TL: Hua
Qi Xiaoyu’s breath was choked.
Xun Qian pressed his shoulder, and his lips rubbed his earlobe.
It made his heart flutter.
Xun Qian only said, “The tie seems to be a little crooked.”
Qi Xiaoyu’s heart, which was stirred up by the wind, fell back a bit and was held by the leaves, still hovering in the air, unable to come down.
Xun Qian’s fingers fell from his chin back to his tie. The corners of his mouth curved up where his eyelashes could reach. “I’ll help you fix it again.”
Qi Xiaoyu still didn’t dare to breathe.
Xun Qian smiled, bent his knees slightly, and squatted down, looking at his tie, his fingers inserted between the shirt and the tie, rubbing his skin through the thin shirt, and adjusting the position of the tie.
Qi Xiaoyu’s eyes followed Xun Qian’s hand until the person straightened up again, looked at him, and said, “Put on your coat and look in the mirror again.”
Qi Xiaoyu reached out for the coat and put it on.
The suit looked a little too mature on him, but it also had a different taste, with a vigorous and immature youthful spirit.
Xun Qian looked at the person in the mirror and praised, “It’s really good-looking.”
It’s just that Qi Xiaoyu himself felt a little awkward. He lowered his head to adjust his cuffs. “I’m not tall enough; I don’t look as good as you in a suit.”
“No,” Xun Qian stood beside him, grabbed his hand, and helped him adjust his sleeves. He looked at the young man in the mirror, counting year after year, thinking silently that in a few years, his baby would grow a little taller, look better in a suit, and be more convenient to kiss.
Xun Qian arranged his buttons one by one and then pulled out the sleeves of his shirt a little. He seemed to have discovered new fun. The 23-year-old Qi Xiaoyu knew everything, was mature and calm, and handled things with ease.
But the 18-year-old Qi Xiaoyu had many confused and inexperienced aspects, which gave him many joys he had never experienced before.
He will accompany him to grow up well, go through the most difficult and torturous five years, protect his growth, relieve his worries, and ensure his safety.
Qi Xiaoyu glanced at Xun Qian in the mirror and turned his head; his breathing was obviously flustered. He didn’t dare to talk about this topic, so he made small talk: “Where’s your sister?”
“Oh.”
Qi Xiaoyu had just finished speaking when there was a knock on the door outside. Zhang Han’s voice came through the wooden door, breaking the beautiful and early summer shade in the room.
“Young Commander, several officials from the Economic Department said they had some urgent matter, so they are waiting for you in the living room.”
Xun Qian’s eyes were still on Qi Xiaoyu in the mirror.
Qi Xiaoyu hastily took a step back and coughed, urging him, “If you have something to do, go and get busy. The clothes are excellent. I’ll go back by myself later.”
Xun Qian looked at him and smiled with the corners of his mouth curved, “Don’t leave. Wait for me, and then we’ll have dinner together, okay?”
Xun Qian continued, “You can go to the small room in the study and wait for me. There are books in it; you can read them at will.”
He was reluctant to let Qi Xiaoyu leave so soon.
He looked at Qi Xiaoyu with his dark eyes, with obvious attachment and reluctance.
Qi Xiaoyu’s heart felt like it was hit lightly by a small hammer.
He nodded and agreed. It happened that he had a day off tonight and didn’t need to go on stage.
Xun Qian went to meet the guests.
Qi Xiaoyu sat upright on the small sofa in the study.
He had a storybook on his knees, but his eyes and heart were outside. Through the crack in the door, he saw Xun Qian sitting behind a wide desk with long eyelashes drooping, reading a document in his hand, and facing a circle of officials in suits and leather shoes.
He heard one of the officials ask in an anxious voice, “Young Commander, what should we do now? If we don’t reduce tariffs, the R country’s military may make things worse.”
Then someone else asked, “There are also the railway bureau and the shipyard. The people from R country are unwilling to let go, and the people we sent to negotiate have all been detained by them.”
