Chapter 705: The Return of Xiao E

"If I'm not mistaken, you must be with Li Huaide, right? Birds of a feather flock together, colluding in evil," He Yuzhu mocked.

"You can't expect a dog to spit out ivory. Did you hear that from my wife talking to Chen Xueru? That woman really can't keep her mouth shut," Xu Damao frowned.

"To tell you the truth, I have no interest in prying into your affairs; I just guessed," He Yuzhu said.

Exposed by He Yuzhu, Xu Damao felt a bit flustered, so he tried to change the subject, pointing to his suit and saying, "See this? Isn't this suit of mine sharp? It's Pierre Cardin. Do you know how much it cost?"

"If it's an original import, eight hundred to a thousand. I see yours is a fake, worth at most a hundred or so!" He Yuzhu joked.

"Screw you, I had someone bring this over from Hong Kong, eight hundred and seventy!" Xu Damao said proudly.

"Xu Damao, be careful, you're no match for Li Huaide. Don't end up being sold by him while you're still counting the money for him," He Yuzhu warned with good intentions.

"We're partners in a company, how could he trick me? I won't hide it from you, my friend, I've only done two deals and already made over fifty thousand yuan. You're a big Factory Director, you don't even make a few hundred a month, right?" Xu Damao retorted sarcastically.

"I don't think what you're doing is legitimate trade, is it? Have you started trafficking antiques again? Remember, selling some calligraphy, paintings, or common porcelain won't get you many years even if it is illegal, but don't touch those bronzes! Otherwise, it'll be too late for regrets!" He Yuzhu said seriously.

Xu Damao was startled; he thought no one knew about his antique trafficking.

Although he and Li Huaide had partnered to open a company, Li Huaide only valued him for his money—ever since being expelled by his father-in-law's family, Li Huaide had been living quite miserably. Later, because he was good at handling affairs, he had been diligently maintaining some old connections. After the Reform and Opening-up, he used those old connections to obtain scarce resources and began trafficking.

He had earned some money in the past two years, but to do big business, his own money wasn't enough.

Li Huaide sought out Xu Damao because he knew Xu Damao's Siqiang was very wealthy and wanted to pull him into the partnership, but he hadn't expected the old man to have no interest in Li Huaide at all.

In the end, it was Xu Damao who sold off some old items from his collection to scrape together a sum of money to partner with Li Huaide in the company.

Xu Damao didn't understand the business Li Huaide was doing at all, so he simply picked up his old trade of trafficking antiques.

Relying on his Siqiang's many connections, he quickly made contact with some Hong Kong businessmen and began secretly collecting items of unknown origin to sell to them.

"He Yuzhu, you have a high rank, but I've resigned now, so I'm not under your jurisdiction. Everything I'm doing now is legitimate business!" Xu Damao said triumphantly.

He Yuzhu smiled: "Cats have their ways, dogs have their ways, and you have your way. As long as you don't affect me, I couldn't be bothered to pay attention to you."

After saying this, he walked straight away.

After He Yuzhu left, Xu Damao felt increasingly uneasy. He had originally intended to go collect some items, but he lost all interest and immediately ran home to discuss it with his wife, Liu Sanmei.

Since the Reform and Opening-up, Liu Sanmei had also resigned from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to help Xu Damao manage the shop.

Xu Damao frowned and said, "Sanmei, did you tell Chen Xueru that I was trafficking antiques?"

"Kiss my ass, am I stupid? Would I tell others about this kind of thing?" Liu Sanmei retorted aggressively.

"Then how did he know I was trafficking antiques? He Yuzhu knows people at the Municipal Bureau; if someone investigates me, they'll nail me for sure!"

Liu Sanmei thought for a moment and said, "Since that's the case, why don't you just stop touching those bronzes from now on!"

Xu Damao nodded: "Tomorrow I'll offload those few items, and from now on we'll mainly deal in porcelain and calligraphy and paintings."

After He Yuzhu learned that Xu Damao was trafficking antiques, he went straight to find Ding Li.

