BMECDAH 09

Chapter 09

After she finished speaking, she shakily closed the window and intentionally coughed violently a few times, making those outside tremble with fear, terrified that she might cough up her own heart, liver, spleen, and lungs.

Jiang Wei’s heartfelt words were like rubbing salt into Shen Peirong’s wounds. Overcome with excessive guilt, Shen Peirong asked herself, “Have I been too hard on your younger sister?” Given the financial resources of the Shen and Jiang families, they could have easily bought an apartment in the city and hired servants to take care of the Second Girl, but she had been bewitched and thrown her away into the countryside.

“Mother, you’re overthinking it. You treat me and my sister the same. It’s my fault as the elder sister for being incompetent; I’ll have the kitchen prepare a meal for my sister right now.” Jiang Yan gritted her teeth in hatred. It had taken her so much effort to get Shen Peirong back under her control, but Jiang Wei had managed to make Shen Peirong feel sorry for her younger daughter again with just a few sentences. This was not a good sign. The only consolation was that Jiang Wei, having had her luck absorbed, looked much weaker; who knew who would die first once she married Gu Ting in her current state?

Late at night. “Huh? Why did the oil lamp go out?” Jiang Dahai relit the lamp and walked to the back courtyard, fumbling around the base of a parasol tree that was wider than a man. A hole the size of a basin appeared in the tree trunk.

Jiang Dahai crawled into the tree hole, walked through a long corridor, reached a deep pool, and jumped in. Splash. The pool bubbled after he rose. Strangely, he felt as if someone had been following him; whenever he walked, they walked, and whenever he stopped, they stopped. Could it be the soul of Shen Zhennan? Terrified, Jiang Dahai quickly dived to the bottom, felt around, and a massive stone door opened.

Ahead was another long corridor, and at the end of it were dozens of enormous iron trunks. Each trunk was the size of two adults, and each was secured with 20 locks. Jiang Dahai took the key out of his underwear pocket, opened a box that only had one lock, retrieved a chain of keys, and proceeded to open the other boxes. They were filled to the brim with gold and silver.

Jiang Dahai grabbed a gold ingot and bit it. He chipped half a tooth, but he laughed heartily. “Shen Zhennan, you always said I was stupid, but you’re the stupid one! After I learned about the Gu family’s situation, I moved all the family assets here in advance. I’m just waiting to get the assets you left for Shen Peirong and Jiang Wei, and then I’ll take my beloved woman and daughter far away to Hong Kong to create my own glory. Hahaha…”

After staying for a while, Jiang Dahai feared that Shen Peirong would wake up, find him missing, and become suspicious, so he returned the way he came. No sooner had he left than the dozens of giant trunks vanished into thin air, leaving him with only thousands of keys on the floor.

Jiang Wei looked at the trunks piled up in her storage space and grinned from ear to ear. When Jiang Dahai had been bragging earlier, she had already used her “Clairvoyance” skill to scan everything inside. Besides endless gold, silver, and jewelry, there were even guns. She placed the gold and silver alongside the items she had taken from Shen Peirong earlier. As for the guns, she would keep them for now and find an opportunity to donate them to the country later.

Just as Jiang Wei was about to leave, her Gold-Attracting Stone tugged at her. Was there more gold nearby? Jiang Wei followed the stone out of the warehouse, walked a distance, and arrived at a private residence. A large truck was parked in front, and many people were moving items from the house onto the truck. They moved everything; they stomped on worthless things and used axes to smash what they couldn’t move.

The man in the lead had a gloomy face. “Old Brigade Commander, don’t hold a grudge against me. It was you who took the wrong path and harmed your family; I am only following orders from above. I have to do as I am told. Out of consideration for my past acquaintance with Gu Ting, I’ve left him a ‘fortune-bringing’ bride; I hope he can leave a seed for the Gu family before he dies. Since it’s a happy occasion, I’ll let you all stay in the city for another half a month. After that, you must all be sent down to the farm for labor.”

“Xiao Huo, thank your father for me. Thank him for negotiating on my behalf. Rest assured, I will reform myself well once I get to the countryside.”

“That would be best.” The long-limbed man boarded the truck, and it sped off.

The young driver remarked, “Strange, the truck feels very light tonight.” The man glared at him sideways. “Can’t you feel light after driving the Gu family out?” “Haha, that’s true.” “Heh.” Jiang Wei, who had finished clearing out the truck, chuckled. Of course it’s light when the truck is empty.

“There’s someone in the back!” The driver slammed on the brakes. The man gripped his pistol, jumped through the window into the truck bed, and doubted his own eyes. There had been at least half a truckload of items moved from the Gu house, but now there wasn’t even a hair left. Who was stealing from right under his nose?

“Anyone who dares to steal from under my nose will die if I catch them!” Jiang Wei, having already jumped off the truck, made a face at it. Stealing? She was a daughter-in-law of the Gu family; was it stealing to collect the dowry early? Since this “Huo” person mentioned stealing, she would put clearing out the Huo family on her schedule. Huo Qi, the biggest male villain in the book who only cared about his career, liked to snatch everything from the male lead. He had played a major role in the Gu family’s downfall. Huo Qi was a scumbag without morals who consumed anything and everything—an all-around menace to society. Jiang Wei added Huo Qi to her “sent down” list. The more, the merrier.

As if possessed, Jiang Wei returned to the Gu family home to eavesdrop. “Cough, cough, cough.” Inside was Gu Ting’s agonizing coughing. Jiang Wei felt uncomfortable hearing it and wanted to find some medicine to plug his mouth. “It’s a sin. With our family in this state, is the eldest miss of the Jiang family still willing to marry over here?” Mother Gu sobbed. “What choice does she have if she isn’t? Not to mention she is betrothed to Gu Ting, but the marriage between Gu Ting and the Jiang Miss was required by the higher-ups; they said they wanted to leave an heir for the Gu family.” Father Gu sounded helpless with rage. “Oh, my poor son.” Mother Gu looked at her sickly son and started crying again.

Gu Ting caught his breath. “Father, Mother, regardless of the Jiang Miss’s motives for marrying into our family, remember not to speak loosely in front of her, and do not let her handle any of the family’s belongings.” Mother Gu didn’t understand. “Does she have other intentions for marrying here?” Sigh, one marriage had ruined two young lives. Gu Ting stopped talking.

Outside the window, Jiang Wei frowned. Based on her experience from her previous transmigration lives, Gu Ting’s words held deeper meaning. Could it be… that Gu Ting is reborn? But if he were reborn, shouldn’t he have immediately dealt with the original owner who caused the Gu family so much harm? Finally, Jiang Wei concluded that the only reason Gu Ting hadn’t killed her yet was because he was too ill and incapacitated; he must be planning to marry her first and then “ravish and then kill” her! No, that’s wrong. Gu Ting is the male lead; he has to stay faithful to the heroine, so he wouldn’t ravish her.

While thinking, Jiang Wei returned home, not forgetting to move all the clothes, jewelry, beds, and wardrobes that Jiang Yan had just bought.

The next day, Jiang Yan crawled up from the floor, looked at the empty room, and let out a soul-shaking scream: “Father! Mother! A thief has broken into my room again!”