Chapter 157: The Old Patriarch Returns Home

After a lapse of more than ten days, Elder Tang finally returned.

He looked to be in decent spirits, at least much better than the last time he came home.

"Grandfather."

"Dad."

Everyone chimed in with greetings all at once.

Elder Tang glanced at his family in the small courtyard, the wrinkles on his face deepening into a smile. "Good, good, everyone is here?"

Looking around, there were Tang Qichen and his wife, Tang's younger aunt and her wife, and Tang Banxia and her wife. All the members of the Tang family residing in Beijing were present.

The reason they had all gathered so completely today was that Elder Tang had summoned them back.

Those who caught his gaze involuntarily straightened their expressions; since the old man had made such a fuss, there had to be a major matter at hand.

Realizing this, everyone in the courtyard looked fixedly at the old man. Elder Tang, on the contrary, chuckled, "Let's eat first, we'll talk after the meal."

Very well.

Since the old man was the head of the household, they naturally had to follow his lead.

Old Mrs. Tang then called everyone over to set the table.

Despite the heavy matters pressing on their minds, the Tang family's small reunion meal was lively and warm.

After the meal, Old Mrs. Tang and the younger aunt stayed behind to clean up the bowls and chopsticks, while the rest relocated to the old man's study.

After closing the door, brewing tea, and settling in with calm minds, Elder Tang dropped a blockbuster right from the start: "There is a turning point regarding Minxun's situation."

After saying this, he left them a moment to process before dropping another bombshell: "Two positions have opened up in the headquarters building—one is the Secretary-General of the Confidentiality Bureau, and the other is the second-in-command of the security and protection department."

The headquarters building was the political center of Beijing second only to Zhongnanhai; it gathered the most influential group of people in the entire country.

Do not underestimate the positions of Secretary-General and deputy head of the security department. Such roles were not something just anyone could occupy.

First, your family background for the past three generations had to be impeccably clean. Second, your capabilities had to command universal respect. Finally, you had to receive advance word of the vacancy.

In the headquarters building, every single radish had its own hole; there were simply no idle people.

This time, because the Beijing earthquake had affected quite a few people, numerous positions had opened up in the headquarters building, even at the very top floor.

However, Elder Tang was a wise man. Knowing that high-profile posts like directors and deputy directors were fiercely contested by everyone, he simply took a different path and set his sights on the less conspicuous positions.

And lo and behold, the results were in.

While everyone else had only managed to snatch a single slot, he had managed to secure two!

Thinking of this, he cast a warm look at his youngest granddaughter. Her contribution to making this go so smoothly was indispensable.

Although he did not know the exact details of what his youngest granddaughter had done, the fact that these two slots could be so easily snatched by him indicated that someone higher up was clearing the way and granting tacit approval.

Given this, what else could he not figure out?

Furthermore, as for Minxun's situation, the youngest granddaughter must have mentioned it to the higher-ups as well.

The aroma of tea curled softly in the air.

Tang Qichen suddenly raised his head. "Grandfather, let's talk about Uncle first."

Although he recognized the extreme rarity of those two slots, his uncle was family after all, and he cared more about him.

He always remembered his grandfather's teaching: in a family, the home comes first; a home is composed of its members, and as long as the family members are there, the family is everywhere.

Elder Tang nodded with satisfaction and cast his gaze toward Tang Banxia. "Zaidai, why don't you tell them?"

Everyone's eyes accordingly shifted to Tang Banxia.

Tang Banxia put down her teacup and smiled faintly. "When Professor Wei offered to give me a reward, I simply brought up my parents in passing."

"I only said that since they were already under surveillance, it would be better to transfer them to her side, which would also save manpower and material resources."

When the antidote for Agent Zero was successfully developed back then, Professor Wei had reported her achievements upward and asked what difficulties she might have, promising that the organization would resolve them for her.

Tang Banxia had thought it over and tentatively broached the subject of her parents. She hadn't asked for their political rehabilitation, as she already deeply understood that her father's situation involved complex entanglements.

Although she had made contributions with the Agent Zero research this time, it was still not enough to fish her parents out.

Moreover, having lived in this era for a long time, she realized that the idea of trading achievements to rescue her parents was somewhat unrealistic.

