Chapter 170: Maybe There’s Also A Mermaid!
Lu Qiaoge did the same and pulled both iron boxes up.
However, she was completely soaked through.
At this summer time, with long days and short nights, Lu Qiaoge quickly opened the iron boxes.
In the pitch-black night, even though the gold in the iron boxes had been soaked and its luster dulled, it was still gold.
The box was filled with either gold nuggets or gold bricks, completely full, and the other box contained porcelain. Lu Qiaoge gently stroked it with her hand; anything put into an iron box was definitely not everyday bowls and plates—it should all be precious cultural relics.
Fortunately, Lu Qiaoge had thought of this in advance. The canvas bag contained not only rope but also several towels and an old bed sheet.
The box wasn’t very big; luckily, it only held a vase and two matching saucer-like pieces of porcelain.
Lu Qiaoge had no time to examine them closely. She carefully packed the porcelain vase and set it aside; as for the gold, it was much easier to handle.
Big Pike said: 【Those scattered gold jewelry pieces were taken by me and Old Turtle to a stone cave at the lake bottom.】
Old Turtle praised: 【Little Fairy, your strength is truly great.】
Big Carp was not to be outdone: 【Little Fairy, you can hold your breath underwater for so long; you’re truly a fairy!】
Grass Carp didn’t know what to praise, thought for a moment, and said regretfully: 【If only I had legs, I definitely could have helped Little Fairy carry the things back.】
Lu Qiaoge held back her laughter and, like receiving an audience, petted the heads one by one of the fish and turtle gathered at the lakeside.
Then, Lu Qiaoge threw the iron boxes back to the lake bottom. For safety’s sake, she used stones from the lake bottom to completely weigh them down in the mud and sand.
Then Lu Qiaoge quickly left the lakeside carrying these things on her back.
The already quiet lakeside remained quiet.
Especially this area, which seemed eerie at night, so the patrol team rarely came over here.
Most of the time, they just shone a spotlight on it.
When the spotlight shone over, only gentle water waves lapped at the lakeshore.
Xiao Li stood in the guard tower, looking at the pitch-black night, and said to his companion Xiao Peng, “It seems like it’s going to pour rain.”
Xiao Peng looked at the night without answering him, but stared intently at the pitch-black water surface.
Xiao Li asked in surprise, “What are you looking at?”
Xiao Peng paused for a long time before saying, “I can’t quite say, but I just keep feeling like there’s something under the water.”
Xiao Li laughed, “Of course there’s something under the water; we can’t even reach the deepest parts, who knows if there are huge old fish down there.”
Xiao Peng thought about it and felt Xiao Li made sense.
Maybe it was because rain was coming, so the water bottom was unsettled.
After Qin Hengzhi sent Lu Qiaoge home, he drove back to the Military Representative Office.
The lights in the military representative office stayed on until 1:10 a.m.
When the lights went out, Secretary Xiao Su yawned and went back to sleep.
Qin Hengzhi stood by the window.
Ding Jianshe had a child at the mine, and now that child was often beaten, so someone who couldn’t stand by reported it to the neighborhood committee by phone?
And coincidentally, it was Qiao Ge who answered.
Qin Hengzhi looked at the pitch-black night toward the direction of Hongxing Lake in the distance.
Suddenly, an indescribable feeling came from his chest.
He put on his clothes, walked out of the dormitory, and said to Xiao Su, “I’m heading out. You call the main switchboard and implement controls on recent calls: unrelated personnel are not allowed to inquire about matters unrelated to the factory. Also, tomorrow morning notify the mine’s Security Department to conduct a thorough screening of the mining area and handle any issues found early.”
He paused, then continued, “After notifying, go to sleep; no need to wait for me.”
Xiao Su crisply agreed.
She watched Representative Qin’s figure disappear at the end of the corridor, then hurried off to make the call.
Qin Hengzhi sped toward Hongxing Lake like a cheetah.
Soon, Qin Hengzhi arrived at the lakeside; not far away was the guard tower of the Military Representative Office.
Along the lakeside, Qin Hengzhi walked unhurriedly.
Suddenly, he caught a faint scent in the air, one he only smelled when with Qiao Ge.
He didn’t know what cold cream Qiao Ge used, but nowadays the scent of cold cream was easy to distinguish.
But Qiao Ge’s aura was uniquely her own.
Fresh and elegant, captivating yet cool and sharp like the wind, inscrutable.
It was a feeling hard to describe.
Qin Hengzhi, in all his life up to now, had never encountered a young woman like Qiao Ge.
Actually, up to now, they had only held hands.
And that was in moments of necessity.
Like that time dancing.
Like when she saved Ding Jianshe and he checked if she was injured…
Actually, from their first meeting to spending time together, it had been a very short time. For someone like him, no one could so easily enter his heart.
Yet Lu Qiaoge had done it.
Qin Hengzhi sighed softly.
They seemed like two people going in opposite directions: his goal was clear and direct, but Qiao Ge… seemed to want to admire the scenery along the way and chat with passersby. In short, her goal wasn’t him.
Qin Hengzhi sniffed the lingering scent unique to Lu Qiaoge in the air.
He slowly curved the corners of his mouth.
After 1 a.m., what was his little partner doing at Hongxing Lake?
He lingered by the lake until that scent completely disappeared.
Qin Hengzhi didn’t turn on his flashlight; tonight there was no moon, no stars, just pitch-black night sky and pitch-black water surface.
Even with his good eyesight, he couldn’t spot anything unusual by the lakeside.
Moments later, Qin Hengzhi went to the nearest guard tower.
Xiao Li never expected the military representative to show up, and at this time.
They both stood at attention for the surprise inspection.
Qin Hengzhi stood at the lookout point and asked Xiao Li, “Any abnormalities?”
Xiao Li answered loudly, “Report to Representative Qin, none at present.” Then he added, “But I feel like it might rain soon.”
Qin Hengzhi nodded slightly and asked Xiao Peng, “And you?”
Xiao Peng answered as loudly as Xiao Li, “Report to Representative Qin, no abnormalities at present, but just now it seemed like there were a few very large fish swimming around under the water.”
Qin Hengzhi froze for an instant.
Not just big fish—maybe even a mermaid!
His two soldiers were pretty good.
Qin Hengzhi didn’t praise them explicitly; he just patted their shoulders and lightly exhorted them to continue monitoring. Then Qin Hengzhi left the guard tower and hurried toward the Military Representative Office through the darkness.
At this time, Lu Qiaoge had no intention of sleeping. She took off her wet clothes, wrapped her hair with a towel— it was the middle of the night, so she couldn’t wash her hair and would have to deal with it early tomorrow.
She carefully took out the porcelain vase. Since she didn’t live alone, she didn’t dare turn on the light; if it was discovered, she wouldn’t be able to explain.
Lu Qiaoge’s room had a wardrobe and a desk. Being a bungalow, she had to heat it herself in winter, so instead of a bed, there was a small kang.
The places in the room to put things were only the wardrobe and the desk.
Lu Qiaoge still wrapped the porcelain vases with towels, then put them in the cabinet under the desk.
Tomorrow she would buy a lock to prevent Meng Xia from coming in to clean and discovering them.
Then she could just find some reason.
