Pei Nian had always kept the key on her person. Now she took it out of her space, its cool metal resting against her palm.
She inserted it into the lock and gave it a gentle twist.
Click.
The door opened.
Pushing it open, she found the courtyard exactly as she remembered. It was clean enough, but empty—missing the warmth and liveliness that came from someone living there.
She stood there for several seconds, as though she could still see her grandfather sitting in the old rattan chair in the courtyard, smiling warmly and beckoning her over.
In her previous life, Pei Nian had been born into a wealthy family. She had never worried about food or clothing, but her parents had each lived their own lives, and neither had cared much about raising her.
This life, however, had given her more than ten years of genuine family affection.
That alone had already made her content.
She didn’t linger.
After carefully closing and bolting the courtyard gate, checking it one more time for good measure, she headed straight into the study.
The room remained exactly as it had been before her grandfather passed away.
Against the east wall sat a desk and chair, with two dusty, oversized jars standing beside them.
She had never paid much attention to them before.
Today, taking a closer look, her heart skipped a beat.
These weren’t ordinary water jars at all.
They were antique painting jars.
One was decorated with celadon glaze and gilded scrolling floral patterns. The other featured celadon ground with white-glazed auspicious cloud and longevity motifs.
Judging by their lavish style, they looked very much like Qianlong-era pieces.
If preserved until modern times, they’d be worth a fortune.
With a thought, she stored both jars, along with the desk and chair, inside her space.
Then she crouched down and carefully pried up several loose floor tiles.
A dark opening appeared beneath them.
Switching on a powerful flashlight, she carefully descended the stone steps.
After only a few steps, she reached the bottom.
Sweeping the flashlight ahead, she found herself in a spacious secret chamber—at least twenty to thirty square meters in size.
Its walls were solidly built from blue stone, and the room was remarkably dry.
When the beam fully illuminated the chamber, even someone like Pei Nian, who had seen plenty in her previous life, couldn’t help but feel her heart race.
Nearest the entrance were neatly stacked burlap sacks and wooden crates.
She walked over to inspect them.
The sacks were filled with plump, perfectly preserved rice and wheat.
Each weighed around one hundred catties, and there were at least dozens of them.
Nearby, several open crates contained golden dried corn, various beans, snow-white salt wrapped tightly in oil paper, and chunks of rock sugar.
These basic supplies alone would allow an ordinary family to survive through a very long period of hardship.
Next to the grain were neatly stacked bolts of fabric.
There was heavy work cloth, durable khaki fabric, soft cotton cloth, and even several bolts of elegant silk and fine gabardine.
Most of the colors were blue, gray, black, and white, fitting the era perfectly.
But both the quantity and quality far exceeded what an average household could ever possess.
Turning toward the center of the chamber, she found thirty dark wooden chests stacked neatly together.
She casually lifted the lid of one.
A dazzling golden glow nearly blinded her.
The chest was filled to the brim with gold bars.
A quick count told her there were twelve such chests.
The remaining ones consisted of:
But what truly made her heart burn with excitement was the specially made camphorwood medicine cabinet standing against the wall.
Opening it, she found its drawers carefully organized with processed rare medicinal herbs:
Wild mountain ginseng.
Red lingzhi mushrooms.
Premium deer antler.
Saffron.
Musk.
Calculus bovis.
Every single one was extraordinarily valuable.
Beside the cabinet sat two camphorwood chests, one large and one small.
The smaller chest contained all kinds of grain seeds, each stored in its own small cloth pouch.
The larger chest held what her grandfather had mentioned in his notebook—the Pei family’s greatest inheritance.
It contained seeds and fungal cultures of numerous rare medicinal plants.
Each was carefully wrapped in oil paper and labeled with yellowed tags.
Time was precious.
Pei Nian wasted no more time and began collecting her inheritance.
Within seconds, the chamber that had been packed to the ceiling was completely empty, leaving only years of accumulated dust swirling lazily through the flashlight beam.
