Siheyuan, my new life

Xu Fugui was sitting at the octagonal table drinking alone. His wife Lianxiang, who had spent a night in the interrogation room of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, just ate a few bites of food and went to bed early.

This morning, Xu Fugui arrived at the Municipal Public Security Bureau early and picked up his wife smoothly. However, he did not see Lou Zhenhua's wife, Lou Tanshi, and daughter, Lou Xiao'e. After asking Captain Yao of the Public Security Brigade again, he learned that because the Municipal Bureau's Criminal Investigation Department still had questions to ask Lou Tanshi and Lou Xiao'e, the two could not be released yet.

After sending his wife home, Xu Fugui immediately returned to work at the Red Star Steel Mill. He had received a notice yesterday afternoon that the mill would hold a factory-wide meeting today and all cadres and employees were required to attend.

Xu Fugui was extremely irritable at the factory today. He finally got off work in the afternoon and immediately rode his bicycle back to Courtyard No. 95. He did not have time to ask his wife about the details this morning, but now he could not wait to know some details.

When Xu Fugui returned home, his wife Lianxiang had already prepared a table full of sumptuous dishes to calm him down.

Everything that happened yesterday afternoon is still vivid in her mind. Lianxiang never imagined that the famous Lou Bancheng would be arrested and his house searched.

In Lianxiang's mind, Lou Bancheng was a big shot with a powerful background. When the Japanese invaders occupied the city of Sijiu, a guy who was the deputy mayor of the Japanese puppet government set his sights on the Tan family's assets. In order to avoid the tragedy of the family being torn apart, the head of the contemporary Tan family married his 18-year-old daughter to Lou Bancheng as the third concubine, and gave him a large dowry. Lianxiang, who had been with the young lady since childhood, also entered the Lou family as a personal maid.

On the second day after the young lady married into the Lou family, the deputy mayor of the Japanese puppet city government came to the Lou family with generous gifts to apologize, and the Tan family was able to escape the disaster thanks to the Lou family.

After the Japanese surrendered, Lianxiang saw with her own eyes that the senior officials of the Baldhead Party became the guests of honor in the Lou family; when the city of 1949 was peacefully liberated, Lou Bancheng immediately transformed himself into a "red capitalist", and Lianxiang met many factory leaders and government officials in the Lou family.

Such a powerful figure actually became a prisoner. When Lianxiang, his wife and daughter were taken to the Municipal Public Security Bureau, her calves were cramped with fear and she almost peed her pants.

As soon as she entered the interrogation room, Lianxiang answered every question honestly and confessed everything she knew in detail. It was not until the interrogator told her that she was just a hired worker working in the Lou family and that the crimes committed by her employer Lou Zhenhua had nothing to do with her that she had been informed and that her husband would be able to take her home tomorrow morning that Lianxiang finally put her mind at ease.

Back in the temporary detention room of the Municipal Bureau, Lianxiang couldn't help but secretly rejoice that she had indeed explained everything she knew about the Lou family and Mrs. Lou Tan in detail. However, there was one thing she did not mention, which was that she had been in the Lou family for more than ten years and had secretly brought a lot of valuable little things into her own home.

At the beginning, Lianxiang only dared to steal some precious ingredients. Since Lou Tan had learned to cook Tan's cuisine since childhood, and the Lou family was very powerful, and Lou Bancheng was also very particular about daily diet, the Lou family prepared a lot of dried goods such as scallops, shark fins, sea cucumbers, abalone, etc. needed to make Tan's cuisine in advance.

As Lianxiang was Lou Tan's personal maid, she enjoyed her trust. Therefore, one of the keys to the small warehouse where these precious ingredients were stored was in the hands of the butler Lou Cheng, and the other was in Lianxiang's hands.

Lianxiang took this opportunity to secretly bring some food home for her husband and son to taste. Butler Lou Cheng was in charge of all matters of the Lou family, so he didn't pay attention to the small matter of food. He only went into the small warehouse to deliver food according to the shopping list Lianxiang gave him, so he didn't pay attention to the consumption of food. Lianxiang only secretly brought a little each time, so no one in the Lou family knew about it for such a long time.

At first Xu Fugui didn't care about what Lianxiang brought home, because he knew that his wife Lianxiang had a close relationship with Madam Lou Tan. In addition to the 30 yuan salary given by the Lou family every month, Madam Lou Tan often gave her a lot of rewards in private.

You should know that Lou Bancheng, who was a wealthy family, was very generous to his three wives. The first wife and the eldest son received 10,000 yuan in pocket money every month, the second wife and the second son received 8,000 yuan in pocket money every month, and the third wife, Lou Tan, and the youngest daughter also received 8,000 yuan in pocket money every month. And as far as Xu Fugui knew, the dowries that the three wives of Lou Bancheng received when they married into the Lou family all belonged to the wives themselves and their children.

Xu Fugui had heard from his wife Lianxiang more than once that when Lou Tan married into the Lou family, not counting the several carts of silks, satins, clothes and bedding, there were 666 large and small yellow croakers, 666 gold and silver ingots weighing one tael each, 66,666 silver dollars, six boxes of jewellery, and six catties and six taels of gold and silver melon seeds as rewards.

Xu Fugui clearly remembered that when he first heard about these treasures, his breathing became rapid and his heart beat faster. That night, he tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep, thinking in his heart, how great it would be if he could have such a huge fortune.

As his wife brought more and more precious ingredients home, Xu Fugui discovered something unusual, because each time his wife brought back only a few scattered things, which was nothing compared to the generous rewards given by the Lou Tan family during the holidays. Moreover, giving such small rewards was not in line with the style of the Lou family.

So Xu Fugui privately asked his wife about the truth indirectly. After learning about the stupid thing his wife had done, Xu Fugui couldn't help but sneer. No wonder the older generation always said that women have long hair and short knowledge. They sit on a treasure mountain but don't know it, and just covet such trivial profits.

Xu Fugui, who had worked as a chauffeur for Lou Zhenhua for several years, certainly had a certain understanding of the Lou family, so he taught his wife step by step. He asked his wife to focus on those valuable little things that were not particularly noticed by others, especially the many valuable little antiques and cultural relics placed casually in the study and living room of the Lou family. Each of them could be sold for a lot of money, but she must not be too greedy. She should only make one every one or two months, and pay attention to the long-term. She should not rush to sell the things she brought home, because the family was not short of money anyway, so she should find a secret place to hide the things she got.

Xu Fugui also specifically reminded his wife that she must not touch her things, because compared to careless men, women are very careful about their things, and if the number doesn't match, they will definitely get into trouble. Especially the dowry in Lou Tan's treasure room, no matter how greedy you are, you can't touch it, because each of those things has a clear number.