Chapter 27: Brother Yuanyi, What Reward Do You Want?

At the Su family home, Su Chengguo and Xin Huimin were waiting for Su Jinyan’s return.

“Dad, Mom, are you alright?”

As soon as she stepped inside, Su Jinyan couldn’t wait to ask.

Xin Huimin smiled and beckoned her over.

Without bothering to change her shoes, Su Jinyan hurried over to the sofa and sat beside Xin Huimin. “Mom…”

“Don’t worry, everything has been resolved.”

“What happened?”

Xin Huimin tucked a few stray strands of hair behind Su Jinyan’s ear, worry etched on her face for her daughter these past few days. She whispered, “Your uncle called. Perhaps he heard about some domestic situations and reached out to contacts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

Su Jinyan frowned slightly, thinking it was a bit early; even after three to five more months, things might get better.

“What did Uncle say? What do they want from you?”

Xin Huimin chuckled, “They only inquired about whether your father and I had been in contact over the years. This information is all publicly accessible, and since your uncle and second uncle directly donated 2 million to the country, along with saying they would donate 100 tons of grain, they wouldn’t cause us any trouble. They will be happy to see that.”

Su Jinyan raised an eyebrow, “So Uncle and Second Uncle will be back after the New Year?”

Xin Huimin nodded, missing her two brothers deeply. “Yes, they should be.”

If Uncle could return, her grandparents’ lives would improve considerably.

“Then why did you stay away for so long? Dad hasn’t heard anything for several days. Both Yuanyi and I have been under surveillance, and it scared me so much that my legs felt weak.”

Su Chengguo chuckled, “You say your legs are weak, yet you still went out to play every day?”

Su Jinyan rolled her eyes. “I was trying to throw them off my trail! Who knows what they were keeping tabs on?”

Xin Huimin pointed at Su Jinyan’s forehead. “Good thing you two were just having fun these past few days.”

“They primarily tracked Zhao Yuanyi. After Liu Cuilan’s incident, they’ve been investigating our family for the past few days, and you two were just collateral.”

“Who would’ve thought that when they looked into Zhao Yuanyi, they would uncover traces of him in the local black market? That’s why he ended up being followed.”

“If he made any moves during these few days, he definitely wouldn’t be able to attend university anymore.”
The reason they had returned for such a long time was also to evaluate Zhao Yuanyi again, to see if he was trustworthy enough to be a protector for their daughter.

Investigating Zhao Yuanyi?

Su Jinyan hadn’t considered this angle before.

Oh my, she gulped, patting her chest.

This was too thrilling!

“How did they find out? They’re quite impressive. Just in two to three days, how could they know about his activities in the black market? Did someone report him?”

With Zhao Yuanyi’s reputation in the Zhao community, he shouldn’t have had that happen, right?

Su Chengguo pressed his lips together, speaking in a calm voice. “Do you think the police are ineffective? There are gray areas everywhere; people need food to eat.

Fortunately, Zhao Yuanyi was only playing at being involved, just selling a few things to earn some living expenses. He doesn’t make ill-gotten gains and isn’t connected to any gangsters, so the local police turned a blind eye. Otherwise, well—

If the investigation team had asked a single question, they would’ve found out easily.”

“Well, this information came back from local sources.”

Su Jinyan glanced at the materials before putting them back down.

It was indeed fortunate.

Zhao Yuanyi, a regular in the black market, had not been summoned for a chat primarily due to Zhao Zhengjun, a war veteran turned disabled, and his blind mother.

“By the way, Dad, Mom, what’s going on with Aunt Liu? Have you figured out the situation with her baby?”

Mentioning the woman who had been ‘honest and straightforward’ in their house for about six or seven years made Xin Huimin and Su Chengguo frown.

You really can’t judge someone just by their surface appearance.

They had no idea that a seemingly honest person could have so many thoughts lurking underneath.

“We’ve figured it out. Enough with those dirty affairs; how’s your grandparents doing? Are they unwell?”

“They seem to be fine; last night, Zhao Yuanyi sent over some rice, flour, eggs, and meat for them to eat. We’ll send more during the New Year.”

Xin Huimin smiled with satisfaction. “Our Yan Yan has grown up.”

Su Jinyan smiled shyly. She felt a bit guilty—your daughter has leveled up; whether her developed personality could change from years of nurturing remains to be seen.

“Dad, Mom, did you just get back? Should I cook something for you?”

“Anything simple will do,” they replied.

It was still not even 9 o’clock, and having been summoned early, she hadn’t yet eaten. Su Chengguo and Xin Huimin had just returned from the morning.

