Chapter 28: Valuable Treasure

Chapter 28: Valuable Treasure

The new bride wasn’t brought home, and the family was raided. The entire family was paraded through the streets with wooden boards hung around their necks using wire.

It was absolutely devastating.

Since then, all the surrounding families took it as a warning. For example, Tan Aizhi, who likes to keep her home neat and tidy, noticed that the portrait in the living room had turned yellow and looked unattractive, so she bought a new one to replace it.

But she didn’t dare throw away the old one, carefully storing it away, fearing that it might inadvertently cause trouble again.

Song Baili: "This incident is quite suspicious. I suspect it might be the work of enemy spies trying to stir up trouble. I’ve already reported it to the public security bureau. You all must also be mindful of your words and actions to prevent lawbreakers from taking advantage."

Song Xilan nodded eagerly: "Mhm."

Suddenly, she wondered if this could be an important plot point. Maybe the live comments could give her some spoilers, so she quickly brought up the live comments in her mind.

"Song’s dad is really on the ball. When Jiang Jingru was scheming, I was really afraid their family would just casually sell the treasure!"

"That was the first big break for the female lead’s career development in the original plot. No wonder Jiang Jingru was eyeing it!"

"Actually, now that Song Xilan isn’t following that path anymore, she doesn’t need that money. It might not be a bad idea to give it to Jiang Jingru, who needs the money to start her business!"

"What kind of do-gooder are you? Since you’re not starting a business, why don’t you do a good deed and donate all your family’s savings to help other young people who want to start a business but lack funds!"

Seeing Jiang Jingru’s name, Song Xilan immediately became alert. Could there actually be some treasure in her house? And could this treasure be related to the portrait?

"Mom, Dad, do we have some valuable treasure hidden in our house?"

Tan Aizhi: "Isn’t our treasure you?"

"Ah, I’m not talking about that. I mean a real treasure that could be sold for a lot of money."

Tan Aizhi touched her forehead: "You don’t have a fever. Why are you acting silly again? What kind of treasure could a family like ours possibly have?"

"What about the portrait? Besides the one on the wall, do you still have the one you replaced earlier?"

Tan Aizhi scratched her head: "I don’t think so."

Song Baili suddenly said: "I remember Lan Lan has one, not as big, about the size of a book." As he spoke, he gestured the size of a book. "It’s also in a frame. An old professor gave it to you when you were a child."

Tan Aizhi: "That’s right. You always said that the old man who cleaned the toilets at your school was pitiful, and you often sneaked food from home to give to him. Later, when the old man was leaving, he gave you a framed portrait. Do you remember?"

Hearing her parents mention it, Song Xilan also remembered. It was when she was in elementary school. An old man who cleaned the toilets came to the school, with a shaved head, said to have been sent down from Beijing for labor reform. For some reason, he ended up cleaning toilets at their school. The children were both scared and intrigued by him.

Some mischievous kids would deliberately provoke him. He usually ignored them, but if pushed too far, he would chase them with a dirty broom.

Song Xilan, being gentle, was often bullied. Once, while in the restroom, she was cornered and bullied by a group of mean girls.

It was the strange old man who shouted from outside, scaring the mean girls away. He then silently followed the crying Song Xilan home, only leaving after seeing her enter the dormitory compound.

Song Xilan told her parents about it when she got home.

Song Baili was furious. The next day, he went to the school to complain to the teacher, issuing a stern warning in front of the entire class: anyone who dared to bully his daughter again, regardless of age, would be dealt with severely.

Tan Aizhi, on the other hand, sighed softly and told Song Xilan that the old man wasn’t a bad person, but a poor soul, and urged her not to throw stones or spit at him like the other bad kids.

Hearing that the old man often squatted by the faucet next to the restroom, eating dry buns with cold water, Tan Aizhi took some food from home and had Song Xilan secretly give it to him, making sure no one else saw.

The old man ate the food Song Xilan brought for several years, at least he didn’t starve to death.

In the year Song Xilan graduated from elementary school, the old man was said to have been politically rehabilitated and was about to leave. Before he left, he gave her a photo frame with a portrait of a revered leader inside.

Song Xilan took it home to show her parents. The couple saw it wasn’t valuable and didn’t carry any political implications, so they let her keep it.

At first, Song Xilan displayed the frame on her desk for a few years. Later, while cleaning up, she packed it away without much thought. It had been so many years since she last saw it that she had almost forgotten about it.

Thinking of this, Song Xilan hurried into her room and rummaged through her belongings. Finally, she found the dusty frame in a box containing her middle school textbooks.

"Mom, just now you said the person collecting these portraits mentioned that the older they are, the better, and if they come with a frame, that's even better. Could they be after this one I have?"

Tan Aizhi glanced at Song Baili with a puzzled look: "It can’t be that much of a coincidence, right?"

But Song Baili said, "Among those who were exiled back then, there were some influential figures. It wouldn't be strange if they secretly held onto some valuable items."

"That old man was so poor he was almost starving to death. What could he possibly have of value? Besides, if he really had something valuable, why would he just give it to Lan Lan, a child, without any explanation? What if the child didn’t know better and tossed it?"

"This item might have been hard to reveal at the time, and it wasn't convenient for others to know about it. So, it was hidden in the portrait of the revered leader, and we shouldn't casually throw it away."

Tan Aizhi, who had been holding the frame and examining it carefully, now felt like she was holding something risky, unsure whether to keep it or discard it: "What should we do now? Has someone discovered we have this? Could this thing harm us now?"

Song Xilan knew that Jiang Jingru was after this item, so she wasn't as nervous, but she was indeed very curious and looked eagerly at her father.

Song Baili remained relatively calm. He specifically went to check the door lock and drew all the curtains in the house: "Let's see what's inside first."

The family gathered around the dining table, acting secretive, heads close together. Song Baili held a screwdriver in his hand: "Should I open it?"

Tan Aizhi and Song Xilan nodded solemnly: "Open it!"