“Officer, how could I possibly move so many things alone?! I’ve been wronged!”
Zhang Yu was on the verge of tears. He had only come to find Qiao Yu to discuss calling off their engagement—he never expected to get caught up in such a mess.
Seeing the officer hesitate, Qiao Yu quickly added, “Who knows if he has accomplices? Officer, I suggest taking him in for a thorough interrogation!”
The officer thought Qiao Yu made a good point. This thief must have had help; otherwise, he couldn’t have emptied the Qiao family’s home alone.
“Come with us!”
Zhang Yu never imagined that he would one day be hauled off to the police station. If word got out, where would he hide his face?
His eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot from sheer frustration.
Watching Zhang Yu being carried away by the officers, Qiao Yu couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile. Serves him right!
Next, Qiao Yu dropped the anonymous tip-off letter and the love letter into the mailbox of the neighborhood committee. If all went as planned, by tomorrow, the whole street would know about Qiao Xiang and Zhang Yu’s affair.
“Scumbag and homewrecker, just wait to be arrested and sent down for re-education.”
In this era, promiscuity was a serious offense. Since they dared to do such things, she dared to send them off to the remote northwest to eat dirt.
Qiao Yu glanced at the sky; it was nearly dusk. She had to hurry to the grain store before it closed to exchange her grain coupons.
There were also meat, cloth, and oil coupons. Once she went to the island, these coupons would be useless there, so it was more convenient to exchange them for goods to bring along.
When the clerk heard Qiao Yu wanted to exchange two hundred jin of grain coupons, her eyes widened in disbelief.
“Comrade, are you fleeing from a disaster?”
Qiao Yu chuckled, “I just eat a lot.”
The clerk didn’t understand but complied anyway.
She helped Qiao Yu exchange all the grain coupons for rice and flour.
“Thank you.”
Carrying the rice and flour, Qiao Yu walked to a secluded corner where no one was around before daring to store the items in her Spatial Dimension.
After exchanging all her other coupons, her Spatial Dimension was filled with a large stash of meat, oil, and fabric, filling her with a sense of security.
Now, only the old family home remained. She still had to clear out the dowry and valuable antiques and paintings that Qiao Zhenhua had secretly hidden away—she wouldn’t leave them a single scrap!
Riding her bicycle to the old family home, Qiao Yu truly felt like a moving truck driver—having just emptied the Western-style house, she was now off to empty the old home.
In any case, she wouldn’t let her scumbag father and stepsister gain even the slightest advantage.
…
Qiao Zhenhua had already gone to check the old family home’s warehouse in advance.
The antiques inside were still there and could fetch a good sum of money—enough for him to take Shu Hong and Qiao Xiang to Hong Kong for a comfortable life.
Qiao Zhenhua gleefully locked the warehouse door and took a car home.
No sooner had he left than Qiao Yu arrived at the old family home.
The Qiao family had three brothers, with Qiao Zhenhua being the youngest. After the two elders passed away, the brothers all found the old home too dilapidated and moved out to live in Western-style houses.
Qiao Yu circled to the warehouse at the back of the old home. Seeing the door secured with two locks, she calmly pulled a shiny silver embroidery needle from her pocket.
Holding the needle between her fingertips, she gently inserted it into the keyhole, gave a slight twist of her wrist, and the needle’s tip, fine as a mosquito’s leg, flicked inside the brass core.
With a soft click, the lock bolt sprang open.
After opening both locks, Qiao Yu tucked the embroidery needle back into her pocket and pushed open the warehouse door.
As soon as she stepped inside, she was stunned by the sight of boxes covering the floor.
Qiao Zhenhua had indeed hidden quite a few treasures—ivory ornaments, Shu brocade fabrics, precious paintings and rare books… and three large chests of her late mother’s dowry.
Qiao Yu opened those dowry chests to find them filled with valuable jewelry: jadeite and gemstone carvings, all sorts of pearl necklaces, and ornate hairpieces.
In this era, selling just one of these pieces would have been enough to support her for several months.
That old fox Qiao Zhenhua had lied to her, claiming he had sold off all of her deceased mother’s dowry, yet he had secretly kept so much.
With a thought from Qiao Yu, the dowry chests on the floor instantly appeared within her Spatial Dimension.
She continued walking and collecting, not even sparing a broom, emptying the warehouse completely.
Qiao Yu was already thinking about trading some of the less useful items for seeds later.
Satisfied with the now-empty warehouse, Qiao Yu headed home contentedly.
Back at the small Western-style house.
Qiao Yu saw Liu Shuhong and Qiao Xiang standing at the doorway, supporting each other, while Qiao Zhenhua’s face had turned as dark as charcoal.
Seeing Qiao Yu return, Qiao Zhenhua pointed angrily at the emptied rooms and demanded, “You wretched girl, where are all the things from the house? What have you done with them?!”
Qiao Yu’s almond-shaped eyes welled up as she feigned innocence. “Dad, it wasn’t me! Zhang Yu stole everything from the house. I just went out for a meal, and when I came back, I saw him being taken away by the police!”
Zhang Yu? Hearing his name, Qiao Xiang froze completely.
She rushed up to Qiao Yu, grabbing her hands, and cried out emotionally, “How could he possibly steal from our family? You must be framing him!”
Qiao Yu shook off her grip, inwardly sneering. “Sister, you’ll have to ask the police about that. They saw Zhang Yu enter our house alone with their own eyes. If it wasn’t him, then who?”
Qiao Xiang couldn’t believe Zhang Yu would do such a thing. Just last night, he had promised to marry her, saying that once they were wed, all the family’s wealth would be theirs. Why would he be in such a hurry?
Her eyes fixed on Qiao Yu, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about her younger sister—her gaze seemed much sharper than before.
But before Qiao Xiang could ponder further, the neighborhood committee director and the police arrived.
Thinking they had come about the emptied house, Qiao Zhenhua was about to step forward and inquire when he heard one of the officers ask:
“Which one is Qiao Xiang?”
Seeing the police were looking for Qiao Xiang, Liu Shuhong quickly shielded her daughter behind her and asked nervously, “What do you want with my daughter?”
Zhang Hongmei, the neighborhood committee director, spoke up. “Our investigation has revealed that Comrade Zhang Yu already has a fiancée, yet Comrade Qiao Xiang has been engaging in an improper relationship with him. Comrade Zhang Yu is already at the station. Please come with us, Comrade Qiao Xiang.”
Qiao Xiang’s face instantly paled as she frantically protested, “I didn’t! I’ve been wronged!”
She clung desperately to Qiao Zhenhua’s hand, shouting at him, “Dad, hurry and explain to them! Zhang Yu and I have no relationship at all!”
There was no way Qiao Zhenhua could stand by and watch his daughter be taken away. He pulled a wad of cash from his pocket, attempting to bribe them.
“Officers, Director Zhang, this is all a misunderstanding. My daughter would never do such a thing!”
The police and Director Zhang stood firm, their expressions stern, not even glancing at the money Qiao Zhenhua tried to push into their hands.
“You’d better come with us. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
A flicker of schadenfreude crossed Qiao Yu’s eyes. She hadn’t expected the neighborhood office to act so quickly—the anonymous report she’d submitted just an hour ago had already brought them here to make an arrest.
Serves her right!
As Qiao Xiang was about to be taken away, Liu Shuhong glared furiously at Qiao Yu.
“Was it you who reported Xiangxiang?!”