The county town was obviously more lively in the morning than when Jiang Yilu came last time.
Many workers were rushing to work in the factory, walking hurriedly for fear of being late. Those who had bicycles were more relaxed, and they would ring the bells on their bicycles from time to time, to the envy of the pedestrians around them. The tinkling sound could be heard from the beginning to the end of the alley, but no one found it annoying.
Gu Xiashi parked the bicycle next to the state-owned hotel, untied the chain on the handlebars, tied the rear wheel to a pillar nearby, and carefully hid the key in his chest pocket.
Jiang Yilu, who was sitting in the back seat of the car, jumped out by himself without waiting for him to hug her, which scared Gu Xiashi.
"You really think you're a young man. If I get a little skin broken, your grandma will kill me. Let's see how you can come out with me in the future." Gu Xia Shi touched his little nephew's head, frowned, and pretended to be ferocious.
Before Jiang Yilu was frightened, he started laughing at himself.
"Come on, uncle will take you to eat something delicious today." Gu Xiashi stroked his nephew's hair, took his hand and walked towards the restaurant.
The state-owned enterprise in the county town was not big. There were five tables in an empty room. A fat middle-aged woman was sitting at the counter, cracking melon seeds by herself. When she heard the two people coming in, she didn't even blink.
"Madam, do you have any plain noodles here?" A man in his forties who had come in before them, dressed neatly, asked the woman at the counter in a rather awkward manner.
"Bah, who is your elder sister? Do you know how to speak?" The woman slammed the melon seeds in her hand on the table with a bang. Several seeds flew out and scattered around the counter. She stood up, her thick and fat fingers almost pointing at people's noses.
The middle-aged man was startled by her reaction, shrank back, and asked softly: "Well, girl, do you have some plain noodles here?"
"Are you blind? There's such a big sign standing there, can't you see it yourself, country bumpkin." The middle-aged woman sat down slowly, and the wooden chair made of her fat butt creaked.
The middle-aged man was choked back, and after a long while he finally uttered: "I can't read."
"Hahahaha, you illiterate people come to our state-owned restaurant to eat? Get out if you can't read. I don't have the time to read every word to you." The middle-aged woman laughed heartily and chewed melon seeds faster and faster, stuffing one seed after another into her thick lips. Soon, her feet were piled with melon seed shells.
"Uncle, the plain noodles cost two taels of food coupons plus eight cents." Jiang Yilu saw that the uncle was really embarrassed, so he reminded him in a low voice.
People working in state-owned enterprises these days generally feel superior, especially in places like supply and marketing cooperatives. There are only a few things in total, and if you don't want something, there are plenty of people who do. There is no such thing as customer first as in later generations. Instead, people who buy things have to curry favor with them.
"Thank you, little brother." The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment when he saw that the person speaking was a child of four or five years old. He thanked Jiang Yilu, carefully glanced at the woman at the counter, shook his head, and finally walked out without buying the plain noodles he had just asked for.
"What the hell, bah." The woman glanced at the man who was leaving and spat out the melon seed shell in her mouth, spraying it far away.
"Good job, kid. You're better than your uncle." Gu Xiashi often went to the city and was no longer surprised by this kind of scene. He was just surprised that his nephew could recognize so many words at such a young age. When he was the same age as Xiaobao, he was still digging in the mud with snot.
Gu Xiashi felt very happy. Looking at the little nephew in front of him who looked like him, he wished he could snatch him back from his sister's house. Anyway, he didn't have a wife and would probably be a bachelor for the rest of his life. It was just right for him to let Xiaobao be his son.
However, it was impossible to think about it. If this idea spread, the old couple of the Jiang family would probably eat him alive. Gu Xiashi shuddered when he thought of that scene.
"What do you want to eat?" Gu Xia Shi asked, pointing at the sign next to him.
At that time, the menu of state-owned restaurants was relatively limited, and the dishes on the menu varied every day based on the ingredients delivered from the farms.
Jiang Yilu didn't know what his uncle was doing recently. It looked like he had made a small fortune, but he didn't want his uncle to spend too much money, so he wanted to order the cheapest item on the menu.
"There is beef noodles today. The old cow from a certain farm died." Gu Xia Shi was surprised when he looked at the menu. Nowadays, cows are the main force of farming and the treasure of every production team. They will not be slaughtered and served on the table until they die of old age.
