Kissed and Seduced By the Most Rough Man in the Village-Chapter 321: Jiang Yexun Prepares the Betrothal Gifts
After sweeping all the scraps from the table back into the envelope, Mrs. Su carefully stored it away. Although no words could be discerned anymore, the peculiar material of the paper was still preserved as evidence. If there were any disputes in the future, this could be presented as proof.
"We can set this matter aside for now. The urgent issue is resolving the situation with the steel factory," Su Xiaoxiao muttered softly as she followed behind her mother.
Mrs. Su paused in her actions and looked seriously at Su Xiaoxiao. But before she could speak, Su Xiaoxiao quickly said, "Mom, don’t tell us not to get involved. This trouble affects our entire family, and from the moment Yexun and his mother got involved with me, they were also targeted by those behind the scenes. We’re all in the same boat now. If one of us goes down, the rest won’t escape either."
She knew her mother thought it would be difficult to find evidence in this matter. Instead of dragging the children into it, she preferred to save whoever she could. But Su Xiaoxiao had been given a second chance at life to change the outcome of the previous life. How could she possibly run away from problems now?
"You..." Mrs. Su looked at Su Xiaoxiao and eventually sighed. It was the adults’ fault for dragging the children into such dangerous schemes. If only she, as the older sister, had realized the vast difference between their family and the Zhang family in Beijing and had stopped her sister from marrying Zhang Zhiyuan, they wouldn’t be in this situation today.
While the Su family’s atmosphere was somber, Jiang Yexun was busy with a whirlwind of activity. He and He Xingzhi left at seven in the morning, first circling the black market before approaching a few lookouts at the entrance.
"I’d like to meet your boss to discuss some big business," Jiang Yexun handed out cigarettes to the men and then lowered his voice. Of course, saying this alone wouldn’t grant him an audience with the black market boss, so he showed them what was in his pocket— a golden ingot.
The glint of the gold caught the men’s attention, and one of them quickly nodded, "Alright, wait here while I inform the boss."
"Thanks, brother," Jiang Yexun said gratefully and then moved with He Xingzhi to stand by the corner. The area was well-connected, so if the authorities showed up, they could escape quickly. But big-time resellers like them had their ways; if the authorities were coming, they would be tipped off in advance.
After a while, the lookout returned. "Come with me; the boss agreed to see you."
"Thanks," Jiang Yexun replied and followed the man to a courtyard a few streets away. Inside, the place was clean, but it was clear that no one lived there regularly. It was likely one of the many hideouts. Upon hearing the door open, a man in a rocking chair stood up. He looked to be about thirty-five or thirty-six, with a scar on his face, giving him a fierce appearance.
"So, you have gold to sell?" the man asked directly, not beating around the bush.
Jiang Yexun took out a large gold ingot from his pocket. "Can you take it?"
The man was momentarily stunned by the size of the ingot, then laughed. "You’ve got guts, kid. Aren’t you afraid I’ll just take it from you?"
"If you’re running the black market in Shanghai, you wouldn’t ruin your reputation over something like this. Even if I had ten of these, you wouldn’t risk it." Jiang Yexun replied calmly.
The man burst into laughter. "You’re right! The bank’s buying price for gold is twenty-seven yuan per gram, and we’ll take it for twenty-nine. That comes to fourteen thousand five hundred yuan."
"Deal," Jiang Yexun agreed without haggling.
"You’re a straightforward guy," the man said approvingly, nodding. He pulled over a large bag, took out fifteen stacks of ten-yuan bills, and then removed half from the last stack. He put all the money into the bag and handed it to Jiang Yexun.
Jiang Yexun took the bag and said, "Thanks. I’ll be on my way now."
"Sure, brother. If you have more good stuff like this, come find me anytime. I’ll give you a good price," the man promised, thumping his chest.
After agreeing, Jiang Yexun left the courtyard. Today, besides selling the gold, he also wanted to get a feel for the character of the man running the black market. After the current situation is resolved, Xiaoxiao’s Whitening Pills and Moisture Pills could potentially be sold in Shanghai.
"Boss, should we go buy gifts for the sister-in-law’s family now? All the stuff we had before was given to her, and besides some change of clothes and money, we don’t have anything else," He Xingzhi reminded, slightly worried.
The problem was that the gifts given yesterday were so good that anything bought now might seem lacking in sincerity and grandeur.
"First, let’s go to the post office," Jiang Yexun said calmly.
He Xingzhi quickly followed, trailing after him. The items sent by Jiang Yexun from the Northeast weren’t anything particularly special, just ten cartons of Peony cigarettes, ten bottles of Maotai, and various famous teas from around the country, each weighing ten pounds. These items were not only expensive, but the ration tickets required to obtain them were also hard to come by, with strict limits in each location. Even high-ranking officials would struggle to gather them, and they had to rely on people like them with connections to get them from all over the country.
"Wow, boss, you really went all out to marry the sister-in-law," He Xingzhi couldn’t help but marvel when they returned to the hostel, and he saw Jiang Yexun unpack everything, neatly arranging it all on the table.
Previously, the entire team thought the betrothal gifts and bride price were excessive, and there had been private discussions about it for a long time. Old Jiang’s two daughters-in-law had even caused a ruckus over it, leading to a family breakdown. But those gifts were nothing compared to this—just the ten cartons of Peony cigarettes were worth fifty-four yuan, and the ten bottles of Maotai nearly sixty. The value of the tea was even harder to estimate.
"This isn’t a big deal," Jiang Yexun dismissed lightly.
Yesterday, the bags of meat alone were worth several hundred yuan. Not to mention the twenty blocks of donkey-hide gelatin, which Big Gao smuggled back from Harbor City. Fifteen of those were in yesterday’s bags.
