Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 560: Great Intelligence and Wisdom Appears Foolish and Dazzling
The sky is blue, white clouds are sparse, Shangzhi Street is bustling with traffic, and the trees on both sides are lush and green.

Originally, Li Fuqiang tried to stop at the tram station after hearing his brother-in-law's words, but Xu Ning told him to go straight to Daoli Branch, so he just stepped on the foot brake and put the car in gear again and drove towards the branch.

Yesterday, Xu Ning and Chen Hedong agreed to meet at the gate of the police station at around 1: p.m., and they would be able to pick up Zhang Er on the way, so there was no need to go to Chen Hedong's house to pick him and his wife up.

At the roadside intersections, there were people repairing bicycles, repairing shoes, and selling popsicles and cigarettes. Most of the pedestrians were wearing white shirts, followed by gray and dark blue clothes. A few were wearing floral and spotted dresses.

While waiting for the traffic light, Li Fuqiang saw a gorgeous woman wearing a blue and white porcelain-style cheongsam, with a pair of khaki high heels on her feet, showing her legs. She was holding her child with her left hand and holding a man in casual clothes with her right hand. She immediately attracted a lot of attention. Li Fuqiang thought that if Yang Shuhua wore this outfit, it would definitely have a different charm, because Yang Shuhua had a great figure and a special feminine charm...

Meng Ziyan and Guan Hua also saw it. Their first reaction was that it was immoral, but when they thought about it carefully, they realized that the wealthy ladies in the city had been wearing cheongsams half a century ago. They could accept it. Then they wondered what effect it would have if they wore it.

Oh my god, their butts are round and can hold up, but they have never given birth to children, so they can’t show their feminine charm. If they can’t hold it up, wouldn’t that be imitating others ugly?
The light ahead turned green, the car drove slowly, turned to the gate of the police station, parked the car on the side of the road, and then Xu Ning and others got out of the car one after another.

At this time, Zhang Er rushed out from the gate, followed by Chen Hedong and Su Yawen. The two sides waved and greeted each other when they met.

"Brother Dong, let me introduce you, this is my brother-in-law."

"Ah, hello, brother-in-law! My girlfriend Su Yawen..."

My brother-in-law took out a cigarette and handed it over, then handed the message to Xu Ning. He first exchanged a few pleasantries and asked when he arrived. He was not in a hurry...

Then he went straight to the point and said, "Brother Dong, my brother-in-law wanted to buy some ginseng, but I sold all the ginseng yesterday, so I brought him to you."

"Oh, then my brother-in-law has found the right person! Wife, you and Zhang'er go find your sister-in-law first..."

Xu Ning said, "How about we get in the car first? When we get to the mall, let them walk around first while we study outside."

"Okay, then let's not waste time, brother-in-law, let's talk in the car."

My brother-in-law smiled and said, "I'll follow your arrangements."

The four girls definitely couldn't fit in the front passenger seat, so they went into the back compartment and found a place to sit. In the compartment were things that Dazhi and Scarface had bought, mainly rice, flour, oil, malted milk, calcium milk biscuits, and two rolls of cloth. Scarface let them sit on the cloth, since there was a sack underneath and it wasn't dirty anyway.

Xu Ning got into the driver's seat, while his brother-in-law and Chen Hedong sat in the passenger seat and started chatting. After everyone was seated, the car drove away from the police station.

"Yes! I heard from Erning that it is better to plant one seedling than two."

Chen Hedong said: "One seedling is enough. You can buy good ginseng for 2000 yuan. I will help you clean it up. It will definitely be a face-saving gift to give it to others!"

My brother-in-law is an outsider and asked, "How big can the seedlings be grown?"

"Yesterday I bought two good ginseng seedlings from Erning. The original price was 2200 yuan. It's not easy for Erning to talk back to me. I'll give you 2000 yuan for one seedling."

My brother-in-law was slightly stunned, and hurriedly said, "Don't say that. Friendship is friendship, but business is business. The original price is 2200, and I will give you 2300. Can you earn less? How can you not earn a dime? What's the point of doing business then?"

Chen Hedong said with a smile: "I owe Master Erning a favor, this little money is nothing, brother-in-law, just listen..."

