The little gold bars and the gold and silver ingots were neatly arranged, making them easy for Shen Youchu to inventory. There were exactly one thousand of each—no more, no less.
She then moved to the large pile of silver dollars scattered across the floor. Squatting down, she grabbed a handful and discovered that the pile contained several different varieties.
There were Yuan Datou dollars, Beiyang Dragon dollars, and Junk Boat dollars. The quantity of silver coins far exceeded that of the gold bars and ingots.
By rough estimate, there had to be well over ten thousand coins.
There were simply too many to count. At this rate, she would still be counting by the Year of the Monkey.
With a flick of her hand, Shen Youchu let the silver dollars fall back to the ground.
Then she waved her hand.
In an instant, all the gold bars, gold and silver ingots, and silver dollars disappeared into her storage space. The clanging sounds of metal echoed in her mind for several seconds.
As for the jade cabbage, that was even easier—it was collected with a casual gesture.
“Master, come quickly! These paintings are worth far more than the gold.”
Niu Bi Jushi unrolled a scroll and excitedly waved her over.
Shen Youchu took it from him and was immediately stunned.
It was an authentic painting by Tang Bohu.
“Holy crap. This is genuinely a rare treasure.”
Carefully rolling it back up, she opened several more scrolls.
Once again, she was shocked.
They were masterpieces by Qi Baishi and Zhang Daqian.
The seven paintings displayed on the rack alone were worth a fortune.
She couldn’t help sighing.
“The Fu family is far deeper than I imagined.”
Treating them like priceless treasures, she carefully returned the paintings to their places before waving her hand and taking away the entire golden nanmu display rack along with the artwork.
Before long, every treasure in the vault had been swept clean.
Only six wooden chests stacked against the wall remained.
Shen Youchu pried open the first chest and discovered it was filled to the brim with gold bricks.
Without hesitation, she stored it away.
Just as she was about to open the second chest, Niu Bi Jushi interrupted.
“Master, no need to bother. They’re all gold.”
Shen Youchu laughed.
“Having a titanium-alloy super-helper really makes life easier.”
Niu Bi Jushi: “…”
After conducting one final thorough search of the vault and confirming that nothing valuable remained, Shen Youchu left.
Spreading her arms against the well wall, she climbed back up.
For a spirit like Niu Bi Jushi, however, getting out was as simple as floating upward with the breeze.
When Shen Youchu returned from her treasure hunt, the commotion inside the room was still ongoing.
The only difference was that Zong Huaiyu’s cries for help had stopped.
Seeing that it was still early, Shen Youchu had no intention of wasting time.
The decorative rock formations in the courtyard looked valuable.
Collected.
Then came the rooms.
Large rooms.
Small rooms.
Anything that looked remotely valuable disappeared with a snap of her fingers.
Her biggest haul came from a drawer packed with food ration coupons and cloth coupons—hard currency in this era.
Finally, she collected the television, washing machine, and radio.
Even the bicycle Fu Boda had ridden over wasn’t spared.
Her principle was simple:
Take everything. Leave nothing behind.
Not even a single hair.
Once she had thoroughly cleaned the place out, Shen Youchu dusted off her hands, straightened her slightly dirty clothes, and walked away in style.
Behind her, Fu Boda was still enthusiastically carrying on inside the room.
Perhaps because today’s harvest had been so abundant, she even forgot to close the courtyard gate when she left.
Suddenly—
“HELP! HELP ME!!!”
A shrill female scream erupted from the residence.
Shen Youchu immediately recognized Aunt Yang’s voice.
The drug’s effects had probably worn off.
The scream was so piercing that it was bound to attract attention.
Not wanting to get involved, Shen Youchu broke into a jog.
“Time to go, time to go.”
The once-quiet street soon came alive.
People carrying flashlights emerged from their homes.
Gradually, more and more gathered outside the courtyard where the screams continued nonstop.
