Chapter 47 The situation is terrible.
The dormitory lights were off, and Jiang Shiyuan lay on the bed with her eyes open, her head spinning from thinking so hard.
She is in a terrible situation right now.
On the one hand, the lost necklace is a valuable piece of jewelry, and it is highly unlikely that the person who stole it would melt it down and sell it at the price of pure gold. The necklace is most likely to have entered the market intact.
On the other hand, she had almost no money left.
Because she was afraid that Huo Lan would find out, she didn't dare to touch any of her valuables.
The reason he took those necklaces was not only because gold can be quickly converted into cash, but also because those necklaces were gifts he had given her many years ago. Compared to other jewelry, taking these necklaces would be more discreet.
However, this does not mean that Huo Lan would not notice. Every item she gave her was taken care of by a dedicated person and basically recorded. She knew exactly which items were missing.
The only thing she has left is the two thousand yuan in cash she initially asked Cheng Yan for, but it's almost gone after spending money on transportation and food these past few days.
Putting aside the possibility that those necklaces might give away her whereabouts, she also doesn't have enough funds to support her trip to another place.
Jiang Shiyuan forced herself to dig in the excavation site for several more days. Despite her busy work schedule, she still couldn't shake off the fear and anxiety in her heart.
Shen Yiyi and Xia Mo noticed that she had been acting strangely these past few days, but she still dared not say anything.
In a few days, Shen Yiyi will leave the archaeological team to return to the Shen family to visit her relatives. It will only become more and more dangerous for her to stay here.
On the second Friday evening, Jiang Shiyuan finally received the recommendation letter she had hoped for, but she still couldn't be happy.
Cheng Yinghua patted her on the shoulder with high hopes and smiled kindly, "You are a very outstanding child. You will definitely achieve great things in the future. I have a good eye for people."
Jiang Shiyuan nodded gratefully, but still kept her difficulties to herself.
There's no one here who can help her with this.
Cheng Yinghua asked, "When are you planning to leave?"
“Now that I’ve got it, I want to leave as soon as possible…” Jiang Shiyuan cut off her hesitation, “I’ll leave tomorrow.”
Cheng Yinghua sighed. She knew that the more talented and capable a person was, the less likely they were to stay.
"If you need any help in the future, you can call me."
After seeing Cheng Yinghua off, Jiang Shiyuan began packing her things in the dormitory.
Xia Mo was an introverted yet thoughtful girl. Even though Jiang Shiyuan hadn't packed anything, she still realized that she was leaving.
"Are you leaving after only two weeks?" Xia Mo walked over to her bedside and saw that she had already packed all her belongings into her bag. "Did something happen?"
Xia Mo voiced her guess, "Your family found you?"
Hearing the commotion, Shen Yiyi put down her paper novel and came over.
There was no internet in the dormitory, so after she arrived, she bought several novels from the town for entertainment.
"What exactly happened?"
Seeing that the two of them were looking at her nervously, Jiang Shiyuan had no choice but to explain, "Because my parents will come looking for me sooner or later, I have to leave."
Shen Yiyi waved her hands, looking incredulous, "How is that possible? We're practically in the deep mountains and forests here."
She added, "Take my mom for example. She knows I'm exhausted here every day, and I barely speak to her a few words a week. In her eyes, I'm practically out of touch."
Xia Mo quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, Shi Yuan, you're probably overthinking it. We've been together for half a month now, and I really don't want you to leave..."
Xia Mo frowned, looking like she was about to cry.
Jiang Shiyuan could only quickly comfort her: "We all do this kind of work, and we might have the opportunity to work together again in the future. Don't be sad."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xia Mo ran to the cabinet, took out several bags of snacks, and stuffed them directly into Jiang Shiyuan's bag.
"The village bus takes several hours to get there, so take these and eat them on the way." Suddenly remembering something, Xia Mo added, "Don't say you're on a diet right now!"
Jiang Shiyuan was left speechless, both amused and exasperated, and had no choice but to accept the snacks.
Shen Yiyi looked around her bed and realized that she didn't seem to have any gifts to give.
Jiang Shiyuan quickly said, "It's alright, no need to bring gifts. I've troubled you all a lot these past few days. If it weren't for the fact that I came in such a hurry, I should be the one giving you farewell gifts."
After hearing this, Shen Yiyi became stubborn and ran to her cabinet to rummage through everything. Finally, she took out a brand new hand shovel.
"I've never used this before, it's brand new, it must be quite a keepsake."
Jiang Shiyuan didn't really want to carry such a heavy load on the road, but Shen Yiyi was so clingy that she had no choice but to put the shovel into her backpack.
On Saturday morning, the two slept in and didn't get out of bed.
Jiang Shiyuan didn't wake them up. After packing her things, she went to the villagers' place to find Dazhuang.
She needs to go to town again; without a penny, she can't go anywhere.
If we take the risk and try, there is still a glimmer of hope.
"Why did you come alone today? Where's Shen Yiyi?" Dazhuang asked as he carried boxes of mountain produce. "She's usually the most enthusiastic one, why didn't she come today?"
Jiang Shiyuan was quick and nimble, and hurriedly helped him move the goods, but it was very strenuous. "They wanted to sleep a little longer today, so I came instead."
Da Zhuang smiled and took the goods from Jiang Shiyuan's hands, telling her to go and rest for a while.
"Alright, alright, with your skinny arms and legs, if you keep bringing up bad things, go sit in the car."
