The Great Sage Returns from Ten Years of Imprisonment

After leaving the lake, Lingyun drove straight to Houhai.

He planned to go back to the courtyard house to have dinner with his family before going to work at the CIC headquarters.

Zhong Tao and his group, who were waiting on Fuyou Street, immediately drove up and followed.

Before long, they arrived at Houhai.

Just like when he returned on Saturday, Lingyun did not drive into Houhai North Bank, but parked his car on the street not far away.

Then he got out of the car, led Zhong Tao and the others into the crowd, and walked towards his own courtyard house.

As they walked, he whispered something to Zhong Tao and the others.

That scumbag Lewis will fly to Beijing on Thursday to oversee the investigation against him, so Zhong Tao and his team should be on high alert.

After discussing that, he went on to mention becoming the youngest member of the Financial Stability and Development Committee.

Before long, I will have to go to one more place frequently: the office of the Financial Stability and Development Committee.

Because of this change in identity, Zhong Tao and his team not only had to plan their driving route carefully, but also had to strengthen their security measures.

The reason for this is that Lingyun will be exposed to many secrets in the economic and financial fields in the future.

For example, official documents with red headers, as well as policies and regulations that are still under discussion or have not yet been made public.

Zhong Tao and the others naturally nodded in agreement to everything Ling Yun said.

As they spoke, they arrived at the entrance of the courtyard house.

Once he was sure no one was following him, Ling Yun opened the door and led Zhong Tao and the others inside.

His parents and grandparents, who had just returned home, were quite surprised to see him come back for dinner.

"Hey, what brings you here so early? Aren't you working tonight? That's not like you at all."

My mother teased me curiously.

Lingyun took two steps forward, reached out and took her mother's arm, and whispered a few words of explanation with a hint of pride.

"I went to a meeting at Haizi Lake in the afternoon, and just as the meeting was about to end, I suddenly received a huge, unexpected surprise."

"After leaving the lake, I went straight home. If I don't go home and show off a bit, it'll be like wearing fine clothes in the dark. How can I concentrate on work tonight!"

"Hahaha"

Grandpa and Grandma all laughed, their eyes full of curiosity.

Mom chuckled and lightly punched Lingyun in an annoyed tone.

"Wearing fine clothes in the dark? Look at you, so pathetic. Tell me, what exactly is this unexpected surprise?"

Lingyun looked back at the hanging flower gate, then pulled his mother toward the north room.

"Let's go to the living room and sit on the sofa to talk. It'll be safer that way, otherwise I'm worried I'll scare you."

"Besides, it's not appropriate to say this in the courtyard. I'm worried that you'll get too excited and your cheers will shake the entire Houhai area."

"You brat, you're so irresponsible! What kind of surprise could be so exaggerated?"

Mom laughed and punched Lingyun lightly.

Grandpa, Grandma, and Dad exchanged a glance, chuckled, and followed.

After entering the living room, Lingyun first asked his grandparents to sit on the sofa, and then greeted his parents.

Then, with an air of importance, he closed the living room door, opened his backpack, took out a file folder, and casually handed it to his mother.

"What this unexpected surprise is is right here in this file folder. You'll understand once you open it yourself; I'd better not explain it to you."

My mother took the document bag and curiously examined its contents.

With just one glance, her expression instantly turned serious.

"This is a special document bag from the General Office, usually used to store confidential documents and materials. May we open it and take a look?"

My mother works at the city archives. Although she doesn't see special document bags from the general office very often, she has seen them many times over the past thirty years.

It was precisely because she recognized the origin of the file folder at a glance that she suddenly became serious.

Upon hearing her words, her grandparents and father all straightened up and became serious.

Ling Yun smiled and nodded, then continued to explain the situation.

"As expected of my mother, she has such a keen eye. This file bag is indeed from the General Office. Deputy Director Zhang just handed it to me half an hour ago."

"The contents of this file bag do need to be kept strictly confidential for others, but not for you. You are all my family, and there is no need to keep it a secret."

"This folder contains information about me. You are all welcome to look through it. Afterwards, I plan to put these documents in a safe at home for added security."

