Chapter 201: Chapter 201

In the afternoon, Qin Xi did not return, which worried Li Xianglu somewhat, but she also knew that overthinking wouldn’t solve anything. She was fairly familiar with the county town, so she first went to the big cafeteria and had a bowl of wonton soup, then bought ten meat buns to take back.

It was past eight o’clock when Li Xianglu finally heard footsteps. She quickly ran to open the door and saw Qin Xi striding toward her room. The guest house in the county was a large courtyard with brick buildings front and back; their rooms were neighboring each other. Qin Xi, behind him, carried a large black cloth bag, and he was covered in dirt.

Seeing this, Li Xianglu hurriedly welcomed him in but dared not close the door; she left it wide open and then poured some hot water into the basin of cold water.

Qin Xi, feeling extremely hot, took off his outer short-sleeved shirt and began to wash. Meanwhile, Li Xianglu took the buns to the front of the guest house. She had already arranged to have them heated for 50 cents, and casually cooked a bowl of corn rare rice.

When Li Xianglu returned with the rare rice and buns, Qin Xi had already cleaned and neatly arranged the items on the table and the floor.

Seeing this, Li Xianglu quickly urged him to eat while she wiped everything down with a towel. The items were covered in a layer of yellow soil, prompting Li Xianglu to ask curiously, "Did you bury them?"

Swallowing a mouthful of bun, Qin Xi replied, "Yes, buried next to a tomb."

What! Li Xianglu felt a chill as she looked at the items spread on the table and floor. These couldn’t possibly be dug out directly from a tomb! Two pairs of Meiping vases were exceptionally well-preserved. With such condition, they were either tomb artifacts or collectors’ items. But in this era, who would dare to collect them? Anyone who owned such things was either dead or sent to labor reform.

Qin Xi knew this girl’s wild thoughts and said impatiently, "What are you thinking? These are just unclaimed collector’s items. I found them by chance and hid them next to a graveyard to avoid discovery."

Alright then, Li Xianglu continued wiping. As she did, she realized how valuable these items were. A pair of Meiping vases from the Kangxi Era of the official kiln. Though not very famous, they were excellently preserved. There was also a large Yuan Blue and White plate with a story of figures, exquisitely detailed—a rare official kiln artifact.

There was also a box of Tianhuang Stone—my goodness, Qin Xi’s luck was simply astounding. Truly a reborn individual, striking gold upon his return.

The last item was a red sandalwood box about forty centimeters tall. Leaving aside what was inside, the mere box itself could be carved into so many prayer beads. Selling one string of beads for even a million—not to mention three million—was a lot. Li Xianglu’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

After Qin Xi had eaten six buns and a large box of rare rice, he felt much more comfortable. Seeing Li Xianglu’s greedy expression, he couldn’t help but laugh. He strode over, stretched out his arm to pull her into his embrace, and ruffled her hair with a chuckle, "Alright, let’s open it up. I have a feeling there’s a treasure inside."

Li Xianglu laughed, but inwardly she scorned, "What intuition? I might as well be a prophet."

Yet she obediently took out the key. Ever since hearing a few days ago that this key might open a treasure chest, Li Xianglu had treasured the key, tying it with a red string around her neck.

Qin Xi, finding it amusing yet also nervous, saw Li Xianglu about to insert the key and suddenly intervened, "Xiangxiang, let me do it. Step back."

Li Xianglu paused, blinked, and quickly understood. Her heart immediately warmed. Qin Xi was probably thinking of the incineration device she had mentioned earlier. In ancient times, many talented people had created clever mechanisms capable of inducing fires. Although weakened by age, these could still cause harm.

Li Xianglu obediently stepped back. She knew Qin Xi was well-coordinated; she just needed to protect herself.

Seeing her step back, Qin Xi efficiently proceeded to unlock it. The key inserted smoothly. He sighed in relief, turned it, and heard a faint clicking inside. The last sound was a loud snap, and the key turned full circle and returned to its original position.

Qin Xi tried pulling; the door slowly opened.

Li Xianglu looked from afar, planning to bring out the fire extinguisher from the Storage Ring if necessary, even at the risk of exposing it. Surprisingly, everything went smoothly, so she cautiously approached to take a look.

The door was wide open, revealing three small drawers.

The handles on the drawers were all made of gold. Qin Xi shook her head with amusement, finding the owner’s obsession with gold quite interesting.

Upon opening a drawer, inside lay a stone the size of a fist. Under the light, the stone emitted a water-green glow. Li Xianglu’s mouth fell open, and it took her a while to exclaim, "Jade!" Such high quality, Emperor Green!

Qin Xi nodded, pulled the drawer out completely, lifted up the bedsheet to place it on top, and then opened the second drawer. Li Xianglu held her breath in anticipation of what more astonishing items she might find.

What Qin Xi pulled from the drawer was a stack of papers.

The two exchanged glances. Li Xianglu took the papers and started reading; they were documents in pure English from a Swiss Bank, concerning the rental of a drawer for two hundred years.

Li Xianglu blinked, finding the owner of the chest quite amusing. Two hundred years.

Seeing Li Xianglu silent, Qin Xi opened the third drawer, which contained two purple velvet jewelry boxes, each holding a key. But this time, they were made of stainless steel, not gold, the keys long, with English and Arabic numerals on the handles.

Li Xianglu passed over the papers saying, "These are Swiss Bank’s storage documents, bearer documents. Whoever has the key can open it and take away what’s inside."

Qin Xi took them and read through carefully, nodding in agreement with Li Xianglu, indeed they were bearer documents.

Li Xianglu examined the keys closely, then lay back on the bed and sighed deeply, "Whose could these be?"

Qin Xi shook her head, "I don’t know."

Li Xianglu, playing with the keys in her hand, voiced her concerns, "Could they belong to someone?"

Qin Xi shook his head again, "Not anymore."

Li Xianglu didn’t challenge Qin Xi’s contradictory answers. After all, being reborn, he would clearly know if it had an owner or not. But this treasure was so substantial; wasn’t taking it a bit too much?

Qin Xi hugged her and said, "If this fortune is particularly vast, I plan to establish a fund at an appropriate time to help those in need."

Li Xianglu’s eyes brightened, and she lifted her head, "And what about the Jade?"

Qin Xi affectionately kissed her smooth forehead, "Those small things are for you, as a reward for your selfless contributions!"

ps: No more words, planning to quickly repay the debt.