Chapter 247 I've struck it rich
Bicycles are precious, and since they don't even belong to her, Song Lubai was afraid of them being stolen. She had Chang Guangtao push the bicycle into the woodland. Beyond the woodland was a dry ditch.
"Chang Sheng, you and Chang Hui stay here and guard the bicycle. Make sure it doesn't get stolen. If anything happens, shout loudly. When we get back today, I'll give you each a dollar."
After Chang Sheng and Chang Hui made their promises, Song Lubai led Chang Guangtao to the back of the hill.
Song Lubai had been acting mysteriously the whole way, and Chang Guangtao was itching to find out what was going on.
Song Lubai didn't know if she could find it, but she felt she would be missing out if she didn't come.
Liu Mei harmed her; if she finds those good things, she can consider them compensation to her.
"Look for the crooked tree. There are rocks next to it. I heard Liu Mei hid something good there. If we find it, it's ours. You're better at keeping your mouth shut than Chang Sheng and Chang Hui. When you get home, you can only tell your parents. You can't tell anyone else. You know what's going on outside, understand?"
Chang Guangtao nodded excitedly, "I definitely won't tell."
Today, the Lin brothers, Jianshe and Heping, insisted on coming together, but Song Lubai refused.
Compared to the three people she ordered, Chang Guangtao and his brother Lin Jianshe were still too young.
Suppressing their excitement, the two searched for quite some time, covering an area of several hundred meters, but still couldn't find the crooked tree.
"Many trees have been cut down, so let's look for some rocks instead, specifically those with crooked tree roots next to them."
The two men's hands were covered in dirt as they dug around. They heard voices in the distance, so they hid behind the irrigation ditch and waited for the people to walk away before continuing their search.
Persistence pays off, and the two eventually set their sights on a goal.
The flat rock block is quite large, about four or five square meters, and below the sloping edge is a thick tree root that has been cut off and is less than twenty centimeters long.
The two walked around the rock once and realized they had made a mistake.
They should have brought shovels.
The soil underneath is quite hard, making it difficult to dig by hand.
Chang Guangtao found a small stick, cleared away the rubble, then lifted it up with both hands against the edge of the rock. After trying it, he said, "I think I can lift it. Let's give it a try."
Song Lubai joined him in the effort and found that they could indeed lift it.
With limited strength, the two of them didn't expect to be able to lift the whole rock, but instead tried to knock it down.
After a great deal of effort, the rock fell to one side.
Song Lubai thought that this thing might have been moved here by Liu Mei specifically to cover it up.
After digging for quite some time, the two found a dark blue cloth bag in the soil.
Fearing that someone else might come, the two picked up their things and ran into the depths of the grass.
The package was opened layer by layer, until finally the good stuff inside was revealed.
The golden bracelet was decorated with carved patterns and adorned with pearls and jade. The silver bracelet had a more conventional design, but for the two who had never seen gold and silver before, the shiny silver bracelet looked quite beautiful.
Besides several bracelets, there was a small gold lock, a gold ring inlaid with small pearls, a palm-sized gold bowl, and two jade bracelets that were between milky white and sky blue.
Chang Guangtao, holding the golden bowl in his hand, said, "My goodness, this must weigh at least half a pound! Sister, you've struck it rich!"
The two men re-fastened their bags and returned to the place where Chang Hui and Chang Sheng had been guarding the bicycles.
All they found was the bicycle; the two brothers were nowhere to be seen.
Song Lubai said, "You saw what they looked like. You can't tell anyone about what happened today except your aunt and uncle."
Chang Guangtao knew the gravity of the situation and repeatedly assured that he would not tell anyone.
Just as Chang Guangtao was about to call for help, Song Lubai gave him everything except the gold bowl, the small gold lock, and a bracelet.
"Take these things home and give them to your aunt quietly."
Chang Guangtao refused the jade bracelet and put it back. Looking at the gold ring, he wanted to give it to Song Lubai as well.
"Are these rings for your wedding? This pair is perfect, one for each of you."
Song Lubai had no idea about wearing a wedding ring, and this style wasn't one she liked either.
"Keep it. If I want a ring later, I'll melt down the gold lock and make a new pair."
Once the gold lock is melted down, we can make several more pairs.
Chang Guangtao was somewhat embarrassed.
He just went along once and took these valuable things back with him; his mother will definitely scold him.
Song Lubai only wanted gold that was easy to melt. A gold bowl was heavy enough, and she didn't feel bad about giving some to her aunt's family.
When the two called Chang Sheng and Chang Hui back, they saw that the two were soaking wet, their shoes were covered in mud, and they were grinning with their big white teeth.
Chang Guangtao couldn't help but ask, "If the bicycle gets stolen, who will take responsibility?"
Chang Hui said, "We've been watching this side, but nobody's coming here. There's a ditch over there with fish in it, but unfortunately we can't catch them."
Upon hearing that there was fish, Chang Guangtao swallowed hard.
How long has it been since we've had meat at home?
Chang Guangtao glanced at Song Lubai and said, "Let's go take a look too."
Song Lubai said, "Where can we get some willow branches to weave a basket?"
Chang Sheng scratched his head, "Who among us knows how to make this up?"
No one answered.
Song Lubai is all talk and no action.
The fish are in the pond; no one would be satisfied if they didn't catch a few to take home and eat.
It was a little past two in the afternoon, and there were still three or four hours until it got dark. It would only take a little over an hour to get back to the county town, so they still had time to waste here.
Chang Hui was left to watch the bicycles, while the other three headed towards the ditch.
There really were fish in the pool, and Chang Guangtao jumped right in.
The water level reached his chest, and as soon as he went in, he stirred up the water.
Chang Sheng followed suit, and the two of them stirred up the ditch into a complete mess.
Unable to catch any fish, the two simply splashed water out with their hands.
Just when Song Lubai thought she definitely wouldn't be able to eat fish today, a fish leaped out of the ditch.
She exclaimed excitedly, "If we do it this way, one of them will come up!"
The fish was about the length of two of Song Lubai's palms, which wasn't small.
After stirring for a short while, Chang Hui abandoned his bicycle and came over.
Song Lubai was furious, so she simply went back to guard the place herself.
When Chang Guangtao and his two companions returned, they were carrying a total of four fish, two large ones and two small ones.
There are many people in my family, so these four fish can be eaten in one meal.
By the time we got back to the county town, it was already getting dark.
Zhang Lan had already been peeking around at the gate of the courtyard.
"Where have you run off to again, you brat? You haven't been seen all day, and you even rode away Old Chen's bicycle."
Chang Hui held up the fish he had caught and said, "Grandma, look, we have fish to eat."
Zhang Lan slapped him on the back, "Hurry up and take it inside, what are you showing off for!"
Chang Hui felt wronged.
He sacrificed his clothes along the way so that others wouldn't see the fish.
My clothes smelled fishy, and I'd get a beating from my grandma when I got back.
Lin Jianshe and Lin Heping were furious, feeling that their sister was no longer their sister, as she wouldn't even take them fishing.
Song Lubai returned the bicycle and secretly gave Chang Hui and Chang Sheng one yuan each.
The two brothers were all smiles.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com