Xu Ning didn't want to interrupt, but since they were talking for his sake, he had to say, "Brother Dong, stop talking about owing favors. We are buddies, so who owes whom a favor? I won't be happy if you keep talking like this."

Chen Hedong grinned foolishly, and his brother-in-law nodded silently. Xu Ning continued, "Let's do this. You bought it at the original price, and I'll buy it back at the original price. Then I'll let your brother-in-law buy another one, and that's it."

"That's fine! Anyway, all the goods are from you, brother-in-law, what do you think?"

My brother-in-law nodded: "Okay! That's settled. You just said you wanted to clean up, how are you going to clean up?"

Chen Hedong said: "Nowadays, there are many rules for giving gifts. If you give someone ginseng fresh out of the pit, they won't know what to do with it. We can clean the ginseng soil, put it in a box, and then fix the ginseng whiskers with copper nails. It looks very beautiful and it is quite face-saving to give it as a gift!"

Xu Ning understood what he meant, but he didn't think it was a good idea to do so. He just said, "Brother Dong, this is a bit troublesome. It's better to let my brother-in-law directly bring the tree bark buns. They may look a bit tacky, but they are for our family, the tacky the better."

Chen Hedong asked, "What's the meaning of this?"

"You have to know that not everyone knows about ginseng. If you send bark buns to others, they must have cleaned the ginseng soil, right? They probably can't clean it themselves because they don't know its value. If they find someone who knows how to clean it, and they can tell you the value of this ginseng seedling during the conversation, isn't it much better than my brother-in-law telling you himself?"

Chen Hedong clapped his hands and said, "That's right! Brother-in-law, listen to Erning."

"Brother-in-law, when you send something as a present, don't tell them where you bought it. Just say that you got it from a fellow villager and that it was unearthed less than five days ago and is very fresh. Then tell them that this ginseng seedling can be framed and collected, or even passed down as a family heirloom to your descendants. This is the truth that you can only tell when sending something to a relative. If you are sending something to an outsider, you must never say these things, as they will easily cause others to be disgusted..."

"Oh, I kind of understand. Do you send it often?" my brother-in-law asked curiously.

Xu Ning smiled and said, "I give some gifts when I have nothing to do, but they are not expensive items. They are all meat from animals hunted in the mountains. They are given to relatives and friends. Brother-in-law, you have to discuss this matter with my brother He. Don't make the decision directly by yourself. Even if my brother He can't understand, he will give you some suggestions."

"I know. Everyone has self-esteem. How can I let my brother-in-law look down on me..."

"Brother-in-law, you think too much. I, Brother He, can't laugh at you. I wanted to persuade you at home, but my uncle and aunt were away, so I didn't say anything. If you say that you have a quarrel with my sister Xiao He, I, Brother He, can't stand by you, but if you want to make progress, can I, Brother He, stop you?"

Chen Hedong nodded: "That's true, brother-in-law. I'm not good at talking and can't come up with any ideas, but you can listen to Erning and it will be fine."

"Okay, I'll talk to him when I get back."

Although he wanted to improve himself, he had no practical experience. However, he had grown up in an environment that had influenced him, so he had some ideas in his mind. However, he was arrogant before. Now that his father had retired, his influence naturally declined. If he discussed this with his father, he would definitely say something crooked, so he didn't even have anyone to discuss it with...

The car slowly stopped at the roadside in front of the second shopping mall. Although it was Friday, there were still many people gathered in front of the mall.

Xu Ning pushed the door open and got out of the car. He walked to the back of the car and helped Meng Ziyan jump out. He said, "Sister-in-law, you guys go shopping first. Brother Dong and I have something to do."

"Yeah." Su Yawen nodded in response.

Li Fuqiang asked: "Brother, shall we go with you?"

"No need, you guys can go inside and take a walk, Dazhi and Scarface, just follow me."

"Okay, then where shall we meet up?"

"Just leave it here at the door. We'll be back when we're done. If we don't see you when we go in, we'll meet at the entrance of the mall at five o'clock."

Meng Ziyan urged: "Hurry up and do your work..."

