The two of them praised most of the silk fabrics with a variety of words, and bought enough silk fabrics to go to other booths. The merchants from Japan also followed suit and bought some, and no longer mentioned the ugly and outdated color matching.
As soon as the foreign merchants left, a waiter came up to them and asked, “Did you remember what he said just now?”
“Remember, I’ve never seen anyone praise something this much before. He praised it so much that I really want to buy this scarf.”
“After all, he is our brother, unlike that…”
“Shh, stop talking. We will introduce this scarf to you later.”
At this time, An Yinong returned from the trade fair with a full load. He gave more than three kilograms of black truffles he bought to his aunt who was in the hotel business. His aunt ran a chain of high-end hotels with restaurants serving Western food. For her, there were never enough black truffles. Seeing the excellent quality of this black truffle, Xie Jiu also ordered a batch for his own restaurant.
“You’re still thinking about your aunt when you go to the mainland. My care for you is worth it.” His aunt was very happy. This batch of black truffles was of good quality and the price was very cheap.
“This is only the first batch. Fresh black truffles are not easy to preserve. We will send more in batches later. This is the contact number. Auntie can be in charge of the contract. The price can be reduced to half of that in Hong Kong.”
“Okay, I’ll send someone over to take them right away.” The eldest aunt found two boxes of black truffles and took them away.
The black truffles were all freshly picked, wrapped in soil, then wrapped in tin foil, and covered with ice packs. So his aunt needed to refreeze the black truffles immediately so that they could be preserved for a long time.
“Only the eldest aunt has it?” Others asked.
“Yeah, you can’t be partial to one and ignore the other, little brother.”
There were limited places for trade fairs in mainland China. Since they don’t have anything special needed and they didn’t try to grab a place, they have never been to mainland China.
In their minds, the mainland was a very divided place. On the one hand, they always missed the mainland, where there was vast land, rich resources and many heroes. On the other hand, Xingang escaped from there and brought a lot of negative news about poverty, backwardness, and persecution. They were curious about what the goods coming from there were like and what the mainland was like.
Only Grandpa He said, “If you want it, go buy it yourself next year. Go and have a look, seeing is believing.”
This time it was Xie Jiu who took An Yinong, but the latter relied on his good connections and bits and pieces of orders to get a quota for Hong Kong businessmen for next spring, so they would be able to go and have a look next year.
“Not only my eldest aunt, but also my second aunt has a share.” An Yinong brought a box and opened it. It was full of shiny round pearls. There was also pearly white, glossy silk cloth, which was perfect for setting off jade and gemstones.
The second aunt was shocked by the number of pearls. She squatted down and looked at them one by one: “The quality of these pearls is very good. Although they are freshwater pearls, their luster is no worse than that of saltwater pearls.”
“They are all newly experimented nucleated pearls from the mainland. They use shell pearls as nuclei and have been cultivated for five or six years. The pearl layer is much thicker than the seawater pearls from Japan.” An Yinong quoted a number. It was so cheap that it was amazing. “I want your contact number too. If you are satisfied, we can cooperate for a long time.”
“My store is going to launch a batch of low-priced jewelry recently, and this pearl is very suitable. Pearls are so shiny and beautiful even if they are just strung together and worn around the neck.” The second aunt was very satisfied.
She turned around and found a pink silk scarf in her luggage: “Huh? This color is so pretty, this pink and purple one is also pretty, and the gray one is also nice.”
“Hundreds of pure silk, master-level color matching. I bought a hundred pieces, but they are just gifts for employees.”
“You have more than a hundred employees?” Second Auntie particularly liked the pink color. “Give me half of them.”
“There are also employees from my dad’s newspaper office and my mom’s theater. But if my aunt wants them, she can pick two colors and take them all.” An Yinong said with a smile.
In fact, he bought a lot of scarves, and most of them were sent to Xie Jiu. Didn’t Xie Jiu open a lot of hospitals? Now he also had restaurants, publishing houses, and a lot of other businesses. He helped Xie Jiu’s employees prepare this “souvenir”, which really cost a lot of money.
Afterwards, he gave Grandpa He and his uncle expensive tea and liquor, and gave his cousins other beautiful decorations. Seeing that everything else was ready, He Chengjue eagerly looked at An Yinong.
“Dad’s gift is the most special. Ding, ding, ding.” An Yinong took out a stamped ticket, “A chance to go to the capital of the mainland for close-up filming and reporting. How about it?”
It was indeed a most special gift, but He Chengjue usually didn’t care about his newspaper, so he still had a sad face, and was later scolded by Grandpa He with a dark face.
Only then did An Yinong take out a box with a smile: “Okay, okay, this is actually for Dad.”
He Chengjue opened the box, his eyes lit up: “Good boy, how do you know I like this recently?”
In modern times, it was luxury cars and watches; in ancient times, it was precious horses and swords. Weren’t these the things men like?
