The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 567 My Dearer Little Brother
When Qin Huai returned to the hotel, Gong Liang had already arrived.

Having lived in Suzhou for so long, Shi Dadan had come to regard it as his happy hometown. He knew all the old shops, new shops, big shops, and hidden gems tucked away in alleyways. While Qin Huai was making fermented rice buns at Huang Ji, Shi Dadan swiftly visited all his favorite shops to select various afternoon tea snacks and main dishes for everyone, buying as many as 12 cups of milk tea.

When Qin Huai arrived at the hotel, An Youyou had already finished two cups of milk tea.

Very relaxed.

Upon seeing Qin Huai return with a bag of fermented rice buns, Gong Liang immediately got down to business: "I went to the nursing home yesterday morning and told Director Xu about this. He was very happy to hear that the eldest son has a granddaughter and wanted to come to Suzhou to visit him. He has already informed the nursing home staff in advance, and we can go there tomorrow morning to register briefly."

Clearly, Gong Liang hadn't mentioned Factory Director Xu much before Qin Huai arrived, so Shi Dadan asked eagerly after hearing this, "How is Factory Director Xu's health?"

Gong Liang gave Shi Dadan a deep look: "He's doing very well, in great spirits, and plays chess very well. When I arrived, he was crushing the opposing team, and the results were pretty much the same as those of Mr. Luo's private investigator."

Only then did Shi Dadan feel relieved and continue eating his fermented rice buns.

Gong Liang couldn't help but remind him, "Old Shi, tomorrow it's An Youyou who's going to see Director Xu, not you. You're not the main character, so don't get too excited. It's not easy to successfully overcome your tribulation, so don't ruin yourself over a meeting."

Shi Dadan smiled innocently: "No, I just... really want to see an old friend. In my past life, I also received a lot of help from Director Xu. During holidays, I would basically eat at Xu Nuo's house. Director Xu never complained that I ate a lot and always told me to eat more."

Qin Huai: ...Is it possible that because you usually pay Xu Nuo your salary, Director Xu feels guilty because he thinks his son is lying to you?

An Youyou's focus was completely different. After finishing two cups of milk tea, she stopped and kept holding her beloved pure gold three-legged toad, stroking it repeatedly. Anyone who didn't know better would think she wanted to play with walnuts.

"If I can't acknowledge Xiao Jiu tomorrow, do you think he'll give me his retirement money?" An Youyou asked, patting the three-legged toad's head. "Xiao Qi only got me 6 silver dollars back then, and he gave me this. Xiao Jiu definitely got more than Xiao Qi. Wouldn't it be too much of a loss if I didn't acknowledge him?"

"Oh dear, if only I had known, I would have gone to join Xiao Jiu when he was successful in my past life."

Qin Huai said, "Director Xu received a lot, but according to the fortune teller back then, Director Xu and Jiang Weiguo had to go to Guangdong Province every year to worship and burn paper money for you. The money they received probably wasn't even enough to cover their travel expenses over the years."

An Youyou: "...Superstition is really harmful. I can't spend the paper money you burn for me, so just give me the money directly!"

Qin Huai: ...

Qin Huai thought An Youyou should sit at a table with Zhou Hu and discuss the harm caused by feudal superstition.

One is a part-time fortune teller who champions the fight against superstition, and the other is a direct victim of feudal superstition. These two spirits should have a lot in common.

Originally, Qin Huai was supposed to provide Zhou Hu with a gift box of noodles after Zhou Hu was discharged from the hospital to help him complete Zhou Hu's side quest. However, An Youyou woke up too suddenly and brought too much shocking news, so Zhou Hu's side quest had to be postponed.

However, it's not a big problem; Zhou Hu is quite busy too. He was hospitalized with gastroenteritis and was delayed for a while, and the funeral planning for Luo Jun still needs to be followed up.

Luo Jun was only briefly lenient with Zhou Hu during his hospitalization. After Zhou Hu was discharged, he quickly became strict again, finding fault with everything. To fulfill his client's wish and receive the remaining payment, Zhou Hu retired from fortune-telling and has been working diligently ever since. I heard he's been very busy lately, having found two opera troupes from other provinces.

It's better to be busy.

"I think we should wait and see how things go tomorrow," Qin Huai said. "Old Shi, you should keep quiet if you can avoid saying anything."

"You should also keep your words to yourself, and try not to say things you shouldn't."

"It's not easy for Director Xu, an old man, to live in a nursing home. He can't get his pension. The cotton mill has been closed for many years. I guess Director Xu doesn't have much pension left."

"If you do a good job, I'll give you a raise of 1000 yuan when you get back."

An Youyou's eyes lit up: "Thank you, boss."