Seeing her so anxious, Xu Ning thought she couldn't wait any longer, so he said with a smile, "Sister-in-law Zhang, thank you for your help."

"Hey, why are you being so polite? Just go away."

After that, Su Yawen, Meng Ziyan and the other two girls walked towards the mall door, followed closely by Li Fuqiang, Wang Hu and Guan Lei. Xu Ning raised his chin at Dazhi and Scarface, and the two of them quickly got into the car. Then everyone set off again and drove towards Chen Hedong's home.

It was a little after two o'clock when they arrived at his house. The five of them entered the house and sat on chairs. Chen Hedong first went to get some popsicles and turned on the electric fan before going to the cellar to get the ginseng.

After a while, he came into the house with a bunch of ginseng and said with a smile, "Brother-in-law, this is the ginseng seedling. I guarantee you will be satisfied."

My brother-in-law laughed and said, "Open it and see what it looks like. I haven't seen the fifth batch of leaves yet."

As Chen Hedong untied the red rope, he said, "The soil in the original pit is all wet. It should have been less than a week since Erning took out the ginseng." After peeling off the bark to reveal the ginseng, his brother-in-law clapped his hands and said, "This is a good thing! The whiskers look like dragon whiskers! Okay, this is it! The total is 2200, right?"

After saying this, the brother-in-law hurried out the door. Chen Hedong was stunned and asked, "Brother-in-law, what are you doing?"

"Get the money and be back soon!"

Xu Ning smiled and said, "Brother-in-law has prepared the money a long time ago. He originally wanted me to help buy it, but I think I still need to meet you. You should contact brother-in-law more often in the future. Do you understand what I mean?"

Chen Hedong tilted his head and asked, "Does my brother-in-law have any customers?"

"Oh! What are you thinking? My brother-in-law is currently working in the street office. Shouldn't he move around in the future?"

"Ah! Then I understand. More friends mean more paths." Chen Hedong grinned and said, "Erning, let's keep in touch in the future."

"What are you talking about? We must keep in touch! You do business in the provincial capital, and I want Shitou to do some small business in the future... Have you seen them? They used to follow me, but they were not doing good things. Now I want to lead them to a good path."

Actually, Xu Ning's words were very straightforward, but Chen Hedong was confused. He said, "Let Lei Zi do small business? Then why don't you do business? If you do business, you will definitely make a lot of money! Seriously, if you can come to the provincial capital, we can do this business together and grab all the supply from my father and others..."

Xu Ning pulled him to sit down and said, "Don't think like that! Don't talk like that in the future. Do you know how your words make people feel?"

"What? You think I'm stupid? Oh, I'm not stupid! I just told your sister-in-law last night..."

Xu Ning waved his hand helplessly, glanced at Dazhi and Scarface who were trying not to laugh, and asked, "Do you two think he's stupid?"

Scarface said, "Silly! Brother Dong, we've only known each other for less than two days, and you've been so open-hearted. We're a little uncomfortable with you."

Dazhi said: "You may say that Dong Ge is stupid, but he is actually not a cunning person... But Dong Ge is so sincere to you that he has entered your heart."

"Hahaha, fuck! Okay, Brother Dong, I'm telling you, don't be so open with your heart and lungs when you meet people from now on, otherwise you'll easily suffer a loss, or even lose your life, understand?"

"Ah, I didn't really open my heart to you..."

A man like Chen Hedong can't really be called stupid, but can only be regarded as a foolish person with great wisdom? There is still a question mark. However, he really got into Xu Ning's heart. First, Xu Ning wanted to use him to step into the business of collecting and selling ginseng. This reason alone was enough for Xu Ning to help Chen Hedong find his great grandfather and fight for the shares and property left by his grandfather. After a few visits, the two of them had a deep friendship, and it was much easier to get along with each other from then on.

But Xu Ning didn't expect Chen Hedong to have such a personality. He really didn't know what to do. If he used him actively, he would feel uncomfortable. If he used him passively, it would be as if Chen Hedong saw through his thoughts. It was really difficult to deal with!
At this time, the brother-in-law came into the room with two stacks of money, put them in front of Chen Hedong, and said, "Hedong, count it, the total is 2200 yuan."

