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The couple finished all four dishes, and after drinking three liang of liquor, Li Mancang’s cheeks were flushed.
Hand in hand, the elderly couple walked home, their hearts warm.
They didn’t go home, as the gold was still in Fenglan’s courtyard. They felt uneasy about bringing it home, so they decided to sleep at Fenglan’s place.
At home, the third son and Fengchun were staring at the door, waiting for their parents to return.
As it grew dark, they still hadn’t seen anyone.
“Little sister, go make dinner; Mom and Dad probably went to the eldest brother’s place!” The third son stared at the door, anxious, but no one came back.
“I cooked yesterday, so it’s your turn today!” Fengchun replied flatly.
“What do you mean? I can’t cook! I’m a man! You make dinner, and I’ll wash the dishes, okay?” The third son negotiated with his sister.
“Today was supposed to be your turn to wash the dishes. I washed them yesterday!”
“Little sister, that’s not fair! Do you have to keep track like this?” The third son knew his sister was calculating, but he didn’t expect her to be so meticulous!
“I have to keep track of my losses! If you’re at a disadvantage, I can overlook it!”
The third son was speechless. Fine! He decided to leave and find Meina instead.
He didn’t want to stay home and argue with his sister!
With a flick of his wrist, he stormed out, leaving Fengchun to seethe in frustration. She regretted not agreeing to let her brother wash the dishes, as now she had to do everything herself!
At the eldest son’s house, Wang Yue was busy making dinner for her in-laws, her face longer than a mountain.
The old couple had spent the day watching television, mesmerized by shows featuring braised pork, braised fish, stewed meat, and dumplings—all of which looked delicious.
When Li Xingguo returned home, the old lady immediately began ordering dishes for the evening: braised pork, stir-fried pig intestines, and pork dumplings!
The old man nodded in agreement; those were the dishes he wanted too.
“By the way, bring back some liquor! With such rich dishes, we must have a drink!” The old man licked his lips.
Wang Yue, hearing this from inside, felt her blood boil!
Last night, she had slept in the living room with Li Xingguo, and in this cold weather, she had caught a cold!
Now they were ordering food again; she was on the verge of losing her mind!
Li Xingguo tried to calm his wife down, as he was counting on his in-laws to help him with the money for going abroad. He couldn’t afford to offend them now!
He quickly went out to buy some ready-made dumplings and dishes.
Wang Yue, still fuming, scrambled to fry an egg and stir-fry some vegetables.
Quietly, she warned Li Xingguo to finalize the overseas plans quickly and send these two old folks away.
She didn’t want to see them for even a moment!
Li Xingguo promised repeatedly that he would talk to them that evening!
The old couple doted on him and would surely agree!
However, he didn’t anticipate that the dinner would be so lavish that the old couple would drink quite a bit of liquor and fall asleep right after the meal!
This nearly made Wang Yue spit blood in frustration!
No matter what, she refused to sleep on the floor that night. She left Li Xingguo at home and went to her dormitory to sleep with her colleagues!
Li Xingguo felt bitter, hoping the old couple could help him sort out his plans the next day!
The next morning, when Li Xingguo left for work, his grandparents were still asleep! Angered, he slammed the door as he headed to work.
Li Mancang and Wu Zhiqiu went to different banks in the east and west towns to exchange cash for gold.
At this time, many people were exchanging gold for cash, and taking small amounts wasn’t too conspicuous.
The two managed to exchange over five hundred grams that morning, accumulating forty-five thousand yuan in cash.
Wu Zhiqiu felt that this much cash was more than enough — enough to buy a house, even buy a mountain!
Li Mancang, with all that cash stuffed into his chest pocket, was panicking inside. He figured thirty thousand would’ve been plenty — and now they had tens of thousands! They were now genuine ten-thousand-yuan householders! Even in his dreams, Li Mancang had never dared imagine this!
“We should deposit the money,” Wu Zhiqiu said. “Just withdraw it when we need it — it’s not safe to carry it around!”
Li Mancang nodded vigorously.
The couple quickly went to deposit the cash, splitting it into four savings books, each holding ten thousand. After depositing those, they were left with a few thousand yuan in hand. The two of them decided that soon, when they had time, they’d go house-hunting!
