Li Yue was lost in thought, silently reciting the names of those items in her mind. After finishing one round, she repeated them again. Worried about being too far away, she took a few steps forward and leaned directly against the bedroom doorframe.
She had discovered that retrieving items from the Dimension had distance limitations.
The range was about ten steps, and fearing she might not be able to access the items, she tried reciting the names several more times.
“Second sister-in-law~ Are you deaf?” Lu Qing asked sharply, dissatisfied at not receiving a response.
Her tone was filled with impatience.
“I’m not going. Whoever wants to go can go.” Li Yue was even more impatient than her, giving her a cold glance.
That glance of hers made Lu Qing’s anger flare up even more.
“Who do you think you are? This is my home~”
“Hmm, and then?” Li Yue frowned as she stared at her, her dark eyes bottomless pits that seemed to contain vortices capable of swallowing people whole.
This startled Lu Qing into unconsciously taking a step back.
Realizing her instinctive reaction, she seemed to compensate by shouting loudly: “Get out of here! This is our home! How dare a country bumpkin like you put on airs with me!”
“Qingqing, shut up! She’s your sister-in-law.” Seeing his sister about to cause trouble again so unreasonably, Lu Xiao quickly spoke up to stop her.
What if Li Yue refused to donate her kidney again? Then wouldn’t Xiao Jing have to keep waiting?
Lu Qing stomped her foot in anger. After glancing at her parents who were watching coldly from the sidelines, she ran upstairs in a huff.
She had finally realized that she was completely superfluous in this family.
She must marry into a powerful family and make them all look up to her.
Lu Qing understood very well that her father cared most about his position as a leader. If she married into the Gu Family, let’s see if he would still look down on her then.
“I’m leaving now, Mom. Remember to make the Black Chicken Soup that Xiao Jing loves. I can come back to get it later.”
After his sister went upstairs, Lu Xiao didn’t even glance at Li Yue, let alone pay any attention to his own sister.
Li Shaohua irritably reminded him again: “You need to watch your behavior. I’ll take over for you tonight. No need to bring luggage, just take Xiao Jing’s things.”
Lu Jianguo also nodded in agreement: “If you have nothing to do, go work the night shift. The factory has new machinery being assembled. Why are you hanging around her all day instead of being at the factory? Don’t you know you should avoid suspicion?”
Lu Xiao was a technician at the factory and normally worked rotating day and night shifts. Recently, he had taken time off because of Feng Jing’s health condition.
That’s why he had so much free time.
Hearing this, Lu Xiao’s eyes darkened. His curled fingers stretched out then curled back up, repeating the motion.
He seemed quite unsettled inside.
But he refused to say anything about avoiding suspicion.
A flash of shock quickly passed through Li Yue’s dark pupils – her astonishment came from the Dimension.
So she swallowed hard, forcing herself to appear calm: “Exactly, you don’t even know to avoid suspicion. I wonder if your colleagues know about your twisted mentality.”
She walked toward her room, and as she passed behind Lu Xiao, she shook her fist: “Pah! Shameless!”
With that, she entered the bedroom and slammed the door shut with a loud bang, locking it from inside.
Lu Xiao gritted his teeth until they creaked. He couldn’t refute what his parents said, but he remembered every bit of Li Yue’s arrogance.
Just wait until after she donates her kidney. Doesn’t she want a divorce? She’ll definitely get her wish.
If Li Yue had been there, she would have clapped with both hands and feet.
As for Li Yue who had returned to the bedroom, she immediately transported herself back home.
Her large eyes widened into perfect circles as she stared at the items she had just retrieved in the living room, nearly popping out of their sockets.
Li Yue hurried forward and touched the objects on the floor. The icy cold sensation felt real, prompting her to exclaim, “Oh my god, I’ve struck it rich.”
The gold bars on the floor gleamed with a yellowish, metallic sheen, making her throat feel dry. She quickly crouched down to count them—eight large bars weighing about a kilogram each, along with several smaller ones she didn’t bother to tally, each likely around two hundred grams. There were roughly thirty-six small gold nuggets.
Additionally, there were five or six gold rings, all classic designs with the character for “fortune,” which she guessed must have belonged to Lu Jianguo. He usually seemed quite modest, though.
