Chapter 200

Although Jiang Huai had left, Su Xiaoxiao was worried there might be another Jiang Huai; it could be Li Huai, Xu Huai, or whoever. She decided to let the kids continue to hold their positions. When she returned to the front yard again, Han Cheng had already smashed open a few small black boxes, looking as if he had just successfully found a treasure. Su Xiaoxiao was especially happy to see it.

“Found them?” she asked.

Han Cheng replied, “Three boxes were hidden in a pier, but the boxes are not made of iron. I don’t know what material they are made of. They’ve been buried for so long and yet they haven’t rusted. They’re also locked, so we can’t open them without a key. We’ll have to take the boxes with us for now.”

Su Xiaoxiao frowned. “When we moved from Qingfeng Town, I cleaned up the house, but I don’t remember seeing any keys. Have you seen them?”

Han Cheng shook his head. “No, keys are too small and inconspicuous. It’s possible we overlooked them. Let’s go back and look again.”

That’s all they could do for now.

The suitcase left by Han Cheng’s mother seemed to be tailored for these six small boxes. One suitcase could fit two small boxes perfectly. Among these six boxes, three were particularly heavy, presumably containing gold bars. The other three were light, and it was unknown what they contained. According to Uncle, they might be jewelry or similar items.

Su Xiaoxiao truly admired the wisdom of Han Cheng’s great-grandfather or ancestor. The items had been hidden under their noses for decades, or even centuries, without any harm. Even Han Songbai and the others hadn’t thought of it. Han Cheng only thought of it after Han Songbai had searched the entire courtyard and used the process of elimination.

Calculating the current price of gold, one gold bar would be enough to exchange for a courtyard like the one Su Xiaoxiao’s family currently lives. Of course, if they wanted a quadrangle courtyard, they would need many more gold bars.

The absence of the pier from the Wind and Rain Bridge not only did not affect its beauty but made it even more exquisite. The waste material smashed by Han Cheng was directly crushed into small gravel-sized particles and spread on the bottom of the pond. After adding water to the pond, surprisingly, compared to the bare pond bottom with leaves before, it looked even more pleasing to the eye and didn’t require dealing with waste material. It was truly a double benefit.

Carrying such heavy gold bars was inconvenient, so Han Cheng called all the kids to accompany Su Xiaoxiao while he went to fetch the car himself.

When he arrived at the Zhang family’s door, Han Cheng intended to go in and say hello, but he heard Jiang Huai’s voice as soon as he entered the gate. 

Zhang Hongtu, who paced back and forth at the main entrance of the house, saw Han Cheng about to enter. He gestured, and Han Cheng nodded and retreated.

It wasn’t until he heard Han Cheng drive away that Zhang Hongtu entered the main house. He pretended to look at the large wall clock and casually said, “It’s already mealtime. Shouldn’t Uncle Jiang go home for dinner?”

The only thing in common between Mr. Zhang and Jiang Huai was their obsession with chess. If they didn’t play, they wouldn’t get serious. Once they did, they could forget everything else.

Plus, Jiang Huai was angry and had been losing all along. He vented his frustration on the chessboard: “We haven’t even finished the game; what’s the rush to eat?”

Mr. Zhang calmly glanced at his son, and Zhang Hongtu signaled to him with his eyes. Mr. Zhang understood and suddenly felt his nose itch. “Ah-choo!” He casually messed up the entire chess game.

“Oh, sorry, I seem to have caught a cold unexpectedly. I’ve ruined your interest. I have to hurry back to have lunch with my precious grandson. Let’s call it a day today.”

With the chess pieces thrown by Jiang Huai, he snorted and asked sarcastically, “Han Cheng finished digging for gold, didn’t he?”

The old man calmly tidied up the chessboard and said, “Old Jiang, I don’t understand. What do the belongings of someone else’s family have to do with you? Why do you keep staring at them?”

Jiang Huai still snorted coldly: “You only have one son, so of course you wouldn’t understand!”

