The commander of the Hong Kong garrison was among them, but Zhuang Rui noticed that he had been promoted to lieutenant general. As he entered the room, the commander nodded to Zhuang Rui, but there was no time for conversation, as there were just too many people queuing behind him.
At 11:30 a.m., Zhuang Rui helped his grandfather and Ouyang Wan helped her grandmother into the banquet hall. There were more than a dozen tables in the hall, and in the very center was a large character for "longevity". As soon as Ouyang Gang entered the hall, applause rang out.
After the famously stern-faced, sentimental CCTV host gave a vivid and moving introduction to the old man's life story, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, who was of the same rank as Ouyang Zhenhua, wished the old man good health on behalf of the Party and the people, and said some auspicious words. Then, the younger generation of the Ouyang family wished the old man a happy birthday and presented him with gifts.
The order naturally starts with the eldest son, Ouyang Zhenhua. Actually, the gifts weren't anything special, just some evergreen plants and longevity plaques. The old man and woman were just happy to see their children and grandchildren all around them.
"Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, I wish you both good health and all the best..."
After Ouyang Zhenhua and his brothers finished offering their birthday wishes, Ouyang Wan, along with her son, daughter, son-in-law, and grandson, came forward and respectfully bowed several times to the two elders who were sitting in chairs.
"Hey? Is that young man the old man's grandson? Why did he only bring a fruit basket up? That's so shabby!"
"Yes, these young people nowadays are so careless about everything they do. It's such an important event as the leader's birthday, and we juniors are so indifferent. It's really unacceptable..."
The birthday gifts brought up by the previous guests, while not particularly expensive, all carried symbolic meanings. Compared to the fruit basket that Zhuang Rui was carrying, which could be bought for thirty or fifty yuan outside a hospital, it seemed rather unrefined.
Although the people in the room didn't care much about material things like gifts, they still looked down on what Zhuang Rui had brought. In fact, they weren't wrong. The bamboo basket with the jade carving ornament that Zhuang Rui had placed there really did cost 100 yuan to buy from a roadside stall. He had just taken out the original flowers.
What angered everyone even more was that Zhuang Rui actually took out the fruit platter and placed it on an octagonal wooden coffee table between the old man and the old woman's seats, as if he wanted to persuade the two old people to have a bite.
"Hey Fifth Brother, what are you up to? Among us brothers, you're the wealthiest, so why are you bringing out such shabby stuff?"
After Zhuang Rui retreated to the host's seat, Ouyang Jun made a sarcastic remark to Zhuang Rui in a low voice.
Just as Zhuang Rui was about to reply, Ouyang Lei, who had just seen off that big shot, suddenly strode in from outside the auditorium and whispered something in the old man's ear. Ouyang Gang, who had been sitting steadily in his chair, actually stood up.
Chapter 431 National Treasure
Upon hearing Ouyang Lei's words, the old man shakily stood up and, supported by Ouyang Lei, headed towards the entrance of the small auditorium. The guests present exchanged bewildered glances, wondering who, given the old man's status and position, would warrant his personal greeting.
The mystery was soon solved, because an elderly man in a wheelchair was pushed in through the auditorium doors. Zhuang Rui, with his sharp eyes, immediately recognized that the man sitting there was none other than Old Master Song, and the person pushing the wheelchair was none other than Song Jun. Behind the wheelchair were four or five doctors wearing military uniforms underneath white coats.
"Brother Ouyang, congratulations on your 90th birthday! And congratulations on your 70 years of weathering storms together with your wife..."
Old Master Song, sitting in his wheelchair, clasped his hands in a gesture of respect to the birthday celebrant before Ouyang Gang could even approach.
"Brother Song, you...you're all better now?"
Ouyang Gang walked closer and looked at his old comrade-in-arms with disbelief.
"At our age, what's the big deal? Brother, didn't you see? There's a whole bunch of people following behind us..."
Old Song spoke with a hint of helplessness. Since getting an injection and taking a nap yesterday, he felt great. While chatting with Song Jun, he overheard that today was Ouyang Gang's 90th birthday, and he decided to come and offer his congratulations. He was also tired of lying in bed for too long and wanted to get out and move around.
