Chen Ruolan sat in the room with a sullen expression, listening to the laughter and chatter coming from the cowshed next door every day, and was so jealous that she was going crazy.
She was unwilling to accept it. That wretched girl, Chen Qingqing, was already so thin and pale, like a stick of firewood...
But ever since they separated, she has become even more radiant, with fair skin that glows and bright, lively eyes, making her almost unrecognizable from before.
Not only did an unremarkable ugly duckling transform into a beautiful swan, but it also suddenly became able to treat people's illnesses.
Chen Ruolan's eyes were unfathomable. Finding ginseng meant she was lucky, but medical treatment wasn't something anyone could just do on a whim.
There must be something wrong here; she was certain that Chen Qingqing knew absolutely nothing about medicine.
Just as she was lost in thought, she heard Old Mrs. Chen's calculating voice coming from the courtyard.
She sincerely admired Old Lady Chen for coming up with such an inhumanly ingenious method.
What does stealing matter? She'll only be happy if she can make Chen Qingqing penniless and leave her family without food or clothing.
Thinking of this, Chen Ruolan hurriedly came out from the inner room. "Grandma, don't get angry. My grandpa is indeed timid. Why don't the three of us go together? That way, we can look out for each other."
Grandma Chen squinted her eyes. Her granddaughter was the most considerate. At least no matter what she wanted to do, her granddaughter wouldn't sabotage her.
"Okay, Ruolan, when you go in, just pick the lightest things to take. First, bring back those few bolts of cotton cloth, and Grandma will make you some new clothes later."
Chen Ruolan nodded. "Okay, I understand."
Old Chen looked somewhat troubled. Although he was timid as a mouse, the thought of that pile of silver suddenly emboldened him.
He nodded. "Okay, let's go in then."
After saying that, he glanced into Chen Zhanliang's house and asked in a low voice, "Old woman, don't let Zhanliang and the others see this. That kid always sides with outsiders and never takes sides with his own people. If he finds out, this matter will be hard to cover up."
Grandma Chen said smugly, "Don't worry, I sent all four of them out to work a long time ago. Now it's just the three of us at home, so today is definitely a golden opportunity."
They glanced at the gate and, seeing no one around, stealthily made their way to the cowshed.
Upon approaching, she saw that the door was tied with rope. Old Mrs. Chen sneered, "What a pointless and unnecessary move. How the hell can this keep out thieves?"
As he spoke, he raised his hand and yanked the rope down.
The Chen family's cowshed was originally just two thatched huts; in the summer, you could see clearly inside from the outside.
In winter, they would use dry grass, corn stalks, and other materials to block the front, leaving only one door for easy entry and exit.
Now, thanks to Chen Zhanshan's renovation, the two cowsheds have been converted into three.
A large bed was set up against the wall in the outer room for Chen Zhanshan and his wife to sleep, and a small bed was set up next to it for Chen Han. There were also some miscellaneous items placed near the window.
The inner room was divided into two small rooms by a log partition, with a cloth curtain separating them. The outer room was Chen Qingqing's room, and the innermost room was where the rescued man lived.
Upon entering the house, all three were stunned by what they saw.
This was the first time Old Mrs. Chen had come in after the family split up. She was taken aback when she saw the neatly arranged household items.
The eldest son's family was kicked out, and the old house became like a pigsty.
The second daughter-in-law only needed to tidy up their own room.
The house where she and Old Man Chen used to live was always kept clean and tidy by Lin.
But now it's messy and dirty, and no one washes the clothes.
At this moment, she felt a pang of nostalgia for Lin.
Chen Ruolan had assumed that the eldest son's family slept in a dirty and unsanitary cowshed, but she was surprised to find it so clean.
On the table near the wall, there was even a bunch of wildflowers.
Her jealousy burned even brighter. Why did Chen Qingqing live such a carefree life? Shouldn't she be living like a dog?
As soon as Old Chen entered the house, he looked it over from all sides and couldn't help but praise, "Not bad, not bad. I didn't expect that they would renovate this cowshed so well. It has doors and windows."
Hearing his words, Old Mrs. Chen turned around and glared at him with displeasure. "Alright, stop commenting and hurry up and find out where they hid the silver and grain."
Old Chen shook his head and smiled, "What's the rush? It takes them about an hour to go to town and back, they won't be back so quickly."
Suppressing the resentment in her eyes, Chen Ruolan urged, "Grandpa, listen to Grandma and hurry up and search. It wouldn't be good if someone else saw us."
Old Mrs. Chen said with a stern face, "You old fool, did I invite you to come here for a tour? Stop dawdling and hurry up and find the silver and grain."
The outer room wasn't very big to begin with, and the three of them quickly searched it all, but didn't find anything of value.
“Old woman, the outer room is only so big. I’ve even dug up the mouse holes, but I didn’t find a single penny.”
Chen Ruolan looked at the other room with the curtain hanging and pointed, "Grandpa, Grandma, the room inside must be where Chen Qingqing sleeps. The silver and grain must be hidden there."
Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Chen's eyes lit up. "Yes, yes, the silver must be hidden in that brat's room. Let's go in and look for it."
He lifted the curtain and went into the inner room, searching carefully under and on the bed, but found nothing.
Old Chen crawled out from under the bed. "Old woman, we've searched everywhere in this house, but we haven't found anything. If you ask me, could it be that brat has taken the money with her?"
Old Mrs. Chen shook her head. "Impossible. Who would carry dozens of taels of silver with them when they go out? They must be hiding it in some secluded place."
“You’re right. That brat has at least forty taels of silver on her, she couldn’t possibly be carrying it on her person. We must have just come to the wrong place.”
"Yes, where could it be hidden?" Old Mrs. Chen frowned deeply, her head throbbing with anxiety.
At this moment, Chen Ruolan was still standing in the outer room looking around when she suddenly felt that the pile of firewood against the wall that was placed inside the room to avoid the rain seemed a bit strange.
She walked over and removed the layers of firewood one by one, revealing a large wooden box in front of her.
She was overjoyed, certain that something good must be hidden here.
She hurriedly called into the house, "Grandpa and Grandma, come out quickly, there's a big wooden box here."
Old Mrs. Chen was overjoyed and hurried to the outer room. "Ruolan, is there any silver inside?"
Chen Ruolan shook her head. "I don't know what's inside, but hidden in such a secluded place, I reckon there must be something good inside."
Old Man Chen nodded. "Ruolan's analysis is correct. You see, this wooden cabinet is locked. If I'm not mistaken, the silver and grain should be hidden inside."
After his reminder, Old Mrs. Chen looked down and noticed that there was indeed a padlock on the wooden cabinet. She immediately started cursing, "These heartless bastards, they locked it up like they were keeping out thieves. Do they think they can stop me just because they locked it up?"
......
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