Because Wang Cheng was preparing to go abroad, he could once again spend time openly with Chu Yifeng. They occasionally behaved a little affectionately, but nothing particularly outrageous. After viewing the photographs, Zhao Chenlin and Wei Wei told the investigator to keep following them. Xie Wenzhi had almost finished handing over his duties. Zhang Wu, however, was moving faster because his preparations had begun earlier, and his father had agreed to help. Three days later, Zhang Wu arrived by plane. Wang Cheng went to pick him up personally.
This was not Zhang Wu’s first visit to the capital, but his feelings were very different this time.
Wang Cheng asked whether he needed to rest. When Zhang Wu declined, they went straight to Zhou Group. Xie Wenzhi was waiting for them. His work was important, and he was reluctant to entrust it to an ordinary replacement, so he had already said he wanted to meet Zhang Wu himself.
Zhang Wu adapted quickly and had done his homework, so Xie Wenzhi was pleased with him. He subsequently recommended Zhang Wu to General Manager Feng as well, leaving Feng Yifan pleasantly surprised.
Events soon proved their judgment sound.
When Mother Zheng learned Wang Cheng would be going abroad and might not return for some time, she was reluctant to let him go. During the last few days, she simply moved into the Zhou residence. Wang Cheng’s plan to stay with Chu Yifeng fell apart again. Chu Yifeng, meanwhile, used the time to investigate the jade pendant.
A pendant made from imperial-green jadeite was not something an ordinary wealthy household could possess. Chu Yifeng therefore managed to uncover several useful leads fairly quickly. Such exceptional jadeite was rare, and whenever it appeared, it usually caused a sensation, leaving a trail of records. Beginning with the jewelry industry, he obtained several pieces of information.
Top-grade jadeite had become exceptionally rare in recent years, but the approximate date was known, so it was possible to trace earlier finds. More than fifty years ago, two notable pieces of such jadeite had indeed appeared.
The first appeared in a renowned family of jewelers whose compound surname was Zhuge. Rumor held that they were descendants of Zhuge Liang, the famous Kongming, though no one knew whether that was true. The family was not celebrated for this supposed ancestry but for its jewelry business. They had dealt in precious stones and jewelry for generations and possessed many rare treasures. This exceptional jadeite was among them.
Someone had once offered a very high price for the jadeite, but the Zhuge family refused to sell. They allegedly intended to preserve it as a family heirloom. After that, little was heard of it.
“Could this Zhuge family be the one we’re looking for?” Wang Cheng’s interest was immediately piqued. A family of jewelers and a treasured heirloom, combined with what had happened to his late grandmother, seemed a promising match.
Chu Yifeng shook his head. “I thought so too at first. But the information I found indicates the Zhuge family disappeared in a later period of upheaval. They were apparently implicated in a conspiracy, and none of the family survived. Besides, the jadeite they kept as an heirloom ended up overseas. It only returned to China after changing hands several times, about a dozen years ago. And it wasn’t a pendant. It was a jade Guanyin statue over twenty centimeters tall.”
Wang Cheng thought for a moment. “Could our pendant have been carved from a piece cut off while making the Guanyin statue?”
“Unlikely,” Chu Yifeng replied. “I checked the dates afterward. The Zhuge family was wiped out three years before your father was born. And there was no woman in the family of an age matching your grandmother.”
“What about the other lead?”
“The second piece came from a lucky stone gambler. It was smaller than the Guanyin jade, only about the size of an adult fist. The man was an ordinary person and later sold it to a prominent family. You’ve heard of that family. In fact, you’ve met someone from it.”
“Which family?” Wang Cheng asked curiously.
He had met very few members of prominent clans.
“The Gu family.”
“The Gu family? You mean Gu Ping?” Wang Cheng immediately recalled Shen Yuan’s gathering, where he had been introduced to a man called Gu Ping.
“That’s right,” Chu Yifeng said with a nod. “The Gu family has been involved in business for generations. More than fifty years ago, they were already among the country’s best-known merchant families. Later they lived through a period of upheaval that radically changed the nature of the family. That’s how they became the Gu family you see today.”
“What changed?”
