That night, Lu Yiwei carried Xu Banxian's body back to his residence and guarded the tomb in the name of his son. Zhou Sanmao and Li Haidong were in the village, according to Lu Yiwei's intention, they wanted to send Xu Banxian away in style.
On the day of the funeral, Lu Yiwei wore mourning clothes, the people of Xikou Village were full of praise, they praised Lu Yiwei for his loyalty, benevolence and righteousness. According to Xu Banxian's last wish, Lu Yiwei buried him with his ancestor.
When sorting out the remains, Xu Banxian did not find anything valuable. His lifetime of hard work ended in such a miserable way. Lu Yiwei burned the remains into the tomb, he released all the sheep in the pen, but the old yellow dog and the black cat did not leave no matter how he chased them, they lay at the door, waiting for their master to return home.
Lu Yiwei locked the door, the dead branches and wormwood above the cave fluttered in the wind, the empty yard was lifeless. He blocked the straw in the yard at the door, he walked away, looking back three times. The old yellow dog and the black cat were still waiting there, screaming miserably one after another …
After sending Xu Banxian away, it was already the sixth day, none of the things he originally planned to do were completed. In extreme sadness, he refused all kinds of activities, hiding at home to pray for Xu Banxian. Looking at the black box, Lu Yiwei wanted to open it several times, but he did not have the courage, seeing it reminded him of the person, he was even sadder.
After a fierce struggle, he finally opened the box. He saw a big red passbook, a Shanghai brand watch, and a stack of yellowed paper lying inside.
Lu Yiwei slowly opened the passbook, there was 120,000 yuan in deposit. The amount was not much, but for Xu Banxian, this was his life savings. Since Xu Banxian handed it to him, it was him who handled the inheritance. Lu Yiwei completely took it for himself, but he did not intend to do so.
The time on the watch stopped at 11: 20, Lu Yiwei opened his mouth in surprise. This time was actually the same as the time of Xu Banxian's death, was it destined?
Then, he picked up the yellowed paper and gently opened it, looking at it one by one. The first thing that was opened was a land deed from the Republic of China. The deed was printed with the seal of the Xijiang Provincial Department of Finance, which detailed the four boundaries of the land. A rough estimate was that it should be more than 30 acres, which was worthy of being a big landlord. The bearer was "Xu Bangwen", who should be his grandfather. The date of signature was August, Republic of China 7. The big red seal engraved in seal script was still clearly visible.
This land deed was now useless and worthless. The reason why Half Immortal Xu had preserved it all this time was because he wanted to protect his ancestral legacy. However, the dynasty had long since changed, so he could only reminisce about it.
He opened another piece of paper. It was a letter. The more Lu Yiwei looked at it, the faster his heart beat. When he saw the signature, he was even more shocked. It was actually written to Xu Shaoqing by a certain founding general. Lu Yiwei speculated that this Xu Shaoqing should be Xu Banxian's father. In the letter, he repeatedly mentioned the deep friendship they had when they were studying in France. He also briefly explained the current situation and did not let him reply. The last sentence was: "How can we meet again today?!!!" The date of signature was January, 1959.
A question mark and three exclamation marks were enough to explain the mood and situation of the writer at that time. Combined with the background of that time, it was estimated that they would never meet again in this lifetime. Moreover, Xu Shaoqing's identity was special. One could imagine how much risk this founding general had taken to write this letter.
If Half Immortal Xu had taken this letter to this founding general, not to mention glory and wealth, at least he would not have to work so hard for the rest of his life and enjoy his old age. But he did not. Lu Yiwei had not experienced that bloody period, so he could not understand how terrifying it was at that time. However, he still had some understanding of the fact that Half Immortal Xu had been driven crazy. Perhaps, he did not want to recall that period of time and had always kept it.
An old black and white photo appeared. He saw that the people in the photo were all expressionless, sitting in front of the screen wall and taking this precious image. There were more than 20 people in the photo. Lu Yiwei found Half Immortal Xu at a glance. He was wearing a suit and a bow tie. His hair was combed in the middle, and he held a walking stick in his hand. His face showed a wanton expression. As for the others, the men were wearing gowns, the women had their hair combed in a bun, and they were carrying children in their arms.
