“Uncle Ren, I’m fine. How have you been feeling lately?”
Uncle Ren patted himself and said, “I’m still sturdy as ever. I won’t close my eyes in peace until I see Yuewei married, with children, living happily.”
Qiao Yuewei’s cheeks flushed. “By the way, Uncle Ren, I came today to ask you something.”
Uncle Ren had been with her grandfather for over thirty years and, as her grandfather’s adopted son, no one knew the Qiao family’s assets better than he did.
“Yuewei, go ahead.”
“Before that, I should tell you something. Don’t get too excited. I found out He Runsong is preparing foreign currency and has even bought a boat ticket.”
“Your cousin wants to take you away? Well, leaving might be fine; the situation is uncertain. A month ago, the Qi family was all sent down to the countryside—but they deserved it. Our Qiao family has been supporting the organization since the early 1930s.”
Qiao Yuewei shook her head. “They did it behind my back.”
“What?!” Uncle Ren’s eyes nearly popped out. “How dare He Runsong!”
Qiao Yuewei patted Uncle Ren’s back. “Don’t get worked up, Uncle Ren. Everything they eat, wear, or use comes from the Qiao family’s money. I won’t let them succeed. Do you know where the deed for the Qiao family mansion is?”
The book only mentioned it briefly. He Runsong had taken enormous assets, but how much was unclear.
Uncle Ren thought for a moment. “The deed is with your adoptive father. Yuewei, do you want it? I can get it for you.”
He brought the deed, and Qiao Yuewei glanced at it before putting it away.
After a moment, Uncle Ren reminded her: “Besides these properties, years ago, He Runsong took many things from your adoptive father. Antiques, paintings, jewelry, all kinds of treasures.”
He didn’t mention that He Runsong had taken them in Qiao Yuewei’s name, fearing it would upset her.
Qiao Yuewei nodded, thinking He Runsong truly was greedy. “Uncle Ren, here’s what we’ll do. This afternoon, go find He Runsong and make sure the whole family comes here tonight. Just say it’s because of Grandpa’s will. If I have to work overtime, I won’t come… You must keep them here for the entire night.”
“Yuewei, what are you planning? Let me do it!”
She didn’t intend to tell anyone else about the space.
“Don’t worry, Uncle Ren. I have a plan. Tonight, you just need to hold them here for me.”
Seeing her confident, Uncle Ren relaxed. “Alright, I’ll go find He Runsong soon.”
“Oh, Yuewei, your adoptive father instructed me to give you a box when you turned twenty. Today is your twentieth birthday.” Uncle Ren patted his head and went upstairs.
Qiao Yuewei glanced at the calendar. March 27—it truly was her birthday.
“Thank you, Uncle Ren.”
He carried a medium-sized box downstairs single-handedly, moving swiftly.
“This is it.” He placed the box on the coffee table.
Qiao Yuewei’s gaze scanned it—a rosewood box. She opened it. The box had two layers. The first layer contained various certificates.
As she picked them up and opened them, her heart skipped a beat. These were things she had only heard her grandfather mention. One photograph, in particular, made her lose control—it was her grandfather in real life!
“Yuewei, don’t be too sad.”
Qiao Yuewei took a deep breath, holding back her tears.
Her grandfather had raised her, both in reality and in the book.
After putting the certificates away, she opened the second layer. Inside were stacks upon stacks of “Great Unity” tickets—various vouchers: meat coupons, grain coupons, cloth tickets, bicycle tickets, watch tickets…
Every kind of ticket imaginable.
Some tickets could only be exchanged locally, not nationwide.
Thinking about her imminent departure from Shanghai, Qiao Yuewei took half the local and national tickets for herself, leaving the rest with Uncle Ren.
“Uncle Ren, these are for you.”
She had a plan: once Qin Xingye’s troops were settled, she would bring Uncle Ren over.
Uncle Ren didn’t take the tickets but stuffed them back into the box. “Yuewei, I have plenty of tickets.”
Ignoring Qiao Yuewei’s protests, he refused to take a single ticket and escorted her out the gate.
“Uncle Ren, I’ll go home first.”
“Yuewei, don’t worry. I’ll handle everything.”
Qiao Yuewei boarded the charcoal-fired wooden cart and got off at the department store.
It was the largest department store in Shanghai—anything you could imagine was there.
Glancing at her industrial vouchers, she decided to buy the large items first. She wouldn’t suffer for a second.
“Hello, I want this Red Light radio, a sewing machine—the Flying Man brand. I’ll also take a women’s bicycle and that electric fan.”
With no cars available besides buses and bicycles, Qiao Yuewei still hoped for a small car—but there were none.
“And a Shanghai-made watch, please.”
Without a phone, she couldn’t tell time—so a watch was necessary.
The clerk mumbled while retrieving the items. Could this girl be serious? Buying so many big-ticket items at once? How much money was this going to cost?
Qiao Yuewei handed over the vouchers and money, then asked, “Can you keep them here for a bit while I come back later?”
“Of course,” the clerk nodded.
She went up to the third floor—the personal care section—picking ten each of Lighthouse soap, violet shampoo, toothbrushes, herb toothpaste, and twenty boxes of Snowflake cream.
These items were easy to handle. She carried them into the restroom and, when she came out, put them into the space.
Next, she headed to the food section.
The food in her space was too modern to use conveniently. She often heard her grandfather remarking that the food of this era was made with real ingredients and almost no additives, which made her a little hungry.
In the food section, she bought five pounds each of White Rabbit milk candy, Golden Rooster biscuits, dried bean sticks, walnut crisps, and malted sandwich cookies.
The clerk finished packing and sighed. What a greedy little girl.
Having used most of her local tickets, Qiao Yuewei returned to the large-item section, borrowed a cart to bring everything to the first floor, and quickly, using the building as cover, transferred the items into the space.
After half an afternoon of shopping, she made one last stop at the post office to send a telegram.
Qin Xingye was currently in the Southern Military District, reportedly near the sea. Qiao Yuewei had loved the sea since childhood—it suited her perfectly.
Still, she was slightly nervous, unsure if Qin Xingye would remember his fiancée of eight years, whom he hadn’t seen.
After sending the telegram, Qiao Yuewei had dinner at a state-run restaurant before slowly returning home.
Looking at her watch, it was seven o’clock. The Qiao mansion was pitch black.
Qiao Yuewei smiled as she entered.
He Runsong and his wife lived on the first floor; the study was next door.
She guessed Hu Xiumei would have put the household registration booklet in the bedroom. She pried open the door and searched their room.
The room looked clean and plain, but Qiao Yuewei didn’t believe it. Valuable things were certainly hidden.
She lifted a pillow and rummaged—her lips curved. Another stack of Great Unity tickets appeared, exactly five hundred. She checked the wardrobe. Aside from the couple’s clothing, there was nothing else.
Her gaze fell on the nightstand, which was locked. She pried it open with an iron rod.
Did they think her eight years of martial arts training had gone to waste?
Inside were several more stacks of Great Unity tickets, along with more vouchers. Qiao Yuewei threw everything into the space. Every single valuable in the house now belonged to her.
Hu Xiumei had been married here for so many years without ever working a day. Where did she get all this money?
After searching everywhere, Qiao Yuewei still hadn’t found a trace of the household registration booklet.
She turned over all the clothes in the nightstand and checked the bed.
Suddenly, her gaze fell beneath the bed.