The seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the Qixi Festival, is China's traditional Valentine's Day.
Yang Jian and Lu Yao's wedding was held on this day, with the Xinqiao Grand Hotel fully booked.
Because so many people attended the wedding banquet, over eight hundred employees from Lijian Company, including those from Yaochi Garden, were present, with only the security guards on duty absent.
Every household in Yangjian Village sent one representative to the wedding and offered a hundred yuan in gift money.
Zhou Tao, Yu Dongqiang, Yu Feng, and Zheng Guangyao from Chengguan personally attended, each giving a gift of twenty thousand yuan.
Wu Wangchun, along with his brothers Wu Zhi, presented sixty thousand yuan.
People from the families of Afeng, Anan, and Junjun also came. Yang Fan had provided their addresses, and Biaobiao went to deliver the invitations. He also inquired about the locations where Anan and Junjun were serving their sentences, intending to visit them after the wedding.
Song Jianmin, Old Wu, and Sixi also attended, but strangely, Song Jianhao was nowhere to be seen. Yang Jian was too busy entertaining guests to inquire further.
Ma Yuan, Meng Meiyun, and Dai Mengmeng, who were in Dongjiang, also flew back for the occasion.
Luo Peng, Li Chunlin, and other former casino security personnel also attended. They were now sales personnel and agents for Lijian Company in Dongjiang and Nanhai.
Lijian Company's raw material suppliers and finished product distributors also sent representatives to the wedding.
Peng Zhaoyang arrived with two department leaders, and around the same time, Lin Nan and Wei Xia also came.
"Little Yang, I've got your car sorted out for you."
Lu Hao and Lu Yue appeared before Yang Jian and Lu Yao, driving a Mercedes and a Porsche respectively. The Porsche was Yang Jian's car that had been impounded by the police.
Yang Jian took the car keys. "Thanks, Brother Hao."
Lu Yue handed over a red envelope. "Little Yang, Yaoyao, congratulations to you both."
Lu Yao accepted the red envelope. "Thank you, Sister Yueyue. Why didn't Yangyang come with you?"
"He's on summer vacation and went back to his hometown with his dad. Yaoyao, it's been four years, and you haven't changed at all; you're still as beautiful."
"Sister Yueyue hasn't changed much either. Please come in and sit. We can chat more later."
With so many guests arriving, Lu Yao couldn't chat with her for long. She asked Biaobiao to lead them into the hall and arrange seats.
At half-past eleven, the wedding began on time.
The handsome and humorous emcee first introduced Yang Jian and Lu Yao's backgrounds and briefly recounted their long courtship.
Then, Yang Jian and Lu Yao entered with their son. Under the emcee's guidance, Yang Zhengyuan placed the wedding rings on his parents' fingers, and the family of three shared a toast.
Without vows of eternal love, the nearly a thousand guests present would witness their lifelong loyalty and trust.
The parents of both sides came onto the stage, and Yang Jian and Lu Yao, with their son, kowtowed and offered toasts to the four elders.
After completing the traditional Chinese wedding ceremony, song and dance performances began on stage.
Yang Jian and Lu Yao then went around toasting the guests. Due to the large number of people, they could only use low-alcohol red wine to toast their guests.
Biaobiao and Liangliang, along with their brothers, distributed return gifts to the guests.
The wedding ceremony and banquet concluded after two hours, and most of the guests departed.
"Little Yang, I'm so sorry. I didn't reveal Yaoyao's information to you earlier because her mother repeatedly instructed me not to tell you. I'm so glad you're finally together; otherwise, I would have felt guilty forever."
Wei Xia, seeing Yang Jian and Lu Yao seeing off the guests, quickly apologized to Yang Jian.
Yang Jian smiled. "Sister Xia, my mother-in-law already told us about this. It's not your fault. You haven't seen Yaoyao in four years; why don't you chat for a while? I need to speak with Brother Nan."
Wei Xia was pulled aside by Lu Yao.
Yang Jian found a seat with Lin Nan.
"Little Yang, you haven't drunk too much, have you?"
Lin Nan noticed Yang Jian's flushed face and was slightly worried he might be drunk.
Yang Jian offered him a cigarette. "I'm fine, Brother Nan. I heard you've been promoted to Captain. You must be even busier than before. It's hard to meet you. Today is a good opportunity to discuss something with you."
"You're well-informed. My promotion order only arrived three days ago. We're currently conducting a summer crackdown, so it is indeed quite busy. What is it?"
"It's about Sanpang. I need your help. I can't rest easy until he's brought back. When I was toasting his parents earlier, I couldn't look them in the eye."
Lin Nan sighed. "Sanpang was tricked into going to northern Myanmar. We really can't do anything about it. It's a lawless area there, with tens of thousands of people being deceived and taken there. Even the embassy is powerless."
Yang Jian looked around. "Brother Nan, I have a way to find Brother Mao now, but it requires police intervention."
"Tell me. As long as it's not against regulations, I'll do my best to help you."
"I've confirmed that Brother Mao and Baoguo are trafficking meth and K powder. Brother Mao is hiding behind the scenes, but I have a way to find Baoguo."
"Without evidence proving Baoguo is involved in drug trafficking, we can't arrest him."
"Do you know Wu Laizi has been released? I've bought him over. He's already connected with Baoguo and is preparing to traffic drugs with him. I've asked him to gather evidence on Baoguo and provide his whereabouts. Can you develop Wu Laizi as an informant?"
Having experienced four prison sentences, Yang Jian no longer dared to approach Baoguo privately, as he could easily break the law. Moreover, a major drug lord like Baoguo was always armed, making it too risky to apprehend him himself. There was no need to take such a chance.
With a wife and child, Yang Jian had more concerns. He had to consider the consequences of every action and could no longer act impulsively.
"Is Wu Laizi willing to be an informant?"
"He has no choice but to be. I've already discussed the terms with him. Being an informant only benefits him; at the very least, he won't be sentenced if caught."
"Alright, arrange for him to meet us."
"I'll give you his number. You can contact him directly."
Yang Jian gave Lin Nan Wu Laizi's phone number. Wu Laizi had replied to him yesterday, expressing his willingness to cooperate with Yang Jian in finding Baoguo.
As they were talking, Yang Jian noticed that Song Jianmin had not left and was looking over in their direction from a distance, as if he had something important to tell him.
Lin Nan also noticed this and got up to find Wei Xia.
Only then did Song Jianmin walk over.
"Jianmin, you're still here? Is something wrong?"
Yang Jian offered him a cigarette.
"Yang Jian, my brother is in trouble. I couldn't think of any other way, so I had to ask for your help. I'm sorry to bother you on your big day."
"It's alright, tell me, what happened to Brother Hao?"
"My brother was caught cheating at the Han Cheng casino and has been detained for two days. I've tried many connections, but no one is willing to help. They not only demand two million yuan in compensation but also want to chop off my brother's hand."
"Who are these people? Are they the big bosses of Han Cheng?"
"No, they are the Emperor Company from Hanchuan. They are very powerful and don't give face to the big shots in Han Cheng."
"How much money did Brother Hao cheat from the Emperor Company? Was it two million?"
"No, less than a million, but he was caught red-handed, so there's nothing we can do if they want to extort us."
"Can't you call the police?"
"How can we call the police in this situation? Once the police get involved, my brother will not only be charged with gambling offenses but also fraud. Cheating is considered fraud."
"Right, you are the Emperor Company, and they are also the Emperor Company. How did Brother Hao cheat money from them?"
Yang Jian suddenly thought of an inconsistency.