“I wonder, too, what’s inside. Could be anything…”
Li Qingcang looked down at the porcelain vat. He wanted to know as well what was inside Grandmother’s porcelain vat.
Grandmother had covered the vat with layers of kraft when she buried these things.
There must be about 80 or 90 layers of kraft covering the vat’s opening, not letting air in or out.
Li Qingcang dug through the vat using the hoe. It took him a long while before he managed to make a small opening.
It took Li Qingcang and Ye Tianxin much effort to tear open the kraft sealing the porcelain vat.
There was a small leather case inside the vat.
The leatherwork was especially exquisite and the case looked like something that wealthy young masters would use while studying in western countries.
Ye Tianxin thought that if she had known that her grandmother had so many treasures sequestered, she would not have to worry about her grandmother’s medical bills.
But if not for her grandmother’s medical bills, she would not have gotten to know Li Qingcang.
“There might be treasures inside the case.”
The leather case was very heavy.
Ye Tianxin tried to pick up the leather case.
“I can’t do it, Elder Brother Li. You better do it. I don’t have the strength to lift it.”
Ye Tianxin left the task to Li Qingcang.
Li Qingcang asked Ye Tianxin to move aside. Ye Tianxin did what she was told and waited for Li Qingcang quietly.
“It’s so heavy.”
Li Qingcang found the case very heavy as well after he managed to lift it from the vat.
“Elder Brother Li, what do you think we should do now?”
Ye Tianxin looked at the leather case and then at Li Qingcang.
“Let’s take a look at what’s inside first,” Li Qingcang suggested. “If it’s something valuable, let’s go to the bank and rent a safety deposit box.”
“That’s a good idea,” Ye Tianxin agreed.
Ye Tianxin knew that they could not just leave important things like this in their house, especially now that they were staying in a rental.
“But Elder Brother Li, you might need a shower and a change of clothes.”
Li Qingcang’s white shirt was now full of dirt with all the digging that he did.
On the contrary, Ye Tianxin’s hands only caught dirt when she moved the bluestone tiles. Other than that, she was fine.
“There’s no need. I will wait for you in the car. You go and tell your grandmother about this.”
Ye Tianxin agreed with Li Qingcang’s suggestion. “Alright, I will go and tell Grandmother that we dug up the treasure lest she worries.”
Li Qingcang moved the leather case beside Ye Tianxin’s feet. Then, he filled the hole back up with dirt.
After that, he placed the broken pieces of the bed back to their original spot messily.
“Can you tell?” Li Qingcang asked.
Ye Tianxin shook her head. Elder Brother Li was more meticulous than she was. She had not considered doing this.
After returning the hoe to the neighbor, Ye Tianxin walked behind Li Qingcang and got into the SUV parked outside the old town walls.
“Elder Brother Li, shall we see what’s inside the leather case?”
Ye Tianxin reached out and opened the hidden clasp of the leather case. Ye Tianxin was blinded by the shining items in the case upon opening it.
There was a pile of jade bangles, jade pendants, jade hair accessories as well as some gold and silver items. Most importantly, there was a row of gold bars at the bottom of the leather case.
“Oh my goodness, Elder Brother Li! Grandmother hid so many things!”
Ye Tianxin was stunned. She counted the items in the case. There were 10 gold bars, six jade bangles, two jade pendants, four jade hairpins, eight gold bangles, and 12 silver bangles.
After counting the items, Ye Tianxin commented, “If I had known there was so much treasure, I wouldn’t have worried about how to pay Grandmother’s medical bills.” Ye Tianxin felt that the jewels could have helped them greatly financially.