Chapter 407: The Trump Card
Chapter 407: Chapter 407: The Trump Card
With a wave of her hand, Bai Suihe stored the large water vat into her space. Honestly, the fact that Gu Kaiyuan’s violent dismantling had left the vat completely intact was a testament to his incredible capability.
After looking around and making sure they hadn’t left any obvious traces, they finally called it a day. They wouldn’t be returning to this house for a long time anyway. If those people wanted to investigate, they were welcome to look around all they wanted. When they failed to find the entrance to the hidden treasure here, they would probably start to doubt if they had come to the wrong place.
Gu Kaiyuan did one final check. Once he was certain there were no issues, he opened the front door and led Bai Suihe straight back to the inn. Whether intentional or not, when they left, they only pushed the door shut without locking it. Bai Suihe noticed this but didn’t say anything. After all, besides some rather dilapidated furniture and a half-wall pile of firewood in the backyard, there was absolutely nothing left inside. Yet, even these meager items would likely tempt some petty thieves to go in and rummage around.
After a long time of being busy, they arrived back at the inn. It was only when Gu Xingyang was placed on the bed that she finally woke up.
Seeing the inn’s bed canopy, she asked, "Mother, how did we get back?"
"You’re awake." Seeing the child open her eyes, Bai Suihe picked her up to help her relieve herself. Once that was taken care of, she placed her back on the bed. The two of them had taken turns carrying her along the way, and their arms were getting sore. It was better for a growing child to lie properly in bed anyway.
"Mother, did you collect all those things?" Gu Xingyang was very curious. There had been so many treasures, more than enough to raise a baby.
She was a girl and firmly believed she had to be raised in luxury. Aside from emotional enrichment, she shouldn’t lack material comforts. It wasn’t until she had seen how little girls in the modern era were raised that she fully grasped the meaning of this concept.
"No," Gu Kaiyuan teased her on purpose. "Those things have a shady origin. I was afraid they would bring disaster to our family, so it’s better to leave them alone."
"My silly father!" Gu Xingyang grew a little anxious. "If you don’t take them, someone else will, and the blame will eventually fall on your head anyway. Who told you to be the owner of that house? How can you not figure out such obvious math?"
Gu Xingyang thought to herself, "He really is silly."
Naturally, the "unscrupulous parents" duo couldn’t be complete without Bai Suihe chiming in. "Your father was just looking out for our family. Anyone hiding such a massive fortune would definitely leave behind some countermeasures. Right now, we’re just ordinary commoners with very little ability to protect ourselves."
Gu Xingyang fell deep in thought. Both her parents made sense. Because her parents were living a second life, they could avoid many foreseeable dangers. But things had already veered off their original track, which meant there would be many unknown dangers in the future. Her father was fine—he was a grown man armed with Martial Arts. Her mother’s space could be entered at will, but the time difference between the inside and outside was immense. She couldn’t just hide in there until she grew old.
"Baby?" When Gu Xingyang didn’t immediately retort, Bai Suihe grew slightly worried. "Is something wrong?"
Saying this, she reached out to feel the child’s forehead. Finding her temperature normal, she let out a long sigh of relief. She had been terrified that such a small child might have suffered from neglect during their bumpy journey. Gu Kaiyuan also looked tense. This little rascal usually loved to butt heads with him; he wasn’t used to her being so quiet today.
"Dad was wrong. I didn’t mean to lie to you and scare you," Gu Kaiyuan confessed. "We took the things, and it’s not like we have no means to protect ourselves. Your mom and I are actually quite formidable."
"I know Dad is formidable," Gu Xingyang said, "but Mom isn’t..."
Bai Suihe replied, "...Actually, Mom can be very formidable too. It just takes a little time."
Right now, she wasn’t particularly formidable, but she could grow, and she was working very hard at it.
"Just give Mom some time. I will definitely concoct more self-defense drugs. Anyone who tries to hurt me will definitely suffer the consequences first."
Gu Xingyang then recalled Nanny Pang’s incredible skills. It was just that her mother had always been apprehensive, afraid that those drugs might accidentally hurt her child, so she had always kept her distance while working with them. Furthermore, every time Bai Suihe finished making medicine, she had to scrub herself clean and change into fresh clothes before coming near her. It was no wonder Gu Xingyang had forgotten about it.
"Then you have to study hard, Mother," Gu Xingyang said out loud, but inwardly she pondered how to provide her mother with an extra layer of protection.
Bai Suihe hastily promised. After all, this concerned her own life. Given the chance to live a second time, she couldn’t guarantee she’d have such good luck again. "Don’t worry, Mom reads every day now. Once we get back, I will seriously learn from Nanny Pang."
It was only then that Gu Xingyang remembered to ask, "Mother, did you really collect all those things?"
Seeing that she was still hung up on this question, Bai Suihe brought both father and daughter into her space. Outside the courtyard, they saw a massive pile of dirt. She had accidentally taken too much earth along with the treasure, and she would have to find a chance to clear it out later. The chests she had collected earlier were all laid out in the courtyard. She held Gu Xingyang so she could see them clearly.
"So much gold and Silver! So much jewelry!" Gu Xingyang’s eyes sparkled with stars. "Our family can just lie flat and coast through life now!"
Bai Suihe held her and gave her a light pat on the bottom. "You haven’t even been weaned yet, and you already want to coast through life? What would be the meaning of life then?
"Even your father and I wouldn’t dare think that way, but you sure know how to enjoy yourself."
Gu Kaiyuan opened the chests of gold and Silver and inspected them. He discovered that, unlike the batch Gu Baijiang had intercepted earlier, this gold and Silver bore no official markings. The previous batch had been issued from the National Treasury, so it was all stamped with official seals. In contrast, this treasure had likely been gathered from the populace or melted down and recast, meaning it could be directly circulated in the market.
The Silver they had brought with them previously was nearly depleted. They had been planning to find a way to melt down the official Silver so they could use it to build ships. Now, it seemed they wouldn’t need to do that for the time being. He was quite fond of this timely windfall. If only they could run into such luck a few more times...
Gu Kaiyuan quickly shook the thought out of his head. He couldn’t always think about reaping without sowing. Besides, he had bought all that land as an investment. Once the value rose to a certain point, he would sell it off and make a massive profit. By then, he wouldn’t be short on money anyway.
Gu Xingyang lost interest after a brief glance. These things were of no practical use to her right now—she couldn’t eat them or play with them. Most importantly, she was still just a milk-drinking baby. Even if something caught her eye and she wanted to play with it, she wouldn’t be allowed to.
The family of three took a stroll around the space. Bai Suihe took some goat’s milk from the refrigerator in the kitchen, boiled it, let it cool, and fed some to Gu Xingyang before they finally returned to their inn room.
The night passed silently.
The next day, Bai Suihe resumed her grand purchasing endeavor. To collect as much fresh seafood as possible, she dispatched all her attendants. As for the couple themselves, they needed no one to serve or protect them. This was where the perks of being the head of the household showed. Even though Zisu and the others harbored worries, they could only obediently agree. Armed with their masters’ orders and the Silver provided, they headed to the nearby fishing villages.
Of course, the location for storing the seafood was also changed to another, larger courtyard this time. As for the reason, there was simply no need to explain it to them.