Everyone chimed in with their criticisms of Gao Weishan and Xiao Biyun, and it took them a while to realize that the two of them hadn't said a word, only staring at them with sullen faces.
Gradually, everyone realized something was wrong and shut their mouths.
Seeing that things had quieted down, Gao Weishan said coldly, "Have you all finished speaking? Now that you've all finished, isn't it my turn to speak?"
Everyone remained silent, still looking indignant.
Gao Weishan said irritably, "I was interrupted before I could finish speaking. Now I'll continue. It's true that A Yuan opened the box and there was nothing inside. However, the shape of the box has changed. A Yuan suspects that the box itself is the key."
Everyone was surprised, but then realized they had misunderstood and felt a little embarrassed.
"Oh dear, so that's how it is. Why didn't you explain it clearly earlier? You caused us to misunderstand," said Xie Shurong, Gao Weishan's aunt.
Gao Weishan sneered, "Was it me who refused to speak just now? Did you give me a chance?"
Everyone looked embarrassed.
"I was interrupted halfway through my sentence, and then all sorts of accusations and insults came at me. Even if we hadn't intended to keep what our ancestors left us for ourselves, you wouldn't have anything to complain about if we didn't give you a single penny."
After all, both old men had instructed that whoever opened the mechanism box would be the head of the family and would be responsible for distributing the remaining assets.
I originally thought that since we're all relatives, if we could open that door and take out the treasure, we'd divide it equally among the households. But since none of you think that way, then we'll do as the two old men instructed and follow the head of the household's arrangements.”
He turned and discussed it with Lu Yuan for a few words, then said, "We just got back last night, so let's rest for a day today. Tomorrow, each family will send a representative and we'll go to the place where the treasure is kept together."
Everyone looked at each other without responding, clearly dissatisfied with the arrangement.
Finally, it was Gao Weishan's eldest uncle, Gao Shengyao, who spoke up, "Weishan, you're not going to go check on the place where the property is kept today, are you?"
This is practically an open declaration that they intend to secretly go to the place where the treasure is hidden and pocket the property.
Looking at the expressions of the others, it was clear that they thought the same thing, which made Gao Weishan extremely angry.
Lu Yuan was so angry he laughed. The Gao family was really judging others by their own petty standards; their perspective was too narrow.
He said, "Dad, since Uncle and the others don't trust us, let's go today. Everyone's here anyway."
Gao Weishan nodded, "Okay, let's go today, two representatives from each family."
Upon hearing that each household could only send two representatives, many people immediately protested and clamored to go.
Gao Weishan, with a stern face, reprimanded, "What are you trying to do by sending so many people? Don't you think you're a big enough target?"
Everyone reluctantly shut their mouths and began discussing who from each family would go.
Actually, this is easy to discuss; they are basically the heads of each family and their eldest sons.
In this way, the last to go would be Gao Weishan's eldest uncle and two other uncles and their eldest sons, as well as his elder brother Gao Zhihai and his nephew Gao Fei, and finally Xiao Shengming and Xiao Jue, plus Lu Yuan and his family of four.
Some people were a little unhappy that Wen Moxue was also allowed to go, because she was also a daughter-in-law.
Xiao Biyun had no choice; she represented the Xiao family, after all, the Xiao family had left behind ancestral property.
Lu Yuan glanced sideways at the woman who had offered her opinion.
"Got any objections? You'd better keep them to yourself. After all, I was the one who opened the mechanism box. According to the old man's wishes, I am the head of the Gao family, and my wife is the matriarch. So naturally, she has to go."
His words were utterly impolite, and he was even criticizing an elder, which immediately made everyone else's expressions turn sour. Even if you're right, this attitude is far too arrogant, showing absolutely no respect for elders.
“This is a new society now, who still cares about the head of the family and the mistress of the house?” Gao Weishan’s sister-in-law, Lu Qingyun, rolled her eyes.
The implication was that they didn't acknowledge Lu Yuan as the head of the Gao family at all.
Lu Yuan smiled, leaned back in the wooden chair, and acted as if it were none of his business.
"In that case, my wife and I won't go today. I'll restore the mechanism box myself, and I won't get involved in this matter anymore."
If they don't recognize him as the head of the family, his words carry no weight. When the time comes to open the door to hidden assets, they won't listen to him about how to distribute or conceal them.
The Gao and Xiao families must have left behind a considerable amount of wealth. They can't possibly hide it all on their own; something bad will happen, and that will implicate the entire family—no, both families.
He wouldn't allow such a thing to happen, otherwise all the hard work the two old men had put in would be for nothing. Besides, now that he had acknowledged Gao Weishan and Xiao Biyun, if anything happened to their families, it would also implicate him.
Therefore, before setting off for the treasure trove, he had to make everyone recognize him as the head of the family and have absolute obedience and trust, just as they had trusted the two old men back then.
When they heard him say he wasn't going and wanted to restore the mechanism box, everyone panicked.
That won't do. He can refuse to go, but once the mechanism box is restored, no one will be able to open it again. No matter how many things our ancestors left behind, it will be useless.
"Oh dear, I was just saying it casually, why did you take it seriously? Of course we should listen to what the two old men left behind," Lu Qingyun immediately changed her tune.
“Yes, it’s nothing special. My grandniece-in-law can go if she wants to,” Xie Shurong echoed with a smile.
"Yes, yes, go if you want to. Only you can open this box, so you can't just back out."
Everyone started offering their own advice with smiles and a flurry of suggestions.
Lu Yuan scanned everyone one by one before speaking again.
“If my wife doesn’t go, I’m not going either. To be honest, even if there were a mountain of gold and silver hidden there, my wife and I wouldn’t care. If it weren’t for my parents’ sake, I really wouldn’t want to get involved in this matter because of the attitude of people like you.”
Everyone scoffed, secretly thinking to themselves, "They don't even care about mountains of gold and silver?"
Ha, you really dare to say that. What are you pretending to be so high and mighty for? You're just using your ability to open the secret box to act superior.
If he can't open the mechanism box, he'll probably have to fawn over them and try to get them to treat him better.
Lu Yuan could tell what they were thinking from their disdainful looks, and scoffed, "I know you think I'm putting on airs, but I'm just stating the facts."
The truth is he's faking it, but he can't let everyone know.
"You should all know the abilities of the two old men. At that time, the Gao and Xiao families were very powerful and wealthy. It was very likely that their property would be confiscated or even their lives would be in danger. However, they had foresight and made arrangements in advance, saving the lives of the whole family and allowing you to live peacefully until now."
Why is that? Where did the old man's foresight come from? You all know very well that it's because he has remarkable divination skills.
He paused for a moment and then said, "I am not very talented, but I know a little bit about this."
Everyone was shocked and looked at him in disbelief, their eyes wide as saucers.
Even Gao Weishan and Xiao Biyun were no exception, only Wen Moxue smiled secretly, thinking that her brother Yuan was going to intimidate everyone by fooling them.
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