Jiang Shiyuan didn't want to trouble others for nothing. Seeing some loose, lighter goods nearby, she quickly lifted them up and loaded them into the back of the van.
Da Zhuang smiled broadly and joked, "You don't seem like a city person at all, you're so quick-witted."
He grew up in Bishui Village and always thought of city people like Shen Yiyi, who was pampered and never touched pure yang water.
Jiang Shiyuan smiled with a blush on her face, and got into the car after helping Dazhuang move the goods.
Dazhuang handed Jiang Shiyuan a bottle of mineral water. "It's the water the gas station gave us when we filled up the car. I haven't drunk it yet. Don't worry, it's unopened."
Jiang Shiyuan declined, feeling embarrassed to accept, "No need, it's already too much trouble for you to hitch a ride with me."
At this moment, Dazhuang took out a large bottle of cooled boiled water from behind and waved it in front of Jiang Shiyuan, saying, "I have water to drink."
Jiang Shiyuan then took the bottle of mineral water, opened it, and took a big gulp.
It was the height of summer, and she had been moving goods for a long time, so she was indeed very thirsty.
The van quickly arrived in town. As usual, Dazhuang drove Jiang Shiyuan to the street near the market, but he was a little worried.
“You’re not thinking of going to the antique market again, are you? I’ve told you before, it’s all the same gang there, taking advantage of outsiders’ lack of knowledge to swindle and cheat people.” Da Zhuang earnestly recommended other places to Jiang Shiyuan, “If you want to go, you can go to Qianjie Street, there are some shops selling clothes and accessories there, girls like to shop there.”
Jiang Shiyuan said thank you, explained that she was just browsing around, and then said goodbye to Dazhuang.
The archaeological market was still bustling with activity, but the stall she had visited last week was now deserted, completely empty, and no one else had come to occupy it.
Dazhuang had reminded her that the antique stall owners all knew each other, so instead of looking for other antique vendors, she went to a calligraphy and painting framing shop not far from the antique stalls.
The owner of the calligraphy and painting mounting shop could tell that Jiang Shiyuan was a stranger and knew that she didn't want her calligraphy and paintings mounted, so he became a little impatient.
"We only do framing services, we don't offer any other services."
Jiang Shiyuan took out a hundred-yuan bill from his pocket and handed it over directly.
"I just want to ask about something."
The shopkeeper, beaming with joy, took the money and asked, "What do you want to know?"
"I was wondering why the antique stall on the left-hand side near your shop isn't here today?"
Upon hearing this, the shop owner immediately tensed up and dared not take her money.
"I really don't know the answer to this question. You should try asking somewhere else."
Seeing that the shop owner knew the truth but dared not agree, Jiang Shiyuan had no choice but to bite the bullet and take out another hundred-yuan bill.
The shop owner was still somewhat reluctant to answer, but he had softened his stance. "It's not that I don't want to talk, it's just that this group of people has a lot of influence here, and ordinary people don't dare to mess with them."
Seeing that the shop owner had finally provided useful information, Jiang Shiyuan quickly asked, "I don't want to know anything else, I just want to know where they live."
The shop owner frowned, looked Jiang Shiyuan up and down a few times, and earnestly advised, "Did they cheat you out of money? Or steal your things? Don't confront them directly, the police can't do anything about them."
Upon hearing the word "stealing," Jiang Shiyuan tensed up. "Do they still steal things?"
"Yes, they've become so skilled at stealing. No matter how well you cover it up, they can still find it if they want it." The shopkeeper had a general idea of what had happened from Jiang Shiyuan's question. "If it's nothing important, don't bother with them. Consider it a loss to avoid further trouble."
Jiang Shiyuan murmured, "It's something very important..."
The next moment, he asked, "Boss, where do they live?"
The shop owner was in a dilemma and didn't want to tell her, but since he had already taken her money, he thought about it and told her anyway.
"They live in the town, not far from here. Just walk two streets ahead, and there's a courtyard with a vermilion gate. They all live there."
Jiang Shiyuan seemed to see a glimmer of hope and quickly nodded her thanks.
After leaving the framing shop, she took out her phone, typed a distress message, and sent it to Cheng Yinghua without setting a time.
She certainly couldn't go alone to demand it; the other party had many people and was powerful, which would only be dangerous for her.
So she went to a nearby stall for lunch, but unexpectedly overheard some useful information there.
Several middle-aged women were chatting together, saying that their neighbors' card games had been too loud lately, keeping them awake every night.
One of the women in floral prints looked at him with disdain and said, "She's a scoundrel every day. During the day, she cheats out-of-towners out of their money, and at night she comes home and cheats the villagers out of their money. My husband goes to gamble, and she won't let him come home until he's lost everything!"
"Then we won't go."
"We had no choice but to go. We coaxed and pushed them to go, and they all wanted the money in our pockets. My man, on the other hand, is only interested in gambling and won't listen to anything we say!"
The woman was fed up. "They always play cards until midnight, shouting all the time, and it keeps me from sleeping!"
Jiang Shiyuan finished her meal quickly, already having a plan in mind, and was just waiting for them to gather together that evening.
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Author's Note: Don't worry, the male lead will appear in the next chapter. How exactly was he found? Stay tuned!
P.S.: It seems like more people are starting to follow the updates, which makes the author quite happy. I'd like to give away a physical prize: one of Hua Zhixiao's Unicorn Blushes. I'll arrange it when the exciting plot unfolds in a couple of days. [Thumbs up]
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