sjar Chapter 995 The Situation of the Villa
Chapter 995 The Situation of the Villa
Gui'er quickly smoothed things over, saying, "Brother Wu didn't mean that. He just meant that everyone should be safe and sound." Then she winked at Wu Mingqiang.
Wu Mingqiang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Yes, we're going to have a welcome dinner for Miss today. Go to the kitchen and cook some good dishes."
Gui'er looked around the living room. The radio was gone, the telephone was gone, and even the rosewood sofa and table were gone.
She frowned: "Were all these things moved away by the Ouyang family?"
Dingxiang sighed and said, "No wonder Brother Qiang looks down on Liujin and Sister-in-law Aying. Now that he's here, it's like he's no longer part of our family. He's become the gatekeeper of the Ouyang family."
She and Dingxiang went upstairs again. Dingxiang checked the dressing room and then opened the bedside table. She exclaimed, "All the expensive cheongsams that Miss brought all the way from Jiangcheng are gone! And many of the jewelry on the bedside table were gifts from the second young master to Miss. Also, the things that the second young mistress left for Miss are gone. These heartless people didn't leave a single thing behind. It's like ransacking the house!"
Gui'er examined the safe in the study; there were no signs of it being moved, so it must not have been discovered. She also checked the mirror outside the door leading from the inner door of the dressing room to the secret room; there were no signs of it being moved either, so it must not have been discovered. Although some things were lost, the great wealth was still safe.
At this moment, Wu Mingqiang knocked on the door and came in, asking, "Miss, have you taken stock? Is the loss significant?"
Before Gui'er could speak, Dingxiang complained loudly, "It's all gone! They're even worse than bandits! Not a single thing, not even a tiny gold leaf or a single earring, not even the cheongsams that the second young master had specially made for Miss, which I painstakingly brought all the way from Jiangcheng. You know we've saved money here; Miss hasn't had a single new dress made yet. These clothes could have been worn for important occasions in the future, but now not a single one has been left."
Gui'er smiled helplessly and said, "There's nothing we can do. It's an unexpected disaster. We're lucky we came back safely."
Wu Mingqiang smiled and said to Gui'er, "It's alright, Miss, I have a solution." Then he turned to Dingxiang and said, "Go and check your belongings to see what's missing."
Dingxiang then slapped her forehead and said, "Oh, right, my secret stash of money was hidden in the pillow by the bedside. I left in a hurry that day and didn't take it with me." Then she went downstairs.
Gui'er and Wu Mingqiang also followed them downstairs.
A moment later, Dingxiang ran out of her room, excitedly saying, "Oh my god, luckily I hid it inside my old pillow. That pillow was made from my worn-out clothes. They didn't want it and didn't know that I had hidden my money inside. All the 30 silver dollars I've saved over the years are in there."
Wu Mingqiang said with a smile, "Then you'd better find another place to hide this time."
Dingxiang then realized she had let something slip and smiled somewhat embarrassedly. However, she frowned and said, "What about the things that were taken from Miss? Let me put it this way, even the most expensive items in our pawnshop are probably not worth as much as Miss's jewelry, including the emerald and diamond flower brooch that you gave Miss back then."
Wu Mingqiang was taken aback for a moment, then said in surprise, "Did you bring this too, Miss?"
"Of course, this looks too luxurious. Miss doesn't usually wear it. She only wears it when the young masters get married. But this should be quite valuable. We don't know when we'll be able to go back to Jiangcheng. If it stays in the Marshal's Mansion, who knows who will benefit from it? Of course, we have to bring it with us."
Wu Mingqiang seemed very happy and said to Gui'er with a smile, "Miss, don't worry, I will find a way to get your lost things back."
Gui'er was afraid he might do something rash, so she quickly said, "Money is just an external thing. If we can't get it back, so be it. But we must not cause any more trouble. Although Ouyang Bao's case has been closed, his men may still have lingering concerns. We still need to be careful."
Wu Mingqiang laughed and said, "Don't worry, Ouyang Bao was a terrible person with a terrible temper. Even his closest people were careful to watch his mood. His subordinates were only there for personal gain. Now that he's dead, there's nothing left for them to gain. His men have probably all run away. Most of them have joined Detective Long's team. Now Detective Long is the most powerful Chinese detective in the police station."
Gui'er keenly sensed that Wu Mingqiang still held Long Xing in high regard, so she asked, "So, are you still planning to work for him?"
Wu Mingqiang lowered his head and remained silent for a while before smiling and saying, "Since Miss doesn't like it, I certainly won't agree. However, he did help us after all, and we said we would give him a gift. But we've suffered heavy losses ourselves, and we really don't have any money or valuables to give him as a token of our respect. We still owe him a favor. If he asks me to help him once or twice, I'm afraid I can't refuse..."
Gui'er remained silent. Long Xing was powerful and influential, and she couldn't afford to offend him, especially since he had been kind to her. Even from a social point of view, she couldn't immediately turn against him.
That evening, Gui'er sent Dingxiang away and returned to her bedroom alone. Moonlight filtered through the window screen, casting soft shadows on the floor and making the room quiet.
She walked to the bookshelf in the study. Not a single book was missing, which showed that the Ouyang family did not like reading. She moved the wall clock aside, revealing the safe.
Gui'er opened the safe, and the bankbooks, banknotes, gold bars, and silver coins inside were still in their original positions. It was probably because the Ouyang family had found those valuable jewelry and clothes in her bedroom and thought that was all they had, without noticing the hidden safe.
She breathed a sigh of relief, closed the trunk door, put the clock back in its place, turned around and went into the dressing room, moved the dressing mirror aside, and opened the door to the secret room.
She descended the ladder and arrived at the secret room she hadn't visited in a long time. Everything was still neatly arranged as when she last came here, and she finally felt at ease.
Back in her bedroom, Gui'er lay down on the bed, and her nerves, which had been tense for several days, finally relaxed—everything was still there, which was the foundation for her to establish herself in Hong Kong.
The next morning, Gui'er walked into school with her schoolbag. As soon as she entered the classroom, a classmate came up to her: "Gui'er, you're back from visiting your family? I heard it was your older brother who called to ask for leave. Is everything alright at home? You're really brave. There's a war going on in the mainland right now. I heard it's chaotic and there are refugees everywhere."
Gui'er was taken aback for a moment, then realized what she meant and nodded with a smile, "Everything is fine, thank you for thinking of me." But she wondered to herself, she had no relatives in Hong Kong, so who was this "elder brother"?