Lu Yiwei did not know who in the photo was still alive. Perhaps they had all passed away. Even if they were still alive, they would be old people.
Putting down the photo, there was another letter. The stamp and address on the envelope attracted Lu Yiwei's attention. It was actually from the other side of the ocean, the United States. The date was June 1986. Opening the letter, Lu Yiwei first looked at the signature. The name was Xu Dezhen. He should be Half Immortal Xu's brother. As expected, Xu Dezhen asked about the situation of his family in the letter, expressing his homesickness. He also sent an invitation to Half Immortal Xu to go to the United States.
Lu Yiwei guessed that Half Immortal Xu did not reply. If he did, he would not have not returned after so many years.
On the last piece of paper, the handwriting was sloppy, and there were a few simple lines. It was written: "Under the third willow tree on the right side of the ancestral grave. Please take it out and keep it safe after I die. If you meet my descendants in the future, please pass it to them. If you don't meet them, I will give it to the fated person for free. Xu Dezhi, December 1998. "
The date was 1998, which meant that Half Immortal Xu had written this will many years ago. Could it be that he already knew about his illness?
Since Half Immortal Xu had entrusted it to him, Lu Yiwei had to do his best. Without further ado, he rushed to Half Immortal Xu's ancestral grave and dug it according to the directions. A big wooden box appeared.
Lu Yiwei tried to move it out, but after a few attempts, it was as heavy as a giant rock. He gently knocked on a corner and peeked inside. The things inside really shocked him. It was full of gold and silver jewelry, jade and agate. It was a big box. If it was taken away by an outsider, it would be enough for him to live for several lifetimes.
He could not move it alone, so he thought of asking Li Haidong, but after thinking about it, he gave up. In the end, he called his father, Lu Weiguo, and the two of them spent a lot of effort to load it into the car and bring it home.
When they got home, the two of them moved to the second floor and locked the door. After opening it, they saw golden bowls, plates, chopsticks, gold ingots, a few golden Buddha statues, all kinds of women's jewelry, a few porcelain, calligraphy scrolls, and so on. The two of them had never seen so many treasures before, and their eyes were wide open.
"Where did this come from?" Lu Weiguo pointed at the big wooden box and asked Lu Yiwei with a stutter.
Lu Yiwei still hadn't come back to his senses, and intermittently told his father about the situation.
"Oh my god!" Lu Weiguo sat on the bed and murmured, "No matter which treasure it is, it is priceless. What are you going to do with it?"
Lu Yiwei also didn't know what to do. It was as if he had been robbed, his heart was going up and down, and he couldn't calm down. If it was someone else who dug up a treasure, they would definitely be dancing and praying to the heavens. But Lu Yiwei wasn't someone who was greedy for money. This box of things didn't give him excitement, but a heavy burden.
"I don't know either. Uncle Xu said in his will that he wanted me to give it to his descendants, and if they can't be found, I will deal with it." Lu Yiwei's mind was in a mess, and he didn't have the slightest idea.
Lu Weiguo heard movement in the courtyard. He got up and opened the door to take a look. Then, he quickly locked the door and closed the wooden box. He whispered, "Yiwei, you can't let anyone else know about this, including your mother. Do you hear me?"
Lu Yiwei nodded stiffly, and asked for his father's opinion, "Dad, what do you think we should do?"
Lu Weiguo sat on the bed and thought for a while, and said, "This sudden wealth isn't necessarily a good thing. If we don't handle it well, it might bring about a disaster, so we must not make it public. Before you can find a way to deal with it, you must hide it in a safe place. It's definitely not safe at home, and your mother or Lingling might find it one day. If word gets out, it'll be terrible! "
Hearing his father say this, Lu Yiwei regretted bringing this box back. It was fine for him, but if he implicated his parents, it would not be worth it. He eagerly said, "Where should we hide it?"
Lu Weiguo frowned and thought for a long time, and said, "Hide it in our old home!"
His old home was sparsely populated, and it was a good place. But what if someone found it? What should he do? This was the only way, and Lu Yiwei nodded.