"If Jiang Weiguo doesn't give me a pension either, can I get a raise of 1000 yuan when I go back? 500 yuan is fine too. Boss, you won't lose out. Before I woke up, my education level was only junior high school. After I woke up, my education level... is at least high school! I saw the information sent by the private investigator. I guess Jiang Weiguo doesn't have much pension either. He retired quite early and transferred his work to his third son."

"Moreover, the state-run restaurant where he worked had long since closed down."

Qin Huai: ? Your little brother doesn't have the money to ask the boss for a raise?
"We can consider it," Qin Huai said. "Like I said, we'll act according to the circumstances."
.
Early the next morning, Qin Huai and his two companions carried a fruit basket, two boxes of pure milk, and a bag of fermented rice buns to the nursing home.

That bag of fermented rice buns was a batch of raw dough that Qin Huai had sent to Huang Anyao the day before, asking Huang Anyao to save it so that it could be steamed and eaten fresh at the nursing home.

In a sense, Director Xu was also a regular customer of Huangji and the state-run restaurant. He had promised to eat at the state-run restaurant the most back then, and he also frequented Huangji after it opened.

Qin Huai has now upgraded his fermented rice buns to the level of Master Jing back in the day. When we visit Director Xu this time, we should let him taste the flavor from back then.

As for the fruit basket and the two boxes of pure milk, one box of pure milk was bought by Shi Dadan, and the other two were bought by An Youyou. In An Youyou's words, although Xiao Jiu might not give him three gold bars, as the eldest brother, he would definitely treat his younger brothers equally. Whatever Xiao Qi had, Xiao Jiu should have too.

That's how fair the boss is.

The fair-minded leader arrived at the nursing home carrying a luxurious two-piece set for visiting the elderly. The nursing home where Director Xu lived was in the city center, or more accurately, the old city area. It wasn't remote, and the environment was relatively quiet. The buildings were a bit old, but the facilities were excellent, the landscaping was very good, and the air was fresh.

Because Gong Liang had given prior notice, Director Xu was waiting for the four people in the room. According to the caregiver, Director Xu usually plays chess in the activity room at this time.

Director Xu is a renowned chess master in this nursing home; no other old man can beat him at chess, and chess experts from other nursing homes often come to challenge him. Chess tournaments are frequently held between the various nursing homes, making it a very lively place.

Director Xu's room is on the second floor.

209, single room.

The room was bigger than Lin Qi's room, even the TV was bigger, the curtains were electric, the windows weren't blocked off with bars, and the room faced south with excellent natural light.

When Qin Huai and the others entered, Director Xu was sitting at the table brewing tea. Sunlight streamed through the window onto half of his face, making his slightly dry white hair shine. He certainly looked very energetic.

Factory Director Xu was old, his hair was gray, his eyes were no longer bright and were relatively cloudy, there were obvious age spots on his face, and his skin was relatively loose. He was completely different from the Factory Director Xu that Qin Huai remembered from Shi Dadan.

But one thing is the same.

He sits with his back very straight and his posture is upright, so he looks energetic.

"You've arrived." Director Xu smiled at everyone, his smile very kind. He first looked at An Youyou, then at Gong Liang. "Please sit down. I specially asked the caregiver to bring a few extra chairs. I usually only have one chair in my room."

"Xiao Gong, could you please introduce yourself?"

"Of course." Gong Liang gestured for everyone to sit down and began to introduce them one by one, "This is Youyou... she is... the eldest young lady's granddaughter."

An Youyou nodded cautiously to Director Xu, observing him: "Hello." "This is Master Qin Huai, the skilled pastry chef I told you about yesterday."

Factory Director Xu looked at Qin Huai and smiled very kindly: "Yesterday, Xiao Gong talked to me for more than half an hour about Master Qin. I have heard of your great name even though I live in a nursing home. Last New Year's Day, before my two grandsons came to visit me at the nursing home, they specially went to Huang Ji to queue up and buy your sweet fermented rice buns. I never expected to meet you in person today."

Qin Huai quickly said, "That's a real coincidence. I brought you a bag of raw dough for fermented rice buns today, and I just gave it to the caregiver."

"Looks like I'm in for a treat at lunchtime today."

Factory Director Xu turned his gaze to Shi Dadan.

"This is Shi Dadan, a friend of Youyou and Master Qin. He came here specifically to accompany Youyou," Gong Liang said.

"Director Xu, hello." Shi Dadan resolutely followed Qin Huai's advice to speak less, be more reserved, and not act impulsively.

Factory Director Xu nodded: "Thank you so much."

"No trouble, no trouble."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Director Xu didn't waste any more words. He looked directly at An Youyou, his eyes showing no suspicion, and exclaimed, "I didn't expect that the boss would have a granddaughter. Xiao Gong told me that you went to Shanghai a few days ago and found Xiao Qi. You really went through a lot of trouble, and it was very thoughtful of you."

"I don't know where Xiao Qi is. Otherwise, I could have gone to see him when I was in Shanghai a few years ago."

