Siheyuan: Starting from the driver

Chapter 705 A Scheme Within a Scheme

"not good!"

Qin Huairu turned around and looked around the messy room, suddenly realizing how dangerous she had done.

In her quest to find Jia Zhangshi's retirement savings, she unknowingly made a mess of her home.

"We need to get this sorted out quickly!"

Qin Huairu immediately cleaned up the 'battlefield', her whole body moving swiftly as if wound up.

The overturned kang mattress was laid back down, and the reed mat was patted flat.

The disassembled pillow was re-stuffed with cotton and sewn back together.

The scattered drawers and miscellaneous items were put back in their proper places, and the three-drawer table was pushed back into place to block the wall.

The clothes in the camphor wood chest were folded and put back in their original places one by one.

The honeycomb briquettes that had been moved were carefully stacked neatly one by one.

They even picked up brooms and carefully swept away the scattered coal dust, thread ends, scraps of paper, and loose soil left from prying up the wall.

Until everything was put back in its place and cleaned spotlessly, there was no trace of disturbance except for the sweat, dust, and grime between her fingers on her own body.

"Phew~ It's finally all tidied up." Qin Huairu clapped her hands, looking at the slightly new interior.

"Alright, it's time to tidy up the corners too."

Qin Huairu dug up some soil from the ground outside, mixed it with some water, and was preparing to plaster it on the base of the wall.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind, and I froze, as if I had just realized something.

"The old hag's money is here, so why can't I keep mine here? Instead of always hiding it in different places, why not hide it together with Jia Zhangshi's?"

"She's playing the fool; that old hag would never guess that my money is kept with hers!"

Snapped!
Qin Huairu felt that her idea was very clever.

Every time he received his salary, he would hide it with trepidation, but no matter how well he hid it, he could never escape Jia Zhangshi's keen sense of smell.

Within a few days, she would always manage to find it after rummaging through drawers and cabinets.

Besides, Jia Zhangshi stays at home every day, and this home belongs to Jia Zhangshi. No matter how late she hides, she can't escape Jia Zhangshi's grasp.

“The old woman definitely knows where the 400 yuan I have is! Yes! She absolutely knows.”

Qin Huairu didn't hide the 400 yuan very well; she was certain Jia Zhangshi could find it.

My mind was made up at the time—if you, Jia Zhangshi, dare to steal my money, I'll immediately pack up and leave with my three children! I'll make sure you, Jia Zhangshi, live out your days alone!
Now that we've found where Jia Zhangshi hid her money, why not hide it deeper and more securely?
"Hehe, this is really a great idea. How clever I am!" Qin Huairu couldn't help but feel smug.

Immediately, Qin Huairu took out the 200 yuan she had hidden, found some cloth, and wrapped it up in two or three layers.

Then, at the corner of the wall, he removed the small piece of mud, took out Jia Zhangshi's retirement money, and reached into the hole.

"It's a bit shallow."

Qin Huairu turned around and grabbed a worn-out chisel and a short iron rod, then vigorously chiseled into the small hole.

"Bang bang~"

This was much more strenuous than digging up the mud wall in her hometown. The mud was mixed with gravel, and Qin Huairu gritted her teeth and dug one, two times.
Sweat soaked through her clothes, and her arms ached so much she could barely lift them, but Qin Huairu still gritted her teeth and persevered.

"Keep pushing, it'll be done soon."

Finally, with the violent impact of the iron rod tip, the hole at the base of the wall became much deeper, and the hard soil below was also chiseled away, leaving a shallow pit.

"It's fine now." Qin Huairu tested it; the small hole was big enough to hold 200 yuan.

Taking a breather and wiping her sweat, Qin Huairu couldn't wait to put the money into the deep hole, and then filled it with the broken pieces of wall bricks.

"That's not enough!"

Qin Huairu poured a little of the mixed mud paste onto the surface, allowing the fragments to connect lightly, ensuring they wouldn't be easily removed.

"That's about enough." Qin Huairu was afraid that if she poured too much, it would be troublesome if she wanted to retrieve it later, so she decided that it was about enough.

Without waiting for the paste to dry, Qin Huairu lightly placed Jia Zhangshi's retirement money into the paste, avoiding contact with it to prevent it from being exposed.

Finally, carefully cover the small piece of mud with it, and then cover the area around the mud with some soil to secure it.

You're done!

"Finally finished. Let's see how you find it now."

Qin Huairu let out a long sigh, staring at the patch that had been re-covered with mud to disguise it. The corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up, eventually turning into a few suppressed laughs filled with intense vengeful pleasure.

"I refuse to believe that old hag can find my money again. Just thinking about it makes me happy!"

