Lu Qingqing quickly entered the secret room. Even without checking, she already knew what was inside the boxes.
There were gold bars, silver coins, copper coins, gold ingots, silver ingots, jewelry and accessories—neatly arranged in boxes and well preserved. In total, there were thirty-seven boxes.
There were also antiques and cultural relics—porcelain, calligraphy, paintings, books, and utensils from various dynasties. These filled seventy-three boxes.
In her previous life, one antique had been auctioned for as much as five hundred million, but Lu Qingqing had not been willing to sell it.
She knew they were cultural heritage and could not be sold. Selling them would make one a traitor to the nation.
As for whether, after her death, those antiques and cultural relics were smuggled out of the country by scum, Lu Qingqing did not know.
Apart from gold, silver, jewelry, and antiques, what Lu Qingqing valued most were the medical texts her mother had hidden.
There were printed editions, handwritten copies, and ancient medical manuscript fragments her mother had spent a great deal of money collecting—all extremely rare treasures.
In her previous life, Lu Qingqing had only taken out a few prescriptions and already founded a pharmaceutical group, which showed their immense value.
Lu Qingqing quickly emptied the secret room and erased all traces of her entry before leaving the hidden chamber and the storage room.
Next, she went to the woodshed. The neatly stacked firewood had already been turned into a mess.
Lu Qingqing waved her hand and stored the firewood away, then opened the hidden chamber beneath the woodshed. Inside was stored food.
Having experienced war and famine, the Lu family had the habit of storing rice, flour, and cooking oil.
This secret room was not large, only about twenty to thirty square meters, but it contained fifteen sacks of rice (100 jin each), and thirty sacks of wheat (100 jin each).
There were also twenty sacks of miscellaneous grains, five barrels of oil, one hundred jin of salt, and some dried vegetables and mushrooms. The room was packed full.
After collecting all the grain, Lu Qingqing scattered the firewood back into the woodshed and quietly left.
The Lu family villa was a two-story building with a total courtyard area of over three hundred square meters, even after their decision to live low-key.
Now, in the vast villa, only Lu Qingqing remained. Her lonely figure moved through every corner of the estate, looking somewhat pitiful.
Silently, she passed through every corner of the courtyard, quietly storing valuable items into her space.
She collected more than ten gold bars, over thirty pieces of jewelry, and twenty-one gemstone-sized jewels as large as pigeon eggs.
There was also more than twenty thousand in cash and various coupons.
These were all small hidden fortunes the Lu family had dispersed in case of emergencies. If something happened, this money could serve as a backup lifeline.
If confiscated by the Red Committee, it might at least reduce their malice and make them less ruthless. If not discovered, it would become their living expenses in the future—either way, it was not a loss.
After confirming nothing was left behind, Lu Qingqing arrived at the villa entrance and quietly observed her surroundings.
Soon, she noticed someone was keeping watch. Pretending not to see them, she was about to turn back into the courtyard when, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Wei Guangming running over in a sweat-soaked rush.
Lu Qingqing frowned deeply. In her previous life, how had she never realized this scum was so good at pretending?
Clearly the Lu family had bicycles, yet he insisted on running over, drenched in sweat—no garbage bag could match his pretentiousness.
“Qingqing! Qingqing! I’m back!” Wei Guangming reached her and panted heavily, looking completely exhausted as if he was about to collapse.
Lu Qingqing rolled her eyes inwardly and suppressed her disgust, asking with concern, “Why are you here? Do you have news about my family? How are they?”
“Their situation is very bad. You know that place is basically a man-eating hell. How many people who go in ever come out fine?”
Wei Guangming gasped again as if the person who had just spoken so much wasn’t him.
“What happened to them? Hurry and tell me!” Lu Qingqing urged anxiously.
Under her urging, Wei Guangming felt he had rested enough and continued.
“I heard your Grandpa Lu was beaten so badly he can’t get up. He’s seriously injured. Your uncle and aunt are also in bad shape.”
He secretly observed her expression and saw tears welling in her eyes, which pleased him inwardly.
“Your three brothers are fine, but your two sisters-in-law… sigh. If I hadn’t arrived in time, they would’ve been defiled.”
Lu Qingqing’s eyelids twitched violently, killing intent rising in her heart. In her previous life, one sister-in-law had drowned under mysterious circumstances, and the other had been forced into suicide after being raped by a farm director.
Both died young, tragically.
This time, she would protect them. Whoever dared to touch them would pay the price.
“Guangming, thank you,” Lu Qingqing said through gritted teeth.
If she didn’t already know their family had been the ones who reported the Lu family, she might have truly believed he was a good person.
The Wei family—just wait. I will never let you off in this life.
“Ah, we’re childhood friends, why thank me? We grew up together. Being so formal is unnecessary.”
“Besides, our families even had intentions of arranging an engagement. If your family hadn’t had an accident, maybe we would already be preparing for it.”
Wei Guangming smiled shyly as he spoke, looking embarrassed, which only made Lu Qingqing even more disgusted.
If anything, it was always the Wei family trying to climb up.
Given the current situation, and because the Wei family’s poor-class background was an advantage, they had been placed on the consideration list—but the Lu family had never explicitly agreed to any engagement.
In her previous life, if she hadn’t been caught off guard and betrayed by trusted relatives and friends, leaving her helpless, she would never have been deceived by Wei Guangming, let alone married him.
Thinking of her past life, she wished she could go back and slap her former self who had been so naive and trusting.
“Wei Guangming, I only want to save my family right now. I don’t want anything else. Don’t bring up the engagement again.”
Her voice turned cold. She didn’t want to hear anything disgusting anymore, nor see his face.
Perhaps sensing her rejection, Wei Guangming’s smile faded, a flicker of anger flashing in his eyes.
After a moment, he let out a cold laugh. “Prepare some things for your family. I’ll take you to see them tonight.”
“Alright,” Lu Qingqing agreed immediately. In her previous life, there had been no meeting—only delivery of items.
Whether those items had actually reached her family, she couldn’t be sure. Everything had been handled by Wei Guangming.
She lowered her eyes, trying to figure out what had changed. Why was there suddenly a visit arranged?
“Then get ready. I’ll come pick you up tonight.” Wei Guangming wiped his sweat and added, “I still have things to do. I’m leaving.”
Lu Qingqing responded lightly and watched him leave before closing the gate with a frown.
In her previous life, he had also come, said many comforting words, painted many empty promises, and only left after dark with the items.
Could it be that her refusal of the engagement had angered him and caused this change?
Heh. Then he would have plenty more anger waiting for him.
Lu Qingqing clenched her fists, eyes filled with killing intent.
Not only would he be angry—he would also suffer.