At the Su family home, as soon as Su Wenshan entered the door, he took the initiative to explain to Chen Xiue, "I had just come back when I happened to run into Comrade Gu at the entrance, so I brought him in with me."
Chen Xiue was extremely warm toward Gu Hai.
"So you're Comrade Gu Hai? Our Xiaoyun often mentions you. We've wanted to invite you to dinner for a long time, but it kept getting delayed until now… But look at you—you came and even brought so many things. This cotton cloth is so fine. It must have cost quite a lot, right?"
As she spoke, she shouted toward the outside, "Xiaoyun, hurry and bring the dishes! And Xiaowu, go pour some wine for our guest. These are all simple home-cooked dishes, Comrade Gu—just help yourself."
While they were speaking, Su Yun had already neatly arranged the table. Chen Xiue and Su Wenshan invited Gu Hai to sit down.
Su Baoguo also took out the bottle of wine that Xia Xingguo had given them, poured two cups, and placed them beside Su Wenshan and Gu Hai.
Although Gu Hai felt somewhat restrained inside, he maintained a calm appearance.
"Uncle, Auntie, I'm just visiting today. Please don't pay too much attention to me. Just treat me like a junior."
"That won't do!" Chen Xiue shook her head. "You're a great benefactor to our family. Not to mention anything else—just those two cans of milk powder alone deserve my sincere thanks."
As she spoke, she enthusiastically picked up food for him.
When Gu Hai heard about the two cans of milk powder, he paused slightly. But after glancing at Su Yun's expression, he quickly understood and replied calmly, "It's just a small matter, not worth mentioning."
Su Wenshan also put some stir-fried pork on Gu Hai's plate and raised his glass.
"Comrade Gu, come—let me toast you. We don't need to say much; it's all in this drink."
Gu Hai held his glass with both hands, clinked it with Su Wenshan's, and took a drink. His face immediately turned red.
Su Wenshan rarely had the chance to drink openly, so whenever he found an opportunity, he toasted Gu Hai again and again. Soon half a bottle of wine was gone, and Gu Hai's face grew even redder.
Halfway through the meal, Su Yun secretly kicked Gu Hai under the table and gave him a meaningful look.
"Comrade Gu, since you enjoy collecting antiques, why don't you take a look around our house and see if there's any old item that catches your interest?"
Hearing this, Su Wenshan quickly added, "That's right, Comrade Gu. Feel free to look around. If you like something, just take it. It's not very useful sitting in our house anyway."
Chen Xiue nodded as well, clearly agreeing.
Su Yun and Gu Hai had rehearsed this beforehand. Gu Hai immediately looked around and accurately spotted the old incense burner that Su Yun had deliberately placed on the kang table earlier.
He picked it up and pretended to examine it for a moment before revealing a surprised expression.
"This item… it seems to be from the Song Dynasty. It has considerable collectible value in the market!"
When Chen Xiue and Su Wenshan heard this, they were astonished. Forget about eating—they grabbed the incense burner and examined it carefully from every angle. Yet no matter how hard they thought, they couldn't remember ever having such an item in their house.
Finally, Chen Xiue simply handed the incense burner to Gu Hai.
"Comrade Gu, then you should take it. Bring it home and add it to your collection."
Gu Hai waved his hand and said seriously, "That won't do. In the collecting world, we have rules. We cannot take someone else's antique for free—it would be unlucky. I must exchange something of equal value."
He pretended to think for a moment before saying, "How about this? For a collectible of this quality, I'll exchange it with a sewing machine. What do you think?"
"…"
Chen Xiue was stunned.
Su Wenshan also froze, holding his chopsticks in shock.
Only Su Yun pretended to gasp in surprise.
"Oh my! This incense burner is worth that much?"
Gu Hai adopted the expression of an old scholar and thought for a moment.
"Actually, exchanging only a sewing machine would mean I'm taking advantage of you, which I can't bear to do. How about this—I'll also add a bicycle. I'll take the incense burner, and in return I'll give you a sewing machine and a bicycle. Is that acceptable?"
Su Wenshan opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but no words came out.
Chen Xiue wanted to refuse, but the temptation of a sewing machine and a bicycle was too great. For a long time, she couldn't bring herself to say any words of rejection.
Instead, she kept putting more food on Gu Hai's plate, urging him to eat more and telling him to visit often without being polite.
The meal ended happily for both host and guest. After receiving Su Yun's signal, Gu Hai didn't stay long. He found an excuse and left.
Su Wenshan and Chen Xiue walked him to the entrance of the alley. Only after watching him disappear into the distance did they return home, feeling as if they were walking on clouds.
Chen Xiue looked as if she were dreaming.
"An incense burner that came out of nowhere… exchanged for a sewing machine and a bicycle. Is this really true?"
Su Yun responded beside her, "Of course it's true. I heard it with my own ears. Comrade Gu said he'll bring the items to the recycling station tomorrow. It can't be wrong."
Su Baoguo also said happily, "I heard it too! Brother Gu Hai is so generous. If only he could become my second brother-in-law!"
Hearing this, Su Yun stared at him in shock. She never expected the boy to randomly play matchmaker!
Gu Hai was a future big shot. Su Yun only dared to admire him from afar, yet Su Baoguo actually dared to imagine such things!
When Chen Xiue heard this, she immediately looked at Su Yun with excitement.
"Xiaowu is right! Xiaoyun, I think Comrade Gu is upright and honest. Our family had already agreed to give him the incense burner, but he insisted on exchanging something for it. That shows he's not someone who takes advantage of others. He's worth associating with. You really could consider him…"
"Mom, stop right there!" Su Yun interrupted her.
"He just did us such a big favor. If we start having designs on him now, it would be inappropriate. Comrade Gu might think we're greedy for wealth!"
Su Wenshan nodded. "Xiaoyun makes sense. It's not appropriate to talk about this now."
In other words—maybe later.
Chen Xiue finally dropped the subject, but she was still secretly thinking about finding an opportunity to bring Su Yun and Gu Hai together.
Suddenly an idea came to her.
"Xiaoyun, tomorrow night the steel factory is showing a movie. Invite Comrade Gu to go watch it with you. It would be a good chance to thank him properly. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
But that wouldn't work—Su Yun had something important to do tomorrow!
She replied vaguely, "Comrade Gu often travels for work. He might not even be home. I'll ask him tomorrow and see."
---
The next morning, the aunties in the courtyard came to the Su family early. Both openly and subtly, they questioned Chen Xiue about Gu Hai, trying to find out whether he was Su Yun's new boyfriend.
Chen Xiue only smiled mysteriously and gave vague answers. Soon rumors began spreading that Su Yun had found a collector as her boyfriend.
When Su Yun heard this, she tried explaining several times, but it was useless. She could only head to work with a bitter expression.
At the recycling station, Gu Hai soon arrived.
As soon as he came in, he asked, "Comrade Xiao Su, how did I perform last night? Did Uncle and Auntie suspect anything?"
Su Yun wasn't in a good mood. She looked at him helplessly and said,
"You performed too well. Now all the neighbors in my courtyard think you're my boyfriend. Even my mom has started getting ideas. It looks like I can't let you appear in front of them so easily anymore."
Hearing this, Gu Hai initially felt happy. But after hearing Su Yun's last sentence, his chest suddenly felt tight.
After a pause, he carefully asked,
"Comrade Xiao Su, you seem unhappy. Is it because you're afraid your boyfriend might misunderstand?"
The moment he finished asking, Gu Hai felt his heart leap straight to his throat.