The next day, Lu Shouyan arrived early in his jeep, and Lu Jianhui, the fourth grandson of the Lu family, also came over.

Grandpa Lu has already had many gifts prepared, all of which are very rare, some of which are even specially made and cannot be bought outside.

He specially brought a pack of tobacco, saying it was Lanzhou’s green tobacco. “Old Master Chu mentioned in previous years that he loves Lanzhou’s green tobacco the most, it has to be shaved using the traditional method. This is something I specially asked someone to get for me. Give it to him and say ‘green tobacco,’ and he’ll know what I mean.”

Chu Wan listened, thanked him, and put the item away.

Grandpa Lu understood her great-grandfather very well. As people got older, they no longer cared about the expensive things. However, her great-grandfather had only ever loved this one thing in his life.

All of these items, along with the other food prepared by Feng Luxi, were loaded into the jeep.

Lu Jianzhao was naturally very attentive. Now he looked at Chu Wan as if she were a deity, admiring her to the point of prostration, and wishing he could serve her hand and foot.

Seeing how attentive he was, Lu Jianshi felt a little annoyed and started to be attentive in return, calling out to Chu Wan in an overly affectionate manner. When Chu Wan got into the car, Lu Jianshi was there to help her.

After getting into the jeep, Chu Wan sat on the left. Lu Jianzhao and Lu Jianshi were both eager to sit next to Chu Wan. The two of them argued and ended up blocking each other’s seats, looking at each other and refusing to give in.

Lu Jianhui remained calm. He was already working at the research institute and was busy with work recently when the old man suddenly ordered him to take leave, saying that he had to go to Yongling Village to do labor.

He roughly knew what was going on, but he didn’t care too much, so now he was just carrying out a mission.

He was wholeheartedly trying to complete the mission, and if he were to marry Chu Wan, he would have no problem with it and would accept it.

However, he couldn’t bring himself to be jealous and competitive with his two younger brothers over her.

It wasn’t worth ruining the friendship between brothers just to get a wife.

Chu Wan didn’t want to see the two brothers confronting each other, nor did she want to mediate, so she casually looked out the window.

Lu Shouyan, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up, “What kind of behavior is this between the two of you?”

Upon hearing this, his two nephews immediately began to complain and accuse each other.

As Lu Shouyan listened to their incompetent complaints, his expression turned cold. He ordered in a light tone, “Get out. Let Jianhui sit in that seat.”

At their Uncle’s command, the two nephews glared at each other, their rivalry finally coming to an end. Neither wanted to be at a disadvantage, so they both went downstairs. Lu Jianhui obeyed and sat down next to Chu Wan.

Originally, both Lu Jianshi and Lu Jianzhao wanted to talk to Chu Wan, but now that Lu Jianhui was in the way, it was naturally inconvenient for them to do so.

Chu Wan casually chatted with Lu Jianhui for a few minutes, talking about his work at the research institute.

Lu Jianhui was a smart and honest man; in the words of his grandfather, he was a man with a clever mind.

He was 24 years old this year, five years older than Chu Wan. He was among the first batch of college students after the college entrance examination was opened up. He studied electrical engineering for his undergraduate degree and automation control for his master’s degree. After graduating with his master’s degree, he worked at an automation research institute.

In her previous life. Lu Jianhui was busy with academic research and did not get married until he was over thirty. He married a researcher colleague he had worked with for many years. The couple happened to be doing scientific research together, and it was said that they were discussing the latest research progress on underwater robots on their wedding night.

As Chu Wan chatted like this, she couldn’t help but think about the feasibility of her relationship with Lu Jianhui.

Although outsiders might laugh at Lu Jianhui and his future wife for not being husband and wife but instead colleagues, it was still a good match. If she were to be with Lu Jianzhao, it would seem as if she were ruining someone else’s marriage.

Lu Jianhui, however, seemed quite enthusiastic, and he talked to Chu Wan about robots.

In fact, Lu Jianhui was not a very talkative person, nor was he proficient in interpersonal relationships. However, he was very interested in talking about robots, and he started talking about them as soon as Chu Wan asked him a question.

The department he currently worked in was called the Institute of Automation and Control, and the research topic in the lab was robotics.

Chu Wan actually knew that he would later achieve remarkable research results, and in the late 1980s he took charge of the National Robot Demonstration Project. Later, he even cooperated with Russia to develop a world-leading underwater robot.

At the time, many companies were interested in investing in this area, and Lu Jianshi also wanted to invest. He asked Chu Wan for money; Chu Wan didn’t care much about small amounts of money and usually told Lu Jianshi to spend it as he pleased. However, she didn’t want to give up this investment, so she went to talk to Lu Jianhui herself and listened to him talk about the development prospects of this field.

After hearing this, she had become very interested, finding it interesting and useful. She then set aside some funds to establish a company and collaborate with Lu Jianhui. She remembered that just before her accident, Lu Jianhui had mentioned to her that he wanted to conduct a deep-sea test of a Chinese robot capable of reaching depths of 6,000 meters in the waters east of Hawaii. This was of course a huge deal, as this technology had already surpassed that of Russia and France.

