Li Xixi watched the pendant soaked in her blood yet nothing happened. There was no green glow like in her past life no hidden space nothing at all it remained as lifeless as an ordinary stone. She murmured to herself. “This is wrong I know blood opened it before why is there no response now?” What could possibly be different?
Li Chuxin saw the shock written clearly across Xixi’s face and allowed a faint smile. Xixi you could drain every drop of blood from your body and you would still never unlock what lies within that pendant.
She left the hospital and did not look back. Whatever schemes Xixi was hatching and whoever she planned to deceive were no longer her concern. Whether Li Jianhan chose to donate his kidney or not was equally none of her business. They would be wise not to turn their designs upon her.
Li Chuxin returned home. She calculated the timeline she had roughly ten days to two weeks before departure to Sijiucheng and there were matters she must attend to first. She remembered hearing in later years that a great treasure had been discovered beneath the Li family ancestral graves only to be stolen and sold abroad by her uncle. It had been Xixi who found out about the treasure and shared the information with him. They had fallen out over how to split the money and the truth had come to light.
Several ancient artifacts had been smuggled out of the country causing immense loss to the nation. It had been revealed later that the items had originally been buried there by a tomb raider not by their ancestors. Why Xixi had chosen to conspire with their uncle she did not know.
For now she intended to remove all gold silver coins and readily saleable valuables into her own space leaving significant artifacts to be handed over to the state.
She arrived at the family home. Her father was still working in the fields. She climbed the hill behind the village and found the ancestral burial ground exactly as she remembered. The Li family had once been wealthy and the tomb was grand and well built. She located the hidden mechanism and pressed it gently.
The entrance swung open. Shining her small black flashlight inside she saw rows of wooden chests stacked neatly. She opened the first one and found a magnificent statue of Guanyin cast entirely in gold. Beneath it lay ancient volumes inscribed in Sanskrit dating from the Tang Dynasty. She could not read them but she knew they held immense scholarly value and belonged to the nation.
She opened the next chest and found it filled with gold bars. She gathered them all into her space without hesitation. Another chest held stacks of silver coins which she took as well. There were chests of jade artifacts calligraphy and paintings and one sealed with precious medicinal herbs ginseng pilose antler ganoderma shark fin bird’s nest saffron and dragon’s blood.
One chest lined with precious nanmu wood held items that would become nearly impossible to find in the future tiger bone bear bile rhinoceros horn snow leopard bone natural antelope horn and hawksbill shell. Each item was listed clearly with notes on preparation and usage. At the bottom she saw a name written in the same hand Li Jianguo. Her uncle who had never held a proper job in his life yet had somehow grown rich overnight. She realized now where his wealth had truly come from.
She remembered clearly how he had humiliated her in her past life always taking Xixi’s side. She also wondered how Xixi had managed to fake her illness so convincingly. How had she kept a donated kidney viable and deceived everyone for so long? It made sense now her uncle was closely acquainted with the hospital director and Xixi did bear a faint resemblance to him. He must have helped her. Perhaps Xixi had known about the treasure all along.
That settled it she would take everything of value she could carry and ensure the rest was turned over to the state. She would not sell national treasures to foreigners as her uncle had done. There was no time to examine every item carefully she must work quickly. If her uncle discovered she had emptied his hiding place he would certainly silence her. She left the remaining chests where they were slipped out of the tomb and hurried home her heart pounding all the way.
She poured herself a bowl of water and drank deeply. Her father returned from the fields and saw her. “Chuxin why are you here? Should you not be at the hospital preparing to donate your kidney? If you refuse how will your elder brother manage?” He began scolding her immediately.
Li Chuxin said simply. “Father go ask him yourself.” In her past life she had tried telling him the truth that Xixi was never sick and that her own brother had lied to harvest her kidney. He had slapped her across the face and told her Xixi was kind and good and that she was the one with a wicked heart trying to tear the family apart. Later she had overheard him saying that Xixi was the family’s good fortune and that giving a kidney was a privilege she should be grateful for. They had always been a family and she had always been the outsider.
If she had not secured him that job he would have spent his entire life bent over in the fields. Li Jianye glared at her stony faced. “Is that any way to speak to your father? Xixi gave you her place in the family assignment to Sijiucheng. The least you can do is show some gratitude and treat her well.”
Li Chuxin did not answer and went to her room instead. She took out her official work assignment notice. In her past life she had given hers up only for him to hand it to Xixi. Once Xixi left for the city her father had taken the post himself and risen through the ranks. This time she would give it to no one. She would sell it instead. She folded the paper and walked to her friend Zhao Chunhong’s house in the village.