Pei Yu’an looked at Lin Ranran.
She had become even more beautiful than before.
No wonder Ji Junxiao had been completely captivated by her.
But the thought that she had already shared a bed with Ji Junxiao left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“Ranran, you’ve suffered during this time. Once I marry you in the future, I’ll treat you well.”
Trusting a scumbag’s promises was even less reliable than believing ghosts existed.
Lin Ranran smiled sweetly.
“Cousin, I’ll make sure to ‘treat’ you well too.”
She turned to leave.
Just as she reached the doorway, she heard Pei Yu’an mutter under his breath behind her,
“Love-struck fool. Does she really think I’m that crazy about her? If marrying her couldn’t drive Ji Junxiao to death, would I ever bother? Damn bitch. What’s there to regret?”
Lin Ranran paused.
A cold light flashed across her eyes.
Scumbag…
Just wait.
I’m emptying your house.
Meanwhile, Lin Su’e was squatting on the floor, taking out numerous pieces of gold and silver jewelry from an old wooden chest.
The moment Lin Ranran entered the room, her eyes immediately fell on the chest.
The Pei family seemed to own quite a lot of valuables.
Most of them…
Were probably ill-gotten gains.
“Ranran, everything you gave me is here.”
Lin Su’e wrapped the jewelry in cloth before handing it over.
“You’d better bring these back as soon as possible.”
Lin Ranran smiled.
“Don’t worry.”
The moment her aunt wasn’t paying attention, she activated her space with a single thought.
The entire chest instantly disappeared into her storage space.
Then she casually wandered around the room.
One valuable piece of furniture after another…
Vanished.
Each one could fetch a decent price even as secondhand furniture.
Once she got started…
Anything valuable became fair game.
Soon, everything worth taking had been moved into her space.
Looking around at the house, which was suddenly half empty, Lin Su’e froze.
“Am… am I seeing things?”
“The coffee table… the dining table… the chairs…”
“Where did they all go?”
“Ranran! Ranran!”
Lin Ranran hurried over with a concerned expression.
“Aunt, what’s wrong?”
Breathing heavily, Lin Su’e pointed at the empty spaces where the furniture had once stood.
“Ranran…”
“The furniture… it’s suddenly disappeared!”
“What disappeared?”
Lin Ranran feigned complete confusion.
“My chest!”
“The one with all the gold, silver, jewelry, and the family’s bankbooks!”
Lin Su’e rushed frantically toward her bedroom.
She looked desperately toward the familiar corner…
But the chest containing the family’s fortune had vanished without a trace.
“No…”
“No…”
“I must be seeing things.”
“Ranran, tell me the chest is still here… right?”
Her voice trembled as she clung helplessly to Lin Ranran.
Lin Ranran widened her eyes.
“Oh my… Aunt, the chest really is gone.”
“But we never heard any strange noises.”
“And nobody came into the house.”
The moment she heard that, Lin Su’e’s legs gave way.
“No…”
“No…”
“This must be an illusion…”
“It has to be…”
She simply couldn’t believe such a large chest could disappear right under her nose.
This was the military compound.
Security was always tight.
What thief would have the courage to steal from here?
“Oh no!”
“Aunt!”
“The things you just gave me…”
“I casually left them on the table!”
Lin Ranran suddenly acted as though she’d just remembered something and sprinted toward the living room.
Lin Su’e immediately staggered after her.
“Aunt!”
“They’re gone!”
“Even the table disappeared!”
“The five hundred yuan and the food coupons Cousin gave me were inside that bundle!”
Standing in the middle of the now-empty living room, Lin Ranran deliberately rubbed at her eyes.
“No!”
“Maybe you put them in your pocket?”
Still clinging to a sliver of hope, Lin Su’e asked anxiously.
Lin Ranran obediently turned out every one of her pockets.
They were empty.
“Nothing.”
“Aunt… don’t you think this is too strange?”
“Could… could ghosts have taken everything?”
Lin Su’e immediately scolded her.
“Don’t talk nonsense in broad daylight!”
“But it’s really too weird.”
“The entire living room has practically been emptied.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Stop saying such things.”
Although Lin Su’e tried to calm herself, her trembling hands betrayed her fear.
“Aunt…”
“What if those things weren’t obtained honestly?”
“Maybe that’s why ghosts took them away.”
Taking a deep breath, Lin Su’e forced herself to stay composed.
“No.”
“Ranran.”
“Don’t think like that.”
“We must have imagined it.”
“Hurry.”
“Call your uncle.”
“Tell him to come home.”
“We’ll report this to the police.”
“Yes… we’ll call the police immediately.”
“No!”
“Aunt, you absolutely can’t call the police!”
Lin Ranran quickly grabbed her arm.
“What if those things didn’t come from legitimate sources?”
“If the police investigate… wouldn’t the entire Pei family be in trouble?”
Lin Su’e immediately stiffened.
She hesitated.
“Then…”
“Then we’ll call your uncle first.”
Just then, hearing the commotion downstairs, Pei Yu’an limped down from the second floor.
The moment he saw the nearly empty house, he froze.
“Mom…”
“What happened here?”
Lin Ranran immediately ran over to him.
“Cousin!”
“This is terrible!”
“Our house is haunted!”
“Things are disappearing for no reason!”
Pei Yu’an frowned.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Is this lovesick fool actually afraid of ghosts?
She must be saying this on purpose so she can throw herself into my arms.
Lin Su’e looked hopefully at her son.
“An’er…”
“Take a careful look.”
“Is everything really gone?”
Pei Yu’an looked around.
After a long moment, he nodded.
“Mom.”
“Half the house really is empty.”
“Are you planning to buy new furniture?”
“It’s over…”
“So it wasn’t my imagination…”
Hearing his confirmation, Lin Su’e collapsed onto the floor in despair.
At that moment, Pei Zhongmou rushed home after hearing that something strange had happened.
As soon as he entered the house, he stopped in shock.
“What happened?”
“Are you replacing all the furniture?”
Lin Su’e burst into tears.
“Husband…”
“Ranran and I have been home the entire time.”
“But the furniture just disappeared.”
“Do you think…”
“Someone is deliberately targeting us?”
Lin Ranran spoke up at just the right moment.
“This is unbelievable.”
“It really feels like we’re being haunted.”
“Uncle…”
“How about secretly hiring a Taoist priest?”
“Maybe if he drives away the ghosts, everything will come back.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Pei Zhongmou’s face darkened.
“Promoting feudal superstition?”
“Do you want to get yourself arrested?”
Lin Ranran looked wronged.
“But if nobody else knows… it’ll be fine, right?”
“Didn’t Aunt Zhang next door secretly spend the entire night driving away ghosts yesterday?”
“She wasn’t afraid of getting arrested?”
“Even though the government is cracking down on superstition, people still do these things in private.”
“Husband…”
“Think of something!”
Lin Su’e clung to Pei Zhongmou’s arm, crying uncontrollably.
Suddenly, Pei Zhongmou seemed to remember something.
His face instantly turned deathly pale.
He rushed into the bedroom.
“Where’s the chest?”
His voice was filled with unprecedented panic.
“It’s…”
“It’s gone…”
Lin Su’e answered weakly, almost collapsing from despair.
Pei Zhongmou trembled with rage.
Hidden at the bottom of that chest were items that could completely destroy the Pei family if they were ever exposed.
But no matter what…
He could never admit that aloud.