Chapter 46: Emptying the Enemy's Home and Marrying a Tyrant 2
His daughter used to be very innocent and didn't have so many schemes.
Regarding the matter of severing ties, she definitely wouldn't agree. How deep the feelings were resided in the hearts of the family, not on a piece of paper. What truly mattered was protecting the Quan Corporation.
After a quick dinner, Ning Dad called his daughter, pushed his bicycle, and headed out.
The Ning Family's ancestors had produced high-ranking officials. Otherwise, they wouldn't have become famous merchants after the Qing Dynasty's collapse, and later contributed significantly to the War of Resistance, becoming well-known patriotic merchants.
Although most of the Ning Family's visible assets were handed over after the founding of the nation, who wouldn't keep a backup plan?
Soon, the father and daughter arrived at the first hidden treasure spot.
"This house is registered under your third uncle's name. He went missing on the battlefield, and I never reported him as deceased, which is why this house could be kept.
Normally, I store all the grain and rice I've saved in the basement here."
The two entered the courtyard, removed a brick from the stove, and a downward staircase was revealed in the middle of the kitchen.
They walked down over twenty steps before reaching the bottom. Looking around, the room was filled with large water vats, each taller than a person, covered with tightly sealed lids. They likely contained grain.
On the shelves nearby, there were many red and white sugars, milk powder, milk candies, fruit candies, and even hung cured sausages and bacon. Several large bags of salt were also present.
"Dad, you collect those, and I'll collect the grain."
Ning Dad didn't stand on ceremony. His wife's health wasn't too good, and she couldn't manage without nutrition. Milk powder and the like could be drunk just by mixing with water, no need to worry about the taste, so he naturally wanted to collect it all.
Anyway, his daughter had everything in her hands; if something was missing, she could buy it with money.
The two, father and daughter, passed through like a swarm of locusts, and in a short while, the basement was emptied.
The father and daughter emerged from inside, re-sealed the secret room, and then headed straight for the outskirts.
"This is our old family home, but after liberation, the house was seized from the local tyrants and divided. Part became the brigade, part became the primary school, and another part became the threshing ground. Those good things are hidden in the threshing ground, so be careful."
At that time, changes happened quickly, and the family's possessions could easily be discovered by observant people. He could only hide them separately. Below the warehouse of the threshing ground was where he hid his treasures. No one would have guessed that under those large grain bins were all treasures.
The two went in and came out quickly. Ning Yan's main goal was to collect things and leave, not caring what was inside.
Afterward, the two headed straight for the textile factory.
He was still the deputy director of the textile factory, and no one knew that a large pile of good things was hidden in the factory's utility room.
The father and daughter propped their bicycles against the courtyard wall, climbed onto the wall using the bicycles, and then made their way along the wall to the utility room.
The old lock on the door was opened, and Ning Dad led Ning Yan inside.
These things used to be safe here, but now with his daughter's jade pendant, there was no safer place than in his daughter's hands, and she could carry them wherever she went.
Seeing Ning Dad's posture, as if he was about to move a pile of sundries in the corner, Ning Yan quickly stepped forward, "Dad, I'll do it." How long would it take to move them like this?
Ning Dad stepped aside, and with a wave of Ning Yan's hand, the sundries on the shelves piled in the corner all disappeared.
Ning Dad stepped forward, pried a few bricks from the ground, and then, with a pull, revealed a round hole. Below the hole was an iron cover. He opened the iron cover using a special technique, revealing a pitch-black cavity inside.
"Wait a moment. There's no ventilation down there; it will be lacking oxygen."
After waiting for about fifteen minutes, Ning Dad, flashlight in hand, led Ning Yan into the basement.
Ning Yan directly put over a hundred boxes into her space, then restored the opening to its original state, rearranged the sundries that had been put into her space, locked the door, and left.
Back home, Ning Dad instructed Ning Yan, "Most of what we collected today are things passed down from our family's ancestors. At the threshing ground, most of it was gold, silver, jade, and jewelry. Those things were valuable back then, so I hid them all in plain sight.
Here at the textile factory, it's mostly paintings, calligraphy, and porcelain. These aren't worth much now, but in a few decades, that might not be the case.
Don't mention these things to anyone. Our family's comeback in the future will depend on them."
He hadn't even told his wife. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but too many people knowing a secret meant it was no longer a secret. Sometimes, not knowing was a form of protection.
Ning Yan naturally nodded in agreement; she wasn't foolish.
In the kitchen, Ning's Mom was making steamed buns with cured meat filling. The freshly steamed buns were piping hot. Ning Yan ate one and then went to the kitchen to help. Making more now would make it convenient to eat later. Once they were in the countryside, they would have to be careful not to let people smell the food if they wanted to make it.
Only half of the rice and flour in the kitchen had been used, so it seemed no one would be sleeping tonight.
According to the developments of her previous life, there were still two days until Ning Dad and Ning's Mom were sent down. Two days was enough time.
Fortunately, the Ning Family usually accumulated a lot of firewood, and they had enough pots. The family of three worked until morning before resting. The father and daughter slept for a while and then set off separately, each going their own way, all with the goal of preparing supplies.
Today, Ning Yan was aiming for cotton, fabric, and yarn, while Ning Dad brought back a lot more fine grains, coarse grains, and various meats.
They only returned home after all their tickets were used up.
That evening, Ning Dad quietly pulled Ning Yan aside and said, "I went out today and pulled some strings. I found out that it was Old Xu who reported our family. I promoted him all this time, but he wanted to directly kill me. It's a good thing we, father and daughter, are going to his house tonight.
I bought sleeping medicine."
Ning Yan: ... So that's the kind of dad you are.
Old Xu was the workshop director of the textile factory. He joined the factory when it was expanded. He had an honest appearance and had always been respectful and subservient to Ning Dad. Everyone thought he was Ning Dad's loyal confidant, and there was even talk of the two families intermarrying.
Old Xu's son, Xu Hongjun, was two years older than Ning Yan, twenty this year. His family also had an eighteen-year-old daughter, Xu Xuejuan. Although the three of them usually had a good relationship, who would have thought that this 'confidant' would stab Ning Dad in the back?
The father and daughter waited until midnight, Twelve o'clock, before leaving. The Ning Family's house was an independent two-story building. The Xu Family lived not too far from the Ning Family; their house was just a small courtyard with four rooms.
Ning Dad first jumped into the courtyard and blew the sleeping medicine through the door crack. After nearly fifteen minutes, he opened the courtyard gate.
Prying open the house door, Ning Dad pointed inside, "You go collect everything. I'll see if he's hidden any good things."
After all, Ning Dad had a lot of experience hiding things.
Ning Yan nodded and went into the house, collecting whatever she saw. When she reached the Xu Family couple's bedroom, she noticed something unusual.
One wall, next to the large wardrobe, was empty.
She quickly called Ning Dad. Ning Dad discovered that this wall had been hollowed out, things placed inside, and then sealed up directly. There was no mechanism. He immediately raised his fist to smash it, but Ning Yan quickly stopped him, then handed Ning Dad a pair of gloves. Ning Dad put on the gloves and punched down, and the wall broke, revealing the contents inside.