144: Chapter 143 Returning Home

Cao Xiao dashed out of the meeting room like a puff of smoke, with Cao Xingzhi's shouts trailing behind him.

"Xiao Xiao, why are you running? Your credentials!"

"I'll get them next time!" Seeing Cao Xingzhi chasing after him, Cao Xiao ran even faster.

The crisis had been resolved, so the identity arranged for him by the higher-ups didn't seem that important anymore. He only knew he had been assigned the rank of Major; as for the specific duties, he knew nothing and didn't want to know right now.

"Eh, Cao Xiao, why are you running so fast? Who's chasing you?"

Cao Xiao had just made it downstairs when he nearly collided head-on with Xu Fanghou.

"Commander Xu, it's nothing. I'm just in a hurry! Can I borrow your helicopter for a bit?" Cao Xiao felt a bit guilty seeing Xu Fanghou. The matter of the bulletproof vests would be exposed sooner or later, but the later, the better.

"What's the big rush?" Xu Fanghou asked suspiciously.

"Thank you, General Xu! See you around!" Regardless of whether Xu Fanghou agreed or not, Cao Xiao took it as a yes.

Watching Cao Xiao's hurried back as he left, Xu Fanghou grew even more puzzled. Although Cao Xiao was technically a soldier now, he only held an idle post, somewhat like a monk staying at another temple who just ate without chanting sutras. Therefore, Xu Fanghou only viewed Cao Xiao as a junior and couldn't order him around. Given Cao Xiao's contribution in discovering the underground space, letting him use a helicopter once was no big deal.

Cao Xiao took Duan Hong and the other man to negotiate with the helicopter pilot. Without saying goodbye to anyone else, the two helicopters started up and took off, landing at the Central Hospital. Li Dongping's wound was on his wrist; once bandaged, it didn't affect his movement. Sister-in-law Li's wound had also been sutured and bandaged; as long as she lay flat without being jostled, it was fine. That was why Cao Xiao borrowed this latest domestic model of armed helicopter to transport Sister-in-law Li to Qianyang Airport.

Before long, the two helicopters disappeared into the sky.

"Brother Long, Tianling, thanks for your help this time!" At the entrance of the VIP channel at Qianyang Airport, Cao Xiao spoke sincerely to Long Tu and Zhang Tianling, who had come to see them off.

"Brother Cao, don't say that. We didn't really help much," Zhang Tianling replied politely.

"Mr. Cao is too kind!" Long Tu replied.

"Right, Tianling, your family seems to own a real estate company, don't they?" Cao Xiao knew the two hadn't played a key role in this matter, but the fact that they were willing to risk their lives to accompany him was a sentiment hard to come by.

"What's up? Does Brother Cao want to buy property in Qianyang? Just say where you want it; if it's ours, it's free. If it's another company's, I'll buy it for you at half price." Zhang Tianling thought Cao Xiao wanted to purchase property in Qianyang and confidently patted his chest in guarantee.

"I'm not buying property; instead, I'm going to give you a huge business deal. Go home and tell your father—say I said so—that Baishui Town is about to encounter a massive opportunity and undergo earth-shattering changes. A new city might even form there, and there's a lot to be gained. Tell your father to concentrate his funds and acquire a batch of land to hoard, the sooner the better. Also, don't let the local people get the short end of the stick; that's my advice." Cao Xiao didn't want to get involved in the affairs of Baishui Town himself anymore, but he wanted to keep the benefits within his circle. Baishui Town was bound to rise, with a massive bio-engineering industrial cluster forming around the underground space. Land and property prices would skyrocket. Rather than leaving it for others to develop while the people of Baishui Town missed out on the dividends, it was better to give it to the Zhang family's company. Since they were receiving this favor from Cao Xiao, they would have to take his advice to heart.

"What kind of big opportunity could Baishui Town have?" Long Tu asked, somewhat puzzled.

"You'll find out in time. Brother Long, if your family has resources, you can get involved too, but try to keep it confidential. Again, don't mistreat the local people." Cao Xiao felt there was no need to tell them specifically what it was; the matter was still a secret known to few. His goal was simply to let the two of them make some money by riding this wave.

"I don't understand much about this, but I'll pass your words along to my father exactly as they are." Zhang Tianling was still a youth in his 'chunibyo' phase and didn't know much about business or the massive interests involved.

"My family's industries are concentrated in Nanhu Province, and I don't handle business matters. Since Mr. Cao says so, it must be no small matter. I'll have my family send someone to investigate the area first." Long Tu was just an aircraft enthusiast and was somewhat skeptical of what Cao Xiao said.