They’d buy several little courtyards — even a siheyuan (traditional courtyard house) was within reach now!
That afternoon, the couple went to Fenglan’s house and carefully stashed away the passbooks and the remaining gold bars. This was their secret treasure, and they wouldn’t tell anyone!
In the afternoon, Li Mancang pedaled Wu Zhiqiu around the alleyways, checking out places for sale.
They found a few spots they liked, but the prices were still a bit steep. They decided to think it over — no rush anyway.
That evening, they dined out again, this time for a meal of copper pot hotpot. The fresh lamb was tender and rich with the fragrance of milk. The two of them devoured three pounds of lamb, leaving their bellies round and full.
After the meal, Li Mancang took Wu Zhiqiu home.
“I gotta stop by our eldest son’s place,” he said. “Otherwise, I’m afraid the old couple won’t be able to hold the fort! I’ll bring more stuff over tomorrow.”
Wu Zhiqiu had already forgotten about her in-laws. The past couple of days had just been too thrilling!
“Then go on!” she said. “I believe in you!” She gave Li Mancang a look full of trust.
Li Mancang straightened his back.
“Don’t worry! I won’t let your mother-in-law torment you anymore!”
Under Wu Zhiqiu’s beaming gaze, Li Mancang rode off heroically on his bicycle, heading straight for their eldest son’s home.
—
Outside his eldest son’s apartment complex, Li Mancang stopped his bike. He found a big tree, threw himself onto the ground for a good roll, then rubbed himself vigorously against the tree trunk — back and forth — until his clothes were filthy and all wrinkled. He smeared some dirt across his face.
Satisfied, Li Mancang pushed his bicycle into the compound.
At that moment, the old man and woman had just finished dinner. Today’s meal had been lavish — fried noodles with soybean paste, stewed chicken with mushrooms, and braised fish.
Wang Yue hadn’t come home at all today, and their eldest son, seeing the old couple in a good mood, had just started talking about going abroad…
“Go abroad for what?” the old man suddenly barked. “Foreign countries are just playgrounds for capitalists! We’re not going!”
The eldest son hadn’t expected his grandpa to object so strongly!
“But Grandpa,” he explained patiently, “nowadays, foreign countries are paved with gold! You just need to go abroad and you can make a fortune!”
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t go! That’s the capitalists using money to corrupt us!” the old man retorted. “That’s a mistake! You finally got into university — focus on your job and contribute more to the family! Stop daydreaming about nonsense!”
Li Xingguo… felt like crying. Of all the obstacles he’d anticipated, he never thought his own grandpa would be so anti-foreign!
But he wasn’t giving up — not yet. He had a backup plan.
“Grandpa, listen — right now, if a college student goes abroad and comes back, the lowest position they get is at the deputy bureau level! The country is really valuing overseas education now! The advanced knowledge and ideas from abroad — that’s exactly what the nation lacks!”
The old man didn’t understand what all that “knowledge and ideas” stuff meant, but the word deputy caught his attention.
“What’s a deputy bureau level?”
“The county magistrate is department-level. A deputy magistrate or bureau chief — those kinds of positions are deputy bureau level.”
“Just go abroad and come back, and you can be a bureau chief? Even a deputy magistrate?” the old man asked, stunned.
Since he was already fibbing a bit, Li Xingguo nodded without hesitation.
The old man frowned and puffed on his dry tobacco. If what his grandson said was true, then going abroad was a huge opportunity! If he went overseas and came back, their Li family could have its very own magistrate!
“If you can really become a magistrate, then go for it!” the old lady chimed in. Becoming a big official was a great thing. Their eldest grandson was doing so well — they absolutely couldn’t hold him back.
Li Xingguo gave a bitter smile. “Grandma, of course I want to go! If I go abroad and come back, our family will completely transform!”
“Then go! Your mom and dad won’t let you? Don’t worry, I’ll talk to them!” The old lady thumped her chest.
“No, Grandma, it’s not that my parents won’t let me go abroad…”
“Then what’s the problem? Just go!” she asked, confused.
“Say it straight!” the old man narrowed his eyes — he could sense something was up.