Chapter 49: Chapter 49: The Decline of the Family Fortune
Lin Chunju reminisced for a while, but after all that she had gone through, she quickly regained her composure.
The first thing she did was to send Yue Jiandong off to continue working.
“Spring days are short, don’t delay the schedule, and returning so abruptly might arouse suspicion,” she said.
Yue Jiandong realized she had a point, agreed, and then took Yue Qingqing and her little cart to continue to the fishpond.
Once they arrived at the spot, he first carried the child in his arms for a tour around the area.
“Baby, see if there is anything good around here.”
Was he using her as a human detector?
Yue Qingqing puffed her cheeks and randomly pointed in a direction.
Yue Jiandong actually trotted over there with her and looked up to see a tree.
“What’s buried under the roots of this tree? It couldn’t be gold, could it?” Yue Jiandong said, rubbing his hands excitedly.
But Yue Qingqing pointed to the slightly green fruit hanging from the tree.
Um, she wanted to eat it.
He had always noticed the gluttonous trait in the child, and Yue Jiandong chuckled, feeling a bit mischievous as he picked a fruit and wiped it on his sleeve.
Yue Qingqing, who had just sprouted her milk teeth, wasn’t at the stage to chew on fruit yet; she only stuck out the tip of her tongue and licked it once.
The sourness of the early spring wild fruit made Yue Qingqing’s little face wrinkle up, and Yue Jiandong burst out laughing.
At this point, Yue Qingqing thoroughly stopped working, no longer paying attention to her mischievous father.
Fortunately, Yue Jiandong was just teasing her and had no intention of relying on such mystical things to strike it rich.
His mother had once said that ill-gotten wealth is like flowing water and will eventually scatter away.
If the jade was not originally his mother’s, Yue Jiandong figured he would hand it over to Chief Zhang, letting him find its rightful owner.
In good spirits, Yue Jiandong worked with zest and finished everything that was planned for the next day as well.
As the sun set, he hummed a tune all the way home, a perfect example of the saying “good spirits with good fortune.”
That evening, Lin Chunju mentioned the incident in an understated tone.
Yue Jianxi and Yue Jiannan, who had missed the firsthand news, were both surprised.
Especially Yue Jianxi, who exclaimed with relief, “Gosh, to think that the jade was in the pond. It’s lucky it was hidden deep; otherwise, it would have been carried away with the silt.”
Yue Jiannan was still young at the time and had no memory of the jade.
“Mom, what kind of jade is it? Let me have a look,” he said.
Lin Chunju glanced at her youngest son, put down her chopsticks, and walked toward the house.
When she came back, she held a dark blue cloth package in her hand.
Unwrapping it layer by layer, the mutton-fat jade was presented again before everyone’s eyes.
The jade, carefully cleaned once more, appeared even more lustrous and translucent.
The light in the house was rather dim compared to the daytime, yet the jade’s luster captured everyone’s attention firmly.
Yue Jiannan couldn’t help but swallow, and asked a question he had long been wondering about.
“Mom, everyone in the village says you came from a wealthy family. Just how wealthy were you?” he inquired.
Lin Chunju rarely made a joke, but she made an exaggerated gesture with her hands in front of her chest.
“Even wealthier than this,” she said.
“So, why did the family fall from grace?”
Not just Yue Jiannan, but both daughters-in-law were eagerly looking at her for an answer.
Lin Chunju sighed, “At that time, I was only a little older than you and didn’t understand much. I only heard my brother say that our family had made a deadly enemy, who took the opportunity to ensure our doom.”
Seeing Yue Jiannan about to ask more, she waved her hand.
“So many years have passed, and the memories have faded. There may have been some historical reasons as well. I remember that within half a month, one by one, the family members met with misfortune, and soon my brother and I were orphans.”
“All the servants in the house fled, the kind ones at least said goodbye to us, and the treacherous ones took valuable things away. When my brother tried to stop them, they looked fierce enough to kill.”
“One night, my brother said that since the family had fallen to such a state, it would be better for him to leave and seek a future elsewhere.”
“When he left, the house was stripped bare, anything of value was either stolen or snatched, leaving almost nothing but me and the personal jade he had carried since we were young. One for each of us, look, this is mine.”