Upon entering and taking a look, several dozen rosewood boxes were stacked up neatly.
Looking at the cigarette butts on the ground, Shen Hongrun likely came in often to inspect these treasures of his.
With a rough glance—good heavens!
Antique calligraphy and paintings, bag after bag of Yuan Shikai silver dollars, stack after stack of bundled US dollars, exquisitely styled Rolex watches, cellared aged liquor, whole boxes of Big Black Ten-Yuan notes…
She hit the jackpot, she hit the jackpot! Lin Shuang immediately collected them into her space, wiped away all traces at the end, swept away the two bicycles in the courtyard, and withdrew from the Shen family home.
Though she accomplished so many things, it took her only twenty minutes from start to finish.
Without the slightest delay, Lin Shuang made her way to the Lin family home.
So what if her scumbag dad and stepmother didn’t give her the keys?
Thin iron wire paved the way.
Lin Shuang was even more familiar with this place.
The moment she entered, she collected, collected, and collected all the way from the living room.
A whole set of red sandalwood furniture, full sets of home appliances, and the feng shui jade carving displayed at the corner of the stairs all became her captured spoils.
No, that was returning the items to their original owner!
These were all items her maternal grandfather had acquired one by one back in the day—carved by masters, matchless in the world.
As for Qin Hongwen’s study, Lin Shuang didn’t even look closely: the safe, bookcases, desk, coffee table, as well as the displayed West Lake Longjing and Dahongpao tea were all collected away.
In the room, only a painting of a court lady remained on the wall instantly.
In fact, what originally hung here was a painting of a koi carp repaying a favor.
It was the favorite of both Lin Shuang and her grandfather; every time they looked at it, it made people feel happy.
Back then, she liked sitting on her grandfather’s lap, pestering him to tell strange tales, among which was the story of the koi carp repaying a favor.
Seeing how much she liked koi carps, her grandfather used a rare book from his personal collection to trade with an old friend for that koi picture. From then on, a painting that didn’t match the overall decor hung in her grandfather’s study.
Later, her grandfather passed away, her mother was gone too, and Lin Shuang never had another chance to step into this study.
Following her memory, Lin Shuang took down the painting of the court lady, revealing the flawless white wall behind it.
To anyone else, one truly couldn’t see any trick to it.
However, her grandfather had held her in his arms and personally demonstrated it for her to see.
“Shuangshuang, there’s a secret room here, and it opens like this.”
“Did you remember? It doesn’t matter if you didn’t.”
“This place is merely a blind; it holds a few common items. The good stuff of our Lin family is still underneath this—though you have to enter and exit from another place you’d never expect.”
Lin Shuang’s head suddenly throbbed, and a set of somewhat blurry memories rushed into her mind wildly.
The secret room was opened, revealing several dozen rosewood boxes stacked together, but the curio shelves and storage racks along the wall were all empty.
When her grandfather was alive, various antique jade ornaments were all placed on the display racks.
Looking at the footprints on the ground, they were disorganized, yet all shared the same shoe size.
Evidently, it was only after Qin Hongwen decided to go to Hong Kong that he packed the boxes, preparing to transfer them.
Opening a few randomly to look inside: small gold ingots, jewelry, antique calligraphy and paintings, Big Black Ten-Yuan notes, along with several stacks of US dollars, and multiple property deeds and land titles. It appeared he had made thorough preparations.
Lin Shuang considered herself fortunate to have returned in time; with a wave of her hand—collect, collect, collect—it all entered her space.
Not a single room was spared.
In Lin Lanlan’s room, the nightstand was piled high with jewelry, several pieces of which belonged to her mother at a glance; Lin Shuang collected them all into her space.
The clothes and bags Lin Lanlan liked were collected together with the wardrobe, and the bed as well; very soon, the room became empty.
Next was the twins’ room, which was cleared out similarly. There was no jewelry inside, but there were over a dozen gold watches and over a hundred pairs of imported leather shoes—collect, collect, collect.
In the master bedroom, Lin Shuang didn’t hesitate to be ruthless this time: the money, coupons, jewelry, and small knick-knacks in the nightstand drawers were all collected away together with the nightstand.
As long as it was visible, Lin Shuang didn’t care whether it was valuable or not, collecting it all to anger them to death.
Finally, following the memory she had just retrieved, Lin Shuang pried open the floor tiles in the utility room.
