Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

After smoking a few cigarettes in the office, seeing how quickly Ma Hua had gotten the hang of things in the purchasing department, Wang Feng gave Ma Hua his home address and told him to come to his house if he needed anything. Then he left the steel rolling mill and headed towards No. 28 Courtyard.

He stirs up trouble all the time, and lives a carefree life.

Upon arriving at courtyard number 28, Lou Xiao'e greeted us with a smile.

"Brother Feng, yesterday afternoon, Uncle Lou came over and asked me to inform you that my dad has already contacted the old items and they will be delivered to the previous location in the next couple of days. He also said that there is a lot of goods, worth 300 catties of gold, and that you should prepare the gold in advance."

Wang Feng nodded: "Okay, I understand."

Back inside, Lou Xiao'e poured Wang Feng a cup of tea and said, "Brother Feng, my dad knows a lot about antiques. I asked him to check them out for you, and he said the prices he gave for these antiques were very reasonable."

Wang Feng took a sip of tea and laughed heartily: "Son, you're so thoughtful."

Lou Xiao'e rolled her eyes: "These old objects are worth three hundred catties of gold. You don't know anything about old objects. If we get ripped off, wouldn't we lose a lot of money? How can I not let my dad check them out? He's been collecting old objects for half his life. He can basically tell whether something is real or fake and how much it's worth."

"Too."

Wang Feng hadn't considered this before. A few hundred kilograms of gold was nothing to him. He knew nothing about antiques, and even if there were fakes in the things these capitalists collected, there probably wouldn't be many. In any case, he wouldn't lose money.

"Son, cook more rice for lunch, I'll eat here."

Lou Xiao'e nodded: "Yes, Brother Feng, do you have time this afternoon? We're almost out of coal at home, so we need to go and get a few truckloads of coal."

"Son, how many more days can the coal burn?" Wang Feng asked.

Lou Xiao'e thought for a moment and said, "It can probably burn for another two days."

"Okay, after we finish eating, I'll go get a few truckloads of coal. You go ahead and cook; it's almost 11 o'clock."

"Um."

At noon, Lou Xiao'e made a dish of pheasant stew with mushrooms and a dish of hot and sour cabbage.

After finishing his meal and drinking a pot of tea, Wang Feng went to haul coal.

I rode my bicycle to the coal yard, bought two cartloads of coal, and spent eight cents to hire two porters before returning to courtyard number 28.

These two bosses were very efficient. Without even asking for extra money, they offered to help him carry the coal to the kitchen.

After both carts of coal were moved to the kitchen, Wang Feng gave each of the two shopkeepers an extra ten cents. The two shopkeepers were overjoyed and thanked Wang Feng repeatedly.

After seeing the two bosses off, Wang Feng washed his hands. Lou Xiao'e came over, blushing, and said, "Brother Feng, you must be tired. Go take a nap and rest for a while."

Wang Feng chuckled mischievously, "Just sleeping? Aren't you going to do anything else?"

"Brother Feng, you're so annoying!"

Lou Xiao'e stomped her feet in embarrassment and ran back to her room with a red face.

Wang Feng smiled slightly, walked into the room, and closed the door.

Just as the two were getting excited and preparing to take the next step, there was a sudden knock on the courtyard gate, which made Wang Feng and Lou Xiao'e frown.

"Knock knock knock, knock knock knock".

The knocking was urgent and kept going on and on; Wang Feng wanted nothing more than to punch the person knocking to death.

With his pants already off, it would be strange if someone suddenly came to interrupt his good time. It would be strange if Wang Feng was in a good mood.

It's 2 PM now, and strangers usually don't come to this courtyard. Who could it be?

Lou Xiao'e nudged Wang Feng and hurriedly said, "Brother Feng, hurry up and get dressed. No one usually comes to this courtyard. It must be Uncle Lou. He's knocking on the door so urgently, there must be something urgent."

As she spoke, Lou Xiao'e ignored Wang Feng and picked up her clothes to put them on.

Seeing this, Wang Feng gritted his teeth, quickly put on his clothes and shoes, walked to the gate of the courtyard, and opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, Lou San rushed into the courtyard, quickly closed the door, and said urgently:

"Young master, something terrible has happened! Chairman Lou and his wife have been arrested!"

Wang Feng was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "Uncle Lou, what exactly happened? Who arrested my father-in-law and mother-in-law?"

Lou Xiao'e, upon hearing from inside the house that her parents had been arrested, was immediately filled with anxiety. She rushed out of the house and asked anxiously, "Uncle Lou, what happened to my parents?"

"Miss, son-in-law, just now, a group of police officers stormed into the Lou family home and arrested Chairman Lou and his wife. Lou Er and I had just returned from running errands and were reporting the progress of our mission to Chairman Lou when we happened to witness Chairman Lou and his wife being taken away by the police."

"Now the Lou family's property has also been seized, and 130 jin of gold was found in their possession. It was the batch of gold that my son-in-law gave me last time. I've been too busy these past few days to move it. I never expected the police to come to my door to arrest me."

"Lou Er and I originally wanted to go up and ask about the situation, but Chairman Lou pretended not to know us, so we had no choice but to come and inform you first, and then we'll figure out a solution."

"By the way, Chairman Chen's confidant was also present at the time. I had dealings with Chairman Chen's confidant a few years ago, and I suspect that this matter must be related to Chairman Chen. Miss, during this period, you must not go out or go back to the Lou family. If this matter involving Chairman Lou implicates you, it will be troublesome. I will go and ask Lou Yi and the others for information and try to find a way to rescue Chairman Lou and his wife."

Lou San finished speaking in one breath, his expression extremely anxious.

"How could this happen... Why were my parents arrested when everything was fine?"

Lou Xiao'e muttered to herself, tears streaming down her face, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

After listening to Lou San's account, Wang Feng had a general understanding of the situation. However, he still didn't know why the police had come to arrest Lou Bancheng and Tan Yali, nor did he know which police station they had been taken to. He could only investigate and find out the details first.

Now that so much gold has been found in the Lou family's possession, even if they had ten mouths, they wouldn't be able to explain themselves.

"By the way, Uncle Lou, you just said this matter is related to Chairman Chen? Who is this Chairman Chen?"

Lou San hurriedly explained, "Son-in-law, this Chairman Chen is a capitalist and a shareholder of the textile factory. His situation is similar to Chairman Lou's. A few years ago, during the public-private partnership, he handed over the textile factory to the higher authorities. He and Chairman Lou are old friends. Last time you exchanged gold for jade, Chairman Chen had a share in it."

"This time, Chairman Lou approached these capitalists with whom he had good relations again regarding the old items. Chairman Lou had already reached an agreement with them yesterday. Now that something has happened, and one of Chairman Chen's confidants brought the police to the Lou family, this matter must be related to Chairman Chen."

Lou Xiao'e suddenly remembered when she heard the name Chairman Chen.

"Uncle Lou, is that Chairman Chen you mentioned the balding, middle-aged man with glasses who came to my house for drinks a couple of years ago? The one who wanted me to be his daughter-in-law?"

Lou San nodded: "It's him."

Lou Xiao'e gritted her teeth and said, "So it was him? That bastard!"

Lou Xiao'e suddenly grabbed Wang Feng's arm tightly, tears streaming down her face, sobbing uncontrollably, "Waaah, Brother Feng, you have to save my parents!"