“My little ancestor, what exactly are you doing?” Xia Zhe asked Qiao Mei with a frown.
“Shh!!!” Qiao Mei quickly raised her left index finger to her mouth and made a shushing gesture.
“Lower your voice and listen to what the Cao family is doing,” Qiao Mei whispered as she pointed towards the house next door.
Xia Zhe pressed his ear against the wall and listened carefully for a while before saying, “They… they’re demolishing the house?”
“I think they know grandmother’s secret. Listen carefully!” Qiao Mei tiptoed on the stool and tried her best to lean her head out.
Seeing this, Xia Zhe immediately picked Qiao Mei up and sat her on his shoulder. Qiao Mei hurriedly held on to Xia Zhe’s arm.
This man of hers was really amazing!
She was already very impressed by the fact that Xia Zhe could carry her up. She did not expect him to be able to sit her firmly on his shoulder.
Qiao Mei sat on Xia Zhe’s shoulder and giggled. She would not exchange such a man for any amount of money.
Xia Zhe looked at Qiao Mei giggling away and wriggled his shoulders slightly, making Qiao Mei shake a few times.
“Don’t just play around. Hurry up and listen to what they’re doing,” Xia Zhe said as he looked up at Qiao Mei.
Only then did Qiao Mei clearly see where they were digging. The bricks in the entire courtyard had already been pried up and all the furniture had long been moved away. Now, they were digging down at the corners at both the east and west sides.
Qiao Mei patted Xia Zhe on the shoulder and said, “I have seen everything. Put me down first.”
Xia Zhe squatted steadily on the ground so that Qiao Mei’s feet could reach the ground.
Qiao Mei jumped down from Xia Zhe’s shoulder and stood beside him as she whispered, “They have already moved everything away, but the entire courtyard is already in a mess. The square bricks on the ground have all been dug up.”
Xia Zhe frowned when he heard this. The old house used to have wooden floors. It seemed that this had been ongoing since Old Master Cao’s time.
“Come, let’s go back into the house first.” Xia Zhe pulled Qiao Mei back to the bedroom.
“What should we do?” Qiao Mei sat on the bed and said worriedly.
“All the old houses used to have wooden floors. Given that they’ve already changed it to square bricks, it would appear that Old Master Cao had already been searching since the beginning. Their house has always been undergoing renovations, so it looks like they’ve been searching all this while,” Xia Zhe said.
“Then is it possible that they have already found it?” Qiao Mei said agitatedly.
After all, the Cao family had lived here for so long. Since they had already redone the floor, they would definitely have found some clues along the way. It would have been possible that they had already found and taken away boxes which were buried at more shallow depths.
Xia Zhe shook his head and said, “I’m not too sure about this either, but it doesn’t matter even if they take it. It’s not a good thing for these things to be dug out.”
“But it’s still a pity for these things to fall into their hands,” Qiao Mei said indignantly.
“It would still be alright if they hand it over to the authorities after finding it, but if they keep it for themselves, the consequences will be unimaginable if they are found out. Since they want to dig around, then let them be. If they manage to dig up anything, they won’t have it easy either,” Xia Zhe said gently.
Qiao Mei understood all these principles, but she still felt uncomfortable to imagine that something belonging to the Xia family had fallen into the hands of the Cao family for no reason.
“Alright, let’s not think about this anymore. Let’s go and eat.” Xia Zhe brought Qiao Mei out to the dining room.
As soon as they entered the dining room, she could smell a nice and strong fragrance. There were three dishes and a bowl of soup on the table, and they all looked and smelled good.
“You… you made these?” Qiao Mei looked at Xia Zhe curiously.
“Am I that capable? I bought all these,” Xia Zhe said embarrassedly.
Even while eating, Qiao Mei continued to think about what happened just now. She could not just leave this matter alone.
Xia Zhe watched as Qiao Mei picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks and chewed on it non-stop. She stared blankly ahead, and it was obvious to him that she was still interested in those treasures.
“What are you thinking about? You’re not even eating.” Xia Zhe knocked on Qiao Mei’s bowl lightly.
