The severance agreement had been prepared long ago by Old Master Lu. It included not only Lu Qingqing’s name, but also those of the three Lu brothers.
However, given the current situation, it would be difficult for the three of them to get out unscathed. Even if they did, they would still end up living under others’ schemes.
As for how the three brothers should be arranged, they would need to discuss it further. Lu Qingqing was a girl, so she definitely could not follow them and suffer hardships.
Lu Qingqing nodded heavily. She was no longer naive. She understood that being free would be more helpful to the Lu family, and she would be able to do more things.
Huang Ergou and Wei Guangming listened to the sounds coming from inside the house, their brows furrowing deeply. Was this Lu Qingqing really that stupid?
Even now, she still hadn’t asked about the location of the hidden treasure. What was in her head?
Without money or valuables, how were they supposed to save people?
Huang Ergou looked at Wei Guangming with disgust and asked in a low voice, “Did you even tell her what to focus on asking?”
“I did!” Wei Guangming gritted his teeth. He also didn’t understand how Lu Qingqing could be so stupid. He almost wished they had gone after the three brothers instead.
No—wait. The three brothers were too cunning. Going after them might backfire.
With no choice, Huang Ergou knocked on the door to remind her. “Lu Qingqing, hurry up. One minute left.”
Lu Qingqing rolled her eyes again, took out a handful of White Rabbit milk candies from her pocket, and stuffed them into her two sisters-in-law’s hands, telling them to hide them well.
Under Huang Ergou’s urging, Lu Qingqing opened the door. She came out wiping tears, so frightened that Wei Guangming jumped back into a corner.
The landing was heavy, and even Lu Qingqing heard his muffled groan.
“Big brother, sorry, sorry. I’ll leave right away, right away.” Lu Qingqing nodded and bowed repeatedly as she walked out carefully.
Huang Ergou was stunned. Wait—she didn’t even ask about the treasure location. Why was she leaving? Who told her to go?
Looking at Lu Qingqing’s back, Huang Ergou stretched out his hand like he wanted to stop her, regret flashing across his face. Had he rushed her too much?
Wei Guangming, seeing her heading toward the back door, quickly got up and ran toward the front door.
After circling around, Wei Guangming arrived at the back entrance just as Lu Qingqing was about to leave, standing there out of breath.
Hearing the door open, he quickly steadied his breathing, trying to appear calm.
“Qingqing, how was it? How are Grandpa Lu and the others?”
“Not good.” Lu Qingqing replied in a choked voice. She wiped her tears as she stumbled forward. “They were beaten so badly, wuwuwu!”
For the next ten minutes, only Lu Qingqing’s sobbing filled the air. No matter how Wei Guangming tried to persuade her, she only responded with crying.
It was truly heartbreaking to hear.
But Wei Guangming wasn’t moved at all. He only felt increasingly impatient.
Why was she crying so much? Could crying solve anything?
She hadn’t said a single useful word, and she hadn’t asked anything important. Just crying—endlessly crying.
However, someone like this was easier to control. Wei Guangming was confident he could hold Lu Qingqing in his grasp.
Lu Qingqing cried all the way back to the courtyard. She left only one sentence: “I’m too sad, I need some time alone,” then shut Wei Guangming outside the gate.
Staring at the tightly closed door, Wei Guangming gritted his teeth in rage and kicked the air in frustration. She really discarded him after use.
If he hadn’t heard the heart-wrenching crying inside, he would have suspected she was faking it.
After crying all the way to the main hall and confirming that the sound couldn’t be heard outside anymore, Lu Qingqing immediately stopped.
She wiped her tears and took out her watch. It was already past ten at night. She needed to prepare quickly.
Tonight, she was going to make a big move—an extremely big one.
She tidied herself from head to toe, then went to the window to observe outside.
She saw that Wei Guangming had already left in frustration, and two men were still watching the Lu family gate from a distance. Only then did she feel reassured.
Let them watch. If she wanted to leave, they wouldn’t be able to stop her.
She changed into clothes suitable for movement, went to the backyard, quietly climbed over the wall, and disappeared into the night.
Lu Qingqing reached a deserted area and took out a bicycle, riding all the way out of the city toward an abandoned factory.
After more than an hour of hard riding, she finally arrived nearby.
She parked the bicycle, stored it into her space, and quietly approached the abandoned factory.
The factory was extremely rundown—none of the buildings were intact. It used to be a chemical plant, and the smell was still foul.
Like a ghost, Lu Qingqing moved through the ruins. After familiarizing herself with the surroundings, she hid in a corner.
After waiting for about half an hour, she heard footsteps. The person looked around carefully but found nothing unusual and quickly left.
Lu Qingqing suspected he was also scouting the area. Was he planning a double-cross?
No. If it were a betrayal, he would have arranged an ambush.
So it was just reconnaissance.
Should she follow him?
She only thought for a second before stepping out of the corner, agilely climbing the wall and landing outside.
The scout was tall, steady in breath and steps—clearly a trained fighter.
Lu Qingqing became even more cautious and followed him at a distance.
After about five miles, they reached a village. The man knocked on the first house at the village entrance—three long knocks and two short ones.
The door opened, and he slipped inside.
After letting him in, the person at the door looked around before closing it again.
Lu Qingqing touched her chin thoughtfully and quietly moved closer.
“Huzi, how is the situation?”
“No ambush found, and no goods either,” Zhang Hu replied honestly.
Across from him sat a man under 1.6 meters tall with a middle part hairstyle and narrowed eyes.
He nodded slightly. “Good work, Huzi. Go get your reward.”
“Thank you, boss.” Zhang Hu grinned happily and left.
“Boss, you’re being too cautious. We’ve done this deal many times. Nothing will go wrong.”
“No, no, Monkey, you don’t understand. You can know a person’s face but not their heart. Greed changes people. Just because nothing went wrong before doesn’t mean nothing will go wrong in the future.”
Monkey immediately flattered him with a sycophantic smile, making the middle-part man laugh proudly.
Hearing the laughter from inside, Lu Qingqing narrowed her eyes and carefully scanned the surroundings.
The courtyard was slightly larger than an ordinary household’s, with higher walls. The house itself was nothing special—just an ordinary mud-brick building.
However, the back gate was unusually large—big enough for vehicles to pass through.
Speaking of vehicles, Lu Qingqing actually saw one parked in the yard.