I am a Big Player
Chapter 594 - 588, The Old Master’s Curiosity (Third Update)_1

Chapter 594: 588, The Old Master’s Curiosity (Third Update)_1

This meal, Yang En and Su Ruqin were both absent. Yang Xi’s explanation was that Yang En was still in the United States, while Su Ruqin was discussing business in Shanghai and thus couldn’t make it back in time.

Ren He didn’t think too much of it. It was already quite good that his mother-in-law was adopting a tacit approval of him. Could he really show off in front of their family? If he was truly just a 17-year-old teenager, he might have rebelled against Su Ruqin just for the sake of it, but unfortunately, he wasn’t.

The more he grew, the more Ren He understood that love and marriage don’t need to be overly sanctified. What he needed to do was to live happily with Yang Xi and then put in some efforts he was capable of.

So-called wise people prioritize and weigh the importance of tasks at hand. When cooking, if on one side there is a pot of soup about to boil over, and on the other, a faucet not fully turned off, a normal person would choose to handle the soup pot first—the faucet, at most, would only waste some water, unless the person is an extreme environmentalist...

For Ren He, how Su Ruqin treated him wasn’t the most important thing; the important thing was how Yang Xi treated him. This was the simplest truth, clear in Ren He’s mind.

After dinner, Yang Xi’s uncles started to drink tea and chat, talking about everyone’s recent work and frankly seeking assistance from one another. None of this was something Ren He should listen to; he wasn’t too concerned about these matters either.

Sir Yang looked at him and smiled, "Would you join me for a walk outside?"

Initially, Ren He thought that if Sir Yang wanted to talk to him alone, he might be taken to some legendary, off-limits study room— wasn’t that how it was always portrayed in movies, where the bigshots had a mysterious study?

Yet, Sir Yang didn’t, and instead, he led Ren He outside to the vegetable patch and smiled, "Today, you made me very happy by bringing walnuts. It would be even better if you’d also brought some persimmons. Don’t forget them next year when you visit."

"Got it," Ren He had thought before leaving home about whether to bring some persimmons, but then decided against it as the fruits were ripening and might rot on the way, so he didn’t bring any. Little did he know, Sir Yang was still thinking about them. It seems that Sir Yang was well aware of what was in his courtyard.

"Don’t overthink it, I didn’t investigate what’s in your courtyard. It used to belong to a friend who lived there, but he didn’t make it through the ’cowshed’ and committed suicide. Somehow it ended up in the hands of a property developer, and you got lucky," Sir Yang said with a smile, "We used to go to his courtyard to pick things to eat. Everyone knows it was a Pre-Qing Prince Mansion, with a lot of good stuff."

Ren He was taken aback. He had never thought his Courtyard House had such a history. It seemed that Cui Qiang was not simple either, turning property with unclear ownership into treasure.

You have to know, the Courtyard Houses in the Capital are not few in number, but many of them have unclear property rights and contentious ownership, impossible to sell.

For property developers, such Courtyard Houses are like hot potatoes; whoever foolishly catches it would be unlucky.

"You are very good to Xi, I can see that," Sir Yang looked at his vegetable garden and said, "Don’t think our Yang Family is so high and mighty that by inviting you to eat with us, we try to intimidate you. This is not some deep-seat grand mansion with scheming and intrigue. You young people advocate for free love, so don’t be frightened by these things."

Indeed, Ren He completely understood this. In his past life, when the then-ruler married the Empress, didn’t she outright say that the deep-seated grand mansion was beyond her reach?

Some people want to ascend to greatness, while others find contentment in simplicity. This is each person’s choice regarding the value of life, and everyone has that right.

However, Sir Yang was overthinking it. Ren He had never thought about these matters. Before falling in love with Yang Xi, he was unaware of such things, and after falling in love with her, he didn’t care about them.

"Tell me about your time in New York, how did you manage to escape in the end?" Sir Yang’s gaze was intense as he steered the conversation toward that topic, "Back in the day when we were in the troops, the U.S. was particularly troublesome. We fought several battles filled with sacrifice. Even though we won, many of us still harbored feelings of resentment. And you, young man, did quite a commendable job starting such a big incident," he said with a smile, "Come on, tell me the story. I always wanted to be the sharpshooter in the squad, but I just wasn’t cut out for it. I won’t ask where you trained to shoot, just tell me about it."

There were no sharp-edged conversations, no obscure political language. The eminent figure before Ren He simply wanted to hear about his battles in New York, as if eager to listen to the exploits of a "sharpshooter," merely to satisfy his own curiosity.

In his past life, Ren He had heard from his eldest uncle about receiving the then-leader Hu Yaobang in Henan in 1981. The mythologized national leader didn’t seem as mysterious as the legends suggested when up close, conversing with everyone casually, so his uncle always believed... Diplomatic talk is for diplomacy; not everyone speaks that way all the time.

Now, Ren He was starting to believe it a bit, but the real measure would still need some further observation. He began by telling how he climbed back into the battlefield unarmed, scaling ten floors to snatch a sniper rifle, followed by Monkey’s aid, and how he had stayed behind in the U.S. to cover Yang Xi’s retreat.

Ren He vividly recounted the entire battle based on his precise memories, making it seem as though Sir Yang was witnessing it all himself. When Sir Yang heard about Ren He leaping the six-meter gap between buildings to escape, his hands clenched into fists.

Ren He then spoke of his experiences fighting guerrilla warfare against the National Security Agency in the sewers. Sir Yang reminisced, "Back in our days, we had no choice but to hide in the villager’s homes during sweeps, even digging through their cellars. But we were not as legendary; practically, we just hid, daring not to sneak out and shoot. If we were exposed, the enemy could devastate the entire village, burdening other comrades, those little devils were cunning!"

Ren He had been holding back for a long time. He felt that without addressing certain topics, the evening would seem incomplete: "Won’t you talk to me about Qinghe’s shares?"

The other was an old fox, always avoiding the main topic, but in the end, it was Ren He who brought it up.

Sir Yang looked at him and laughed, "Rest assured, put your heart back in your chest. I had no intention of discussing that with you. The Yang Family seizing our son-in-law’s possessions—what would that look like if it got out? Shameless, right? Don’t worry, not only will the Yang Family not take anything from you, but now that you’ve entered this door, no one will in the future."

...

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