When the visitor saw Gu Huaichuan, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief, as if he’d seen a ghost.
“Battalion Commander Gu? You brat—I’ve invited you so many times and you never came. Now you come looking for me on your own. What’s up?”
Gu Huaichuan didn’t answer and went straight to the point.
“Company Commander Zhao, do you have any money? I need all kinds of ration coupons too.”
“Wait here.” Zhao Zeyang turned around without hesitation and pulled out a thick wad of cash from under the bedsheet where he slept.
“Did something happen? You’ve been on so many missions—your bonuses should be pretty good. How did you spend it all already?”
He handed over the money but didn’t let go right away, gripping it tightly. He first studied Gu Huaichuan carefully and, seeing that aside from dark circles under his eyes he seemed fine, finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“I’m in urgent need of money. I’ll pay you back in a few days.” Gu Huaichuan tugged hard and the money landed in his hands. He counted it—there were bills both big and small, a bit over two hundred yuan. Then he asked, “Aren’t there coupons too?”
“This is over two hundred yuan.” Zhao Zeyang patted Gu Huaichuan’s shoulder warily, then raised his fingers to his eyes to look. “No drug powder or anything—why do you look like you’ve been bewitched? Tell me what it’s for first, then I’ll decide whether I’ve got grain coupons.”
“I’m getting married. I don’t have enough money.”
Zhao Zeyang’s eyes widened in shock. In his excitement he nearly bit his tongue.
“You’re actually getting married? You’ve finally figured it out!”
“All this time you kept dragging things out and wouldn’t marry the girl, yet every time you had leave you’d go see her. I really couldn’t figure out what you were doing!”
Gu Huaichuan had a fiancée—this was something all the brothers knew.
But he’d never explained why he hadn’t married her yet.
Everyone assumed Gu Huaichuan was deliberately putting it off. After all, as the battalion commander of the Shenfeng Battalion, countless girls wanted to marry him.
There was even a nurse who had crawled straight into his bed, only to be mercilessly kicked out by Gu Huaichuan.
Fortunately it was dark at the time and no one saw what the nurse looked like.
Even though they were brothers, Zhao Zeyang still felt it was wrong of Gu Huaichuan to keep stringing the girl along, and he’d scolded him more than once over it.
Each time, Gu Huaichuan said nothing, leaving the brothers anxious and helpless.
“Well, this is great. You’re finally ready to settle down. You’d better treat her well. If you bully her again, we won’t even be able to stay brothers.”
As he spoke, Zhao Zeyang took a winter coat out of the wardrobe, felt around in the pocket, and pulled out more than ten yuan in loose bills.
Then he dug out a small storage box folded from cardboard, opened it, and took out a stack of grain coupons.
“Take all of this. You must be happy.”
Gu Huaichuan carefully put the grain coupons away.
“I remember you have an aunt who works as a matchmaker. Can you ask her to make a trip for me today?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Zhao Zeyang grinned from ear to ear and hurried out to call someone. “Wait here.”
Aunt Zhao explained the etiquette and precautions of matchmaking at length. Gu Huaichuan listened attentively, afraid he might forget something, and even took out pen and paper to write it down.
Leaning against the doorframe, Zhao Zeyang shook his head and teased, “Getting married is such a hassle. Even someone as smart as Battalion Commander Gu can’t remember it all. I think I’ll just stay single.”
Before he could finish speaking, pain shot through his ear.
“Ow, ow, ow!”
Aunt Zhao twisted his ear hard. “You’re already this old and still can’t even marry a wife—what use are you?”
Zhao Zeyang rubbed his ear and saw Gu Huaichuan unconsciously straighten his chest a little.
Hmph. Getting married is such a pain—what’s so good about it anyway!
Before leaving, Gu Huaichuan spoke privately with Zhao Zeyang.
“Zeyang, there’s something I need your help with.”
“Leave it to me. I know Shanghai pretty well.”
