Faced with Xie Laodao's sudden appearance, everyone looked at each other, wondering what had happened.
Chen Zhe took a step forward.
"Master Xie, we've come here today to..."
Old Master Xie glared at him before he could even finish speaking.
"I know what you're here for. You can't just touch these things; they don't belong to you."
Upon hearing this, Zhong Yuan became unwilling.
“Old Taoist priest, we are archaeologists. The things buried underground belong to the state. We don’t want to take them for ourselves…”
Old Master Xie chuckled; "Don't want to keep it for yourself? You're kidding me."
"Master Xie, this is Professor Zhong Yuan, an archaeologist. He is an upright man, and you can trust him."
Mu Wanzhi said.
Master Xie glanced at her; "I don't doubt him, but I do doubt you."
"I??"
When they heard that Master Xie suspected Mu Wanzhi, everyone was a little confused.
"Hehe, Master Xie, I'm just here to help with the work. I'm not interested in what's inside."
Mu Wanzhi explained.
"Hehe, what a fine 'not interested' statement. If you're really not interested, that's good. But if you are interested, then I advise you, old man, not to think too much about it."
"Master Xie, Aunt Mu is the president of Donghai City Bank. She probably sees more money in a day than you have in your entire life. I think you don't need to worry."
The speaker was Zhang Xin'ai.
After hearing Zhang Xin'ai speak, Lin Xi also said, "Yes, Aunt Mu's family is very rich. Old Taoist, you're overthinking it. None of us are after the money inside. We're all here for the job."
Old Master Xie laughed heartily; "For work... that's really a good excuse. I'm not here to stop you, I'm just here to remind you not to take what doesn't belong to you. If you do, you'll have to bear the consequences."
"Hahaha, you old Taoist priest, you can fool those tourists. We are highly educated. Apart from Chen Zhe next to us, none of us will covet the money inside, nor are we afraid of any consequences."
Chen Zhe rolled his eyes when Lin Xi mentioned him.
What does "besides oneself" mean?
Xie Laodao didn't even glance at Lin Xi; his gaze remained fixed on Mu Wanzhi.
"Who is Mu Guohao to you?"
When Mu Wanzhi heard Xie Laodao mention this name, she was taken aback.
"Master Xie, do you know my grandfather?"
"He and I are old friends, so I'm giving you a piece of advice: whatever you do, don't take anything from inside, understand?"
"Master Xie, why do you think I would take something from inside?"
Mu Wanzhi never had such thoughts, so she was a little angry that Xie Laodao doubted her, feeling that Xie Laodao was slandering her.
She felt that she had always been conscientious and fair, and had never embezzled a single penny. She considered herself a very principled person.
"Girl Mu, some things are not a matter of whether you want them or not. I'm just reminding you, and I hope you can listen to me."
Mu Wanzhi nodded. Although she was still a little unconvinced, the other party knew her grandfather and was considered her elder, so she did not refute him.
"Thank you for your teachings, Master. I will keep them in mind."
Upon hearing her agree, Xie Laodao nodded, glanced at the group, and then turned and left.
After he left, the group successfully entered the cave.
Just like Hu Ling before them, they had confidently declared beforehand that they weren't interested in what was inside, but when they actually saw the mountains of gold and silver, their expressions changed.
Many archaeology students swallowed hard, reaching out to touch the gold and silver.
Zhong Yuan was the one who realized what was happening.
He stopped those who were making a rash move.
"Don't touch things randomly. Put on your gloves. This is work. Don't think about anything else, understand? If I find you taking things from inside without telling me, don't blame me for turning against you."
"We understand, Professor."
"Okay, now that you know, let's get to work."
The archaeologists began their work, and although Mu Wanzhi didn't touch the artifacts, her mind was racing.
[Chen Zhe mentioned there was treasure here before, and I thought it was just some valuables, but I never expected... there's so much gold here! If this gold could be deposited in the Donghai Bank, it could solve a lot of problems...]
Mu Wanzhi is a believer in science. She didn't take Xie Laodao's words to heart or refute them directly because her upbringing didn't allow her to disobey her elders.
Zhang Xin'ai's eyes lit up when she saw the gold. She couldn't help but slap Chen Zhe's arm and muttered, "If only you had brought me here to see it back then!!"
Chen Zhe was speechless. He had spoken to Zhang Xin'ai in the first place, so why was she blaming him?
"Didn't you say you'd introduce someone? Why are you blaming me now?"
"Who knew there were so many!! I thought it was just one or two boxes... The photos you showed me only showed a small amount, but the whole cave was full of them."
"What? You're reluctant to part with it now? Why don't you go and tell Professor Zhong that we should split the money? There are only so many people in the cave, if everyone takes a little, it will amount to a lot."
Zhang Xin'ai could tell that the sentence was a joke about her.
"You bastard, you want a beating, don't you?"
The two started touching each other, looking like they were flirting, which infuriated Lin Xi, who was standing nearby.
He stormed over and stood between the two of them.
"You loser! I won't allow you to bully Xin'ai!"
In Lin Xi's view, although Chen Zhe is now the president of Linglong Club, compared to their families, Chen Zhe is just a rootless duckweed, a nouveau riche with a little money, and is not worthy of respect.
