Only then did Luoluo realize that the little turtle couldn’t see. She quickly scooped it up and placed it on top of the chest full of gold bars. “Little Wudui, sorry! Luoluo forgot. Now you can see them!”
“Big yellow fish! So many, so many big yellow fish! You could buy soooo much meat…” The little turtle was almost blinded by the sudden golden glow before its eyes.
Luoluo didn’t recognize them, but the turtle knew these were “big yellow fish” — gold bars. It lay dreamily atop the bars, drool nearly spilling out.
“Ah, Little Wudui, drool is dirty…” Luoluo couldn’t bear to see such beautiful sparkling treasures stained by saliva. She immediately picked up the turtle and tossed it onto another unopened chest.
With that toss, her curiosity about the contents of the new chest flared up again.
Sensing her thoughts, the wooden lid automatically opened, and the little turtle tumbled straight inside.
“Wow, there’s more! The same kind…”The child and turtle cried out in amazement together.
Just like that, they opened five chests of gold bars and five chests of gold ingots.
Then they opened five more chests filled with jewelry — gold bracelets, gold collars, gold necklaces, gold pendants, jade hair ornaments, and all sorts of gemstone and diamond jewelry.
There were also several chests of decorative treasures made of gold, silver, jade, and many other materials.
After that, they uncovered several boxes of raw jade stones, watches, thumb rings, Buddhist prayer beads, and all kinds of precious valuables.
There were even several chests filled with expensive medicinal ingredients such as ginseng, deer antler, lingzhi mushrooms, and bird’s nest.
And many more boxes of fine tobacco, liquor, tea leaves, as well as porcelain teapots and teacups.
Finally, they opened several chests packed with colorful, crisp, brand-new banknotes of various denominations, along with property deeds and land certificates.
There were many things in the chests that Luoluo didn’t recognize. Since the little turtle had lived several years longer than her, it had seen much more of the world.
Even so, many of the items still exceeded the limits of its turtle knowledge. Every time a chest was opened, it gasped together with Luoluo.
Yet all those exclamations combined still couldn’t compare to the scream they let out when opening the very last chest.
“Little Wudui! It’s money and coupons!” Luoluo cried excitedly as she stared at the bills and ration coupons inside the final small chest.
This chest was more than half the size of the others. It contained money and ration tickets meant for immediate use. Compared to the neatly stacked bundles of large bills in the other boxes, the money here was much more scattered.
It looked like the He family father and son had prepared it for spending while traveling to the countryside. There were both small and large denominations, along with various grain coupons, all loosely packed into a portable box.
Because Luoluo didn’t recognize most of the other treasures, she only thought they looked pretty without understanding how valuable they were. But this box, she knew, was the true treasure.
“Money and coupons can buy meat buns.” Luoluo slurped back the drool about to drip from her mouth, her bright eyes shining as she stared at the chest full of cash and tickets, as though meat buns were waving at her.
She had seen her mother and Auntie Wang use these bills and coupons to buy things at state-run department stores and supply cooperatives. Her older brothers also liked showing off the money and ration tickets they received.
So she recognized them immediately — these were good things, things that could be exchanged for meat buns.
With this whole chest of money and coupons, Luoluo completely lost interest in the other treasures. Using all the strength she had, she pushed, dragged, and hugged the chest back into the bedroom.
In her memory, her mother and Auntie Wang always kept money and coupons in the room where they slept, especially under the bed.
After taking out two bills and a ration coupon and placing them on the bedside cabinet, she hurriedly copied her mother and Auntie Wang by shoving the entire chest beneath the bed.
“Alright, Luoluo’s money is hidden safely now.” Luoluo happily clapped her little hands and looked at the turtle. “You mustn’t tell anyone, okay?”
The little turtle fell silent. So many priceless treasures, and after one glance she ignored them all, only bringing back the least valuable box to hide…
After putting everything away, Luoluo picked up the ten-yuan bill and a meat coupon from the bedside table. Waving them excitedly, she hugged the little turtle and said, “Let’s go buy meat buns!”
The little turtle’s tiny bean-like eyes rolled around. Thinking that enough time had probably passed and the He family father and son were no longer nearby, it didn’t stop Luoluo this time and allowed her to carry it out of the space.
The child and turtle emerged from the space and found themselves standing before a house on an unfamiliar street corner.
“Little Wudui…” Luoluo looked at the completely strange street before her and instinctively shrank back a little, her voice trembling. “Where is this place? Luoluo’s scared…”
The little turtle also curled tightly into Luoluo’s arms, trying its best to hide itself, exposing only its little green bean eyes to peek outside.
It was a narrow street, the air thick with the smell of dust and coal smoke.
The road was paved with gravel and yellow sand, and now and then villagers pulling handcarts could be seen passing by.
On both sides of the street stood uneven but tightly packed houses. Some had grayish-white cement spread over blue brick walls, while others were low mud-and-tile cottages.
Everything here was completely different from the He household where they had lived for several years.
The little turtle guessed that this was where the He family father and son had parked earlier. They had entered the space here, and naturally came out at the same spot.
The only question was how far this place was from Nan City, and where exactly they had ended up.
It gently rubbed against Luoluo’s hand and whispered, “Come on, let’s look around first and see where we can buy meat buns.”
Luoluo had been timid while staring at the unfamiliar surroundings, but the moment she heard “meat buns,” all her fear flew beyond the clouds.
Holding the little turtle in her arms, she walked down the street toward the busier crowd.
The closer they got to people, the stronger the little turtle’s sense of danger became. It kept trying to drill a warning into Luoluo’s head.
“Luoluo, if we run into danger, we’ll immediately hide back in the space, okay?”
“Mhm mhm, disappear so nobody can catch us.” Luoluo’s big bright eyes curiously scanned the unfamiliar surroundings as she answered seriously.
Suddenly, Luoluo sniffed hard, her eyes lighting up brilliantly. “Little Wudui, I smell meat buns!”
Without even waiting for the turtle to reply, she followed the scent on her own.
After taking a few steps and turning past a corner piled with clutter, Luoluo saw a slightly open area where an old yellow ox was hitched to a wooden cart. The cart was piled high with bulging sacks and several empty bamboo baskets.
Beside the ox cart stood a tall figure with his back turned toward them, bent over while adjusting the ox yoke.
He wore an old blue cloth shirt faded nearly white from washing, with the sleeves rolled high to reveal strong bronze-colored arms.
And what attracted both Luoluo and the little turtle was the rich aroma of meat drifting from an old gray-blue cloth bundle hanging from the cart shaft.
“Meat buns! Luoluo smells meat buns — they’re inside that bag!” Luoluo sniffed eagerly and excitedly told the little turtle.
Meat buns were simply too tempting. Since yesterday, she hadn’t eaten a proper meal.
The space contained many things, but no cooked food. She wanted meat buns so badly.
As she spoke, her short little legs were already carrying her toward the ox cart.