Chapter 71: Buying Jade (Three)

  Qiu Ye said out loud the reasons she had thought of: "Uncle Chen hasn't been home for so long, how can he not bring some local specialties back to Auntie? Jade is the best choice. It's said that wearing jade ensures peace and safety, and the older the jade, the more valuable it is. When we go home, giving Auntie a jade pendant or a jade bangle would be auspicious, beautiful, and elegant, much better than just sending some ordinary cloth. And I'm sure Auntie will like it. Don't believe me? Ask Mother, women know what other women like best."

  And isn't Uncle Chen's family also having two older brothers? They must have grown up too. I heard my mom say that when the children get married, the elderly should give gifts to the newlyweds. Uncle Chen thought about it and said, "If we wait until then, you and Auntie will take out a pair of Hetian jade bangles for your daughter-in-law, won't that be a big hit?" It's just that these kinds of things can become family heirlooms passed down from generation to generation. Qiu Ye persuaded Chen Jianjun to buy some seeds too, after all, they had troubled others this time, so she should have some returns. Let him buy some seeds and take them back, and in a few years, they will be worth a lot of money.

  Chen Jianjun and Zhao Shuyan were both moved by this little girl.

  Chen Jianjun thought, his wife had followed him for so many years, he had been traveling all over the place, and both at home and outside, it was always his wife who took care of everything. He felt that he had never given her anything worthwhile, so if he really bought a piece of jade and made it into jewelry to give to his wife, she would be happy, right?

  Zhao Shuyan thought to herself, she never used to think about this before because she didn't have kids, but now it's different, she has Xiaofeng and Xiaoye, and Xiaoye loves jade so much, should she buy some for them to give to them when they grow up and get married like Xiaoye just said?

  Just as the two of them were lost in thought, Temur returned.

  This time he brought more things than last time, carrying two baskets in and putting them on the edge of the kang. He put down the basket in his hand, bent over to take out the seeds from inside, placed them on the kang, and let Qiu Ye pick them out.

  At this time, Chen Jianjun interrupted: "Old brother, help me pick two more, I'll take them back to give to my wife." Chen Jianjun figured it out, he didn't need to be entangled in this at all, it was just a matter of 180 yuan, quit smoking and get some extra jade.

  Zhao Shuyan also said beside him: "Tiemu'er brother, you can help me pick a few pieces too, I'll follow my sister-in-law to buy a few pieces."

  Tiemu didn't think that he would be out for just a short while, and when he came back, these two adults also wanted to take action.

  "Hey, old man. You also take a look, I just have 100 yuan, what can I buy? I'll buy one too." Qiufeng, who was standing next to them, couldn't sit still anymore since everyone else had taken action. Anyway, he only had 100 yuan on him, and his sister had said that this would be valuable in the future, so he might as well buy one and put it away for now.

  In the end, Tiemuer's slightly inferior seeds were also divided among the four of them. They didn't need Tiemuer to introduce them; they just picked whatever they liked. The prices were all the same, thirty yuan per kilogram. When Tiemuer saw that they were buying a lot, he would add a little extra weight when measuring it out, and just rounded down the price.

  Chen Jianjun picked four pieces of seedlings, spending a total of 160 yuan. He said his family has four members, so each person gets one piece.

  Zhao Shuyan bought a lot. Big and small ones added up to 390 yuan.

  Qiu Feng directly asked Tie Mu to give him a piece of about three kilograms, and the money he had was just enough. He didn't need to pick up this one and look at it, or pick up that one and look at it, choosing and picking, and finally still took those few pieces.

  Qiu Ye finally packaged all the remaining ones, although this batch of seeds is more than the previous one, but the price is much cheaper, only 1,900 yuan for half a basket, less than 2,000.

  Finally when they left, Qiu Ye even had the audacity to ask for the family's luggage carriers, those three double-shoulder bamboo baskets.

  She also asked Timur for three sacks, first putting the seeds into the sacks and then into the backpack. Of course, she put all the good stuff in one of them, made a secret signal, and planned to let her brother carry it.

  She wanted to disguise these seeds a bit, although it may not have much effect, but it's still safer than carrying them around like this. They're not alone, there are many students and teachers from the university, and on the train, there are all kinds of people, who knows who might be an expert, and they can't guard against everything, so it's best to eliminate all evil in its infancy.

  Everything was packed, Chen Jianjun carried two baskets by himself, Qiu Feng carried one, and they were all put into Chen Jianjun's car. Tiemuer sent the four of them to the gate of the courtyard, and Qiu Ye couldn't help but say, "Tiemuer, if you have any more top-grade seeds like this, save some for me, I still want some."

  Zhao Shuyan looked at Qiu Ye and felt a bit of a headache, saying: "Little Ye, don't talk nonsense. You're thousands of miles away, even if Tiemu's place has good materials, can you still come to buy them? This back-and-forth trip will take almost a month."

