Atlas of Heaven and Man.

Chapter 997 Huihu Birthday Banquet

December 23, Wuding District, Huihu Mansion.

Today is the 80th birthday of Cheng Zhou, the former deputy director of the Management Bureau and now the senior consultant of the Management Bureau. Since morning, there has been a constant stream of people coming and going in and out of the mansion.

The Cheng family was originally from Yangzhi. Their ancestors had passed down the martial arts tradition since the old times. A hundred years ago, an ancestor of the Cheng family led a group of disciples to join the punitive army to overthrow the old imperial family. Many people suffered casualties, and later they took root in the central city of Jibei Road.

When he was young, Mr. Cheng worked as a teacher in both the local and Central City Wuyi Colleges. He also had a family-run fighting gym, and he had many students. Among them, there were at least a hundred outstanding disciples, who now hold important positions in the Central City Processing Bureau, the army, Wuyi, and even surrounding cities.

There are many families in the central city who practice martial arts and pass it down from generation to generation. Some of them help each other and the Cheng family, while others gather together or depend on the Cheng family. They are indeed a force that cannot be underestimated in the central city.

It's just that the Cheng family has a strict family tradition and acts in a low profile. All their disciples are very particular about the rules, so their presence in the outside world is not very strong.

Because it was not a holiday, the birthday banquet was held at night. But after noon, many married sons and nephews and relatives came back from other places to celebrate the birthday.

Liu Yin followed the elders of the family into the mansion. As the most outstanding youngster of this generation, he was qualified to join the elders in celebrating the birthday.

According to the old customs of Yangzhi, before celebrating the birthday, the younger generation should wait outside until the elders say something nice. After the banquet officially begins, the elders will say the congratulatory speech first, and then the younger generation will stand up together to congratulate.

But he is different now. He is now a third-level fighter, so he is qualified to have a seat in the hall.

However, he was unwilling to stay with a group of serious and rigid elders. He had to follow the rules and dared not even breathe, especially since Old Master Cheng was a very disciplined person and he could not make any mistakes.

So after delivering the congratulations to Mr. Cheng, they turned outside. If it were in the past, some people might be dissatisfied, but third-level fighters are so tough, they are much freer in doing things and no one thinks there is anything wrong.

After turning outside, he saw Xiao Jing waving at him, "Brother Liu Yin, this way." He looked and saw several familiar friends, including Han Kuang, Ren Qiao and others, were there, so he walked over and sat down in the empty seat specially reserved.

Xiao Jing said: "Brother Liu Yin hasn't played with us for a long time."

Liu Yin smiled and said, "There are often missions in the processing bureau. Everyone in the team is very hardworking and the competition is fierce. I have to exercise hard even on my days off to avoid being left behind."

Han Kuang patted his shoulder and said enviously: "You have made it big now and don't have to worry about your family's mood anymore."

The younger generations at the table all nodded because Liu Yin did not listen to his family's arrangements and made his own way. He is doing quite well now. It is said that he has joined the most elite execution team of the processing bureau and is also in the second action team investigating the director Xu Chan.

With this qualification, in the next 20 to 30 years, it would be possible for him to move up from an executor to become an executive team leader, then to be an investigation supervisor, or even to become a deputy director like Mr. Cheng in the future. For people like them, it would be good enough to be an executor at most.

In fact, with the example of Liu Yin, they were also eager to make a move, but they didn't have the courage, and they knew they didn't have the talent, so they could only think about it in their heads.

Xiao Jing and other friends were curious about his work in the bureau, so Liu Yin just talked about the unimportant and non-sensitive parts.

As he was talking, Xiao Jing suddenly tugged at his sleeve, "Brother Liu Yin, look at that."

Liu Yin looked over and saw a young man following an old man into the hall. He said, "Is that Uncle Qiao? That young man, is he Uncle Qiao's disciple?"

"Well, I heard that Master Qiao brought someone from Yangzhi who is very talented, but I don't like him. He speaks in a very formal way, like an old man.

If it were a few years ago, they might have looked down on Yang Zhi's people, but with this example in mind, they dared not underestimate him. Moreover, the enthusiasm of this person in practicing martial arts was unbearable to them.

Originally they wanted to invite someone of similar age to come out and play together and get to know each other, but it turned out that this person never had any entertainment activities and would practice martial arts whenever he had time, which put a lot of pressure on them. The elders in the family often used him as an example.

Xiao Jing said: "I really can't stand it. It is said that this guy practices martial arts all the time except eating, sleeping and going to the toilet. If a person reaches this point, then he is not going to live any longer."

Ren Qiao whispered, "I heard that Master Qiao didn't teach students like this before. It seems that he was inspired by Master Cheng..."

Liu Yin nodded. It wasn't just Uncle Qiao who was inspired by Uncle Cheng. All the elders in their family felt the same way to some extent. However, he felt secretly happy in his heart.

In the blink of an eye, it was evening and more guests arrived. All of them were middle and upper-level officials from the city patrol department of the bureau, including some of Wu Yi's teachers. They lit firecrackers and lit lanterns, and the mansion became extremely lively inside and outside.

The square in front of the mansion was already full of parked vehicles. At this moment, a very inconspicuous off-road vehicle drove over and parked.