"It's almost time for the flight, so let's leave it at that. Come visit me in Huanghe City when you have time." Cao Xiao bid them farewell, feeling a bit speechless. Both cousins were somewhat unreliable. Zhang Tianling's youth was understandable, but Long Tu seemed shrewd yet was actually clueless about many things. I told you there's a massive development opportunity and to keep it secret, yet you say you value my words but want to send people for an investigation? By the time you finish your slow investigation, the chance will be long gone. Besides, this is a national policy decision, yet you want to do a commercial survey. Cao Xiao felt it was useless to say more. He had given them the benefit; whether they seized it or not was no longer his concern.

Considering that Sister-in-law Li's injuries couldn't withstand the turbulence of a flight, Cao Xiao chartered an Airbus A320 medium-sized passenger plane. He called Zhang Zhetao for help to hire several professional medical staff to accompany and care for her throughout the journey. Over an hour later, the plane finally landed safely at Xianhe Airport. An ambulance was already waiting outside. Cao Xiao and the others got into three Audi sedans driven by bodyguards who had come to pick them up, and they followed the ambulance toward Biyuntian Villa.

Cao Xiao settled Li Dongping's family in a small villa nearby, where all daily necessities had already been prepared. Since both Li Dongping and his wife were injured, he specifically hired a nanny and a nurse to take care of the family. However, Li Lanshan had become quite clingy since she woke up today. With her parents being cared for, she constantly followed Cao Xiao. Having suffered a great psychological shock, she had become somewhat taciturn. Cao Xiao was also worried that the psychological shadow would have a long-term impact on her, so he decided to take her out to clear her head.

Cao Xiao led Li Lanshan slowly into his living room. Some time ago, the family had moved to Tianxing Garden. Cao's Father probably felt the garden here was too small to mess around with; when he had nothing to do, he went to Tianxing Garden, where he started a few acres of vegetable plots and simply moved in there, leisurely living the life of a vegetable farmer. Consequently, his mother had to follow, and little Guoer stayed there permanently as well. Because An Ni had to study for her lessons, she had to stay here. His maternal aunt's family had also moved into the small villa next door for a while. Liu Chang still shamelessly stayed here; since Cao Xiao wasn't home, no one kicked her out. With no one here to control her, living here was much more carefree than at her own home. So now, the house was left with a group of girls, effectively becoming a kingdom of women.

"Ah! Brother, you're back!" Liu Chang, who was fooling around with Zhou Xinmeng in the living room, was startled to see Cao Xiao appear. However, she immediately squeezed out a smile she thought was cute and said dryly.

"Hmph! I told you to go learn to be a chef. How is that going?" Looking at the frantic Liu Chang, Cao Xiao asked with a dark face and an annoyed tone.

"Brother, I really have no talent for cooking! I've already signed up for three culinary schools, and none of them will take me anymore," Liu Chang said with a long face and a dejected pout.

"Three culinary schools? How did you sign up for three schools?" In less than half a month, she had signed up for three schools to learn cooking. Culinary schools weren't like those crash-course training classes; they wouldn't end in a short time. A regular culinary school would take at least a year or half to graduate. What on earth was going on? Cao Xiao was extremely surprised.

"Pfft! Hahaha! Brother Xiao, let me tell you. Xiao Chang did indeed sign up at three culinary schools, but she couldn't stay at any of them for more than three days. Every single one was terrified of her. You haven't seen the commotion she makes when she cooks; it's simply too spectacular! Hahaha!" Zhou Xinmeng, who was standing nearby, couldn't stop laughing at the thought of it and chimed in.

"Uh! Stop laughing for a second. What exactly happened?" Cao Xiao was getting confused.

"Zhou! Xin! Meng! If you dare say it, I'll strangle you!" Liu Chang glared at the breathless Zhou Xinmeng with a dark face and threatened her through gritted teeth.

Zhou Xinmeng wasn't afraid of Liu Chang's threat and continued with uncontrollable laughter, "She talks a big game when she's tasting food, but when she cooks herself, she can't even tell the seasonings apart. The teacher taught her patiently, but she kept getting them confused. Even if the same seasoning had different packaging, she wouldn't recognize it, nearly driving the teacher to death. As for the theoretical knowledge, the more she studied, the less she understood. She blamed the school for not teaching well and dropped out within two days, with the staff clapping as they saw her off. Then she signed up for the second one. She thought theory was useless and demanded practical operation from the start, but in less than a day, she turned the place upside down and almost started a fire. That same day, the person in charge refunded her tuition and made her pay for the damages; it was only when Sister Yueyou showed up that she was brought back. At the third one, she stayed for an extra day. She didn't ask for practical work this time and patiently watched others learn. But when they asked her to chop some vegetables, she almost chopped herself. In his anger, the teacher criticized her and said some unpleasant things, so she chased him all over the school with a kitchen knife. They called the police directly. If it weren't for the fact that she didn't hurt anyone and the teacher was technically at fault first, she might still be in the detention center right now."