Two Dragon and Phoenix Gold Bangles and a vibrant green jade bracelet—if her guess was right, this had to be the legendary Emerald. Not that she had any experience with such things; she’d never seen a real one before.
The most visually striking were the seven neatly stacked bundles of brand-new banknotes, all blue hundred-yuan bills. Compared to the five thousand Li Shaohua had given her earlier, which were all in ten-yuan notes and felt heavy as a result, this was something else. Seven thousand yuan in total, with an additional 3,752.32 yuan in smaller change. Every last cent accounted for.
It seemed that the Dimension could retrieve anything she willed it to, delivering it straight to her home. This realization instantly opened up a new world for her. There was a locked study on the second floor of the Lu Family home. In the original host’s memories, no one had entered it in the three months she’d been here, not even once. Something big had to be hidden inside. She needed to find a way to get that door open…
For now, she focused on organizing the retrieved items. She stored the gold in the bedside safe in her bedroom and tucked the cash inside as well—this would be her startup capital for future ventures. While tidying up, she discovered two Rolex watches, one for men and one for women. These people were clearly wealthy, already investing in luxury goods at this time.
Li Yue couldn’t help feeling a pang of envy. The Lu Family was arguably richer than her modern self had ever been. She had been a genuine “mortgage slave,” buying an apartment at the peak of the housing market only to see prices plummet within a year, leaving her saddled with a massive loan. It was a necessity—she couldn’t sell or return it, so she had no choice but to grit her teeth and endure.
Thinking about her miserable past life, she felt the original host had it better—at least she had a family, whereas Li Yue had only ever had herself. Growing up in an orphanage and dying from overwork without anyone noticing… She wasn’t one to wallow in self-pity, though. If she could survive in the cutthroat modern era, she could surely thrive in this money-littered 1980s. Forget the past and charge ahead—that was the way to go.
Besides, she had the Golden Bull Commercial Street. This street would all be hers in the future. If she ever returned to the modern era, she could deploy the Golden Bull Street and have her former bosses working for her. The thought made her grin mischievously.
After organizing everything, she immediately exited the Dimension.
That evening, Li Shaohua didn’t ask her to cook, and even if he had, she wouldn’t have complied. He prepared Black Chicken Soup, vinegar-glazed potato strips (a favorite of Feng Jing’s), and a cold dish of spinach with vermicelli. Li Shaohua went to deliver the meal.
Li Yue helped herself to a large bowl of soup. She didn’t get any chicken legs, but she managed to snag several pieces of chicken breast and one wing.
Lu Jianguo gnawed on a chicken leg, his mouth glistening with grease, while Lu Qing watched him with a look of disdain.
While most parents give the best food to their children, her father seemed to only have eyes for himself.
Lu Jianguo was gnawing on his food when he suddenly sneezed to the side, rubbed his nose, and continued eating.
Outside the home, Lu Jianguo carried an imposing authority about him, looking as stern as a school principal.
But at home, though still serious, his selfish and greedy nature was laid bare for all to see.
So, you can’t judge people by appearances, nor should you view anyone through rose-colored glasses.
Just like Lu Xiao – to outsiders, he doted on his country wife, never showing any disdain for her. When colleagues teased him, he knew exactly how to defend her.
But the truth? The original host couldn’t see it, but she understood perfectly well that Lu Xiao probably had feelings for his widowed sister-in-law.
Shameless!
Thinking this, Li Yue cursed inwardly again.
After finishing her meal, she got up and swiftly returned to her room, moving with remarkable speed.
“Hey—hey—Li Yue, come back and wash the dishes!”
Lu Qing stared at the slammed door, so angry that she threw her chopsticks on the table.
Lu Jianguo wiped the grease from his mouth with his palm and, looking at his furious daughter, quietly advised: “What’s the big deal if you wash them this once? Don’t provoke her these days. Let her donate a kidney to your sister-in-law first. There’ll be plenty of work for her to do later. Don’t be so petty.”
Lu Qing wore an expression of deep resentment: “Dad, why are you all siding with Feng Jing? Seems to me she’s your real daughter! My eldest brother is already dead, why are you still looking after her? Even her own family doesn’t care about her – are you just burning through money for nothing?”
This was something she couldn’t understand.