Satisfied, she looked around one last time to ensure she hadn’t missed anything.
Only then did she head back upstairs.
She permanently sealed the entrance to the secret chamber, disguising it so perfectly that not a trace remained.
Since she would soon be leaving for the countryside, she intended to let the neighborhood committee use the old house free of charge.
However, she planned to have a written agreement stating that it could only be used as office space and never as a residence.
Even after she left, someone needed to keep an eye on the place.
Walking over to the courtyard well, she drew a bucket of water and washed her face.
Looking at the now “clean” courtyard again, she felt an unprecedented sense of security.
The treasure was safely in her possession.
Now it was time to deal with the smaller matters.
She would be sent to Lin City in Northeast China.
She had heard the winters there were so cold they could freeze your ears off.
Warm clothing would be absolutely essential.
She counted the ration coupons she had.
Most were industrial coupons, along with some food coupons.
She needed to spend them all before leaving.
Changing into a set of clean but slightly worn clothes, she tidied her hair using the reflection in the washbasin before heading out.
Her first stop was the department store.
Large slogans on the walls read:
“Grasp Revolution, Promote Production.”
She walked up to the sales clerk.
“Hello, Comrade. I’d like to buy an enamel washbasin, an enamel mug, a thermos, a lunch box, soap, Liberation shoes, gloves, and a padlock.”
The clerk looked up and sized her up.
“Comrade, you’re buying quite a lot.”
Pei Nian smiled shyly.
“I’m heading to the countryside, so I need to prepare.”
The explanation was perfectly reasonable.
The clerk asked no further questions and quickly wrapped everything in oil paper, tying the bundles neatly with paper string.
She also bought some hard candies, milk candies that would keep well, and several packs of cigarettes.
In those days, cigarettes were practically hard currency.
Whether for socializing or building relationships, they always came in handy—especially in the countryside.
Next, Pei Nian headed to the state-owned restaurant.
It was lunchtime, and the rich aroma of meat filled the air.
Claiming that she had guests visiting at home, she generously purchased two portions of braised pork, three roast chickens, and thirty freshly steamed meat buns.
Once stored inside her space’s warehouse, these hot meals would remain forever fresh.
Whenever she craved good food in the countryside, she could simply take them out.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have enough meat coupons to buy more.
After finishing her shopping, she found a deserted corner.
She quietly transferred almost everything—especially the cooked food—into her space.
She left only a few sponge cakes and peach pastries inside her cloth bag for appearances.
Her second stop was the bank.
She had always kept her grandfather’s savings passbook with her.
It contained a full 5,000 yuan—an enormous fortune in this era.
The bank employee behind the counter visibly froze upon seeing the balance and repeatedly checked both her identification and the official seals.
“You want to withdraw all of it?” the clerk confirmed.
“Yes. Every cent.”
Pei Nian answered calmly.
She would need cash everywhere in the countryside.
Besides, money stored inside her space was safer than leaving it anywhere else.
The paperwork took quite a while.
Finally, the teller handed over five thick bundles of ten-yuan notes along with some smaller bills.
Without changing her expression, she accepted them, carefully counted everything, and slipped the cash into the inside pocket of her jacket.
In reality, with a single thought, the money had already been transferred into her space, where it now rested beside the gold bars.
She kept only a few dozen yuan on her for emergencies.
With such substantial wealth backing her up, she felt even more secure.
Next…
It was time to settle things with the Zhao family.
Especially her “good little brother,” Zhao Xiaojun.
As darkness gradually fell, Pei Nian carefully locked the gate of her grandfather’s old house.
With a single thought, she entered her personal space.
Standing before the wooden cottage, she focused her mind and observed the outside world through the space.
The entire space seemed to transform into an invisible ark, silently moving according to her will.
Only a few minutes later…
Pei Nian was already standing outside the Zhao family’s front door.