Cheng Zitong and Xiao Ke walked over from the car together.

Xiao Ke went to the trunk to get the gifts he brought. Seeing so many well-dressed and well-known people at the door, he couldn't help but feel a little scared. He said, "Brother Tong, your student, didn't you come with him?"

"A brief biography."

Cheng Zitong said nonchalantly, "Xiaochuan is on a mission overseas these days. He was busy with the skyline connection yesterday. How can I, as a teacher, hold him back?"

Xiao Ke thought about it, and the Skyline was the most important thing. It would take at least three days to get back to the central city from Haidong Road even if he took an airship, right? He probably wouldn't be able to make it back today, and he couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

Cheng Zitong patted his shoulder and said, "Don't think too much. We are here to celebrate the old man's birthday today. Cheer up."

"Okay, Brother Tong." The two people walked to the door carrying gifts. There were several younger members of the Cheng family standing there to greet the guests. Among them was a man in his thirties who obviously knew Cheng Zitong. He was stunned for a moment, "Third Uncle, it's you. Why... are you here?"

Cheng Zitong groaned, "How can you talk like that? Is that what your father taught you? It's the old man's 80th birthday, isn't it okay for me, his son, to come and celebrate?"

"Uncle San, I, I didn't mean that." The man gave a look, and a junior behind him turned around and ran out.

Cheng Zitong was about to go in when the man stepped forward awkwardly and said, "Uncle San, wait a moment."

"What?"

"Uncle San, an invitation." The man said, "You have to give me an invitation."

Cheng Zitong was surprised and said, "What a novelty! I, as a son, need an invitation to celebrate a birthday?"

"No, Third Uncle, you know that the rules in our family are strict. That's what the higher-ups have decided. No matter how unreasonable it is, we, as the younger generation, have to follow them, right?"

Cheng Zitong looked at him and said, "Okay, I won't make it difficult for you. I, your third uncle, have also suffered from the rules. Go and call someone, right? I'll wait."

Just as the two were talking, an off-road vehicle from the processing bureau drove over.

Ni Qianqian was sitting in the back seat. She was wearing a red stand-up collar, double-breasted gown and a light pink pleated skirt. Sitting next to her was a female colleague of hers. Before getting off the car, she took out a mirror to check her makeup.

At this moment, she caught a glimpse of the people standing at the gate of the mansion. Her expression changed, and she reached out and patted the shoulder of the action team leader in front of her, "Hey, Lao Li, there's something interesting going on."

The action leader heard her say that and turned his head to look over there. "That's..."

"That's Mr. Cheng's son, Director Cheng Zitong."

"…Sounds a bit familiar," Captain Li suddenly got a hint and asked in a low voice, "The teacher of Director Chen?"

Ni Qianqian nodded: "Yes, this is the one."

Captain Li remembered that the relationship between this man and Mr. Cheng was not very good. A subtle expression appeared on his face. He immediately became alert and looked towards the door. It was quite interesting.

After taking a few glances, he couldn't help but ask, "By the way, what is the conflict between Manager Cheng and Old Master Cheng?"

Ni Qianqian said excitedly: "This involves an obsession of the old Cheng family. Captain Li, don't you know?"

Captain Li looked at her speechlessly, his face clearly showing that she was going to ask me something, but there was nothing he could do, he also wanted to eat this melon.

So he turned his body and said, "Well, Sister Ni, you are kind-hearted and well-informed. Let me, Li, learn something from you."

After hearing what he said, Ni Qianqian looked at the shining eyes of her female colleague next to her. She was very satisfied, so she coughed, cleared her throat, and said, "The Cheng family has always wanted to produce a super-limit warrior since the previous generation."

"Hey, who doesn't want this?" Captain Li thought to himself, his Li family also wanted this.

Ni Qianqian crossed her arms and squinted at him, "Captain Li, do you think you have a chance?"

Captain Li sighed and said, "Don't expose people's shortcomings." The female colleague next to him covered her mouth and laughed.

Ni Qianqian hummed and said, "It's a family of old age, but every generation has someone who has reached the third limit, and there are more than one person, this is not easy."

Captain Li nodded. It's not just about relying on resources of martial arts. How to teach people is also a science. Talent is something like that. If there is no additional technical support, then relying on bloodline inheritance is very unreliable. The previous generation may have high talent, but the next generation may not. This is why many of the upper class are supporters of the implant faction.

He said: "Yes, I don't know about earlier times, but since a hundred years ago, the Laocheng family has produced many outstanding people from generation to generation, which is not easy."

My female colleague also agrees with this. There are strong men in every generation, and it is indeed rare to find a family with mature men in the central city.

Ni Qianqian said: "But how can it be better than having a martial artist? Do you know the Bai family in Shannan Road? It turns out that they have a similar origin to the old Cheng family. They also actively responded to the call at that time and participated in overthrowing the old imperial family. However, because of the emergence of Senior Bai, they became a top martial arts family.

Originally, Mr. Cheng could have done it, but for some reason it didn’t work out, so he placed his hopes on his eldest son…”

At this point, she saw a square-faced, burly middle-aged man walk out. She suddenly became excited and patted the back of the seat in front of her, "Look, Lao Li, someone is coming out. It's going to be a good show."

……

……

(End of this chapter)