The old residence wasn’t far from the original owner’s home.
It was only two bus stops away.
The house wasn’t large and had already fallen into disrepair. One of the rooms had even collapsed.
Ye Qinglan took out the key and unlocked the gate.
At that time, all the neighbors had already left for work, so no one noticed her.
The courtyard gate was covered in rust.
She closed it behind her and walked into the kitchen.
After moving aside a cabinet, she revealed a hidden entrance beneath it.
Ye Qinglan didn’t go down immediately.
She waited for a while before climbing into the passage, holding a flashlight in her hand.
It was pitch black below.
The underground room was filled with wooden chests.
She opened one of them.
Inside were neatly stacked gold bars.
She immediately stored the chest inside her space, planning to examine everything later.
After counting, she discovered there were eighty chests in total.
After confirming there was nothing else hidden below, she restored the cabinet to its original position.
Back inside her space, she opened every chest.
All eighty chests were filled entirely with gold bars.
There wasn’t a single antique among them.
She also found a letter left by the original owner’s mother.
In it, she instructed her daughter never to leave the gold bars to Ye Wei, the original owner’s father.
The letter also revealed that Ye Bailian, the original owner’s stepsister, was actually Ye Wei’s biological daughter.
Finally, she warned her daughter to always be on guard against Wang Cuihua, her stepmother.
In fact, after Wang Cuihua married into the family, the original owner had accidentally overheard the truth about Ye Bailian’s birth.
She had pretended not to know anything.
Thanks to that, she managed to protect the 3,800 yuan she had hidden.
Leaving the space, Ye Qinglan returned home.
Finding no one there, she located the household registration booklet.
Using Ye Bailian’s identity, she went to register for the countryside.
“Pretty Auntie, my older sister registered yesterday. Can I be assigned to the same place as her?”
As she spoke, she quietly slipped five yuan into the woman’s hand.
“Of course. Since you’re volunteering to go to the countryside, I’ll assign the two of you to the same location.”
The woman pocketed the money before filling out the assignment notice.
Ye Qinglan carefully put away the notification.
She also received the educated youth subsidy.
After returning home, she replaced the household registration booklet exactly where she had found it.
Everything was done without anyone noticing.
Suddenly, Ye Qinglan remembered the original owner’s job.
She had recently been hired by the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
Many people had competed for the position and even had to pass an examination.
The original owner had been exceptionally intelligent and was selected immediately.
Ye Qinglan headed straight to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
She had heard that the director’s daughter still hadn’t found a job, and the entire family had been using every connection they had to secure one.
“Hello, Director. I’m Ye Qinglan. I’d like to discuss something with you.”
As she spoke, she closed the office door.
“What is it? What do you want to talk about?”
The director recognized the young woman.
The two talked privately in the office for a while.
The director immediately rushed home to get the money.
Since his house was nearby, he returned in less than five minutes.
After receiving one thousand yuan, Ye Qinglan officially transferred her job position to his daughter.
After completing the paperwork through a few personal connections, she was also able to purchase a large batch of factory seconds, saving a considerable amount of money on supplies.
Finding a deserted spot, she stored everything she had bought inside her space before walking home.
“Qinglan, here’s your notice to go to the countryside. You’re strong, so you’ll have no trouble adapting.”
Ye Wei handed the notice to her.
“Is that all? Where’s the subsidy money and the ration coupons? I’ll go to the Educated Youth Office and ask them myself.”
She turned to leave.
“The subsidy money and ration coupons are with me. I originally planned to buy things for you. Since you’ll have time tomorrow, you can buy them yourself.”
Reluctantly, Wang Cuihua handed over the money and coupons.
Ye Qinglan sat down and counted everything.
Nothing was missing.
She tucked the money, coupons, and assignment notice into her pocket.
Picking up the thermos from the table, she went into the kitchen, filled it with hot water, added some sleeping pills, and gently shook the thermos until they dissolved.
Just then, Ye Bailian returned home.
Her face was glowing with excitement.
She planned to buy a pair of fashionable leather shoes the next day and had already been bragging about it to her friends.
“Big Sister, tomorrow I’ll be wearing new leather shoes, while you’re only fit to work in the countryside.”