Grandpa Zhang raised an eyebrow and glanced at him, implying something in his words: “Don’t think I don’t know. Back then, you were staring at the little girl of the Han family and wanted to be the son-in-law of the Han family. Unfortunately, the old man of the Han family didn’t like you, am I right? Later on, you kept trying to match Jiang Xue and Han Cheng. I thought it was because you couldn’t get the Han family’s younger sister, so you wanted your daughter to marry into the Han family to compensate for your regret. It seems I was too naive.”

Jiang Huai was already angry that his hopeful plans were shattered, and now they were being pointed out to him face-to-face. He became furious but then laughed sarcastically: “Do you think you’re innocent? Do you think I don’t know why you stick so close to the Han family? Don’t think I’m naive. Look at your precious grandson; it almost seems like he wants to change his surname to Han. Or maybe you are eyeing the daughter of the Han family. Aren’t you rushing to send your grandson to become the Han family’s adopted son-in-law?”

After venting his anger, Jiang Huai left without looking back.

As he spoke, he even convinced himself. He had no chance; his disobedient daughter couldn’t be relied upon, but didn’t he still have two outstanding grandsons? Didn’t Han Cheng also have a daughter? There was still a chance, wasn’t there? With this in mind, Jiang Huai’s steps eased considerably.

Grandpa Zhang laughed at Jiang Huai’s outrageous behavior. He cursed and called him “sick,” and then pushed the chessboard forward, waiting for Zhang Hongtu, and said, “Go wash it clean for me. Also, threw away the teacup he drank from. I find everything he touched dirty. This old fox has dirty thoughts. He thinks everyone in the world is like him, a narrow-minded and despicable person!”

Zhang Hongtu rubbed his nose and didn’t say anything as he cleaned up the chessboard.

After a while, he heard his father say again: “Oh, why didn’t I think of that? Don’t let fertile water flow into others’ fields. Our little Zhuzi is only more than five years older than Xiao Tangyuan, right?” ^[1]This idiom means that one should keep resources, benefits, or advantages within one’s own family or group rather than allowing outsiders to benefit from them.

Before Zhang Hongtu could react, the old man suddenly slapped the armrest and burst into laughter. “I like Xiao Tangyuan the most. When he grows up a bit, he will be more affectionate. Our kid already cares a lot about Xiao Tangyuan. If these two children grow up and become a pair, our kid belongs to us, and Xiao Tangyuan still belongs to us. How wonderful is that? Hahaha.”

Zhang Hongtu was quite startled by his father’s words. He even couldn’t hold the chessboard steadily.

“Dad, you should just say these things here. What if Han Cheng and Xiaoxiao hear it? Who knows what they’ll think of our family? The children are still young and we don’t know what they will think of each other when they grow up. You must not say this to them now. It’s best not to even mention it. Our Xiao Zhuzi is sensible, but Xiao Tangyuan is still so young, and Xiao Zhuzi has some responsibilities to take care of. If we make it difficult for the two children to interact, how will our families handle it?”

Startled by the words of his son, the old man woke up and paced, punching his palms and calming down. “Yes, yes, we can’t say anything about this for now. When they grow up and understand, it will be easy to guide them a little more. Oh, my goodness, a golden boy and a jade girl, childhood sweetheart, perfect match, perfect match!”

Grandpa Zhang’s imagination ran wild, wishing for Xiao Tangyuan to grow up immediately to eighteen years old and become a match for his grandson.

Zhang Hongtu looked at his father, who looked like he was daydreaming, and sweat couldn’t help flowing down his temples. He was really worried that his father wouldn’t be able to stop talking nonsense to the children. He regretted bringing Jiang Huai, an old fox, home. He caused nothing but trouble.

In fact, Zhang Hongtu worried too much. The more Grandpa Zhang dreamed about it, the tighter he kept it to himself. By the time Xiao Tangyuan turned eighteen and became a graceful young lady, he hadn’t said a word about it in her presence. He only encouraged his grandson to be nice to Xiao Tangyuan.

Zhuzi, who is already a young man of striking elegance and charm, is puzzled. He had always been nice to Xiao Tangyuan. Was there something he wasn’t doing right?

Of course, all of these will happen in the near future.

………

Han Cheng’s family had already transported the gold from “Han Mansion” back to Alley No. 8. People who saw them unloading just assumed they were bringing something back from their old house. Nobody even thought about the gold.