Lu Weiguo looked at the sky outside, and vigilantly said, "This matter should not be delayed, the sooner this matter is resolved, the better. I'll go down now to send your mother away, and we'll bring her back to our old home as soon as possible."
With that, Lu Weiguo opened the door and went downstairs.
Liu Cuilan was sitting in the living room, watching TV while cutting vegetables. Seeing Lu Weiguo come down in a panic, she asked, "I thought you went out to play, why are you sneaking around upstairs? Come and help me cut vegetables, Lingling and Zhong Ming will be back soon. "
Lu Weiguo didn't listen to her nagging, and said, "Yiwei wants to eat pork ribs, go buy some for him now. Also, Lingling likes to eat lobster, go buy it too, hurry! "
Liu Cuilan looked outside, and said, "Look at the time, if you want to eat then cook tomorrow. It's not early by the time I get back, Lingling just called, she will be back in 20 minutes, I have to hurry up and cook. "
"You don't understand what I'm talking to you?" Lu Weiguo's face suddenly changed, and shouted, "Go!"
Liu Cuilan was frightened, and stood up in a panic, took off her apron, muttered "crazy", and went out with the basket.
After Lu Weiguo saw Liu Cuilan go far away, he hurriedly went upstairs with Lu Yiwei to carry the box downstairs. He prayed all the way not to meet anyone, but when he was about to walk out of the alley, he met Aunt Wang next door.
"Old Lu, what are you and Yiwei going to do?" Aunt Wang looked at the two people carrying the heavy box, and asked curiously.
Lu Weiguo responded quickly, "Oh, some old things that we don't use, they take up space at home, so we plan to take them back home."
"Oh." Aunt Wang looked suspiciously at him under the moonlight, and went home.
After placing the box in the trunk of the car, the two of them did not waste any time and went straight to their home.
When they reached home, the two of them first moved the box into the house, and after resting for a while, they encountered a new problem. Where should they hide it?
Lu Yiwei suggested hiding it in the cellar in the courtyard, but Lu Weiguo objected, "I'm worried about the courtyard, what if the children go down to play one day and find it?"
Lu Yiwei suggested hiding it in the vegetable field behind the house, but Lu Weiguo objected again. According to his father, it's definitely not safe outside.
At this moment, someone called out to Lu Weiguo, and the two of them held their breath and widened their eyes. Seeing the footsteps getting closer, Lu Weiguo immediately went out to block them. Lu Yiwei covered the box with a piece of cloth, panting like a thief who was discovered.
"Old Lu, when did you come back? I saw the lights in the house, so I came over. "The person who spoke was Master Zhao, who was herding goats.
Lu Weiguo grabbed Master Zhao and said, "You came at the right time. I bought two bottles of good wine for you. It's in my son's car, I'll go get it for you now!"
Hearing that there was wine, Master Zhao immediately beamed, forgetting why he came, and happily followed Lu Weiguo to get the wine.
As the two of them negotiated outside, Lu Yiwei was suffering in the house. His heart was like a clockwork, tightly wound, and beads of sweat the size of beans seeped out of his forehead. He could not calm himself down. He had never been so nervous in his entire life.
After waiting for a long time, Lu Weiguo walked in anxiously and said, "We have to hurry, or else we'll be discovered."
Where to bury it? The two of them could not make up their minds. In the end, Lu Weiguo made up his mind and buried it in the kang bed.
The two of them lifted up the kang bed, removed the bricks, and put the big wooden box in after a Herculean effort. Then, they restored it to its original state. If they did not say anything, no one would have discovered it. Even so, Lu Weiguo was still worried. Before he left, he nailed the window shut and added two locks to the door.
On the way back, Lu Weiguo smoked to calm himself down and said, "Yiwei, you have to get rid of these things as soon as possible. No matter where you put them, you won't feel at ease. After Lingling and her son-in-law leave, I'll move back. "
There was no other way other than this, so Lu Yiwei nodded his head. "Dad, don't worry. I'll deal with it as soon as possible. I'll have to trouble you then."
"What's the point of saying that?" Lu Weiguo said, "It's fine if we can find his descendants, but what if we can't? We can't take things that don't belong to us, or we won't be able to live with our conscience. If there's no other way, we'll just hand it over! "
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