Chapter 106 Confiscating Property

Two hours later, night fell heavily. The once exquisite garden was now a mess, full of potholes and craters, like a face covered in pockmarks.

Mr. Xia's anger burned fiercely in his heart, and his temper became increasingly volatile.

Seeing this, the servants didn't dare to breathe loudly. They gripped their shovels tightly and mechanically dug holes everywhere unless Mr. Xia told them to stop.

Xia Wenwen had a bad feeling. At first, she thought her father had remembered the wrong place, but now the whole garden had been turned upside down, so the gold must have been stolen.

What are we going to do? Without these gold bars, and with our family's businesses in the South City unable to be dealt with anytime soon, how are we going to go to Hong Kong?

Even if I wanted to liquidate my gold jewelry to tide me over, pawn shops have long since closed down, and I can't find anywhere to sell it.

Thinking of this, she was so anxious that tears almost fell.

"Dad, could it be that Xia Qianqian stole the gold bars?" Xia Wenwen suddenly blurted out.

Hearing her daughter's words and seeing Mr. Xia's furious appearance, Xia's mother was afraid that her husband would take his anger out on her, so she quickly chimed in.

“We’ve never lost anything in all these years. When Qianqian left, I remember she was carrying a big leather suitcase, it looked really heavy. Do you think it could be her… After raising her for so many years, I never imagined she would do something so ungrateful!”

Upon hearing this, Mr. Xia slammed his fist on the table and roared at the butler, "Investigate! I want to know the results today! If she really stole my gold, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

It wasn't until late at night that the butler hurriedly arrived at Mr. Xia's study.

At this moment, the study was filled with smoke. Mr. Xia sat in a chair, his eyes bloodshot, like a demon crawling out of hell, staring intently at the butler.

The butler trembled with fright and quickly bowed, saying, "Master, I've found out..."

"Who did this?"

The butler lowered his head, not daring to look at his face: "It's Miss."

"It really was her!"

Upon hearing what the housekeeper said, Mr. Xia's tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

Once they know who did it, things will take a turn for the better. With so much gold, Xia Qianqian can't possibly squander it all in a short time; the losses will be manageable.

The butler cautiously glanced at Mr. Xia's expression and forced himself to continue, "Sir, although the young lady took the gold, she did not bring it back to the village."

"Where did she take it?" Xia Wenwen barged in.

Without the gold, she was even more anxious than Mr. Xia, and her unease grew stronger. As soon as she saw the butler return, she rushed over, wanting to find out the latest news.

Mr. Xia and Xia Wenwen were staring intently at him. The butler felt a chill run down his spine, lowered his head even further, and spoke in a voice barely audible: "Miss has donated the gold."

"What!" Mr. Xia and Xia Wenwen exclaimed in unison.

The butler nervously wiped the large beads of sweat from his brow: "The young lady donated the money to the Revolutionary Committee, and it was even featured in the newspaper a while ago."

"You bastard!"

Mr. Xia flew into a rage and slammed the ashtray in his hand to the ground. The exquisite ashtray from Florence shattered instantly, the crisp sound echoing in the quiet study.

Xia Wenwen's eyes widened as she stared at the butler in disbelief, shrieking, "Are you sure? So much gold, how could she be willing to donate it! Has Xia Qianqian gone mad?!"

The steward hurriedly handed over the newspaper. He couldn't understand why the young lady had done such a thing. But what was done was done; the money was already in the Revolutionary Committee's pocket, and there was no way to get it back.

Moreover, it was clearly stated in black and white in the newspaper that she used the money for revolutionary construction.

If they go to ask for the money back, wouldn't that be tantamount to handing over their leverage to the other party?

Those people are now eyeing the Xia family covetously. If they leave this handle, the Xia family will be devoured alive.

What the housekeeper could think of, how could Mr. Xia and Xia Wenwen not have thought of it?

After reading the newspaper, Mr. Xia's face was as gloomy as the sky before a storm. He handed the newspaper to Xia Wenwen. Xia Wenwen took the newspaper, glanced at it quickly, and the more she read, the more her brows furrowed and her face grew paler.

After she finished reading, Mr. Xia sighed deeply, his voice hoarse and weary: "Now, I'm afraid we can't get this money back."

"Dad, how long will it take to liquidate our assets?" Xia Wenwen asked anxiously, staring at Mr. Xia and praying that her father would have a quick way to liquidate them.

Mr. Xia shook his head with a bitter smile, a smile more painful than tears: "These are turbulent times, everyone is on edge, who would be willing to take over our assets? Even if we can find a buyer, we'd be lucky to keep even 10% of our capital."

Looking at the bloodshot eyes of her father, Xia Wenwen felt as if her heart had fallen into an ice cellar, sinking deeper and deeper, and a sense of despair spread through her heart.

"Cough, cough!" Mr. Xia lit another cigarette, but after only one puff, he began to cough violently, as if he were coughing up his lungs. In the swirling smoke, his face looked even more haggard and exhausted.

He slowly looked at his daughter, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "Wenwen, I originally planned to raise you well so that you could one day support the Xia family. But now, the money is gone, and from now on..."

Before he could finish speaking, a servant rushed in in a panic, barging in without even knocking.

Seeing this, the steward frowned and was about to reprimand the servant when the servant shouted, "Master, something terrible has happened! The command post is searching every house. Mr. Huang specifically sent someone to tell us that they will be at our house soon!"

Upon hearing this, Mr. Xia stood up abruptly, his body stiffening as if struck by lightning. The thing he feared most had come to pass.

At this moment, Xia's mother also heard the news and rushed into the room crying, her delicate makeup ruined.

"Master, what should we do?" Madam Xia's voice trembled. "I can only hide a few pieces of jewelry here at most. There's simply no time to hide the rest."

Her body trembled. Having been a wealthy woman for so many years, she had never experienced such a change. Her legs were weak and she could hardly stand.

In this chaotic moment, Xia Wenwen took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.

"Dad, listen to me. Half of the valuables in my and Mom's room will be hidden away first, and all our family property and assets will be handed over—confiscated!"