That’s right, what was placed in the box was the sword made by the master craftsman that An Yinong had begged for. It was said to be made of a particularly good piece of steel, and the pattern on it was extremely beautiful, and the price was also very considerable.
In addition, there was a set of Yang Green Glass Jade from Yunnan Province, which was given to Li Yufeng. Compared with the price in later generations, he was simply picking up a bargain at a bargain price.
Everyone got their gifts. At this time, Grandpa He called An Yinong and said, “Tiantong, come to Grandpa’s room.”
“Grandpa’s room?” He Xiaobai watched An Yinong walk up to the second floor with a face full of envy.
Being able to enter the old man’s room meant being recognized. Among the third generation of the He family, An Yinong was the second one. He Tianhong, the second uncle who has been in the publishing house for many years, had never been there.
“Sit down, Tiantong, can you tell me what’s going on over there?”
“Okay.” An Yinong said seriously. He began to introduce the situation over there, all of which had not been mentioned before, including the attitude of government officials over there, the mental state of the people, and the goods at the exhibition.
“Grandpa, a few days into the exhibition, someone took down the four portraits and slogans hanging in the exhibition hall. Apparently, things have changed over there. But I can’t say for sure. Maybe a reporter from the newspaper will have to go there in person.”
When seeing the four slogans whose portraits had been removed, An Yinong felt like he had witnessed history, even though this world was fictional.
“In fact, this opportunity to return to the mainland to shoot news is the best and most useful gift you brought. You have worked so hard. I’m sure you and the others had a great chat.” Grandpa He saw through the truth at a glance.
An Yinong smiled: “Dad also made a contribution. But did grandpa know about this from the beginning? Did you tacitly allow me to contact him?”
Grandpa He nodded: “I did know, and I was the one who put the information in. Well, it’s not something that needs to be kept secret. Our country suffered from the lack of information in the past.”
“Our generation is ignorant of the sufferings of the mainland. When we talk about the mainland, we think it is poor and backward. If we let them go, it will not be a bond, but an enmity. But you, Tiantong, are you closer to the mainland?”
An Yinong was stunned for a moment: “Although it was my first time there, I feel very close to it deep down in my heart.”
“That’s right,” Grandpa He seemed even happier, “You go back to your hometown, where everyone speaks the local dialect, and you’ll feel closer. It’s a pity that your generation can’t speak the local dialect anymore.”
Grandpa He was in high spirits and spoke some local dialect: the soft Wu dialect.
“I can learn it, Grandpa. I’ll learn it when I live there for a while.”
Grandpa He was even happier, as the older generation was like this, always thinking of returning to their roots: “Okay, then we two grandparents will build a house with a yard over there, with white walls and black tiles, and we’ll raise goldfish in the big tank in the courtyard.
“There were loquats in the house where I grew up. When the fruits were ripe, the trees were full of yellow loquats. Your great-grandmother picked some and gave them to the neighbors next door. In autumn, the neighbors gave us pomegranates from their yard. They were small and very sweet.” Grandpa He recalled his childhood, his eyes full of anticipation.
“No matter what, that is where our roots are. Unless the situation is dire, we cannot give up easily.
“I’ll keep an eye on the news in the mainland. You should start with your publishing house and plan your overseas affairs carefully, and then find an agent. If the money is not enough, grandpa can inject some capital.”
“There’s enough money, don’t worry.” An Yinong’s eyes turned, “Grandpa, do you recognize me?”
“Of course, whose grandson is as capable as mine?” Grandpa He said proudly.
An Yinong took a breath and said, “Grandpa, can I marry whoever I want in the future?”
“Oh? Tiantong has someone he likes?”
He just smiled and didn’t answer.
After leaving the old house, An Yinong went to the theater and gave the prepared gifts to Li Yufeng’s other aunts and uncles, and then returned home. Xie xie the bird was already in his room, with a letter from X.
“Do I have to trouble you with this?” An Yinong’s mouth corners kept curling up and he took out the letter.
“Thank you for the souvenirs you prepared for them. You didn’t sleep well on the way. You should have a good rest, Xiao Guan Gong. -x”
“What little Guan Gong? He is the real Guan Gong.” An Yinong held the small note and suddenly felt a little sleepy. In this era, trains were very uncomfortable even for VIP sleepers. He hadn’t had a good rest in the past two days.
But he couldn’t go to sleep yet, he had to organize his notes and film.
In fact, the biggest gain from this trip back to the mainland was the film in the camera in his hands. It was really full of a sense of the times. He wondered if he would have the chance to incorporate it into his own comics.
“Come to think of it, what did Uncle Jiu go to the mainland for?” An Yinong felt that it was definitely not to buy empty capsules. The day he disappeared was really suspicious. But he was not interested in delving into it. It couldn’t be a bad thing, and he still believed in Xie Jiu on this point.
