DCFRP Extra 28

TL: Hua

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“You—” Jiang Jing was left speechless by Qi Xiaoyu’s words, her face displaying a variety of emotions, quite a sight.

She had originally thought that Qi Xiaoyu would back down in the face of difficulty, but she hadn’t expected him to have the audacity to come to her territory.

Her heart was filled with resentment and frustration. She felt her head buzzing with anger, seeing double images of Qi Xiaoyu, yet she couldn’t find a single word to refute him.

After a long while, she finally squeezed out a sentence between her teeth, “Truly a shameless actor.”

Qi Xiaoyu smiled contentedly and lowered his head. He found that after getting over his own internal hurdle, he indeed felt much lighter.

“Miss Jiang’s words are unreasonable. Did I say something wrong? Or perhaps Miss Jiang should ask Commander Xun in person?

See if he calls me his boyfriend or something else?”

The feeling of being favored and acting arrogantly was even better!

Jiang Jing’s face twisted even more as Qi Xiaoyu spoke. She trembled with anger, her fists clenched, her face flushed red, yet she couldn’t utter a single word for a long time. Her appearance had lost all semblance of a proud and dignified young lady, and even basic ladylike manners had vanished.

Qi Xiaoyu didn’t want to be so petty with a girl, especially since he had made his point clear. Seeing her twisted expression, his anger was relieved by half.

Finding Xun Qian was still the priority. He walked around Jiang Jing, intending to go to the telephone booth across the street to make a call.

He had only taken a few steps after turning around when he suddenly heard a familiar voice behind him, “Mr. Qi!”

Qi Xiaoyu looked back and, with the help of the twilight and the streetlights, saw Zhang Han walking out of the Economic Department’s gate with Xun Qian.

Besides Xun Qian, there were also several distinguished-looking men in suits who came out with him.

When Xun Qian came out of the Economic Department, he first saw Jiang Jing standing beside the car, and then he saw Qi Xiaoyu by the roadside.

But he didn’t even glance at Jiang Jing and hurried towards Qi Xiaoyu, grabbing his forearm and asking, “When did you arrive? Why didn’t you come up to find me?”

“Just arrived, not long ago. I was just about to call you,” Qi Xiaoyu replied, looking up at Xun Qian with a smile.

While they were talking, Zhang Han had deftly driven the Commander’s Residence car to their side, waiting for them to get in.

The series of actions was natural and smooth, their relationship open and without any pretense.

This made Jiang Jing, who was watching Xun Qian with longing eyes from behind, so jealous that she could almost squeeze out sour water.

She glanced at her father, Jiang Tingyuan, wanting to seek support and comfort, but several Economic Department officials, including Jiang Tingyuan, went forward to bid farewell to Xun Qian when they saw the Commander’s Residence car arrive.

Zhang Han said, “Commander Xun, rest assured, I will take responsibility for the bank’s side and will definitely not suspend payments.”

Xun Qian nodded to each of them in acknowledgment, “Thank you all for your hard work.”

He then turned to Wang Zhengyang, “Director Wang, the most troublesome issue right now is the concession area. Please go and talk to First National City Bank and Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation first. Contact me anytime if there are any problems.”

Wang Zhengyang nodded repeatedly, his graying beard accentuating his sunken cheeks, making him look even more tired and aged.

Jiang Tingyuan said, “I have attended several Friday gatherings in the concession area and have a decent relationship with a few directors. After I visit Rong-beile, I will find someone to help Brother Zhengyang.”

As soon as Jiang Tingyuan finished speaking, Jiang Jing, who was behind him, looked eagerly at Xun Qian and interjected,

“Alice, the daughter of Wood Zhang, the vice president of First National City Bank, is my classmate. I just visited their residence today, and Alice said she would discuss this matter with Mr. Wood.”

Xun Qian lowered his eyes, holding Qi Xiaoyu’s hand without saying a word.

The others, however, were very polite and praised Jiang Jing a few times, although everyone knew in their hearts that at this moment, a bank president and directors might not even have the final say on such matters, let alone a vice president like Wood Zhang. But they still praised her for knowing how to share the worries of her father and the country.