Only after Xia Yiyi and the others left did Xia Wanqing return home.
She looked around, and after confirming no one was nearby, she slipped into her space, gulped down several mouthfuls of mountain spring water, and instantly felt all her fatigue melt away.
Then she began rummaging through the room.
She pulled out various anti-infection medicines. In the end, she chose amoxicillin, changed its packaging, and put it into a brown glass bottle.
She hoped this would save Gu Huaichuan’s life.
She exited the space and went to Xia Jianye’s bedroom, recalling his usual movements.
Behind a vase on the display shelf was a hidden button.
She pressed it lightly. With a series of mechanical clicks, the display shelf split apart to both sides, revealing a staircase leading downward.
As she went down the stairs, the sight inside nearly blinded her.
The secret room was filled with treasures—far more than what future museums would hold.
Famous calligraphy and paintings, antique ornaments, collectible jade pieces—all piled together.
There were two crates of gold bars. Each bar weighed about half a pound—back then half a pound was eight liang, which by modern measurements was roughly 298 grams per bar.
Each crate held more than two hundred bars; together there were around five hundred bars.
Beside them was another crate filled with gold ornaments—golden toads, golden Gods of Wealth, golden Buddhas, and the like.
Further in, another box was packed with jewelry—gold, silver, jade, pearls, and even traditional kingfisher-feather ornaments.
Next to that was a box of crisp, brand-new banknotes, with full sheets of Dragon stamps and other postage stamps placed on top.
They weren’t worth much now, but with time their value would only keep rising.
Further ahead was an entire row of medicinal materials—common ones like ginseng, deer antler, and Tianshan snow lotus, as well as items no longer allowed to be produced in later years, such as bear bile, tiger bone, and rhinoceros horn.
Phoebe zhennan wood, agarwood, ebony—precious woods were casually piled on the ground. Such a waste.
Xia Wanqing didn’t hold back at all and swept everything into her space.
After leaving the secret room, she didn’t spare a single item outside either.
All the furniture and decorations, stored liquor, tea leaves—everything within sight went straight into her space.
Among them were two bankbooks. The combined balance was over one hundred thousand yuan. Adding the forty thousand she already had, her cash was nearing one hundred fifty thousand yuan.
In this era, even households with ten thousand yuan could make the newspapers. She had quietly become a hundred-thousand-yuan household.
Aside from Xia Jianye’s room, she didn’t spare any of the others.
Take it all—everything!
Leave not a single thing behind!
In the blink of an eye, the small Western-style house became an empty shell, not even a single light left.
After finishing all this, Xia Wanqing slipped back into her space and took out the household registration booklet to take a look.
Strangely, she discovered that her name wasn’t listed in the family’s household register.
During the day, Xia Yiyi and the others definitely wouldn’t dare come here, so there was no worry about the emptied house being discovered.
When Xia Wanqing woke up again, it was already two in the afternoon.
She stepped out of the space and went straight out the door.
She’d gone hungry all day—she was starving.
As soon as she opened the door, a handsome face filled her vision.
Gu Huaichuan stood at the doorway, leaning against a pillar, arms crossed, one leg propped up.
His face was half-hidden in the pillar’s shadow, making his features look even deeper and more striking.
Hearing the noise, he opened his eyes. His peach-blossom eyes were still hazy with sleep, their gaze deep. Xia Wanqing saw her own reflection in them, and her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
She pressed a hand to her chest and frowned in surprise.
Could it be… arrhythmia?
She first went to the bank and withdrew all the money from the bankbooks she’d taken from the house, then went to the police station to have Xia Jianye and the others removed from the household register.
“Is there a mistake? Your name isn’t on it.” The clerk checked the household register several times.
He took the property deed, looked it over again, then went to the archives room and searched for a long time before coming to a conclusion.
“You don’t have a registered household. You’re unregistered.”
That Xia Wanqing was unregistered was unexpected, even to her.
