In the Zhou family's living room, there was an embroidery piece one foot wide and half a meter long on the coffee table.
This is a colorful portrait, showing the president in front of Tian*men under the scorching sun, surrounded by children with innocent smiles presenting flowers.
The eyes of the characters in it are vivid and lifelike, the flowers are stacked layer by layer and blooming, and you can faintly smell the fragrance of flowers, which is the ultimate characteristic of Suzhou embroidery.
Zhou Xiaozheng frowned as he looked at Zhou Jiao. The moment he saw the Suzhou embroidery, he knew how much effort had gone into this child in just two months. He understood his daughter's painstaking efforts, but the price was the child's health. How could he bear to do that?
"Dad, I really make some time every day. If you don't believe me, ask my brother if I stay up late. I'm fast. I also have to review my homework on weekdays, so it really doesn't take much time." Zhou Jiao raised her hand and said.
Zhang Guoqing nodded helplessly. She didn't stay up late, but it did take a lot of time. He couldn't do anything about her; his wife had a stubborn temper.
Seeing that things had come to this, Zhou Xiaozheng could only tell her not to embroider anymore. His daughter, Jiaojiao, was a perfectionist, so these laborious and eye-straining tasks were no longer necessary. He hadn't dared to tell her about the potential meeting with the President out of fear she'd overthink it. Now he wasn't sure whether he should admire his daughter's foresight.
"Leave these mirror frames to Dad. Don't knit if you have nothing else to do. Dad has enough sweaters to last him eight to ten years. Tomorrow our family will go shopping and buy some things to send to your parents-in-law. Go to bed early and get enough rest today."
Zhou Jiao nodded. Her mother had been acting strangely tonight, and the person who caused it had to be the one to untie it. She decided to give her father some time and space to resolve the issue.
Zhou Jiao got up early in the morning. With Zhang Guoqing's help, she felt much more relaxed about the Gu family affairs.
When the bugle sounded, Zhou Jiao and Zhang Guoqing ran two laps with the soldiers and then played boxing with the old men. Now, Zhou Jiao's face was filled with smiles as she accompanied Aunt Chen to prepare breakfast.
I don't know how Zhou Xiaozheng persuaded Lin Lishan last night. Now she was in a good mood, holding Ping An and coming to the kitchen from time to time to check on her, joking with Zhou Xiaozheng and his son-in-law.
After breakfast and arranging the children, Zhou Jiao deliberately changed into overalls and an old cotton-padded jacket. These past two days, she'd discovered that this was the mainstream style. Today, their family went out—the men looked handsome, the women beautiful and fashionable—and it was a real eye-catcher. She still preferred to blend in.
Once she had changed and returned to the living room, everyone burst into laughter. She had a unique style in this attire, and it made her look even younger. Her rosy complexion made her look like a porcelain doll, and even Aunt Chen, hugging Ping An, burst into laughter.
Lin Lishan scolded, "Isn't this still beautiful after all? You're the only one who loves to act weird. What's wrong with being beautiful?"
"Is it really eye-catching?" Zhou Jiao frowned and looked down at the clothes. She thought they were very simple.
Zhou Xiaozheng clenched his fist to hide his smile, cleared his throat, and said, "Very ordinary. With a military coat and hat on, even acquaintances wouldn't recognize me." Then he was the first to leave. He had to leave, for fear that his girl would be angry and embarrassed.
This morning, they were mainly shopping. Lin Lishan drove the car and asked them to follow her. It was almost noon when they finished shopping from Friendship Mall to the department store.
After returning home and having lunch, Zhou Xiaozheng took advantage of his wife and son-in-law packing a package to send and quickly pulled Zhou Jiao away. He had no interest in wandering around the mall.
The father and daughter left their family behind for an entire afternoon and drove around looking for ancient books and magazines and buying the four treasures of the study.
As night fell, Zhou Xiaozheng took her to a courtyard house. The courtyard was filled with antique charm. The old man carefully brought out a box, opened it, and Zhou Jiao was ecstatic.
"White as mutton fat, black as black jade." For Go enthusiasts, owning 181 black jade pieces and 180 mutton-fat jade is a dream come true. "Mutton-fat jade is easy to obtain, but black jade is hard to find." Both mutton-fat jade and black jade are top-grade Hetian jades, and possessing both is extremely precious.
She had come across a set in her previous life, but unfortunately the material was ordinary. Zhou Jiao carefully picked up the two jars of chess pieces and opened the chessboard. It was indeed inlaid with silver wire.
She could tell from the side that it was the masterpiece of the middle-aged master craftsman in front of her. It must have cost a lot of money. When she saw Zhou Xiaozheng holding out a few gold bars, she closed her eyes tightly in pain.
Money is easy to get, but love is hard to find. She could only comfort herself repeatedly.
Zhou Xiaozheng tapped her head and pulled her away with a smile.
Sitting in the car, Zhou Jiao held the box tightly in her arms, fondling it, "Dad, this is so good, I can't bear to let anyone touch it. Oh, it's worth several houses."
Zhou Xiaozheng laughed heartily upon hearing this. "It took him five years to create this set of chess pieces. If the old man and his family hadn't wanted to sneak out of the country, he wouldn't have sold it. It's not expensive, not at all. There's another shop that sells black and red agate chess pieces from the Ming Dynasty, genuine antiques. The chess pieces from that shop are well-known and not safe."
Zhou Jiao nodded in understanding. Her first thought upon entering the courtyard was that this family was headed for disaster. They'd slipped away so quickly, surprisingly. No wonder they were trading in gold.
As Zhou Xiaozheng was driving away from the courtyard, he suddenly remembered something he hadn't yet told Zhou Jiao. Following the public-private partnership of the past two years, wealthy people in Beijing were terrified. Those who could leave the country were desperately trying to find a way out. Some families had even retreated to their rural roots, dispersing their children across the country.
