"If I remember correctly, my fourth aunt's maternal grandfather's surname was Qiao."
Grandpa Lu nodded, "Qiao Hanyuan."
"What is the name of Fourth Aunt's uncle?" Lu Yunzhang asked.
“Tan Shuo”.
Lu Yunzhang thought about it carefully and shook his head, "I don't know him."
I've never even heard of that name.
Grandpa Lu laughed, "It's right that you don't know her. Over the years, your grandfather has been constantly investigating your fourth aunt's identity and family relationships. It took a lot of effort to find out that this person exists."
Lu Yunzhang connected the dots, "So, Grandpa, you mean that Fourth Aunt not only inherited Wen Jiarong's property, but also Tan Shuo's?"
"The things Tan Shuo left for Fourth Aunt are more valuable than what Wen Jiarong left behind?"
The fact that over 10 billion yuan had already left Lu Yunzhang speechless was suddenly followed by the fact that his fourth aunt had inherited at least twice that amount.
Is this for real? So much money?
Lu Yunzhang was a little dazed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash.
This is the allowance he received before the Lunar New Year, which is more than 140 yuan. At this time of year, he would be considered a high-income earner.
With a ticket, this sum of over 140 yuan could buy a watch or a bicycle.
But compared to over 10 billion, this hundred-odd yuan is simply not enough.
Grandpa Lu: "Tan Shuo is not famous because he had several capable people under him who acted on his behalf. Each of them was an extraordinary figure during the Republic of China era."
"Meng Shan, the owner of Qiaoyu Yarn Factory, a leading textile manufacturer; Dou Hongzhi, the owner of Qiaoshengyuan Food Industry; Yuan Hongjing, the owner of Qiaorentang Pharmaceutical Company; Jin Xiaotian, the owner of Qiaolong Machinery Factory, a machinery manufacturing company..."
A long string of familiar names came out of Old Master Lu's mouth, and Lu Yunzhang went from shock to numbness.
Not only the boss's name is familiar, but also the names of the textile factories, food factories, pharmaceutical factories, and machinery factories.
Those factories were almost everywhere in the country.
These factories contribute 70% of the country's fiscal revenue.
"These industries appear to belong to these people, but in reality, Tan Shuo ultimately controls them."
"Tan Shuo never married and had no children. Everything he owned was inherited by your fourth aunt's mother. After your fourth aunt's mother died, the inheritance rights fell to your fourth aunt."
"Grandpa...didn't Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt disappear twenty years ago?"
It seems those two children didn't survive either. If Aunt Si also had an accident over the years, wouldn't all that wealth have been confiscated by the state?
Old Master Lu narrowed his eyes. "Your fourth uncle is a smooth talker. I've always felt that they're not dead."
Perhaps they are hiding in the shadows, biding their time, waiting for an opportunity to return and seek revenge.
"That's not right," Lu Yunzhang thought of a problem, "weren't all those textile factories, food factories, and machinery factories taken over by the state?"
Mr. Lu: "After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Tan Shuo actively responded to the national policy of joint public-private ownership. It took him three whole years to realize the joint public-private ownership of all the enterprises under his command."
"Not only that, Tan Shuo also handed over the management rights of all enterprises to the state, did not participate in the production, operation and management of the enterprises, but only enjoyed the rights of private shares, and enjoyed 25% of the dividends according to the principle of 'four horses sharing the spoils'."
Don't underestimate this 25%. You should know that the annual output of food factories, textile factories, and pharmaceutical factories accounts for more than 40% of the national treasury.
Holding so many private shares is practically like picking up money off the street.
Not to mention machinery factories, which can drive the linkage of upstream and downstream industries.
Lu Yunzhang had no doubts about this part of the inheritance, but he still found it hard to believe that Wen Jiarong, a warlord from before the founding of the People's Republic of China, could have left behind more than 10 billion yuan in assets.
"Grandpa, didn't Fourth Aunt inherit more than 10 billion yuan of Wen Jiarong's assets? Where is she?"
He asked so bluntly because people outside were saying that the Lu family had acquired such a large amount of wealth.
Lu Yunzhang wondered, if his family really managed to get their hands on this batch of assets, wouldn't the authorities take this opportunity to confiscate them?
We are currently in a period of economic hardship, and all aspects of social development require funding to get started.
If the money really existed, the higher-ups would have been tempted long ago.
Grandpa Lu did not answer directly, but pointed to the painting on the opposite wall and asked Lu Yunzhang to take the painting down, open the frame, and take out what was inside.
Lu Yunzhang did as instructed, and inside the picture frame was only a very old and rusty key.
"What's this key for?" he asked, handing the key to Old Master Lu.
Grandpa Lu rubbed the key with his hand; it felt rough and bore the marks of time. "Twenty years ago, your uncles did all sorts of terrible things for your fourth aunt's property, but in the end, they got nothing."
"Your fourth aunt had no idea about the property at all."
Lu Yunzhang looked puzzled.
“It’s unexpected, isn’t it?” Old Master Lu smiled wryly. “But that’s the truth. Wen Jiarong never mentioned anything about the property to her.”
Lu Yunzhang's mind was a jumbled mess, like a tangled ball of yarn. "So, 10 billion was all just a fantasy?"
He said that even if Wen Jiarong, a warlord, had wealth comparable to that of a country, according to the social system after the founding of the People's Republic of China, his wealth would have undergone fundamental changes and become socialist public property.
At most, they would leave behind some gold bars, silver coins, and jewelry.
Old Master Lu sighed repeatedly, "Isn't it ridiculous? For some fictitious property, our family has suffered deaths and injuries, and the Lu family's century-old fortune has been severed."
"Yunzhang, Grandpa regrets it deeply."
Perhaps he was thinking of his eldest son's family who had passed away, the families of his fifth and seventh sons who had gone far away, his second son who was left with a limp and a disability, his third son's two grandsons who had perished in the fire, and his fourth son who had disappeared for twenty years.
In an instant, tears streamed down Old Master Lu's face, and the regret in his heart almost overwhelmed him.
If he had stood up to stop it back then, would this have been avoided?
Lu Yunzhang had mixed feelings. "Grandpa, what role did my dad play in all of this?"
Old Master Lu wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, intending to lay it all out on him and not bother to hide anything. “Your fourth uncle’s children were strangled to death by your father himself.”
"Bang!"
Lu Yunzhang swayed, staggered back a large step, bumped into a stool, and looked completely dazed.
Her lips trembled slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but all her strength seemed to have been drained from her body.
When he started to sway, Grandpa Lu tried to stand up and pull him back.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he had regained his footing, and then said helplessly, "Yunzhang, your father's sins have nothing to do with you. He deserves his retribution in the future. You are different. You know nothing about it. You should not have to bear these grievances. Grandpa hopes to see your fourth uncle and aunt one more time before he dies, and to apologize to them in person."
"If you can, please help Grandpa find them."
Lu Yunzhang looked up into his eyes and asked in a hoarse voice, "Grandpa, you asked me to find Uncle and Aunt, is it really because you want to apologize to them?"
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