Some of the bolder residents shone their flashlights inside.
They found that every room in the residence stood open except for one tightly closed door, from which a woman’s desperate cries for help echoed continuously.
If they listened carefully, they could also hear a faint male voice begging for help.
“Oh dear, looks like a criminal broke in and attacked someone!”
One woman slapped her thigh anxiously.
Immediately, the more enthusiastic neighbors rushed home to summon their husbands to catch the culprit.
The men scrambled into their clothes, grabbed whatever tools or sticks they could find, and charged into the courtyard.
The youngest among them kicked the door open with a single blow.
“Let me see which bastard is bold enough to cause trouble in our neighborhood!”
Everyone surged into the room.
Dozens of flashlight beams converged on the bed.
Zong Huaiyu, positioned awkwardly at the center of the chaos, nearly had his heart leap into his throat when he saw the crowd.
He immediately grabbed a pillow and covered his face.
If his feet hadn’t been tied up by Fu Boda, he would have run home naked.
On the other side of the bed, Aunt Yang was crying pitifully.
The moment she saw people enter, she instantly regained her senses and regretted screaming for help.
Turning her face away, she sobbed while tears streamed down endlessly.
The crowd stared at the scene before them.
Eyes widened.
Jaws dropped.
It wasn’t because the sight was attractive.
It was because, despite a roomful of people having burst in, the perpetrator seemed completely unfazed and was still acting as if nothing had happened.
Finally, a woman broke the stunned silence.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake! Save them! Why are you all just standing there?”
The men finally snapped out of it.
Several of them stepped forward and worked together to pull Fu Boda away.
The moment they dragged him off, everyone froze once more.
“Oh my goodness…”
“Isn’t that Xiao Fu from the director’s family at the refinery?”
“You’re right! It’s Fu Boda!”
“My heavens…”
“I knew he was a womanizer, but this…”
“Not even elderly women are safe—and what’s going on with the man?”
One elderly woman shouted while slapping her thigh.
More and more people gathered.
Those who had initially been too afraid to help now rushed over the moment they heard there was gossip to enjoy.
At first, people whispered among themselves.
Soon they were openly pointing and gossiping.
Meanwhile, Fu Boda gradually regained his senses.
Seeing the crowd around him, he immediately covered himself.
He looked at the two people on the bed and then at his own naked body.
His face filled with confusion.
“What happened?”
“Weren’t they supposed to be the two sisters?”
Without thinking further, he hurriedly began putting on his clothes while shouting at the crowd.
“Do you know who my uncle is?”
“You’d better keep your mouths shut!”
“If anyone dares spread this around, I won’t let them off!”
“If you’re smart, get lost right now!”
Unfortunately, his threats carried absolutely no weight under the circumstances.
The crowd looked at him as though he were an idiot.
Just as the standoff continued, a deep voice rang out from beyond the crowd.
“Move aside! Move aside! Revolutionary Committee business!”
Four people wearing red armbands pushed through the crowd.
The moment they entered the room, even they were stunned.
The team leader immediately recognized Fu Boda.
His face filled with contempt.
“Fu family brat? You again?”
“How low have you sunk?”
“You won’t even spare middle-aged women and old men now?”
“Good. This time we’ve caught you red-handed.”
“Let’s see how you talk your way out of this one.”
“Take him away.”
Fu Boda instinctively stepped back, though he continued to act tough.
“You dare?”
“Have you forgotten who my uncle is?”
“Touch me and see what happens!”
The leader remained unmoved.
“Today, it doesn’t matter who comes to save you.”
“Take him away.”
He waved his hand decisively, showing no intention whatsoever of covering up the incident.
The crowd immediately burst into applause.
“Good!”
“Serves him right!”
Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Fu Boda was roughly seized by two men and dragged away.
Zong Huaiyu and Aunt Yang, now fully dressed, followed behind with their heads lowered and faces covered in humiliation.