But Old Cui didn’t laugh. After thinking for a long time, he pulled Jiang Lianjian aside and whispered, "Xiaojiang, what do you think of this place? If we could get the permits here, you wouldn’t have to carry your guns wrapped up anymore!" Yan Fei came as an investor and bought a large ranch as soon as he arrived. Although he just got a permit for long-term residence, getting a gun permit wasn’t a problem. However, for Old Cui and the others, that was definitely not possible. They were there to work, and having a chance to own a gun was out of the question. Didn’t you see Chen Yingjun, even though he had already got a permit, he still had to go through the process and assessment for a gun permit since he didn’t invest here? Even though Heizi and the others on the ranch didn’t have gun permits, Yan Fei still bought a couple of rifles. He let Jiang Lianjian and the others practice with them in their spare time, and usually kept them covered and close at hand. After all, it’s an isolated area, and if Yan Fei isn’t around, the ranch can’t be left without some form of defense — the cowboys actually have a couple of old hunting rifles, but those are too historical and weathered, and Heizi and the others are their own people, it’s different. Unfortunately, Old Cui was trying to persuade the wrong person. As soon as Jiang Lianjian heard this, he didn’t even think about it: "Where we’re from, they don’t recognize dual permits. If you get a permit here, you’ll be considered a foreign national when you go back." Old Cui and a few interested guys, upon hearing there was such a regulation, immediately began to have mixed feelings — many well-educated and knowledgeable people easily change their permits, but for someone like Old Cui, who’s not highly educated and lacks insight, he feels it’s better to fall back to one’s roots. Upon hearing that having a permit here means they can’t use their original ID anymore, they became reluctant. Looking around at the eager... atmosphere at the ranch, they were really conflicted! Yan Fei listened to their commotion and didn’t give any opinion. It’s better for them to decide on their own. Some might want to stay here permanently, while others, who wish to return home, can do so — with planes making the world just one big village, it’s merely a matter of spending more money. If they want to travel more often, they just have to work a bit harder, otherwise, they won’t even be willing to buy plane tickets. Just as he was lost in thought, his phone rang in his pocket. It turned out to be a call from the head accountant at home, Xiang Rui: "Xiao Fei, are you guys settled down over there yet?" "We’ve settled down already! What’s up? I’m telling you, I can’t go back just like that." Yan Fei was a bit puzzled. "It’s not about the ranch, it’s about your Uncle Baoguo. He’s been feeling down at home these days. I told him to go stay with you for a few days," Xiang Rui said. "What’s going on?" Yan Fei asked in surprise. Lin Baoguo has a job, and he’s going away for a few days? Something must’ve happened. "It’s nothing major, just a little issue. He’s troubled about it, let him tell you when he gets there! He doesn’t want to tell anyone else," Xiang Rui brushed it off. "Okay, when can he come? Let me know the time his flight arrives, so I can pick him up." Seeing that Xiang Rui wasn’t saying more, Yan Fei didn’t press further. He figured it wasn’t such a big deal. If it were, Lin Baoguo, who has a position, probably wouldn’t be able to get a visa. "The earliest possible would be next week, he still needs to get a visa. I’ll call you once everything’s done. He’s reluctant to go, just sulking at home!" Xiang Rui said, with a hint of complaint. "For such a small matter, look at how he’s acting..." Yan Fei listened to the complaining for a while before hanging up. After thinking about it, he patted Heizi, leaned in, and said softly, "Call a friend in the city, see what the deal is with my Uncle Baoguo..." Heizi knew more people in the city than Yan Fei did, so getting someone to investigate this made sense. He didn’t need someone high up, just someone in the same system, and they could probably find out what was going on. It wasn’t long before Heizi found out and relayed the information back to him. ... Actually, speaking of which, it’s not a big deal. Director Lin is in charge of the train station area, and everyone knows what the situation is like there. In a place like that, turning a blind eye and being criticized is easy, but doing a good job, that’s difficult. And Director Lin is someone who can’t tolerate dirt, full of vigor at a young age. Over the years, he’s done quite well. But doing well at work also means offending many people. Before and after the new year, he made a significant effort to rectify the security in his district, thereby offending countless people. When security improved, his own ’security’ got a bit unstable. Firstly, he was reported repeatedly for having large spending on dining and entertainment, with suggestions of corruption. As a small director, his salary wasn’t much, and he was alone in the city. Naturally, the expenses for dining out frequently were beyond his means. But without any investigation needed, anyone with a bit of knowledge knew — though Director Lin wasn’t happy about it, everyone was aware — he was supported by his wife. Creeper Corp’s head accountant, the most curious thing outsiders wanted to know was how much Yan Fei paid his head accountant. People guessed high, some even guessed several thousand — everyone knew Boss Yan wouldn’t shortchange his people, anyone could tell by the gold bowls handed out during the New Year, those were impressive gestures. But when someone reports it, a routine investigation must be carried out, even if just going through the motions, it’s necessary. But that wasn’t all, next, someone took photos of him at a restaurant entrance, with money being stuffed into his pocket — it indeed happened, the miracle was there were photos. Google seaʀᴄh novel~fire~net Then there were other tactics, threats with letters, dead rubbish thrown at his dorm’s entrance... There were even direct threats to his family — of course, that was all talk. Xiang Rui’s whole family lived on River Heart Island, and even their finance office relocated there. All essential folks of the Creeper farm, including their families, lived there, security measures were quite well maintained, not just anyone could get in. Despite this, Lin Baoguo did feel a bit like facing threats from all sides. None of these had much evidence, and they were blatant setups, some tricks were clearly intending to frame him. However, one couldn’t withstand the onslaught of these relentless methods, even if they didn’t seem to be from the same group, the intentions were clear — urging him to hurry up and transfer somewhere else. It’s truly difficult to deal when enemies are hidden. Even catching a few can only get you the small fry, not very useful — these people are just there to disgust him, they wouldn’t dare do anything directly, their purpose was to annoy him into leaving. The person Heizi contacted didn’t shy away from the truth either, guessing some thought Yan Fei had been spreading outwards, less time spent at home. Otherwise, if Yan Fei was home and put some pressure, they would calm down a bit for sure. The city was aware too and had a major rectification, but couldn’t entirely stop these issues. They saw how hard he’d been working these years and gave him a leave to take a break at home — a goodwill gesture to let him rest. Yan Fei, after all, was an instructor in the city system, and they were probably afraid of someone going rogue, this gesture was for protection, definitely not to embarrass Director Lin intentionally. Yet Director Lin felt this represented backing down, he had to fight back, determined to see it through. Just as Yan Fei was thinking of the instructor, he received a call from him — their initial meeting happened during a major case in the city when some hothead smashed up Boss Yan’s car, and in the end, even that hothead’s father didn’t fare well. Having understood the situation, Yan Fei naturally wouldn’t act rashly, just said he would talk to his uncle. He understood the city’s situation, it could be summed up in two words: too crowded. Within the city, a population of a million was underestimated, and the transient population was more. Security resources were limited, and they had to also take care of surrounding areas, making it difficult to manage. Receiving a phone call already showed they were giving face, he couldn’t say much more. Still, the necessary actions had to be taken. After hanging up, he started thinking up some sly ideas — in his mind, he wasn’t afraid of others playing tricks above board, and actually preferred when others tried sneaky tactics. When it came to crookedness, who had he ever been afraid of!