and brother-in-law are all in the system, so they really can’t come up with much money. And my second brother’s adversary is quite fierce; at this juncture, no one dares to lend money.”

He was somewhat confident about the return of the funds, “If we really can’t make it through, my second brother would just close up shop. Then no one would be watching him, and it would be easier to raise money. My eldest brother also said that if we really do have to compensate, he would find me work to earn it all back…”

So Fatty Xu wasn’t too worried about losing money; he was more concerned that if the money didn’t come back within three years, the villa would no longer be his.

Wang Haifeng was astounded, “There sure are a lot of formidable people in Forty-Nine City, with the children of Commander Zhu being pressed and attacked like that.”

“It’s mostly because those guys are agents for foreign paints,” Fatty Xu sighed helplessly, “my second brother’s high-tech product affected their interests, so in the eyes of many, this is just business competition.”

“Bullshit,” Feng Jun couldn’t help but interject, “What kind of SHI must be in the brains of people who say that? When the local market didn’ t have it, the money all went abroad. Now that we have it, it can’t even survive… This is the comprador class suppressing national industry.”

Wang Haifeng nodded vigorously in agreement, “Exactly, right?”

His own father was in manufacturing, so he was particularly sensitive to such issues, “I’d bet that as soon as your brother produced this kind of paint that couldn’t previously be produced locally, the price of imports surely dropped significantly.”

“They dropped by seventy percent,” Fatty Xu said, his face not showing much anger, “That’s normal. If you don’t have it, who else will they fleece? Plus, now the application range of this paint is expanding. It used to be too expensive and people would just skip buying it if it wasn’t essential.”

The three fell silent for a long while before Feng Jun finally spoke up, “Can you guarantee that everything you’ve said is true?”

“What do you mean by that?” Fatty Xu looked at him curiously.

“Is that so?” Wang Haifeng had guessed what Feng Jun was up to, but he felt that this guy’s reaction was a bit too much, “Although you have some clout now, do you think you can handle matters that even the young masters of the Forty-Nine City don’t care about?”

“First of all, I have to say one thing,” Feng Jun’s expression sobered, as he seriously addressed Wang Haifeng, “Don’t mention the ‘Forty-Nine City’ to me. You don’t mind being a submissive citizen to the Tatars, that’s your business, and I really despise it.”

“Oh, getting angry now?” Wang Haifeng was not bothered by his stern tone, and even laughed, “I often hear others mention the ‘Forty-Nine City’, and it’s also depicted that way on TV, what’ s wrong with it?”

“What’s wrong could fill volumes,” Feng Jun replied firmly, “Let me explain to you, I graduated from the Department of Chinese, now let me enlighten you…” “The capital was divided into three regions: the Outer Seven, the Inner Nine, and the Imperial City had four. The Outer City had seven gates, the Inner City nine, and the Imperial City four. During the Qing Dynasty, to meet the needs of rule, only Bannermen were allowed to live inside the Inner City, while Han people could only live in the Outer City. This was a deliberate segregation, a stark form of ethnic discrimination.”

“I know that,” Wang Haifeng rudely interrupted him, “Manchu and Han did not intermarry, right? I get it.”

Feng Jun glared at him, but didn’t bother to retort, instead continuing his lesson, “So, ‘Forty-Nine City’ is the self-proclaimed term used by the Bannermen to imply their superiority. You, a Han from the Outer Seven, actually agree with those Bannermen’s terms. Doesn’t that make you contemptible?”

“You, you…” Wang Haifeng pointed at Feng Jun for a while before finally saying, “You’re undermining national integration.”

“Nonsense,” Feng Jun scoffed, “The ones undermining national integration are those who claim to be from the Forty-Nine City themselves, artificially creating ethnic barriers. If the residents of the capital want to identify themselves correctly, strictly speaking, they should call it the ‘ Seventy-Nine City’… can just anyone live in the ‘Four’ of the Imperial City?”

He paused, seeing that the others were dumbfounded, then snorted again, “I don’t have a lot of money, but I just can’t stand the faces of these compradors. Hai Feng, you say that the people in the capital don’t care, but whether they care or not, what does that have to do with us?”

Sister Hong couldn’t help but speak up when she heard this, “Xiao Feng, I understand your feelings, but this is money you’re risking your life for…” She was well aware that Feng Jun had money in his pocket because he had risked his life to “operate illegal mines.”

This comment made Feng Jun feel favorable toward her; one of his degrees was in Chinese, and he was very aware that many girls were overly sentimental, especially those who studied Chinese, who could even forget about national and familial hatred because of poignant words.

When he was at university in Jiangxia, there was a post on the school BBS that praised Zhang Ailing to the skies, even interpreting her affection for the notorious traitor Hu Lancheng as “being independent and indifferent to worldly views, and not seeking understanding from others.”

Feng Jun couldn’t stand it and commented under the post, “A person can be talented and live willfully, which everyone can understand, but if someone oversteps certain bounds and others still gloss over their wrongdoing with the ‘true temperament’ excuse, that’s downright hooliganism.”

Not long after he posted his reply, a somewhat famous female talent from the Department of Chinese, who was also a student union officer, directly responded to him, “@Luo Hua: She is an extraordinary woman of this world. Her nobility doesn’t require your understanding. Her pursuit of freedom and love transcends the views of the mundane world. Alone and independent, she wanders this murky human realm.”

Seeing such a reply, Feng Jun felt the urge to smash his keyboard.

To be honest, he harbored a bit of male chauvinism; he didn’t think women needed to have a strong sense of nationalistic pride. The survival and development of a nation often required men’s effort. It’s like the saying goes — ‘War, let the women step back.’

That’s why his initial reply had been considerate of the emotions of female students.

Although he despised the woman for writing about love and affection incessantly while the Divine Land was under occupation, being melodramatic and whining without grit, he excused it because women, being emotional creatures, could not be expected to do more.

Defending the country has always been men’s work; to criticize a woman for lacking this awareness would be a way of shirking responsibility.

Thus, he merely stated that the woman was indeed talented, and he wouldn’t dispute with others over her talent, pretending not to see that, but when they praised her faults, their values were problematic.

And the reply from the female talent showed a complete lack of moral sense. What’s going on with people these days?

He didn’t argue with her, since it was pointless to reason with a fanatical fan, so he left a reply, “Where would the hermit from Easy Peace dwell if he were here today? Liu Rushi is unseen in this human world.”

Li Qingzhao once wrote a poem mocking the Southern Song Court for contenting itself with a corner of the country while Qinhuai’s famous courtesan Liu Rushi threw herself into the river for her country, a story known to all.