Chapter 001

Chapter 001

"Children without mothers are truly pitiful. Master Lu took the whole family abroad, but left behind Miss Lu and Young Master Sun. Young Master Sun is not his biological son; he was adopted by the first wife from elsewhere. It's excusable that Master Lu left him behind, but Miss Lu is the daughter of the first wife. Yet, she's treated worse than the children of the concubines. Where's the justice in that!"

"There's nothing to be done. The old matriarch has always disliked the first wife, and the eldest young master passed away at a young age, leaving only an adopted son to carry on the family line. No one is there to support Miss Lu. Fortunately, the first wife died of illness last year. Otherwise, she would have been furious and heartbroken to see Master Lu being so cold-hearted."

"Master Lu, the old matriarch, and the second, third, and fourth wives have all left. Who will pay our wages now?"

"A thin camel is still bigger than a horse. Even if Miss Lu and Young Master Sun are in dire straits, they still have this mansion and some shops outside. Even a single hair from them is thicker than our waists. What is there to fear?"

"Miss Lu and Young Master Sun don't manage the accounts. Master Lu must have taken all the assets with him."

"What are we going to do then?"

"We'll wait until Miss Lu wakes up and ask her. If she can pay us, we'll stay and continue to serve her. If not, we'll go our separate ways."

"That's easier said than done. Working outside or as a servant doesn't pay as well as being in the Lu family."

"Still, we can't serve them for free."

Lu Mingzhu, amidst her confusion, heard the women chattering outside the door. Her head was aching terribly from receiving a large number of memories that didn't belong to her.

Finally opening her eyes, she met the gaze of a boy kneeling by her bedside.

He was about fourteen or fifteen years old, with clear eyebrows and bright eyes, fair skin and red lips, very handsome. His sharp brows added a touch of heroism to his appearance, though his swollen eyes marred his beauty.

He looked anxious, and when he saw Lu Mingzhu wake up, his eyes lit up, "Aunt..."

Lu Mingzhu became more alert and reached out with her right hand, which he wasn't holding, to touch his face, "I'm here, don't be afraid."

"Yes, as long as you're alright, I'm not afraid!" He stopped crying and showed a small smile.

This child was adopted by the original Lu Mingzhu's mother from elsewhere and registered under her deceased brother's name. His name was Lu Pingan, and he was fifteen years old, while the original owner, Lu Mingzhu, was only eighteen, having just graduated from high school and been admitted to university. However, before she could even start school, her father took the whole family abroad and left her and Lu Pingan behind. The shock caused her to faint.

When she woke up again, the soul inside her was no longer the original owner's but Lu Mingzhu's.

She quickly figured out the original owner's family situation.

The Lu family was a major capitalist family in Shanghai, owning factories, hotels, properties, and land. They were among the top fifty richest families in the country, extremely wealthy. Before the liberation, they didn't flee because Master Lu and his sons were busy profiting from the war. Inflation and currency devaluation were partly due to him. After the liberation, he found that their life was unaffected and was even more unwilling to leave his hometown.

So why leave now?

Because Master Lu's uncle, who was a landlord, had his family perish, their land was distributed to the people, and all their gold and silver was confiscated. Master Lu believed that the capitalists might be next.

Therefore, the assets he couldn't take with him, such as factories, hotels, properties, land, and company shares, were gradually donated to the state. Under the guise of serving the country and its people, he posed as a patriotic capitalist while secretly taking all the gold and silver he could carry, along with his family and trusted subordinates, fleeing overseas.

He would rather take his trusted servants than his own daughter, simply because a fortune-teller once said that Lu Mingzhu's fate clashed with Master Lu's and would bring bad luck to the Lu family's fortune.

Master Lu believed this deeply and had been cold to her for many years.

Lu Mingzhu dismissed this idea.

If the original Lu Mingzhu really brought bad luck, the Lu family would have gone bankrupt long ago and wouldn't have the wealth they have today.

They ran away but left her and her nephew with the label of being capitalists' children. It might not affect their lives in recent years, but in a decade or so, they would definitely be in trouble during the movement.

It was now August 1951, and it was sweltering.

Lu Mingzhu believed that she had to take her nephew and leave.

What was most needed for their departure?

Money, of course!

With this thought in mind, Lu Mingzhu got out of bed and opened the door, saying to the three maids still chatting outside, "Don’t worry, I’m still here, and I’ll make sure you get every cent of your wages. Now, those who should cook, start cooking, and those who should clean, start cleaning. If you all stay at home quietly, I’ll give you a bonus."

With her commanding presence, Lu Mingzhu quickly dismissed the remaining three maids with a few words, making them willingly stay and not spread any rumors.

After they left, Lu Mingzhu returned to comfort her handsome nephew.

After dinner and putting Lu Pingan to bed, when night fell and all was quiet, she stealthily left the bedroom like a cat, treading lightly all the way.

The masters of the Lu family lived in a four-story garden villa, occupying a vast area. There were side buildings for the servants to live in, and large gardens in the front and back, collectively known as Lu Family Garden. The windows, furniture, and stairs were all made of top-quality huanghuali wood, exuding a rich, antique charm.

Among them, Lu Father and the matriarch, along with the first wife’s family, lived on the first floor, showcasing their status as the head of the family, while the second, third, and fourth wives lived on the second, third, and fourth floors, respectively.