Qi Xiaoyu’s eyes, like everyone else’s, were all fixed on Xun Qian.
Xun Qian’s voice was cold but firm. He said to the previous official, “We can’t lower the tariff. Since we want to save the country through industry, we must protect our industrialists first.
Now the cost of technology and machinery in China is already very high. If we lower tariffs, the last barrier to protect industry will no longer exist.”
“Heavy industries such as railways and ships must be in our hands.
Official Yuan, you only need to take care of technical matters, and I will negotiate the rest.”
The two officials breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. Then, new problems emerged one after another.
Qi Xiaoyu didn’t understand and only intermittently heard something.
“The Lijin[mfn]Lijin tax, or likin tax, is a commercial tax levied in China from the Qing Dynasty to the early years of the Republic of China. Its name comes from the fact that the tax rate was initially set at 1%, that is, a commercial tax of “one hundredth of the value.”[/mfn] tax must be immediately removed, along with other miscellaneous taxes.
We can unify all taxes and establish a unified tax system.”
Qi Xiaoyu didn’t understand economics, nor did he know about currency, silver, and taxes.
But he knew that everything Xun Qian did was closely related to their lives, and it was all
to maintain the peace and development of the city.
He knew how important industry was to the country.
He also knew how many people would be displaced and their families would be destroyed in a war.
Fleeing from Beiping, he saw human tragedies every day.
Just like the little boy Gu Zizhen picked up from the roadside today, such separation of flesh and blood happens every day.
It doesn’t stop here. Under the gunfire, how can something as fragile as an egg remain intact?
Everyone said that the economy in Shanghai was stable recently and the situation was very good.
Behind this, Xun Qian must have put in significant effort.
Qi Xiaoyu clenched his hand tightly on his knee and turned his gaze back to Xun Qian.
Just now, the weariness and romance were still slowly drifting in his heart, and now, from that tenderness, another kind of emotion has emerged.
He hoped that this scene could last longer.
He hoped Xun Qian would be there, always there, right where his eyes could see.
At this moment, there was another knock on the door. Zhang Han came in hurriedly, panting, “Young Commander, something happened at the shipyard. A batch of imported materials was detained by the R country military as soon as it arrived at the dock”.
“We spent so much effort, so many connections, and so much money to buy this batch of materials from Country A. This is simply daylight robbery!”
“More than robbery, R country is too greedy, actually stopping our goods at our dock! These are the materials we bought at a clear price. The shipyard is waiting for this batch of materials to develop new warships.”
“But R country’s naval strength is several times higher than ours; what can we do?”
Qi Xiaoyu clenched a cushion on the sofa, turned his head, and looked outside nervously.
Xun Qian seemed to look at him as well.
They were clearly separated by a door, but they seemed to be right in front of each other.
Then he heard Xun Qian say in a deep voice, “Everyone, please be patient. Go back and wait for the news. Director Shen and I will go to the dock.”
He also heard Xun Qian say to Zhang Han, “Gather your people and come with me.”
Qi Xiaoyu unconsciously stood up and walked to the door.
He felt that his hand on the door was shaking slightly. Will Xun Qian be in danger?
Will he return safely?
The outside returned to silence once again.
Everyone was gone.
Qi Xiaoyu pushed the door open and walked out, looking blankly at the empty study. Then Butler Cheng hurriedly pushed the door open and came in.
“Mr. Qi, the young commander said to send you back first. The car is waiting downstairs.”
After a pause, he continued, “The young commander also said that you must stay at home for the next two days, don’t go out, and don’t go to the Laurel Stage for now.”
After speaking, Butler Cheng made a gesture of invitation.
He would rather not leave at this time. He felt a mixture of worry, uneasiness, and attachment.
At this moment, he wanted to do something for Xun Qian, although he didn’t know what he could do.
Qi Xiaoyu dragged his heavy steps and followed Butler Cheng out of the study.
He closed the door but couldn’t let go of the handle. “Uncle Cheng, can I wait here for him to come back?”
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