Having received praise, Jiang Jing seemed to have recovered a little from the previous blow and looked proudly at Qi Xiaoyu.

Noticing Jiang Jing’s almost provocative gaze, the well-behaved Qi Xiaoyu, still holding Xun Qian’s hand, suddenly turned his head to look at Xun Qian. “Given the current situation, if the concession area is willing to help, wouldn’t that be very beneficial to us?”

Qi Xiaoyu’s tone when asking this question made it sound as if getting help from the concession area was a very simple matter.

As soon as he finished speaking, the attention of the Economic Department officials immediately turned to him, and the expressions on their faces varied.

Among them, Jiang Tingyuan’s expression was the most obvious, filled with disgust and a hint of mockery.

He respected Xun Qian, but that didn’t mean he looked up to Qi Xiaoyu.

In fact, he strongly supported his daughter’s relationship with Xun Qian and hoped that Xun Qian could become his son-in-law. He had even created several opportunities for them. However, Xun Qian was infatuated with an actor, and he had heard that Xun Qian frequented the Laurel Stage every day, acting as if he couldn’t live without him, which made him feel quite displeased.

However, due to Xun Qian’s status as the commander, he couldn’t openly express this displeasure.

Now, hearing Qi Xiaoyu ask such a question in this situation, his disdain and contempt could hardly be suppressed.

The other two, although not as prejudiced as Jiang Tingyuan, were also somewhat dismissive of Qi Xiaoyu. For example, from the moment they started talking to Xun Qian, they hadn’t looked Qi Xiaoyu directly in the eye.

Only Xun Qian understood Qi Xiaoyu’s character best. As soon as he heard Qi Xiaoyu ask him, he immediately cooperated and said, “You’re right. Do you have a way?”

Qi Xiaoyu noticed everyone’s reactions and deliberately said, “I happened to meet Mr. Irwin today. I wonder if he can be of any help?”

As soon as Wang Zhengyang heard this, his eyes lit up, and he tentatively asked, “Mr. Irwin? Are you referring to Ambassador to China Irwin Steve?”

The ambassador to China represents the national position, and if such a person can step forward, it will naturally be much more convenient than them going to the bank one by one to negotiate.

Hearing this, Jiang Jing subconsciously pursed her lips and muttered, “How could someone like him know the ambassador to China?”

Qi Xiaoyu glanced at Jiang Jing, then turned to Wang Zhengyang and said, “It is indeed Mr. Irwin Steve. I mentioned this matter to him, and he said he is willing to discuss it in detail.”

“As long as we can have a discussion,” Zhang Hanquan said, surprised that an actor like Qi Xiaoyu actually had such connections. He knew that opera performers had a wide network of acquaintances, with patrons from all walks of life, but Qi Xiaoyu was young, and foreigners rarely listened to Peking Opera. However, at this point, he couldn’t worry about that too much and quickly said, “Mr. Qi, if you can really help with this matter, the Shanghai Bank will definitely remember your kindness.” His form of address had even changed.

Qi Xiaoyu smiled slightly and said, “I don’t understand economic matters, so I asked him for the number of the mansion. The two gentlemen can contact him by phone tomorrow morning, around nine o’clock.”

Out of the three people present, he specifically addressed two.

After speaking, he handed over a folded piece of paper. “The phone number is on here.”

Jiang Jing stared blankly at Qi Xiaoyu, wanting to find a flaw in his words, but in front of Xun Qian and her father, if Qi Xiaoyu dared to say such things, she really couldn’t find anything wrong.

She had originally wanted to overwhelm Qi Xiaoyu in this regard and regain some ground, but who knew she would fall even harder, making her previous attempts seem as insignificant as a brick thrown to attract jade.

Even Jiang Tingyuan was speechless.

As for Wang Zhengyang and Zhang Hanquan, they had initially thought Qi Xiaoyu was just mentioning it casually, but seeing that he had left a number and even arranged a time, clearly everything was well-prepared and handled meticulously; they couldn’t help but look at Qi Xiaoyu with new respect. They thought to themselves that it was no wonder he could hold someone like Xun Qian firmly in his palm.