"The masses are the real heroes, comrade. Give me two bowls of beef noodles and a bowl of hotpot." Gu Xiashi looked down at his nephew beside him and said, "This beef noodles is not easily available. Let's eat this today."
There are still a lot of high-quality beef in the supermarket where Jiang Yi left his space, but it's a pity that he can't take it out. Fortunately, the time in the space is still, otherwise he would have no idea how sad he would be as he had to spend every penny carefully in his previous life.
In his previous life, he spent more than ten years in the United States, and beef was the meat he ate the most. American beef was very cheap, with average quality beef costing only three or four dollars per pound, and there were special prices during supermarket promotions. For a period of time, he wanted to vomit when he saw beef. On the contrary, vegetables were very expensive. If he wanted to supplement vitamins on a daily basis, he could only buy more cheap fruits.
In the past five years since his rebirth, he had rarely been able to eat meat. When he saw beef noodles, Jiang Yiliu couldn't help but swallow his saliva. He looked at the prices on the menu. A bowl of beef noodles cost three taels of food coupons plus one dime, which was not much more expensive than vegetarian noodles. Jiang Yiliu did not refute his uncle's words.
"Long live the people!! A total of seven taels of food coupons, plus twenty-five cents." The middle-aged woman reluctantly put down the melon seeds in her hand, picked up a pen and wrote a few lines on a piece of note, tore off the note and handed it to Gu Xiashi.
"Times have changed. Men and women are the same. Go and get them from the food counter." He took the food coupons handed over by Gu Xiashi, counted them carefully, put them in the iron box on the counter, and waved his hand to let the two leave.
Jiang Yilu was amused by this dialogue that was characteristic of the times. These days, no matter what one did, one had to add a quote from the Chairman at the beginning, regardless of whether it was related to this dialogue or not.
"Let's go get some noodles." Gu Xiashi held his nephew's hand and walked to another window, handing the note in. The person inside took the note and walked in without saying a word. About ten minutes later, two bowls of hot noodles and a bowl of hodgepodge were served.
At this time, there was no one in the state-owned restaurant. The two of them found a table and sat down. On each table was a bucket of chopsticks, a few spoons, and condiments such as chili sauce, chopped coriander, and garlic cloves. These were all added casually.
Jiang Yilu was shocked when he saw the bowl of noodles in front of him which was bigger than his face. The portions were too big these days. A full bowl of beef noodles was topped with two thick slices of beef, each slice was as big as half of Jiang Yilu's palm and as thick as his thumb. Considering the price, it was extremely cost-effective. After all, meat coupons were hard to come by these days, but grain coupons were something that every household could afford.
Jiang Yilu felt a little puzzled. The food in this state-owned restaurant didn't seem expensive, so why were there so few people eating here? He glanced at the fat woman sitting at the counter and felt a little sympathetic, thinking that perhaps all the people were scared away.
"Eat quickly, or the noodles will get lumpy." Gu Xiashi added a few chopsticks of chopped coriander to his bowl of noodles, and a spoonful of hot sauce, stirring it. "The noodles are so fragrant with chopped coriander, why don't you add some too?" After saying that, he picked up the plate of chopped coriander and wanted to pour it into Jiang Yiliu's bowl of noodles.
Jiang Yilu quickly covered his bowl of noodles. Coriander is what modern people often call cilantro. This spice is loved by those who love it and hated by those who hate it, as they think it has a strange smell. Jiang Yilu is one of those people who extremely hates cilantro.
"I'll just eat it in its original flavor." He wanted to add a spoonful of hot sauce, but the medicine that Grandpa Bai prescribed for his body required him to avoid certain foods and not eat any heavy-flavored condiments.
"You really don't know how to appreciate things." Gu Xiashi shook his head and ate the noodles in front of him. He said to him in a slurred voice while eating, "This hodgepodge is not bad. It's all made from the leftovers from the day before yesterday. There are vegetables and meat. The price is only half of the meat dishes, and the taste is delicious."
The beef had been stewed for a very long time and almost melted in the mouth. The flavor of the spices had long since seeped into the meat. With a light bite, the aroma of meat and sauce burst in the mouth. Jiang Yilu wanted to swallow his tongue as he could hardly tell whether it was because of the chef's superb cooking skills or it was an illusion because he hadn't eaten meat for too long.
After he swallowed the two pieces of meat on the surface, he began to eat the noodles under the meat.