  Qiu Ye pouted and stopped talking, she also knew that even if she said anything, it would be useless. She was only nine years old now, still too young, without the right to make her own decisions, and her parents wouldn't let her take several months off school every year just to come to Xinjiang once. So she just didn't give up and said so. Who could keep the seeds for her for a few years until she grew up and came back to buy them? Even if someone was willing to keep them for her, by that time, she probably wouldn't be able to afford them anyway.

  Everyone sat in the car, Chen Jianjun saw in the rearview mirror a silly-looking little girl with a stingy expression, and couldn't help but smile. This child had many faces from the moment he saw her, looking like a gentle lady but winking with big, lively eyes, speaking without leaving any trace of teaching yet occasionally revealing a mischievous grin, spending money lavishly yet showing off a stingy appearance, truly an inscrutable little girl.

  He knew he liked this little girl, maybe because she was so different from others, or maybe because she was the swallow's goddaughter, or maybe because his own family only had two sons and had never been in contact with such a lovely little girl. Anyway, he liked her very much and couldn't bear to see her sad, so he spoke up.

  "I can still stay here until the Spring Festival and then return to Beijing, I can also wait for Timur to come back from Hetian once. If someone is in trouble, as a People's Liberation Army, I will decide whether to help her or not based on my mood." Being with this child makes him feel like he has become much younger too, no wonder people like Yanzi are so good to this kid.

  Qiu Ye couldn't possibly not understand the meaning behind Chen Jianjun's words, so she squeezed her body from between the driver's seat and the passenger seat, grabbed Chen Jianjun's hand that was still on the gearshift, and shook it vigorously.

  "Uncle Chen, you're really great, a true model of the People's Liberation Army, just like 'the people are as water and the army is as fish'!" Qiu Ye's flattering words poured out towards the only PLA comrade here.

  Chen Jianjun was amused to laughter, Zhao Shuyan also smiled and said: "Xiao Ye, don't tease your Uncle Chen anymore, he still has to drive." Then she said to Chen Jianjun: "You're already such a big man, why are you still playing with kids?"

  "Xiao Yan, you're wrong this time. I'm not kidding, my schedule is usually around the end of the year. Tiemu generally goes to Yulongkax River in October when it floods and returns around December, so I can really make it once." Chen Jianjun knew that Tiemu had been following this rough timeline for the past few years.

  "Ah, Uncle Chen, I'll transfer the money to you as soon as I get back. Can you help me buy back all the seeds that Iron Grandpa brought back? You can just bring them home with you when you return. If I have a chance, I'll go to Beijing and take care of it myself." Qiu Ye felt that she would hardly have another opportunity to come to Xinjiang again, but going to Beijing was still a possibility, and now she knew that her godmother's hometown was in Beijing, so she would definitely have the chance to return. As long as she and her godmother asked nicely, her godmother would surely take her along when she went with Labor Brother, killing two birds with one stone - they could sightsee in the capital while also retrieving the seeds, what a great plan!

  "Go ahead, as long as your aunt is willing to follow you back to Beijing, I'll help you transport all the more luggage." Chen Jianjun said generously.

  Qiu Ye let out a happy whoop, then seemed to remember something and opened the car door, dashing back into Timur's house like a small cannonball. Less than two minutes later, she came storming back out again.

  She sat in the car, panting heavily and said to Chen Jianjun: "Uncle Chen, I and Tie Daye have agreed that I will give him 500 yuan as a deposit, and he promised to help me keep it. When you come, just pay the remaining amount directly." She had just gotten off and talked to Tiemu'er, and still stuffed 500 yuan as a deposit, otherwise her heart would not be at ease.

  "Go, with your efficiency, I'll help you out. Don't forget to bring your godmother when you go to Beijing." Chen Jianjun started the car and drove smoothly away from Tiemu's home.

  "Of course, Beijing is so big, my brother and I can't go out by ourselves or we'll get lost. Besides, just the two of us are small kids, if some bad people take notice of us, won't that be a disaster? Can you feel at ease if you don't go, Auntie? You say, isn't that right?" Qiu Ye pouted and said beside Zhao Shuyan.

  On the way back in the car, Qiu Feng sat in the front passenger seat because he said he wanted to learn how to drive. This just happened to facilitate Qiu Ye's spoiled behavior.

  Zhao Shuyan lightly tapped the girl's forehead with her index finger and said, "You've finally remembered that you're just a kid at this time, right? Just now, when you were spending thousands of dollars like it was nothing, where was your sense of self-awareness as a child?"

  "Ah, Auntie, you're wrong! I was so bold just now because I had you as my backup, right? What do I have to be afraid of? Brother, isn't that right?" Qiu Ye added at the end, but her ally's mind wasn't on their conversation at all, and was instead fully focused on mimicking Chen Jianjun's driving movements in the passenger seat.

  So when Qiu Ye asked him, he didn't know what his sister had said at all, and just responded with a perfunctory "uh-huh".

  Zhao Shuyan had no choice but to say, "Alright, let's talk about this later when we get back. Anyway, your jade is already bought and will be taken care of by your Uncle Chen, so it's definitely safe and won't get lost." She said this first to give Chen Jianjun a bit of reassurance, so no matter when they went, her niece's things would be secure.