Rebirth 1983: Building My Business Empire

Chapter 71: Chapter 65: The Broken House

After dinner, Lu Jiaxin said she wanted to go for a walk and specifically asked Gu Wenfeng to accompany her. Xue Mao wanted to come along but she found an excuse to leave him behind.

They walked along the road until they reached a more secluded area, where Lu Jiaxin asked, “You haven’t told Zhao Dajun about the treasure hunt, have you?”

Gu Wenfeng shook his head. He hadn’t revealed a word to Zhao Dajun before Lu Jiaxin took a stance.

Lu Jiaxin immediately felt relieved, “Brother Gu, don’t tell him about the treasure hunt. Find an excuse to send him back to the Forty-nine City.”

Although Gu Wenfeng had just guessed as much, he still asked, “Miss Lu, could you tell me why?”

Lu Jiaxin was silent for a moment before saying, “Based on my interactions with him over these past days, I feel that with Zhao Dajun’s character, he is very likely to insist that I donate the treasure once it’s found.”

Gu Wenfeng was surprised, “Miss Lu, why would you think that?”

Lu Jiaxin had her reasons for this idea, “My second uncle and the rest wanted to take over my house, but I stood up to them, and he thought I was disrespectful. A niece from my own family had to drop out of school due to a family emergency. I supported her to continue her education, and he thought that supporting others was more meaningful than my spending money recklessly.”

Well, Zhao Dajun’s character and abilities were not in question, but he liked to stand on the moral high ground and criticize others. And she, she hated these types of people the most.

Gu Wenfeng didn’t want Zhao Dajun to go back. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Miss Lu, I’ll test him tonight. If that’s really his intention, I’ll have him go back.”

“You try probing him first!”

Lu Jiaxin hoped that Gu Wenfeng would stay to help her, so she was willing to grant him this favor.

Gu Wenfeng was tight-lipped and capable, and he had connections in the Ancient Capital. The last part was a surprise to her. Nonetheless, it was a good surprise to have someone to rely on in times of difficulty.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ƝοѵǤօ.сᴑ

That evening, Gu Wenfeng chatted with Zhao Dajun, steering the topic towards antiques and mentioning a comrade whose family owned an ancestral treasure. The family home became too crowded and quarrels erupted all the time, so the friend’s father sold the treasure and bought each of his three sons their own apartments.

“What kind of treasure was it?”

Gu Wenfeng said, “An imperial edict from Emperor Yongzheng, hand-written by the emperor himself. The emperor’s calligraphy is highly sought after and is said to have significant research value.”

Zhao Dajun frowned and said, “Brother Feng, didn’t you advise your comrade to donate the item?”

Difficulties can be temporary and overcome, but once the item is sold, it can no longer be studied.

Gu Wenfeng inwardly sighed; Zhao Dajun could not stay. The treasure of his comrade’s family had been passed down for generations, and he even expected them to donate it; so, if Lu Jiaxin really found something in that house, it would be even more unthinkable. After all the effort and money people have spent, you want them to donate everything just like that? Besides, whether to donate or not should be up to the individuals concerned.

The next morning, Gu Wenfeng told Lu Jiaxin, “Miss Lu, give me five days, and I’ll have Dajun go back.”

“That’s fine, but you can’t let him know about the treasure hunt.”

With the conversation from the previous night in mind, Gu Wenfeng dared not tell Zhao Dajun, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell him. Miss Lu, that house is too dilapidated; it needs to be repaired before it can be lived in. These next few days are the perfect time to have Dajun help me with the repairs.”

Free labor; it’s a waste not to use it.

After their conversation, the group set off. Along the way, Gu Wenfeng told Lu Jiaxin that the house was a large compound with three sections. Sun Xun lived in the first section; the second and third sections were occupied by Sun Xun’s uncles. Sun Xun’s father had three brothers, and at the time of their family division, he drew the lot for the first section. As Sun Xun was the only adult male in his family, they had plenty of room, while his uncles’ families were flourishing with over twenty members each.

Lu Jiaxin couldn’t help but frown, “Did the Sun Family play any tricks when the house was being sold?”

Gu Wenfeng didn’t hide the truth, “Those hoodlums were brought in by one of Sun Xun’s cousins. But we bought the house with money, and all the paperwork was in order, so their low tricks were just a waste of effort.”

Lu Jiaxin was mainly worried that the Sun Family might suspect their intentions.

Gu Wenfeng said with a smile, “Don’t worry about that, the house is in Xue Mao’s name, and we’ve told others it’s for when he starts his own family. After they inquired about Xue Mao’s background, they all said he had doggone good luck.”

Once she knew the Sun Family wasn’t suspicious, Lu Jiaxin felt relieved.

After changing vehicles twice and walking for more than ten minutes, they finally arrived at the Sun Family’s house.

Pointing to the open gate, Gu Wenfeng gestured and explained, “There used to be three large doors here, with two side doors as well, but later only one was left, and the others were bricked up.”

Looking at the mottled old gate and walls, Lu Jiaxin felt the historical weight of the place, but it was a shame that in a few years all this would be demolished to make room for skyscrapers.

Stepping through the entrance, Lu Jiaxin noticed a door to the left and a long gallery to the right.

Upon entering, Gu Wenfeng closed the door behind them, “If we don’t lock the door, the people from the Sun Family will come and go as they please, treating this place as their own. After Xue Mao lost twenty yuan, the axe I bought also disappeared, so I’ve forbidden them from entering again.”

At first, they tolerated the Sun Family’s excessive behavior, fear of arousing their suspicion of ulterior motives. But after losing money and items, they had no concerns and kept them out with a perfectly legitimate reason, without fear of suspicion.

As soon as she walked in, Lu Jiaxin understood why Gu Wenfeng said the house was uninhabitable. The original color of the walls was no longer visible, the courtyard’s walls had overgrown grass, and all the doors and windows were broken; two of the rooms didn’t even have doors. Inside, sunlight shone through the cracks. If it rained, the house would turn into a pond.

The courtyard was originally spacious, but there was a vegetable patch on the left, corrugated iron sheds, and a chicken coop on the right, with three poles in the center for drying clothes.

Lu Jiaxin said incredulously, “Sun Xun’s family used to live here, so how did the house become so run-down and messy?”

The house didn’t look like it had been lived in at all.

Gu Wenfeng explained, “Sun Xun loves to gamble and never takes care of his wife and kids. But, the doors and windows were damaged by other people from the Sun Family before they moved out. The first time we came here, it was even dirtier and messier, but Xue Mao and I cleaned up for a while.”

Lu Jiaxin felt disgusted by those two families, who resorted to such lowest of the low tactics without having the money to buy the house: “Tear down the iron sheds and the chicken coop and move the clothes poles to the side of the wall.”

Gu Wenfeng wasn’t surprised she wanted to live there. If they didn’t stay, going back and forth every day in search of the secret passage’s entrance would arouse the Sun Family’s suspicions.

Lu Jiaxin and Xue Mao stayed behind to clean up the house, while Gu Wenfeng took Zhao Dajun back to their rental to move stuff.

After inspecting all six rooms, Lu Jiaxin pondered where the entrance to the secret passage could be built. It couldn’t be in the courtyard, because if so, it would have been discovered during vegetable planting, earth turning, or when building the iron sheds or chicken coop.

The likelihood of it being in the kitchen or the woodshed was also low. In the feudal era, it was not customary for men of great families to enter the kitchen, as it was said “gentlemen stay far from the kitchen”. Based on TV shows she had seen in her previous life, the entrance to secret passages was either in the bedroom or the study.