Lu Pingan was an exception, raised personally by the first wife, with a bedroom adjacent to Lu Mingzhu's.

Lu Mingzhu stepped into Lu Father's bedroom and began rummaging through it.

When Lu Father and the others left, they certainly prioritized packing gold, foreign currency, jewelry, and diamonds, leaving behind heavier items that wouldn’t make it into the luggage. Even if he had packed meticulously, there would still be some overlooked items in the room.

Lu Mingzhu had her eyes on these overlooked items.

Unfortunately, apart from the large furniture pieces, there weren’t many valuable items in the room. Even the famous paintings that used to hang on the walls and the porcelain and bonsai that were once displayed were gone, leaving only a few stacks of cash and some silver dollars in the dresser drawer.

They were likely left behind because they weren’t considered useful to bring.

The first set of RMB had large denominations, mostly 1000 yuan, 5000 yuan, and 10000 yuan, all brand new.

Lu Mingzhu took them and then opened the hidden compartment in the wardrobe and bed.

At that time, wealthy people liked to hide treasures underground or within walls, and many old pieces of furniture had hidden compartments, with secret rooms prepared in the house. Lu Mingzhu knew this because, before her death, the first wife had taken out a lot of gold and silver jewelry from the hidden compartment in the wardrobe of the master bedroom she shared with Lu Father and had also told Lu Mingzhu how to open the secret room.

The first wife had been born with a good fate, destined for wealth and prosperity, benefiting her husband and children. She had been shrewd and capable, and neither the loss of her eldest son, the fate of Lu Mingzhu, nor Lu Pingan's treatment had affected her status in the Lu family.

The fortune-teller had said that the first wife could suppress them.

After the first wife's death and the new government's policies, the Lu family's business had gone downhill. Instead of looking for reasons, they blamed Lu Mingzhu, and the matriarch had hinted several times to her son to drive them out of the house.

Soon, Lu Mingzhu found a small box of gold bars, six large boxes of silver dollars, and the deed to Lu Family Garden in the secret room, just as she had hoped.

The deed was new, and the owner was listed as Lu Mingzhu!

Inside the box of gold bars, she found a letter from Lu Father, hastily written, stating that he had left her forty taels of gold, 30,000 silver dollars, and 10 million cash in the drawer outside, along with Lu Family Garden, enough to ensure her livelihood for the rest of her life. Even though he hadn’t taken her abroad, he hoped this would make up for it.

Lu Mingzhu sneered, then quickly stashed the gold bars, silver dollars, and the deed into her portable storage space.

A few years before her reincarnation, she had obtained a storage space, not very large, about 3 meters high, 13 meters long, and 8 meters wide, equivalent to three spacious tiled rooms. Time stood still inside, and she had stocked it with essential survival supplies, which still occupied half the space.

However, the remaining space was sufficient for her use.

She took out her purchased metal detector from the space and continued searching, soon finding a gold earring set with a red ruby from a corner gap under the bed, presumably lost by Lu Mingzhu's mother two years ago and never recovered.

Soon after, Lu Mingzhu found a diamond ring in the pocket of a coat in Lu Father’s wardrobe.

It was about 4 carats, faintly emitting a bluish light like kerosene fire. It was unclear whether Lu Father had intended it to please a woman outside or if it had been left behind by someone else.

Even though he had a wife and three concubines at home, he still had countless mistresses outside, which was well-known to everyone.

Lu Mingzhu accepted them without hesitation.

Other than that, there was only a worn silver watch left on the bathroom counter connected to the bedroom, which Lu Father had worn. No other valuable items were found, and it seemed like Lu Father had been planning his departure for a while.

Lu Mingzhu then turned and stepped into the old lady's room.

The old lady lived in a smaller bedroom on the first floor, which was spotless. There was not a single silver accessory or half a silver dollar. Even the diamond buttons, gemstone buttons, pearl buttons, jade buttons, and coral buttons on the clothes had been cut off and taken away. Not to mention the antique paintings and calligraphy scrolls that were originally in the room. Only a small amount of cash, unused clothes, bedding, and immovable furniture remained.

Just as Lu Mingzhu thought she would leave empty-handed, she was about to leave when the detector signaled her. She soon uncovered a box of treasures hidden under the teak floorboards behind the wardrobe in the corner.

It seemed to be the old master's collection.

The original body had seen the jadeite ring finger that the old master often wore in the box. There were also 120 gold ingots, seven scrolls of calligraphy and painting, five porcelain pieces, a Chengni inkstone, a Duan inkstone, a jadeite bowl, three pigeon-blood red rubies, four emeralds, six sapphires, a pair of white jade pendants, a pair of white jade braided bracelets, and three entirely green jadeite bracelets, along with a string of jadeite beads.

The old master had passed away very suddenly without leaving any last words. Everyone had searched for a long time but couldn't find his treasures. The old lady was so angry that she cursed, saying he must have given them to some young mistress outside.

Everyone knew that he had once found a piece of jadeite with exceptional color and made three bracelets and a string of beads out of it, but no one had ever seen the finished pieces.

Now, these treasures fell into Lu Mingzhu's hands.

Feeling triumphant, she moved on to search elsewhere.

In Lu Father's study, she first found a two-carat diamond that had rolled into a gap in the corner of the desk drawer. She also found a substantial amount of cash and several dozen silver dollars.

After leaving the first floor, Lu Mingzhu methodically searched each room on the second, third, and fourth floors.