Qiao Zhenzhu had inherited all of the original owner’s memories, yet the original owner had never known this hidden door existed.
Her mother had died of illness when she was only five years old. It made sense that she never got the chance to tell her about the secret room.
The only question was whether that scumbag father of hers knew about it.
Thinking this, Qiao Zhenzhu walked over and used her ability to open the hidden door.
She didn’t go in immediately. Instead, she waited for the air to circulate before taking a high-powered flashlight out of her space, switching it on, and slowly stepping inside.
The hidden chamber was tiny, barely a square meter in size. Inside was only a staircase leading downward.
Qiao Zhenzhu followed the stairs and soon arrived at the underground cellar.
Under the beam of the flashlight, everything inside came clearly into view.
The basement was packed with boxes of all sizes.
Both the boxes and the floor were covered in a thick layer of dust.
Clearly, no one had been here for a very, very long time.
Which meant that scumbag dad probably didn’t know this place existed either.
See?
This was the consequence of not reading enough books!
Thinking smugly to herself, Qiao Zhenzhu walked over to the boxes and opened the one on top.
The instant the lid lifted, the golden glow nearly blinded her.
A whole chest full of gold!
All large gold bars!
Qiao Zhenzhu grinned widely.
“Mine!”
She opened the next box.
Whoa!
More gold!
Into her space it went!
She opened more than twenty boxes in a row. Every single one was filled with either gold bars or gold ingots.
Just when she thought she’d become numb to the sight of gold, she finally opened a box containing something different.
It was an entire chest of silver dollars!
Looking at the big-headed silver coins, Qiao Zhenzhu picked one up, blew on it lightly, and held it beside her ear.
She’d seen this move countless times in TV dramas. Now she finally got to experience it herself!
Listening to the crisp ringing sound, her eyes curved into happy crescents.
She’d struck it rich!
These were priceless treasures!
After storing away the chest of silver dollars, she looked toward the enormous boxes stacked at the bottom.
Could those also be filled with gold or silver coins?
She opened one of them, and colorful stones were instantly exposed to the air.
These were… raw jadeite stones!
Unpolished jadeite roughs.
Though they weren’t dazzling and refined yet, they were even harder for Qiao Zhenzhu to look away from.
Gold thrives in chaotic times; jade thrives in prosperous times.
Gold has a price, but jade is priceless!
And in a little over a decade, prosperous times would arrive.
By then, who knew how much these boxes of jadeite roughs would be worth?
At that time, she could sell one piece and wear another every day—
She couldn’t even imagine how happy she’d be!
Collect them!
No hesitation whatsoever!
Qiao Zhenzhu didn’t even bother checking the rest of the boxes. She swept them all into her space, then headed back upstairs and returned to the study.
She had already cleaned out the first floor, so she climbed the stairs to the second.
Before getting married, the original owner had lived on the second floor together with Wang Sinian.
The floor had been remodeled into two separate suites, one for each of them.
Qiao Zhenzhu went to the original owner’s room first. Other than a few pieces of furniture and decorations, there was nothing left.
Apparently, after the original owner got married, the family had thrown away all her clothes, bedding, and personal belongings.
Qiao Zhenzhu let out a silent sneer. After sweeping all the furniture and decorations into her space, she headed to Wang Sinian’s room.
Wang Sinian’s room was decorated in a princess style.
Everything was pink and girly, and even the bedding had lace trim.
Her wardrobe was filled with either Western-style dresses or silk qipaos, while all her shoes were handmade Italian leather imports.
The vanity table overflowed with jewelry and cosmetics bought overseas.
Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, Bulgari, Napier—she had them all.
There were also more than a dozen watches, some with diamonds and some without, suitable for every style of outfit.
Looking at all of it, Qiao Zhenzhu gave a cold laugh.
The true eldest daughter of the Qiao family had lived like a neglected orphan, while Wang Sinian had enjoyed a life of luxury!
Qiao Zhenzhu stuffed everything in the room into her space before expressionlessly heading downstairs.
Besides the living room, study, and master bedroom, the first floor also had a large kitchen.
The kitchen was neat and spotless.
There were all kinds of bottles and jars filled with oil and seasonings, along with huge storage vats for rice and flour.
The two vats were each half a person tall and packed to the brim.
There were also smaller jars containing various grains.
Qiao Zhenzhu even discovered an entire jar full of premium red dates!
She picked one up, washed it under the faucet, and took a bite.
Thick flesh, tiny pit, sweet and fragrant.
These red dates were top quality!
After eating the fruit, she didn’t throw away the pit.
Instead, she activated her wood-element ability.
The date pit rapidly sprouted and grew into a waist-high date tree.
Qiao Zhenzhu set the little tree on the ground and continued channeling her power into it. The tree grew visibly larger, and once it became taller than she was, it began to flower and bear fruit.
The dates quickly ripened into a rich red color. Large fruits crowded the branches so heavily that the limbs bent under the weight.
Looking at the tree full of dates, Qiao Zhenzhu’s eyes curved with delight.
Give her a single date pit, and she could harvest hundreds of pounds of dates!
A max-level wood-element ability was just that overpowered!
She stored the date tree inside her space, though she kept a fresh date in hand, crunching happily as she ate.
While munching on the crisp, sweet fruit, she continued looting the kitchen.
In summertime Shanghai, all kinds of fruits and vegetables were available.
The Qiao family wasn’t short on money, and Wang Anquan and Chen Wan loved good food. The five-tier vegetable rack in the kitchen was piled high with produce.
Qiao Zhenzhu directly stored the entire rack together with all the fruits and vegetables.
From now on, she’d have unlimited fresh produce!
Even though she possessed max-level wood abilities, that didn’t mean she could eat whatever she wanted back in the apocalypse.
When the apocalypse first arrived, although she awakened three elemental abilities, they had all been weak in the beginning.
Faced with zombies and mutated plants and animals everywhere, she could only hide in her apartment, cautiously killing zombies to strengthen her powers.
By the time she was finally able to leave the apartment building, an entire month had already passed since the apocalypse began.
At that point, all fresh fruits and vegetables had long since rotted away.
The crops, orchards, and vegetables growing in the ground had also mutated—eat one, and you’d be dead in minutes.
She’d managed to gather some seeds with great difficulty, only to discover they had already lost their viability.
Later, after reaching a survivor base, she finally obtained seeds again, but the varieties were pitifully limited.
Anyone forced to eat only a handful of fruits and vegetables for ten straight years would get sick of them.
Now, at last, she could finally enjoy some variety again!
After sweeping away everything in the kitchen, the entire house had been completely emptied out.
Now…
It was time for the next stop.