After all, she had graduated from junior high school—and attending school required household registration.
As for how Xia Jianye had managed to send her to school without her having registration, Xia Wanqing had no idea.
Of course, letting her go to school wasn’t due to any pang of conscience on Xia Jianye’s part. It was simply because Uncle Wen often came by to deliver money and ask about her situation.
If she hadn’t been allowed to attend school, Xia Jianye worried that Ruan Jiahe would come and cause trouble.
“You have three options now: get a grassroots unit to issue a certificate for re-registration, have a work unit assist with it, or register under a relative.”
Xia Wanqing didn’t hesitate at all and chose the third option.
Just thinking about appearing on the same household register as Xia Jianye’s family made her feel sick.
She was in a hurry to settle the household registration issue, so she went straight to her uncle. Uncle Wen immediately began preparing the documents.
Director Li knew Xia Wanqing’s situation and arranged for expedited processing. As soon as the documents were complete, the household register was issued.
With her registration settled, Xia Wanqing was now on the same household register as her uncle. As the head of the household, she then moved Xia Jianye and the others out, turning them into people without registration.
Stepping out of the police station, Xia Wanqing let out a long breath and said to Gu Huaichuan, who had come to find her,
“Gu Huaichuan, your job is safe.”
Under the sunlight, the girl’s smile was radiant. Tiny specks of light shimmered at the corners of her eyes, like a sky full of summer night stars, making everything else in the world fade into insignificance.
Gu Huaichuan could clearly feel the sound of his heart pounding against his chest—beating so fast.
…
At a large round Chinese dining table.
Ruan Jiahe sat at the head, with Uncle Wen and Xia Wanqing seated on either side of him.
Gu Huaichuan sat at the lower seat, with a matchmaker beside him.
Xia Wanqing’s cheeks heated up. Afraid others might notice, she hurriedly lifted her teacup and took a sip.
Weren’t they supposed to be having a fake marriage? Then why was there a matchmaker and bride price?
Gu Huaichuan noticed her discomfort at once and asked softly, “Wan… Xia Wanqing, are you hot?”
Seeing everyone looking at her, Xia Wanqing gave an awkward laugh. “A little.”
Gu Huaichuan naturally picked up a fan and fanned her gently. The breeze falling on her was neither too strong nor too light—just right.
Ruan Jiahe glanced at Gu Huaichuan and smiled broadly amid the matchmaker’s auspicious words.
Young and accomplished, decorated with countless military merits, rising to battalion commander before thirty purely on his own ability.
Courteous and respectful to elders, considerate in every detail—and most importantly, he truly treated Wanqing well.
It wasn’t an act. Treating Wanqing well seemed to have become something ingrained in his very bones.
But at the thought of Wanqing leaving him soon, Ruan Jiahe still felt reluctant.
After the engagement was settled, Ruan Jiahe pulled Xia Wanqing aside and talked with her for a long time.
“Uncle, don’t worry,” Xia Wanqing said. “I plan to leave in a few days. Xia Jianye hasn’t been sentenced yet, and I still need to give you acupuncture twice more before I can feel at ease.”
“Alright. After Gu Huaichuan leaves, you come stay at home for a couple of days.”
They had dinner at Ruan Jiahe’s house that evening, and Uncle Wen finally voiced what he’d been holding in for a long time.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the master this happy.”
After dinner, seeing that the sun was about to set, Xia Wanqing declined Ruan Jiahe’s offer for her to stay the night and headed straight home.
She went inside and rested in her room.
Not long after she entered, three dark figures appeared at the doorway.
They whispered, “Brother Zhang, are you sure only one person lives here?”
“I’ve already checked. There’s only a little girl inside. She’s carrying at least fifty thousand yuan in cash. Whether you do it or not is up to you—there’s still time to back out.”
Hearing about the money, the other two exchanged glances and spoke in unison:
“Do it!”