Kissed and Seduced By the Most Rough Man in the Village-Chapter 395: Acquiring the Long List of Names and Evidence
Lin Hanshui screamed hysterically, trying to drag Su Xiaoxiao down with her.
However, Su Xiaoxiao tilted her head, looking at her with feigned confusion, "China hasn’t had any cultural break. If you ask your grandmother or great-grandmother, they’ll tell you about hiding treasures at the bottom of the box. Especially here in Shanghai, many families prepared these dowry boxes for their daughters going back three generations."
Su Xiaoxiao’s words were precise, backed by reason. She had learned about this from her high school friend’s grandfather, an old carpenter who once made such a cedar box for her friend’s mother as a dowry.
Once, while shopping for books together, her friend had shared this curious fact with them.
But Lin Hanshui didn’t believe a word Su Xiaoxiao said and continued trying to smear her.
Xu Chengzhi, however, ordered someone to cover Lin Hanshui’s mouth. No point in letting her spew nonsense anymore.
The team worked quickly, and within twenty minutes, they found the box Su Xiaoxiao had mentioned.
When they opened the small drawer with the key, they discovered that the lock was connected to a flint, and everything inside had the scent of gasoline.
In other words, if they had tried to force the lock, the flint would have ignited and set all the papers inside on fire.
Everyone was shocked and looked at Su Xiaoxiao with deep gratitude.
"Comrade Su, we truly can’t thank you enough! Without you, we would never have gotten this far," Xu Chengzhi said, his voice filled with emotion.
Su Xiaoxiao shyly shook her head. "I was just guessing based on intuition. It’s because you didn’t dismiss me and were willing to listen that we succeeded."
Everyone smiled at her modesty and then immediately began inspecting the contents of the drawer.
Inside were about ten photos, four or five documents, and a long list of names that filled two whole sheets of paper.
Xu Chengzhi recognized several names on the list and quickly realized how crucial it was.
He ordered six men to stay behind to guard the gold, while the others escorted Lin Hanshui down the mountain.
Lin Hanshui struggled desperately but couldn’t break free. However, she managed to dislodge the cloth gag in her mouth.
As soon as she regained the ability to speak, she cursed at the top of her lungs, "Su Xiaoxiao, you wretched girl! You’ve doomed so many people, and you’ll get your karma!"
Jiang Yexun and Su Hongchen’s expressions immediately darkened. Jiang Yexun even wanted to kick her but was held back by Su Hongchen.
"No need. She won’t survive anyway. If you injure her now and something happens, it will be hard to explain to the higher-ups."
Jiang Yexun clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles white. Su Xiaoxiao tugged at his sleeve.
"Yexun, don’t get mad. What she said is just superstitious nonsense; it won’t affect me at all."
"I know," Jiang Yexun replied gruffly, finally restraining himself from charging forward.
Su Xiaoxiao sighed in relief and quickly withdrew her hand, worried she might lose control in front of everyone and become overly affectionate.
Xu Chengzhi re-gagged Lin Hanshui, this time tying it even tighter to prevent any further outbursts on the way down.
When they reached the large tree they’d passed earlier, Jiang Yexun paused.
"I’ll take Xiaoxiao over to pick the Ganoderma."
"Alright, go ahead. We’ll wait here," Xu Chengzhi nodded, leading the others to sit beneath the tree.
Though they were in a hurry, they didn’t want to leave Su Xiaoxiao and Jiang Yexun alone, in case a wild animal appeared.
"Stay here, don’t go any further. There are a lot of thorny bushes ahead; you might get scratched," Jiang Yexun said, leading the way and clearing the brush as he searched for a safe spot to stop.
Su Xiaoxiao obediently stayed in the place he had found for her, smiling sweetly as she watched him.
"I see two or three Ganoderma over there. They’re small, but I want to take them all. I’ll plant them in a pot later and bring them back to the team," she said cheerfully.
"Alright, I’ll be careful not to damage the roots when I pick them," Jiang Yexun replied gently, though he didn’t quite understand how she planned to grow tree-dwelling Ganoderma in a pot.
He knelt by the tree, carefully prying the fungi loose while Su Xiaoxiao gave occasional instructions.
Once he had picked all three, Su Xiaoxiao eagerly took them from him, her eyes twinkling like crescent moons as she smiled.
Jiang Yexun’s heart felt like it was on fire, and he couldn’t resist reaching out to tousle her fluffy hair.
The sudden gesture made Su Xiaoxiao shiver slightly, and she glanced up at him with a playful, slightly reproachful look.
Her dark eyes shimmered like water, and Jiang Yexun’s breath caught for a moment.
Not daring to take things further, he cleared his throat and said, "We’d better head back before they wait too long."
"Mhm," Su Xiaoxiao nodded, biting her tongue to calm herself.
Without waiting for Jiang Yexun to clear the path, she hopped back to the trail like a rabbit.
As her inner turmoil slowly subsided, Su Xiaoxiao secretly sighed in exhaustion.
If her uncontrollable feelings for Jiang Yexun were due to the strong matchmaking powers of the Guo family ancestors, why hadn’t their supernatural influence faded now that they were about to get married?
Did they really have to wait until they were officially husband and wife for it to stop?
Su Hongchen, frowning, glanced at the two of them suspiciously.
"What’s going on with you two?" he asked, puzzled.
"Nothing," Su Xiaoxiao quickly denied, shaking her head.
Afraid he wouldn’t believe her, she added, "I was just thinking about finding a tea tree to plant. We’re in a good region for growing tea, but once we’re up north, it’ll be much harder to find one."
"No rush. Mom and Dad are still here. Once things settle down, they can help you find one. They also mentioned planting a few fruit trees in your courtyard and setting up a grape trellis. That way, after dinner, you can water the plants during your evening strolls," Su Hongchen said, smiling indulgently.
Though the small courtyard could fetch around thirty yuan in rent each month, it was meant to be Su Xiaoxiao’s new home after marriage.
And since northeastern winters lasted five months, they hoped Su Xiaoxiao would come back often, so renting the place out wasn’t really an option.