The three boxes were neatly arranged in the main room, and the kids gathered around them to study.

Fantuan touched the box and asked, “Dad, it doesn’t seem to be made of iron or leather. What on earth are these dark boxes made of?”

Han Cheng shook his head and said, “I don’t know. Probably some kind of alloy.”

Fantuan widened his eyes. “Can gold be black?”

Su Xiaoxiao said, “Alloys come in many varieties. Any mixture of metal substances can be called an alloy. We are not specialized in studying this thing, so we naturally do not know its composition. But it doesn’t matter; it’s just a container.”

Fantuan said, “It matters! If we can’t open it, knowing what it is will determine whether it’s worth breaking open. If we can’t find the key, why don’t we just break the container?”

Su Xiaoxiao: “…”

Once again, the clever, violence-loving Fantuan won. Su Xiaoxiao hadn’t expected that.

Han Cheng said, “It’s a pity to smash such good boxes. If we can’t find the key, we can find someone to open the lock. Let’s not destroy it unless absolutely necessary.”

Su Xiaoxiao nodded and knocked on Fantuan’s head, saying, “Your father is right. Maybe this box is also a priceless antique. We shouldn’t break it casually.”

Fantuan naturally didn’t think so much; he just wanted to see the shining gold inside.

Xiao Doubao and Xiao Tangyuan were also quite disappointed. Only Xiao Roubao, as long as it wasn’t food, had no interest.

“Let’s go eat. I’m starving!” Food is more important than anything else.

Su Xiaoxiao looked at the time and said, “Han Cheng, hide these things in the room. Let’s go eat first.”

Han Cheng nodded and said, “You guys, go ahead. I’ll be there in a moment.”

Su Xiaoxiao led the cubs back to “Three Meals, Four Seasons.”.

……

Gu Zhanwang was extremely disappointed that he couldn’t see the cubs today. He didn’t even enjoy eating the food in front of him. But unexpectedly, just as he was about to finish eating, he saw the kids returning. Not only did they come back, but they also brought along a handsome man. It was an unexpected surprise!

Gu Zhanwang extended his gentlemanly hand and smiled. “You must be Su Xiaoxiao, the mother of these kids, right? Nice to meet you. I’m Gu Zhanwang.”

Su Xiaoxiao politely glanced at the man in front of her. She couldn’t help but admit that he was a very charming man. How should she put it? His every move exuded the aura of a successful person. If he had to be labeled, it would definitely be with words like handsome, refined, and gentlemanly.

Su Xiaoxiao had a high opinion of him. She rarely used both “handsome” and “gentlemanly” to describe a man at the same time, because that kind of temperament and charm required time and experience to cultivate. Coupled with his custom-made gold-rimmed glasses, exaggeratedly speaking, he seemed like a nobleman stepping out of a medieval oil painting.

Su Xiaoxiao lightly shook his hand and let go, smiling. “Mr. Gu, nice to meet you. I’m Su Xiaoxiao.”

Fantuan interrupted them, “Mom, can we skip the pleasantries for now? What do you want to eat? And where’s dad?”

Today’s dish was peanut and fermented bean curd trotters, a favorite of the kids. However, Su Xiaoxiao found it greasy, so she said, “Ask Uncle Yang to make me a bowl of plain noodles with a few more vegetables and an egg. Dad can have the same as you guys.”

Fantuan needs to go find Uncle Yang.

When Su Xiaoxiao was thinking about what topics would be suitable to talk about with this gentleman, Han Cheng finally arrived.

Su Xiaoxiao waved to him and said, “Do you want to eat the peanut and fermented bean curd trotters today?”

Han Cheng nodded and said, “Anything is fine. I’m not picky about food.”

As Han Cheng entered from outside, he could only see Gu Zhanwang’s back. After sitting down, Su Xiaoxiao introduced him first, saying, “This is Mr. Gu Zhanwang, who the kids often mention. My husband, Han Cheng.”

Gu Zhanwang froze. “Han Cheng? Is that you?”

Han Cheng finally looked at Gu Zhanwang seriously, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember who he was.

Gu Zhanwang took off his glasses, ran his hand through his hair, and excitedly said, “It’s me! Do you recognize me?”