Gu Wei bought many courtyard houses and apartment buildings in the capital, but he still lived in the two-courtyard house.
Zhao Dajiang followed the grandfather and grandson through the vermilion gate into the courtyard. His mouth never stopped moving as he looked around and found everything to be good and worthy of praise.
When they discovered that Gu Wei's next-door neighbor was keeping blue peacocks in their yard, they were shocked and sighed for a long time.
Gu Wei watched Gu Jianguo and Zhao Dajiang chatting in a sycophantic manner, shook his head with amusement, and then led them into the antique-style study.
Although Zhao Dajiang wasn't particularly skilled in antique appraisal, he could tell from the bottles, jars, and jade artifacts on the display shelf that they didn't look fake. "Gu Wei, are all of these genuine?"
Gu Wei glanced at the antiques on the table and said with a smile, "About half of them are genuine. Some are from Grandpa Hou's shop, and some I found at the ghost market..."
Zhao Dajiang remarked with emotion, "You used to love collecting old things and antiques. Back when you suggested trading your watch for them or buying them with money, we thought you were a sucker. Looking back now, you were really prescient. Who would have thought they would appreciate so much?"
Gu Jianguo knew perfectly well where this foresight came from, but he couldn't reveal it to anyone. He smiled and agreed, "Who says otherwise? I bet even Old Hou didn't expect collecting to be so popular right now."
"I stumbled upon this by accident. Unfortunately, I sold most of what I bought to clients, and didn't keep much." Gu Wei didn't want to talk about this anymore, so he pointed to the bulging silk bag next to the octagonal table and changed the subject, "Uncle Zhao, what's in that bag of yours?"
Zhao Dajiang slapped his forehead and quickly grabbed the bag at his feet and opened it. "Look at me, I was so busy chatting that I forgot about this. There are wild wood ear mushrooms, hazel mushrooms, linden honey, frog oil, ginseng, lingzhi, deer antler, deer heart blood and other things in here, as well as products from Yuanzi Factory."
Gu Wei and Gu Jianguo had already guessed roughly what was going on, and upon seeing this, they both spoke up:
"It must be so heavy for you to carry all this stuff from so far away."
"Yes, let's not go through that trouble next time."
As Zhao Dajiang took things out, he said cheerfully, "No need for trouble. I just thought you guys don't need anything, and since you've come all this way, I brought some local specialties from your hometown."
Gu Wei understood Zhao Dajiang's good intentions, so he didn't say anything more polite. He picked up the pine nuts, wild vegetables, and other items in plastic packaging and looked at them. He saw the words "Zhengyuan Mountain Specialty Products Company" printed on them, along with an address and phone number.
"Yuanzi has done a good job. Once we go international and open up sales channels, the factory can be upgraded."
Zhao Dajiang gave a wry smile, "Actually, there are a lot of troubles. I didn't learn the details from you guys on the way here. It was alright when we were doing small-scale operations, but now that things are more profitable and we've seen the returns, a lot of people have flocked to us. Luckily, I listened to you and didn't get involved, otherwise things would be really complicated now..."
Gu Wei frowned upon hearing this.
Similar situations arose in more than one place during the process of "crossing the river by feeling the stones." Unclear equity and ambiguous boundaries led to countless cases, which is why he was reluctant to engage in real industry and did not want to become a victim.
"Let's take it one step at a time for now. I believe things will get better in a few years."
Zhao Dajiang was very impressed with Gu Wei's foresight and felt much more at ease. "That's good. Otherwise, I would really be worried that Yuanzi might end up like that other guy and go to jail one day."
After chatting for a while, Gu Wei urged Zhao Dajiang to go to his room to rest.
Gu Jianguo drove to buy groceries and picked up Li Guizhi from the clothing department store and took her home.
Around noon, Gu Hongjie also returned from school.
Looking at Gu Hongjie, who had shed his childishness and become more composed, Zhao Dajiang showered him with compliments, praising him on how outstanding he was.
Gu Hongjie looked embarrassed by the praise.
Gu Wei and the others were also overjoyed.
After lunch and a nap, the family took Zhao Dajiang for a walk.
I had dinner with Hou Yongxian and the others that night.
When old friends haven't seen each other for a long time, there are naturally endless stories to reminisce about and countless drinks to share.
In the end, several of the older people got drunk, put their arms around each other, and reminisced about the past. Some even got teary-eyed when they spoke of the past.
Perhaps due to the effects of alcohol, Zhao Dajiang felt the urge to confide in others and began to recount the details of his divorce in a slurred manner.
The final straw that broke the camel's back was Tang Jiamei's latest antics. She wanted Zhao Zhengyuan and his wife to have a second child and a grandson, so she secretly punctured the condom, causing Yao Shulan, who was unhappy with the IUD, to have an ectopic pregnancy and suffer severe bleeding.
At first, I thought it was an accident, since condoms are not 100% effective at preventing pregnancy.
Later, Zhao Zhengyuan discovered that all the condoms in the house were leaking, and his daughter Zhao Shengnan belatedly remembered bumping into Tang Jiamei sneaking out of her parents' bedroom. Only then did the truth come to light.
Zhao Dajiang finally snapped. He felt that his wife was wasting her time and causing trouble, almost putting his daughter-in-law's life in danger, leaving his son without a wife and his granddaughter without a mother. That's why he was determined to get a divorce.
Gu Wei listened silently, occasionally patting Zhao Dajiang on the back to comfort him, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
In fact, looking at the whole country, even after the implementation of the one-child policy, the younger generation in Northeast China still tends to favor daughters over sons.
However, due to being brainwashed since childhood and the influence of some deeply ingrained feudal ideas, the older generation still believes that not having a son is equivalent to having no descendants.
Afterwards, Gu Wei and his group, as the hosts, led Zhao Dajiang to visit many places in the capital and took many photos.
It wasn't until more than ten days later that Zhao Dajiang was put on the train back home.
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