However, his actions caused quite a stir in the entire hospital. This was no small matter; it not only had to be reported to the Central Advisory Commission but also to the Central Security Bureau. It should be noted that in his political career, Old Song held a position equivalent to that of a full-fledged state leader, and his influence in the military was no less than that of Ouyang Gang.
"Great! Great! This is the most comfortable day I've felt in all these years..."
Ouyang Gang burst into genuine laughter, overjoyed to see his old comrade of over half a century finally able to get out of bed. Seeing his comrade's improved complexion, Ouyang Gang was truly happy. No birthday celebration, no 70th wedding anniversary, could compare to seeing his old comrade recover.
Not to mention the two elderly people chatting hand in hand, the various lords sitting in the banquet hall were staring wide-eyed, almost unable to believe their eyes.
Although most of these local officials belonged to the Ouyang family faction, Ouyang Gang had a very good relationship with Old Master Song. The two families could complement each other in many fields, so most of them took the opportunity of coming to the capital to celebrate Old Master Song's birthday to visit him in the past few days.
At that time, Old Master Song was in a coma, only waking up for half an hour a day. Anyone could see that Old Master Song was not far from passing away. Who would have thought that in just one day, the old man would be able to be discharged from the hospital to attend Ouyang Gang's 90th birthday celebration?
Although technology is advancing rapidly and medicine is advanced, it still seems insufficient to cure a critically ill person so quickly. Some people who knew the hospital director had already taken out their phones and quietly made calls. Old Master Song's recovery was no small matter; it could even change some aspects of the domestic landscape.
However, these people's inquiries were destined to be fruitless. After reporting on Old Song's recovery, the vice dean, who held the rank of senior colonel, was severely reprimanded. The gist of the reprimand was that as materialist communists, we cannot believe in ghosts and gods, and we must try to understand and find the reasons through science.
The dean is currently quite worried. If he could explain it scientifically, he wouldn't have had to submit that report about Old Master Song's dream.
At this moment, Song Jun had already pushed Old Master Song to the place where Ouyang Gang had just been sitting in the banquet hall. Someone brought over another chair and placed it next to Ouyang Gang. With his grandson's help, Old Master Song sat down in the chair. Judging from this, after a while, Old Master Song might be able to get out of bed and walk again.
The banquet hall suddenly became lively, with the original guests lining up to congratulate Old Master Song on his recovery. This delayed the start of the banquet, but no one cared; aside from the young children, no one was there to eat and drink.
"Huh? Brother Ouyang, there's still such fresh fruit in this weather?"
After dealing with everyone, Old Song noticed the birthday gift Zhuang Rui had brought and his eyes lit up. People who have been bedridden for a long time love to see vibrant colors, which is one of the reasons why people like to bring flowers when visiting patients in the hospital. The plate of colorful fresh fruit in front of him actually made Old Song feel a little hungry.
"This was a gift from my grandson. What, can you still chew it with your teeth? Let me give you a grape."
There were too many people offering birthday wishes, and then Old Master Song arrived right afterward, so Ouyang Gang didn't examine the birthday gift closely. It wasn't until he turned around to pick up the bunch of grapes that he realized something was wrong and exclaimed "Eh!" His right hand then reached for the longevity peach in the middle.
Seeing that Ouyang Gang's expression was a bit off, Old Song asked, "Brother Ouyang, what's wrong?"
"This...this thing...is fake!"
Ouyang Gang was surprised and raised his voice a little, attracting everyone's attention to the fake thing he was talking about. They were all a little confused. This kind of food could only be said to be of bad quality, how could it be real or fake? There was no label on it.
"Fake?"
Old Master Song was also sitting next to the coffee table when he reached out and touched the jade carving. A look of astonishment immediately appeared in his eyes. At his age, he could almost remain calm even if a mountain collapsed before his eyes, but this little trinket made Old Master Song look surprised.
"This is a jade carving, Brother Ouyang. Your grandson has put in a lot of effort. There are peaches on it, and these colors represent good fortune, prosperity, and happiness. Hmm? It's still Xiao Gu's work. Not bad, not bad, rare, very rare!"
Grandpa Song held the ornament on his lap and examined it carefully for a while, even turning it over to look at the inscription on the bottom. He couldn't help but show an envious expression on his face. How come he had come across this object before? You see, Grandpa Song not only loved antiques and calligraphy and paintings, but he was also quite knowledgeable about metal and jade artifacts.
"Is this good?"