By the time Qi Xiaoyu got into the car, Wang Zhengyang and Zhang Hanquan’s attitude was completely different from the beginning.

They said goodbye to Qi Xiaoyu four or five times before finally saying their actual farewells.

Xun Qian held Qi Xiaoyu’s hand and turned his head to wave at Wang and Zhang outside the car window.

After the car had driven some distance, he asked, “How do you know Irwin Steve?”

Qi Xiaoyu said proudly, “He, like you, came to the Laurel Stage to watch my play and even gave me a flower basket.”

“Oh. Is that so?” Upon hearing this answer, Xun Qian couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. He had guarded against everything, left and right, front and back, but he hadn’t anticipated that even foreigners would covet his treasure.

Qi Xiaoyu snorted softly and said, “I didn’t say anything about your rumored relationship with that Miss Jiang.”

Speaking these obviously somewhat acidic words, he glanced forward to the front row, where both the driver and Zhang Han were staring ahead, looking as if they hadn’t heard anything.

Xun Qian fluttered his long eyelashes. “What rumors?”

“You don’t know?” Qi Xiaoyu stared at Xun Qian, then, recalling what he had overheard people discussing on the train that day, he turned his head and looked at the road ahead. “Your pictures were in the newspaper.”

After a while, Xun Qian chuckled softly, “I know which picture you’re talking about. Did you look at it carefully?”

Xun Qian squeezed Qi Xiaoyu’s hand and said in a low voice, “There were more than a dozen people in that group photo. Jiang Tingyuan wanted to pull his daughter to stand next to me. I couldn’t very well not let a father and daughter stand together. Besides, who told you to break our date and go to Suzhou that day?”

Qi Xiaoyu remembered that on the train, they were sitting a row apart, and he hadn’t really looked closely at that photo. He had mostly heard it from those female students.

He thought about how long he had been jealous over this matter and was now being teased by Xun Qian, and he couldn’t help but blush, “You’re turning the tables and blaming me instead.”

Xun Qian chuckled again, and after a moment, said, “You did very well today.”

Qi Xiaoyu’s lips curved into a smile at Xun Qian’s praise.

However, he sensed the weariness in Xun Qian’s words, straightened up, and patted his own leg with his free hand, “If you’re tired, take a nap.”

Xun Qian looked at his earnest expression, took both of his hands, and then leaned his head on his shoulder.

Qi Xiaoyu remained still as Xun Qian leaned on him. He could feel that Xun Qian was very tired and needed sleep.

Soon, only soft, shallow breathing could be heard in the car.

Qi Xiaoyu looked ahead. The streets in the twilight were more desolate than usual, and the shops had closed early.

In this era, the economy was easily affected, and he didn’t know how long it would take to recover.

When the car arrived at the entrance of the Commander’s Residence, Xun Qian was still not awake.

The dim yellow streetlights outside shone through the car window, casting a soft golden glow on Xun Qian’s hair and eyelashes.

Unlike the last time at the Commander’s Residence bedside, Qi Xiaoyu was now 100% certain that Xun Qian was asleep; not even his eyelashes were moving.

Reluctant to wake Xun Qian, Qi Xiaoyu made a “shush” gesture to Zhang Han, signaling him and the driver to get out first, while he quietly stayed in the car with Xun Qian.

Several months ago, Xun Qian had planted a seed of affection in his heart.

Now, this seed has slowly grown, transforming from liking into love.

He wanted to stand side by side with Xun Qian, not just being protected by him, but being his equal, accompanying him, supporting him, like trees standing together in the clouds and in the storms of the era.

The next day, the Shanghai Bank officially issued a notice:

“As the financial hub of the nation, upon which the economic lifeline of China rests, we will undoubtedly exert our utmost efforts to maintain the operation of the Shanghai Bank and be responsible to the noteholders. We are willing to exhaust all means to redeem the silver in our vaults down to the last tael and will absolutely not suspend payments.”

