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Afternoon came, and the elderly gentlemen returned home, each with a happy smile on their face upon receiving their respective replies. Their collections were mostly preserved, and even Old Chen’s grandson had good news for him. The smiles on the elderly gentlemen’s faces didn’t fade even during dinner.
Meanwhile, Wang Qian was at home, using a rake to gather some grass for burning. As she stepped out, she heard a commotion on the main road. A large group of people were carrying shovels and shouting slogans about overthrowing the remnants of feudalism and feudal ideology.
Wang Qian paid little attention to their slogans, but she noticed that there were hardly any respectable individuals in the crowd. They were either idlers or ruffians. There were even a few who claimed to be young Red Guards, but she couldn’t see any resemblance. They seemed to be blindly causing trouble under the guise of the Red Guards.
To her surprise, Wang Qian spotted Wang Zhenguo among the noisy crowd. She wondered when he had started associating with these people.
As she observed the crowd from the sidelines, she noticed her grandfather, Wang Deshan, among them. His expression was grim. Wang Qian approached him and asked in a low voice, “Grandfather, what are these people doing? Why are they armed?”
Seeing his granddaughter, Wang Deshan whispered, “Ah, don’t even mention it. This group is going to dig up someone’s ancestral grave. You know the tomb of the Jinshi scholar on the mountain? He was the only high-ranking official from our village, but I don’t know which dynasty he belonged to. It’s just an old saying passed down. These scoundrels are going to desecrate someone’s ancestral grave. Look, your little uncle is also among them. The older he gets, the more foolish he becomes. I can’t control him anymore.”
Grave robbing used to be considered extremely unethical, but times have changed. No one dares to speak up, they can only watch. Wang Deshan was no exception. He couldn’t afford to offend those people, especially since his own son was involved. He was genuinely worried about potential retribution, but he had to keep these concerns to himself. It was not the right time to voice them.
“Qianqian, be careful and don’t go near them. They are dealing with the dead. Be cautious not to invite bad luck. Your young eyes are perceptive, but be careful not to see things you shouldn’t,” Wang Deshan whispered, concerned for his granddaughter.
In rural areas, there’s an old saying that what adults can’t see, children under twelve can. This is especially true for supernatural entities. It’s widely believed that children under 12 are not yet influenced by the mortal world, so they possess a pure heart and can perceive supernatural things. Some also say that children haven’t fully matured, and their “heavenly eyes” are still open, allowing them to see extraordinary things.
Whether this was true or not, Wang Qian couldn’t verify. But given her own rebirth, perhaps the elders’ legends were not entirely baseless.
“Grandfather, I won’t go near them. If what you say is true, they shouldn’t come looking for me. They should go to those who disturb their sleep. I’ll go gather grass now,” Wang Qian replied.
As she observed, she noticed a few children following behind the adults, curious about the commotion. None of the adults dared to follow, likely due to their superstitious beliefs.
The group headed to the mountains in Donggou. Wang Qian was actually quite curious about the tomb of the scholar that the elders had spoken of. So, she chose to gather grass in Donggou and followed the group from a distance.
She couldn’t resist the excitement. Who knows, there might be some antiques and treasures inside. If these ignorant people damaged them, it would be a great loss. After all, such items would be very valuable in the future.
She kept telling herself, “I’m here to protect cultural relics, not to disturb the peace of the departed.”
Carrying a basket and a rake on her shoulder, she followed the group to the mountains. They stopped in front of a dilapidated grave. Wang Qian estimated that although the grave was in ruins, the remaining carved stones indicated that the tomb’s owner had been quite prominent.
The group, without hesitation, began to smash the preserved stone carvings into pieces.
“Brothers, let’s not hold back. We’re eradicating the remnants of feudalism. Smash everything. You guys, go and dig up the graves. Those rich folks used to bully us poor people. Everyone, get to work,” encouraged a young Red Guard, rallying the others to start digging up the graves.
Despite being buried deep, the grave couldn’t withstand the force of so many people.
