"Did you find another treasure?" Gao Hongfei asked.
"Well, how about it? Is there anything you like?" Xing Zhaozhao asked.
"I'll take them all." Gao Hongfei was as generous as ever.
Xing Zhaozhao's lips twitched slightly: "None of the items you bought this time are particularly rare. Why are you taking them all back? Are you just going to leave them in the warehouse to collect dust?"
Gao Hongfei laughed and said, "I just wanted to help Mom out. We're not short of money, are we?"
"But you can't just spend money recklessly." Xing Zhaozhao scolded her son, then thought for a moment and said, "How about this, I'll give you that white porcelain double-eared plum vase, you can put it in your office and use it to hold flowers or something."
"Okay, thank you, Mom," Gao Hongfei replied with a smile.
"Okay, I'll send it to you when I have time." Xing Zhaozhao said, and was about to hang up. "That's all, I have something to do, I'll hang up now."
"Wait a minute," Gao Hongfei suddenly called out to her.
"What's wrong?" Xing Zhaozhao asked, puzzled.
"Are you free at noon? Let's come over for lunch," Gao Hongfei said.
"Why are you suddenly eating out of the blue?" Xing Zhaozhao asked.
"Let's meet the in-laws," Gao Hongfei said.
Xing Zhaozhao was taken aback for a moment, then asked with a smile, "What? Xiaoyang has good news? I didn't hear that he had a girlfriend before, how come he's already meeting his in-laws so soon?"
“It’s not Gao Yang,” Gao Hongfei said.
Xing Zhaozhao narrowed her eyes slightly: "If it's not Xiaoyang, then who is it? Do you have other unmarried children?"
Gao Hongfei: "..." Is this really a mother? How can she talk so badly about her own son?
Xing Zhaozhao: "..." That's because you have a precedent to follow.
“It’s Gao Yue,” Gao Hongfei said.
Xing Zhaozhao was a little confused: "Isn't Xiaoyue already married? Why is she meeting the in-laws again? Divorced and remarried? So fast? Wait a minute, I just saw her at Rongrong's place a couple of days ago, I haven't heard anything about her?"
Gao Hongfei: "..."
"Can't you think of something positive?" Gao Hongfei said, somewhat speechless.
"I can't really think positively about what you're saying," Xing Zhaozhao said, unconvinced.
Gao Hongfei: "..."
"Xia Chen was adopted, right? He just found his biological mother, didn't he? Let's have a meal together as a family," Gao Hongfei said.
Xing Zhaozhao exclaimed "Ah!" and then suddenly realized that Fanxing had indeed mentioned it before, but she hadn't had time to ask for details before she was interrupted. So it was true. Did the young couple postpone their trip?
“Okay, I’ll call you when I get here,” Xing Zhaozhao readily agreed.
After hanging up the phone, Xing Zhaozhao sent all the photos except for the white porcelain double-eared plum vase she was going to give to Gao Hongfei to Mr. Lu.
Mr. Lu also called soon after to arrange a meeting with Xing Zhaozhao.
Xing Zhaozhao thought that since she was going to meet her in-laws the day after tomorrow, she decided to make an appointment with Mr. Lu to meet on that day as well, at the usual place, Xunlan Tea House.
When the day came, Xing Zhaozhao carefully wrapped all the treasures she wanted to take with her in cloth, put them in a basket on her back, and went to Xunlan Teahouse.
When Xing Zhaozhao arrived at Xunlan Teahouse, Mr. Lu was already there. She also unexpectedly saw Qin Shi there. The two were sitting together, leisurely drinking tea and talking.
Upon seeing Xing Zhaozhao, Qin Shi immediately stood up with a smile and called out, "Auntie..."
Mr. Lu was no longer surprised by the ambiguous relationship between them. When he saw Xing Zhaozhao, he greeted her with a smile, "It's been a long time, Miss Xing. If you hadn't come looking for me, I would have worried that you had forgotten about me."
"How could that be? I've already stocked up on everything. I just couldn't find the time to visit Mr. Lu before, so I brought it all over this time," Xing Zhaozhao said with a smile.
"That would be wonderful." Old Mr. Lu said, his eyes sparkling as he looked at the basket on Xing Zhaozhao's back, already rubbing his hands together, eager to get started.
Xing Zhaozhao took off the basket from her back, took out the contents one by one, and carefully placed them on the table for Mr. Lu to look at at his leisure.
While Mr. Lu was busy, Xing Zhaozhao sat down at the table, eating the tea and snacks brought by the waiter, and looked at Qin Shi, asking with a smile, "What are you doing here today?"
“I just met with Mr. Lu yesterday. He told me he had arranged to meet you today, so I came along to sit for a while,” Qin Shi said.
"You also arranged to meet with Mr. Lu? Did you buy some treasure at their auction house again?" Xing Zhaozhao asked casually with a smile.
Unexpectedly, Qin Shizhen nodded, looked at Xing Zhaozhao with a serious expression, and said, "I bought something for Grandma."
Xing Zhaozhao's smile froze instantly: "The same?"
Qin Shi nodded again, took out a jewelry box from his pocket, opened it, and revealed a crystal clear jade bracelet with excellent water content: "Grandma's favorite. I saw her wear it once when I was a child, and then it disappeared. It must have been put into those boxes and hidden away together."
Xing Zhaozhao's expression also turned serious: "Didn't you say you couldn't find it?"
Ever since Xing Zhaozhao mentioned to Qin Shi that the old couple had hidden their belongings under the small villa, Qin Shi had tried to get the villa back from his cousin. He searched almost the entire yard but still couldn't find the boxes.
"It must have been discovered and dug up a long time ago," Qin Shi said.
Xing Zhaozhao's heart tightened, and she looked at Qin Shi, asking, "Your cousin?"
Qin Shi shook his head: "It shouldn't be him. I heard that the old couple hid their things and they were stolen. He was furious and cursed them horribly. He didn't seem to be faking it. He even went to the family who used to live in our villa and called them thieves, demanding that they return their things. They almost got into a fight, and the police had to be called."
Xing Zhaozhao's heart skipped a beat, and she asked, "Are they suspects?"
Qin Shi shook his head again: "They are all ordinary families, so the possibility is slim."
Xing Zhaozhao looked disappointed: "It seems there are absolutely no clues left."
Qin Shi thought for a moment and said, "It's not that there are no clues at all. According to an old lady who used to live there, one year, when she woke up in the morning, her vegetable garden had been dug up overnight. Someone even accused her of doing it and got into a fight with her. However, that happened fifty years ago, so there's no point in bringing it up now."
Xing Zhaozhao's eyes lit up. It might be useless here, but it could be useful to her, and there might still be time to find clues?
"Does that old lady remember which year it happened?" Xing Zhaozhao asked.
"Was it around 1970 or 1971? The old lady said it's been so long, she can't remember clearly," Qin Shi said.
1970 or 1971? Perhaps it's not too late. Xing Zhaozhao quietly clenched her fist.
"By the way, who did you buy this bracelet from? Did you ask him for any clues?" Xing Zhaozhao glanced at the jade bracelet and then asked Qin Shi.
"That's why I specifically sought out Mr. Lu. He's an elderly gentleman surnamed Liu, but according to him, he was also passed on to him by someone else," Qin Shi said.
"Surname Liu?" Xing Zhaozhao suddenly had a flash of inspiration, looked at Qin Shi, and asked, "It's not Liu Feiyue, is it?"
Qin Shi looked at Xing Zhaozhao with a surprised expression: "How did you know?"
Xing Zhaozhao's heart sank. It really was?!
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