For breakfast, Su Jinyan prepared handmade noodles, marinated meat with eggs, cold dressed cabbage, and rice. Su Chengguo ate two and a half bowls, while Xin Huimin had one and a half.

With everything settled, Su Jinyan felt lighthearted, just wanting to eat and then lay down to sleep, then eat again.

However, she could not sit idle.

Thinking about how Zhao Yuanyi wanted to earn money, and with their family currently lacking funds, Su Jinyan went into her space to sort through a hundred women’s woolen coats, fifty pairs of small high-heeled leather shoes, fifty men’s woolen coats, and thirty sets of red floral four-piece bedding.

While she could move the grain from her space, she was worried about suddenly flooding the market with too much grain and drawing unwanted attention.

Hmm, for grains, meats, and eggs, she could do small transactions to earn some quick cash.

After a few days passed, it was already the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month. After repeatedly confirming with Xin Huimin and Su Chengguo that no one was following them, she finally decided to act.

Since Su Chengguo and Xin Huimin would be busy during the day, Su Jinyan started setting a schedule for herself—the hustle and bustle of the courtyard during the day and the company of the courtyard at night.

When Zhao Yuanyi saw the exquisite clothing, his eyes deepened; he didn’t bother to ask how Su Jinyan had acquired them but simply said, “You don’t need her to handle these anymore.”

Su Jinyan informed him that this merchandise was aimed at the high-end market: both men’s and women’s woolen coats were priced at 260 yuan each, and the leather shoes were 80 yuan a pair. The four-piece bedding set was a rare gem, priced at 810 yuan per set.

Hearing the prices, Zhao Yuanyi raised an eyebrow, surprised by her exorbitant pricing, but after a moment, he returned to his neutral demeanor.

Su Jinyan was not trying to rip anyone off; in the past few days watching the market, she had noticed that even regular woolen coats—while different in quality, color, and style from her goods—were being sold for about 170 to 180 yuan. Just one of her pieces could fetch several thousand in the stores she had frequented before.

Selling at 260 to 270 yuan without requiring tickets seemed incredibly affordable!

In the current market, most first-layer leather shoes only sold for 20 to 30 yuan, with slightly better ones at 40 to 50 yuan. Selling hers at 80 yuan may seem expensive, but the styles were superior!

Su Jinyan assumed with all that inventory; Zhao Yuanyi would sell until the New Year. She hadn’t expected that within just three days, everything would sell out, without even scraps left.

On the evening of the third day, as Su Jinyan was preparing to ride her bicycle back to the courtyard, Zhao Yuanyi entered the yard holding a small nylon bag and, mysteriously, pulled her into their home.

His normally expressionless face was slightly tensed, causing Su Jinyan to frown as she asked curiously, “What happened?”

He placed the bag on the kang (the heated bed), saying, “This is for you.”

Su Jinyan opened the bag with confusion and found it stuffed with colorful bundles of cash. She couldn’t help but swallow hard. “Wow, this… is so much!”

My goodness, even though she had been prepared, it felt like she had won the lottery receiving such a windfall!

Just a short while ago, she was over the moon about having a stash of over a thousand yuan; now to have a whole bag?

“Oh, dear husband, please smash me awake with your money; I feel like I’m in a dream right now.”

Seeing the exaggerated expression on Su Jinyan’s face, Zhao Yuanyi couldn’t help but laugh. His earlier tension and excitement dissipated, and he reached out to pinch her chubby cheek gently. “Do you think it’s a dream, hmm?”

Su Jinyan was so delighted that she jumped up, hugged him around the neck, and sweetly said, “Hmm, how did you get so amazing, husband? I feel like I’m clinging to a big tree!”

Zhao Yuanyi felt his ears flush red at her words. His black eyes narrowed as he leaned in closer, “Since everything has sold out, my dear wife, now that you’re so happy, do you have a reward for me?”

Su Jinyan grinned, lifted a hand to stroke his rough, dark eyebrows, and switched to a teasing tone, “Well then, Brother Yuanyi, just tell me what reward you would like?”

Hearing “Brother Yuanyi,” Zhao Yuanyi felt like he was struck by lightning, a warm flush spreading across his face.

Feeling the change in his body, he squinted his eyes, leaning down slightly. “What do you think I want?”

A sudden hard object pressed against her legs, and Su Jinyan’s face turned awkward, freezing completely, but her heart raced as if possessed, wanting to tempt him.

One hand slipped under her coat, gliding slowly along her back, much to her own surprise. Gulping, she mustered a smile and said, “Brother Yuanyi, if you don’t say, I think I know what you want?”

Hadn’t she also just begun to indulge herself?

She wanted him too.