"Okay." Chen Hedong didn't play dumb. He picked up one of the stacks of banknotes and started counting. He counted the money very quickly, and it was obvious that practice makes perfect. He finished counting in just a moment and said with a smile, "Not a penny off, brother-in-law, this ginseng seedling is yours. If you need it framed, please let me know. Otherwise, please leave me your contact information so that we can keep in touch in the future. With Erning's relationship, we know each other well."

"Okay, here are the phone numbers of my workplace and the store near my home..."

After the two exchanged contact information, Xu Ning said, "Shall we go?"

My brother-in-law said, "Erning, come to my house tomorrow and have a visit?"

"No, come back next time. I heard from my uncle that your father is very proud of venison."

"Well, the old man would like to eat some deer steaks and deer jelly."

"That's all. I can't say anything else, but once winter comes, I'm sure I can catch some deer..."

Chen Hedong found a cloth bag and asked his brother-in-law to put the bark buns in it. Then they all drove towards Xu Pao's house. When they arrived at the entrance of the alley, Xu Ning did not get out of the car to see them off. He just waved goodbye and drove away.

Afterwards, Xu Ning and others returned to the Second Shopping Mall and found a place to park that would not get in the way.

There were guns and the things Dazhi and the other man bought in the car, so he and Scarface did not get out. Xu Ning and Chen Hedong walked towards the mall entrance while chatting.

"I talked to my grandfather last night, and he said I had to bring my dad and my eldest brother with me."

"Okay, we'll leave from Qing'an on the evening of the 3rd and arrive in Wanye just in time for daybreak."

"I'll listen to your arrangements. I meant what I said at home. If you want to join me in collecting ginseng, how about we study it together?"

Xu Ning shook his head: "Brother Dong, we have only known each other for less than two days, why do you trust me so much? Aren't you afraid that I will cheat you?"

"It's up to you to cheat me. I have to walk the path I've walked myself. If you cheat me, I'll accept it."

Chen Hedong was indeed quite wise, but Xu Ning still shook his head: "Let's talk about it later. My family also has a business. Besides, it's almost winter, and the ginseng harvesting business is in the off-season."

"It is indeed the off-season. I will go play with you after winter comes."

"Okay, I'll take you for a run in the mountains."

"Okay! I just want to see how to beat an animal."

Xu Ning turned his head and stared at him, and suddenly said: "Brother Dong, I have a suggestion for you. You'd better separate your home from the place where you store ginseng. For example, today, your home is empty. What if someone with jealous eyes comes into the house? In addition, it's best not to keep money at home, or put it somewhere safer."

"Okay, I'll study it tomorrow."

"Do you know what it means?"

Chen Hedong said, "I know. I'm afraid it might be stolen if I leave it at home. Sometimes when I go out, it's not safe for my wife to leave it at home alone."

Xu Ning smiled and said, "Brother Dong, I don't know what to say to you... Anyway, let's get along slowly. If things don't work out, you can find the reason yourself."

Chen Hedong grinned and said, "It must be my fault that things aren't going well!"

"Hahaha……"

Xu Ning laughed heartily and walked into the mall side by side with Chen Hedong. The mall was a bit stuffy. Watches and gold and silver jewelry were sold at the entrance, and small accessories and underwear were sold further inside.

Chen Hedong pointed to the platform ahead and said, "Let's go sit on the platform and wait."

"Okay, do you want a soda or a popsicle?"

"Let's just drink the sour plum soup. It's right in front."

"to make……"

The two walked to the stall selling sour plum soup, spent 20 cents to buy two teacups, and leaned against the stairs to observe the passers-by.

Chen Hedong pushed Xu Ning and whispered, "Take a look..."

Xu Ning turned his head, his eyes lit up, and he nodded with a smile: "It has to be the provincial capital..."

Looking towards the right direction, I saw a young girl walking slowly with her long legs. She was dressed quite fashionably, with wavy curly hair, lipstick on her lips, a pearl necklace around her neck, a red dress, and a pair of red leather shoes. Most importantly, her slender legs were wrapped in a layer of skin-colored stockings.

Wow! Bright! Eye-catching!
(End of this chapter)