After lunch, Qin Yu went to work, leaving Xia Lan alone at home to rest. Xia Lan counted her current assets and found she had over eight hundred yuan!
"Hehehehe..." Feeling like he had become rich overnight, he secretly chuckled in his room.
Remembering there was a small box, Xia Lan took it out of the cabinet. Seeing that the box was locked, she seemed to remember something and pulled a red string from around her neck.
This is something Xia's mother made her wear since she was little, saying it was to ward off evil spirits, and she never let her take it off.
Xia Lan looked at the key threaded through the red rope. Was she going to use the key to ward off evil spirits?
Take the key, insert it into the lock, and turn it gently. With a "click," the lock opens.
Xia Lan took a deep breath, reached out and slowly opened the box. Inside was a piece of red cloth, which seemed to be wrapped around something.
Unfolding the red cloth, four wrapped strips were placed side by side inside. Xia Lan took them out, weighed them in her hand, and had a vague idea of what they were.
After taking one out, I discovered there was another row underneath.
Xia Lan's eyes widened in surprise.
Xia Lan took everything out of the box and opened them one by one.
The eight gold bars, each about two fingers wide and ten centimeters long, meant that each bar weighed at least one pound.
At current prices, at twenty yuan per gram, this one would be worth a thousand yuan! There are eight of them here…
Wow, this is what real overnight riches looks like!
But what's even more amazing is Xia Lan's mother. How did she end up with so many gold bars?
Xia Lan noticed two more pieces of paper at the bottom of the box. One was written by her mother, and the other was actually a land deed.
However, it's practically worthless now.
After the land reform was completed, the government issued land ownership certificates, and all land contracts prior to the land system reform were invalidated.
Xia Lan opened the letter her mother had written, which revealed her mother's identity.
It turns out that Xia Lan's mother used to be the eldest daughter of a wealthy family, named Lou Wanyu.
During the chaotic war years, people kept coming to their door demanding money. Xia Lan's parents, fearing for their daughter's safety, had her wet nurse take her back to their hometown.
To protect the young lady from being found by outsiders, the wet nurse claimed to be her mother. Thus, Xia Lan's mother took the wet nurse's surname, changed her name to Wu Wanyu, and stayed in Xiahe Village.
She tried to write home, but could no longer contact her family. Later, she fell in love with Xia Lan's father, Xia Liang, and married him.
These gold bars were prepared for her by her father years ago. She took one out and pawned it, which was enough for her family to live a wealthy life.
The remaining eight were left to her, and she was told not to use them unless absolutely necessary, lest she attract unwanted attention.
"So that's how it is." I never expected that the original owner was a descendant of a wealthy young lady.
No wonder her mother never asked her to do farm work, but instead had her learn embroidery and teach her to read and write.
If she herself was raised with this kind of education, then everything makes sense.
Xia Lan packed all the gold bars back together, locked them, and put the key back around her neck.
He was hesitating about where to hide the small box, since Qin Yu's house was easily visible and there really wasn't anywhere to hide it.
"Xia, are you home?" Someone suddenly called from outside the door, startling Xia Lan.
Xia Lan shoved the box into the pile of clothes in the closet and hurried out.
"I'm here, who is it?" Xia Lan walked quickly to the door but then slowed down, as if she were very weak, and slowly walked out of the room.
Outside the wall, Aunt Liu came over with another woman. Seeing Xia Lan, she said worriedly, "Xia Lan, why do you still look so pale? Look at your face, it's so white, there's no color in it at all."
Xia Lan chuckled at Aunt Liu. "You'll be fine in a couple of days, just a little weak, cough cough cough~"
As soon as Xia Lan opened the door, Aunt Liu rushed into the room and brought out a coat for her, draping it over Xia Lan's shoulders. "Oh dear, you girl, you're so careless! It's windy outside, and you come out without even putting on a coat."
"Thank you, Auntie." Xia Lan chuckled. "Auntie is so kind."
"Alright, stop pretending. If you don't behave, I'll tell Shitou and have him come back and scold you!" Aunt Liu looked at Xia Lan's pale face and thought about how pitiful she was, having lost her parents.
"Who is this?" Xia Lan looked at her aunt who hadn't spoken until now and asked curiously.
"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you." Aunt Liu patted her head. "This is your Aunt Qian, she lives diagonally across from you." Aunt Liu introduced.
Xia Lan looked at Aunt Qian in front of her, and Aunt Qian was also sizing up Xia Lan.
Aunt Qian had sharp eyes, and her expressionless face made her seem aloof and not the kind of person who was easy to approach.
"If you're sick, don't come out in the wind," Aunt Qian said coldly, glancing at Xia Lan.
After saying that, he turned around and went home.
"..." Xia Lan stared in astonishment at Aunt Qian's departing figure.
"Well, that's just how she is. She was always so cold and quiet when she was young, but she has a good heart," Aunt Liu said, speaking up for Aunt Qian. "She's actually a very good person."
Aunt Liu wanted to explain, but Aunt Qian's attitude just now—leaving without looking back—didn't seem to match what she said at all...
Aunt Liu sighed softly; she couldn't explain her old best friend's behavior to her.
Xia Lan's lips twitched, and just as she was about to say something, Aunt Qian came over again with a bowl of something.
"Drink it." Aunt Qian handed a bowl of ginger soup to Xia Lan. Xia Lan smelled the strong ginger aroma and tried to refuse with a wry smile.
"Drink." Aunt Qian forcefully brought the bowl to her lips. Xia Lan felt a familiar formula. Wasn't this the same formula Qin Yu had used to force her to drink medicine yesterday?
"Drink it, it's good for your health," Aunt Liu advised from the side.
Xia Lan had no choice but to obediently drink it down, pouting.
The moment it entered her mouth, the spiciness of the ginger made Xia Lan's scalp tingle. Fortunately, the sweetness of the brown sugar suppressed the spiciness of the ginger, so it wasn't too bad to drink, just too spicy.
After drinking the ginger soup, Xia Lan's eyes looked like they had been bullied, turning into rabbit eyes, red and teary-eyed.
"I've finished drinking." Xia Lan looked pitifully at Aunt Qian, who softly agreed and left with the empty bowl.
"She's just like that, she doesn't say a word..." Aunt Liu was already used to Aunt Qian's style, so she felt confident enough to tell Xia Lan that she was a better person now.
"..." Xia Lan sensed that Aunt Qian was truly... a woman of action.
"Aunt Liu, please thank Aunt Qian for me," Xia Lan said with a smile to Aunt Liu.
"Okay, good." Aunt Liu said happily. "It's good that you're not angry."
"How could I be angry? Although I was a little surprised, she was only trying to help me." Xia Lan said with a light laugh. Although Aunt Qian was indeed a bit fierce, her heart was truly good for her. For that reason alone, Xia Lan couldn't be angry with her.
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