"Grandpa, these fabrics are hard to take away." Zhang Guoqing had no interest in valuables. His family had plenty of imported cameras, phonographs, and large jade pieces.
With Cheng Ruzhu around, even if the old man gave it to him for free, he wouldn't be interested at all. It's not that he doesn't trust Cheng Ruzhu, but he still has to be on guard.
The old man looked at him and motioned him to follow him out.
Standing at the door, the old man pointed toward the back of the house and said, "I'll take you out with a cart later. From now on, you can pull it away by yourselves."
Zhang Guoqing nodded. With Cheng Ruzhu around, there would be no problem. He looked around and whispered, "Old man, are you planning to travel far away?"
The old man's smile froze, and then he said meaningfully, "I'm not sure yet. When the time comes, I'll have to leave even if I don't want to."
Zhang Guoqing stared at him for a long moment, then whispered, "How do we choose the right time? Please advise, old man." He knew he was trying to give in. No wonder no one at home had left him alone. It seemed he'd leave as soon as they left. If the old man hadn't been so financially strapped, he'd have thrown away the items in the room.
The old man smiled and patted his shoulder, whispering, "You are still young. If someone grabs your neck, you have to leave." After that, he glanced towards the kitchen, smiled meaningfully at Zhang Guoqing, and went into the inner room.
Zhang Guoqing narrowed his eyes and stared at his back. This ambiguous statement stirred up waves in his heart. At this moment, he actually wanted to immediately pull Zhou Jiao and the child away from everything and follow in his footsteps.
Zhang Guoqing sighed deeply and stamped hard on the ground. He was reluctant to leave this land, his parents in the snowy Northeast, his father-in-law who taught him earnestly, and even more so, his hometown, giving up everything and starting over.
The old man disguised the cart covertly and pushed it with Zhang Guoqing from the back door all the way to the intersection. After sending them to the intersection, the old man finally didn't even want to push the cart.
He didn't say another word, waved his hand, and left without looking back.
Zhang Guoqing and the other three were left behind. With Cheng Ruzhu, the Commercial Bureau official, there, they didn't have to worry about anyone asking them questions.
Following Cheng Ruzhu's instructions, Zhang Guoqing pulled the cart. Three others followed, pushing the cart from behind. They all headed for the nearby main road. Finally, they hired a horse-drawn carriage on the main road leading to the city, and attached the cart to the back. The people in the carriage finally breathed a sigh of relief.
More than an hour had passed since leaving the old man's dilapidated house. Zhang Guoqing didn't know if he had left, or if he had safely reached the holy land in his heart. But he knew that where there were people, there were rivers and lakes, so where could there be a pure land?
Two small yellow croakers were exchanged for a cart full of piles of cloth. He had no idea what was so special about this batch of cloth. He looked at his overjoyed mother-in-law, Cheng Ruzhu, who was so skillful in making the arrangements, and his wife, who was always calm.
Zhang Guoqing smiled self-deprecatingly, thinking that he still couldn't learn to calm down.
When the carriage pulled into a yard, Cheng Ruzhu immediately called for help in unloading the goods. After she had arranged everything, hundreds of repackaged shipments of cloth finally boarded their companions and happily set off.
Many times, Zhang Guoqing had to admit that background and family background were really important. In his previous life, if he hadn't had so many people behind him secretly helping him and the old man secretly protecting him, he might have already turned into a cup of yellow earth.
Since Zhou Jiao paid for the purchase of the small yellow croakers, Cheng Ruzhu refused to take half and half, and finally she only ordered five.
Zhou Jiao pulled the anxious Lin Lishan. "There's no need to be so clear about these things. After returning to Beijing, wouldn't it be enough for the Cheng family to send some fabric to each person?"
This batch of goods, except for the five pieces that Cheng Ruzhu asked for, has already been confirmed to belong to their family. On the way back, everyone laughed heartily at the thought of it, and they didn't know when their family would be able to use up all the cloth.
Everyone was worried that Zhou Jiao hadn't expressed milk for future use when she went out in the morning, so they hurried to the hotel.
Back at the restaurant, without saying a word, Zhou Jiao winked at Zhang Guoqing, picked up the child and said with a smile, "I'm going to the bathroom. I'll be back in less than five minutes. Hurry up."
"Don't be in a hurry, take your time. We'll wait for you." Old Mrs. Cheng waved her hand and let her pass.
As soon as Zhou Jiao arrived at the room and saw Zhang Guoqing coming in, she immediately closed the door.
She raised her chin proudly, smiled at Zhang Guoqing, waved her hand in front of his eyes, and then swung it on the bed. All the valuables that had been on the old man's bed just now appeared before her eyes.
"When did you get in touch with the old man? How much did it cost?" Zhang Guoqing asked in surprise. He thought about it carefully, but he couldn't find out when the two of them had made the deal.
Zhou Jiao picked up the child and fed him, smiling softly, "When he went out to pull the cart, I gestured to him, and he nodded in agreement. Then when you and mom opened the batch of cloth to check, he had already loaded it onto the cart. I covered it with tattered straw, and then when we were waiting on the road, I secretly collected it all. Haha... What do you think? Smart, right?"
Zhang Guoqing quickly asked, "Auntie, didn't you notice anything unusual?"
Zhou Jiao glanced at him with disdain. "If she found out, would I still need to pull you back? I only took the risk for you because I saw you liked my dad's camera. Otherwise, I wouldn't be willing to be so sneaky."
Zhang Guoqing laughed heartily upon hearing this and quickly asked her to put it away. "No wonder the old man left without even pushing the cart. So there's this trick going on. Don't take risks next time. It's best to let me know so I can cover for you. Have you forgotten what Dad told you to do when you came here this time?"
Zhou Jiao touched her son's hand, shook her head and said, "Don't worry, I won't do anything I'm not sure of. Even the dishes in that old man's house are covered in dust. Apart from the big bed, which shows signs of being slept in, there's no sign that anyone has lived there in the near future. He should have run away by now. I like dealing with smart people. It saves everyone trouble! Besides, my mom is always talking to my aunt about making clothes with fabrics, and they haven't paid attention to me."
At this moment, Zhang Guoqing found that everyone liked to take risks. Could it be that he could not keep up with their thinking?
"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm not the adventurous type, I'm definitely the same type as you. I can't come back until at least next year. Think about what else you forgot to buy?"
Zhang Guoqing quickly shook his head, really afraid that she would come up with another idea on a whim.
Seeing that the child had eaten his fill, he quickly took the child and said, "Aunt is still waiting for us. Let's go back quickly. We'll go to the street with her later to see you."
Zhou Jiao nodded and followed him to the old lady's room. She secretly thought that she would have to go to the department store to buy Harry Oil later. These were perfect gifts, inexpensive, and suitable for use in Northeast China. She had sorted through the old Huaihai items last night and found them to be quite good, cheap, and popular.
If only she could go again.
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