Cheng Tao left the military compound and headed straight to school to find Xu Nanxi.
Her heart had already completely tilted in his favor.
She knew that if she didn't tell him, he would definitely be arrested by the police.
With several lives on his hands, he would surely face the firing squad.
Cheng Tao didn't know what was happening to her. Knowing he had made a mistake, she still impulsively wanted to protect him, regardless of right or wrong.
"Xu Nanxi, you should leave quickly. Leave Yancheng and go somewhere no one can find you."
The man sneered, "You know everything I've done, and you still came to tell me?"
Cheng Tao was stunned. "I didn't think too much about it..."
"Cheng Tao, my name is Yuan Yuelong, not Xu Nanxi. If you really want to help me, help me with one last thing. After it's done, I'll take you to Hong Kong illegally, and we'll never come back."
Cheng Tao felt her heart pounding fiercely, and she leaned in involuntarily to listen to him.
Then, she returned to the military compound in a daze.
As soon as she entered, she heard the old lady's voice.
"Have you eaten?"
Cheng Tao stared at her, a war raging in her heart.
"What are you looking at? Don't you recognize your grandmother? Have you eaten? I told them to save some food for you."
Cheng Tao's gaze flickered. "No need, I've already eaten outside."
She went upstairs without speaking to the old lady again.
Since she wasn't her real grandmother, Cheng Tao felt no need to hesitate.
The old lady watched her retreating back, shook her head in disappointment, and felt an infinite sense of melancholy.
"Don't think too much about it, get some rest early," the old man draped a thin coat over her.
The old lady slowly got up. "Qinglan said she'll play music for me tomorrow. Let's go to the Qi family's for dinner together."
"Okay."
...
The next day, the old lady asked Cheng Tao if she wanted to join them.
Cheng Tao shook her head. "I'm not going. Cheng You and I don't get along, and my going would only spoil your mood."
Moreover, this was a perfect opportunity while the two elders were out.
Fortunately, the old lady didn't insist. She gave Cheng Tao five yuan and told her to go to a restaurant outside and have a good meal.
Cheng Tao clutched the money in her hand, feeling it was a bit too hot and her heart ached.
After confirming they had all left, Cheng Tao tiptoed upstairs and crept into the old lady's room.
She had been here before and knew there was a safe, with the password being her daughter's birthday.
Cheng Tao tried it, and the safe clicked open.
With excitement, she opened it and saw what was inside.
A box, which contained gold, silver, jade, and jewelry.
There were also two property deeds, and some antique calligraphy and paintings.
"This must be imperial green," Cheng Tao's eyes gleamed. Its quality was even better than her jade pendant.
She casually grabbed a few gold ornaments and a jade bracelet.
She left the properties and paintings untouched, as gold was more practical.
Clutching these items, she closed the safe again and hurried downstairs.
As she reached the door and opened it, she collided with Elder Feng and his party.
Cheng Tao was terrified, frozen in place, forgetting to react.
The old man held a whip and gave a cold smile.
"In such a hurry, where are you going?"
Cheng Tao instinctively clutched her bag, feigning composure. "Grandpa, I have plans with a classmate, I need to go out."
The whip whistled through the air and cracked on the ground with a crisp sound.
Cheng Tao's skin tightened, as if the whip hadn't landed on the ground, but on her.
"Meeting with a classmate, or meeting with Yuan Yuelong?"
Song Qinglan scoffed.
"After all these days, even a dog would be familiar by now."
Cheng Tao was worse than a dog.
The old lady looked at Cheng Tao. "What's in your bag?"
Cheng Tao finally understood. These people had set a trap, waiting for her to steal.
At this point, she was no longer afraid.
"You already know, so why ask?"
She threw her bag on the ground. The emerald green jade bracelet and gold ornaments rolled out.
The old lady closed her eyes in disappointment, unable to comprehend.
"Xu Nanxi is a murderer. In your heart, is he more important than us? Cheng Tao, haven't we been good enough to you during this time, that you would turn around and betray us for a man you've only known for a short while!"
Cheng Tao sneered, her gaze turning ferocious as it fell on Cheng You, her heart filled with hatred.
She knew without a doubt that Cheng You must have been involved in this.
"You've been good to me?" Cheng Tao threw her head back and laughed heartily. "If you'd been good to me, how could you have hidden these things away, unwilling to give me even one? You scold me for spending a little more money, and you call that being good to me? If you were truly good to me, these things would have been mine from the start, so why couldn't you give them to me!"
The old lady found it unbelievable. "In your heart, is the standard for being good to you based on how much money I give you? I was truly wrong. Perhaps I shouldn't have let you come back from the very beginning!"
The reason she didn't give the items to Cheng Tao was because Cheng Tao was unreliable.
No matter how much money she had, Cheng Tao would give it all to Yuan Yuelong. Naturally, the old lady wouldn't give it to her, and even less so to let Yuan Yuelong benefit.
Cheng You's attention was entirely focused on the jade bracelet.
It inexplicably felt familiar, strikingly similar to the one her mother had left her.
If placed side-by-side, no one would suspect they weren't a pair.
Cheng Tao, having failed in her theft, flew into a rage, attacked the Feng family, and ran out, abandoning her spoils.
Although Song Qinglan knew she had no standing to say much, she couldn't help but advise, "I think you should still send Cheng Tao away. This child has a corrupt character and will surely cause you trouble in the future."
The old lady, with her hunched back, picked up the items.
She was her own granddaughter, how could she easily turn her away.
Cheng You exchanged a look with Qi Chengan, and they turned to leave.
Returning home, she took out the bracelet her mother had left her.
It was also the trigger for the spiritual spring.
"Look at mine, does it look like Grandma Lin's?"
Qi Chengan looked closely. "It does."
However, there were countless similar bracelets.
Cheng You asked, "Then is mine very valuable?"
Qi Chengan chuckled. "Of course, it's valuable. I saw a bracelet auctioned at Hong Kong a while ago, and its quality wasn't as good as yours."
Yet the price was astonishing.
Cheng You, like a little miser, happily hid the bracelet.
"Then I must keep it well, to pass down to our children as an heirloom."
Qi Chengan sat down, stretching his long legs in a relaxed posture.
"To be an heirloom, something is missing."
Cheng You came out of the room. "What's missing?"
"A child."
Cheng You playfully chided, "You want a child now?"
They had been practicing contraception all along, not yet ready to have children.
Qi Chengan said, "It depends on you."
He sometimes thought that if he had a daughter like Cheng You at home, it might not be bad.
Cheng You pursed her lips into a smile, not saying whether it was good or not.