Chapter 41: Thick and Heavy Family Ties

  After staying in the capital for three months, Gu Quan felt it was time to return. During this period, the two of them went to Panjiayuan a few more times and although their gains were not as great as before, they still managed to acquire quite a few things. Now, the entire antique market in Beijing knows that a mysterious young man from the south has arrived, and whenever he makes a move, he is sure to reap a harvest.

  Some attribute it to Gu's excellent teaching, while others say that Qu is naturally talented and has a unique gift. He even got a nickname, "Little Wenqu", implying that he is as clever as the star Wenqu. Of course, this refers to Qu's knowledge of antiques, otherwise how could he have picked up so many treasures?

  Since there are airplanes, even remote places don't feel far away. From Beijing to Longjing, it takes more than half a day to arrive.

  In the Long City family, to celebrate Qu Wen's return, his parents prepared a sumptuous dinner for him. Qu Jian Guo brought out an old wine that he had treasured for many years, with several Chinese medicines soaked in it. According to him, this was an ancestral recipe that could strengthen the body, nourish vitality, and prolong life. Whether or not it really had such effects, Qu Wen dared not confirm, but what was certain was that his father treated this wine as a treasure and rarely took it out for tasting unless it was an important occasion.

  Actually, ancient artifacts are a type of collection, and medicinal wine is also one of them. From ancient times to the present, there have been countless secret brews in palaces and among the people, and indeed, there are many good wines with remarkable effects. For example, tiger bone wine, deer antler wine, turtle snake wine, ginseng schisandra wine, crow hair wine, ox knee angelica wine, and ten complete tonic wine, etc., are all excellent wine recipes passed down from thousands of years of Chinese civilization. Drinking different medicinal wines according to different physical constitutions can have effects such as tonifying the spleen and eliminating dampness, nourishing yin and strengthening yang, calming the mind and supplementing qi.

  The medicinal wine brewed by factories for many years is also collected by some people, with prices ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of yuan, becoming an oddity in the collecting circle.

  However, like Qu Jian's medicinal wine, it can only be used for personal consumption, because who dares to guarantee that someone else's brewed medicinal wine has any effect or is toxic.

  It's rare for Dad to bring out his treasured collection, and Qu Wen didn't want to disappoint him either, so he picked up the wine cup and asked him to fill it up. Looking at the messy stuff in the big wine bottle and the dark sediment, he felt quite nauseous.

  "Dad, this wine seems to have been brewed for many years, I remember seeing it when I was very young."

  Qu Jian Guo held up the wine bottle, patted it gently and said: "It's been twenty-three years. From the day you were born, I've been saving this bottle of wine. Let me calculate...it's still your older brother! Come on, try a taste of Dad's private vintage!"

  This bottle of wine has been placed under the bed since it was young, and Qu Jian Guo rarely takes it out to drink. Occasionally, when he's in a good mood, he'll just pour a small cup, and Qu Wen Chang is still drinking this wine for the first time after growing up.

  He clinked his glass lightly against Dad's and then put it to his mouth for a heroic gulp.

  As the liquor went down his throat and into his belly, he couldn't help but almost jump up, a fiery hot spicy sensation bursting out of his mouth and nose.

  "Wow, Dad, what's that? That's pure industrial alcohol..."

  Qu Jian Guo looked at his son's expression and burst out laughing: "When we first brewed it, we used 50-degree old wine. Now that it's been brewed for over 20 years, the degree must be at least 56 degrees or higher. Ah, don't spit it out, this is good stuff!"

  "Ptooey, you drink it, I can't take it!" Qu Wen hastily ladled up a bowl of clear broth and gargled his throat. It wasn't just the liquor's potency that was unbearable, but also the medicinal flavor emanating from it.

  Shen Luyun saw her son's suffering and blamed her husband, saying: "Awen is still young, what kind of wine medicine did you give him to drink? You think that at your age, it's necessary to take supplements."

