Chapter 536: Famous Again

"Ah—!" It was a Sunday when Su Qing came back, and Li Huan was home. The moment she saw Su Qing walk in, she rushed over excitedly. "You’re finally back! I missed you to death! Come on, let me give you a hug."

With that, Li Huan threw her arms around Su Qing.

The Li family knew Su Qing had been away on business, so no one asked about the reason for her trip. Mrs. Li simply asked, "Qingqing, did everything go smoothly?"

"Yes, it did," Su Qing replied with a wide smile, sitting down beside Mrs. Li. Li Wan brought some snacks and put them in front of Su Qing. "You’ve only been gone a little over a month, and you’ve already gotten thinner. Are you hungry? Quick, have some snacks. I’ll make you something delicious tonight."

"Okay, sounds great." Su Qing said with a smile, picking up a snack and popping it in her mouth. "Mom, I didn’t lose any weight. I think I might have even gained some."

Su Qing truly didn’t feel she had lost any weight. Not to mention the luxurious feasts on the cruise ship, even in Xiangcheng with A Tai, she had eaten very well, always choosing the most delicious foods.

The Li family was overjoyed at Su Qing’s return, and everyone chimed in, showering her with questions and concern.

"Oh, right! I brought back some fish." Su Qing quickly pointed to the two large rattan trunks she’d brought with her. "Hurry and get them into the fridge."

At this time, although refrigerators were not yet common, Mr. Li’s family had one.

"Fish? What kind of fish?" Curious, Li Huan hurried over to open the rattan trunk Su Qing had indicated. Inside was a large wooden box filled with blocks of ice. Frozen among the ice were a dozen or so hairtail fish, five bonitos, and twenty to thirty white croakers.

Su Qing had caught these white croakers on her way back. She’d caught three or four hundred of them in one go, so this was just a portion of her haul.

"Wow, that’s so much fish!" Li Huan only recognized the hairtail. She pointed at the bonitos and white croakers and asked, "Qingqing, what kind of fish are these?"

Su Qing smiled. "Those are bonitos and white croakers. The white croakers are especially delicious and have very few bones."

"Wow!" Upon hearing this, Li Huan said excitedly to Li Wan and Shang Yuqi, "Mom, Auntie, let’s have a hairtail and a couple of the white croakers tonight!"

"Alright, you got it," Shang Yuqi said with a smile. "But what’s the tastiest way to cook white croaker?"

It wasn’t just Li Huan; Shang Yuqi didn’t know either. They ate hairtail often enough, but this was the first time they had ever seen a white croaker.

"I’ve heard they’re good either steamed or in a soup," Su Qing said with a smile.

Li Wan smiled and said, "Alright, then we’ll stew the hairtail, steam one white croaker, and make a soup with another."

"Fine, you all decide," Su Qing said with a smile. "We can’t fit all this fish here anyway. Auntie, take some home with you later, and give some to Second Uncle and the others."

Su Qing had brought back so much fish for the express purpose of sharing it with her family.

"Alright. Call your Second Uncle’s family. He’s probably busy with work again, so have your Second Aunt bring Yongkang over for dinner. They can take some fish back with them then," Mrs. Li said.

With Su Qing back, the Li family dinner was a joyous and lively affair. After they finished eating, Su Qing went to Mr. Li’s study, a habit the rest of the family had long since grown accustomed to.

"Qingqing, is it all taken care of?" Later that evening, finally having a chance to speak with her alone, Mr. Li and the other two men looked at her and asked urgently.

"Yes, it’s taken care of," Su Qing replied succinctly.

"That’s good to hear." Mr. Li and the others didn’t press for details. They knew Su Qing’s abilities were far beyond their comprehension, but they were still secretly astonished. Deep down, they understood that on this trip, she had likely dealt with far more than just one or two individuals.

Su Qing took out the evidence she had obtained from A Tai, along with a notebook containing the locations of the plantations and related information. She presented them to the three men. "By the way, those people have set up plantations in many places, all growing opium poppies. There are two of them inside Hua Country’s borders. Here are the exact addresses. Grandpa, Uncle Fenghuo, Uncle Gu, you three need to figure out how to deal with this."

"What!" The three men were stunned. "There are two of them inside Hua Country?"

"That’s right." Su Qing nodded. "I took a look. One is in Yun Province, and the other is in Gui Province. Both are deep in the mountains and quite large. If they aren’t eradicated quickly, there’s no telling how many more people will be harmed."

Li Fenghuo took the notebook with the addresses, his brow furrowed as he scanned the information. "Qingqing, leave this to us. You just focus on school for now."

"Alright." Su Qing nodded. She had planned to leave it to Li Fenghuo’s group all along. The scope and number of people involved were simply too large, and it might even require cooperation with foreign law enforcement.

"By the way, what’s the latest on the Qiutian case? Have those tomb-raiding gangs been found? And have you started talks with the Qiutian Clan?" Su Qing remembered the situation with Qiutian. He had already been arrested, but she figured negotiating with his family would be a major headache.

Li Fenghuo explained, "We’ve apprehended one of the gangs. We have a lock on the whereabouts of two more and are preparing to move in for the arrest. There’s still one gang whose trail we haven’t found yet; that requires further investigation. As for the Qiutian Clan, they’re aware of Qiutian’s arrest. They tried to negotiate his extradition, but we refused. Right now, the talks are at a stalemate."

"He absolutely cannot be extradited," Su Qing said with a frown. "He stole so many of Hua Country’s priceless artifacts, and he’s responsible for people’s deaths. We can’t let him get away with it."

"We have no intention of letting him go," Gu Xinsheng said. "The problem is, the Qiutian Clan is extremely influential in Japan. It looks like they’re trying to leverage connections at the highest levels to get Qiutian Sanlang extradited. And the most infuriating part is, we don’t know where they’ve hidden most of the artifacts they stole. Even the ones that have surfaced have had their provenances falsified to make them appear legally owned."

The topic made everyone furious. Such thievery was nothing short of a blatant act of defiance.

"That’s utterly shameless." Su Qing frowned. "So does that mean we can’t get those artifacts back?"

"For now, yes. Getting this collection of artifacts returned will require negotiations, and I’m afraid they won’t be short," Li Fenghuo said.

Su Qing pursed her lips. The idea that had been forming in her mind now felt more compelling than ever.

"Alright, Qingqing, leave this to your uncle and Uncle Gu. You just worry about school for now," Mr. Li told her.

"Okay, Grandpa, I understand." Su Qing didn’t voice her thoughts, simply agreeing with a smile. Early the next morning, she and Li Huan returned to school.

But Su Qing never expected that upon returning to school this time, she would become famous all over again.