“This happened several decades ago. The Gu family had four brothers. Three were interested in the family business, but there could only be one head of the household, so the competition was fierce. The only one who wanted nothing to do with the family business was the man who is now Old Master Gu. Apparently he became fascinated with biology when he was young. While his three brothers fought over the inheritance, he spent his days on research. Few people understood him, but his mother supported him and financed his work. Today’s Gu Group is the company he established in his youth. The original family business, meanwhile, began declining about ten years later and now survives only as a scattering of small operations. Gu Group, which the others once looked down on, became a giant in biomedicine.”
Wang Cheng nodded, but he realized they had drifted away from the topic. “And the jade?”
Chu Yifeng gave him a meaningful smile. “The Gu family isn’t in the jewelry trade. Why do you think they bought that piece of jadeite?”
Wang Cheng’s eyes brightened. “To make a family heirloom?”
“Not exactly. The Gu family has existed for a century or two, so it surely had heirlooms already. According to the information I received, after purchasing the jadeite, the family head had it carved into four pendants. He handed one to each of his four sons, with each son’s name engraved on his pendant. Do you know Old Master Gu’s name?”
Wang Cheng swallowed. He felt the truth was almost within reach. “Tell me already!”
Chu Yifeng did not tease him any longer. “His name is Gu Shouzhuo.”
It was as though a thunderclap sounded inside Wang Cheng’s head. Four words flashed through his mind: It has to be him!
The character shou engraved on the pendant was part of Gu Shouzhuo’s name. Since the family patriarch had made pendants for all four sons, the other three pendants must carry the names of the other brothers.
“But if my grandmother was Old Master Gu’s wife, why did she end up in Wangjia Village? And why didn’t she ask the old village chief to contact the Gu family?”
“There must be a secret nobody knows,” Chu Yifeng replied. “We would have to ask Old Master Gu himself.” Family secrets were troublesome to investigate, so he had limited his search to the information already described.
“Then we should tell Big Brother before we leave the country, so he can be prepared.” Wang Cheng’s instincts told him the Gu family might be even more complicated than the Zheng and Zhou families, especially now that someone was trying to seize the pendant. Whoever it was probably meant them no good.
Chu Yifeng suggested, “We leave the day after tomorrow. Why not invite your brother to dinner tonight?”
“Good idea.” Wang Cheng called Wang Ning’an ahead of time. When Wang Ning’an heard his brother was treating him, he did not ask why. He merely told Wang Cheng to inform their eldest aunt he would not be home for dinner so she would not prepare a portion for him.
He Ping had now recovered. Guan Meifang had originally intended to return to Shanhai City, but her son did not want to leave, and Wang Ning’an agreed staying in the capital would be better for him. Conditions there were superior, and He Ping urgently needed to absorb more new knowledge. Remaining would be to his advantage.
Guan Meifang knew it was best for her son, but she felt embarrassed about imposing on her nephews. Even though she did all the housework, she felt she was taking advantage of their generosity. Wang Cheng learned of the situation later. He wanted his eldest aunt and older cousin to stay too. With his aunt there, Wang Ning’an would no longer have to eat frozen meals and takeout every day. He used that argument to persuade her.
After work, Wang Ning’an went straight to the restaurant Wang Cheng had booked.
Wang Cheng and Chu Yifeng were already waiting in a private room. Wang Cheng knew his brother’s tastes and had ordered the food before he arrived.
Not long after Wang Ning’an sat down, a waiter brought in the dishes. The aroma of eight or nine plates filled the room, making Wang Ning’an’s stomach rumble after his long day.
“Big Brother, eat first. We can talk business afterward.” Wang Cheng served his brother a bowl of rice, then one for Chu Yifeng. It was the fragrant rice Wang Cheng loved, apparently cooked with bamboo and infused with its aroma.
Wang Ning’an smiled. “You’ve been here before, haven’t you? I’ve eaten here too, but the seats and private rooms are hard to reserve, and I never have time to wait. I’ve only managed to come once.”
“If you like it, bring Eldest Aunt and Cousin He Ping next time. I’ll reserve a private room for you,” Wang Cheng offered.
Wang Ning’an nodded. He really ought to take them out for a meal. His aunt was always apologizing for inconveniencing them, but since she moved in his meals had become much more regular. He no longer had to spend thousands hiring a cleaner, and the extra company made the apartment livelier too. Halfway through the meal, someone knocked on the private room door. Wang Cheng assumed it was the waiter, although they had not ordered anything else. When he opened it, however, he found someone familiar and thoroughly unwelcome.