Qin Huairu could immediately imagine that after Jia Zhangshi came out, the first thing she would do was look for her retirement money to make sure that not a single penny was missing or had been touched.

They immediately looked for Qin Huairu's money, but only found 200 yuan. The remaining 200 yuan seemed to have vanished without a trace, and they couldn't find it no matter how hard they looked.

The feeling of being at a loss and panicking after things get out of control is exciting just to think about.

Unfortunately, he also knew exactly where Jia Zhangshi hid her money.

This was the first time Qin Huairu had ever felt this sense of the enemy being in the open while she was in the dark.

In the past, she always plotted openly and honestly, which prevented Jia Zhangshi from acting recklessly. Now, she can finally be fearless.

"Qin Huairu, you're so smart! You're the smartest person in Beijing! Even Li Kailang can't compare to you! You're the best!"

Qin Huairu excitedly kept praising herself.

Unbeknownst to her, a beam of orange-red light shone through the window and shone in front of her. Qin Huairu turned her head to look at the setting sun.

"It's almost evening already, time flies," Qin Huairu sighed, forcing herself to stay alert as she did one last check of the "battlefield."

Make sure the house is thoroughly cleaned, especially the base of the walls, so there are no obvious flaws.

"It's time to cook." Qin Huairu quickly washed her face and scrubbed her fingernails several times.

Finally, he returned to the corner and gently pressed the newly applied wet mud a few times to ensure it was roughly flat and firm.

After doing all this, she finally felt relieved and began preparing dinner.

While preparing the dishes, Qin Huairu couldn't help but imagine Jia Zhangshi's reaction after returning. The more she thought about it, the happier she became, and her movements became much lighter.

Just as Qin Huairu was busy preparing the dishes and was overjoyed, a small figure was staring straight at him from under the window of the outer room.

That's a great idea!

While Qin Huairu was knocking on the wall, Bang Geng heard the noise and watched from there.

His angle was very clever; he could see all his mother's movements in the corner through a small gap at the bottom of the window frame, yet he remained perfectly undetected.

"Dong Dong~"

At this moment, Banggeng's heart was pounding like a drum, thumping against his chest.

Watching her mother frantically chisel at the corner of the wall, she took out two thick rolls of something, wrapped them up layer by layer, and carefully put them into the hole.

Then I watched as my mother filled the hole with broken bricks, poured in mud, took out a roll of something and put it in, and finally covered it with the mud.
Although I couldn't see what was inside the thing, I could vaguely guess that it was money.

Banggeng is not old, but he knows that money is the family's treasure. His mother and grandmother often argue fiercely about money.

He was a little scared, but he didn't know exactly what he was afraid of.
Was she afraid Grandma would beat Mom if she found out? Was she afraid Mom would scold her if she found out she was peeking? Or was she afraid the money in that hole in the wall would disappear?

Even Bang Geng himself doesn't know what he's afraid of.

Then, before preparing the dishes, Qin Huairu checked the piece of mud again, and then started humming a tuneless little tune. Banggeng's small brows were furrowed tightly, and he was a little at a loss for what to do.

"Bang Geng, come back for dinner!"

Upon hearing Qin Huairu's cry, Banggeng covered his mouth in fright and dared not respond. His small figure shrank back like a startled rabbit, crouching low as he quickly slipped to the backyard.

"Bang Geng? Bang Geng! Time to eat!" Qin Huairu called out several times, but Bang Geng didn't respond.

"That's strange. He's usually quite enthusiastic about eating, so why didn't he even respond this time?" Qin Huairu didn't think much of it.

"Mom!" Xiao Dang ran back upon hearing the voice.

"Little Dang, where's Bang Geng? Have you seen your brother?"

"Huh? Brother hasn't come back yet?" Xiao Dang tilted her head.

"Huh? What happened? Isn't your brother with you?"

"No." Xiao Dang shook her head: "My brother played with me for a while, then ran off to play by himself and didn't pay any attention to me."

Qin Huairu frowned: "This guy is so annoying. He doesn't even take his sister with him when he plays. I'll talk to him when his brother comes back."

After saying that, he patted Xiao Dang's head to comfort him.

"Hmm~" Xiao Dang nodded gently.

"Alright, now that you're back, let's get ready to eat."

Xiao Dang washed his hands and prepared to eat when Qin Huairu shouted towards the door, "Bang Geng, are you done playing? Hurry up and come back to eat, or there won't be any food left!"

Upon hearing this, the stalk in the backyard forgot all about its pounding heart.

"Coming!" he shouted, and immediately ran out.

Why did you go to the backyard?

"I'm not telling you," Banggeng replied casually before running into the house.

"Sigh~" But Qin Huairu grabbed him, startling him so much that his heart, which had finally calmed down, started pounding again. Could it be that his mother had guessed?
"Wash your hands!"

