“Ta-da! You can open your eyes now. Which hand do you choose, left or right?”
She hid both hands behind her back.
Xu Xinglin opened his eyes.
His sister was playing a game with him, and that alone made him happy.
Still, he worried he’d guess wrong and end up with nothing.
His little brows furrowed.
“I choose the left hand.”
Xu Nianchu brought out a cup of water.
“You just woke up. Have some water.”
Seeing that it wasn’t a toy, Xu Xinglin wasn’t disappointed at all.
He obediently took a sip.
The moment the water touched his lips, he realized it tasted different from ordinary water.
It was pleasantly sweet, and as it went down, a refreshing sensation spread throughout his body.
“Big Sis, did you put sugar in it?”
“Do you like it?”
“Mm!”
After finishing the cup, he already felt much stronger.
Seeing that the Spirit Spring Water had an effect, Xu Nianchu decided she would secretly give him a cup every day from now on.
Once she finished her own cup, Xu Xinglin suddenly asked,
“Big Sis, where did you go last night?”
Xu Nianchu’s expression dimmed.
She reached into a drawer and took out a Gomoku set.
According to the memories she’d inherited, the original owner had planned to give it to her younger brother.
Unfortunately, she’d never gotten the chance.
Then she’d deliver it in her place.
“Wow! Gomoku!”
“But… I don’t know how to play.”
He immediately guessed what had happened.
His sister must have seen him watching other children play Gomoku outside the other day.
That’s why she’d bought one for him.
His sister was so good to him.
His heart felt as sweet as honey.
Glancing at the clock, Xu Nianchu saw it was already eleven.
Time was slipping away.
“Linlin, why don’t you go play in the living room downstairs?”
“Today Aunt Tang is cooking for us.”
“I need you to keep an eye on whether she’s really cooking.”
“If she comes upstairs…”
“…knock all the game pieces onto the floor.”
Xu Xinglin had no idea what his sister was planning.
But in this household, the person he listened to most was always his sister.
“Okay!”
Then he happily carried the Gomoku set downstairs.
While pretending to play, his little eyes secretly kept watch on the kitchen.
The moment her brother disappeared downstairs, Xu Nianchu slipped into the bedroom shared by that shameless couple.
This was the most important room of all.
The novel certainly hadn’t explained where every treasure was hidden.
Fortunately…
She had her own method.
Earlier that morning, while searching for valuables, she’d accidentally discovered something.
Whenever something valuable was nearby, the little red beauty mark on her wrist grew warm.
The more valuable the object…
The hotter it became.
When she’d collected those piles of jade earlier, she’d truly experienced pain and happiness at the same time.
Without a doubt, this ability would help her uncover every hidden treasure in the room.
Everyone in this world was busy searching for treasure in one way or another.
She supposed she was participating in her own real-life treasure hunt.
After drinking the Spirit Spring Water, she was full of energy again.
The first thing that greeted her upon entering was the enormous wedding bed.
Her grandfather had commissioned master craftsmen to spend an entire year building it.
It was made from premium huanghuali wood, every carved pattern painstakingly perfected.
Even now, the bedding on top was the very same set her mother had used while she was alive.
Xu Nianchu couldn’t help muttering,
“Tang Jinhua really knows how to save money.”
Thinking about that couple sleeping here together every night…
She had the overwhelming urge to shove the entire bed into her space.
Fortunately, she restrained herself.
Now wasn’t the time.
When she left this house, she’d take everything in one sweep.
She wouldn’t leave them so much as a single piece of wood.
Using the warmth in her wrist as a guide, she soon realized there were large hollow spaces hidden behind the headboard and wardrobe.
After locating the hidden switch, she opened the compartments and immediately began removing everything inside.
Compared to the priceless treasures she’d found in the underground chamber…
These were much simpler.
Every compartment was packed with gold bars.
Each one felt satisfyingly heavy in her hands.
Not that she minded.
She couldn’t wait to see the expression on her scumbag father’s face after discovering his entire fortune had vanished.
After hauling away ten full chests of gold bars, she finally encountered something different.
Opening the next chest, she found stacks upon stacks of brand-new Great Unity ten-yuan banknotes.
Lined up neatly, they were a beautiful sight.
