Chapter 204: There’s Nothing Strange In This Vast World
Sister Dong said the dry twigs were not far away, with sand and pebbles all around. This job was pretty good, and they even issued gloves.
However, Lu Qiaoge really did need to go over there. At this moment, Sister Dong directly assigned her a task, so she didn’t need to find an excuse.
When Lu Qiaoge took the gloves and was about to leave with the calico cat, Sister Dong pulled her back and said with a smile, “Qiao Ge, Hengzhi and my Old Chen said you want to check some information about Jiangcheng before the founding of the nation. You know, some of the archives our country took over have detailed records, but some have been burned, and many were later supplemented bit by bit through various reviews and verifications. Can you tell me the specific time period?”
Lu Qiaoge was stunned for a moment, not expecting that Qin Hengzhi had actually told Chen Big Brother.
Because Chen Big Brother’s wife, Dong Xiangqin, worked at the Archives Bureau in the city.
She did indeed want to check information on this subject.
The gold and silver jewelry in Big Pike’s territory, those boxes under the reed marsh, the old Daoist, Divine Doctor Jiang, and Sun Ziliang that Old Turtle had mentioned to her—she even wanted to investigate the background of Deputy Manager Yan from the Fishery Company.
But all these things were completely clueless.
She didn’t even know where to start investigating, because there were no clues or clear pointers.
The others could be set aside.
What Lu Qiaoge really wanted to know now was whether those gold and silver jewelry had a clear ownership.
If there was really something complicated behind it involving the national level, she truly couldn’t touch it.
Animals’ thinking is different from human thinking.
Just like Swallow Tao Tao carrying away Old Mrs. Li’s gold ring.
The reason was very simple: it just liked shiny golden sparkling things, so it carried it away to decorate its little nest.
But such behavior among humans is theft, and in serious cases, it warrants a prison sentence.
And now, all the gold and silver jewelry in Big Pike’s territory that they knew about and had hidden away were in Lu Qiaoge’s hands.
There wasn’t much jade; gold was the most abundant.
Some of the gold could be seen to have been directly taken from a gold mine.
Which gold mine was it?
Who was the holder of the gold mine at the time, what did they do, were they good or bad?
A gentleman loves wealth and takes it properly.
Until she figured it out, she truly couldn’t touch these gold and silver jewelry.
Lu Qiaoge’s eyes lit up: “If I have a specific time period, do I qualify to check?”
Sister Dong glanced behind her, lowered her voice, and said to Lu Qiaoge, “Even for archives and information from before the founding of the nation, let alone you, I don’t have the qualification to check. But there’s a basement in the archive room where a lot of information is piled up, and it hasn’t been carefully organized. Our leader said to organize the information there, but our Archives Bureau doesn’t have enough manpower, so we’re drawing reliable cadres from various work units to complete this task. If you’re interested, I can put you on the list.”
Then she added, “You’re from the 516 Neighborhood Committee, and your background is the cleanest.”
Lu Qiaoge: “Sister Dong, then please submit my name. Whether it works out or not, thank you.”
Sister Dong smiled and said, “My Old Chen and Hengzhi share a friendship closer than life itself, so don’t be polite with me.”
Then she exhorted Lu Qiaoge to be careful when picking firewood, and afterward, Sister Dong went to help Li Xiuying.
Because at this time, all the things from the jeep’s trunk had been taken out.
Lu Qiaoge glanced over—goodness, they hadn’t taken little.
There was even a big tent.
Pots, bowls, ladles, basins, fruits and vegetables, and two big watermelons.
Li Xiuying had Wang Zhiguo put the two watermelons in the water, while she started organizing the food with Sister Dong.
Zhou Shanshan, wearing mid-heeled leather sandals, walked unsteadily on the beach.
Wearing a women’s sun hat, with a large skirt hem that looked pretty when the wind blew it up.
Li Xiuying shouted, “Shanshan, don’t you have flat shoes?”
Lu Qiaoge turned and went to pick up dry twigs.
But she heard Zhou Shanshan muttering, “Isn’t it just for coming out to play?”
If they weren’t eating, just coming out to play would be fine.
But today at noon, they were having a barbecue by the riverside.
By now, Lu Qiaoge had reached the riverbank; further up were clusters of shrubs—this plant was called thorn rose, which bloomed pink flowers like roses in spring.
The petals, when picked and dried, could be used for tea brewing.
And now, the top was full of green and red fruits.
As expected, the grey pigeon came, along with a family of five swallows.
At this moment, they were all perched on branches not far away.
The three little swallows had no inner voice; the swallow couple was not disappointed and still happily raised their young. The three little swallows were very obedient, but they listened most to Swallow Mama Nini.
Nini warned the three little ones to obediently stand on the branch it specified, so the three little ones really squatted motionless on the tree fork.
They looked adorably cute.
Xiao Cangcang also came; this mountain forest was not unfamiliar to it, because it was its treasured wintering spot.
Seeing Lu Qiaoge approach, the usually well-behaved and obedient Xiao Cangcang, who never fought or grabbed, was the first to fly over, urgently telling her: 【It’s right upstream along this stream, about the distance from our home to the Neighborhood Committee. There’s a very fierce Siberian tiger lying on a large rock, and beside it, half-eaten Siberian roe deer.】
The calico cat meowed meow meow several times.
Although it wasn’t afraid of the big tiger.
But it still stood by Lu Qiaoge’s leg, clearly wanting to draw some energy.
Lu Qiaoge moved her leg, gently brushing the calico cat aside, while raking dry twigs and saying to the pigeon and swallows, “Qin Hengzhi brought a hunting rifle. If it’s very close to the tiger, I have to tell him not to hunt, so as not to alarm the tiger. So you all play in the woods, but be careful not to get accidentally injured. Also, Qin Hengzhi and Wang Zhiguo are good with slingshots, especially my family’s Representative Qin, who’s almost always accurate.”
Theoretically, bird hunters generally don’t shoot pigeons or swallows.
Pigeons are mostly domesticated, and even if the meat is tasty, they have owners.
Swallow meat isn’t as good as pigeon—less meat, strong gamey flavor—and in folk tradition, swallows are seen as auspicious birds, so even rural kids don’t dare use slingshots on swallows.
Lu Qiaoge felt it was such a hassle.
The grey pigeon reacted quickly: 【I’ll go scout it out and come right back.】
With that, it flapped away.
Although it didn’t make much noise flying, Qin Hengzhi, who was organizing the trunk, straightened up and gazed toward Lu Qiaoge.
Then his gaze fell on that small shadow flying away in the sky.
Behind the shrubbery was the mountain forest, with scattered red pines around and a large birch forest.
Qin Hengzhi naturally couldn’t see the swallow family hidden in the leaves.
But he always felt that Qiao Ge hadn’t just brought the calico cat; she definitely also brought the pigeon and swallows.
This feeling was absurd, but not really hard to accept.
The world is full of wonders.
Qin Hengzhi’s hand rested on the hunting rifle’s coat, then he looked toward Lu Qiaoge.
It was certain that the calico cat wasn’t afraid of loud noises; it had even gone to play at the shooting range.