"Oh!" Bang Geng breathed a sigh of relief.

While eating, Qin Huairu kept looking around the house, muttering to herself, "Where else could they be hiding?"

Based on her deep understanding of Jia Zhangshi, she knew that Jia Zhangshi had at least two other places where she had hidden money that she hadn't found.

I'm so itching to find it.

'If I can find it once, I can find it a second and a third time. I refuse to believe the old hag can hide anywhere else!'

There are still a few days before Jia Zhangshi is released, and I haven't had time to look for her because I've been busy dealing with other matters.

She only had free time today, and she still had to work for another week. As expected, she wouldn't have a chance to go see Jia Zhangshi after she came out.

So we can only look for it while we still have some free time. After these few days, we won't be able to find it anymore.

Thinking of this, Qin Huairu suddenly stood up, squatted down with a bowl, and wandered around the house, looking left and right.

Banggeng and Xiaodang looked at their mother acting strangely, not understanding why, but they didn't say anything.

Only the stick-like shape could vaguely guess what was going on.

During dinner, Qin Huairu didn't notice anything. If she could easily figure it out, she wouldn't have taken so long to find it.

late at night.

After the children fell asleep, Qin Huairu did not rest immediately.

She lit a kerosene lamp, turned the wick down very low, and the tiny flame flickered uneasily in the breeze.

"Take another look before bed, just in case something goes wrong." Qin Huairu walked to the corner of the wall.

Under the dim light, the new clay was noticeably darker than the surrounding clay, and it was slightly damp.

Extend your finger and gently press it slowly on the surface of the clay. It still feels slightly moist and is not completely dry.

"It's still a bit lacking," Qin Huairu muttered to herself. "It's too new. That old hag has a very sharp eye; she might not be able to tell."

I crouched down and carefully picked up a small handful of dust and debris from the corner of the wall, where it had just been pried up that afternoon and where the most plaster had fallen.

The movements were extremely patient and gentle, carefully and evenly sprinkling the paste on the newly applied, slightly darker-colored mud surface.

As the dust settled, it was slightly absorbed by the damp mud, and the colors seemed to blend in a little, becoming less jarring.

"There's a show!"

Qin Huairu sprinkled it back and forth three or four more times, then leaned close to the kerosene lamp to examine it carefully.

Under the lights, the boundary between the old and new areas was blurred by the dust, making the distinction less clear.

Only then did he straighten up, satisfied.

"Alright, that's fine. Don't let it get wet until it's completely dry. I don't believe the old hag will be able to find out when she comes back."

Qin Huairu blew out the light, lay down fully clothed, and was so exhausted that she almost fell asleep immediately, but her brain was working unusually excitedly.

"It's dark under the lamp," Qin Huairu murmured unconsciously.

"Hidden money. Money."

"There are two more. At least two more."

Sleepiness washed over her like a tide, and she vaguely thought, "Tomorrow... I'll look again carefully... the old hag can only hide a few places."

"I need to find a more secure place to hide the remaining two hundred dollars so that that clumsy kid Banggeng can't find them."

As her thoughts gradually blurred, Qin Huairu quickly drifted into a blissful dream.

However, Bang-geng, who was only two children away, suddenly stared wide-eyed at the roof.

The scene he witnessed that afternoon kept replaying in his mind:

His mother was chiseling away at the wall like a madwoman; the "bang bang bang" of chiseling still seemed to echo in his ears as she put the layers of wrapped things into the hole.
So much money!

Bang Geng is now absolutely certain that what was stuffed into the hole back then was money, although he can't tell how much, it must have been a lot.

Mom put it in the hole in the wall where Grandma hid her money!
This secret was known only to him. Banggeng clenched his little fists tightly, his body tense up under the thin blanket.

"Money, what if I took the money?" Bang Geng couldn't help but fantasize.

But then an extremely terrifying image appeared: Grandma's twisted and angry face was sure to give Mom a big slap.

Mom will cry, and then... then the house will become like before, like hell, with terrible wailing and screaming every day.

"I don't want this." Bang Geng didn't want to experience this kind of scene again; this kind of life was not what he wanted.

With that in mind, Bang Geng made up his mind not to say anything.

But Bang Geng was still young, and all sorts of thoughts filled his mind.

My mind was set on not moving, but my body was itching to go and take a look, hoping to grab a few pieces.

Thinking of this, Banggeng quietly got up, saw that his mother and Xiaodang were still fast asleep, and crouched down to sneak over and go see them.

Seeing that the base of the wall was almost completely integrated, and not wanting to move it, Banggeng had to give up the idea.

I had no choice but to go back to bed and sleep.

(End of this chapter)