Li Xia clung to Auntie Mei's arm and whined, "Auntie, I overheard people talking about it at the market, and I paid close attention. You know my eyes and ears are sharp."
"Is that so?" Auntie Mei didn't quite believe Li Xia, but seeing her so serious, she didn't want to doubt her daughter too much.
"Of course, why would I lie to you?" Li Xia assured her, while secretly thinking otherwise. This trick with the fingers was something a old man she knew in her previous life had taught her. That old man's father was a thief who had trained him as a child. After the apocalypse, he relied on this skill of iron fingers to kill zombies. Out of curiosity, Li Xia had learned it from him for a while. That's why she noticed the skinny maid when choosing servants today.
Qiu Shui returned with the two maids dressed in new clothes. The plump maid was too burly, and the skinny maid too thin, so Qiu Shui had to quickly alter two outfits for them.
Li Xia nodded in satisfaction. Qiu Shui was indeed very capable to have altered two outfits so quickly. "What are your names?"
"This slave used to be called Plump Maid at home," the plump maid replied in a coarse voice that could pass for a man's if she wore men's clothes.
"This slave is called Xiao Yu," the skinny maid answered articulately.
"Would you like to keep your current names or have new ones?" Li Xia didn't directly rename them but asked for their preference.
"Please give us new names, Mistress," the two maids replied in unison, as they had been taught.
Li Xia was a little disappointed they didn't want to keep their original names, as naming wasn't her forte. After pondering for a moment, she said, "I have two maids whose names contain the character 'Qiu.' You two shall follow suit. Plump Maid, your new name is Qiu Chan. Xiao Yu, yours is Qiu Ling."
"Thank you, Mistress, for the new names," Qiu Chan and Qiu Ling replied respectfully with a curtsy.
"Qiu Shui, please show them around the Orchid Courtyard and their quarters, and teach them the rules," Li Xia instructed Qiu Shui.
Qiu Shui acknowledged the order and left with the two maids to educate them on the rules.
Meanwhile, Li Shan couldn't wait to tell Aunt Wang about Li Xia choosing servants, mocking her for not knowing how to pick good ones. However, Li Yao found Li Shan's mockery amusing.
Those plump and skinny maids were no ordinary servants. They had followed his sister into battle and were awarded the title of female generals for their merits. With Li Xia's support, they had formed a border defense army of women known for their fierce fighting. The plump and skinny duo were called the Big and Little Lady Generals. It wasn't Li Xia who didn't know their value, but Li Shan. Just look at the two maids who came with Li Shan - in their previous lives, they had tried to seduce Li Hui, enraging Mrs. Lu, who broke their legs and threw them out of the manor.
Recalling this, Li Yao fell silent again, closing his eyes to avoid seeing or hearing anything, hoping to grow up faster by sleeping more.
That night, Li Xia went to the desolate mountain and entered the secret chamber where Zhou Heng was cleaning up.
"The house is purchased, and these are the last two boxes of gold and silver," Zhou Heng said.
"Let's go together." Li Xia and Zhou Heng each carried a box to the house Zhou Heng had bought in the Southern District of Liuzhou, an affluent residential area. He had purchased a two-courtyard compound that previously belonged to a family implicated in the Yongkang Prince Incident and had their property seized. Many people had died in this house, leading prospective buyers to believe it was unlucky.
But Zhou Heng didn't mind such superstitions. In fact, these rumors conveniently kept others away. Upon careful inspection, he discovered a hidden chamber in the garden's corner of the second courtyard. After some renovations, he stored the weapons and gold and silver there.
"Here's the deed," Zhou Heng handed the deed to Li Xia.
Taking the deed, Li Xia gestured to the boxes of gold, silver, and jewelry in the chamber. "Take these and distribute them among the families affected by the Yongkang Prince Incident in Nantong."
Zhou Heng looked at Li Xia. "You want to be a do-gooder."
After experiencing the apocalypse, Li Xia wasn't one to be overly benevolent. But after hearing about Zhou Heng and Auntie Mei's experiences, she couldn't bear to keep this wealth for herself. She had only purchased this house to store weapons. Muttering "Nag," Li Xia left.
Seeing Li Xia's hasty retreat amused Zhou Heng.
Late that night, Li Xia returned to the chamber. Zhou Heng had left, but he had left her two hundred taels of silver. As Li Xia was about to depart with the silver, she heard voices and stopped.
"Zhang Fan, are you sure there's treasure here?" a gruff voice asked in a hushed tone.
"I'm sure. My grandfather was part of the team that built this secret chamber for the Sun family," an excited young voice replied.
"Big brother, I can confirm this. My mother used to be a maid for the Sun family. She once saw people moving around in the back garden at night. There were even rumors of the place being haunted around that time," a nasal voice chimed in.
"To the garden," the gruff voice commanded, heading towards the garden.
"Big brother, we agreed to split any treasure we find equally, right?" the young voice reminded him.
"I, Chief Hu, keep my word. I said we'd split it, and I won't take an extra penny," the gruff voice responded, annoyed at the young man's suspicion.
"Big brother, don't be angry. Zhang Fan is just a kid and doesn't know better," the nasal voice quickly interjected to placate Chief Hu. "Zhang Fan, lead the way."
With Zhang Fan in the lead, Chief Hu and the nasal-voiced man followed into the garden.
The overgrown vegetation rustled in the breeze, as if something was moving within. Zhang Fan trembled, "Liu Guang, I'm scared."
Chief Hu shoved Zhang Fan. "What are you afraid of? The Sun family is all dead. If they don't want the treasure, we'll take it. Hurry and find the chamber."
As the three searched the garden, the nasal voice suddenly cried out, "Ah!" startling Chief Hu and Zhang Fan. Chief Hu lowered his voice, "Liu Guang, what are you screaming about? Do you want to attract attention?"
"B-b-big brother, something just touched my butt," Liu Guang stammered.
Chief Hu surveyed the area around Liu Guang and saw a branch sticking out. "It's just a tree branch. Why make such a fuss?" He picked up the branch to toss it aside, but it seemed stuck to his hand, with a pair of red shoes dangling from it.
Zhang Fan and Liu Guang cried out in terror and backed away.
Even Chief Hu was rattled. He tried shaking the branch off, but it wouldn't come loose.
Suddenly, a woman's eerie voice whispered with the breeze, "Who took my shoes?"
Chief Hu's face drained of color. Yelling "Ghost!" he bolted toward the gate.
"My shoes, my shoes, my shoes..." the woman's voice echoed around them. The three men ran for their lives, bursting through the gate and slamming it shut behind them. From outside, they could still hear the voice lingering, "Where are my shoes? My shoes..."
The three men exchanged looks, relieved the ghost hadn't followed them out. But they dared not return to the Sun residence. Hearing the commotion, nearby residents came to investigate, demanding to know what was happening.
Startled by the voices, the three men stumbled backward, and the gate swung open.
"Found it!"