Rebirth 1983: Building My Business Empire

Chapter 75: Chapter 69: Found It

Having discovered the secret passage, both Lu Jiaxin and Gu Wenfeng remained composed, but it was Xue Mao who started to get anxious. He pulled Lu Jiaxin aside and whispered, “Sister, did the person who told you about this say if there’s any treasure hidden inside, like gold and silver treasures?”

If there were gold and silver treasures, they would have struck it rich.

After speaking, he feared his words might sound ambiguous, as if he was angling for a share. Afraid that Lu Jiaxin might misunderstand, Xue Mao hurriedly clarified, “Sister, you bought the house, and you found the secret passage. Whatever is found is yours.”

Lu Jiaxin smiled and said, “If it’s gold and silver treasures, we’ll divide everything into three parts, one for each of us.”

She too hoped there would be gold and silver jewelry inside, as it would be easier to monetize. Unfortunately, from what she knew, the secret passage only contained paintings and books; there was no gold and silver jewelry. Otherwise, Sun Xun would have directly sold the gold and silver jewelry for cash instead of selling paintings at an antique shop.

She wasn’t just placating Xue Mao; she genuinely planned to split whatever they found three ways. She had put a great deal of effort into finding these antiques, firstly because she lacked initial funds, and secondly because she didn’t want Sun Xun to undersell the items to foreigners, allowing the treasures to be lost overseas.

Xue Mao wasn’t interested in claiming a share, nor was he happy about Lu Jiaxin offering a portion to Gu Wenfeng, “Sister, one third is too much, just give Brother Gu a little.”

Lu Jiaxin couldn’t help but laugh seeing him worry, “Maybe there’s nothing in there, and the Sun Family just used it to hide from the chaos of war?”

Xue Mao pressed his palms together in prayer, “Buddha, please bless us, there must be treasures inside.”

Once their conversation concluded, they both went outside. Lu Jiaxin’s mind had been occupied with thoughts of the secret passage for the past few days, leaving her with little care for anything else. Now that the passageway had been found, her mind relaxed, and once she went into the yard, she noticed that the wooden planks piled in the corner all had carvings on them. She walked over for a closer look and found that the patterns were very delicately carved, though they had been heavily worn by the passage of time.

Lu Jiaxin called Xue Mao over and said, “Pick out the wooden planks with carvings, and we’ll clean them up when we have some free time.”

Scratching his head, Xue Mao asked, “Sister, what use are these wooden planks besides burning for firewood?”

Possibly due to a professional habit, Lu Jiaxin liked to note down anything beautiful or distinctive. She thought some patterns looked very attractive and wanted to copy them.

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“Just keep them for now, who knows if they’ll be useful in the future!”

Xue Mao didn’t ask any further questions and began selecting the wooden planks with patterns. As for Lu Jiaxin, since she wasn’t up for physical labor, she went back to study English.

Lu Jiaxin was accustomed to taking a nap at noon. To her surprise, when she woke up, Xue Mao told her that Gu Wenfeng had entered the secret passage ten minutes earlier.

Hearing this, Lu Jiaxin quickly went to the bedroom, but she hesitated at the entrance of the secret passage. Thinking she was afraid, Xue Mao said, “Sister, you stay here and keep watch, I’ll go down and check.”

Lu Jiaxin shook her head, “Don’t go down, let’s wait for Brother Gu to come up.”

Xue Mao always heeded her advice. Even though he was so anxious he was practically scratching his head like a monkey, he didn’t go down and just stood guard at the entrance of the secret passage.

Seeing his demeanor, Lu Jiaxin deliberately mentioned what he feared the most, “When we go back to the Forty-nine City, I’ll ask my brother to enroll you in night school. You’ll be expected to study diligently.”

Because she had planned to come to the Ancient Capital, and given Xue Mao’s aversion to schooling, this matter had been delayed. Nevertheless, she would not allow Xue Mao to remain illiterate forever, so going to night school was a must.