Leaving aside the series of matters implicating her father, merits and demerits could not simply cancel each other out—especially using one's own merit to offset someone else's fault.

Therefore, she changed her train of thought. Since she couldn't fish her parents out, transferring them to a different place for exile should be fine, right?

She had cultivated relations in Guyue Village for a long time; while she couldn't claim to have everyone respond to a single call, she had laid down a certain foundation.

At the very least, if her parents were transferred to Guyue Village, she could guarantee that they would be well-fed, warmly dressed, and free from bullying by others.

It seemed the organization had agreed to her proposal; otherwise, her grandfather wouldn't have said there was a turning point regarding her parents' situation.

"...That's how it is. It seems the organization adopted my suggestion?"

Elder Tang nodded. "Indeed, Minxun and Su楠 are about to be transferred to Guyue Village for observation and reform."

Joy blossomed across Tang Banxia's face. "That's wonderful!"

It wasn't just her; everyone else present was exceptionally happy as well. The family was flourishing, and the uncle's family, who had been their biggest worry, had finally seen the clouds part to reveal the sun.

Even though they would still be undergoing labor reform, at least their lives were no longer in danger. As for the rest, the day would eventually come when the mist cleared entirely.

With the discussion of her father's matter concluded, it was time to discuss the two slots in the headquarters building.

These slots were not like factory job replacements where anyone could step in; the selection of candidates had to be handled with extreme caution. They needed both the competence to handle the role and an absolute, unswerving loyalty to the country.

Although Elder Tang had his own selfish motives in planning for his family, his patriotic devotion to the country was no less than anyone else's, and he certainly wouldn't choose a traitorous fool for such an important post.

Consequently, the pool of viable candidates was quite small.

These matters were primarily discussed and decided upon by Elder Tang and Tang Qichen, while Tang Banxia understood nothing about politics.

Wen Mubai cared not a whit, and neither did Bai Qingfeng. In the minds of the Tang family members, the latter had always been a mild-tempered, harmless bookworm, so naturally, he wouldn't offer any opinions on such matters.

Besides, he trusted his father-in-law, a seasoned figure who had seen plenty of great storms and waves.

"Grandfather, you and Big Brother can chat slowly, we're heading out first," Tang Banxia said, finishing her last sip of tea and standing up.

She didn't understand a word of it anyway; why stay here? To make a fool of herself?

The moment she stood up, Wen Mubai followed right behind her. On the other side, Bai Qingfeng adjusted his glasses and rose as well. "Dad, Bai Zhi is home alone and I'm worried, so I'll head back first."

Elder Tang frowned, right in the middle of a mental brainstorm, and waved his hand dismissively without even offering polite parting words.

The three of them tactfully and quietly retreated from the study.

Outside, the bowls and chopsticks had already been cleaned, and Tang Meiyun was pestering the old lady for the pearl cream gift Tang Banxia had promised.

Hearing the door open, she turned her head to look. Her first sight was of Bai Qingfeng, but she quickly averted her gaze and looked at Tang Banxia instead. "Banxia, Banxia, my good niece, do you have any more of that pearl cream?"

"Little Aunt, does your face still hurt?" Tang Banxia asked with poised amusement.

Tang Meiyun sheepishly sidled up to Tang Banxia. "Banxia, I'm your dearest little aunt, aren't I? Did you forget when I bought you candy as a kid?"

"Right, you swindled my New Year's money to buy candy and only gave me a single piece," Tang Banxia coolly added.

"Oh my~ How long ago was that, are you still holding a grudge?" Tang Meiyun scratched her cheek, proving fully capable of bending or stretching as circumstances required, and immediately showered Tang Banxia with flattery.

Beside them, Bai Qingfeng raised an eyebrow and glanced at Wen Mubai.

Wen Mubai flashed a toothy grin back, entirely unfazed.

After all, he was a man backed by someone!

In the end, Tang Banxia still gave her younger aunt a jar of pearl cream, along with another portion for Bai Zhi.

Actually, the medicinal herbs used in these concoctions varied, and the effects differed as well, but Tang Banxia had simply been too lazy to think up separate names and lumped them all under the name of pearl cream.