If this experiment was successful, China’s intelligent robots would take a step forward, and China would also have the initiative in future marine development.

Chu Wan listened to him discuss these things, and once she understood them, she was willing to support them.

Anyway, she made a lot of money from antiques. As family, she was willing to support them whether she made money or not.

Now, as Chu Wan listened to Lu Jianhui recount his ideas, she considered it for a moment and decided to elaborate, nudging his thinking a little further, hoping that things might change in that direction.

“I remember reading a book about a Dutchman who discovered a treasure ship that had sunk in the South China Sea. It was a Chinese ship that had been attacked and sunk by pirates. They salvaged the treasure ship and found millions of pieces of Kangxi porcelain.”

Lu Jianhui frowned, “They found it, and then what? It’s Chinese porcelain, isn’t it?”

Chu Wan: “This person was extremely crazy. Because there were too many porcelain pieces on that ship, he believed that scarcity would increase its value. In order to raise the auction price of the porcelain, he only kept more than 200,000 pieces and smashed the other 6 to 700,000 pieces. Afterwards, he transported those porcelain pieces abroad to auction them off, sold them for astronomical prices, and made a fortune.”

Lu Jianhui stared wide-eyed. “This is outrageous! What kind of book is this? Can’t we stop them?”

Chu Wan nodded and said, “We’re not as skilled as others, what can we do? We don’t have any laws or technology in this area. But don’t take it too seriously, it’s just a book I saw at a friend’s house, bought from a street stall, probably made up, just for fun.”

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

This, of course, would become a bloody chapter in history. People went on a buying spree of Chinese porcelain at the auction, and only when the news reached China did the authorities suddenly learn of it. At that time, the country had not yet enacted laws to protect cultural relics overseas, and was completely lacking in the technology for salvaging artifacts from the seabed.

The other party claimed that the salvage operation was not carried out in the South China Sea, but in international waters, and that China was powerless to do anything about it.

There was no other way but to hastily send ceramic experts to the auction in the hope of salvaging some of the losses.

Unfortunately, while the other side auctioned off more than 200,000 pieces of porcelain for nine consecutive days, causing a great stir, the Chinese didn’t even have a chance to raise their paddles and could only watch helplessly as a large number of porcelain pieces ended up overseas.

Because the Chinese government only raised $30,000 at the time, even though they had the right of first refusal, they were repeatedly sniped by higher bids, and the Chinese treasures ended up in the hands of others.

Lu Jianhui was stunned for a while before finally saying, “In that case, we must work hard in the field of robotics. We can use underwater robots to develop underwater exploration, and these robots can also be used for underwater salvage and archaeology!”

Chu Wan nodded, “That makes sense.”

Lu Jianhui sighed, “Just this year, I went to the United States and Canada with a delegation, visited more than a dozen cities, and saw the robots developed by the foreign naval marine systems center. It was truly an eye-opening experience! The gap between us and the world is too big. It makes me anxious!”

Looking at his anxious eyes, Chu Wan thought of the future, after the Soviet Union collapses, their research institute would cooperate with Russia to develop underwater machines. She comforted him, saying, “Don’t be too anxious. We are indeed quite far behind foreign countries now. If we keep focusing on the best and are too eager for quick results, we may take a detour. Take it slow.”

She added, “Look, right now I want to take the college entrance exam, but I don’t dare to apply to Peking University. I only dare to apply to the most ordinary schools. I’ve set a small goal, so that I have a better chance of succeeding.”

Lu Jianhui listened, remained silent for a while, and then said, “Wanwan, what you said makes sense. I’ll think about it some more.”

Let’s not even talk about the initial attempt to save him.

However, when Lu Jianhui looked at Chu Wan again, his feeling was different, “Wanwan is really smart. If others read that story, they would probably just enjoy the excitement, but Wanwan could think much further ahead.”

Chu Wan demurred, “I was just talking nonsense.”

Lu Jianhui sighed, “What you’re saying is quite inspiring. I should talk to you more. I never thought about the field of underwater archaeology before.”

… …

When Chu Wan and Lu Jianhui spoke like this, Lu Jianzhao listened and felt a surge of emotions.

Don’t let Chu Wan’s upbringing in the countryside fool you; she was incredibly knowledgeable and knew all sorts of things, even the most trivial ones.

He guessed that this might be something Chu Wan learned from her great-grandfather; the old man’s experience was indeed different—this idea was naturally biased, but there was no way around it. Just yesterday, he was truly amazed by Chu Wan’s cunning and strategies in her battle of wits with that young manager of the Nie family.

He felt it was no surprise that Chu Wan knew everything; she was a natural expert.

He didn’t think much of it, but Lu Jianshi overthought it very much. He was now feeling extremely uneasy and uncomfortable.

Pearls and Jade Beside Me in the ’80s translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

---

T/N: Are you confused who’s who now? 😅

Lu Jianhui — graduate researcher, Fourth Brother
Lu Jianzhao — college student, Eighth Brother
Lu Jianshi — scumbag ex-husband, Ninth Brother

Enjoying my translations? Check out my Patreon to get advance access to all ongoing translation works, single work only, or bundled works. Or just leave a tip! Thanks for your support.