The noodle soup is made from beef bones and is full of fragrance. The noodles are hand-kneaded and chewy. More than ten years later, with the dominance of machines, it is no longer possible to eat such authentic handmade noodles.
Even though the noodles tasted extremely good, Jiang Yilu's stomach was always limited. After eating half a bowl, his stomach was already full and he couldn't eat another bite.
Gu Xiashi didn't despise him, and ate the remaining noodles in three or two bites, and also cleaned up the remaining half bowl of hodgepodge, leaving not a drop of vegetable juice. He burped, wiped his mouth, and left with Jiang Yilu.
"Uncle will take you to a good place." Gu Xiashi took his nephew through several alleys and said mysteriously.
It took more than twenty minutes to walk through all these twists and turns. Jiang Yilu had just run a few laps of the village in the morning and then squatted for half an hour. His legs were like noodles and he could no longer walk. He just thought about the mystery in his uncle's tone, gritted his teeth, touched his round belly, and thought of it as a way to digest the food after a meal. He held his uncle's hand tightly and followed his pace.
Fortunately, they arrived at the place soon.
This was a yard surrounded by a high wall. There was a sign outside with the words "Waste Recycling Station" written crookedly. A woman in a military green cotton jacket moved a small stool and sat outside. She was a little plump. When she saw Gu Xiashi coming, her eyes lit up, and she stood up and greeted him very enthusiastically.
"Young man, you are here again, still looking for picture books for the child." He turned his eyes and saw Jiang Yilu beside Gu Xiashi. He smiled happily, squatted down, and pinched his fair little face.
"This is the precious son you always mentioned. He looks exactly like you. If I had such a handsome son, I would not want him to suffer any injustice."
"That's right, the child only asked for that little, how could I bear to refuse him?"
Gu Xiashi didn't explain and directly acknowledged Jiang Yiliu as his son. He said to the woman with an embarrassed look on his face, "The child is clamoring to read comic books. As a father, I can't just not give him a few comic books. He's tired of the ones I gave him last time and is clamoring to choose his own. What can I do about it? Parents can never win over their children."
"Sister, are there any comic books here? I want to read them." Jiang Yilu immediately understood his uncle's purpose. There were many treasures in the recycling station at that time. His heart was also burning, and he pretended to be ignorant and said to the middle-aged woman.
"This child, I can be his mother, and he even calls me sister, hehe..." The woman covered her mouth, laughing so hard that her body shook. The look in her eyes when she looked at Jiang Yilu became even more kind.
Every woman cares about her age, regardless of era.
Gu Xiashi gave his nephew an appreciative look and said to the woman with a happy smile, "Big sister, let's follow the old rules. I'll find some comic books for the child."
Gu Xiashi said this as he stepped forward carefully, shielding himself with his thick coat, and handed over a dollar.
The woman carefully looked around, quickly took the banknote, and said to the two men, "Okay, go in. The waste delivery person won't be here until this afternoon, so you can take your time looking for it. However, don't touch things that shouldn't be touched. Several families have suffered because of unclean things."
"I know, I know." Gu Xiashi nodded repeatedly: "Have you ever seen me take things I shouldn't have taken before?"
The woman thought about it and realized who would want to take on such a hot potato. She opened the door and let them in, then closed the door. She then sat on the small stool with her legs crossed as usual, looking around carefully.
Jiang Yilu knew that in his previous life, his uncle had hidden a lot of valuable antiques, and it seemed that they were all collected at this time. Having antiques at home now is not a good thing, as all places are in the process of destroying the four olds. Who knows if these antiques will cause any trouble, especially books and scrolls. If things go wrong, the whole family will be implicated.
Moreover, antiques are not valuable these days. An official porcelain from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty is probably not as tempting as a pound of flour. Who could have guessed that these things that were discarded like old shoes would be worth so much money in the future.
Of course, there are still people with foresight, such as the uncle standing in front of Jiang Yilu at this moment.
The scrap collection station is very large. In addition to the empty yard, there are three tiled houses. Books, waste paper and other things that are easily rotten by rain are placed in the house, and the yard is filled with large appliances and some scrap copper and iron.
"Golden collections from troubled times and prosperous times." Gu Xiashi pointed at the things piled up in the yard like garbage and said, "Don't think that everyone is treating them as garbage now. In a few years, the value of these things will increase."
