Oho! So the original girl and her family actually listened to what I said last night? Looking at her scum father’s ghostly complexion, she could hardly contain her delight.
“Dad, what happened to you? Didn’t you sleep well last night?” She pressed her knuckles to her lips, putting on a face of profound concern. “I’m so sorry, Dad… are you tossing and turning because you’re worried about me going to the countryside? Are you scared I’ll freeze because I don’t have thick winter clothes or a heavy quilt?”
She took a soft step forward, her eyes shiny with forced distress. “You don’t need to worry, Dad. Once I get there, I’ll just gather extra rice straw and burrow deep inside the pile. That’ll keep me from freezing to death! Please don’t ruin your health over me…”
Blegh…
She practically gagged on her own words. Even she had to admire her own acting prowess—why hadn’t she pursued a career in performing arts in her past life?
Liu Min’s face wasn’t looking any better that morning either. Once the three of them finished their silent meal, Wen Ya grabbed her daily boiled egg and slipped out the door.
During the day, she dropped by two other properties mentioned in her grandfather’s notes. Both were occupied by local families and lacked secret chambers or hidden stashes, so she turned back as soon as she saw people inside.
Walking down the street, she recalled a detail the original girl had overheard during a argument between her scum father and late mother: back then, a man named Wang Weiguo had targeted her grandfather’s estate. In those turbulent years, a wealthy family like her grandfather’s was a prime target for corrupt officials.
Determined to settle the score, she disguised herself as a dark-complexioned young lad and headed straight for the cadres’ compound where Wang Weiguo resided.
Navigating the area, she reached the gate only to find a security guard posted at the entrance.
She waited in the shadows nearby until the guard stepped away for a bathroom break, then dashed inside.
Wang Weiguo’s residence wasn’t difficult to locate; as a committee director, his housing allocation reflected his rank. She systematically targeted the largest courtyards—and even if she picked the wrong house, it hardly mattered. None of the high-ranking officials living in this district were innocent; without their tacit approval, subordinates wouldn’t have dared to act so brazenly.
Moving through the compound, she targeted several adjoining properties with connected courtyard walls.
After checking that a house was completely empty, she scaled the wall, slipped inside, and cleaned the place out. She left absolutely nothing behind—if she could have driven an excavator through the living rooms without making noise, she would have dug up the foundations.
Once a house was stripped clean, she leaped over the wall into the next yard.
One courtyard had a watchdog, but a single chicken drumstick laced with odorless, colorless sedative tossed over the fence solved that problem instantly. (A small drumstick was enough to hold the dose, and she wasn’t about to waste a large one.)
In another house, she noticed bright red “Double Happiness” paper cutouts pasted on the doors. Getting married soon, or just married? Either way, romance wasn’t going to stop her looting spree. She stripped the home down to the bare brickwork.
She swept through several homes in row until she reached the final house, where she spotted people moving inside. Regretfully, she called it a day and slipped away.
By the time she reached the main entrance, a different guard had taken the shift and paid her no mind, assuming she had already been vetted upon entry.
Returning home, Wen Ya locked her bedroom door and began tallying her loot inside her spatial dimension.
The final count was staggering. She sat working straight through until evening, filling a full notebook with line items and half of a second one before finishing.
In cold, hard cash alone, she had netted 253,567.88 yuan.
That didn’t even account for the dozen crates of solid gold bars, tens of crates containing antique heirlooms, massive stockpiles of grain, and stacks of rationing coupons.
Her food stash now included premium refined grains, whole chickens, fresh pork, eggs, fine liquor, tea, cigarettes, and premium candies. She had acquired over ten bolts of high-grade unused fabric, along with enough tins of powdered milk and malted milk extract to last her two full years.
Looking at the mountain of supplies, she felt she had enough inventory to stock a state-owned department store.
Wang Weiguo and his cronies sure made a killing in their line of work, she mused.
Even better, she had uncovered their private ledgers—detailed record books documenting all their extortion and illegal transactions over the years. Wen Ya decided she would drop the ledgers off at a rival oversight bureau before leaving town.
She assumed her incredible luck today was pure coincidence, but in reality, the director’s son happened to be getting married that afternoon. Every official in the compound had been away attending the banquet, leaving their homes wide open for her to raid.
After sorting her loot, she pulled out all the local coupons that needed to be spent before her departure, planning another shopping trip for the next day.
As for risking another trip to the black market for extra profit? The thought had completely evaporated from her mind. With a quarter-million yuan sitting in her spatial vault, why risk getting caught in a black-market double-cross?
Hearing footsteps at the front door, she listened as her scum father and Liu Min entered the apartment. Her father called out her name, and she stepped out of her room.
His hands trembled slightly as he handed her a stack of cash and fabric coupons. Liu Min watched from behind him, her eyes turning bloodshot with envy.
“Xiuya, I traded for these fabric coupons today,” her father said, avoiding her eyes. “Take them tomorrow to buy cotton and cloth, then find a neighbor auntie to help you tailor a padded winter coat and quilt.”
“Thank you, Dad,” she replied softly.
Seeing Liu Min fume in silence brought a smile to her heart. The angrier you get, the better.
The following morning, Wen Ya went out early, changing her disguise several times to burn through the remaining short-term coupons.
Next, she wrapped the incriminating ledgers into a tight bundle and headed toward the targeted enforcement agency.
Ducking into a secluded alley beside the bureau’s boundary wall, she wound up her arm, hurled the heavy package over the wall with all her strength, and bolted down the street.
As she ran, a loud, furious roar echoed over the brick wall:
“Fuck! Which bastard threw this over the wall?! Just wait till I catch you, you motherfucker… Ow, that hurts!”
Inside the courtyard, a patrol officer jumped up and down, straining to peek over the wall, but the street outside was completely empty.
Cursing under his breath, he picked up the heavy bundle and limped back toward the building.
He had only stepped outside to relieve himself against the wall rather than trek to the distant latrine. He had just been zipping up his trousers when a heavy parcel plummeted out of the sky and smashed directly onto his foot.
Damn it! My foot finally stopped throbbing, and the culprit is already gone!
Back inside, he unwrapped the parcel. The moment his eyes landed on the ledgers, the pain in his foot vanished.
Wrapping the documents back up, he hurried straight for the bureau chief’s office.
Meanwhile, Wen Ya headed home, satisfied that her major tasks were complete.
Wait—there’s still one last piece of business. The street committee office.
She applied makeup to disguise herself as Liu Min. She had originally considered disguising herself as her stepson, Chen Jinbao, but summer clothing made it impossible to match his heavy build or tall frame without raising suspicion.
Disguised as Liu Min, she grabbed the stolen family household register from the apartment and marched into the neighborhood committee office.
Walking up to the desk, she announced her intention to register Chen Jinbao for the mandatory rural relocation program.
The clerk behind the counter blinked, staring at her in complete disbelief.
After all, the Chen family’s explosive domestic drama regarding countryside relocation had been the talk of the entire district for days.