The next day he delivered the prepared gifts to the publishing house.
Since the magazine publisher changed to two editions for boys and girls, the staff of the publisher had been so busy that they had no time to rest. However, since some of their salaries had been increased by about 30%, and there were many benefits, no one complained about being busy.
An Yinong recently learned from the mainland that when considering the issue of “housing for employees”, he knew that it was difficult to have perseverance without permanent property. If he helped them solve the housing problem, they would be able to work better.
Seeing that the boss brought back another gift, most of the people in the publishing house were very happy. After seeing it, the president invited An Yinong in and said, “Boss, about the overseas publishing house…”
After all, it was not easy for China to gain a foothold overseas. Even if all the procedures were completed, it still required a lineage to put the published pictures in various stores.
An Yinong thought for a moment and asked, “Has the foreign film and television company that gave us a quote called us recently?”
“Yes they have.”
“Arrange a meeting for us.”
After leaving the publishing house, An Yinong returned to his room. The manuscripts for “The House of Resentment” could last for another month, but the manuscripts for “Superstar” were running out, so he needed to work overtime.
In “Superstar”, the latest episode was that the male protagonist got into a car accident on the way home and turned into a cat, and was then picked up by the rare kind-hearted female protagonist. Before this, the relationship between the male and female protagonists was definitely not good.
Because at the beginning, the male protagonist thought that the female protagonist entered the circle for money and power, and wanted to catch a rich husband, and her intentions were not sincere. Later, when he found out that she entered the circle for revenge, he still thought it was inappropriate.
The heroine thought that the hero was a young master who was “ignorant of other people’s sufferings” and was nosy and self-righteous. These two were “Pride and Prejudice” in another sense.
“No wonder the evil cult is so rampant.” An Yinong couldn’t help laughing as he sketched the surprised face of the male cat protagonist when he saw the female protagonist changing clothes with her back to it.
“I hope the cat attribute can be added to the male protagonist, otherwise…” An Yinong could imagine how the future generations would edit the ‘smart and beautiful heroine and the tsundere young lady female supporting role’ CP after this comic was made into a TV series.
At this time, the gentleman cat wanted to retreat and not look, but who knew that the heroine’s coat would be thrown over and cover the small cat protagonist. The cat protagonist had to push it a little before crawling out from the collar. When he opened his eyes, he was struck by how beautiful she was. He then covered his face with his paws.
An Yinong was busy until the evening to complete they day’s task. He gave the draft to his assistant to perfect, and went next door to find Xie Jiu, but he was not there.
“It’s almost dark. Going out this night? Do you know where he went?”
At this time, Xie Jiu was in the car, he was going to the city to meet someone: Wenlong, his adopted son.
If it was a normal request, Xie Jiu would not accept this invitation, but this person was a favor to him and had helped him when he was in the most difficult time.
He went to the “A Xiang Restaurant” on the west side of the walled city. It was called a restaurant, but it was actually just a store converted from a rental house. It sold the simplest food, which was not even delicious, but was just enough to fill the stomach.
The restaurant had been cleared, with only Xie Jiu, Wen Long, and Uncle Wu present. It was Uncle Wu who had invited him. Uncle Wu used to be a gangster, but now he had retired due to his old age.
“I didn’t want to ask you to come, but if you really have any misunderstandings, it’s better to talk it out as soon as possible.” For Uncle Wu, since Xie Jiu and Long are both old friends, he hopes that they won’t have a falling out because of misunderstandings.
“Godfather.” Wen Long looked up, “Do you really have to drive me away?”
Xie Jiu laughed, but he didn’t even sit down: “Even if I didn’t ask about the things that you were fooled about, you would have reported them to me. It’s okay for you to be stupid, but you also provoked the He family. I asked you to study abroad and calm down, are you very dissatisfied?”
“Godfather, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me.”
But Xie Jiu said: “If people could just let go of their mistakes after doing something wrong, there wouldn’t be so much hatred in the world.”
He looked at Uncle Wu who was leaning on a cane and said, “Uncle Wu, thank you for your trip.”
“What’s the matter?” Uncle Wu shook his hand. “I’m already very happy that you are willing to give me this face.”
“Godfather!” Seeing Xie Jiu was about to leave, Wen Long became anxious. He chased after him and asked without thinking, “You don’t know what He Tiantong thinks of you, do you?”
Xie Jiu stopped and turned his head with an ambiguous smile on his face.
Wen Long took a step back, cold sweat breaking out on his back. Even Uncle Wu, an old hand, was unwilling to speak at this moment.
“He doesn’t know, He Tiantong knows.” A soft young voice interrupted.
When he looked at the sound, he saw a handsome boy walking into the dark alley with the light from the outside world.
“Uncle Jiu, I’m here to take you back for dinner.”
WhiteMoon x BlackSun 