Retired for A Hundred Years: Re-Employment for the Apocalypse Bigshot!-Chapter 237: Are You Sure You Want to Discuss This Here?

Chapter 237: Chapter 237: Are You Sure You Want to Discuss This Here?

"Bang, beep—"

The continuously recording machine suddenly displayed a scrambled screen, accompanied by a busy signal indicating a signal interruption.

A system voice sounded: "Machine number 345 has malfunctioned, please perform a self-check on the host."

Immediately afterward, a mechanical sound of system stuttering ensued, as if the error screen had come to life, displaying a series of bizarre codes.

Meanwhile.

Ji Ning once again sat in Li Wenxin’s car, but this time she sat in the back seat, side by side with Li Wenxin.

Li Wenxin slightly tilted his head back, pinching his brow with one hand, and said, somewhat tiredly, "What did Fu Lihai promise you?"

Ji Ning glanced at him disdainfully and looked out the window.

Li Wenxin, having closed his eyes, did not see her; noticing Ji Ning’s prolonged silence, he suddenly opened his eyes and looked at her, "Whatever the Fu Family promised you, the Li Family can offer the same..."

"Li Wenxin, are you sure you want to discuss this here with me?"

Ji Ning turned her head to look at him, her face calm yet her gaze somewhat fierce.

Li Wenxin’s words faltered, and his expression turned even more severe than before, his gaze deep, scrutinizing her for a long time.

The driver in front, Li Wenxin’s confidant, clicked his tongue discreetly, surprised that someone dare interrupt the Family Head so rudely.

He wanted to glance at the rearview mirror but curbed his curiosity.

Li Wenxin was puzzled; ever since he became the Family Head of the Li Family, few people dared to speak to him like this, not even the other two families’ authorities.

Yet this young girl in front of him spoke not just without any reverence, but with a sense of familiarity.

Could she really be...

Thinking of this, Li Wenxin became somewhat unsettled, the intensity in his eyes making Ji Ning’s heart slightly tense.

She felt there was something related to her, something she didn’t know about.

***

Li Wenxin’s residence was at the westernmost part of the Inner City, secluded and quiet, with towering trees tightly concealing the structures inside, protected by superpower users and base soldiers outside.

It was said to be the safest place in the Inner City of Beijing.

Li Wenxin’s car was also subject to inspection before being allowed in.

Ji Ning’s eyes widened slightly, looking at the scenery outside with a sense of amazement.

The structures here were identical to those she had built while establishing the Anhe Base.

A gate less than two meters high, leading to a straight asphalt road, with a square plaza being the first arrival point.

The plaza’s ground was paved with green bricks.

Three buildings surrounded the rectangular plaza, five stories high, connected to one another.

When they built the Anhe Base, they followed the principle that everyone should have housing, constructing such plate buildings, with rooms of equal size, one per person. She wondered if it was the same here.

A surge of warmth came to Ji Ning’s chest, lingering for a long time.

Li Wenxin’s car stopped at a marked parking space in front of one side of the building entrance.

He led Ji Ning through the entrance.

There were still guards stationed at the building entrance, all with significant strength, their superpower levels around the tenth stage.

Someone happened to come out from inside, seeing Li Wenxin, they immediately greeted him with respect, "Family Head."

Li Wenxin nodded slightly, not pausing, leading Ji Ning through the entrance.

The interior’s architectural structure and furnishings had changed from those years; the previous structure was akin to school dormitories, with uniform room specifications, quite neat, but now resembled ordinary apartment units with varying distances between doors, all equipped with security doors, surprisingly even having names written on them.

Looking around, Ji Ning saw that all the names bore the surname Li.

This was evidently the Li Family stronghold.

Li Wenxin’s residence was located on the middle section of the second floor; unlike the other Li Family members, their entryway did not directly expose itself to the corridor, but instead, walls had been built on both sides of the corridor, each opening a side door.

Ji Ning entered through the left side door; inside, the original corridor had been carefully renovated, tiled flooring, with old photographs hanging along the walls.

The first photos Ji Ning saw were of her three younger brothers.

She paused in her steps.

Li Wenxin had walked several steps forward before noticing Ji Ning hadn’t caught up, turning back to see her looking at the old Li Family photos, he briefly introduced, "They are pictures of ancestors and parents."

Ji Ning walked and looked, the fading figures in her mind slowly coming into focus.

Seeing Ji Ning’s interest in his family’s photos, Li Wenxin took a few steps back to her side, reminiscing, "This photo was taken during grandfather’s negotiations at the International Alliance headquarters..."

The two shared a tacit understanding, with Li Wenxin explaining the event behind each photo Ji Ning stopped at.

Ji Ning could hear in Li Wenxin’s voice his deep admiration for Li Zhan in the photographs.

"Grandpa, why aren’t you coming inside yet?"

Amid their engrossed looking, a clear childish voice came from ahead.

A little boy, about four or five, ran from the direction of the main door, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

"Hey? Grandpa, who is this big sister?"

The little boy clutched Li Wenxin’s clothes, tilting his head to look at her.

His eyes were as charming as black grapes.

If Bai Xiaotang and Ye Tong were there, they would certainly crouch down to pinch the little boy’s cheeks.

However, Ji Ning moved half a step sideways without any visible expression while looking at him.

Frightened, the little boy buried his head behind Li Wenxin, "Grandpa, sister is really fierce."

Ji Ning: ...

Li Wenxin’s stern face softened considerably upon seeing the little boy, bending down to pick him up, he asked gently, "Why aren’t you at kindergarten?"

The little boy pouted, "Grandpa, today is Saturday."

Li Wenxin was momentarily taken aback, feeling a bit nostalgic, he put down the little boy, patting his head, "Go find grandma, then."

Though Li Wenxin was reserved and stern, his affectionate gestures toward the little boy showed how much he liked him.

Ji Ning couldn’t help but recall the information she read before.

Back then, Li Zhan married quite late, having children at almost forty, so his children’s age was much younger compared to those of the other two families.

The little boy had a gentle and shy personality, glancing timidly at Ji Ning before quickly running towards the house entrance.

He shouted while running, "Grandma."

Li Wenxin kept his eyes on the little boy until he ran inside, then he looked at Ji Ning and said, "The family’s children can be a bit lively."

The tenderness in his eyes hadn’t faded away.

Ji Ning nodded slightly, "It’s fine."

Li Wenxin stepped forward without further introduction about the photographs on the wall.

The two walked one after the other through the main door.

Just then, they saw Li Linyue, Li Wenxin’s only son, coming out to greet them.

Compared to the other two families, the Li Family had a significantly smaller population, counting Li Linyue’s two children, the Li Family’s direct lineage included only six people, while the other Li Family members in the building were all collateral relatives.

Therefore, the Li Family valued their direct lineage highly; Li Linyue and his children were strictly protected from a young age, hardly ever exposed to the outside world.

Li Linyue didn’t work in a Security Department-related position but instead became a university professor.

Unlike the other two families, who placed their members across various fields, the Li Family was considered a breath of fresh air.

But even so, the Li Family was not to be trifled with.

Because in the Li Family’s direct lineage, all were multi-system superpower users.