Thinking of the smell of the sycamore tree sap on Wen Ziqing's body when he came back every day, the corners of Zhao Qingshan's mouth finally curled up slightly.
The brat is so tight-lipped, he won't even say where he went to practice his leg strength. Although he's old, his ears and eyes are still sharp, and his nose is very sensitive. Isn't there a lush sycamore tree in the backyard of Little Nine's house? Zhao Qingshan can bet his precious golden needles that Ziqing has definitely been to Zhoujia Village these days.
Ziqing is a sentimental boy. As long as he has feelings for Xiaojiu, his whole life will be hanging on this sapling of Xiaojiu!
Zhao Qingshan smiled as he walked. He could foresee that in the near future, Xiaojiu would be able to make Ziqing boy run around in circles. His granddaughter was a smart one. Ten Ziqing boys combined would not be her match.
Zhao Qingshan didn't notice that not far away, a pair of eyes were staring at him angrily.
Seeing Zhao Qingshan's smiling face, the owner of the eyes was so angry that he almost rushed over to ask: Is there still law in this world? How dare a person who has committed a crime to be so arrogant and smile so brightly?
When Zhao Qingshan returned home, Wen Ziqing had already prepared lunch. The grandfather and grandson ate a pot of rice with pickles before they began to talk.
Wen Ziqing discovered an ancient painting in the Zhou family's secret room. It was an authentic painting of "Li Bai Drunkenness" by Yan Liben from the Tang Dynasty.
In his previous life, Wen Ziqing had to learn many skills in order to perform various strange tasks, and calligraphy and painting appreciation was one of them.
In his previous life, Wen Ziqing had seen this painting more than twenty years later, at General Zhou's home in Kyoto. By then, General Zhou had passed away, and his adopted son, Zhou Nianxin, lived in the old Zhou mansion.
Ironically, although General Zhou's adopted son, Zhou Nianxin inherited none of his unwavering character. He was imprisoned for a host of crimes, including corruption, embezzlement of public funds, and personal immorality. Wen Ziqing led a special forces team to General Zhou's old house in search of evidence.
If it weren't for one of Zhou Nianxin's confidants who confessed in exchange for leniency, Wen Ziqing would never have discovered the Zhou family's secret room. The secret room in General Zhou's old house was exactly the same as Zhou Chunping's, and it was also opened by knocking on the seven specific positions on the wall.
The painting, which was supposed to appear in General Zhou's old house more than 20 years later, now appears before Wen Ziqing's eyes. Did the Zhou family sell the painting to General Zhou after discovering the secret room a few years later? Or did the painting originally belong to General Zhou?
Wen Ziqing flatly rejected Zhou Chunping's family's plan to sell the paintings. He clearly remembered that in his previous life, after Zhou Yuanyuan jumped from the building, the Zhou family had argued bitterly with Zhou Yuanyuan's husband over tens of thousands of yuan in compensation. If Zhou Chunping's family had discovered the secret room and possessed such a vast fortune, they would have already become wealthy and prosperous. How could they have cared less about a few tens of thousands of yuan?
Wen Ziqing felt bewildered. The secret room, the ancient painting, Zhou Chunping, General Zhou, Zhou Fugui, Zhou Nianxin—these events and these characters kept spinning in Wen Ziqing's mind. Without a clear understanding of them, Wen Ziqing felt he couldn't eat or sleep well.
Wen Ziqing had no one to consult with other than Zhao Qingshan on such a major matter. After all, if he wanted to do something, he wasn't strong enough at the moment. He needed help, at least a capable one.
Wen Ziqing had considered asking his grandfather, Wen Yiran, for help, and Wen Yiran was capable of doing so. However, Qingshan City was over 200 kilometers away, clearly a long way from Zhao Qingshan, who was so close.
Wen Ziqing couldn't guarantee that his grandfather wouldn't be tempted by such a huge fortune. After all, Wen Ziqing was the only one who knew about this fortune. The actual owner of the fortune, Zhou Fugui and his family, were either dead or had fled, and it was impossible for them to return to Zhoujia Village.
Wen Ziqing didn't dare risk his fortune on his grandfather's heart. He wasn't sure whether his grandfather, a politician, prioritized profit over everything else. However, Wen Ziqing felt that Zhao Qingshan was a truly capable man. With his military achievements, Zhao Qingshan could easily have remained in the army as a senior officer, or even managed local government in a major city.
However, for the sake of his two children, Zhao Qingshan gave up the comfortable life in the big city and returned to the remote and impoverished village of Zhaojiagou. Wen Ziqing knew exactly what Zhao Qingshan had done for his hometown over the years.
Ten years ago, there was a great famine. Zhao Qingshan went to Qingshan City and fought for the people of Sanhe Town to be exempted from paying their grain quota. Six years ago, there was a flood. Zhao Qingshan went to the mountains to dig herbs, boiled them into a decoction and gave it to the villagers for free, thus preventing an epidemic.
Zhao Qingshan can be said to be a hero of that era, working silently and making silent contributions.
Besides, the secret room was found in Zhou Yuanyuan's house. Based on this alone, Wen Ziqing chose to let Zhao Qingshan decide how to deal with the huge wealth in the secret room.
Donate? In this day and age, it's simply impossible. Those ancient paintings and porcelain, if they were ever exposed to the public, would likely be discarded as "feudal dregs." As for gold bars and silver coins, they weren't worth much. In an age where even filling one's stomach has become a luxury, a small yellow croaker might be worth less than a few dozen kilograms of rice in China.
Wen Ziqing knew that within a few years, China would enter a new era. A renaissance in education, reform and opening up, and the migration of farmers to the cities—all these measures, one after another, would propel China out of poverty and into rapid growth.
By then, the things in Zhou Chunping's secret room would become an astonishing fortune. Building a few Hope Primary Schools or establishing a foundation to help farmers escape poverty would not be a problem.
Zhao Qingshan was silent for a long time after Wen Ziqing finished describing the secret chamber. "When wealth falls from the sky, who knows if it's a blessing or a curse? If I don't take it, it's wasted. If I take it, how should I take it? How should I use it? I need to think carefully about it."
The money in this secret room was clearly the accumulation of several generations of the landlord Zhou Fugui's family. With the death or escape of Zhou Fugui's family, this wealth became ownerless. Logically, since Zhou Chunping's family had purchased the house from Zhou Fugui, the money should belong to them.
However, Zhou Chunping's family is extremely greedy and short-sighted. If they knew about this huge fortune, they might show off. At that time, this wealth might become the death warrant of Zhou Chunping's family.
Zhao Yunxiang is the daughter-in-law of the Zhou family. If the Zhou family can't get any good things, Zhao Yunxiang will naturally not get any bad things either.
Zhao Qingshan may not consider his own interests in anything he does, but he cannot help but think more about his two children. The fear of damaging the jade bottle when killing a mouse is the most apt description of Zhao Qingshan at this moment.
Finally, Zhao Qingshan decided to give Wen Ziqing a chance to get the things out of the secret room and find another place to put them. Somehow, when Wen Ziqing talked about General Zhou and his adopted son, Zhao Qingshan felt a sense of urgency.
After the grandfather and grandson reached an agreement, Zhao Qingshan went to the threshing ground to hold a villagers' meeting, while Wen Ziqing returned to Zhoujia Village according to Zhao Qingshan's arrangement.
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