"I bullied her???"
Chen Zhe laughed speechlessly.
"Are you kidding me? It's your fiancée who's been bothering me and even touching me inappropriately. She's the one bullying me."
"Chen Zhe, what did you say? Who's bothering you? Have you no shame?"
Zhang Xin'ai said angrily.
"I'm shameless? The one who hit me earlier is the shameless one, isn't he? Now you've even called your fiancé over to scold me too, you two are really funny."
"Who told him to come and yell at you? What does this have to do with me?"
Zhang Xin'ai, hands on her hips, shouted at Lin Xi, "What's it to you? I was just talking to him. Which eye of yours saw him bullying me? Do you think I'm that easy to bully? I'm the one who always bullies others. Who has the guts to bully me?"
“Xin’ai, but if you make a scene like this with him, people will misunderstand…”
Lin Xi said, feeling wronged.
"Who misunderstood? Isn't this perfectly normal?"
“You ask everyone, what you’re doing is a bit like…flirting, Xin’ai, this is not a good influence.”
"Lin Xi, that's enough!! I've really had enough of you. I'm not even married to you yet! How dare you control me like this? Does that mean I can't even say a word to someone of the opposite sex?"
"Xin'ai, that's not what I meant..."
"Get out of here! I hate seeing you! I was in a good mood when I found the treasure, but you ruined it all. I told you not to follow me."
"Xin'ai, I'm worried about your safety, I want to protect you."
"Give me a break, do you think I need your protection? With your skinny arms and legs, you can barely protect yourself."
"Xin'ai, actually I'm pretty good at fighting..."
"Get out of here!"
The two's argument affected the work of the archaeologists nearby.
Zhong Yuan frowned slightly; "If you two are going to argue, then get out. Can't a person work in peace?"
Hearing Zhong Yuan call out to shoo her away, Zhang Xin'ai snorted; "You're not going out, are you? Fine, then I'll go out!!"
She turned and walked away, seemingly not wanting to stay with Lin Xi for even a moment longer.
Lin Xi naturally followed suit and ran out as well.
Everyone shook their heads helplessly as they watched the noisy couple leave.
Mu Wanzhi smiled and said, "It's noisy all the time, it really makes it hard to get any peace and quiet."
Chen Zhe nodded in agreement.
"By the way, you were the first person to discover this place, weren't you?"
Mu Wanzhi asked.
Chen Zhe initially wanted to nod, but then he shook his head.
“I thought so before, but now it’s clear that it isn’t. Master Xie must have known about these things all along.”
Mu Wanzhi nodded; "Indeed, judging from his tone just now, he has always known about this place. Actually, I'm quite curious, since he knows about it, why doesn't he take these things out?"
"President Mu, Master Xie is a recluse; he must have his own principles."
Mu Wanzhi smiled and said, "At first, I thought I had principles, but now I'm not so sure. Seeing so much gold quietly piled up in this cave is, to be honest, more impactful than having it in a bank vault."
Chen Zhe paused for a moment, then looked at her with some suspicion; "President Mu, something doesn't quite sound right to you. Do you really intend to take over this batch of gold?"
"Haha, you're overthinking it. I'm not doing this for myself; I'm doing it for the citizens of Donghai City. If we follow the normal procedures, these things will be handed over to the national treasury and then distributed there. In that case, Donghai City won't get a share. I think that's unfair because the treasure was discovered in Donghai, so it should belong to all the citizens of Donghai City."
"President Mu, why are you talking to me about this?"
"Chen Zhe, you have a good relationship with District Chief Wan, right?"
"President Mu, I haven't known her for very long. Why would you ask that? Logically speaking, you two should have known each other for longer than I have."
Mu Wanzhi married into the Tang family. Wan Ya and Tang Jie were old classmates. Tang Jie was Mu Wanzhi's brother-in-law. Isn't that a close relationship?
Why does her statement make it sound like she's not familiar with Wan Ya?
“I don’t get along very well with her. Although we’ve known each other for many years, our relationship has always been lukewarm. After she transferred to Donghai City for work, we started to contact each other more often, but we haven’t reached the point of being close yet. You and she are quite close, so I would like to ask you to act as a mediator and help me persuade her.”
"Huh? Convince what?"
Mu Wanzhi glanced at Zhong Yuan, who was working nearby.
"Come out with me for a moment!"
She pulled Chen Zhe out.
We arrived at the cave entrance.
"President Mu, what exactly do you want to say?"
"Chen Zhe, I want to deposit this batch of gold into the vault of Donghai Bank."
"What????"
Chen Zhe raised his voice slightly.
"Don't overreact! Don't let anyone hear!"
Mu Wanzhi looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that Zhang Xin'ai and her husband weren't there.
“I’m discussing this with you. I’m doing this entirely for the sake of the people of Donghai City. Please don’t tell anyone about it.”
Chen Zhe was a little embarrassed; "President Mu, Master Xie just reminded you not to have any designs on me, why didn't you take his words to heart?"
Mu Wanzhi chuckled; "That old Taoist priest is overthinking it. This is a good thing, so you don't need to feel guilty."
...
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