Chapter 6: Transfer
There was not the slightest impatience, responding to every bit of his caring nagging with great patience.
Accompanied by the familiar broadcast music starting up, the workers getting off work came out one after another, the quiet factory entrance began to bustle noisily, and Su Ning had no choice but to smile and bid farewell to the reluctant Old Master Fu.
Turning back to look at the figure still standing at the gate unwilling to go in first, she couldn’t help but raise her hand and wave vigorously at him, then took a deep breath and pedaled away on her bike.
……
On the surface, the Su Family had four properties in Beijing City, besides the large and small two courtyards in the dowry that her maternal grandfather gave to her mom, the standalone bungalow where her maternal grandfather lived before he passed, and another one was the old house near the suburbs.
Su Ning used to come here often with her maternal grandfather when she was little.
Since her maternal grandfather left, she hadn’t come back here for many years.
Back then she didn’t understand, but now she somewhat realized why her maternal grandfather had such deep and complex feelings for a house.
Clearly full of sadness and grief on his face, yet he still came here time and time again…
It was all because the house held happy memories, and the person who gave that happiness in those memories was no longer there.
“Xiao Ning, you must remember what your maternal grandfather said, don’t come here again without your maternal grandfather’s company.”
“When Xiao Ning grows up and comes here again before getting married, you can see your maternal grandfather and maternal grandmother, you know where to see us, right?”
“Xiao Ning, everything your maternal grandfather told you about the old house is our secret, you can’t even tell your mom oh~”
“Xiao… Ning, protect well… this small wooden whistle… don’t tell anyone… no one!”
……
Sniffling, Su Ning gripped the thing in her hand tightly, forcing back the tears welling up in her eyes.
After calming her emotions, she followed her memory to squat down at the corner of the backyard wall.
It was already seven-thirty in the evening, the sky had long been completely dark, and the nearest household was several kilometers away.
Still not reassured, she looked around back and forth for a while, until she truly saw nothing and only heard insect chirps around, then she lowered her head and began to grope and count with her hand.
“5-2-9-9.”
Numbers formed by special scratches on the large bluestone slab, tapped lightly in rhythm with her fingertip.
With a click, the intact bluestone slab in front of her sank in the middle, turning into an underground entrance large enough for one person to pass through.
Without rushing in, she silently counted a hundred or so numbers in her mind, then took out the wooden whistle just like her maternal grandfather did back then.
There was a very small, hard-to-notice bump at the bottom of the wooden whistle; normally pressing it once wouldn’t react, but…
Holding the wooden whistle horizontally, pressing the bump with one light and one heavy press twice in a row, the bump would pop out and turn into two flat key pieces.
Carefully assembling the two key pieces into one, Su Ning then inserted it into the hole at the entrance.
The pitch-black entrance was suddenly lit up by pearl light, and a straight downward staircase instantly appeared clearly before her eyes.
After going down the staircase, she reached out to turn the wooden whistle in the hole on the stone wall, and once the bluestone slab overhead closed again, the expression on her face finally relaxed.
This underground secret room had several hidden vents, so there wouldn’t be any feeling of lack of oxygen or stuffiness inside.
Besides this only entrance, the other was a one-way exit, leading directly to her maternal grandfather and maternal grandmother’s former bedroom.
The over two hundred square meter stone room was divided into four areas, each piled full with rosewood boxes of various sizes, leaving only a not-very-spacious cross-shaped passageway.
First coming to the left side, Su Ning opened the outermost row one by one, the dazzling golden light nearly blinding her eyes.
Large gold bars, small gold bars, peanuts and melon seeds Fu character Chinese zodiac…
One hundred and fifty-five boxes of gold in different shapes and styles!
Even for Su Ning who never lacked money to spend, seeing so many boxes of gold at once made her breath quicken uncontrollably.
“Hoo—”
“Collect them, collect them all, quickly put them into the Peach Blossom Spring Space!”
If she looked one more time, she was afraid she’d develop a weird habit of wanting to sleep covered in all kinds of gold.
Inexplicably excited, she started working as a porter, and only after collecting all the gold into the space did an indescribable sense of happiness in her heart reach its peak.
“Continue, continue!”
Coming to the area above where the gold boxes were placed, Su Ning opened the outermost row as usual.
If the gold only made her feel short of breath, the things in this area directly made her heartbeat accelerate, an irresistible heart flutter she couldn’t resist.
Various gemstones, jade, jadeite, pearls…
All kinds of hairpins, hairpins, jade pendants, bracelets, earrings…
Every piece was too beautiful!
Especially the complete sets of headwear sets, which were both shocking and captivating to look at.
……
The two areas on the right side, one piled with various porcelain antiques and rare books. The other was all rare medicinal materials that had been processed and sealed with oiled paper.
After collecting hundreds of boxes into the space and placing them properly, Su Ning collapsed for a full ten minutes before her energy recovered somewhat.
Without stopping, she left the secret room and came to her maternal grandfather and maternal grandmother’s bedroom.
Looking around the room covered with white cloth, thinking that she was about to go to Xiangnan, and barring accidents, she would stay there for more than ten years.
Without further hesitation, she collected all the furniture and ornaments in the old house into the space.
The hands on her wristwatch had already reached nine o’clock, Su Ning knew she couldn’t stay any longer and had to leave in a hurry.
Hurrying slowly, it still took over an hour to get back to the Steel Factory Family Courtyard.
When she panted and pushed open the door home, sweaty all over, Xu Zixin and Qian Huiru, who had been waiting she didn’t know how long, immediately stood up.
There was worry on Xu Zixin’s face, but even more unconcealable anger, his gaze at her exceptionally complex.
“Where did you go so late?!”
“Old Xu!”
Qian Huiru disapprovingly pushed the person about to flare up, “Ning Ning, your dad was just worried about you, he’s had two big blisters from anxiety all evening.”
“Look at you sweating all over? Have you eaten?”
“Quick, go wash up and change clothes first, I’ll go heat up some food for you!”
Having done psychological preparation all the way and thought up her story early, Su Ning went over it once more in her mind and found no omissions, then explained, “Dad, sorry for worrying you.”
I discovered there was a problem with the graduation certificate that Yueyue brought back for me, so I hurriedly went to find the teacher.
On the way back, I encountered an elderly man who had fallen; his home was far and his children weren’t around, so after coming out of the hospital and sending him back, it was… this time.”
“What problem was with the certificate? Why not wait for Dad to come back and handle it together with the person who helped before? Why drag your not fully recovered body to run around?”
Blinking her wet eyes, Su Ning pretended to be innocent as she took out the graduation certificate from her canvas bag, “Wasn’t it that the teacher forgot the seal…”
Casually taking the certificate from her hand, Xu Zixin carefully examined the seal on it; the mark was very new, not like it had been done before.
Given her always obedient girl image, never having lied, Xu Zixin, with his anger somewhat subsided, said earnestly.
“Ning Ning, Dad doesn’t oppose you doing good deeds, but compared to making you an upright and kind person, Dad hopes even more that you stay safe and sound, understand?”
“Go on, listen to Aunt Qian, take a shower, change clothes, eat something; I still need to call Uncle Fu to tell him you’re back, so he doesn’t keep looking.”
Nodding silently, Su Ning put the graduation certificate he casually placed on the table back into her bag.
