In the still of the night, Mr. Zhang was leaning there with his eyes closed, quietly waiting for his grandchildren to arrive, his mind wandering.

"What’s wrong?"

Mr. Zhang patted his wife, "It’s nothing, you go ahead and sleep."

"Our Xiao Wu and the others are all well, there’s nothing wrong at home, the kids are doing well, what are you worrying about? Is it the eldest son’s family?"

"No, the eldest brother stepped down, Qing Shan is going up to be the deputy captain, with Old Captain teaching him for a few years, after a few years, Qing Shan will be the captain, why should I worry about his family?"

Mother Zhang thought so too. The commune has approved everything, come spring, the eldest nephew will be the deputy captain.

"Grandpa and Grandma..." Zhang Mingzuo poked his head in and softly called.

Seeing his wife about to speak, Mr. Zhang quickly covered her mouth, too worried that her loud voice would ruin any chance of talking business tonight.

"What’s up?"

"Can you come out for a moment?"

Mr. Zhang glanced at him and nodded, this was clearly something he didn’t want his wife to hear. Mysterious as it was, he didn’t say much, just asked his wife to keep an eye on the courtyard.

Although it’s unlikely anyone would come in at this hour, who knows if there might be thieves lurking around? Better to be cautious these days.

Mr. Zhang entered the study in the east room... Wow, a room full of seven or eight young fellows, all crammed in, and all eyes eagerly fixed on him, no wonder they had found all sorts of excuses to send the two girls home tonight.

"Grandpa, before this trip, the eldest brother and eldest cousin had already made plans for us. The fact that it’s been so safe is thanks to them. I’m in charge of money and tickets, Xiao You is responsible for contacts, Zi Wu handles security, Zicong and Shi Tou are responsible for gathering information."

Mr. Zhang looked at the kids approvingly, nodding. They’ve been educated for a few years, their planning is even more thorough than us adults, truly impressive.

"We’ve talked about the things we can mention today during the trip, but there are still some matters..." Zhang Mingzuo scratched his head, "It’s not that we brothers don’t trust the women."

Mr. Zhang glared at him, "Enough! Your grandma is outside keeping watch, be careful she hears and hits you. Quickly tell me, did you do something bad?"

Naturally, Mr. Zhang knew why his grandsons were hiding things from the women at home. The eldest son’s family couldn’t be trusted; the second son’s wife had a big mouth; the eldest daughter’s character was impatient and easily emotional; as for the second daughter, she’s still a toddler, has no relevance to her family.

"Hehe..." Zhang Mingzuo chuckled twice, pulling out quilts from the kang bed, "We only brought three quilts, eldest brother you help us take them all apart, be careful."

By this point, Mr. Zhang understood everything. Looking at the kids busy working, he frowned and turned to Zhang Mingzuo, "You brought quilts into the Big Courtyard?"

"Hehe, we’re not stupid, we heard long ago there would be checks at the Big Courtyard’s entrance, so we kept them at the station and retrieved them later with Uncle."

"Look at how clean it is now, all thanks to my aunt. Sleeping outside for so long, crowding with strangers every day, it’s so dirty, with fleas and lice everywhere. Once we entered the Big Courtyard, Ping’an first pulled us to the bathhouse, got us haircuts and a change of clothes, it was humiliating."

Mr. Zhang rolled his eyes at him, suppressing his laughter, shaking his head, "Still quite clever."

"Yes, my aunt and uncle said the same. My aunt said if everything were too clean it would attract suspicion, nowadays the poorer you are the prouder, no need to feel it hurts your self-esteem."

Mr. Zhang, seeing the items removed from the quilts, shook his head speechlessly. He didn’t know whether to admire their courage or...

Indeed... others might think the kids have done something terrible and would either scold them or be panic-stricken, but what kind of people were his son and daughter-in-law?

"Grandpa, many good things were destroyed, it’s a pity some targets were too big. These things are what we learned to hide like others. We intended to exchange some for money, but later my aunt said it would be a waste to sell them, and advised us to save them for a vital future use. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

My aunt is even more knowledgeable than my uncle, she understood everything about these items, and helped us categorize them. Originally we thought about leaving half to Ping An Brothers, but my aunt refused."

"Grandpa, my uncle said just in case, it’s safest to leave these things with you. You keep them well, and in the future, each of us will have a share."

The corners of the three quilts were unraveled, ultimately revealing just about a dozen items. The things were diverse, mostly small items, and who knew how they managed it.

Some Peace Pendants, jade pendants, gold rings, brooches, jewelry, dismantled scroll paintings, Jiangnan Embroidery, and a few small yellow fish...

Mr. Zhang couldn’t tell which was the most valuable, but he could see that just a few jade pendants, the white ones were oily, the green ones were bright and transparent, both colors fluorescing in the lamp light.

After a moment’s contemplation, Mr. Zhang still shook his head privately, looking with a complex expression at the kids who were all talking at once, agreeing with them.

These kids grew up together, bonded as brothers, knowing how to cooperate, brave, not low in knowledge, but still didn’t consider the changes that might happen once they each started their own families in the future.

Now they’re still young, of one mind, but come the time they establish their own families and careers, their thoughts will change. Later, Taozi and the others will grow up, how can there possibly be enough for everyone?

His son and daughter-in-law don’t covet these external things, but that doesn’t mean the other daughters-in-law and sons-in-law will have no opinions. Secrets can’t be kept silent, he doesn’t want his children to curse him for being biased after he and his wife are gone, for causing family feuds over trinkets.

Money is good, but it can also be harmful. He doesn’t fully support his grandchildren’s actions this time, wrongful gains are too easily obtained and will affect their character.

There are things, now the kids are buzzing with excitement, speaking up won’t sink in, he can only let it come slowly. Why hasn’t he ever revealed the family’s wealth to the sons?

Isn’t it because he’s worried they won’t have Xiao Wu’s resilience and might become reckless, feeling secure with the family wealth, unwilling to work the land?

Poverty makes people stick together, just look at those wealthy families, which one has filial children, a benevolent father, and harmony?

Across from him, Zhang Mingzuo saw Mr. Zhang’s silent expression, his heart sinking with a thud, just as his uncle predicted, his grandpa is indeed worried.

He quickly stepped forward, "Before we came back, my Uncle made sure to give us a night’s worth of lecture. He’s worried we might learn to reap without sowing, he even gave us homework."

"Oh?" Mr. Zhang hadn’t expected his son to be concerned about this point. That’s encouraging! Words of wisdom from educated people are more likely to win the children’s hearts and minds.

His son, ah, even outlandish theories come naturally from him.

Zhang Mingzuo noticed his expressions soften and breathed a sigh of relief. His uncle had stressed a thousand times that under no circumstances should they let the elder worry.