Chapter 60 “Hmph, do you really think I’ll let you breathe easy?”

A-Song ordered his men to move the treasures into the underground warehouse. Once he was certain there were no issues, he finally returned to his room to rest.

An hour later, the courtyard fell completely silent, though the burly men stationed at the four corners of the courtyard wall remained on duty, standing ramrod straight.

Seeing this, Xu Lin instantly understood that if she wanted to make a move, she’d have to take down these four and A-Song’s group as well—otherwise, there was no way to accomplish her task.

Glancing at her watch, she saw it was nearly two o’clock. She had to act fast; any longer, and dawn would break by the time she returned to the Wangzhuang Brigade.

With her plan set, Xu Lin immediately affixed a Swift Talisman to herself, and, using her mastery over spatial power, dosed the man nearest her with a sedative.

She then dashed to the second guard, creating a spatial black hole nearby and sprinkling more sedative through it.

After quickly repeating this with the third, she reached the fourth just as the first man began to sway unsteadily from the effects of the drug.

As Xu Lin finished dosing the last one, the first collapsed face-first onto the ground. The remaining three burst out laughing, unaware of the danger, thinking their comrade had merely dozed off standing up.

“He can sleep standing? Didn’t even wake from that fall! That’s a story we’ll tease him about for a lifetime!”

But when they too began to feel light-headed, there was no time to sound an alarm before they all dropped to the ground.

Xu Lin seized the moment, vaulted over the wall, and rushed straight to A-Song’s room. She opened a spatial black hole right under his nose, releasing another dose of sedative.

Without pausing, she moved through the remaining rooms, dosing each occupant. Only after everyone was down did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

With skillful methods, even the most vigilant defenses crumbled. Xu Lin chuckled softly, three times, before dashing toward the secret chamber’s entrance.

Once inside, she couldn’t help but laugh again. The size of the underground chamber matched the courtyard above—it was as if the entire yard had been hollowed out to create this vast basement.

The three to four hundred square meter space was packed full of crates, large and small.

She opened one for inspection: inside was a blue-and-white porcelain vase, wrapped in newspaper and cushioned with straw. Such careful packaging made it clear the treasures were intended for long-distance transport.

Recalling Zhou Xuemei’s earlier words that Seventh Brother would send someone tomorrow to pick them up, Xu Lin guessed these goods must be for him.

Well, it was just her luck—she’d taken a liking to this batch herself.

Without delay, Xu Lin began collecting everything, using her spatial black hole to work faster and save energy.

In just over ten minutes, she’d swept up all the treasures. After a careful final inspection to ensure nothing was left behind, she slipped back out.

Exiting the basement, her gaze fell on A-Song’s room. With a sweep of her mental powers, she soon discovered an oil-paper package hidden beneath his pillow—a medical book.

She couldn’t clearly see the contents, but anything A-Song kept so closely must be more than a simple manual.

She took the package without hesitation.

She also found over a hundred yuan in his clothing pocket, more than twenty thousand in his money box, and a dozen gold bars. In the brick bed’s hollow, she even found two ginseng roots over a century old.

Well, well, Xu Lin silently exclaimed, A-Song certainly had accumulated quite a stash.

Given the principle of a cunning rabbit having three burrows, he probably had other treasures hidden elsewhere—she’d have to collect those some other time.

She then searched the others in the house, harvesting a satisfying haul before climbing over the wall and leaving.

Once out of the county seat, she sped all the way back to the Wangzhuang Brigade.

It was almost five in the morning by the time Xu Lin slipped quietly over the wall and into the Zhiqing courtyard, sneaking into her room. No one would ever guess just how eventful and fruitful her night had been.

The next day, Xu Lin woke to the shrill whistle announcing the start of work.

After washing up quickly, she made porridge, retrieved some pickled vegetables she’d packed earlier, and boiled two eggs for breakfast.

She’d bought the eggs from the old man at the black market in the capital, then stored them in her space. The two hens she’d acquired were diligent, laying one egg each day without fail since entering the space—Xu Lin never lacked for eggs.

Though her breakfast wasn’t particularly lavish, in these times it was already quite a treat.

Compared to Xu Lin’s contented meal, things were much less agreeable at Qin Fang and Su Liang’s table. Especially Qin Fang, who still clung to her airs as the young lady of the Qin family, oblivious that everyone knew she was the daughter of a spy.

When she put on her haughty act, Liu Pan-di and the others gave not an inch, retorting so harshly that Qin Fang was left doubting her very existence.

In the end, she stormed off, slamming her chopsticks down in anger.

Su Liang looked at the watery porridge before him, then at the platter of pickles in the center of the table, and sighed inwardly.

Had he known this was what life in the countryside would be, he’d never have come. He’d have rather found a remote posting and hidden out with Qin Fang for a couple of years than endure the hardships of the countryside.

Alas, there is no such thing as foresight. With a sigh, he set down his chopsticks and hurried after Qin Fang.

If even Qin Fang couldn’t stomach the breakfast, he certainly couldn’t. He’d take her to eat some of the pastries they’d brought. Clearly, communal meals were no longer an option; he couldn’t—and didn’t want to—get used to this food.

It was infuriating that the other Zhiqing refused to share meals with them.

As he walked, Su Liang narrowed his eyes, pondering how to get by in the days ahead.

Learning to cook himself was out of the question. He’d have to find someone willing to cook for them.

While mulling this over, Su Liang arrived at Qin Fang’s door, just as Xu Lin was coming out to empty the dishwater.

Catching sight of Xu Lin’s tanned face, Su Liang snorted. This country bumpkin, this sly little demon, was nothing compared to his precious Fang’er.

That snort irked Xu Lin. What, snorting at her was going to clear his sinuses?

Well then, if he liked it so much, she’d make sure he got his fill.

As Su Liang stepped into Qin Fang’s room, Xu Lin tossed a spatial black hole in front of him and stuck out her foot to trip him.

Despite his precautions, Su Liang fell flat on his face—the notorious five-point landing. Worst of all, his nose took the brunt of the fall. Though his nose wasn’t broken, blood gushed from it.

Amid Su Liang’s wailing and sorry state, Xu Lin felt not the slightest guilt. Smiling as she held her basin, she melted into the crowd to watch the spectacle.

Hu Changming looked at the pitiful Su Liang and felt he was truly unlucky. Falling so hard first thing in the morning—he’d nearly ruined his face.

If this happened every day, would he end up brain-damaged?

Once the commotion died down, Xu Lin cheerfully joined the Zhiqing team heading to the brigade office. Just as Qian Li had said, Xu Lin was assigned to land reclamation.

Since Qin Fang and Su Liang had taken leave to go to the commune, Xu Lin followed behind Han Hong and Zhang Qiang, picking stones under the guidance of the veteran Zhiqing, Du Yong.

As she walked with the others, Xu Lin’s keen ears picked up villagers whispering to each other.

“Xu Lin’s so small and skinny. She doesn’t look like she’s fit for hard labor at all…”