Chapter 622: Disaster is Imminent

He Yuzhu picked one up at random, his eyelids twitching—it was actually a Ming Dynasty official kiln Yongle Blue and White Plum Vase!

He suppressed his racing heart, remaining calm on the surface, but inside he was in turmoil: just this one piece, in a few decades, would be worth a fortune.

Lou Bancheng opened several more boxes in succession; inside were all kinds of porcelain, calligraphy and paintings, ancient books, gold and silver utensils, and even quite a few bronzes and jades.

Lou Bancheng sighed, his eyes full of reluctance: "These things... I can't take them with me. Leaving them behind means they'll just be smashed. Little brother, you have the ability to protect them."

He Yuzhu glanced over them a few times, his mind crystal clear—if this batch of goods were truly destroyed, what a great sin that would be! He smiled and said straightforwardly: "Boss Lou, I won't look at them one by one. You name a price; if it's reasonable, I'll take them."

Lou Bancheng was silent for a moment, then held up one finger.

"One million?" He Yuzhu raised an eyebrow.

Lou Bancheng nodded: "US dollars."

He Yuzhu knew clearly that if these things were sold to others, they might not even fetch 100,000 US dollars, but their actual value was far beyond that money, not to mention their worth in the future.

He Yuzhu asked: "If I take them all, do you want cash or a check?"

Lou Bancheng smiled and said self-deprecatingly: "I know you must think I'm asking for the moon. Actually, this price includes this house. Not just this house, but five other properties as well, all for you."

As he spoke, he took the deeds out from his bosom and handed them to He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu smiled.

He hadn't intended to haggle; he felt one million US dollars was well worth it—he had plenty of those greenbacks on hand, and they were of no use right now, so he might as well buy some things to hide away.

But with Lou Bancheng making such arrangements, it made him feel the man was sincere and hadn't intended to take advantage of him.

He Yuzhu took the deeds, pretended to go to the car to get his checkbook, and used the Liushi Trading Company's account at the Hong Kong Bank to write a check for one million dollars, handing it to Lou Bancheng.

Lou Bancheng took the check and handed him the keys to the various courtyards, all the deeds, and the addresses on the spot.

After Lou Bancheng left, He Yuzhu walked into the warehouse, his gaze sweeping over the antiques; with a thought, the entire warehouse instantly became empty, everything having been collected into his space.

He planned to register all these courtyards under the name of Liushi Trading Company, and this one million would count as the purchase funds.

In this way, even if a movement started in the future, no one would be able to touch an enterprise like Liushi Trading Company—after all, this company was still working hard to transport grain for the country and had made huge contributions.

He Yuzhu collected all the furniture and ornaments that could be moved from the Siheyuan into his space, even moving the lilac trees in the two large flower pots to be replanted in the East Cross Courtyard.

Afterwards, he went to the other five residences. These houses were well-maintained and fully furnished, clearly having been looked after all along.

He Yuzhu guessed that these might be houses Lou Bancheng provided for relatives or high-level managers.

He Yuzhu collected the furniture from these courtyards into his space before returning to the Siheyuan.

Just as he reached the entrance, he saw two police cars parked outside, surrounded by quite a few people.

His heart tightened, and he walked quickly into the courtyard, bumping right into Second Uncle, who was standing there with a mournful face.

As soon as Second Uncle saw He Yuzhu, his eyes lit up, and he pleaded: "Zhuzi, you have to help your Second Uncle! That brat Liu Guangtian of mine has caused trouble again! He took a few thugs and broke a student's leg! I heard from the people who arrested him that for something like this, he'll be sentenced to at least seven or eight years... Can you help me find someone?"

He Yuzhu sighed and asked: "Second Uncle, whose child did he actually hit? Did the public security tell you?"

Second Uncle rubbed his hands and said anxiously: "They said it was the son of a high-ranking Cadre."

He Yuzhu gave a bitter smile: "You know the Cadre's rank isn't low; how would I have the ability to get someone out? But... I can help you ask."