This was an open defiance of the central government’s order.

Soon, this news spread from the south to the north, causing a great uproar throughout the country.

Zhang Hanquan’s statement, “I would rather face punishment and death than obey orders against my conscience,” further ignited the fighting spirit of countless patriots.

Subsequently, the Chamber of Commerce representatives, led by Rong Qing, filed a lawsuit against Zhang Hanquan in the concession court, preventing the central government from dismissing him.

Immediately afterward, Xun Qian, in his capacity as the Chief of Public Security of Shanghai, issued a public statement in the Shen Bao newspaper: “The Shanghai Bank will absolutely not suspend payments. All branch banknotes in the city will be cashed as usual, and business hours will be extended. We will remain open on weekends to accept and exchange banknotes.”

While Xun Qian took various measures to stabilize public sentiment and save Shanghai’s economy, Qi Xiaoyu contacted several major Peking Opera troupes in Shanghai for free charity performances in the name of supporting the government.

Everyone took turns performing on stage without charge, and anyone could come to watch.

“Spring Boudoir Dream,” “The Drunken Concubine,” “The Heroes’ Gathering,” and “Si Lang Visits His Mother” were staged one after another, using the joys and sorrows in the plays to dilute the panic that permeated the city.

On the first day the decree was issued, May 21st, the run on the bank continued as before.

By the afternoon of May 22nd, the Shanghai Bank’s reserves were completely depleted. Concession banks stepped in to help, and the bank was able to open and cash notes as usual. The number of people in the run decreased to just over three hundred that day.

The situation continued until May 25th, when the number of people in the run finally dropped to less than one hundred.

Qi Xiaoyu once again overheard the discussion of the couple next door.

The woman exclaimed, “Look at the unreliable news you got! You said it was definitely true, but the bank wasn’t going to suspend payments at all, making me wait in line for so long for nothing! Now that paper money is working fine outside, why would I want to exchange it back!”

After the financial situation stabilized, commercial transactions gradually returned to normal.

Following this crisis, the reputations of the bank, the Economic Department, Xun Qian, and even the Peking Opera troupes were greatly enhanced.

In June, as the heat of summer arrived, Xun Qian walked through rows of flower baskets to the backstage of the Laurel Stage to pick up Qi Xiaoyu.

Qi Xiaoyu now had a dedicated dressing area, so when Xun Qian came to find him, they didn’t need to go elsewhere to talk.

Xun Qian rested his hands on the back of the chair, watching Qi Xiaoyu take off the glittering head ornaments and butterfly hairpins one by one, carefully putting each piece back into the colorful box. He was in a very good mood.

This new set of head ornaments was a gift he had asked Xun Mo to find in Beiping and bring back for Qi Xiaoyu. Qi Xiaoyu had been wearing them almost every time he performed on stage recently.

When Qi Xiaoyu finally finished removing his makeup and packing up his things, Xun Qian took his hand and said, “Let’s go. My father’s train should be arriving soon.”

Qi Xiaoyu glanced at Xun Qian in the mirror, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, then silently nodded.

As they walked to the car, Qi Xiaoyu suddenly grabbed Xun Qian’s hand. “Wait, before we go see Commander Xun, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

Qi Xiaoyu lowered his head, hesitated slightly, and then said, “Can we… can we postpone our wedding?”

Xun Qian looked at him without saying anything.

Qi Xiaoyu felt a little flustered. “Master’s stroke hasn’t gotten any better, and I want to spend more time with him. Also, my senior brother’s health isn’t good…”

Xun Qian looked at the eighteen-year-old Qi Xiaoyu, who still had some lingering youthfulness but was mostly strong and brave. He said softly, “My father just finally has time to come south and wants to see you. He’s not coming to rush the wedding.”

Qi Xiaoyu blinked. “You agree to postpone the wedding?”

“Of course. With your master not here, who would officiate our wedding?”

Only then did a relieved smile appear on Qi Xiaoyu’s face. “Then will you wait for me?”

Xun Qian hooked his finger with Qi Xiaoyu’s. “Yes, I’ll wait for you.”

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