No… there isn’t?!

No?!

Impossible, impossible, how could there be nothing?!

Lin Kesheng confidently reached inside, but ended up grasping at empty air.

Yes, it was empty.

The hollow beneath the bed frame used to be stuffed full of bundles of banknotes—he could always feel them by reaching in.

But now, he couldn’t feel a thing.

In the bitter cold, wearing cotton clothes, Lin Kesheng’s forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his face looked incredibly grim.

He pulled his hand back, thought for a moment, then trembling, he tried to lift the entire bed frame.

To his surprise, he could lift it…

He lifted it!!!

Easily, without much effort at all!

Lin Kesheng’s face went pale instantly, and his whole body shook even more violently.

Then, in the next moment, he started disassembling the bed, piece by piece, pulling them apart and searching through each part.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

The bedboards felt light, and the bed frame wasn’t nearly as heavy as he had imagined.

Unwilling to give up, Lin Kesheng lifted each board, only to find emptiness beneath them — all empty.

Thump!

It was over.

Gone.

The yellowfish was gone, and so was the money.

Then…

Lin Kesheng thought about other places in this room where he might have hidden things. Hastily, scrambling and crawling, he began digging and prying in the corners…

Empty, nothing — someone had already taken it all.

It was over, truly over this time.

His stash of gold, silver, jewels, antiques, and all kinds of money notes had been silently stolen.

Lin Kesheng collapsed to the ground, trembling all over, his heart shattered.

Everything in this room was gone; the other two rooms wouldn’t have escaped either. He didn’t even have the courage to check.

He didn’t know how long he sat there.

Suddenly, something must have occurred to him, because he sprang up and rushed out, grabbed his bicycle, and hurried away.

Soon, he disappeared into the night.

In Shaanxi Alley.

Lin Kesheng appeared again, face twisted in fury.

He immediately rode his bike to the house where he’d hidden his belongings, ignoring the bike this time, and picked the lock to get inside.

But less than an hour later, he staggered out.

His face was a hundred times paler and more haggard than when he went in.

Lin Kesheng didn’t say a word.

He shut the courtyard gate behind him, pushed his bike against the wall, mounted it quickly, and sped away.

Twenty minutes later, at Baishun Hutong, Lin Kesheng stood before his last secret hideout, hesitant and almost afraid to go in.

He feared this house would be like the other two — empty. Yet deep down, he already knew the truth.

After standing there for a while, he finally opened the door with resignation and stepped inside, walking slowly toward the inner room.

He didn’t even need to dig for his hidden stash; just by trying to lift the bed, he would know the outcome.

And sure enough…

Nothing.

Everything had been stolen.

Not a single thing was left.

Lin Kesheng cried, collapsed inside the room, too weak to stand again.

He didn’t know how long passed until he heard the sound of roosters crowing outside, and the sky began to lighten.

After a night of running around and suffering a huge blow, Lin Kesheng painfully got up from the floor and stumbled out.

Years of hard work had come to nothing.

He hated the damned thief who had stolen all the gold, silver, treasures, and antiques from his houses — he wished he could tear them to pieces. But he didn’t even know who the culprit was, or how many there were.

No, he didn’t even have a suspect. He didn’t know who to suspect.

“Old Lin, what’s wrong?! What happened to you?!”

Someone was pounding forcefully on the door. Xie Aizhen, who hadn’t slept all night, rushed out to open it, only to see her husband looking pale and defeated, staggering as if he might collapse at any moment.

“It’s over, it’s all over, gone, all gone.”

Lin Kesheng looked at his wife in a daze, muttering to himself. Then he pushed her aside and, like a lost soul, began walking back toward the room.

But halfway there, he suddenly collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.

From behind him came Xie Aizhen’s panicked scream.

“Ah, Old Lin…”