Chapter 168

Chapter 168

Wang Qingfu, thinking about how these two wanted to keep everything for themselves, looked at their backs with eyes full of enmity.

Liu Xiaoe had no time to care about what her husband was thinking. Hearing that it might be Zhou Jiaojiao who deceived her, she cursed in a low voice, "How could she be so heartless? Because of her, I got scolded by her family and even fell into the water."

"And she has the nerve to hide good things from us?"

"Everyone used to praise her, but now..."

Liu Xiaoe wanted to continue cursing, but then she remembered she still counted on Zhou Jiaojiao to bring her luck for having a son, so she immediately shut her mouth.

Wang Qingfu didn't like his wife's cursing, but when she stopped, he found it odd. "Why did you stop talking?"

"We're counting on her for our luck to have a son. We can't curse her," Liu Xiaoe said, still feeling uneasy.

Wang Qingfu laughed in frustration. "Whether we have a son or not depends on me. What do you need her for? Can she give birth to a son for you?"

"Oh, forget it, you wouldn't understand anyway," Liu Xiaoe said, not wanting to explain further to Wang Qingfu.

The two followed Zhou Jiaojiao and Wang Qingqi from a distance.

There wasn't much noise along the way, and they eventually arrived near the pond on the back mountain.

Liu Xiaoe became instantly agitated. "This is the place! I fell into the water right here in this pond on the back mountain."

"She really did hide something!"

"Keep your voice down; don't let them hear you," Wang Qingfu whispered, having guessed along the way that these two were up to something sneaky.

Given the location, the only possibility was the pond.

That pond was deep and filthy, and the water was freezing cold.

If he were discovered now, he would have to join Old Fifth in diving for the treasure.

It would be best to wait until they retrieved it, then appear and claim a share without getting wet.

That was the best plan.

"Qingqi, this is the place. After I fell into the water today, I saw the chest in this pond."

"Hurry and dive in. Don't worry, I've prepared dry clothes and pants for you. When you come up, you can change into them and won't suffer."

Zhou Jiaojiao looked at him tenderly, her tone gentle and considerate, leaving Wang Qingqi with no room to refuse.

Bathed in moonlight, the pond appeared dark green and frightening.

Wang Qingqi, whose head had been clouded by the lure of the golden lock, suddenly came to his senses.

In this weather?

Wouldn't he risk his life?

"Wife, if I dive in and catch a cold, how will I manage my job? The factory values me a lot lately."

"I think I'll soon be promoted to the county. How about we..."

Wang Qingqi wanted to suggest that she dive instead.

But he couldn't say that; he was a man after all.

Zhou Jiaojiao frowned, displeased with his hesitation.

In her dreams, he was always handsome, successful, wealthy, and protective of her—someone she had never seen in the village or even the entire county.

What went wrong in reality?

Tears welled up in Zhou Jiaojiao's eyes as she looked at Wang Qingqi with disappointment. "Didn't you promise to always be good to me?"

"If you won't dive, do you expect me to do it?"

"Or are you willing to call the family and let others share the money?"

"The lock is gold; imagine how valuable the contents must be?"

"Can't you dive for me just once?"

"Don't cry, I'll do it, I'll do it," Wang Qingqi said, feeling overwhelmed. Why did Zhou Jiaojiao always use this against him whenever there was trouble?

If he hadn't said those things, would she have married him?

He had only said them to comfort her, and she took them seriously!

Forget it; he didn't want to give the good things away either.

His family had already benefited a lot from him and his wife.

Wang Qingqi walked to the edge of the water and, under Zhou Jiaojiao's eager gaze, finally dove in.

Zhou Jiaojiao finally broke into a smile through her tears.

After a while, Wang Qingqi came up, looking disgruntled.

Under Zhou Jiaojiao's earnest gaze, he couldn't help but lose his temper: "There's nothing there."

"How could that be? I clearly saw it right there! Did you search in the wrong spot?"

"Anything is possible. I really didn't find anything. I did exactly as you said, under that old tree root, and there was nothing."

"Honey, could you have seen it wrong?"

Wang Qingqi started to climb out of the water; it was freezing, and he was about to cramp up.

"It's impossible! Go down and look again. How could I have seen it wrong?" Zhou Jiaojiao panicked.

Seeing her like this, Wang Qingqi had no choice but to go back into the water with a grim face.

After a while, he came up again, still empty-handed.

"Honey, pull me out quickly. I'm so cold I'm about to cramp up, and I didn't see anything."

"You must have hallucinated after falling into the water, probably because we've been too short on money lately."

Wang Qingqi started climbing out.

"It's impossible! It must be... Right, today wasn't just me who fell into the water, there was also Second Sister-in-law and my Fourth Sister-in-law from my family."

"And the people who saved us might have seen it too."

"That was a box with a lock made entirely of gold!"

Zhou Jiaojiao cried in frustration.

Wang Qingqi, unable to bear the cold any longer, hurried ashore. "I didn't see anything. Let's go home quickly."

"Dad will ask where we were if we're not home for dinner."

Wang Qingqi quickly changed his clothes.

In the background, Wang Qingfu, seeing they seemed to have found nothing, cursed his bad luck!

But he still needed to figure out what happened.

As Wang Qingqi and Zhou Jiaojiao walked back, Wang Qingfu appeared: "Old Fifth, Old Fifth's wife, what were you two doing?"

Seeing Wang Qingfu, Zhou Jiaojiao immediately asked, "Did you take it?"

"Take what? My wife and I were going to check if Xiaoe was pregnant at Old Zhang's place. When we stepped out, we saw you two sneaking away with a bag, so we followed you."

Wang Qingfu pointed to the bag behind them.

Hearing this, Zhou Jiaojiao fell silent. That's right, Second Brother and Wang Qingqi got off work together.

He wasn't wet either, so it couldn't be him.

What was going on?

"I saw Old Fifth go into the water. Did your wife lose something when she fell in today?" Wang Qingfu continued to press.

Zhou Jiaojiao, with a dark expression, hesitated before saying, "Yes, I lost something. Unfortunately, we didn't find it."

"If you didn't find it, then forget it. But Old Fifth's wife, you better have really lost something. Xiaoe already told me about you two going to the mountains."

"Today, seeing you two here, we all know what's going on."

"If it happens again, none of us will be happy."