Knowing he couldn’t escape it, Xue Mao said, “Sister, I’ll go to night school, but I want to sell breakfast to earn money and support myself.”

Knowing she had to rely on herself rather than always depending on her, Lu Jiaxin only had words of approval and certainly no objections. However, she had to go to Peng City first and then back to the Forty-nine City—she wouldn’t be able to enroll in school until next year.

The two of them were chatting, taking turns speaking, when suddenly there came a faint sound of footsteps from below. They both fell silent immediately and looked down.

After a moment, Gu Wenfeng climbed up, and Xue Mao, somewhat anxiously, asked, “Brother Gu, did you find any treasures in the secret passage?”

Zhao Dajun looked at Lu Jiaxin and, seeing her calm demeanor, said with a smile, “Miss Lu, there were no gold and silver jewelry in the secret passage, just ten camphor wood chests. Eight of them contain books, one is filled with paintings and calligraphy, and the remaining one holds pots and jars.”

Lu Jiaxin knew about the ancient books and paintings but didn’t realize that there were also porcelain items, which must be valuable if the Sun Family’s ancestors placed them in the secret passage. The more she learned, the more she thought Sun Xun was foolish; to sell so many treasures for merely Ten Thousand Green Currency.

Xue Mao asked with some disappointment, “Only books and paintings? No gold and silver jewelry?”

Gu Wenfeng was also surprised when he saw those items but, even if they were only books and paintings, that was still better than nothing: “No, there’s only books and paintings, and some bottles.”

Seeing the disappointment on Xue Mao’s face, Lu Jiaxin chuckled lightly and said, “Gold and silver have a set price, but antiques are priceless. Xue Mao, if those paintings and calligraphy are authentic works of famous artists, they’re worth more than gold and silver jewelry.”

Having said that, she looked at Gu Wenfeng and continued, “Brother Gu, we need to move these items up as soon as possible and then reseal this bed.”

She was worried that if they took too long, the Sun Family might hear the noise and become suspicious.

Gu Wenfeng, too, wanted to move the items out and transport them back to the Forty-nine City sooner. When that was done, his task would be complete. He suggested, “Let the Xue Mao brothers come down with me, and we’ll lift everything up.”

Because the secret passage was narrow, they couldn’t use poles or carry the items on their backs; two people had to lift the items together.

“I’ll go down.”

Gu Wenfeng, reluctant, said, “Miss Lu, it’s pitch black down there. You shouldn’t go down to avoid bumping into something. I’ll get poles and ropes, and once the items are up, you’ll be able to see them.”

Lu Jiaxin still wanted to go down and see the secret passage with her own eyes, to witness this piece of history. Otherwise, she’d surely regret it later on.

Knowing her stubbornness, Gu Wenfeng gave up on trying to persuade her and simply reminded her to go slow to avoid an injury.

After fetching the poles and ropes, Lu Jiaxin followed Gu Wenfeng down. Xue Mao, on the other hand, didn’t go down and stayed on guard; if anyone came knocking, he would be there to answer.

The entrance to the passage was rectangular, about eighty centimeters wide and one and a half meters long. The entrance of the secret passage was more than eight meters from the ground below.

When they reached the bottom, Lu Jiaxin noticed that the passage was about one and a half meters wide at its broadest and narrowest at around eighty to ninety centimeters, with a height of just over two meters. The passage was neatly constructed, and though it was pitch dark, it was a good thing that Lu Jiaxin had planned ahead and bought two flashlights.

After walking about twenty meters, Gu Wenfeng suddenly stopped. He pointed to an arched wooden door on the right, ahead, and whispered like a mosquito, “The items are inside. Be careful when you go in.”

Lu Jiaxin touched the wooden door with her flashlight, thinking to herself that it was astonishing how the door hadn’t deteriorated over the years and wondered what kind of material it was made of.

Gently pushing open the wooden door, Gu Wenfeng bent down and entered. Lu Jiaxin also squeezed in, steadied herself, and shone her flashlight around, discovering a room approximately seven or eight square meters in size, with ten camphor wood chests stacked side by side.