Back to the 60s: The Struggle Career of a Charmed Wife
Chapter 1350: Preparing to Leave Beijing 5

Chapter 1350: Chapter 1350: Preparing to Leave Beijing 5

Feng Qingxue always felt that the old man looked familiar, and that was why she did not stop Lu Jiang from transacting with him.

When she saw the Ru Kiln dark-floral double-fish plate the old man took out, Feng Qingxue suddenly remembered, and said, "Old gentleman, aren’t you Qiao San-ye? The notorious Qiao San-ye who was well-known in and around Beijing and Tianjin back in the day."

Qiao San-ye, real name Qiao San, was a famous figure in the criminal underworld during the twenties and thirties, known for committing numerous misdeeds, although he also did a few good deeds.

In summary, he was a character whose wrongs outweighed his merits.

Reportedly, he was the adopted son of a eunuch, as well as the eunuch’s own nephew; leveraging the substantial fortune and ruthless determination left to him by the old eunuch, he became one of the prominent figures in the underworld. He had married four wives, had a slew of lovers, fathered many children, and after the revolution, he was audited; his wives and children all distanced themselves from him, and he was reduced to living beside a cesspool, sweeping streets and cleaning toilets.

His plight was quite pitiable, but he got what he deserved.

Unlike Father Lu, Old Master Xu, Jin Ruochu, and Wen Ruyu, who were innocently implicated, Qiao San was not.

This Ru Kiln plate appeared at an overseas auction decades later, where it fetched a sky-high price of over a hundred million. It was an item once used by the royal family, and its owner claimed to have obtained it from Qiao San in the seventies.

However, this Qiao San knew how to survive; he lived to be over a hundred years old, perfectly embodying the saying "Good men do not live long, a scourge lasts for a thousand years."

In other words, this old man in front of them still had over twenty more years to live.

Qiao San was startled, then looked up at Feng Qingxue. "I never imagined that, twenty years later, someone would still recognize me, Qiao San! Unbelievable, truly unbelievable. Who would know Qiao San, other than the old folks and neighbors, after twenty years?"

Feng Qingxue smiled slightly, "What we’ve seen is even more unbelievable."

Qiao San knew what she meant and lifted his white, bushy eyebrows, "I’ve lived a life worth living. As a child, I followed my father into the imperial palace, I’ve seen Empress Cixi and Emperor Guangxu. As an adult, I enjoyed decades of glory, had wives when I wanted wives, sons when I wanted sons, and several daughters. Regardless of whether they’ve cut ties with me, they are still my offspring!"

Reminded by his wife, Lu Jiang also remembered who Qiao San was. The reason he managed to save his own life after the revolution was because he had once supported the war of resistance, "If you can come to terms with it, that’s good."

"Come to terms, of course I’ve come to terms. If I hadn’t, I would have lost my life long ago!" Qiao San pointed at the variety of objects he had laid out, "What do you think? The items this old fella brought out don’t disgrace you two, do they? I know these trinkets aren’t worth much now, but it wasn’t always the case and the future is uncertain."

Indeed, all of them were treasures, even the jewelry was of the finest quality.

Feng Qingxue squatted and rummaged through them for a moment, "Name your price."

Qiao San gave a thumbs up, "Good, I like people who are straightforward! I noticed you two don’t beat around the bush when it comes to trading, not like some people who haggle endlessly. That’s why I approached you."

"You said you like people who are straightforward, so stop beating around the bush," Lu Jiang interjected.

"One hundred yuan, fifty kilos of fine grain or Grain Tickets, and at least five kilos of oil. I’m an old man and can’t carry more than that," Qiao San shook his head and sighed. "If you give me an extra ten kilos of grain, I’ll throw in another treasure for you."

"What treasure?" The items before them were already treasures, but Feng Qingxue knew that Qiao San still had many valuable items in his possession. Over the next ten years until the years leading up to his death, he lived quite comfortably, selling off these items and the gold and silver treasures he had hidden away.