At dawn, when the sky was only just beginning to lighten and morning mist still drifted along the road, Su Jinhui found an excuse while waiting for the vehicle and slipped alone into the public restroom deep in the alley.
As soon as the wooden door closed, she pressed the jade pendant to her brow.
A warm current suddenly surged out of the jade, as if linking to her body and pouring straight into her. Before long, it was completely absorbed.
Su Jinhui tried putting away half a sheet of newspaper from the restroom partition. In an instant, the newspaper appeared on the top level of her space.
She was overjoyed, her eyes shining.
What a treasure. With this thing, what was there to fear about not making something of herself?
She carefully tucked the jade pendant back into her collar. By the time she returned to the Su family gate, a Liberation-brand truck was rumbling toward them.
Six camphorwood chests were stacked neatly in the truck bed, all tied up with hemp rope.
Seeing Su Jinhui come back, Su Lanqiao immediately linked arms with her affectionately, boasting openly and covertly, “Perfect timing, Sister. These are the boxes the family is sending to the docks. They’re all filled with gold, silver, and jewels. Oh right, Sister, you probably haven’t seen these before, have you?”
“No, I haven’t,” Su Jinhui said, blinking her bright eyes and gazing at the boxes with feigned fascination. “My horizons really can’t compare to yours, little sister. So could you let me have a look?”
Su Lanqiao instantly lifted her chin, a trace of mockery flashing through her eyes.
Putting on the air of a pampered young lady, she turned and said softly to the movers, “Open all the boxes and let my sister take a look.”
“Yes, Miss,” they replied.
The moment the lids were lifted, the morning light refracted into dazzling, multicolored glints across the jewelry.
“Sister, look,” Su Lanqiao said, picking up a jade necklace and pointing to the carved bead in the center. “This necklace was made back then from old Burmese jade from a legendary pit, traded for three gold bars by our grandfather. Every bead had to be hand-polished round, then drilled bit by bit with horsehair.”
She smiled smugly. “I was lucky enough to witness the entire process.”
Su Jinhui ignored her and continued looking on her own.
Su Lanqiao sneered inwardly and covered her mouth in mock surprise. “Sister, don’t tell me you can’t understand any of this? Well, I suppose that makes sense. You grew up in the countryside and didn’t have much education, so it’s normal if you don’t get it.”
“I really don’t understand much,” Su Jinhui replied.
Her fingers “accidentally” brushed against a pair of gilt filigree enamel bracelets. In an instant, the bracelets vanished, appearing inside the jade pendant space.
The corners of Su Jinhui’s lips curved faintly upward.
Over the next few minutes, she repeated the same trick, storing gold bars and antiques into the space one by one.
One hundred and sixty large gold bars, more than fifty jade ornaments, and over a dozen complete sets of Ming dynasty tea ware.
Meanwhile, Su Lanqiao was still showing off, completely unaware that the treasures inside the boxes were “evaporating.”
Before long, everything of value had been swept clean. Su Jinhui contentedly closed the space and prepared to leave.
“Sister, you—”
Su Lanqiao walked over. With a sideways glance, she saw the empty boxes, and her smile froze on her face.
Her pupils dilated as she quickly grabbed Su Jinhui by the arm.
“Where are the treasures? Did you steal them?!”
“You’re wronging me, little sister,” Su Jinhui said hurriedly, waving her hands and looking utterly frightened. “I just saw that these boxes were already empty. And we’ve been together the whole time—how could I possibly steal so many things?”
She immediately rolled up her sleeves. “If you really don’t believe me, you can search me however you like!”
With so many jewels, it was obvious even without searching that they weren’t on her.
But there were only the two of them here. If it wasn’t her, could it be a ghost?
Su Lanqiao was so anxious her face turned red. “It has to be you! Hurry up and hand over my family’s things, you thief!”
“It’s not me, really not me…”
Hearing the commotion, Su Jin first came out and frowned. “What’s going on?”
“Brother, look!” Su Lanqiao pointed at the flustered Su Jinhui. “Sister stole all our family’s jewelry. Six boxes—all empty!”
Su Jin first’s heart sank. He rushed over in three strides.
Sure enough, the boxes were completely empty, with only a few worthless items left behind.
“Where did the things go?!”
At that moment, the sound of a horn came from the distance—the vehicle to pick people up had arrived.
Su Jinhui slung her bundle over her back, left the red-faced siblings behind, and boarded the vehicle.
“Don’t go! You haven’t explained yourself!” Su Lanqiao tried to chase after her, but Su Jin first grabbed her wrist firmly.
Turning back, he fixed her with a deep, dark gaze. “Little sister, you’re not calling thief while being one yourself, are you?”
Su Lanqiao’s eyes widened, her eye rims instantly reddening. “Brother, what nonsense are you talking about? How could I possibly do something like that!”
“But with so many jewels, do you really think Su Jinhui could move them all in just a few minutes?” Su Jin first said coldly. “This shipment is very important to our family. If you take it out now, I promise I won’t tell Mom and Dad.”
Su Lanqiao was so anxious her face flushed red.
Just as she was about to argue, she suddenly thought of something and said suspiciously, “Brother, if you put it that way, you’ve been the one in charge of this shipment all along. Doesn’t that mean you’re the most likely to have moved it?”
“How could it be me!”
“And it definitely couldn’t be me either.”
The two of them fell into mutual suspicion, arguing back and forth.
Meanwhile, Su Jinhui was already sitting on a ship bound for the island, humming a little tune as she looked at her space filled to the brim and laughed out loud.
She leaned back comfortably, gazing at the scenery outside.
Now she had money. Next, she was going to take these treasures and go find her fiancé.