"Our country will not continue to be in chaos, and the things left by our ancestors will not be abandoned." Gu Xiashi sighed. He didn't think that Jiang Yilu was too young to understand these things. His nephew was very smart. He knew that Jiang Yilu could understand what he meant.
"Look around here, maybe you can find some interesting picture books."
Gu Xiashi brought his nephew into a room, which was simply a mountain of paper. Various kinds of papers were piled together, almost reaching the height of the roof. Jiang Yilu was worried that if he pulled out a paper, the mountain would collapse.
"Uncle is outside"
Just call me if you need anything.
All the things that Gu Xiashi was interested in were outside. He put Jiang Yiluo inside the house and left with peace of mind.
Gu Xia Shi looked down upon these waste papers, but Jiang Yilu was very interested in them. He found a corner and started rummaging through them.
The mountain of paper mostly contained worthless old magazines and newspapers. Jiang Yiluo flipped through them for a long time but didn't find anything rare. His back ached from bending over for so long. He rubbed his waist, feeling a little disappointed. It turned out that treasure hunting was not that easy.
When he stood up to stretch his muscles, Jiang Yilu inadvertently saw a brightly colored corner in the corner of the paper mountain. His eyes lit up, and he ran over to pull apart the paper on top of it, revealing the well-preserved picture book underneath.
He was not looking for these picture books because of his childishness, but because in later generations, these well-preserved and relatively rare picture books could be worth a lot of money.
For example, the book he has in his hand now - "The Gadfly", a world literary classic published by the New Art Publishing House in 1955, is a hardcover edition. In later generations, such a thin booklet was sold at a high price of 20,000 yuan. Although this money may not seem like a lot, in this era, such a booklet can be bought for only a few cents, which can be said to be a huge profit.
Unfortunately, in the early years, there were still many small book stalls in the streets and alleys of the county. You could choose to spend a few cents to buy, or spend one cent and sit next to the small stall for a whole day, and you could read all the comic books on the stall. If the family was more affluent, the adults were willing to give their children one cent and let them enjoy a whole day at the small book stall.
Because of the low prices, those small book stalls are doing a booming business and are surrounded by children almost every day. Even adults can't help but be attracted by those interesting picture books and buy a few to take home.
Since the start of the Cultural Revolution, these small book stalls have disappeared, and the picture books in every household have either been damaged or burned as fire starter by adults who were afraid of getting into trouble. Very few are left in the world, let alone those that are well preserved.
The reason why Jiang Yilu remembered the prices of these comic books so clearly was because he once had a comic book - "Crossing the River Reconnaissance", which was published in 1957 and was given to him by his uncle. The book was later sold at a high price of 100,000 yuan. Unfortunately, it was snatched away by his cousin Jiang Aiguo when he was a child. He still doesn't know what happened to the comic book.
After Jiang Yilu accidentally learned about the value of the picture book, he always paid attention to the information inadvertently. It can be said that he knew the value of these picture books better than most people.
With a copy of "The Gadfly" boosting his morale, Jiang Yilu plunged into the mountain of books, hoping to find a few more valuable picture books.
Some tattered picture books were not worth much, and Jiang Yiliu collected all those books with the idea of never letting go of a single penny. He carefully put the well-preserved picture books into the space, and he specially cleared a shelf to place these things. He only put two or three tattered picture books on display to avoid arousing his uncle's suspicion.
Jiang Yiliu sighed, looking at the pile of books that he had flipped through. Others who were born in the 1960s could easily find Wang Xizhi's calligraphy and Tang Bohu's paintings on Taobao. Why didn't he have this blessing? He had been looking for a long time, but he didn't see any calligraphy or paintings.
But a treasure is a treasure after all. If it were so easy to find, it wouldn't be so valuable.
Jiang Yilu's disappointment was only a flash, and then he walked towards another pile of books with full energy, as if he had been injected with chicken blood. These were all his starting funds for the future, and if he missed this opportunity, he didn't know when he would be able to come to the county again.
“Pah—”
Jiang Yilu stepped on something slippery and lost his balance, falling to the ground. Fortunately, he was wearing thick clothes in such a cold weather, so his knees were not hurt. Only a piece of skin on his palm was broken, which was burning with pain.
He put his mouth directly to the wound and licked it. It is said that saliva is the best disinfectant. Now there is no ointment to cover his wound. The Band-Aid in the space is too conspicuous, and he can't take it out. He can only use this folk method to stop the bleeding.