At that moment, Wang Qian finally understood the meaning of Chairman Mao’s words: “With many hands, the work is light.” The grave, buried so deep, was being dug up by these ignorant people.
She followed the children to the front, where Wang Zhenguo was working hard to shovel the soil from the bottom of the pit.
Peering through the crowd, Wang Qian saw the thick wooden coffin already exposed.
She kept telling herself, “I’m here to protect cultural relics, not to disturb the peace of the departed.”
The group immediately hastened their efforts, watching as the last bit of soil was cleared away. Someone grabbed a pickaxe and began to chip away at the decaying coffin. Due to its age, the coffin was already quite deteriorated and couldn’t withstand the rough handling by these ruffians.
With a loud “crack,” the lid of the coffin was lifted by Wang Zhenguo and a few others. Wang Qian approached to take a closer look. As the lid was tossed aside, she was momentarily blinded by the glint of gold and silver inside. The coffin contained a considerable amount of jewelry and precious metals, but the decayed remains of the tomb’s occupant were all that remained, even the burial clothes had rotted away.
A ruffian standing at the edge of the pit ordered the people inside to bring out everything. Wang Qian noticed the unmistakable greed in his eyes, a far cry from the righteous fervor they had initially displayed in destroying the remnants of feudalism.
Seeing the chaos inside, she felt a twinge of temptation, especially considering the actions of those above. Several people jumped down to join in the looting.
Amidst the confusion, many began to pocket silver and gold. Taking advantage of the disorder, Wang Qian discreetly stashed away some of the items from the tomb, including porcelain and a jewelry box covered by the burial clothes, into her storage space. The commotion distracted the others, and no one noticed the missing items. Those waiting outside, seeing the chaos within, feared missing out and eagerly jumped in to join the looting.
Amidst the chaos, Wang Qian took the opportunity to collect a considerable amount of gold, silver, and jewelry, especially noticing the jade thumb ring on the broken finger of the tomb’s occupant. She couldn’t let them take it, so she silently uttered “collect,” and the emerald thumb ring disappeared into her storage space.
Inside, the situation was chaotic. Some had taken more than they could carry, while others had just arrived and were scrambling to grab whatever they could. The tomb had been turned into a mess, and even the skeletal remains had been trampled and shattered. The children watching from the sidelines were unaware of the value of the items, excitedly clapping their hands and cheering, “Oh, it’s a fight!”
The ringleader inside realized that the situation was getting out of hand. Anxiously, he shouted, “Brothers, stop fighting. Let’s gather everything and distribute it later. Hurry up and clean up. We need to leave here quickly.”
Upon hearing this, the people below fell silent and resumed their search. However, apart from the gold and silver, there was nothing else to be found.
The group of people quickly climbed out of the pit, filling it back up in haste. By this time, Wang Qian had already hidden behind a tree in Donggou, hoping to observe how the spoils would be divided and perhaps seize an opportunity to gain some advantage. However, the group, still shaken from the recent events, left without dividing the spoils on the spot. Disappointed, Wang Qian sat under the tree, watching as they departed. She even glanced at Wang Zhenguo’s pocket, where she suspected there was a considerable amount of gold and silver. However, she couldn’t be sure if he would get to keep it.
The children who had been watching the commotion also dispersed, each going their separate ways.
Wang Qian silently celebrated her successful trip, having acquired a substantial amount of items for her storage space. She carefully inspected her haul: ten gold ingots, five silver ingots, two pearl necklaces, and another necklace whose material she couldn’t identify. As for the thumb ring, it appeared to be made of jade. The jewelry box contained numerous jade pieces, mostly women’s accessories, with few items for men. Regarding the porcelain, she couldn’t determine its age, but it looked quite appealing.
After organizing the items, she buried them in a patch of land where ginseng was grown. She felt a bit superstitious about keeping these items, as they were associated with the deceased. Even if she were to sell them, they wouldn’t fetch much money, as gold and silver were not as valuable in the present time as they would be in the future. Similarly, the antiques were considered worthless by contemporary standards.