“Let’s go to grandfather’s place.” Xia Zhe held on to Qiao Mei and led her out of the courtyard. He then looked back at Zhou Hua, who was still in the courtyard.
Zhou Hua looked up at the roof and saw a black shadow flashed past. It seemed that what Xia Zhe said was true. If there was really someone secretly monitoring this house, then she definitely would not be able to find anything.
“Why is Third Aunt-in-law not leaving yet? Is she so confident that she’s better than all the experts? So many experts can’t manage to find anything, but she seems to think that she can,” Qiao Mei asked curiously.
Qiao Mei did not mean to look down on or mock Zhou Hua. She was really curious about it.
It made the situation even more hilarious. Although Qiao Mei spoke very softly, everyone around could hear her.
“Third Aunt-in-law, when did you learn about archeology? You even have such skills!” Xia He asked with a laugh.
Xia Fang scolded Xia He from the side, “Don’t look down on your third aunt-in-law! Your third aunt-in-law is so much more professional than those experts.”
Xia Fang rarely joked and was unwilling to make fun of other people, so what she said must be true. So what exactly was Third Aunt-in-law’s expertise?
Qiao Mei widened her eyes and looked at Xia Zhe, then at Zhou Hua behind him with an incredulous look.
“What does that mean?” Xia He asked, feeling puzzled.
Looking at Qiao Mei’s expression, Xia Zhe laughed and said, “Third Aunt-in-law’s grandfather is a famous local tomb robber. It’s said that Third Aunt-in-law’s father knows how to do that too. As for Third Aunt-in-law… I’m not too sure about that.”
“How would I have that kind of skill? In our family, the skills are only passed on to the men, not the women. By the time it gets to my generation, these sinister skills are gone. No one else knows how to do it,” Zhou Hua explained quickly.
Zhou Hua was telling the truth, but there were also some other things that she did not say. She had watched her father and grandfather do these things for a long time and had learned a little from them. She was not proficient in it, but she had enough knowledge to get by.
This was not a matter to be proud of. After she left the village, she did not tell anyone about it. When she married into the Xia family, she never mentioned it at all. Even her own children did not know about these things and she did not expect Xia Zhe to know about it.
“Oh, no wonder. Third Aunt-in-law is so capable.” Qiao Mei looked at Zhou Hua and asked excitedly, “Then Third Aunt-in-law, can you see anything? To be honest, we don’t know if there’s anything under the ground. If there is, can you guess the approximate location?”
Qiao Mei asked Zhou Hua in a low voice with a serious and sincere expression. Zhou Hua thought that she did not look like she was lying. Could it be that they really did not know anything?
From Xia Mao’s expression today, it seemed like he also did not know if there was anything buried at home. Qiao Mei’s expression looked real, but didn’t Xia Zhe say that there was something to be found?
“We’re just guessing. After all, the He family has been watching us and I also don’t know where to start.” Xia Zhe quickly understood what the young girl wanted to do, so he cooperated with Qiao Mei as she looked at Zhou Hua with a troubled look.
Zhou Hua believed what Xia Zhe said and whispered, “I think there are three suspicious places, namely under the cherry tree, the abandoned well, and the corner of the southeast wall. However, nothing has been dug out from these three places. The other places all look unlikely to me, so there are probably no other possible spots apart from the three. If we want to find anything, we have to dig very deep down.”
Xia Zhe and Qiao Mei looked at each other. Qiao Mei was even more shocked as she knew where those things were hidden. Zhou Hua was right about all three places.
It looked like they should not underestimate others. Everyone had a capable side to them.
“You’re just making wild guesses. When I was just born, my family only had enough money to barely survive. Later on, when I was at the age when I could remember stuff, my family couldn’t even afford to buy food anymore. At that time, as soon as we had money, my maternal uncle would come and borrow it all. No matter how much money our family had, it was not enough to give to my uncle,” Xia Fang said with a sigh.
Her uncle loved to gamble. Back then, if they did not give him money, his creditors would come knocking on their door. Therefore, they had sold many things in the house to pay off her uncle’s debts.
“Later on, my uncle lost his house in a bet. In a fit of anger, my aunt-in-law went back to her own family with the children. In the end, my uncle fell ill and died. At that time, it was my mother who paid for the coffin he was buried in,” Xia Fang continued.
