Chapter 37: Where did these five cows come from?
“Alright, I’ll go with you,” Xin Che said.
Xin Che and Jiang Lili headed to the backyard, where there were eight more rooms.
However, Jiang Lili noticed that all the rooms in the backyard were locked. “What should we do now?”
“Could I borrow the hairpin on your head?” Xin Che asked.
He remembered that Jiang Lili had been wearing a delicate hairpin over the past few days, and its body was quite thin.
“Sure!” Jiang Lili readily removed the simple hairpin from her hair.
Her jet-black hair cascaded down her back, smooth and soft under the moonlight.
Xin Che took the thin hairpin and fiddled with the lock. With just a few tries, the lock clicked open.
Jiang Lili watched Xin Che’s movements in amazement. She thought to herself that this skill would require official registration in modern times. “I want to learn this trick too!”
Seeing her eyes sparkle like stars, Xin Che smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll teach you tomorrow.”
Jiang Lili pushed open the door to the first room. Before she could see clearly, the scent of medicinal herbs filled the air. Her eyes soon took in shelves filled with a dazzling variety of herbs.
Jiang Lili suddenly remembered what Madam Yuan had said—that the richest person in Lanyang Village was the largest supplier of medicinal herbs in Linzhou.
It seemed these rooms in the backyard were being used as temporary storage for the herbs.
Xin Che recognized some of the herbs and his eyes lit up. “If we’re going to cross the Qinglin Mountain Range from Linzhou, these herbs for clearing heat, detoxifying, and dispelling dampness are absolutely essential.”
“But how are we going to transport so many herbs?” he wondered.
The herbs in this one room alone could probably fill three horse-drawn carts.
Jiang Lili pondered for a moment. Doesn’t this call for Xiaopang’s help?
However, she was a bit worried that Zhang Xiaopang might not have enough space, especially since this was only the first room.
Jiang Lili snapped a photo and sent it to Zhang Xiaopang with a message:
[Hey, Brother Xiaopang, do you still have enough space over there?]
Zhang Xiaopang hadn’t responded yet when Jiang Lili suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
Doesn’t clicking on your own profile picture in QQ open a chat window, just like the file transfer assistant in WeChat?
Curious, Jiang Lili tried clicking her own avatar in the group chat interface. Sure enough, a private chat window popped up.
However, she couldn’t send herself red envelopes—only files.
Jiang Lili clicked on the “File” icon, which opened a camera interface prompting her to take a photo or select a file for storage.
She quickly pushed Xin Che out of the room. “Wait outside for a moment. I’m going to show you a magic trick.”
Xin Che, already accustomed to their tacit understanding of not questioning each other, simply stood in the courtyard, keeping an eye on the surroundings to prevent any disturbances.
Inside, Jiang Lili aimed her camera at the room full of medicinal herbs and pressed the shutter. The camera interface displayed a scanning animation, followed by a notification:
[Item recognized: Medicinal herbs. Store in personal folder?]
Jiang Lili clicked “Yes,” and in the blink of an eye, the entire roomful of herbs disappeared.
She hurriedly checked her personal folder and found that a new folder named “Medicinal Herbs” had been created. Within it, the herbs were neatly categorized into subfolders with names like “Perilla” and “Poria.” Each type of herb had its own labeled folder, perfectly organized.
Now, if Jiang Lili ever needed a specific herb, she could simply click on the corresponding folder to retrieve it.
Amazing!
Jiang Lili was ecstatic. This feature was practically a personal spatial storage system, making Zhang Xiaopang’s workload much lighter.
She opened the door with a face full of joy.
Xin Che raised an eyebrow as he glanced into the now-empty room. “Your magic trick worked?”
“Of course! Let’s hurry. Otherwise, it might stop working later.”
With a bright smile, Jiang Lili grabbed Xin Che and urged him to start picking the lock on the next room.
After collecting herbs from two rooms of common medicinal plants and one room filled with aged, valuable ones, the subsequent rooms turned out to store grains, oil, rice, flour, and other daily necessities. Yet, Jiang Lili still hadn’t found the private treasury of the wealthiest man in Lanyang Village.
Feeling a bit frustrated, Jiang Lili muttered, “Could it be that the richest man in Lanyang Village keeps all his silver in Linzhou City?”
Xin Che pondered and then said, “Unlikely. Even a cunning rabbit keeps three burrows, and besides, Madam Yuan needs silver to pay the villagers for gathering herbs.”
