Chapter 21: The Indictment (Part 1)

Her father was furious, but the daughter remained calm, unfazed. She asked again, “Dad, don’t you find it strange? If I’ve never seen that gold tobacco box, how would I know there’s a glass marble stuck inside?”

Chen Fanshi was no fool—he had managed to forge strong relationships with military leaders, after all. He quickly realized that Chen Yufeng must have already visited the museum, seen the gold tobacco box, and confirmed that the glass marble was indeed inside. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have spoken with such certainty.

After acquiring those antiques, he had always handled them with extreme caution. Before handing them over to the military district, he hadn’t dared to tamper with them. The museum staff, responsible for verifying and appraising artifacts, would have conducted a thorough inspection. However, if a glass marble was stuck inside the tobacco box, they likely wouldn’t have removed it to avoid damaging the relic.

Despite feeling guilty towards his daughter and wanting to make it up to her, he had to stand his ground on this matter.

Frustrated that his daughter wasn’t giving him any face, he hurriedly tried to cover up, “Feng’er, now that I think about it, there was a glass marble stuck inside the tobacco box, but I must have accidentally put it there myself. It wasn’t you.”

Unable to get up due to Han Chao pressing down on his shoulder, he turned and smiled at Commander Xu and Director Ma, saying, “Although Yufeng has never seen the antiques, I did mention the glass marble in the tobacco box to her. That’s how she knows. She’s just resentful that I divorced her mother back then and didn’t bring them to the city with me, so she’s venting her anger on me.”

Director Ma sat back down. After all, he and Chen Fanshi had known each other for years. At this moment, he chose to believe him.

In his eyes, a grown man—a seven-foot-tall, respectable man—couldn’t possibly be lying.

When he looked at Chen Yufeng again, his gaze dimmed.

After all, she had openly positioned herself against her father.

Now, if one side was to be believed, the other would automatically be condemned as a greedy, heartless person who disregarded family ties.

Han Chao and Commander Xu exchanged glances but remained silent.

Chen Fanshi had managed to cover his tracks. Though he felt guilty toward his daughter, he had no other choice. He couldn’t afford to lose face in front of the military leaders. Right now, he told himself, he would make it up to her later. But for now, he had to save his own reputation.

He figured that Yufeng would be so enraged that she’d burst into tears.

He was even prepared to offer her a handkerchief to console her when she did.

But to his surprise, instead of crying, his daughter chuckled. “Dad, you really are foolish. A glass marble is so big—do you really think the museum staff wouldn’t remove it? I didn’t put a glass marble in the tobacco box. What I placed inside was Ginseng Doll—right in the spout of the pipe.”

The “gold tobacco box” was actually a water pipe. It had a compartment for water, a section for tobacco, and a thin spout on one side. You lit the tobacco on one end and inhaled from the other, adding tobacco while smoking.

The spout was so narrow that if you folded a piece of paper and rolled it in, it would get stuck.

Chen Yufeng had squinted at that pipe for a long time in the museum. What she had seen stuck inside the spout was, indeed, a tiny piece of paper.

And from the color of the paper, she recognized it—it was the very Ginseng Doll she had placed there.

She had already predicted her father’s shamelessness, that he would deny everything and change his story. That’s why she had deliberately used the glass marble as a decoy.

At that moment, the air in the room turned ice-cold.

Director Ma’s expression darkened as he stared at Chen Fanshi.

Commander Xu remained outwardly composed, but even his breathing seemed to pause for a second.

Chen Fanshi looked as if he had been struck by lightning. His hands trembled violently as he fumbled for his cigarettes, struggling to light one with shaking fingers.

Across from him sat three soldiers, all in crisp white shirts, green trousers, and neatly trimmed crew cuts.

Commander Xu barely knew him, while Director Ma had shared countless drinks and even played chess with him.

And yet, in front of these two men, he had been utterly outmaneuvered by his own daughter.

Director Ma sucked in a sharp breath, his gaze toward Chen Fanshi now filled with contempt.

With a flick, he struck a match—intending to light his cigarette—but accidentally set fire to his own eyebrow.

He didn’t even realize it at first.

Not until the fire spread to his hair, and the acrid smell of burning hair filled the air, did he finally panic and start slapping at the flames on his head.

The three soldiers watched him, and his daughter watched him too. Chen Fanshi frantically patted out the fire, and with a loud clatter, his glasses fell off the table.

He hurriedly bent down to pick them up.

His legs were weak, and his feet slipped. Just as Han Chao loosened his grip, Chen Fanshi collapsed onto the floor. Flustered, he struggled to get up, reaching for the table for support—only to accidentally knock over a cup of scalding hot tea. He almost screamed from the burn but managed to stifle it. Instead, he scrambled to his feet, finally steadying himself.

What he didn’t realize was that his head was now covered in tea leaves, his hair was a mess, and he looked ridiculous—like a comically disheveled version of pop star Aaron Kwok.

The three soldiers sat upright, still staring at him coldly. Even now, Commander Xu hadn’t exhaled that breath he was holding in.