Revealing a two-square-meter opening, Lin Shuang went down the stairs to the basement.
Who could have thought that with her grandfather’s layout, anyone who came would return empty-handed.
Turning on the flashlight prepared beforehand, what caught her eyes were over a hundred large boxes, all made of red sandalwood.
Opening a few randomly to look: neatly stacked large gold ingots, medium gold ingots, small gold ingots, gold peanuts, silver peanuts, gold leaves, gold jewelry, a box of pearls that looked extraordinary at a single glance, antique calligraphy and paintings, large gold bars, small gold bars, gems and jewelry, master-carved jade ornaments, Su embroidery, precious fabrics, ancient books, a box of land titles and property deeds…
Lin Shuang was dazzled by the sight. No wonder her grandfather hadn’t turned these things in as well; the quantity was simply far too massive, and he didn’t dare to hand them over at all.
Suppressing her sorrowful emotions, Lin Shuang collected them with a flurry of swift actions.
Suddenly, she recalled a certain box her grandfather had spoken to her about, which was also the box he was proudest of.
“Shuangshuang, this thing must be kept safe. At a critical moment, it might save your life and your mother’s life.”
Lin Shuang searched through her space, when she suddenly saw a koi carp drawn on top of one box.
Without looking closely, one couldn’t see it at all.
Yet Lin Shuang felt her nose go sour, remembering how her grandfather had held her hand back then to teach her how to draw little koi carps.
What was drawn on the outer side of the box—wasn’t it precisely the ugly koi carp she had drawn for the very first time back then?
Opening it up to look, inside were various certificates stacked neatly.
The most eye-catching was an account ledger wrapped in red velvet cloth at the top. Lin Shuang flipped through it roughly: it was all the property and materials her grandfather had donated over the years, the quantity of which was astonishing. Calling it wealthy enough to rival a nation based on these alone wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
No wonder!
Enduring the surging emotions, Lin Shuang returned to the ground level.
Calculating the time, it was almost here!
In the book, several households suffered burglaries tonight; the culprits not only stole property, but also set a fire to erase all traces.
Leaving nothing for people to investigate, it became an unsolved case.
Lin Shuang originally speculated it was Lord Ting, but Lord Ting had already been taken away by Zhuang Zhiyuan.
Therefore, whether it was or wasn’t, she would know in another three minutes.
Lin Shuang made dual preparations, creating traces of destruction inside the Western-style building to simulate a culprit’s break-in.
Once the three minutes were up, Lin Shuang indeed saw the situation from the rooftop; before long, several fires soared into the sky, exceptionally glaring in the dark night.
Lin Shuang lingered no longer, swiftly setting the woodshed ablaze.
Right, she almost forgot something.
The severance document was given to Qin Hongwen, but she didn’t know whether he had signed it or not.
While Lin Shuang was thinking, she searched through her space using her mind.
Only she hadn’t expected that while the severance document was found, it was located among Shen Linfeng’s miscellaneous belongings.
Could there really be a master calligrapher of imitation? Was it Shen Linfeng?
Thinking of this, Lin Shuang carefully flipped through all the paper in Shen Linfeng’s room.
Very soon, Lin Shuang turned up a stack of scrap paper that Shen Linfeng had used for practicing imitation.
Inside were various styles of handwriting, among which was Qin Hongwen’s.
Attached was a letter written by Qin Hongwen to someone outside, which should have been intercepted by someone.
The handwriting on the severance document was identical to the signature on the letter paper.
Regardless of who signed it, Lin Shuang folded it up neatly and put it in her pocket.
Additionally, Lin Shuang also discovered over a dozen letters written by the original host to Shen Linfeng, and among the scrap paper pile, she also found the corresponding dowry application form, with handwriting identical to that in the original host’s letters.
A female version of wild cursive script!
Meanwhile, back at the engagement party.
The twins had calculated the timing, and the two of them teamed up to perform a show.
Lin Hao: “Where’s Lin Shuang? Going to the restroom for so long—could something have happened to her?”
Lin Chang ran over frantically at this moment: “This is bad! Something happened to Sister Shuangshuang, she…”
His hesitant, half-said manner hooked the appetites of quite a few people.
Those who cared about Lin Shuang felt resentment in their hearts, worried that the Lin family was acting dishonestly again.
Those with more distant relationships were entirely watching the drama, thinking that taking more gossip back tonight would supply their mental food for half a year.