Liu Minli was staying in the best room of the county’s guesthouse, a space originally reserved for the chief engineer of the hydroelectric plant, Hou Qinghua.

However, due to Hou’s recovery from lung illness at the provincial hospital, the room had been assigned to her.

It was a stand-alone villa, allocated to her after her brother Liu Zaiye pressured the county secretary Deng Gaoming.

Li Chengze had been here several times and knew his way around.

Liu Minli smiled as she stood up. “What would you like to eat? I have some lychees flown in from Yunnan in the fridge. Should I get them for you?”

At that time, domestic refrigerators were not yet in production.

The guesthouse’s only refrigerator was a Minsk model left behind by the Soviets, placed there by Song Qingshan specifically for Hou Qinghua.

After Hou left, the fridge became Liu Minli’s.

“I just want to know if you’re planning to adopt me,” Li Chengze asked again.

“Sweet boy, if you come with me, you can go back to the provincial capital,” Liu Minli said with a smile. “Besides, Su Xiangwan is a bad influence and will only drag you down.”

Li Chengze pursed his lips. “Actually, you probably don’t know this, but our courtyard in Qinzhou has hidden treasures. Could you ask your brother to dig them up for me first?”

No one in this world can resist the allure of wealth. Hearing this, Liu Minli’s eyes sparkled. “What treasures? Tell me quickly.”

Li Chengze replied succinctly, “Aren’t you curious where they’re buried?”

“Then tell me already!” Liu Minli urged.

Hands in his pockets, Li Chengze explained, “You’ve been to our courtyard on Paifang Road, haven’t you? The one with the two old locust trees in front. It’s in the suburbs, at the foot of the mountain—a four-sided courtyard. The treasure is buried in the backyard, near the water cellar, at the two o’clock position.”

He even drew a map, marked the location, and handed the note to Liu Minli. “Be sure not to make a mistake. Two o’clock. Dig it out and bring it back to me, okay, Auntie?”

Liu Minli was 24 years old, and a boy like Li Chengze was young enough for her to try charming him with her feminine wiles.

She pinched his cheek playfully. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring it all back for you. But with the current situation being so tense, what do you need the treasure for?”

Li Chengze casually sat on the bed. “I want to stay in a guesthouse like this. And I want a refrigerator. That way, my Aunt Su wouldn’t have to scavenge for food every day. She could stock up and save herself the trouble.”

In the sweltering summer heat, even in the relatively cool Qingshui County, food left out overnight would spoil.

Having a refrigerator at home would be a dream come true.

Liu Minli had to admit, this kid’s wishes were remarkably simple.

“Still want the lychees?” Liu Minli asked.

Li Chengze eagerly stretched out his hand. “Yes, please! Can I have a little extra?”

Liu Minli grabbed two handfuls of lychees and stuffed them into his pockets. “Greedy little thing.”

Li Chengze stuck out his tongue before darting to the window, ready to climb out and run away.

However, just as he stepped out of the guesthouse courtyard and began to sprint, someone grabbed him.

“Uncle… Uncle?” Li Chengze stammered.

Then, hearing a light laugh, he added, “Second Uncle?”

Sure enough, Song Qingshan and his brother Song Tingxiu had also left home, intending to investigate Liu Minli’s background.

Song Tingxiu, trained in communications engineering in the military, excelled in eavesdropping and surveillance.

The troupe members were a mixed bag, and Song Tingxiu had been investigating them for a while.

With a phone line in hand, he had connected it to the switchboard at the guesthouse, effectively turning it into an extension line.

This allowed him to monitor all outgoing calls.

For now, however, a more pressing matter than espionage was at hand: it became clear that Liu Zaiye, just over an hour’s drive away, had set his sights on Li Chengze.

“You brat, planning to dig up your backyard? Do you know what kind of person Liu Zaiye is? If he gets his hands on those treasures, do you think he’ll share?” Song Tingxiu scolded, pulling Li Chengze’s ear. “And even if it’s gold, can you eat it? Don’t you worry about getting indigestion?”

At this moment, it was crucial to clarify things.

Li Chengze covered his ears and said, “Second Uncle, there’s no treasure buried in our backyard. I was just angry and wanted to get back at Liu Minli.”

Just then, the internal line rang.

Song Tingxiu motioned for Li Chengze to remain silent as he answered the phone.

On the other end of the line, Liu Minli said excitedly, “Brother, brother, we’ve struck gold! Really! Chengze told me that there’s something buried in his family’s backyard… What is it? Gold bars! Hurry up and go, but be careful, don’t let anyone else dig it up!”

After hanging up the phone, Song Qingshan looked at Li Chengze’s mischievous face, which was trying to suppress a smile, and asked, “Chengze, what exactly is buried in your backyard?”

Of course, it couldn’t possibly be gold, but Song Qingshan needed to know what it was.

This little brat had a deep mind.

Li Chengze replied, “When my grandfather was alive, he had a landmine. It was originally kept in his study, but it almost went off, so he had the guards bury it next to the water well in the backyard. They even made a special box for it.”