Jiang Yilu licked his wound and looked at the culprit who tripped him.
A long and thin wooden box lay quietly aside. It had a round body and a lid that seemed to have been accidentally kicked open by him, revealing a corner of snow-white silk painting inside the box.
Jiang Yilu's eyes lit up, and he even forgot the pain in his hand. He ran over, picked up the wooden box and the cork next to it, and examined them carefully.
The wooden box was hard, black in color, with smooth cut surfaces and a mirror-like finish. It was slightly cool to the touch. Just looking at the box, it was obvious that it was an extraordinary item. Jiang Yilu was even more excited to see whose painting was inside the box.
Just as he was about to take out the scroll, he heard footsteps coming from outside. Frightened, he immediately sent the painting box into the space, picked up a few picture books on the ground, and pretended nothing had happened.
"You've turned this place upside down."
Gu Xiashi came in from outside, looked at the newspapers and books scattered on the ground, pointed at his dusty little nephew and said with a smile.
"After looking through so much, have you found any treasures?" Gu Xiashi joked with a smile in his eyes. One could tell at a glance that he had a good harvest today.
Jiang Yiliu heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the person coming was his uncle, and handed him a few picture books. Although his uncle treated him sincerely, the matter of space was too against the will of heaven, and he did not dare to gamble on that possibility. He would keep this secret in his heart and would not tell anyone.
"You are still a child after all." Gu Xiashi flipped through the books casually and returned them to his nephew. "If you like them, I will bring you here next time."
Jiang Yilu was a little reluctant to leave the half-read pile of books behind, but since his uncle had spoken, he had no choice but to follow him out.
"Uncle, what treasure did you find?" Jiang Yilu asked curiously. It seemed that he didn't hide anything on his body. Could it be that the treasure was relatively small?
He actually guessed it right, because when he went out, he would pass by the woman guarding the gate. Gu Xia Shi never dared to take anything too big out. Even if his clothes were a bit thick in the cold weather and he stuffed big things inside, it would still be obvious at a glance.
Gu Xia unbuttoned his coat, rummaged inside mysteriously, and took out two things that were no bigger than Jiang Yiliu's palm. He handed them to him and reminded him, "These are treasures. Don't break them."
Jiang Yilu took one in one hand and looked at it carefully.
One is a porcelain snuff bottle, oval in shape, small and exquisite, with a painting of an elegant ancient lady. The bottle body is as white as jade, but there is no mark engraved on the snuff bottle, so it is unknown what dynasty it belongs to.
The other is a jade seal. Even someone like Jiang Yilu who doesn't know much about jade can see the quality of this jade. It is definitely not ordinary jade. The milky white seal is warm to the touch and glows brightly. Unfortunately, a corner of the seal was broken, leaving some defects, which greatly damaged its value.
"You can't understand it at your age. Anyway, these are all good things. When you are older, I will teach you how to tell whether these things are valuable or not."
Gu Xiashi saw that he had a serious face and seemed to really understand. He smiled and took the two treasures from his hands, stuffed them into the interlayer of his cotton-padded jacket, and buttoned up his coat.
"Look, that's a real treasure, a chair made of Hainan Huanghuali wood. In the past, only nobles could use it." Gu Xiashi walked out holding his nephew's hand. When they passed the pile of furniture stacked in the yard, he stopped, pointed at a chair placed next to the wooden cabinet, and said with heartache.
In his opinion, this chair will definitely be worth a lot of money in the future, but it's a pity that he can't take it out. Even a blind person can see such a big chair.
Gu Xiashi sighed and expressed regret for the fate of the chair. The final fate of these wooden furniture in the scrap recycling station is to be chopped into pieces and treated as ordinary wood to make fire and cook. This is simply a waste of treasures.
Unfortunately, no matter how much he felt sorry for it, it was useless because he couldn't take this thing out.
Jiang Yilu was moved when he heard this, and pretended to be indifferent and asked: "Uncle, do you know what kind of wood these are?"
"What's so difficult about this?" Gu Xiashi said disdainfully: "Look at this wood, the pattern is beautiful, the color is soft, and the most important thing is that the grain of this wood is fine and dense, even at the knots, the grain is not crossed and chaotic, this is a feature that other woods do not have."
Gu Xiashi carried his little nephew to the chair and asked him to get closer to the chair to smell it.