As for Director Ma, his closest acquaintance, not only did he not help him up, but he even subtly shifted away, increasing the distance between them.

There’s an old saying: “A man will die for wealth, just as a bird will perish for food.”

And when it comes to antiques and relics, they have always been the easiest source of family disputes.

Director Ma seemed to want to say something, but Commander  Xu silenced him with a look.

Clearing his throat, Commander Xu asked Chen Yufeng, “Are you certain there’s a small piece of paper inside the gold cigarette case? And that you were the one who put it there?”

To Chen Yufeng, this matter had already come to an end.

After all, these two officials had only come to her home for a taste of home-cooked food. Outside of work, leaders were just ordinary people. The military district wasn’t a dictatorship; no single person could make decisions for her.

At most, Commander Xu and Director Ma were merely witnesses. She hadn’t expected Commander Xu to actually intervene.

But since he had, this was an unexpected surprise.

Without hesitation, she handed over the illustrated book and said, “As long as no one has cleaned it out, it should still be there. It came from this book right here. This is an illustrated book I brought from my hometown. The marks left from cutting out the paper match exactly with the shape of the ginseng doll stuck inside the cigarette case.”

Commander Xu glanced at Director Ma, who chuckled and said, “Why are you looking at me?”

Commander Xu’s lips curled slightly. “You know Director Wang from the museum.”

Director Ma was usually all smiles and quite easygoing, but in that instant, his expression hardened. In a low voice, he snapped, “Xu Yongyi, I am a human being, not a beast.”

To Commander Xu, this sentence was nothing out of the ordinary.

But to Chen Fanshi, it felt like a resounding slap across the face.

…

Imagine a little girl, cutting out her most cherished doll and tucking it into an antique, then watching her father leave, hoping he would return to take her with him.

How must she have felt?

Director Ma didn’t have a daughter himself, but he had always wished for one.

He didn’t understand why Chen Fanshi had treated his daughter and ex-wife this way, but at that moment, he classified Chen Fanshi as nothing more than an animal.

If it were him, he would have returned, embraced his daughter tightly, and never left her again.

Commander Xu turned back to Chen Yufeng and asked, “Comrade Chen, the museum’s exhibits cannot be moved without the director’s authorization. Even if something is handled, it is always photographed and documented. So the item will still be there. Regarding this matter, do you have any demands of the military district, or do you want to settle it privately with your father?”

Since she had deliberately brought this up at the dinner table, she must have had a reason—she had a plan.

Chen Yufeng thought to herself: No wonder Han Chao gets along well with Commander Xu. He really does have a righteous and chivalrous heart.

A man of integrity.

Chen Fanshi’s heart was pounding in his chest. He knew his head was covered in tea leaves and that he looked like a drowned rat.

But he couldn’t care less.

He had always been proud and dignified, but now, he gazed at his daughter with pleading eyes.

When Director Ma looked at him with disdain, all he could think about was—what if Commander Luo or other leaders he knew looked at him the same way? What then?

He wasn’t just some upstart tycoon—he was a scholar. He loved money, yes, but he loved his reputation even more.

Chen Yufeng glanced sideways at her father, bit her lip, and said, “I’ll think about it.”

“You want to handle this on your own?” Commander Xu asked.

“I appreciate your help, but I need to settle this myself,” Chen Yufeng replied.

At that moment, it was as if a drowning man had suddenly been given a breath of air. Chen Fanshi let out a huge sigh of relief.

His daughter still loved him, after all. She had spared him.

Commander Xu slid a television voucher across the table. “I really enjoyed this meal. Take this.”

The military district’s benefits were good—grain, oil, and even large household appliances were provided.

But with the major military downsizing in recent years, finances had been tight, and large appliances had become harder to distribute. Technically, Han Chao was also entitled to a television, but the logistics department had been withholding it.

This voucher was likely Commander Xu’s personal one. And right now, even the highest-ranking officers valued televisions.

“I really can’t accept this,” Chen Yufeng said, trying to return it.

Commander Xu grabbed his coat from the sofa, preparing to leave. “Just keep it. I live alone, and I don’t have time to watch TV anyway. It would go to waste.”

Since he was leaving, Director Ma naturally followed, and Han Chao escorted them out.

Now, only Chen Fanshi and Chen Yufeng remained in the room.

Earlier, Chen Fanshi had been drinking happily, feeling tipsy and carefree. When his daughter brought up the antiques, he had assumed—because she wasn’t well-educated and was naïve—that she was trying to pull a “Dou E’s injustice” act, hoping the officials would intervene on her behalf.

But she didn’t.

Then was it about dissatisfaction with the division of shares? Was she trying to extort some money from him?

Sure enough, Chen Yufeng suddenly smiled and said, “Dad, you’re really rich now, aren’t you? Drinking Wuliangye, smoking Zhonghua cigarettes. Look at me—I’m still wearing synthetic leather shoes.”

That one sentence made Chen Fanshi realize: His daughter hadn’t staged this banquet for a mere family reconciliation—she was forcing him to pay up.

In truth, Chen Fanshi did have money.