Chapter Thirty: The Freedom of Everyone's Children

  The next day, Du Wei drove his BMW to Su Qing's house. He didn't expect that Su Qing's family lived in a traditional courtyard house, and he had thought it would be a villa instead. As he entered the garden of Su's house, he saw all sorts of flowers and plants, which was comparable to a botanical garden; the decorations inside the house were simple yet elegant; even the tea that Su Qing brewed for him in the living room was fragrant. If Du Wei hadn't been clear-headed, he would have thought he had traveled back in time. He knew that Su's family had power and influence, but not as much wealth as a businessman. He didn't expect to be shocked by what he saw today at Su's house. The courtyard house and the valuable wooden furniture inside were worth tens of millions of yuan. Although Su Qing's father was a major general, his monthly salary couldn't possibly support such a lifestyle. The things in Su's house may not have been the most expensive, but they were the most comfortable and exquisite, with a unique charm. Many of them were made by Su Qing herself, and in Du Wei's eyes, the people in Su's family knew how to enjoy life. Today, there were only two elderly people and Su Qing at home, so Du Wei sat down with Su Qing, chatted for a bit, drank a cup of tea, and then they left together in the car.

  According to Du Qian, the boss who sells jade rough stones is surnamed Feng, a middle-aged uncle in his 40s or 50s. The location of the goods is near the western suburbs of Beijing, and Du Qian drove west from Su Qing's house.

  Du Wei's driving skills are very good, the car is driven fast and stable. In the car, since Du Wei had to focus on driving, the two of them just chatted casually for a couple of sentences.

  "Senior's driving skills are so good that he should also like racing." Su Qing noticed that Du Nian's expression was very relaxed while driving, and there was even a drifting technique at the turn.

  "I liked it and even wanted to learn racing. But there's a certain level of danger involved, and since I'm the only child in my family, this idea was immediately rejected by my family." Du Nian replied with a helpless expression.

  "Is it just going to be abandoned like this?" Su Qing felt that many things could still be possible if they were fought for.

  "What else can be done? As the only grandson of the Du family, he has an enviable aura. Since he has received better conditions than others in many aspects, he also needs to pay something, such as freedom of choice." Du Wei had long regarded everything as a trade-off, which made him feel a little better.

  "My affairs must be taken care of by myself, no one can represent my will. I will only be loyal to my own choices, and no one can replace me in making decisions." Su Qing said firmly, as if she was making a decision. Su Qing would not sacrifice her own happiness for anything, and had long since decided to take charge of herself, now with an even stronger determination to make herself stronger.

  "Everyone thinks this way, but when the interests of the family and those of us younger generation without a say in the family conflict, the family will forcibly make choices for you. There is no right to refuse, unless you can be stronger than the family you are in, but who can do that?" Du Wei thought to himself that now he was young and his elders were in charge at home, by the time it would be his turn to take over the Du family, everything would already be too late. Perhaps this is how generation after generation has passed, and one cannot avoid it.

  "Senior seems to have a deep understanding of this, and the recognition is very profound." Su Qing had always thought that Du Nian was a sunny person, but who can see into someone's heart.

  "My cousin recently got married, but the bride is not the one he loves. What was supposed to be a happy occasion, I haven't seen him smile much. Even when he did, it was forced and not from the heart. The marriage was arranged by his grandfather for the sake of the family's prosperity, leaving no choice in this matter of lifelong importance." Du Nai thought of his cousin's helplessness, wondering if he could avoid a similar fate.

  "Resisting might be futile, but I will never accept my fate." Su Qing's eyes flashed with defiance, and when she was provoked, anything could happen. Family alliances to maintain prosperity were a common phenomenon, where emotional compatibility took a backseat to social status. It was for this reason that Su Qing's parents' marriage had been opposed by their elders years ago, but the couple had stood firm. Su Qing's parents had been deeply in love for twenty years, and many people envied them. This was true love, not a union for family interests.

  "We don't talk about such serious topics, let's say something happy, we're almost at our destination." Du Nian looked up and saw that they were almost there, ending the discussion. On the other hand, he felt that the topic was getting deeper and deeper, Su Qing in his eyes was like a little sister who made people want to care for and protect her, not wanting her to come into contact with unpleasant things too early.

  After getting off the car, Su Qing followed Du Xuan to a large warehouse. In the courtyard in front of the warehouse, people were unloading stones. The surrounding onlookers occasionally discussed something. Du Xuan went forward and talked with a middle-aged man for two sentences, then introduced him to Su Qing. That middle-aged man was Du Xuan's father, the general manager of Du's Jewelry Company, who came here today to buy some jade for the company. Song Jie saw that Su Qing had arrived and also came forward to greet her, introducing Su Qing to his family members. Later, the adults were busy selecting jade rough stones, while Su Qing and three young people watched the excitement.

  Many people are selecting this batch of jadeite materials, and the prices are not low. The cheapest ones cost tens of thousands of yuan, and some even cost hundreds of thousands. Su Qing opened her divine sense to inspect each piece of jadeite, but in her eyes, none of them showed particularly outstanding performance. Although the boss said they were excavated from old pits in Myanmar, and the surface of the materials looked good, the interior was not as ideal. Su Qing found that the best piece was an icy apple green, but it was too small to be made into anything except a pendant. Moreover, Su Qing discovered several pieces of "dead skin" green jadeite, which had excellent external patterns such as python and pine flowers, but were likely to deceive many people. If Su Qing hadn't found any signs of tampering on the stones, she would have thought the boss was a swindler. It was just too coincidental that so many stones all had only superficial beauty.

  Su Qing cast her gaze towards a pile of stones in the corner of the warehouse, many of which didn't have the characteristic green color of jade. These should be what people called "brick material", not highly valued and almost no chance of producing green jade. Su Qing simply took a glance, without much hope in her heart. But the result shocked her greatly, indeed there were good things buried. Su Qing continued with an excited mood, but surprise didn't strike again. In total, Su Qing only found two pieces containing jadeite, the rest were white stones that were indeed "brick material" left over after being carefully selected by countless buyers.

  Su Qing found Boss Feng, she wanted to buy the two pieces of jadeite. The opportunity was not to be missed, especially since one of them had never been seen in any jade identification book before. Such a strange and beautiful piece of jadeite must be bought back for further study.

  "Feng uncle, is there any very cheap wool?", Su Qing asked the boss in a very friendly manner.

  "How about Su Qing, you also want to try your luck." Song Jie and Du Ye saw Su Qing looking for the boss, and the two of them also came over.

  "Everyone is speculating on the stone, and I'm bored just watching. If there were some cheap ones for a few hundred yuan each, I'd buy two to play with. Of course, those that cost tens of thousands of yuan each are beyond my means." Su Qing said it as if she was very poor.

  "If you want something cheap, it's only the stuff in the corner. Don't be fooled, the brick material is almost impossible to make a profit from. You little girl, I'll give you a discount of 200 yuan per piece, just take whatever you like." There were still several hundred yuan worth of jade in the warehouse, but after hearing Su Qing's words, Uncle Feng directly pointed to the material in the corner. Su Qing looked puzzled and only curious, thinking that it would be fun to let this cute little girl lose a lot of money and cry later. It was just a few hundred yuan to play with something new."

  After finishing speaking, Su Qing went to see Shi Tou, with two young men following behind her, saying they were going to be her free porters.

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