Fu Qinghe hadn’t quite reacted yet. She stared at the small figure running away, stunned for a moment. Only when she caught the smell of diesel did she suddenly recall what the little girl had just said.
She rushed straight to her dressing table, scooping up all her jewelry, gold and silver, as well as the large and small gold bars in the drawers, along with her indenture contract. She wrapped everything in a bedsheet, then grabbed two cloaks from her wardrobe, tossed them into a basin, soaked them, and draped them over herself.
Pulling out a small suitcase from the wardrobe, she hastily stuffed in a few pieces of clothing. Along with the money she had just gathered, she crammed everything into the suitcase, snapped it shut, dragged it along, and hurried out.
No matter what, money was the most important thing—without it, she wouldn’t be able to take a single step outside. Still, she etched the little girl’s life-saving kindness into her heart. Though she had only been here for less than two months and had no real interaction with the girl, saving her life made the girl her great benefactor.
After leaving, Fu Qinghe’s first thought wasn’t to return to her family home. Instead, she found a place to hide and wait, planning to observe what would happen to the Qu residence next.
She had no intention of going back to being a concubine in the Qu household. If the Qu family truly collapsed, then her indenture contract would become meaningless, and she would finally be a free person.
But if the Qu family didn’t fall, she would have to think of another way—otherwise, if Master Qu caught her, she would lose her life.
On the other side, as Qu Weiwei ran out of the house, she saw Fourth Madam and the steward heading toward the study.
By this time, they had already set the fire in the back courtyard. As the chief steward of the Qu household, he must know about the secret room in the study.
The only thing Qu Weiwei could think of now was to take advantage of their trip to the secret room—quickly retrieve the valuables they had moved, then leave.
But she had overestimated her own abilities. After all, she was just a five-year-old girl, usually delicate and frail. Running such long distances through so many places left her gasping for breath. By the time she followed the rice trail to where the steward had hidden the goods, she was almost collapsing from exhaustion.
She had just found the large stash of money when the steward and the others returned from the Qu residence.
Whether it was because they couldn’t find what they were looking for and were furious, or because the main wife’s side had already woken up and started calling people to put out the fire—no one knew.
The steward stormed in like a man possessed. Not only did he slam the door shut, he also kicked the chests violently.
At that moment, Qu Weiwei had already hidden inside her space, watching the scene outside, her little heart pounding wildly.
She had almost been discovered just now. With her short little legs, it had taken her so long to get here. She had only just thought of resting when she heard rapid footsteps outside—nearly scaring her to death.
This whole night had been far too thrilling. Thankfully, her heart was strong; otherwise, she didn’t even know how many times she would have died already.
Qu Weiwei stared intently at the outside, afraid that while she wasn’t paying attention, the steward and Fourth Madam might secretly move the goods away.
This was clearly something they had planned for a long time—there was no way they weren’t prepared.
“Old Hu, what about the grain warehouses of the Qu family? Without help, the two of us can’t move them. And if the master finds out the house has been burned, the first thing he’ll check will definitely be the granaries,” Fourth Madam’s unwilling voice came from outside.
As the richest family in Pingcheng, the Qu household controlled the city’s economic lifeline and grain supply. They had over a dozen granaries alone.
The third and fourth courtyards next to where they were now—both the surface level and the underground levels—were packed full of grain. It was such a waste to leave it behind. Grain was incredibly valuable now.
War was ongoing outside, and many places had no harvest at all. They didn’t know about other warehouses, but they had accidentally discovered the one beneath these two courtyards before and had even sneaked in. There really was grain there—but the two of them simply couldn’t carry it away.
“I’ll get a ladder and go take a look first to see if the grain’s already been moved. You go to the countryside and find my elder brother and third brother. Have them bring some reliable people. If we can get a truck, even better. No matter what, we have to move this money first—everything else can wait,” Steward Hu said, sounding irritated.
He didn’t want to bring in outsiders, but without help, there was no way they could move everything. He was clearly torn.
“Alright, go check first. Be careful. Even though most nearby households are empty, better safe than sorry,” Fourth Madam whispered before quickly leaving.
From here to the countryside, it would take over an hour on foot. It was the middle of the night—there were no rickshaws to be found, and she didn’t dare take one anyway.
After she left, Steward Hu brought a ladder, leaned it against the wall on the right, climbed up, then lowered the ladder to the other side and went over.
Once Qu Weiwei could no longer see him, she came out of her space. Afraid of being discovered too soon, she decided to take the valuables out of the chests and store them in her space instead—leaving the chests behind.
Though, seeing that the chests were made of good wood, it felt like a pity to abandon them.
Opening the chests, she found them filled to the brim with large gold bars, small gold bars, gold ingots, and silver pieces. She couldn’t help but admire their strength—each chest must weigh a ton, yet those two had carried them all the way here without stopping.
Qu Weiwei didn’t know which direction led to the granary. But judging by the time, the steward had already been gone for over half an hour—he must have climbed over several walls by now.
As she gathered the items, she carefully listened for any sounds outside, afraid that Steward Hu might return before she could escape.
By the time she finished collecting everything, she was so exhausted she just wanted to lie down and never get up again. Thankfully, she had her space—unless she chose to come out, no one could find her.
Hearing them mention the granary had tempted her, but she was simply too tired to move. Climbing walls was too risky—if she were discovered, it would be over. She didn’t dare take that chance.
She was so thirsty she had no choice but to lazily crawl up, head to the kitchen, pour herself a cup of warm water, and gulp it down before returning to the sofa to lie down again.
From the moment she woke up until now, she had been running nonstop—she hadn’t had a sip of water or a bite to eat. She was completely drained.
After drinking, her fatigue eased a little. But as soon as she lay down, her stomach started growling loudly, making it impossible to sleep. Resigned, she dragged herself back to the kitchen to find something to eat.
There was a refrigeration cabinet in the kitchen, each shelf packed full.
At the bottom right of the cabinet was a control panel like a computer screen. As long as she tapped the dish she wanted, it would appear on a nearby table—making things much easier for someone as small as her.