https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-35-Su-Heming-s-Token-of-Gratitude/12576299/
Chapter 34: Trap
Chapter 34: Trap
The journey from Guangming Road to the cemetery required two bus transfers. During the second transfer, Lu Jiaxin caught a whiff of a tantalizing aroma. Following her nose, she discovered an elderly gentleman selling roast chicken.
Her stomach rumbled with hunger at the scent. Lu Jiaxin inquired, "Sir, how much is one of your roast chickens?"
This chicken smelled even more delicious than the one Lu Hongjun had bought before.
"Eight yuan," the elderly man replied.
Upon hearing this, Lu Jiajie nearly jumped out of his skin. "A fat old hen at the vegetable market costs only three or four yuan. How can you charge eight yuan for a chicken that looks like it barely weighs two pounds?"
The elderly man remained unperturbed, fanning the stove with a palm-leaf fan as he explained, "This roast chicken recipe has been passed down in my family for generations. There are eight steps in the process alone, and the cooking fire must be carefully controlled. Young man, eight yuan is not expensive."
There was more to the story that he didn't mention. In the past, their family's roast chickens sold for as much as five yuan each, but they had to stop the business and close their stall. Now that he saw many people starting to do business again, and with his family's financial situation becoming increasingly difficult, he decided to revive this skill.
Lu Jiaxin asked, "Sir, may I have a taste? If it's delicious, I'll buy one."
The elderly man refused, but with a smile, he said, "Young lady, you can take a bite after you buy it. If you don't think it's tasty, you don't have to pay."
As the roast chicken was taken out of the iron pot and brought closer, the aroma became even more tantalizing. Lu Jiaxin didn't taste it, as she had a bit of a cleanliness quirk and wouldn't touch food without washing her hands first.
Counting out eight yuan, Lu Jiaxin said, "The fragrance alone is worth the price. Sir, do you sell here every day? I'll come here directly if I want to buy some in the future."
The elderly man laughed heartily and said, "My home is nearby. If you want to buy some later, just ask around for Zhang's roast chicken. Everyone knows us."
Carrying the roast chicken onto the bus, the aroma permeated through the oil paper and thick layers of newspaper it was wrapped in.
The passengers on the bus couldn't help but drool at the scent, and Lu Jiajie and Xue Mao were no exception. As soon as the two of them arrived home, they hurried into the kitchen to start preparing a meal. One lit the fire to boil water, while the other washed the vegetables. Through their combined efforts, a bowl of green vegetable noodles was soon ready.
Looking at the roast chicken that had been torn into pieces on the table, Lu Jiajie said, "Jiaxin, divide it into three portions. We'll each have our share."
Lu Jiaxin smiled and agreed, keeping the two chicken wings and the neck for herself, while the rest was evenly divided between the two brothers.
Lu Jiajie couldn't wait to tear off a chicken leg and take a bite, exclaiming with delight, "Delicious! So delicious! Jiaxin, this eight yuan was well spent."
Lu Jiaxin also picked up a chicken wing and took a bite. The aroma instantly filled her mouth. The chicken was indeed tasty—the meat was tender and juicy, and the more she chewed, the more flavorful it became.
The three of them devoured the entire roast chicken and the bowl of green vegetable noodles, leaving not a crumb behind. Lu Jiajie patted his stomach and said, "I was actually thinking of stopping you from buying it, but I'm glad I didn't, or else we would have missed out on this delicious roast chicken."
He only earned a little over eighty yuan a month, and this one chicken took up a tenth of his monthly salary. However, remembering how Lu Jiaxin had refused to accept the three hundred yuan from him yesterday, he once again urged her to take the money.
Lu Jiaxin didn't like dwelling on the same topic, so she hurried him along. "Fifth Brother, it's already half-past one. Hurry to work, or you'll be late."
Glancing at his watch, Lu Jiajie rushed off to the shoe factory. During his break at work, he boasted to his colleagues about the delicious roast chicken he had eaten that day.
