I don't know what time it is now that I'm awake, and I don't want to lie in bed anymore. I might as well go and tidy up Xiaohongmei's parents' room. This child is obedient; she locked the money, tickets, and all the good things her parents brought back into their room.
He took out the key from his spatial storage and opened the door. The layout of the house was the same as Xiao Hongmei's. He took out the emergency light and turned it on, and the room immediately became bright. Since the small window was sealed in winter, he wasn't worried about any light leaking out. Seeing the dust on the kang (heated brick bed) and the cabinets, he decided to clean the room first, otherwise he always felt like he could breathe in a dusty smell.
Without further ado, I went to the main room, which was also the kitchen, to get a broom, a clay pot, and a rag. Just like yesterday when I cleaned Little Red Plum's room, I first used the broom from my spatial dimension to sweep the kang mat, then rolled it up and set it aside. Next, I swept the dirt off the kang, then laid the kang mat back on and wiped it with the damp rag. I also wiped the dust off a cabinet in the room. It took almost an hour to clean it all up. When I opened the door, it was still dark outside. Since I was covered in dust myself, I decided to clean the kitchen as well. Because we don't eat much meat all year round, the kitchen is easy to clean.
After cleaning everything up, I went into the space, took a nice, relaxing shower, drank a glass of milk, and ate a warm sweet bun. Because the time difference between the space and the outside world is 1:10, I wasn't worried about someone coming over to visit while I wasn't home.
After eating a bunch of grapes, Zhang Hongmei left the space and unlocked the cabinet with her key. Inside were her parents' quilts. Zhang Hongmei knew that all the family's belongings were in a small wooden box under the quilts. She struggled to pull out the quilts, but she couldn't lift the small box, so she had to put it back into her space and then place it on the kang (a heated brick bed).
I don't know what kind of wood the box was made of, but it had a pleasant fragrance. I took out a small key to unlock it. Even knowing this family was wealthy, I was still shocked. There were over ten bundles of ten-yuan notes, over ten bundles of five-yuan notes, five bundles of three-yuan notes, and over ten bundles of one-yuan notes. The rest were 50-cent, 20-cent, 10-cent, 5-cent, 2-cent, and 1-cent notes. Above the money was a small wooden box, about the size of a palm, containing some military ration coupons and cloth coupons. I counted about 20 jin of ration coupons, 20 chi of cloth coupons, and over ten industrial coupons.
On the other side of the banknotes were two flat wooden boxes stacked together. One was taken out and opened; inside were gold bars. I don't know how heavy they were; the wooden box itself probably weighed ten pounds, but I had no idea how many gold bars were inside.
I put it aside and picked up the last wooden box, which was full of jade, emerald and agate jewelry. I couldn't take these with me, I just liked them and wanted to look at them to satisfy my cravings. As for the quality, I had no idea.
After tidying up the wooden box, I took out the small box containing the receipts. Inside, there were two large ten-yuan notes, three-yuan notes, five-yuan notes, no one-yuan notes, a bundle of five-mao notes, two-mao notes, one-mao notes, and some ten-yuan notes. Then I put the wooden box into the storage room in my space; that was the safest place.
The cabinets were divided into two sections. Opening the other one, you could find some light clothing for Xiaohongmei's parents, a cotton-padded coat for each of them, two sheepskin-lined military overcoats, and two leather hats. Xiaohongmei couldn't wear her father's overcoat and hat, but her mother could, even though they touched her feet, they were warmer that way. They took out the women's military overcoat, put everything back inside, and locked the cabinet.
He carried the women's military coat into his room and put it in the closet.
Xiao Hongmei's closet contained only two sets of summer clothes and one set of spring/autumn clothes, nothing else. Zhang Hongmei then took out a bolt of cotton cloth and five rolls of cotton from her spatial storage and put them in the closet, along with the small wooden box. She planned to ask her aunt if she could teach her how to make cotton-padded clothes and shoes when she came. These basic life skills were essential for her future. She couldn't take out the clothes, shoes, and socks she had stored in her spatial storage for now, as their styles and materials were far inferior. It was best to avoid trouble.
Suddenly, she remembered that there was a small cellar in Xiao Hongmei's parents' house, but she didn't know what was inside. Because she was too young at the time, her parents would never tell her about these things, so she didn't have a clear impression. Even if Xiao Hongmei wanted to see it, she couldn't go in, because the entrance to the cellar was under a wooden cabinet. Don't underestimate this cabinet; it was made of solid wood, and even two strong men would have a hard time moving it. But it was no problem for Zhang Hongmei.
They went into Xiaohongmei's parents' room, first putting the cabinet away, and then noticed a wooden board on the floor. They lifted the board and shone a flashlight underneath, only seeing the steps; the items must be inside. After waiting a while to let the air circulate, they went downstairs.
Inside were ten one-cubic-meter boxes, all wrapped in tar paper—a clever way to prevent moisture. The tar paper was removed, and the boxes were stored inside the spatial dimension. It was better to examine them from within the dimension; it was pitch black in here. After leaving the cellar, the cabinet was put away, and the room was locked again. Only then did I enter the spatial dimension.
Inside the box were calligraphy and paintings, all neatly rolled up. She unfurled them one by one; these were all valuable pieces. Although she had studied science in university and hadn't researched calligraphy and paintings, she could read. Almost all of them were works by famous figures from the Tang and Song dynasties. Zhang Hongmei carefully put them away in the storeroom to avoid damage.
The second box contained calligraphy and paintings from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the third also contained Ming and Qing dynasty pieces. The remaining seven boxes were filled with ancient books. They were carefully placed into the storeroom. No one knew where Xiaohongmei's parents had gotten all this; it wasn't something just anyone could obtain.
Feeling uneasy, Zhang Hongmei went to the cellar again and gathered up all the tarpaulin, putting it in a cabinet in the storeroom. This way, it wouldn't be obvious that anything had been stored in the bedroom cellar. These items were priceless even during the War of Resistance, something a soldier from a rural area couldn't possibly possess. They must have come from somewhere. Zhang Hongmei broke out in a cold sweat. Thank goodness she remembered, thank goodness she had a spatial dimension; these things couldn't be exposed to the light of day for the next forty or fifty years. She reviewed Xiao Hongmei's memories; the child truly knew nothing about these things. Anyway, they were all in her spatial dimension; even if trouble arose later, they probably wouldn't be found. She wondered if Xiao Hongmei's parents' sacrifice was related to this. Wealth can corrupt people; there are all kinds of people in the world. Driven by profit, they can do anything crazy, especially now that people are more feudal and ignorant, and the law is imperfect, making the ugly side of human nature even more apparent.
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