Ding Li was now a mother of two. Although she had her own house, she still liked to live in the Siheyuan, partly to keep her mother company.

Ding Li asked, "Zhuzi, do you have something to find me for?"

He Yuzhu asked, "Are you busy at the Painting Academy right now?"

Ding Li shook her head: "I don't have much to do right now; work at the Painting Academy is just attending meetings, or going south to sketch in the autumn."

"I want to open two shops in Panjiayuan and Liulichang, specializing in collecting antiques. I don't want to let those foreigners pick up bargains," He Yuzhu said.

"Zhuzi, to tell you the truth, I've wanted to do this for a long time. Seeing the things passed down by our ancestors being bought away by those foreigners for peanuts makes me feel terrible. But I really don't have the money on hand," Ding Li said.

"You should have told me sooner. Here's what we'll do: I'll give you twenty million first, you open the shops as soon as possible and start collecting goods... Xu Damao has already started trafficking antiques; it seems those little Japanese and Hong Kong people have already come over to pick up bargains! We can't let them buy things too cheaply. Even if they want to buy, we must make them pay a high price!" He Yuzhu said.

"That would be great. But why are you collecting so many things?" Ding Li asked.

"I want to build a museum to display the things I've collected for everyone to see in the future," He Yuzhu said.

In the Street Office Garment Factory, Chen Xueru was directing several designers to revise their plans.

Her factory under the Street Office was no small matter now; although it still couldn't compare to Xueru Clothing, its scale was quite considerable.

Just as she was busy, Xiao E suddenly walked in, led by the guard.

Chen Xueru looked up and her eyes widened instantly, almost unable to believe it.

She stared blankly for a long time before calling out in a trembling voice: "Xiao E..." Before she could finish, tears fell, "We haven't seen each other for over a dozen years."

Xiao E's tears also gushed out: "Xueru, I'm sorry..."

Before she could finish speaking, Chen Xueru hurriedly pulled her into her office.

Once inside, Xiao E knelt down directly: "Xueru, I've let you down."

Chen Xueru hurriedly helped her up and said, "Xiao E, Zhuzi has told me everything about you, don't blame yourself anymore. We were already the closest of sisters, and now that we have this connection, we should be even closer."

Xiao E stood up, hugged Chen Xueru, and choked out, "Sister Xueru, thank you for being able to forgive me."

Chen Xueru patted her back and asked, "What do you want to do now that you're back?"

Xiao E shook her head: "I don't know what's good to do either. If you're willing, should I invest in you?"

Chen Xueru smiled: "No need. It's not hard for me to find investment, I just don't want these people at the Street Office to lose their livelihood."

Xiao E blushed slightly. He Yuzhu's money was her money, how could she be short of money?

"I don't know what I want to do either," Xiao E said, "I want to go back and ask Zhuzi."

Chen Xueru nodded and asked again, "Did you come back by yourself this time, or did you bring the child?"

"I didn't dare to bring him," Xiao E said, "He Xiao is still in Hong Kong, my mother is taking care of him."

Chen Xueru asked softly, "I heard Lou Laoban passed away?"

Xiao E nodded, her eyes reddening again: "He's been gone for over five years."

In the evening, Chen Xueru brought Xiao E home.

When He Yuzhu saw Xiao E, he was also extremely surprised and blurted out, "Xiao E, why are you back?"

Xiao E said, "I know it's very convenient to travel between Hong Kong and the Mainland now, so I hurried over. Now that I'm back, I don't want to leave."

He Yuzhu nodded and asked again, "How is He Xiao doing now?"

Xiao E said, "He's learning how to do business with Zhao Ying."

He Yuzhu asked, "Then, now that you've returned, are you thinking of doing something?"

Xiao E shook her head, "I don't know what would be good to do either."

Chen Xueru suggested from the side, "Zhuzi, haven't you been thinking about developing that plot of land all along?"

He Yuzhu nodded and said, "Xiao E, why don't you and Xueru partner up and open a real estate company?"

Last year, Secretary Liu specifically approved a large plot of land for him, right near Dabeiyao; of course, this location was chosen by He Yuzhu.