After Lu Jiajie left, Xue Mao closed the door and said, "Sister, Brother Jiajie will be staying here tonight. It's not good for him to keep avoiding going home, right?"
Lu Jiaxin didn't want to discuss Ma Jia's situation and quickly came up with an excuse, "The house is too crowded. With Fifth Brother moving over here, his wife and two children will have more space to sleep."
Ma Jia originally had three rooms separated for their family. The elderly couple had one room, Lu Jiajie and Ma Lilli shared a room, and the two children had their own room. Ever since Yan Jixiang moved in, the two children started sleeping with their parents.
The room was small, with only a 1.5-meter bed. While they could squeeze during the winter, it was uncomfortable for four people to sleep together in the summer, so Lu Jiajie had to sleep on a mattress on the floor.
Although they could endure the harsh living conditions, Ma's father and mother's change in attitude and Ma's eldest sister's strange attitude every time she came to visit made it unpleasant for anyone to want to return. Thankfully, Fifth Sister-in-Law had agreed to buy a house, so they just had to endure a little longer before things would get better.
After some rest, Lu Jiaxin prepared to return to her room. Just then, someone knocked on the door. "Jiaxin, it's me, Su Heming!"
Xue Mao immediately went to open the door.
As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, Lu Jiaxin noticed the gold watch on Su Heming's wrist, and with just one glance, she knew it wasn't the same one as last time.
Su Heming expressed his gratitude, "Jiaxin, thank you. You really saved my life. I had someone appraise the watch, and it's indeed genuine."
Xue Mao was full of questions, "Why would someone sending you a real watch want to take your life?"
Su Heming saw that he didn't understand and explained, "That gold watch is worth 150,000 yuan on the black market. Wandering around with such an expensive item could easily make one a target for thieves."
Xue Mao's eyes widened, his mind filled with the image of 150,000 yuan. Fifteen million, how much money was that? Would it be enough to fill a room?
A fleeting glint flashed in Lu Jiaxin's eyes, indicating that there was definitely something amiss with the watch. Moreover, if her guess was correct, the target of this scheme was probably Su Ya. Su Heming himself did not warrant such an extravagant gesture.
"If they sent you a 150,000 yuan watch just to attract thieves and endanger your life, there must be more to the story, right?"
Su Heming replied, "I'm not sure about the specifics, but there's definitely something suspicious about the watch. My aunt asked me to replace the watch with a fake one and halt all my current business dealings. We'll decide on the next steps when my father and eldest brother return from Hong Kong City."
Lu Jiaxin had asked Lu Jiajie about it, but unfortunately, he didn't know much about the Xie and Su families.
Xue Mao was perplexed, "Your family can still go to Hong Kong City?"
Su Heming explained that his father went to visit relatives, "Many years ago, my grandfather and granduncle went to Hong Kong City to do business, but due to some reasons, they lost contact. We recently reconnected. My father missed my grandfather, so he took my eldest brother to visit him."
Upon hearing this, Lu Jiaxin understood that the Su family must have been quite wealthy in the past and possibly even major capitalists.
"Why didn't you go?"
Hong Kong City? The items from there were all the rage these days. Being able to go there would surely elicit much envy.
The smile on Su Heming's face faded, "I didn't want to go. Years ago, my grandfather left my grandmother, my father, and two aunts behind and went to Hong Kong City with my granduncle's family. My grandmother worked herself to death before she even turned forty, and my eldest aunt was bullied to death. If they didn't want us back then, why bother reconnecting now?"
"What about your youngest aunt's opinion?" Lu Jiaxin asked. She knew that Xie Furen's attitude was the key. After all, the Xie family was now thriving, and if the Su family's eldest branch wanted to return to the mainland to do business, they would need her support.
Su Heming hesitated before answering, "My youngest aunt said she respects my father's decision, but she didn't express her own opinion."
Not taking a stand meant she didn't want to acknowledge the relationship. However, as Chinese people have revered filial piety for thousands of years, some things were better left unsaid and could be conveyed through such actions.
(End of Chapter)
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