  Qu Jian Guo carefully put away the medicine and revealed a very wronged expression: "Who says medicinal liquor is exclusively for middle-aged and elderly people? It's also effective for those who are not good for their bodies. Look at him, he's only been on business trips for a few months and his face has turned green like this. If I didn't care about him, I wouldn't have given him such good liquor to drink!"

  Ever since the last time in Beijing when Qu Wen failed to absorb the strange aura on the Qinghua porcelain, his spiritual awareness had become somewhat disordered. Although there was no sign of weakening, it could not gather together and could not be stirred up again for a long time. The person's physiological breath was also affected, and his originally pale and rosy cheeks turned a faint sickly green color.

  Gu Quan thought it was because of Qiu Wen being away from home for too long, going from the distant south to the north, and the water and soil not matching causing discomfort. So he decided to leave Beijing early and return to Longcheng.

  "Awen, if this job is too tiring, then don't do it. Let your dad find you another job that's easier." Shen Luoyun looked at her son with a pang of heartache, although she hoped he could be completely independent, but seeing him like this, she couldn't help but feel soft-hearted.

  His body was in good shape, he knew it best. Although his complexion wasn't great, but his physical strength remained excellent, running ten miles at a stretch was no problem for him. It's just that his mental state recovered too slowly, which made him feel anxious and uneasy.

  "It's okay, mom. I've been in Beijing and maybe it's the change of environment, but every night I couldn't sleep well, and after a long time, it became like this. Now that I'm back home, I just need to rest for a while."

  "Then mom will get you two more mattresses later, and I guarantee that you'll sleep comfortably tonight."

  Just as Shen Luyun was about to get up and fetch the bedding, Qu Wen pulled her back down: "No need, mom, I already have enough beddings. If you add more, I won't be able to sleep." As she spoke, she took out a bank card from her bag and handed it to Shen Luyun: "Mom, there's 50,000 yuan in here, it's the dividend I got from this business trip. You and dad can take it and buy something you want."

  "Fifty thousand!"

  Qu Jian and Shen Luyun exclaimed in unison, Qu Wencai had only worked for a short time and had already earned 50,000 yuan, which was at least their annual salary.

  Taking out 50,000 is not being stingy by Qu Wen, in fact he cares about his parents a lot. People say that one can live without siblings, relatives and friends, but they will always have parents. If one doesn't care about their own parents, it's an unforgivable sin. That's why taking out 50,000 is something he thought through many times, afraid that if he takes out too much at once, his elderly parents' hearts won't be able to handle it.

  "This time I went to Beijing with the leader, because we successfully negotiated a big business deal. The leader gave me 100,000 yuan as a bonus, don't believe me? Look, I still have 50,000 left here." Qu Wen said, taking out his passbook again, which clearly showed that he had withdrawn 50,000 and still had 50,000 remaining.

  Shen Luyun was worried that her son would give all the money to them and have nothing left for himself, so when she saw that her son still had 50,000 yuan in his hand, she couldn't help but feel relieved.

  "Alright then, I'll save it for you first and use it as your dowry when you get married in the future."

  Qu Jian Guo laughed happily on the side: "Alright, stinky brat, you've made progress, in less than half a year you've earned more money than your dad and mom combined in a year. Just the other day, Dad saw a set of fishing gear he liked, can you support him a bit?"

  Before Qu Wen could even open his mouth, Shen Luyun loudly scolded: "You have food and drink, that's enough, don't try to control your son, his money was earned through hard work!"

  "This remark really made Qu Jian feel stifled: 'I finally managed to raise him, and usually even have to be frugal with cigarettes, am I not working hard too?!'"

  Her husband, Shen Luoyun, was well aware of this. Although he didn't have any great abilities, he worked hard for the sake of their family and never spent extra money on himself, not even on clothes. He rarely drank or smoked, but enjoyed fishing and watching football. Now that their son had grown up, it was time for him to enjoy some peace and quiet.

  "Alright, I'll go with you to buy fishing gear tomorrow, but don't think about making decisions for my son."

  Qu Jian Guo heard it and immediately raised his hands, not afraid of his son's ridicule, loudly shouting: "Long live the wife, long live the wife!"