A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

The two were racking their brains to open the safe. Sha Yanyao said, "We still have to tell father about this." Then he walked out.

Gui'er followed him out of the study and just happened to see the Marshal and Sha Yanxiao coming back on the balcony. Sha Yanyao went downstairs to inform the Marshal, and Gui'er hurriedly lay on the windowsill and winked at Sha Yanxiao.

So when the Marshal followed Sha Yanyao upstairs, Sha Yanxiao also came along. The Marshal's eyes lit up when he saw the safe. He touched Gui'er's head and said, "She is indeed my good daughter. She is my lucky star."

Gui'er said, "Now I don't know how to open it, what should I do?"

The Marshal laughed and said, "What's so difficult about it? Just drill through it."

So he called two followers brought from Jiangcheng, and hurried to the tool store to buy some chisels, hammers and other tools. When he came back, he was chiseling there with clanging sounds. The Marshal was reluctant to leave, so he moved a chair and sat next to him to watch.

Gui'er, Sha Yanxiao and Sha Yanyao couldn't leave, so they stood by and watched.

This safe was quite sturdy. It took me an hour or two to chisel along the gap before I finally broke the safe door open.

Everyone hurried forward to take a look. The safe was divided into two layers. There were about a hundred small yellow croakers neatly stacked in the upper layer, and three boxes were stacked in the lower layer. The Marshal took them and opened them. When he opened the top box, there was a whole stack of silver bills and several keys inside.

Sha Yanxiao said happily: "These keys should be the keys to the safe."

The Marshal took out the key and handed it to him, saying, "Try to find out which bank the key belongs to. Go and get the things out."

Then he took out the second box and opened it to find a jade disk. There were still some cracks on the jade, so it was obviously an antique. However, no one could tell which dynasty it was from. The Marshal put the jade disk back into the box and moved the box aside.

Then she opened the last box, revealing a strangely shaped gemstone, an irregular triangle with pink on top and turquoise on the bottom. Gui'er thought it looked familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before. Suddenly, she remembered seeing a picture of it online before she traveled through time, and she cried out, "Isn't this Cixi's jade watermelon?"

The Marshal, Sha Yanxiao, and Sha Yanyao all looked at Gui'er. Sha Yanxiao asked, "How did you know?"

Gui'er suddenly realized she had let something slip and quickly replied, "When I was little, my biological father took me to the market and we met a storyteller. He said that when Empress Dowager Cixi was alive, she loved a gem called the Jade Watermelon. It was a stone that looked like half a watermelon. When she died, she buried it with her. Look at this, doesn't it look exactly like a watermelon?"

The Marshal was stunned for a moment, then laughed heartily and said proudly, "No wonder it was hidden so carefully. Old Ji, Old Ji, you are not worthy of enjoying Cixi's treasures. Let me, Old Sha, keep them for you."

Sha Yanyao asked, "Father, what should we do with these gold bars? I don't think the news of our discovery of the Ji family's treasure can be kept secret for long. There are still many people in their family who are still alive. They will definitely come to reclaim them when the time comes."

The Marshal put his hands on his hips and said nonchalantly, "What can those cowards do? If they were really so stubborn, it wouldn't have been our turn to take over their property. Tomorrow, take these gold bars and silver notes and go over there. Deposit the gold bars in the HSBC safe deposit box, exchange the silver notes and deposit them in your HSBC account, and also deposit the two treasures in the bank safe deposit box."

As he spoke, he pointed to the wooden box containing the emerald watermelon and jade bi.

Gui'er realized that the Marshal was really partial. All the valuable antiques, gold bars, and silver notes were handed over to Sha Yanyao. Only a few keys to the bank where no one knew what was stored were given to Sha Yanxiao.

But she couldn't say anything, so she could only pretend to be confused and watch the fun.

Now that the excitement was over, Gui'er was about to leave the study when the Marshal suddenly called her over, waved her over, and took a gold bar from the pile, placing it in Gui'er's hand. He then pinched her cheek and said, "Little Gui'er, you are truly my lucky treasure. Here, this will be your dowry."

Gui'er quickly held it tightly and said with a smile, "Thank you, father."

Sha Yanxiao and Sha Yanyao laughed beside them.

After finishing all this, Sha Yanxiao returned to the third floor and sat on the sofa playing with the keys.

Guier asked, "Brother, can I go with you to look for it tomorrow?"

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "Sure, but I know which bank these keys belong to."

Gui'er asked curiously, "How did you know? Is it a bank you know?"

Sha Yanxiao smiled mysteriously and said, "When I came back to take over the property, Ji Yiru told me that her uncle used to keep his things in Standard Chartered Bank. I am also a customer of this bank."

Gui'er suddenly realized: "Oh, so that's how it is. Then why didn't you take these things at that time?"

Sha Yanxiao shook his head and said, "Ji Yiru is just Mr. Ji's niece. Although she is very much loved, her property will eventually be handed over to her biological children."

"So, what should we do if Mr. Ji's children come and ask us for it?"

"You just saw my father's attitude. However, I heard that Mr. Ji's children have been hunted down almost completely in the past two years. I guess they dare not show up again."

The next day, Sha Yanxiao and Gui'er went straight to Standard Chartered Bank. When the bank manager saw Sha Yanxiao trying to open the safe, he smiled and said, "Young Marshal, why did you come only today? These safes have been unpaid for a long time. Mr. Ji originally specified that only you can open them."

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "Originally, I had no intention of getting involved in the Ji family's property, but my wife passed away, and the Ji family's descendants have died. Before she left, she specifically told me that these things were things her uncle valued very much during his lifetime, and asked me to take good care of them. I was so sad that I couldn't bear to look at them, so I put it off until today. It's my fault for not paying the storage fees, so I will make up for it now."

The bank manager had nothing to say and had to take him to the safe and leave.

Sha Yanxiao took a few keys and tried them slowly. Finally, he opened several safes. One of the safes contained calligraphy and paintings, all of which were rolled up. Guier opened a few paintings and looked carefully at the words on them. She saw that the year written on one of them was Wanli, and the others could not be seen because the words were too cursive. They should all be ancient calligraphy and paintings.

There was also a safe filled with various antiques, including an intricate and exquisite white jade phoenix, a bronze mirror with exquisite patterns carved on the back and inlaid with gems, a very delicate ivory fan, several porcelain bottles and plates that looked like they were from the Yongzheng period, and an enamel snuff bottle with exquisite patterns.

The remaining two safes were filled with trays of gold, silver and jewelry. Judging from the styles, they should be contemporary. They might be jewelry that the Ji family would not wear on a daily basis, but the workmanship and materials showed that they were very valuable. In one of the safes, there was also a piece of irregularly shaped jadeite raw stone, which was crystal clear and of excellent quality, and was as big as an adult's fist.

Sha Yanxiao took out a jadeite twisted wire bracelet of excellent quality from one of the trays, handed it to Gui'er and said, "This time it's all thanks to you. Here, this is your dowry."

Gui'er waved her hands and said, "Brother, this thing is too valuable. If I wear it and someone sees me, they will definitely get suspicious. And when my father finds out that you gave it to me without permission, he will be unhappy."