Chapter 18: Reclaiming the Lu Family's Property

As expected, Fu Tingjun headed straight for Duoxiang Alley on Fuxiang Road.

Before Zhu Xinfang managed to climb her way into the Lu family, Zhu Xinyi was nothing but a neighborhood thug, constantly scheming how to use women to make a quick buck—even his own mother wasn’t off-limits. Once they got their hooks into Lu Zhaoqing, the Zhu family didn’t hesitate for a moment: they demanded a house, money, a car, a job—anything they could get their hands on.

It just so happened that the Lu family owned a house in Duoxiang Alley. It was part of Old Lady Lu’s dowry, and she’d offered it up for the Zhu family to live in. On her way there, Lu Jianwei found herself wondering whether the deed to that house had ever been given to the Zhu family.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than an old, yellowed deed appeared on the desk in her pocket dimension. A quick mental glance confirmed the address: Duoxiang Alley on Fuxiang Road. So, she’d already stored the deed away in her space.

This was truly a stroke of luck.

At first, Lu Jianwei kept her distance from Fu Tingjun. When she got closer, she stopped and watched as he entered the alley. Fu Tingjun, nearing the alley, noticed Lu Jianwei and was secretly delighted—she still cared about him, after all.

When she disappeared from sight, he didn’t worry; she’d followed him here, and sooner or later she’d come looking for him. His priority now was to clear things up with the Zhu family before Lu Jianwei arrived: he’d been forced that day, and had no intention of marrying Zhu Ting.

This neighborhood was filled with the old-style residential buildings of Haicheng: rows upon rows of closely packed houses, with narrow alleys winding between the red-brick buildings, a tangle of power lines overhead, and an uneven stone path underfoot. Even before getting close, a cacophony of voices could be heard.

Lu Jianwei found a quiet corner, put her bicycle into her space, and disguised herself. The goods she’d ordered from the market had already been delivered. After changing her appearance, she set off toward the Zhu family’s place, relying on memory.

[Treasure Hunt: Large number of treasures detected.]

Before she’d even approached, her system issued a notification. On the panel, she saw that the house containing the treasures was No. 18 Duoxiang Alley—the very dowry house of the old lady.

Hidden beneath the kitchen stove was a passage to the underground, and down below were more than a hundred chests filled with all manner of valuables. Unlike the Lu family’s neatly categorized storage, these treasures were jumbled together, as if anything valuable had simply been tossed into a box. Many items bore the distinctive marks of Zhu family property—a gold brick, a box of pearls, a red jade necklace.

Lu Jianwei closed her eyes and, with a thought, transferred all the treasures into her space. This time, she left the chests behind and instead filled them with the stones and rubble her gardeners had cleared from the seedbeds, as well as the stones she’d prepared for the foundation of a wall in her space.

Still, that wasn’t enough. Over the years, who knew how much cash the Zhu family had siphoned from the Lu family?

Lu Jianwei searched a while longer on her panel. In Zhu Xinyi’s room, a hole had been hollowed out behind the bed’s headboard; inside was a box filled with cash and various notes, which she took without hesitation.

In Old Lady Zhu’s room, behind a brick pried loose from the chest of drawers, there was a biscuit tin decorated with two girls from the grasslands—also stuffed with cash, which Lu Jianwei promptly whisked away.

Altogether, it amounted to more than thirty thousand yuan.

Her original plan had been to scope out the Zhu home during Zhu Tingting and Fu Tingjun’s engagement banquet, then return under cover of night to retrieve these things. She hadn’t expected her space to be so powerful—it could operate remotely, making it unnecessary to sully herself by entering the Zhu house at all.

Although she never set foot inside, Lu Jianwei circled to the back of the house and, using the spatial map, measured out the underground vault’s approximate boundaries, marking them as she went. Just as she was finishing, an older woman approached.

“Hey, comrade, who are you? What are you doing here?”

Lu Jianwei had heard that people in this era were both warmhearted and vigilant—there was a strong sense of community and collective honor, and outsiders were watched closely, as spies were common.

“Auntie, I work at the machinery factory. I was visiting relatives, but lost some money around here. I thought, since not many people pass by, maybe I could find it.”

When she looked up, the woman was startled by her appearance, her heart immediately going out to this poor, plain girl—unlucky enough to lose money as well.

“Child, you probably won’t find it. Better let it go. How much did you lose? If it’s a lot, maybe we should call the police.”

“It wasn’t much—just a little over a yuan. I figured I’d look, but if I can’t find it, it’s fine.”

The woman helped her search for a while before Lu Jianwei insisted it wasn’t necessary. The woman gave up with a sigh, scolded whoever had picked up the money for not returning it, and kindly reminded Lu Jianwei to be careful and keep her money safe in the future.

Lu Jianwei thanked her profusely. While searching for the lost money, she finished making her marks. Once she left the alley, she found a secluded spot to remove her disguise and retrieve her bicycle, then headed back the way she’d come.

Fu Tingjun was in the middle of negotiating with the Zhu family. “I have no feelings for Comrade Zhu Tingting. She’s Weiwei’s cousin, and that’s all she is to me—I’ve never thought about marrying her. I don’t understand why Comrade Zhu Tingting told Weiwei we were getting engaged today. I’m here to set the record straight.”

He wondered if Weiwei had arrived, and if she had, whether she’d overheard this. She never seemed to trust him, but every word he spoke to her was heartfelt.

Zhu Xinyi sneered, “Isn’t it a little late for this now? Back when we joined forces to bring down Lu Zhaoqing, I don’t recall you objecting! Do you think my niece would still be willing to marry you if she knew you were involved in Lu Zhaoqing’s death?”

Fu Tingjun’s face flushed angrily. “You want to blame me for your own misdeeds?”

“Don’t forget—without that anonymous letter, do you really think you’d have gotten into the machinery factory and become a technical mainstay? Back then, Lu Zhaoqing trusted you more than my sister. Not me—he trusted you!”

All color drained from Fu Tingjun’s face. “I never wanted to hurt him. I didn’t write that letter—it was you—”

Zhu Xinyi, cigarette dangling from his lips, legs crossed with the air of a streetwise old rogue, glanced sideways at him. “If anyone knew the Lu family best, it was our two families. You grew up with Lu Zhaoqing, closer than a son. Many details in that letter came straight from your mouth. Now you claim ignorance? Do you think my niece is a fool and will believe you?”

Fu Tingjun’s mind drifted, recalling the day his mother knelt before him, begging him to break off the engagement with the Lu family and pressing him for details about Lu Zhaoqing.

He hadn’t said things the way they’d written them in the letter, but they’d twisted his words, slandered Lu Zhaoqing, and fabricated evidence.

He also remembered how, when the investigation team came, Lu Zhaoqing had looked to him with hope, wanting him to clear the Lu family’s name—but he’d been too afraid and had looked away.

Lu Zhaoqing was imprisoned. Though eventually released, he’d suffered terribly and ultimately didn’t survive.

That was the outcome they’d wanted: with Lu Zhaoqing dead, the Lu family’s wealth would fall into Zhu Xinfang’s hands. Yet, after turning the Lu house upside down, they’d found nothing—no treasure.

“According to our agreement, you’re supposed to marry Tingting. If you want out, fine, but if anything happens in the future, don’t expect us to shield you,” Zhu Xinyi threatened.

Zhu Tingting came out of her room. “Brother Tingjun, you still have my cousin’s gold locket, don’t you? I don’t want anything else—just give me that locket.”