He Caiwei looked at the grain storage barrels. They were quite large—if she used her mind alone, she might only be able to store one at a time and would need to rest afterward. But if she touched them with her hands, it should be easier.
So she reached out, placed her hand on the nearest barrel, and activated her ability. In no time, the entire grain barrel was stored inside her space.
After testing it a bit, she realized that physically touching the items made it much easier to store them. Fortunately, there were only six such large barrels here, and she quickly finished collecting them all.
Only after everything was packed away did they notice a corpse hidden at the very back of the warehouse. The person had been dead for quite some time, but perhaps because part of the granary was underground, the body was still relatively well preserved.
He Caiwei was startled, but her eyes were quickly covered by her mother.
“Sweetheart, don’t look. Don’t be afraid. Uncle Chen was a kind old man. Let’s take everything out first, then find a place to bury him properly,” He Yuping said. She had never expected Old Master Qu to be so heartless as to leave a body here like this.
“I’m not scared, Mom. Let’s hurry and find the rest of the things—the sky is about to get light,” He Caiwei said. She truly felt exhausted. They had been on the move since around nine o’clock the previous night, and now the sky outside was already beginning to turn pale with dawn.
To avoid being discovered, the mother and daughter had stuck to the shadows when leaving their courtyard earlier, wrapping themselves up tightly to avoid being recognized.
He Yuping soon found the so-called “secret room” Old Master Qu had mentioned. It wasn’t really a room, just a hidden compartment—though a fairly large one. The mechanism was located at the very back, beneath the granary floor.
Together, they opened the compartment and took out six boxes of gold bars and two boxes of silver dollars. He Caiwei felt that this hidden compartment was just the right place to lay Uncle Chen to rest. After putting everything away, the two of them, fully covered up, exerted great effort to move the old man’s body into the compartment, giving him at least a semblance of burial.
Looking at the six new boxes of gold and two boxes of silver dollars now inside her space, He Caiwei couldn’t help but beam with delight. Today had been another day of rich gains.
After tidying up and changing their clothes, they prepared to leave. By then, it was already around five in the morning, and the sky outside was beginning to brighten.
Just as they stepped out of the warehouse, He Caiwei heard the sound of a car approaching. She immediately turned back, shut the door, rehung the lock, and carefully erased their footprints. Then she grabbed her mother’s hand and returned to the space.
Still a bit dazed, He Yuping suddenly found herself back in the familiar living room. She quickly took off her dirty shoes, changed into clean clothes, and returned.
“What’s going on? Weren’t we leaving?” she asked.
“I heard a car outside. It looks like they’re heading straight for this warehouse,” He Caiwei said softly as she observed the situation outside.
“That’s strange. Only Uncle Chen and your father knew about this place. Uncle Chen is dead, and your father has run away. How could anyone else know—and even come here by car at this hour? They clearly know there’s something here. Take a good look and see who it is,” He Yuping said, frowning.
The moment He Caiwei saw the leader, she understood. It wasn’t surprising the secret had leaked—her father trusted Steward Hu deeply and had entrusted him with many matters. It wouldn’t have been difficult for him to find out about this granary.
“Mom, it’s Steward Hu. He’s brought several strong men with him. Looks like they know there’s grain here—they’re even carrying a lot of sacks,” He Caiwei reported.
At the mention of Steward Hu, He Yuping only frowned slightly before sitting back down on the sofa.
“That man really won’t go away. He doesn’t dare touch the obvious warehouses, so he keeps targeting these hidden ones, hoping to pick up leftovers. Luckily we got here first—otherwise, it would’ve all gone to that shameless man. Daughter, let’s rest for a day and then leave. Whether or not we can get train tickets. If we really can’t, we’ll take a horse carriage—or just walk like you suggested. At night, when no one’s around, we can take out a car and drive,” she said.
“Alright. But we can’t take out that same car tonight—if someone sees it, we won’t be able to explain,” He Caiwei agreed immediately. She didn’t want to be watched constantly either. Traveling by day and driving at night, or resting during the day, would both work.
After discussing, the mother and daughter happily went to the kitchen to eat, completely ignoring the chaos outside—where Steward Hu, unable to find anything, was so furious he nearly coughed up blood, terrifying the men he had brought along.
They abandoned the grain sacks they had carried, leaving them scattered on the ground, and hurriedly supported Steward Hu as they carried him out of the now-empty warehouse.
Only after the sound of the car faded into the distance did He Caiwei bring her mother out of the space. Seeing the sacks left behind, she smiled brightly and picked them up as well.
She had been worrying about not having enough bags to store grain—yet they had kindly delivered some to her.
If Steward Hu knew what she was thinking, he’d probably cough up blood again.
Seeing that the sky was almost fully bright, He Yuping quickly took her daughter and ran all the way to Uncle Lin’s residence. It took them three hours to arrive.
As soon as they knocked, Uncle Lin’s wife came to open the door, looking like she was about to head out.
“Oh! Yuping, you’re here—come in, come in. Your uncle was just saying he’d go look for you later,” the woman said, pulling them inside and quickly shutting the door.
Lowering her voice, she led them into the main hall and explained, “Your uncle went to the housing office with someone to transfer ownership. He was planning to visit you afterward—he’s been worried since you hadn’t come for days.”
“Auntie, whether we can get train tickets or not, we have to leave today. Steward Hu seems to have noticed something. He’s been lurking near our courtyard these past few days. We’ve been too afraid to go out. I don’t want any more entanglements with them, so I came to let Uncle know—I’ll take Caiwei and leave first,” He Yuping said helplessly.
She had hoped to get train tickets so her daughter wouldn’t have to suffer, but after so many days of trying, it seemed impossible.
“Train tickets are extremely hard to get right now,” Aunt Lin sighed. “I heard they’re all being used to transport supplies. The passengers at the front are all escorting those goods. Ordinary people like us simply can’t buy tickets.”
She added that her husband had been going to the train station every day, asking around and even offering gifts, but still couldn’t secure a single ticket. Only after spending a lot did they learn that the trains were currently reserved for transporting military supplies—there was no room for civilians at all.
For now, getting train tickets was simply out of the question.