"You can't smell anything?" Jiang Yilu turned around and said to his uncle in confusion.
Gu Xiashi smiled mysteriously, picked up a piece of gravel from the ground, and carefully scraped it on the armrest of the chair: "Smell it again now."
Jiang Yilu approached the scratched place doubtfully, and a fragrant smell rushed into his mind.
"What's going on? I couldn't smell anything just now." Jiang Yilu asked puzzledly.
"This is the characteristic of huanghuali. Its fragrance is not long-lasting and will gradually disappear as it comes into contact with the air. Once a new surface is scratched, the fragrance will come out again."
Gu Xiashi felt very pleased when he saw his nephew's admiring eyes. He pointed to some furniture nearby and explained in detail the characteristics of other woods to Jiang Yilu. He talked until his mouth was dry and then he ended with a feeling of unsatisfied desire.
"Okay, I'll bring you here next time to see it. It's getting late, and we should go back."
It was almost noon, and the food they had eaten in the morning had long been digested. Gu Xiashi touched his stomach, then walked out holding Jiang Yilu's hand.
"Have you finished looking for the picture books?" The woman guarding the door heard a knock from inside, opened the door, looked at the thick stack of picture books in Jiang Yilu's hand, and said with a smile.
"Yes, the child took a long time to choose, and finally found a few books he liked. It took some time." Gu Xiashi touched his nephew's head and pretended to be a kind father who indulged his child.
The woman's sharp eyes swept across the two of them, but she didn't see anything wrong. She nodded with satisfaction, "Children are all like this."
After saying that, he closed the door of the recycling station. No one noticed that the moment the door closed, a chair was missing from the pile of groceries in the yard.
All three were very satisfied with the operation.
The woman was satisfied with having earned a dollar for free. The things in the scrap yard were all public property, and the stuff inside was just unwanted junk. No one would know if something was missing.
Gu Xia was very satisfied that he spent one dollar and found two more valuable treasures.
Jiang Yilu was also satisfied. He didn't spend a penny and found dozens of valuable picture books, a mysterious scroll, and an armchair that was almost certain to be made of Hainan Huanghuali. He was the biggest winner of this trip.
******
Jiang Yilu's legs and waist no longer hurt after finding the good stuff. He followed Gu Xiashi back to the entrance of the state-owned restaurant. His bicycle was still parked there. Apart from anything else, the public security in this era was really good. If a thief or robber appeared, as long as someone shouted, the enthusiastic people passing by would come forward to help. Not to mention the gangsters, they would just gang up on them.
It’s not like in later generations, when encountering such things, there is no time to hide, for fear of being hated by the criminals.
Gu Xiashi asked his nephew to stay by the bicycle while he went to the state-owned restaurant again. When he came out, he had two things wrapped in yellow paper in his hands. He handed the larger one to his nephew.
"Take a few of these meat buns and eat them first. Take the rest home and ask your mother to steam them in the evening, and we can share them." After saying this, Gu Xiashi took out a steaming bun from the yellow paper bag in his hand and swallowed it in two or three gulps.
Jiang Yiliu looked at the large bag of at least a dozen meat buns in his hand, held back his sour nose, picked up one and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing the fragrant bun with his bulging mouth, while saying in a muffled voice: "Uncle, you have to save money even if you have it. Marry a wife as soon as possible and live separately from grandma and uncle's family, so you don't have to stay at home all the time and be disliked by aunt."
Although Gu Xiashi looks young, he is actually in his thirties. He is a rare man who has not married at this age. Although he has a weak physique and cannot do heavy work, he has a quick mind and has made a lot of money by running around over the years, but outsiders don't know it.
Jiang Yilu couldn't understand why no good girl liked his second uncle, who was such a good man.
Gu Xiashi swallowed the last bite of the bun in his hand, wrapped the remaining two in yellow paper, and stuffed them into his cotton-padded jacket. He didn't dare to take too many back home. If the woman saw it, she would definitely start to yell again. Seeing his mother's reputation as a fierce woman spread over a dozen miles in order to raise several children when she was young, she had to swallow her anger for the sake of this family and give in to that unreasonable woman when she was old.
His mother always complained that his younger sister was too soft-tempered, and she didn't even look at what she was like now. In his opinion, his younger sister inherited his mother's temper and was cowardly. He was not his mother, and it was his business how he spent the money he earned, and he would never let that woman take advantage of him.