For safety reasons, after work, he arranged for two of his old subordinates, who were in financial difficulty, to move into his large courtyard house. Rather than renting it to the government for free, he decided to do a favor.
"Jiaojiao, Daddy will take you to the big courtyard to meet the people. Now, except for the last one, which is locked, I've lent the first two courtyards to the soldiers below. Their hometown is far away, and they can't get a family compound because of their lack of military service, so they rent one in the suburbs. I've retired the helpers your grandma hired and let their two families move in. It's safer to have the soldiers' families in the house."
Zhou Jiao was overjoyed and praised him, "Dad, you're so smart! You can also rent out the two courtyards that are still available. I don't have to go there. You can see if you can also rent out the small courtyard when it expires."
"We're not planning to lend it to anyone. There are two military wives living there right now, and it's fine for now. We'll see how things go later. We'll lend the courtyard to the Women's Federation. Lending it to a private individual would easily lead to disputes. If those two families weren't under my command and their character wasn't good, I really wouldn't want them to move in. I'll take you to meet them. First, you'll be remembered by them, so you can come and go and get things easily. Second, there's a secret room inside, and I'll take you there now while no one else is around."
"Mom doesn't know?"
Zhou Xiaozheng smiled meaningfully. "How could he have such a large yard without any preparations?"
The five-courtyard quadrangle is located in the Houhai area, which is also the most famous Shihai area in Beijing.
Zhou Xiaozheng found a spot to park the car and pulled Zhou Jiao into the alley. He looked at his lost daughter with a smile on his face, cheerfully introducing the surrounding residents and nearby attractions. He spoke freely about the sights, even going so far as to mention them.
Zhou Jiao touched the gate in front of her, feeling a surge of emotion. Lin Lishan had praised her for the large courtyard, but she hadn't paid much attention. Now it seemed that if her father hadn't returned, Gu Ruyi would never have given up this quaint courtyard.
No wonder this courtyard didn't have the Zhou surname in history. Without her father, she couldn't protect this ancient house.
"Dad, will this yard affect your personal rating?" Zhou Jiao quietly pulled him aside and asked in a low voice, taking advantage of the fact that no one was around. Many high-income government employees now lived nearby, and it was obvious they were assigned to live there later. The original owners were either deceased or had fled after liquidation.
Zhou Xiaozheng patted her, smiled and shook his head, pulled her into the yard, introduced Zhou Jiao to the military families living there, and took her to the last yard at the back.
Zhou Jiao had been numb from the moment she entered the courtyard. She absolutely disagreed with Zhou Xiaozheng's claim that the courtyard was hers. This could only be the Zhou family's ancestral home. She couldn't hold onto this place for years to come, and even her father's military uniform wouldn't guarantee it. Her mind raced, weighed down by the thought of how to avoid disaster.
Zhou Xiaozheng stood in the room, laughing heartily. His rare laughter echoed through the empty hall. He rubbed his daughter's head and smiled at her, who looked worried.
"Are you scared now? Dad has a backup plan. Don't worry! Don't frown, it's so ugly. Come with Dad to see the dark room and cheer yourself up. Remember to turn it on and off later."
Zhou Jiao paused when he said he had a backup plan, noting his expression before letting out a sigh of relief. She followed him to the servants' quarters, carefully memorizing the switches, and tried them herself, following him inside. Fortunately, no treasure appeared.
Zhou Xiaozheng suppressed his laughter, pulled her up, and said, "There's still room for valuable furniture here. Find a time to bring Xiaowu over and have him move it while you stay outside."
After saying that, he decided not to upset his daughter. He had originally wanted to take the child to the suburbs, but now he'd decided against it. Besides, it might be better to keep it for her just in case. No matter how kind Zhang Guoqing was, his heart was unpredictable.
"Gu Ruyi knows some things very well. Should we make some preparations?" Zhou Jiao was extremely disappointed with the old lady. She didn't even dare to move the two boxes in the room.
Zhou Xiaozheng nodded. He didn't care. His possessions were just as good as the old woman's. She was probably still worried he'd report her. But since the child was concerned, he just went along with her.
"Deal with it yourself. Throw out anything you don't like."
Back at the compound, Lin Lishan was already frantically running around under the streetlight in front of Zhou's house. Seeing the father and daughter laden with bags, she quickly went over to take them from Zhou Jiao, complaining that they were so obsessed with shopping that they had forgotten to eat.
Zhou Jiao was most afraid of her chanting the spell to tighten the headband, so she quickly explained that Zhou Xiaozheng was taking her to the big yard to see the dowry.
Sure enough, after hearing this, Lin Lishan immediately changed the subject and started talking about other things.
After dinner, Zhou Jiao returned to the bedroom. After feeding her child, she began to feel dazed. She was no longer in the mood to appreciate her favorite things.
Seeing her frown, Zhang Guoqing thought she was worried about the child. He quickly took the child and comforted her that the weather was cold and the milk she squeezed out wouldn't spoil, so she ate it safely.
Zhou Jiao frowned and whispered, "Where is the big courtyard?" "Who lives there now?" "What valuables are there?" "Seeing him smile and nod, she was very puzzled."
Zhang Guoqing had known about the large courtyard in Houhai since Lin Lishan had told him about it. A quadrangular courtyard house, valued at over a billion yuan and passed down from the Zhang family's ancestors, was located there. He had seen pictures of the layout and decor of the courtyard and had originally planned to live there with his family after she had a child.
How could he not know how conspicuous that was? Since his father-in-law had foreseen the situation and had chosen military dependents to move in, how could he, a man at the center of power, not be prepared for whatever the future held? He trusted his father-in-law's judgment. Since he said he had a backup plan, he could rest assured.
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