Hearing his explanation, his parents breathed a sigh of relief, but also became even more curious.

"Since it's your personal information, then I'm not worried. I'm curious to see what kind of trouble you're up to."

Mom said with a smile.

Before she finished speaking, she gently opened the file bag, took out the documents inside, and began to examine them with curiosity.

What happened next was almost exactly as Ling Yun had predicted.

Suddenly, my mother's excited exclamation rang out.

"My goodness, a member of the Financial Stability and Development Committee, am I seeing things?"

"That's right, it's clearly written in black and white here, it says 'Member of the Financial Stability and Development Committee,' I'm not seeing things!"

My dad went even further, his voice cracked.

As he gasped in surprise, he and his grandparents stared intently at the documents in his mother's hands, as if they were priceless treasures.

Seeing their reactions, Ling Yunzhi nodded smugly.

"That's right, I am now a member of the Financial Stability and Development Committee, and the youngest member in history. I was appointed on the spot in Haizi just half an hour ago..."

Before he could finish speaking, his mother suddenly grabbed Lingyun's arm and asked impatiently:

"Are you a deputy B-level or a full-fledged department-level official, kid, as a member of the Financial Stability and Development Committee?"

Dad jumped to his feet, staring at Ling Yun in disbelief.

"As far as I know, only officials at the ministerial level or above are qualified to serve as members of the Financial Stability and Development Committee. What makes you think you're qualified?"

"Snap"

Mom gently patted Dad's hand and grinned as she teased him.

"Why can't my son be a member of the Financial Stability and Development Committee? Yunzi has made such great contributions, isn't it only right that she enjoys this special treatment!"

"As for whether it's deputy B-level or full department-level, does it matter? At Yunzi's age, I'm absolutely certain the Ling family's ancestral graves are emitting auspicious smoke!"

Everyone paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Grandpa, in particular, was overjoyed, his smile stretching from ear to ear.

"That's absolutely right. Our Ling family's ancestral graves are indeed emitting auspicious smoke. This is at least the treatment afforded to a department-level official—a first in history!"

Seeing his family's ecstatic joy, Lingyun smiled even more brightly.

After the laughter subsided, he explained the situation.

"I enjoy the treatment of a department-level official, but I don't have an actual administrative rank, just like those top experts and scholars in the Financial Stability and Development Committee."

"In a sense, I am now one of the top think tank members, mainly working in the economic and financial fields, where I play a role in providing advice and suggestions."

"The Financial Stability and Development Committee is different from the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress. It is directly appointed by higher authorities based on work needs and personnel arrangements, without going through an election process. It is a decision-making and coordinating body dedicated to serving the Party Central Committee..."

Before he could finish his introduction, his grandmother got up, came to his side, and affectionately patted his head.

"Well done, Yunzi. For someone your age to receive such special treatment is a source of pride for our whole family."

"In this respect, you are much more successful than your father. Your grandfather was right, the Ling family's ancestral graves are truly blessed."

As she spoke, Grandma rolled her eyes at Dad, looking at him with a disappointed expression.

"Fine, what did I do to deserve this?"

My dad made a helpless remark, but then laughed heartily.

After dinner, it was around 7 p.m., and night gradually enveloped the entire city of Beijing, making Houhai even more lively.

After dinner, Lingyun chatted with his grandparents for a while before leading Zhong Tao and the others away from the courtyard to work at the CIC headquarters.

Just a few steps after stepping out of the courtyard gate, Chairman Zhao suddenly called.

After the call connected and they exchanged greetings, Chairman Zhao immediately got to the point.

"I just received a message from the Hong Kong branch. Those guys at Goldman Sachs' Hong Kong branch have started taking action and gathering information about you."

"Fortunately, we were prepared. We discovered those Goldman Sachs guys as soon as they contacted our employees, and they haven't made any progress yet."

"There's something else. Nomura Securities of Japan, for some inexplicable reason, is willing to pay a high price to acquire the assets of Lehman Brothers' Hong Kong branch..."

Upon hearing Chairman Zhao's report, Ling Yun curled his lip in disdain.