"Is it your mother who whispered in your ear?" He knocked his nephew's head hard and said with a stern face.
His mother and his sister just like to worry about nothing. What's the good of getting married? It would be better for him to marry a troublemaker like his elder brother did, who turned the whole family upside down.
"Not everyone is like my aunt." Jiang Yilu looked at his indifferent expression and muttered softly.
"Okay, eat your buns." Gu Xiashi tapped his nephew's face irritably and said, "You are a boy, don't be like your mother and your sisters. Why do grown men care about these nosy things?"
Jiang Yilu choked on the bun in his mouth. How could he say anything? He had been a woman for decades in his previous life, and this habit could not be changed.
Of course, he couldn't, so he could only eat the bun in his hand silently, thinking about meeting his grandma one day and asking her to persuade his uncle again.
Although he will still support his uncle when he gets old and won't let him get cold or hungry, there is still a layer of separation between them. He hopes that his uncle can find someone he loves in this life and live a happy life.
The buns were a bit big, and he couldn't finish them after eating one and a half. Gu Xiashi wrapped the rest for him and gave it to him after sending him home.
On the way back, Gu Xiashi went to the supply and marketing cooperative again and bought some of the children's favorite snacks, and asked him to take them back and share them with his sisters.
Jiang Yilu sat on the back seat of the bicycle, holding a full bag of snacks and holding tightly onto his uncle's clothes. Even though the back seat was padded with thick velvet, his butt was still broken into pieces by the bumpy mountain road.
Gu Xiashi was in a hurry to go back and hide the treasures. Jiang Yilu was a little curious about where her uncle had hidden the things. In his previous life, no one knew that he had so many things. If she hadn't been taking Meiling abroad at that time and didn't have so much money, her uncle probably wouldn't have taken out these treasures.
Even after this incident, my aunt Niu Fang secretly went to the old house and turned the house upside down, but unfortunately she found nothing. She was also reported to the police station by my uncle for theft. Since she didn't steal anything, she was only detained for three days to teach her a lesson. From then on, Niu Fang ran away in fear when she saw Gu Xiashi's face.
Niu Fang herself was an unfilial person, so naturally her beloved son would follow suit. Her son despised this mother who had been to the police station, and her daughter-in-law also disliked her temper. After draining Niu Fang and Gu Chunhui's money, they drove the two old people to live in the utility room of the house. They had endless work to do every day, and they had to eat what others had left over. They also had to endure the insults from their son and daughter-in-law. Their old age was very miserable, which could be regarded as evil deeds being rewarded with evil.
The place where the treasure was hidden was his uncle's secret. Jiang Yilu also had his own secrets. Putting himself in his uncle's shoes, he did not ask even though he was curious.
After riding for about half an hour, Jiang Yilu's butt was almost numb from the vibration, and he finally saw the shadow of the village.
To enter the village, one has to cross a large area of farmland. Because many people walked here in the past, the road here is much smoother, and Jiang Yiluo breathed a sigh of relief.
The workers had probably gone back to eat, and there was no one in the fields. Jiang Yilu looked around and suddenly saw a familiar figure. He hurriedly pulled his uncle's clothes and asked him to stop.
"Uncle, we're already at the village gate, just take me there." Jiang Yilu touched his butt and pretended to be in pain: "My butt hurts so much, there's only a short distance left, I can go back by myself."
Gu Xiashi would never agree, so he jumped out of the car and said, "Then I'll walk in with you."
"No need, I can go back by myself." Jiang Yilu took the bag of buns from his hand, waved at him, and ran towards the village.
Because Qingshan Village is too remote, few outsiders come here. There are several families living in front of the village gate. As long as Jiang Yilu shouts, the villagers will be able to hear him and nothing will happen.
Gu Xiashi watched him run far away and did not chase after him. He frowned in confusion, got on his bike, and left in another direction.
Jiang Yilu ran for a distance, looked back, and only stopped after he was sure that his uncle had really left. He took a deep breath, and walked into the bushes beside him.
In the grove next to the farmland, there stood two figures, one tall and one short, who were obviously a man and a woman. The man took out something and handed it to the girl. The girl smiled and lowered her head. After a while, the man put his hand on the girl's head. The two heads were very close, and it was unclear what they were talking about.
Jiang Yilu held the bun tightly in his hand and didn't even notice that the yellow paper was torn.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