Cao Xiao looked at Liu Chang with a blank gaze, feeling that she was so unfamiliar at this moment. It seemed he had been wrong; Liu Chang only had an outstanding sense of taste, while in other aspects, she was even worse than an average person. Coupled with that restless personality, making her learn culinary arts was truly like trying to make a duck take to the air.

"Brother, I really tried to learn seriously, but it was just too hard! Don't look at me like that. I'll go sign up tomorrow, at the best culinary school in the country!" Liu Chang spoke with a sob, tears seemingly about to fall.

"Forget it! Don't go learn cooking anymore. Do whatever you want to do in the future!" Although Liu Chang had no talent, she had tried. Seeing several of her fingers wrapped in gauze, Cao Xiao couldn't bear to let her continue. As long as she wasn't idle anymore, he would support her in whatever path she chose for herself.

Liu Chang thought Cao Xiao had given up on her. Tears fell rapidly as she approached and grabbed his wrist, saying with sad sobs, "Brother! Do you not want me anymore? I'll really be very obedient and won't cause trouble anymore! Wuwuwu!"

"Silly girl! What are you thinking? You have no talent for cooking; there's no point if you can't learn it. In the future, find something you like to do. As long as you aren't fickle, I'll support you." Cao Xiao affectionately stroked Liu Chang's head and comforted her softly.

"Really?! I can do anything?" Liu Chang asked, staring at Cao Xiao with wide, astonished eyes as if she had heard the voice of an angel.

"Why would I lie to you! The prerequisite is that you have to be more sensible in the future; otherwise, wait to be locked in a dark room! Three days for every offense!" Cao Xiao threatened fiercely.

"Yay! Long live Cousin! I'm free!" Liu Chang turned around as if granted a general amnesty and picked up Zhou Xinmeng in a hug, cheering.

"Alright, I'm starving to death. Xinmeng, call the others and tell them to come back for dinner. Xiao Chang, drive to Tianxing Garden to pick up your uncle and the others. I'm cooking a big feast today! Shanshan, help me with the cooking." It was already four in the afternoon. Having been on the move for several days without a proper meal, Cao Xiao was in a good mood and wanted to personally cook to reward himself.

Liu Chang and Zhou Xinmeng went to Tianxing Garden together to pick everyone up. Cao Xiao called He Yueyou and asked her to come over for dinner. There was no shortage of ingredients in his space; there was still plenty of wild boar and python meat obtained from Baiyun Mountain, and other wild ingredients hadn't been consumed much. Plus, he had harvested a large batch of various seafood from the sea that he hadn't had time to enjoy yet. Cao Xiao himself couldn't help but feel his appetite whetted.

The reason he asked Li Lanshan to help was that the girl had been quite independent since she was young. Li Dongping and his wife didn't have much time to take care of her because of work, so she had slowly learned to do housework and cook herself. Coupled with her quick wit, the food she made was very tasty—at least a level above Cao Xiao's. Another reason was to give her something to do so she wouldn't have time to overthink things.

Boxes of ingredients were brought out from the basement. These had all been processed in the space, so they didn't need washing or cutting and could go straight into the pot, saving a lot of time. Since there were many people eating, the cookware used for stir-frying was quite large. The plates and bowls for serving were specially customized large porcelain pieces, forty to fifty centimeters in diameter. It looked a bit exaggerated, but it couldn't be helped; if one were to meticulously prepare a table of food for over ten people, they would be busy all afternoon. So usually, each dish was made in large quantities.

Cao Xiao provided the muscle for stir-frying while Li Lanshan handled the ladle and seasonings. Together, they prepared about a dozen large dishes in two hours. Braised wild boar, stewed ginseng and snake soup, spicy wild chicken chunks, steamed large crabs, oil-braised lobsters, abalone with ribs, stir-fried wild vegetables with garlic, hot and sour shark lips, sautéed shark with scallions, braised shark skin with shrimp roe—all sorts of top-tier mountain and sea delicacies rarely seen on ordinary days were piled high on the large plates like small mountains.