“A good landmine, and instead of turning it in, why did your grandfather bury it?” Song Qingshan asked.

Li Chengze explained, “Because my grandfather said that landmine was given to him by the enemy when they fought with bayonets. The enemy had forgotten to pull the pin. After he got it, the war ended, and he couldn’t hand it in.”

That was on August 15, 1945—a loud horn signifying the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.

Li Shizhang was willing to surrender everything, except that grenade.

Because, at the moment of Japan’s surrender, he almost died.

But he managed to grasp life from the jaws of death and witness the dawn of victory after more than a decade of brutal war.

Song Tingxiu, hands in pockets, circled around Li Chengze and said, “Nice work, kid. If Liu Zaiye really digs it up, won’t it…”

With a bang, it would blow to pieces.

“Alright, we’ll continue the investigation, and you, young brat, hurry home.” Song Qingshan said.

Li Chengze, with two full pockets of lychees, rushed back home, in the middle of the night.

He pried open the sleeping Lu Dan’s mouth and stuffed a peeled lychee inside.

He then woke Gou Dan and gave him a peeled lychee too.

The two little brothers had long been used to their older brother bringing them tasty treats.

They grabbed onto Li Chengze, like two little pigs, snoring and returning to their deep sleep.

The next morning, Su Xiangwan got up early, went next door to wake up the kids, and saw Li Chengze holding a wheat straw, sweeping up lychee peels scattered all over the floor.

At that sight, it was clear that he had been over to Liu Minli’s place to indulge in corruption again.

Su Xiangwan raised the broom as if to sweep the floor, but then Lu Dan and Gou Dan each grabbed Li Chengze and said, “Mom, he didn’t steal anything. All of this was given to him by someone else. This brother is so nice; he brings us good things to eat every day.”

Li Chengze stuck out his tongue, stood up, and pulled a big handful of lychees from his pocket. “These are for Zhi Zhi. I really didn’t steal anything. Ask whatever you want, I’ll tell you everything I can. If I can’t tell you, I’ll use my imagination and tell you the rest. Is that okay?”

…

He was once a rich young master, so when he says he didn’t steal anything, that’s just how it is, alright?

Early in the morning, Su Xiangwan woke up a little later than usual.

She didn’t have time to prepare breakfast, so she quickly sent Zhizi next door and then hurried to drop off the two younger ones at elementary school.

In this era, most parents didn’t have the habit of walking their children to school or picking them up afterward.

However, whenever Su Xiangwan had the time, she preferred to do so.

Lu Dan wasn’t very good at math.

Whether at home or on the road, Su Xiangwan would seize every opportunity to give him practice problems. “We bought four fried dough sticks for a total of twenty cents. How much does one cost? How should we divide it?”

Lu Dan, holding a dough stick, began counting, piece by piece: “This one’s five cents, this one’s five cents too, and Mom, yours is probably five cents as well.”

Li Chengze, on the other hand, was a child who could grasp anything instantly, whether it was logic, math, or chemistry.

Watching Lu Dan work through the problem, he looked at him as if he were an idiot.

On the way, Li Chengze took the opportunity to recount to Su Xiangwan his escapade to Liu Minli’s place the previous evening.

“So, you told them your family has gold bars, but it was really to lure Liu Zaiye into digging up grenades?” Su Xiangwan asked.

Li Chengze took a bite of the golden, crispy fried dough stick and grinned proudly. “Exactly! By now, I bet he’s already gone boom!”

The little guy dared not wear his little suit when going out, as it was too hot. Instead, he dressed like Lu Dan and Gou Dan, in a simple coarse vest.

Among the three bald-headed boys, he was noticeably taller.

His shaved head, with its slightly pointed crown, made him look wild and adorably silly at the same time.

“Sure, you got your revenge for now, but have you thought about what happens if Liu Zaiye doesn’t get blown up?” Su Xiangwan countered.

“But grenades are grenades—they’re bound to send him flying,” Li Chengze replied confidently.

“In the provincial capital, Liu Zaiye is a big shot with countless lackeys. Are you sure he’d go dig up the grenades himself?” Su Xiangwan asked again.

Li Chengze suddenly couldn’t eat his fried dough stick anymore. “Then, Mom, what if he comes after me?”

“Do you know what this is called? Playing with fire without knowing how to extinguish it. It’s called inviting trouble upon yourself,” Su Xiangwan said.

By then, they had arrived at the elementary school gate.

Gou Dan didn’t have a proper belt, but even a strip of fabric was tied tightly around his waist, just like Lu Dan’s, so tight it nearly dug into his flesh. “I, Song Xiling, am still young, so I would never play with fire,” he declared.

“So, what do we do now?” Li Chengze asked.

Su Xiangwan gave him a light tap on the forehead. “Hurry inside. Since you call me ‘Mom,’ I’ll handle it.”

“Really?” Li Chengze was skeptical.

After all, Liu Zaiye wasn’t just any ordinary person—he was the kind of figure that even adults in the provincial capital feared.

Just hearing his name was enough to make people tremble.

Otherwise, Li Chengze wouldn’t have come up with the idea of tricking him into digging up grenades in the first place.