After another thorough search, she found mostly odds and ends.
Tang Jinhua’s jewelry box, however, contained quite a few bracelets, earrings, and necklaces.
Many of them looked familiar.
How amusing.
Tang Jinhua had not only stolen another woman’s husband…
She’d even been happily wearing that woman’s jewelry.
Xu Nianchu confiscated every last piece without hesitation.
After clearing away the major valuables, she carefully searched the room again.
When she reached one inconspicuous corner…
The beauty mark on her wrist suddenly became scorching hot.
Pulling aside the hidden panel, she discovered…
Ten bankbooks.
Each contained five thousand yuan.
Altogether…
Fifty thousand yuan.
She had to admit, her scumbag father possessed a strong sense of self-preservation.
He knew not to deposit too much money into a single account.
But did he realize what fifty thousand yuan meant?
It could buy five hundred tons of rice.
Swallowing hard, she tossed every bankbook into her space.
There was no way a mere deputy factory director could have honestly earned that much money.
It all came from the inheritance her mother had left behind.
Just as she was preparing to leave the room, her eyes fell upon the bed once more.
It really was beautifully crafted.
The moment she stepped closer…
Her “treasure radar” heated up again.
…
Looking carefully beneath the bed…
She discovered it was completely filled with stacks of Great Unity banknotes.
Seeing an entire bed stuffed with cash in real life…
The feeling was indescribable.
Her breath caught in her throat.
She nearly had to perform first aid on herself.
Thankfully, she managed to steady herself before floating out of her father’s room as though walking on air.
After another cup of Spirit Spring Water, she continued to Xu Xunle’s room.
Her stepsister was a schemer through and through.
Xu Nianchu was certain she’d find plenty of good things there.
Sure enough…
She wasn’t disappointed.
Judging by the room’s furnishings and decorations alone, anyone walking in would think Xu Xunle was the true daughter of the nation’s richest family.
Many of the ornaments had originally belonged to Xu Nianchu.
Xu Xunle had borrowed them “for a little while”…
And never returned them.
Infuriating.
After collecting all the jewelry, Xu Nianchu glanced at the wardrobe.
The clothes inside were obviously made of much finer fabric than those belonging to the original owner.
She had no intention of wearing the heroine’s hand-me-downs.
But since those clothes had been bought with her grandfather’s money…
She wasn’t leaving them behind either.
She’d rather let them rot inside her space.
Next she searched Xu Tianci’s room.
She found quite a few valuables there as well.
Nothing particularly unusual…
Except for several rather explicit forbidden books.
Flipping through a few pages with her fingertips, she couldn’t help thinking,
This kid really has guts.
Those books…
She generously decided to leave for him.
After thoroughly looting every room in the house, the sound of game pieces scattering across the floor drifted upstairs.
Xu Nianchu immediately hurried back toward the staircase.
At the landing…
She ran straight into Xu Xunle.
The instant she saw her stepsister, she noticed something striking.
Xu Xunle resembled their scumbag father in a peculiar way.
Except she’d inherited his least attractive feature—
A bulbous garlic-shaped nose.
Her entire face looked rather plain.
At best, she could be described as delicate.
Completely different from Xu Nianchu’s striking beauty.
Wait…
The novel had never actually stated that Xu Xunle was her father’s biological daughter.
That explained everything.
How else could a man treat his adopted daughter even better than his own flesh and blood?
Because…
She was his biological daughter too.
And unlike Xu Nianchu’s mother, Xu Xunle’s mother was still alive and useful to him.
People often said that a mother’s status rose because of her children.
But sometimes…
A child’s status rose because of their mother.
Men were practical creatures.
Only when they loved the mother would they truly love her child.
Meanwhile, Xu Xunle hadn’t been able to settle down at work all morning.
Her thoughts were consumed by Xu Nianchu.
If everything had gone according to plan…
Then in this lifetime, Xu Nianchu would never again have the chance to surpass her.
Thinking back to her previous life…
Xu Nianchu had escaped disaster with ease simply because of a childhood marriage arrangement.
Yet she herself had been dragged into the family’s downfall.
Even though she’d been engaged to the son of the textile factory director…
It hadn’t protected her in the slightest.
In the end…
Her engagement had still been called off.