An Youyou began to tell the prepared lie: "My dad told me that when my grandma went to Guizhou Province to collect debts, she fell in love with my grandpa. My grandpa wanted to get married, but my grandma thought it was too much trouble and refused. After giving birth to my dad, she thought raising a child was too troublesome and expensive, so she left my dad with my grandpa and left."

"After my grandfather passed away, my father wanted to go to my grandmother's place and inquired about her along the way. He learned that my grandmother had died of illness in Guangdong Province many years ago. While inquiring about my grandmother, he also learned about you. However, because of the inconvenient journey and lack of money, my father did not think of visiting you."

“I am my father’s youngest daughter. My father lost a lot of money in business a couple of years ago and urgently needs money to pay off his debts. That’s why he urged me to come here to visit you all, hoping to see if I can borrow some money to tide me over.”

Qin Huai: ? ? ? Was this last part in the original script?

An Youyou, improvising, looked at Xu Chenggang with a sincere expression. Whether she was making up an old flame for herself or dissing her father as a scoundrel, An Youyou had no psychological burden, only pure acting skills and sincere eyes.

Xu Chenggang was slightly shocked by this short story, but accepted it: "I see... that's the boss's style."

Qin Huai: ...Just how clear-headed was An Youyou when she was the boss, that she could make her underlings accept such outrageous things so readily?

One readily accepts that the eldest child can be reincarnated with their memories intact, while the other readily accepts that the eldest child doesn't want to get married, and will abandon their child to their partner and run away.

Who says the older generation is feudal? They are actually very open-minded.

Xu Chenggang softened his tone: "Youyou, do you know... what happened to your grandmother back then?"

An Youyou said, "I know a little bit. When I visited Grandpa Lin in Shanghai a few days ago, he told me a lot about it. However, Grandpa Lin has Alzheimer's disease, and his memory is a bit confused."

“I know that my grandmother was the eldest beggar in her family, and her name was ‘eldest’.”

“Your grandmother was very capable.” Xu Chenggang’s words were full of pride. “Although she was a beggar, she never cheated or swindled anyone who wanted food.”

"She is very smart, has a photographic memory, can remember idioms she has heard, and can speak eloquently even without formal education."

"She was literate, could write, knew how to use an abacus, and could even fight. Back when she was begging, she could take on five adult men by herself."

“She was also very kind. Other beggars would take in young and strong men as their underlings. But she would only pick up little beggars like us who couldn’t survive, who were about to freeze to death on the streets in winter, or who were sick and lying on the streets waiting to die.”

"They won't beat or scold us even if we don't get food, and they'll empty their savings to treat us if we get sick."

"Even if you don't need to eat later, you'll still be very capable as an accountant in Nanjing. When I received the news of your grandmother's death, I couldn't believe it. It wasn't until I saw the body in Guangdong that I realized it was actually true."

“Your grandmother always wanted to save enough money to go back to Shanghai and reunite us younger brothers, so she always lived frugally. That’s why she died of illness in Guangdong Province because she ate unclean food while trying to save money.”

"She had saved a lot of money when she died; more than 500 silver dollars was a huge sum of money in those days."

"She is a very good, kind, capable, great, and selfless person."

An Youyou was stunned by Xu Chenggang's words. She almost blurted out, "Is the person you're talking about me?"

An Youyou never expected that she would have such a great image in the eyes of her underlings. Even the way she died of dysentery because of being stingy, a death that sounds somewhat shameful, sounded so touching when Xiao Jiu told her about it.

It was as if it had been bathed in holy light.

“When Xiao Gong told me yesterday that you came to Suzhou to see me, I guessed that you must have encountered difficulties at home.”

"When the eldest brother passed away, it cost more than 100 silver dollars to buy a coffin, carve a tombstone, and hold a funeral. Xiao Qi... Lin Qi probably doesn't know the exact amount. He was the youngest, and the incident happened suddenly. We didn't really discuss the money with him when we were dividing it up."

"Chen Shun divided the rest of the inheritance, I got 60 silver dollars, and Thirteenth Brother got 80 silver dollars."

“I retired early, and now I’m just an old man with not much savings, only a little over 40 yuan.”

"However, I have a good thing on hand, which my youngest son found when he was rummaging around. It's an early genuine work by Zhang Daqian, about two square feet in size. I think I can use it to raise some money to solve my immediate problem."

As he spoke, Xu Chenggang got up to get the painting for An Youyou.

Qin Huai and his companions were completely dumbfounded.

An Youyou looked at Qin Huai with some confusion and asked softly, "Who is Zhang Daqian?"

What does "two square feet" mean?

Qin Huai: ...Although An Youyou is more cultured than before after waking up, she still needs to study.

"It's worth more than what Lin Qi gave," Qin Huai said succinctly.

An Youyou:! ! !

She knew all along that Xiao Jiu was her dearest little brother!
(End of this chapter)