He turned and returned to the East Cross Courtyard, where he saw He Zheng and He Yulu playing with two dogs.

The big one was Xiao Hei, raised by He Yushui, and the small one was He Zheng's Xiaobai.

Xiao Hei clearly didn't want to bother with Xiaobai, but Xiaobai kept crowding up to it.

As soon as He Yuzhu entered the door, He Yulu was even more affectionate than He Zheng; she grabbed his leg, looked up with her little face, and shouted: "Brother, Brother, eat a popsicle! Eat a popsicle!"

He Yuzhu was helpless; he squatted down and pinched her little face: "Yulu, Brother needs to make a phone call first. I'll get you a popsicle after I'm done."

He Yuzhu dialed Dan's number.

"Dan, it's me, Zhuzi."

Dan's bright voice came from the other end of the line: "Zhuzi, thank you for the fish and grain you got for us!"

"Dan, you're too kind." He Yuzhu paused, "Dan, I want to ask you about something."

"What is it? Go ahead."

He Yuzhu sighed: "Second Uncle Liu Guangtian from our courtyard, his son Liu Guangtian, hit the son of a leader on Liuyin Street... broke his leg..."

Dan was silent for a moment on the phone, then said: "I'll help you ask right now." With that, she hung up.

He Yuzhu put down the phone and picked up He Zheng: "He Zheng, call me Dad."

He Zheng turned his face away and simply ignored him.

He Yulu giggled on the side: "Brother, if you give him a popsicle, he'll call you Dad!"

He Yuzhu looked helplessly at the stubborn boy and said to He Yulu: "Lulu, look, my son is a fool; he can't even call me Dad."

He Yulu pouted: "He's not a fool! If you give him a popsicle, he'll call you."

Just then, the phone rang.

He Yuzhu picked it up and heard Dan let out a long sigh: "Zhuzi, that kid from the Liu family has offended a big shot this time. I can't help, and you shouldn't get involved..."

Afterwards, Dan briefly explained the situation of that family and gave him an idea.

He Yuzhu's heart sank, and he nodded: "Alright, Dan, take care."

After hanging up, he picked up the two children and walked out of the courtyard.

Just as he arrived in the courtyard, he saw Liu Guangtian being handcuffed and put into a police car.

The siren sounded, and the car slowly drove out of the hutong.

Second Uncle immediately stopped He Yuzhu and asked eagerly: "Zhuzi, how did it go?"

He Yuzhu shook his head: "I really can't handle this. I asked Dan, and she said you should go to Liuyin Street, find out exactly whose family it is, and go beg them yourself. If they are willing to forgive you, your son might get a two-year reduction. Otherwise, given his situation, it'll be seven or eight years at the very least, and at worst, he could be sentenced to ten."

After hearing this, Second Uncle didn't say a word and turned back to his own room.

At this moment, Guangqi returned.

Seeing him, Second Uncle said with a mournful face: "Guangqi, your second brother has been arrested! He broke someone's leg; tell me, what am I supposed to do!"

In fact, Guangqi had returned long ago and had been watching from the sidelines, and he had already found out what happened.

He Yuzhu said indifferently, "Dad, he provoked someone he shouldn't have; letting him spend a few years in prison is actually quite good."

Upon hearing this, the Second Aunt began to wail on the spot: "Eldest, what kind of talk is that! No matter how bad he is, he is still your brother! You must also think of a way to help him!"

Liu Guangqi slapped the table, his voice turning cold: "Hmph, this second brother of mine, back when I was taking the entrance exam for technical school, he drugged me and ruined my future. Now that I have finally managed to get into university, are you trying to let him ruin my future again?"

Upon hearing these words, the Second Aunt immediately fell silent and could only glare at Liu Haizhong.

Liu Haizhong sat in his chair, not saying a word.

The Second Aunt could not help but give him a push: "Father of his, didn't He Yuzhu give you an idea? He told you to go to their place and kowtow to beg for mercy, hurry up and go!"