Ye Bailian spoke in a low, mocking voice.
“Really? Then congratulations, Little Sister.”
Ye Qinglan smiled.
Her smile was strangely unsettling.
After dinner, everyone washed up and returned to their rooms.
Once the entire family had fallen asleep, Ye Qinglan began collecting her “compensation.”
She put on gloves and shoe covers to avoid leaving fingerprints.
Then she quietly opened Ye Wei’s bedroom door.
Both he and Wang Cuihua were sleeping like logs.
Using her mental power to search, she discovered that Ye Wei had hidden his money in multiple places.
Under the bedboards.
Inside cracks in the walls.
Inside the wardrobe.
In clothing pockets.
Inside pillows.
Even hidden inside the sewing machine.
Altogether, she found 3,238.5 yuan, along with a large collection of commonly used ration coupons.
She took every last cent.
Not a single coin was left behind.
Next, she entered Ye Bailian’s room.
There, she found another 230 yuan.
She cleaned out the hiding place completely before restoring everything to exactly how it had been.
As she walked out, she noticed the radio sitting on the table.
An idea suddenly came to her.
She stored both the thermos and the cups inside her space.
That way, any evidence of the sleeping pills would disappear completely.
Then she emptied the entire house.
Clothes.
Blankets.
Furniture.
Even the sewing machine.
After all, it had originally been purchased by the original owner’s mother.
Finally, she returned to her own room.
She stored the wardrobe inside her space, along with all of her high school textbooks.
She left absolutely nothing behind.
When everything was finished, she opened the front door and used a screwdriver to pry at the lock a few times, making it look like a break-in.
Then she drank a cup of the sleeping-pill water herself.
Returning to her room, she lay down and went to sleep.
Early the next morning, a passing neighbor noticed the open front door and the suspicious scene inside.
They immediately ran to report it to the police.
The entire family was still sleeping so deeply that the officers had to throw cold water on them to wake them up.
Afterward, everyone was taken to the hospital for examination.
Later, the whole family was brought to the police station and questioned about what had happened the previous night.
The police searched the house several times before reaching their conclusion.
The burglary had been carried out by multiple people.
The front door lock had clearly been forced open.
“Officer, when will you recover our stolen money and belongings?”
Wang Cuihua asked anxiously.
“We can only recover them after we catch the thieves. If they’re never caught, you’ll just have to accept your bad luck.”
The officer replied impatiently.
The family returned home, sighing heavily.
Ye Bailian sat on her bed and burst into tears.
Every cent of the money she had secretly saved was gone.
“Ye Qinglan! You must have stolen all the money! You hated us for signing you up to go to the countryside, so you emptied the entire house!”
Ye Bailian rushed into Ye Qinglan’s room and screamed.
“My dear little sister, there’s one thing you got wrong.”
“We’re both going to the countryside.”
“This is your registration form.”
“I signed you up yesterday.”
“That is my revenge.”
With those words, Ye Qinglan calmly walked out of the house.
“Mom! Come quickly!”
“That horrible Ye Qinglan registered me yesterday!”
“I have to go to the countryside too! What am I supposed to do?”
Ye Bailian cried uncontrollably.
Wang Cuihua’s heart ached for her daughter.
Thinking about the educated youth subsidy, she hurried to search Ye Qinglan’s bed.
She couldn’t find even a single cent.
“Ye Wei, what do you think we should do?”
Having run out of ideas, Wang Cuihua returned to their room.
“Stop bothering me!”
“Every cent I had was stolen!”
“You’re nothing but bad luck! Because of all of you, I’m completely broke!”
Ye Wei lay on the bed, grieving over the money that had disappeared.
Wang Cuihua then took Ye Bailian out.
She went to the factory and requested an advance of fifty yuan on her wages.
She also borrowed a large number of ration coupons from her coworkers before taking Ye Bailian shopping.
“Bailian, keep these things safe.”
“Hide these twenty yuan carefully.”
“When I get paid next month, I’ll send you more money.”
Wang Cuihua repeatedly reminded her daughter never to get married while living in the countryside.
“Mom… what about Ye Qinglan’s job?”
Ye Bailian was still thinking about it.