Ouyang Gang was somewhat dismissive of his old comrade's words. He knew that his old comrade had always been obsessed with antiques and the like. Back before liberation, he used to wipe his butt with the landlord's Tang and Song dynasty paintings, and he had suffered a lot of teasing from him over the decades.
"I can't reason with you, so let me put it this way: this thing is just as impressive as Empress Dowager Cixi's Jadeite Cabbage. Just based on the naturally formed jade material, and the ingenious design and craftsmanship, calling it a 'national treasure' wouldn't be an exaggeration..."
Old Song got a little excited, spoke a bit too quickly, and his face flushed red, startling Song Jun, who was standing to the side. He quickly said, "Grandpa, don't get so excited. I'll find one for you later..."
While speaking, Song Jun glared at Zhuang Rui, who was standing not far away. It's not your fault that you have a lot of nice things, but it's wrong to show them off. If your father really wants them, where are you going to find them for him?
"What do you know? Get out of here. I dare say there won't be another one like this in the world. It's priceless, an invaluable treasure..."
Grandpa Song scolded his grandson, but his eyes never left the jade carving.
Upon hearing Old Master Song's words, some of the people sitting in the banquet hall who felt closer to the two old men came over to take a look at the ornament. If Old Master Song called it a national treasure, then even if it wasn't a national treasure, it would become one from now on.
Of course, these people were only curious about it; they weren't really interested in the thing itself. No matter how beautiful it was, it was just a piece of jade. What use was it if you couldn't eat or drink it? However, those who originally thought Zhuang Rui was stingy now had a different impression. It turned out that he wasn't stingy at all; he was incredibly generous.
"Hey bro, take it and play with it if you like..."
Ouyang Gang was quite pleased to see the valuable gift Zhuang Rui had given him, but he had no interest in it and readily prepared to give it away.
"Forget it, this item is worth hundreds of millions. If your grandson can give it as a gift, so can my own grandson. When I turn ninety next year, you can come and see it too..."
Old Song's words surprised those who had seen the thing before. Although they were all prominent figures in the outside world, governing a region, and any policy they implemented would affect the interests of all parties in the tens of millions, such a small thing could be worth hundreds of millions, which was much higher than the annual fiscal revenue of a poor county.
So some people started to wonder if they should conduct some archaeological excavations in the area under their jurisdiction. These things, which had never been valued before, could also create economic value. If the archaeological departments knew about these people's ideas, they would definitely send Zhuang Rui a letter of thanks. Their quiet department had finally received attention from the leaders.
But now Song Jun was really conflicted. Where was he going to find this thing next year? When he looked at Zhuang Rui again, his eyes were practically spitting fire.
After this little incident, the birthday banquet continued. The old man and the old woman symbolically drank the toasts offered by everyone and then left the banquet to return to their courtyard. Ouyang Gang wanted to symbolically drink more, but the doctor beside him wouldn't allow it.
Grandpa Song naturally followed along; the two old comrades-in-arms were going to have a good chat today.
"Zhuang Rui, don't run away, you little brat..."
After the banquet ended, Zhuang Rui was thinking about Peng Fei. He said goodbye to his uncle and others and was about to drive away from Yuquan Mountain when he was blocked by Song soldiers.
Chapter 432 Enrollment
"Brother Song, congratulations! Now that Grandpa Song is better, you can relax a bit more."
Zhuang Rui said this, but in his heart he was sighing. When would this life of doing good deeds anonymously ever end? But Zhuang Rui also knew that it was best not to leave any name behind. Otherwise, even if his grandfather could protect him, he wouldn't be able to have an easy life in the future. The country would definitely spend a hundred times more effort taking care of him than taking care of giant pandas.
"Stop giving me that nonsense, I'm here to settle scores with you..."
As soon as Song Jun saw Zhuang Rui, he immediately became hostile. "You've had your fun, kid. Now I'm going to search the world for treasures for the old man. Items like those are unique and irreplaceable. Where are you going to find them yourself?"
Zhuang Rui, unaware of Song Jun's resentment, asked curiously, "Brother Song, I haven't offended you. If it weren't for my... good luck when I visited Grandpa yesterday, would Grandpa have recovered so quickly?"
Zhuang Rui almost blurted out about treating the old man's illness, but luckily he reacted quickly and stopped himself in time.
