Chapter 298

Su Hongchen was surprised to see that the Jiang family seemed to be avoiding letting his sister cook. He looked at her in disbelief. “Have they all tasted your cooking?”
“I didn’t cook; I just made sweet soup,” Su Xiaoxiao retorted indignantly.
“Can your sweet soup even be drunk?” Su Hongchen asked with skepticism.
Su Xiaoxiao tilted her head, her little face puffed up like a small pufferfish. “I didn’t have a chance to cook much at home. I was only stopped after one attempt. If you had let me cook more before, I would have developed excellent cooking skills. Besides, I’ve been in the countryside, where we had to take turns cooking in the educated youth dormitory. I learned a bit from that.”
Moreover, in her previous life, after marrying Pan Yongsheng, she had to cook for the Pan family, so she should know how to cook, though it might not have been very tasty—maybe even quite terrible.
At this moment, Jiang Yexun spoke up. “Brother-in-law, you’ve taken care of Xiaoxiao for eighteen years and never let her cook. If she marries me, she certainly won’t be cooking either.”
Aunt Guo and Jiang Xinyue nodded in agreement. “Yes, Xiaoxiao marrying Yexun, we can’t guarantee she’ll live a particularly good life, but we can ensure she won’t live worse than before.”
Su Hongchen scrutinized them for a moment before laughing lightly. “Well, I guess my sister is in good hands. She’s found a husband she can trust for life and a supportive family.”
He completely ignored the people from the Jiang family next door.
“Alright, let’s pack up these three books and put them in Yexun’s bag. When Xiaoxiao is at home with nothing to do, she can pass the time with them,” Aunt Guo urged Jiang Yexun to quickly pack the items.
Jiang Yexun carefully wrapped the three books and put them into his bag. After finishing, they left that area and returned to the front.
Hua Shoucheng was waiting outside the iron gate, holding a basket of vegetables.
“Brother-in-law,” Jiang Yexun greeted as he unlocked the gate and led him into the scrap station.
Hua Shoucheng placed the vegetables in the warm small room and then rubbed his hands. “I saw the door was closed and figured it must be you all. How did it go? Were those two items useful?”
“Very useful! Especially the three books—they are about recipes for dishes, soups, and pastries. Once we transcribe them, we’ll be able to cook with them,” Su Xiaoxiao said, trying to contain her excitement.
But it wasn’t just for themselves; in a few years, they could open a restaurant with these recipes and make a name nationwide. They wouldn’t even need a chain—just a few high-end restaurants in major cities would be enough. Not only would it be profitable, but it would also build their reputation and allow them to acquire land when the market was newly opened.
In the late 1990s, they could even demolish their own buildings to build office towers.

Su Xiaoxiao was almost overwhelmed with excitement.
Fortunately, Jiang Yexun’s next question interrupted her bubbling plans. “Sister, after working at the scrap station for so long, are there many people like that couple who come looking for treasures?”
Jiang Xinyue thought carefully before shaking her head. “I haven’t noticed anyone specifically looking for treasures, but every few days, there are people who come to buy things. I didn’t want to refuse them all, fearing suspicion, so I agreed twice out of three visits. I’ve kept a record of what they bought.”
Jiang Xinyue then took out her private notebook from the small room.
Jiang Yexun frowned as he glanced through it and then handed it to Su Xiaoxiao.
Su Xiaoxiao examined it carefully. There were records of purchases like pickled vegetable jars, chairs, and newspapers. She pointed to the entry for jars and chairs and said, “This person might have been looking for treasures too.”
“Really? They bought good items from me? Xiaoxiao…” Jiang Xinyue looked at Su Xiaoxiao with a guilty expression. She felt she had not done a good job at the scrap station and let someone else find the treasures.
“Xinyue, don’t worry too much. There are always more treasures in the world. We don’t need to find everything. Finding just two items this time is already great. The most important thing is your safety. We’re not short on money, so if you feel threatened or something feels off, it’s fine to stop and let things go,” Su Xiaoxiao quickly reassured.
The three recipe books and the antique bowl alone would be enough for her to make a fortune.
“Who else has the audacity to touch these antiques?” Su Hongchen asked, puzzled. Knowing that anyone buying antiques outside of official stores would face severe consequences, he was curious about the boldness of others.
“They don’t have to hide the items in places related to them. They can just stash them in unrelated places and retrieve them when policies change. If others find them, it might be a bit painful, but it won’t have a major impact,” Su Xiaoxiao shrugged casually.
She remembered hearing about people in the past who dug up antique treasures in dried-up riverbeds. Unfortunately, after the policy opened up, they didn’t return to collect their finds, likely because they didn’t live to see the new dawn.
“You all are quite the gamblers,” Su Hongchen remarked with a hint of amusement.
But Su Xiaoxiao’s expression was serious. “It’s not about gambling; it’s about believing that China’s future will only get better. In times of chaos, gold is valuable; in prosperous times, antiques are. China will soon enter a prosperous era of its own.”
“Indeed, China will certainly improve. But be careful with these small actions; don’t overdo it, or you might attract unwanted attention.”
Su Hongchen finally realized that his sister had arranged this job for Jiang Yexun’s sister to secure this advantageous position for herself. They checked everything coming into the scrap station and quickly hid anything valuable.
But since the items had already been through the scrap station, they could be considered as just some discarded junk.
“Brother, don’t worry. We’ll definitely be careful,” Su Xiaoxiao promised, raising her hand.
There are indeed many smart people in China. She was just taking advantage of her second chance to foresee the future, but many others, with no knowledge of future trends, could still predict what was to come. However, they didn’t know how many years it would take for things to get better.
Since people were already coming to find treasures, the scrap collection sites in their entire province would also attract treasure hunters.
Su Xiaoxiao knew she couldn’t collect all the antiques herself; otherwise, every scrap station would be filled with them, leading to suspicion and trouble.