Chapter 28

Su Wan nodded. “Yes, Grandma. Did you need something from me?”

The elderly woman lowered her voice and said, “Young lady, I have some gold for sale too. If you want it, I can give you a better price.”

“How much per gram?”

Knowing that a lot of good things could be resold at a profit during this time, Su Wan was interested in getting a bargain, so she asked.

“Thirty yuan per gram. I have a gold ingot, it weighs 200 grams. If you want it, we can make the deal right away.”

Two hundred grams for just 6,000 yuan—it was a real bargain.

Su Wan nodded. “Then how can I trust you?”

The old woman clearly had a plan. She said, “We can take the gold ingot to a jewelry shop to weigh it. Then you can heat it up to verify it’s real. Once you’re satisfied, you can come out and pay me, while your brother stays inside and watches them make the jewelry.”

“Alright.”

The three of them entered the gold shop. The shop owner came out warmly and greeted them with a smile. “Looking to buy some gold jewelry?”

“We brought our own gold to make jewelry.”

“There’s a labor fee for custom pieces. What kind of jewelry are you planning to have made?”

“Three gold bangles.”

“For bangles over 30 grams, the labor is 0.15 yuan per gram. For those under 30 grams, it’s 0.18 per gram.”

After hearing the price, Su Wan thought for a moment and asked the owner to weigh the gold first.

The elderly woman placed the gold ingot on the scale. It was exactly 200 grams.

Before Su Wan could say anything, Su Jianguo spoke up first. “Boss, we’ll make two bangles of 50 grams each and one of 100 grams.”

“That’ll be 30 yuan for labor.”

The owner began melting the gold. Once it was melted, he said, “This is old gold!”

The old lady smiled and nodded. “That’s right. Old items from the family. I’m having them made into bangles for the kids.”

Once it was confirmed to be pure gold, Su Wan had Su Jianguo stay and watch, while she stepped outside.

She pulled out six stacks of 1,000 yuan from her bag and handed them to the elderly woman. “Grandma, is it alright if I just give you the money like this?”

“There’s a bank right in front. Come with me and deposit it. Once it’s all in the bank, we’re square.”

The old lady was smart too—she was worried Su Wan might try anything funny, so she took her to the bank across the street and carefully pulled out her passbook.

“Excuse me, I’d like to deposit 6,000 yuan.”

Su Wan handed over all the cash.

Since she needed to enter her password, Su Wan turned her back and stood aside, respectfully avoiding the screen.

Once the deposit was complete, the old lady tucked the passbook into her clothes and called out to Su Wan, “Alright, let’s go.”

Outside the bank, the old woman looked very pleased and said, “I could tell you two siblings were upright and decent people, which is why I was willing to make this deal. This old lady didn’t judge wrong.”

“Grandma, gold might increase in value in the future. Why sell it now?”

“My husband needs medicine, and we’re short on money for surgery. You can’t take these things with you when you die, but if I sell them now, maybe I can save his life.”

After saying that, the old woman added, “If you want to buy more, you can come find me next time. I live in the last house in that alley. My old man’s surname is Zhao. If you can’t find us, just ask around. Everyone in the neighborhood knows.”

“Granny Zhao, are you short on money?”

Su Wan could tell that although Granny Zhao was elderly, she was still very sharp, and couldn’t help asking.

Granny Zhao nodded. “My old man’s in poor health. It’s just the two of us left at home. So we’re selling some old valuables.”

“Then I’ll buy one more gold ingot. But I don’t have enough cash on me right now. Can I come buy it tomorrow?”

That gold was 31 grams—and Su Wan couldn’t resist. She really wanted another one just to keep at home. Even just looking at it would make her happy.

“Tomorrow morning, I’ll be right here waiting.”

“Alright then, Granny Zhao, you go ahead. I’ll head back now.”

After bidding farewell, Su Wan turned back into the gold shop.

The owner was still working on the jewelry. It took some time to make the plain gold bangles, and with Su Jianguo watching, Su Wan just sat and waited.

After over an hour and a half, the three gold bangles were finally done.

The 100-gram bangle sounded big, but as a solid plain bangle, it wasn’t actually that large.

Worn on her wrist, it made her skin look even fairer.

“Our little sister’s so pretty, she looks good in anything.”

“I agree—it looks great.”

Su Wan took out 30 yuan and paid the shop owner, then handed the other two bangles to Su Jianguo for safekeeping, and they left the gold shop together.

On the way back, Su Wan told Su Jianguo about her plan to buy another gold ingot.

Though Su Jianguo didn’t really understand why his little sister wanted another one, he didn’t question it. On the way, they picked up a fish and then took the bus back to the military family compound.

As they approached the compound, they heard heart-wrenching cries from inside.

The voice was very familiar—it was Wang Mei.

When they entered the compound, they saw Wang Mei sitting on the ground in thin clothing, crying her heart out. Deputy Company Commander Zhang was holding a leather belt and being restrained by Deputy Regimental Commander Wu and Deputy Company Commander He. He glared at Wang Mei with such fury that his eyes were terrifying.

Deputy Company Commander Zhang was usually quiet, but now, holding that belt, he looked truly frightening.

Su Wan didn’t want to get involved, and was just about to walk away when she heard Deputy Company Commander Zhang speak.

“Wang Mei, accusing me of messing around with other women was bad enough, but now you’re beating my daughter at home too? I’m telling you—I’m divorcing you. A vicious woman like you should just go back where you came from!”

“You wish! I stuck with you when you had nothing. Now that you’ve climbed up the ranks, you want to dump me and bring in some cheap woman from outside? I’m telling you—if you dare cheat, I’ll cause such a scene you’ll never have peace in the army!”

Deputy Company Commander Zhang was trembling with rage. “Fine! I’ll resign from the army and go back to farming in the countryside!”

He really had lost it. He was only twenty-seven, and had worked hard for almost ten years to earn his current rank. Only he knew how much effort it had taken.

Wang Mei, who refused to divorce and was always paranoid, had pushed him to his limit.

He wasn’t even especially good-looking. He wasn’t some irresistible man that women were throwing themselves at. What did she think he was, the town’s only prize?

“Zhang Tao, don’t say things out of anger!”

Deputy Regimental Commander Wu looked at him, feeling a little sorry for him.

Zhang Tao wasn’t as good at shooting as Chen Yuan, nor was he especially skilled in combat. Everything he had achieved came from sheer hard work. Everyone knew how much he had struggled to get here. Hearing him say he was ready to quit now was a real pity.

Wang Mei shrieked and wailed. “Zhang Tao, I managed everything at home, gave birth to twins for you, and held down the fort—maybe I didn’t earn credit, but I’ve worked hard! And now you want to divorce me for another woman? Trying to scare me? I won’t live anymore…”

As she screamed, she suddenly threw herself toward the side wall.

The other wives scrambled to stop her, and in the middle of the chaos, Wang Mei suddenly spotted Su Wan and shouted, “Su Wan, was it you? Are you the one who egged Zhang Tao on to divorce me?!”