"That was given to him in a dream by my grandfather's old comrade-in-arms. What's it to you? I told you, you can just keep your treasure to yourself and enjoy it. Why do you have to show it off? Well, my old man just said that I should go find one too. Where am I supposed to find one?"
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Rui realized that his older brother was indeed resentful and had come to settle scores with him. However, Song Jun was being unreasonable; what business was it of his to give his grandfather a gift? Thinking of this, Zhuang Rui laughed and said, "The old man has a bad memory; he might forget about it by tomorrow. Why are you taking it so seriously..."
"You're the one with a bad memory. He's not senile. Yesterday he even brought up the time I stole his Red Star Medal when I was a kid and used it to exchange for something. Stop talking nonsense. You got yourself into this mess. You'd better find me a good piece of jade later. Name your price. As long as the old man is happy..."
Song Jun had a very deep relationship with his grandfather. He knew that his grandfather had just said it casually, but he remembered it. He was determined to get something nice for his grandfather's birthday next year. It wasn't about saving face, but about showing his filial piety.
He and Zhuang Rui were already quite familiar with each other, which is why he clung to him without any reservations. The main reason was that Song Jun knew that the kid in front of him was incredibly lucky and might stumble upon some good stuff. He said this to give Zhuang Rui a heads-up in advance, so that he would think of him if he encountered anything good.
"Isn't this the behavior of a bandit?"
Zhuang Rui gave a wry smile. These things are rare and hard to come by; there's nothing he can do about it.
"Pah! Your old man was only... Anyway, I don't care, you figure it out..."
Song Jun stopped mid-sentence, realizing that this wasn't something a junior like him should say, fearing Zhuang Rui might use it against him. He quickly added, "Tomorrow, Fatty Ma is coming to Beijing, so let's have a meal together. He'll fly directly to Yangon in a couple of days, so get ready."
With Grandpa Song's health improved, Song Jun was finally free. He's now obsessed with gambling on stones, not because it's a quick way to make money, but because the thrill of seeing his stones appreciate significantly in value is what he craves. Uh, drugs too? In Song Jun's circle, only a fool would get involved with that stuff.
"What preparations should we make? Brother Song, please tell me..."
Zhuang Rui had long decided to go to Myanmar to gamble on jade, but he was completely clueless about the Yangon Jade Auction. These past few days he had been thinking about what identity he should use to go. A few days ago he asked Old Master Gu, who said there were three main ways to participate in the Myanmar Jade Auction.
The first type is raw jade dealers. If these people want to participate in the Myanmar jade auction, they can contact the Myanmar organizers in advance to apply for an invitation. The second type is well-known jewelry companies. They receive invitations from Myanmar every year. These people are the main consumers of the jade auction.
Another type is the so-called semi-official organization, which is hosted by the domestic jade association. Any member can sign up to participate, but of course, the cost is borne by the individual, as there is no reimbursement for this. Otherwise, how could it be called semi-official?
Zhuang Rui considered going with the Jade Association, since many members had been there before. Although it was more about sightseeing than gambling on stones, they would still have experience, which was better than going alone and guessing.
Song Jun hesitated for a moment before saying, "Actually, I've never been to the Myanmar jade auction either..."
"Alright, forget I asked. I'll ask Brother Ma tomorrow..."
Zhuang Rui almost vomited blood after Song Jun said that, "You haven't even been there, so why are you pretending to be so important? You're acting all serious."
"Hey kid, I've never been to Myanmar, but I know more about it than you do. You can use RMB there, but USD is more effective and the exchange rate is higher. You'd better exchange some first. Also... that's all..."
"US dollars? Aren't there restrictions on foreign currency that you can take abroad?"
Zhuang Rui asked, somewhat puzzled, "Last time I went to Hong Kong, I always prepared bank drafts in advance, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to take them out."
"You're a finance major? Don't you have an international account? If you don't, I'll give you one later, you can transfer the money there. Okay, we'll talk more when Fatty Ma comes tomorrow..."
In the freezing weather, the Song army didn't bother with any more fuss and simply waved them off.
"Boss, you're back?"
After Zhuang Rui returned home, he went straight to the front yard, pushed open the door of the gatehouse monitoring room, and saw Hao Long explaining the monitoring equipment to Peng Fei. When they saw Zhuang Rui come in, the two of them stood up.