Chapter 66 First to Take the Lead
The Wu family's old house is a large three-courtyard house. There are no neighbors on either side.
The Wu family's gate was locked with a large padlock.
However, this did not stump Wu Peng, who looked at Yao Fanghua.
Yao Fanghua touched her nose and silently stepped forward to unlock the door.
Wu Peng then pulled out a significantly larger lock from his bag.
As soon as the lock on the door opened, Wu Peng ripped it off and threw it far away. Then he replaced it with the large lock he had brought. Only then did he feel a little better.
The scene before me was one of utter desolation. But this was not the time for sorrow.
After closing the gate, the two walked inside and headed straight for the well in the back building.
"Are you sure it's there?"
"It's definitely right. There's only one special spot on the map, a small dot inside the well. Scaled down, it's twelve meters down the well."
Walking through the dust and fallen leaves, I finally saw the well, surrounded by two large trees.
Yao Fanghua exclaimed with delight, "This is it!"
Wu Peng looked at the clump of thick rope piled up under the tree roots with a grim expression.
Yao Fanghua saw it too, and her joy faded.
Yao Fanghua: "Down, or not down?"
"Get down!" He wouldn't give up until he saw it for himself. He glanced at Yao Fanghua sideways, thinking, "If I say no, you can't do it either. We're already here; you'd probably have to push me down if you wanted to."
"What kind of eyes do you have? Do you think I'm that kind of person?" Yao Fanghua said awkwardly. "That's true, it's not that bad. At most, I'll just take it myself."
"Ha, you can swim now?"
Yao Fanghua pinched him, "Hurry up and stop talking nonsense."
Wu Peng exaggeratedly rubbed the spot where he had been pinched, then nimbly climbed the tree, looked around from above, and made sure no one was around.
Yao Fanghua took out a bundle of thick rope from her bag.
The two tied one end of the rope to a tree. Extending it to the edge of the well, Yao Fanghua measured twelve meters backward with a ruler and marked it. Then she measured another four meters and cut off the excess rope.
Wu Peng started taking off his clothes, eventually leaving him only in his underwear. Luckily, it wasn't winter.
Yao Fanghua opened the toolbox she had brought and took out a headlamp and a small hammer.
Wu Peng picked up the other end of the rope, wrapped it around his waist three times, and tied a knot. Then he put on his headlamp and picked up the hammer.
The two moved with remarkable fluidity and perfect coordination, as if they had rehearsed their moves.
Yao Fanghua: "Go down and check the situation first. If you need any other tools, we have them too. Don't be reckless; safety comes first."
Wu Peng nodded, gripped the rope tightly, and began to descend step by step along the well wall.
He took a deep breath before jumping into the water, allowing himself to descend straight down to the 12-meter mark.
After regaining his balance, he quickly searched around the well wall at this depth, tapping the bricks one by one with a hammer.
When it runs out of oxygen, it floats to the surface to breathe, and then goes back into the water.
After several attempts, Wu Peng finally noticed something unusual about a wall brick. He tapped it with a hammer, and it moved slightly. He surfaced and had Yao Fanghua bring him a fruit knife.
After re-entering the water, he pried off the wall brick, revealing a hidden compartment inside, but it was empty.
With a sudden up-and-down motion, a phrase from the essence of Chinese culture slipped out.
Wu Peng angrily shoved the wall bricks back in, wanting nothing more than to fly to the Northeast right now and snatch the things back from Wu Kun. He suppressed his anger, surfaced, and pulled himself up using the rope.
"How is it?" Yao Fanghua handed Wu Peng a towel.
"There's a hidden compartment, but nothing inside."
Yao Fanghua was slightly taken aback: "Your brother must have taken it! And you still say he didn't know!"
"I mean he didn't have a map. Who knows how he found out?" Wu Peng gritted his teeth. "After I move the grave, I'll go to the Northeast to find him." He had long wanted to go to the Northeast to find Wu Kun. Back then, his whole family was sent to the countryside, but only Wu Kun escaped and ran away to the Northeast. He always felt something was wrong, and this matter had been weighing on his mind. He had to get to the bottom of it. As for the things in the well, he most likely took them.
Yao Fanghua hesitated, "Go to the Northeast? We don't know anyone there, we might get hurt. Besides, even if we find your brother, what can you do? Will he admit to it? Even if he took the things from the mine, he's still a descendant of the Wu family, what can you do about it?"
"What can you do? I'll make him spit it out!"
"What if they insist that it was your father or grandfather who told him and left it to him?"
"impossible."
"I mean, what if that's exactly what they say?"
Wu Peng put on his clothes, his brows furrowed deeply.
"Calm down. There might not be much inside. Your brother has been in the Northeast for so many years. If you go there, you're going to their home turf. Do you think you can gain any advantage? Anyway, either don't go, or if you really have to go, go calmly and rationally. Think about the 600,000 yuan, think about the factory in Shenzhen. We can make a steady stream of money in the future. Besides, there are four other maps. There's plenty of time. Don't be impulsive."
"I must go."
"Go if you want, but don't act impulsively. Think things through carefully."
Wu Peng nodded; he knew he had done his best.
Once Wu Peng's hair was almost dry, the two packed their things and headed outside.
Upon arriving at the gate, they found Wu Hai already waiting outside the Wu family's gate.
Wu Hai already knew about the tomb and ancestral hall repairs. When he saw Wu Peng, he slapped him hard on the shoulder and said, "I knew you hadn't forgotten your roots. I've had high hopes for you since you were a kid."
Wu Peng: ...He's only been back to this village a few times.
Along the way, Wu Hai talked a lot about things in the village.
When they parted ways at the county bus station, Wu Peng slipped ten yuan into Wu Hai's pocket. The round trip had taken Wu Hai a lot of time and had also cost him diesel fuel from the village.
On the way back, both of them were feeling rather listless.
Back home, Wu Peng packed two sets of clothes, preparing to head to the train station that very night. Relocating the grave was a major event; everything else could wait.
Yao Fanghua kept nagging him, telling him to rest and that a day or two wouldn't make a difference. After the grave relocation, they could go find his brother later. Speaking of his brother, Yao Fanghua felt uneasy and repeatedly urged him to stay calm and to talk things out properly once they found him. She also told him to call her office if anything happened.
“Remember what I said: don’t act impulsively, think things through carefully. If something really happens, come back and we’ll discuss it together. We’re rich now, we’re still young, and we’ll earn even more money in the future, more than we can spend. We won’t be short of a chest or two of gold. Consider it a division of the family fortune and a share for your brother. You’re on their home turf, you can’t fight against so many people. Don’t act tough and get beaten up. If you suffer a big loss, feel aggrieved, and it will hurt your health. Got it?”
Hearing these earnest words of advice, Wu Peng's eyes welled up with tears. He was no longer alone; someone cared about him, someone was waiting for his return. Wu Peng hugged Yao Fanghua tightly before turning and entering the station.
After saying goodbye to Wu Peng, Yao Fanghua felt a weight lift from her shoulders. Alas, a piece of gold had flown away, snatched away by someone else; she was filled with resentment. Even lying in bed that night, Yao Fanghua couldn't straighten her shoulders. It's easy to advise others, you have so many advices, but when it happens to you, it's difficult, and you feel so resentful.
In the dead of night, Yao Fanghua moved the bedside table and counted the contents of the safe. The more she counted, the more distressed she became. What had flown away was most likely things like those in the safe—at least some gold bars. Oh no, she really couldn't sleep now.
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