After seeing Mr. Liu off and disappearing from view, Zhang Guoqing smiled. This old man is really cunning, wanting to store food now. He really is a smart man.
Before he even saw the living room, he could already hear Zhou Jiao educating the children.
"Forget it, son. I know I was wrong. Right, son? From now on, you have to get their consent before you touch other people's things. Got it?"
"Grandpa told Dad. I heard it."
Zhang Guoqing squatted in front of Ping An and touched him. "You are still young and don't understand. He wants Dad to trade him for all the food at home. Dad can't let Ping An and Mom go hungry, right? If Dad doesn't agree, he will give it back to Grandpa."
Ping An reluctantly handed the box to him and said, "Dad, give it back to Grandpa. I don't want it anymore."
Zhang Guoqing laughed heartily. "You're so obedient. This time, Grandpa said he wanted to give the box to Ping'an, so you should keep it. Remember not to accept other people's things in the future."
Zhou Jiao was standing nearby, shaking her head. "I don't know if this box is clean or not. I'll wash it first and let Ping An play with it."
"No need. You stay with the kids, I'll go wash it. What's so special about this broken bird? It even caught my son's eye. It's really strange. Last time, the music box was so fun, but he didn't rush to get it." After saying that, Zhang Guoqing picked up the box and looked at it. Just as he was about to turn around and walk out...
"It's not a broken bird, Dad. He can sing."
Zhang Guoqing immediately looked at the box in his hand, "Son, did you hear it singing?"
Zhou Jiao saw his face turn pale immediately, knowing that he was overthinking it. She knew the child she taught was probably a phoenix raising its head, and he felt that he wanted to sing.
Sure enough, Ping An imitated the posture of the phoenix and raised his head very high. Doesn’t he want to sing?
Zhang Guoqing exhaled and patted his chest. He was truly terrified. He had thought something fantastical was happening. Ever since the spaceship appeared, he realized that some things in this world could no longer be inferred by common sense.
Zhou Jiao couldn't stand this sudden surprise, so she brought some water herself and signaled him to put the box in.
Zhang Guoqing smiled and shook his head. Since this matter concerned his son, he had to take it seriously.
He put the box into the water, and soon he reached out to take it out, then looked at the entire box with a very serious face - and found that it was really ordinary wood.
He put it into the water again in disbelief.
Zhou Jiao walked forward curiously and shook her head. Nothing unusual!
Zhang Guoqing picked up the box again and tapped on all sides with his fingers, but still found nothing unusual. He frowned and squatted aside, deep in thought.
Zhou Jiao knew there must be something unusual. She quickly moved closer to him and looked at the wooden box. After a long while, she didn't find anything unusual. It was just a box, right?
She looked at Ping'an worriedly, and seeing him staring at them with wide eyes, she couldn't help laughing out loud.
"Jiaojiao, stop laughing. Help me think, what kind of wood would make bubbling sounds when placed in water?"
Zhou Jiao immediately stopped smiling, took the box, and shook her head. "Did you hear the sound of bubbles? Could it be that you misheard the sound of rain outside? Try again."
Zhang Guoqing gestured to her to put it in the water.
Even Ping An couldn't sit still anymore and ran over to squat beside them. The child didn't understand what they were saying and thought they were playing a game together, so he giggled happily.
Zhang Guoqing signaled to him to be quiet, lowered his head and listened carefully, and found that there was indeed a sound, he was not mistaken at all.
This time he took it out without hesitation, wiped it clean with a cloth, and put it on the coffee table.
"Ping An, Dad wants to take it apart, is that okay?"
"I want a bird."
"The bird will. Be careful, Dad. You won't cry if the box breaks, will you?"
Zhou Jiao couldn't stand him procrastinating, "Take it apart and put it back together. If you can't put it together, just ask Second Brother."
Zhang Guoqing's eyes lit up, and he returned to the cabinet, took out a dagger, and soon, he had violently dismantled the entire box into pieces. He examined each piece one by one, and finally found an abnormality on one side.
After scraping off the resin and removing the glue, he saw a black hole as thick as a nail inside. He was so happy that he immediately looked up at Zhou Jiao with pride.
Seeing this, Zhou Jiao took out a pair of tweezers and handed them to him.
After a while, Zhang Guoqing pulled out a piece of silk with tweezers. He wiped his hands clean, picked up the silk, and found that when it was unfolded, it was a painting the size of half a handkerchief.
Zhang Guoqing handed the painting to Zhou Jiao, rubbed his numb legs, picked up his son, and dragged Zhou Jiao back to the bedroom. After a moment's thought, he felt uneasy again, so he went out to clean up, wrapping the entire box of wood with a handkerchief. The box needed to be restored to its original state; who knew if Mr. Liu would ever get the urge to return it.
On the kang in the master bedroom, Zhou Jiao placed the painting on the table. She couldn't tell where it was painted. But the painting was so exquisite, and the silk was so valuable, that it must hold a secret.
Zhang Guoqing came in and took a few glances at it. "Hide the painting first. I have a rough idea of where it is and who painted it."
Zhou Jiao put it away, held her son in her arms and looked at Zhang Guoqing.
Zhang Guoqing frowned slightly. He glanced at Ping An and whispered, "Son, if someone asks you about the box, don't tell them. Got it?"
Ping An blinked and nodded.
"If I tell you, I'll never see my parents again, and many people will come to our house to steal our things."
Seeing the child nodding continuously, Zhou Jiao patted his head and said, "Don't say anymore. The more you talk, the worse it gets. Be careful not to scare the child. We are very good at being safe. We won't tell anyone if we say we won't tell anyone."
"Well, I didn't tell grandpa and grandma."
Zhou Jiao winked at Zhang Guoqing, asking him not to talk about it for now. She went outside to get a bowl of milk, fed the child, and coaxed him to take a nap.
Zhang Guoqing leaned against the kang, holding a book, watching the mother and son absentmindedly. He wondered how the thing had come to Old Man Liu. He was secretly glad that he had rejected the old man. It seemed that there was something behind Wang Baiwan's incident.
Seeing her son fall asleep, Zhou Jiao patted Zhang Guoqing.
Zhou Guoqing frowned slightly, "Jiaojiao, this matter is a bit complicated. You still remember Wang Baiwan from the county town, right? How did you get the thing in Old Man Liu's hands?"
"Don't worry about Old Man Liu. He must not know anything about it, otherwise why would he give the box away?"
"Do you think Wang Baiwan's sons and daughters are still alive? How come there's no news from abroad after their parents passed away? With so much property moved there, it would be nice if they could just change their identities and come back to visit."
Zhou Jiao chuckled. "How do you know they haven't come back? Maybe they've already come back secretly. Okay, don't think about these things that have nothing to do with us. First, tell me what this picture means?"
Zhang Guoqing felt relieved after hearing what she said. He smiled and said, "This map is probably the Wang family treasure map that those people were looking for. This map should have been drawn by Madam Wang herself. I took you to this place before. It's not far from the Taoist temple halfway up the mountain. There was a legend that Wang Baiwan loved to go to the Taoist temple to have his fortune told."
Zhou Jiao pondered for a moment, "Whether it's a treasure map or not, let's go take a look. It belongs to the right person. If I'm not mistaken, this map should have been left to the descendants of the Wang family and somehow got lost. If we don't look for it, the Wang family won't be able to find it either."
Zhang Guoqing smiled and nodded, "Okay. But you might be disappointed. The Wang family's assets have long been transferred, and there's nothing good left in the country."
Zhou Jiao didn't mind. She wasn't short of money; she was just curious. What could possibly have caused the hostess to keep such a secret?
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