“That’s true! Linzhou City is full of prying eyes, while this village is under Madam Yuan’s control, making it much safer,” Jiang Lili reasoned. “Could the entrance to the treasury be hidden?”
Xin Che recalled something while rummaging through the rooms with Jiang Lili. In the area where they found the dry rations, there was an underground wine cellar.
“It might be in the wine cellar, but that place is enormous.”
“Are you looking for something?” Master Liao walked over, holding a milk bottle. With a serious expression, he suggested, “How about I do a divination for you?”
Jiang Lili remembered that Master Liao’s laid-back personality was partially influenced by his family background. His family specialized in feng shui and were quite mysterious.
However, Master Liao was a bit rebellious. Instead of practicing traditional methods, he often played with Western tarot cards in class. Sometimes his predictions were accurate, other times not.
Jiang Lili stroked her chin and said, “Should we give it a try? I can have Xiaopang fetch a deck of tarot cards.”
Master Liao shook his head. “Just give me three copper coins.”
Skeptical but intrigued, Jiang Lili handed him three copper coins. Master Liao shook the coins three times and then pointed toward the northwest corner, beneath the cow shed. “The God of Wealth’s position is in the northwest.”
“That’s a hexagram divination,” he added confidently.
Xin Che was astonished. This child truly is a prodigy among prodigies.
Inspired by Liao Dabao’s words, Xin Che immediately called for Xin Cheng to assist.
Xin Che deduced that the silver and gold were hidden in an extremely secretive location, likely protected by a mechanism. Wealthy families often hired skilled craftsmen to design intricate traps and locks to safeguard their treasures.
Fortunately, Xin Cheng, his younger brother, was an expert in mechanical design.
When Xin Cheng arrived, he descended into the wine cellar and, following Master Liao’s indicated direction, quickly located the mechanism that concealed the vault door.
Together, Xin Che and Xin Cheng pried open one unassuming wooden chest after another, revealing piles of shimmering silver.
Xin Cheng let out an exclamation, “This isn’t just the wealthiest man in Lanyang Village—we might be looking at a regional magnate’s treasure!”
As all the chests in the vault were opened, Jiang Lili tallied the contents. There were 5,000 taels of gold, 20,000 taels of silver, and five crates filled with neatly strung copper coins.
“We’re rich!!!”
“Ahhh~ I’m sleeping here tonight!”
Jiang Lili dove onto one of the silver-filled chests, her eyes gleaming with joy.
This is heaven!
She mentally thanked Madam Yuan for the “generous hospitality” of sending them to this warm treasure trove tonight.
After reveling in the ocean of gold and silver for a while, Jiang Lili stood up and stretched her wrists. She glanced at Xin Cheng, conflicted about how to send him away without arousing suspicion. After all, witnessing what was about to happen might be too much for him.
Noticing her slightly furrowed brows, Xin Che immediately understood that the young lady was preparing to perform her “magic trick” again. Without a word, he led Xin Cheng and Liao Ji out of the cellar. “Let’s head outside. I have something to discuss with you.”
As soon as the group left, Jiang Lili wasted no time and began madly collecting the treasure.
Silver? Mine!
Gold? Also mine!
With a determined glint in her eye, Jiang Lili absorbed every last tael of gold, silver, and copper into her “personal folder.”
After clearing out the vault, Jiang Lili emerged from the cellar and began meticulously inspecting each room to ensure she hadn’t missed anything.
Once satisfied that everything had been thoroughly looted, her gaze fell on the five cows tied up in the barn.
Unfortunately, her folder couldn’t store living creatures.
Just then, her device buzzed repeatedly with a message from Zhang Xiaopang.
[Zhang Xiaopang]: Sister Lili, I’ve got plenty of space here. The underground parking lot has seven or eight storage rooms that can serve as warehouses.
Jiang Lili raised an eyebrow, then grabbed the ropes tethering the cows and sent Zhang Xiaopang a red packet.
*
In the modern world, Zhang Xiaopang began pulling five cows out of the warehouse, one after another.
Grandpa Zhang, who had been napping on a lounge chair, groggily opened his eyes. The sight before him made him bolt upright. He took off his reading glasses and rubbed his eyes furiously. Could it be… Has my cataract progressed so far that I’m hallucinating?
“Brat! Where did these five cows come from?” Grandpa Zhang exclaimed.
Zhang Xiaopang scratched his head sheepishly. “Uh… a New Year’s gift from a classmate?”