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Lin Qingmei pushed hard to open the nightstand by the bed and saw a keyhole on the wall.
She took off the key hanging around her neck and inserted it gently. With a twist, a clicking sound followed, and a hidden opening appeared in the wall.
Following the stairs down, she found a door. Lin Qingmei felt around the corner of the wall and pulled out a golden key.
She inserted the key and turned it left three times, then right three times.
If the lock was turned incorrectly, the entire basement would collapse and everything inside would be destroyed.
This secret chamber had been personally built by Grandpa Lin. When he was a teenager, he had saved a descendant of Master Luban at sea. This basement was constructed based on blueprints given by that descendant. Ordinary people would never be able to unlock this chamber.
As soon as the basement door opened, Lin Qingmei was stunned by the mountain of boxes stacked inside.
Wow, could all these boxes be filled with gold?! And those pieces of furniture in the corner—could they be made of rosewood or agarwood?
Huh? This was a letter from Grandpa Lin to the original host. Lin Qingmei found an envelope on the box at the very front.
Sure enough, inside was a letter that Grandpa Lin had written for Lin Qingmei.
The letter recorded in detail the contents of the boxes and the location of another hidden compartment in the house.
The secret chamber held fifty-eight large boxes in total:
There were also:
In addition to the boxes, there was a hidden compartment in the corner.
From the entrance, count to the 4th and 5th bricks, then from there count up to the 6th through 10th bricks.
When Lin Qingmei pulled out those ten bricks, she found a leather suitcase inside.
It was packed full of stacks of large-denomination black ten-yuan notes, each stack containing one hundred bills, totaling one thousand yuan per stack.
Lin Qingmei counted them—thirty stacks, or thirty thousand yuan.
Right now, a jin (500g) of rice cost only twenty cents. A family with ten thousand yuan was already extremely rare—thirty thousand yuan was a huge fortune.
These were meant to be the original host’s dowry, left behind by Grandpa and Grandma Lin. The elderly couple had long been disappointed in their son, Lin Jianshe, and never told him about the family’s wealth.
For all the years Lin Qingmei had been sent here, Lin Jianshe never gave his parents a single cent. Even when they were sick, he never visited.
Grandma Lin never expected that after her death, her granddaughter would pass away too. Now, the contents of the secret chamber naturally belonged to Lin Qingmei.
After moving everything into her personal space, Lin Qingmei left the secret room—and destroyed the mechanism behind her.
There was no need for the secret chamber anymore. Destroying the trigger was safer.
Just as she finished restoring the room to its original state, cries and curses rang out from outside the courtyard.
“Lin Qingmei, you wretched girl, hurry up and open the door! You ungrateful brat with a father but no mother—how could you raise your hand against your elders after all those years of schooling?”
BANG! Lin Qingmei opened the door and kicked Li Chunya flying.
“So what if I have a father but no mother to raise me? If you’ve got the guts, go find Yao Yanfang in the Northeast! Hah, like you’d dare. With that shameless hide of yours that bullets can’t even pierce, what are you afraid of?”
“Lin Qingmei, no matter what, she’s still your grandaunt. How can you raise a hand against her?” Lin Hongjun frowned disapprovingly at Lin Qingmei. A young girl being so violent—how could she ever get married in the future?
Last night, Li Chunya had complained to him and he hadn’t believed her. But just now, seeing Lin Qingmei send someone flying with one kick, he realized this grandniece of his had changed a lot.
“Pah! We don’t have any thief grandaunts in this house. Say what you want or fart it out quickly. Don’t waste my time—I’ve got cooking to do.”
Just seeing these two made her annoyed, and they wouldn’t stop chattering.
Looks like she had gone too easy on them yesterday, or they wouldn’t have the energy to come causing trouble again today.
But wait—didn’t she break Li Chunya’s hand yesterday? How was it working again today? Could there be a miracle doctor in the village?
Her method of breaking bones was unique. A normal doctor wouldn’t be able to set it properly.
Once she figured out who it was, she definitely wanted to meet this so-called miracle doctor. Anyone capable of fixing Li Chunya’s hand wasn’t an ordinary person.
“Qingmei, now that your grandma’s gone, isn’t this house a bit too big for you to live in alone? And you’re an unmarried girl—it’s not safe to be here by yourself. Why not let Youjin come live with you?”
Lin Hongjun had long had his eye on the large house. While his brother and sister-in-law were alive, he didn’t dare dream of it. But now they were dead and only a young girl was left. What did a little girl need such a good house for? She could live in a woodshed for all he cared.
As for his nephew in the Northeast, he wasn’t worried at all. If a man didn’t even return when his parents died, how could he possibly come back for a shabby house in Linjiawan?
“Oh wow, you’re practically throwing your abacus in my face with how loudly you’re scheming! Who gave you the courage to come and ask for my house? If you couldn’t afford to build your grandson a house, then maybe tell him to keep it in his pants! Lin Youjin isn’t my son—why the hell should I let him live here?!”
“You… this is outrageous! I’m your grand-uncle. Since your grandparents are gone, I’ll discipline you in their place!”
Lin Hongjun stepped forward to slap her.
But Lin Qingmei, who had fought zombies all her life, would never let an old man hit her. She directly grabbed his wrist, reversed it, and slapped him across the face, sending him flying.
“I’m telling you two—go home and wash up for bed! Go dream about whatever you want. Trying to steal my house? There’s not just no door—you won’t even get a window! Hah, two old fools trying to bully me with age. Shame on you!”
After scolding the two old scoundrels, Lin Qingmei felt wonderfully refreshed. She never believed in swallowing her anger. There was no way she would live her life feeling wronged.
Lin Hongjun glared darkly at the tightly shut door. He had never been humiliated like this before. That damn girl, abandoned by her own parents, dared to act so arrogantly? Just wait—he would definitely find a way to get rid of her. That house was his.
Li Chunya continued cursing outside the door, every word from her mouth vile and venomous.
Fortunately, Lin Qingmei’s house was in a secluded spot—no neighbors within a hundred meters. Otherwise, they wouldn’t dare be so brazen.
Many in the village had been close to Grandpa and Grandma Lin, but these two were clearly trying to seize the house before anyone else reacted.
As long as Lin Qingmei agreed to give it to them, no one else could stop it.