Several graves in the cemetery were quite well-maintained, clearly belonging to wealthy families. He Yuhan felt that Grandpa Jiang's concerns were not unfounded; if the commotion escalated in a couple of years, these graves might really suffer.
He Yuhan pointed to a grave and said, "This grave is so well-built, isn't it just waiting to be robbed?"
Jiang Bowen said, "These graves were built later, but not by our branch. They were built by another branch of the Jiang family for their ancestors. Our grandfather did not make any special repairs."
My grandfather said that the Jiang family's ancestors had served as officials in the previous dynasty, but later, disillusioned with the court, they retired and returned to their hometown. After that, the Jiang family developed in a low-key manner and never flaunted their achievements.
Later, the Jiang family encountered a major disaster and moved here, hiding their identities in the countryside. By the time of my great-grandfather, he started a business, and our branch of the family gradually prospered again. However, my great-grandfather always instructed my grandfather to be patient and discreet, and not to be ostentatious. Even the Jiang family's ancestral graves were similar to those of ordinary families, without any burial goods, in order to reduce the chance of the graves being robbed.
Even so, some people still coveted my family's property; otherwise, my parents wouldn't have died so young. We were forced to leave our hometown and live in seclusion in City C.
Grandpa originally wanted to hide the things in the ancestral hall in our old home, but he felt it wasn't safe. What if someone demolished the ancestral hall?
He Yuhan said, "Grandpa Jiang really had foresight. The ancestral hall is very likely to be demolished, as it is a remnant of feudalism."
Jiang Bowen walked back and forth in the cemetery several times, then pointed to a grave overgrown with weeds and said, "This is it. There's a mechanism behind this tombstone. Once you activate it, the tombstone will move to the side, revealing an exit. You can go down the stone steps. There's a basement down there, and the things are in the basement."
He Yuhan asked, "There's no coffin buried in here, is there?"
Jiang Bowen said, "Although there is a coffin inside, there is no one inside, so you can rest assured."
He Yuhan patted her chest and said, "That's good, that's good. Otherwise, it would have been quite creepy."
He Yuhan looked at the burial mound and said, "It seems no one has touched this place yet. Let's make our move tonight. Luckily, it's quite far from the mountain. We brought a truck, so we were able to get here. Can we move everything in one truck?"
Jiang Bowen said, "Luckily, it was a truck that came. If it had been a car, it really wouldn't have worked. I came here with my grandfather to see things before. There were quite a lot of things in the boxes."
After confirming that the items were still there, the three returned to the truck. Han Yi drove to town first, and they planned to have dinner there before coming back to handle their business.
This place is already in the south, and the temperature is much higher than in the north, so He Yuhan and the others changed into lighter clothes.
Looking out the car window at the completely different greenery compared to the north, He Yuhan said, "In the south, you can grow some things even in winter, which is much better than in the north. There's also more food to eat. In the Northeast, you can forget about finding food in the wild in winter. It's just that the south is too hot in summer, and there's too much rain and humidity. I heard that clothes don't dry very easily after washing them."
Han Yixian said, "The place we're going to is in the southwest region, which is at a higher altitude. There's not much rain in the summer, and the temperature is lower than here. Overall, it's much better. The climate there is quite nice, like spring all year round, which is better than the climate in the northeast."
Jiang Bowen said, "Isn't that very far from City C?"
He Yuhan said, "It's definitely going to be far. It will probably take a long time before we can receive each other's messages in the future."
Jiang Bowen felt very reluctant to leave. He wished he could go with Sister Yuhan and the others. But transferring jobs wasn't so easy. He had only been working for a short time and didn't have much experience. Even getting into the Shuguang Tractor Factory was thanks to Sister Yuhan and the others. Now that his grandfather was still working, leaving City C was unrealistic for them.
His salary alone isn't enough to support the family right now. If his salary were to increase a few levels, maybe it would be possible, but not yet. He needs to keep working hard.
After thinking it through, Jiang Bowen abandoned his previous idea. He believed that only by working hard and achieving results could he have a voice and confidence.
The three of them went to the state-run restaurant for dinner when they arrived in town. There was only one state-run restaurant in town, so they didn't have a choice. It was still early when they entered the restaurant, and there was no one else there.
Han Yixian went to the window and asked if some dishes were ready yet. The restaurant staff said they would have to wait. Han Yixian and his companions had nothing else to do before dark, so they decided to sit in the restaurant for a while.
They sat and waited for more than half an hour before the food was ready.
They needed to eat well because they would be doing physical labor in the evening. Han Yixian ordered four dishes, including braised pork and shredded pork with eggs, as well as a bowl of egg drop soup for each person, and rice as their staple food.
Han Yixian said, "Eat up, we still have physical labor to do tonight, Bowen, eat more."
Jiang Bowen nodded and started eating without any hesitation.
He Yuhan has a small appetite; she was full after eating one bowl of rice, and left the rest to Han Yixian and Jiang Bowen to finish.
He Yuhan sipped her egg drop soup, watching Han Yixian and Jiang Bowen eat heartily, and felt happy too. Looking at Jiang Bowen now, and thinking about him in middle age, He Yuhan believed he would do even better in the future.
The three of them ate and drank their fill, and it was getting dark. Han Yixian then bought twenty large steamed buns at the restaurant to have as a late-night snack when he got hungry.
The steamed buns were placed in several lunch boxes and wrapped in cloth, so they shouldn't get too cold tonight.
The three of them left the state-run restaurant, quickly got into the car, and headed towards their destination before it got dark.
This time, Han Yixian knew the way and walked smoothly. By the time he arrived at the Jiang family cemetery, it was already completely dark.
To avoid being discovered that they had arrived at the cemetery, Han Yixian turned off the car lights. After getting out of the car, He Yuhan took out two flashlights and handed one to Han Yixian.
Han Yi first shone a light on Jiang Bowen so he could open the mechanism.
Jiang Bowen found the mechanism behind the tombstone based on his previous memory. He twisted the tombstone hard and it slowly moved to the side, revealing a small opening where the tombstone had been.
The three of them waited for a while to get some fresh air. He Yuhan handed the flashlight to Jiang Bowen, who then took the flashlight and went down the steps first.
Han Yixian and He Yuhan followed closely behind, with Han Yixian supporting He Yuhan with one hand to prevent her from falling. The three of them quickly reached the bottom.
The tomb chamber wasn't very large, only about ten square meters. In the center of the chamber was a coffin, and the rest of the space was filled with boxes, stacked on top of each other.
He Yuhan looked around by the light of the flashlight and saw that there were quite a few things, but it was far less than what the Han and Wen families had.
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