No sooner had Fu Yurou followed Fu Aiguo out than the bedroom door was pushed open.
Huang Meifeng stepped out, intending to follow them outside, when she heard a slight rustle behind her.
"Ma, Dad is really going to give those things to her."
It was Zhang Pan's voice; she couldn't fall asleep.
As soon as she got back today, she discovered her clothes were gone. Zhang Pan hadn't made a fuss; instead, she had silenced Fu Yuqing's outcries, given her five yuan, and promised to buy her new clothes later before she finally quieted down.
Zhang Pan knew that the current Fu Yurou was no longer afraid of making a scene, and if things blew up, it wouldn't do her or Huang Meifeng much good.
A few clothes were nothing; Zhang Pan didn't care about that.
What mattered now was getting Fu Yurou sent to the countryside, along with those belongings.
Huang Meifeng had promised that some of those things would be left to her, but now Fu Yurou was taking everything. Zhang Pan was deeply resentful.
"If we don't give them to her, what else can we do? Are we really supposed to let her report us?" Huang Meifeng's voice carried the same resentment.
They had gotten through more than a dozen years, only for trouble to strike at this critical juncture.
Zhang Pan said, "She won't have anywhere to put them once she takes them out. If they happen to get lost, she wouldn't dare make a fuss either, right?"
Who would dare make a fuss over a matter like this? It wasn't like she had a death wish.
Huang Meifeng thought the same way: "You're thinking the exact same thing I am."
"Ma, I'll go with you."
The two of them slipped out of the house one after the other, acting all stealthy.
After they left, Fu Jianye pushed open his own bedroom door. Looking at the empty living room and listening to the snores coming from Fu Yuqing's partitioned alcove, he let out a sigh.
They were all his own family members; this was not something he could interfere with.
He could only pretend he knew nothing about it.
At this moment, he actually felt that having a heartless younger sister like Fu Yuqing was quite nice.
...
Fu Yurou followed Fu Aiguo for over half an hour. The further they walked, the more remote it became. The surroundings were pitch black and dead silent—not even a mouse could be heard.
Only now did she feel that she had been reckless.
What if Fu Aiguo was taking her out to murder her, silence her, and bury her body?
"System, come out quickly!"
"Host, I am here."
"System, my life is in danger. You'll save me, won't you?"
"Rest assured, Host, if there is danger, I will give you a warning."
"In other words, you can't actually do anything."
"Correct."
"If you can't do anything, what use are you to me?"
Fu Yurou thought it over and considered telling Fu Aiguo that maybe they should just come back tomorrow in broad daylight.
Yet she knew daylight meant too many people; if he really intended to bury her somewhere, coming out at night was the only option.
Still, nighttime added to the danger. If she had known beforehand, she should have grabbed a kitchen knife before leaving the house.
Amid her hesitation and inner conflict, Fu Aiguo came to a halt.
"We're here."
Fu Yurou stopped as well, keeping a distance of ten paces behind Fu Aiguo, intending to turn tail and run the moment the situation looked wrong.
She glanced around at her surroundings. It was a dilapidated house; only half of its walls remained, making it completely unlivable.
Fu Aiguo stepped into the ruined house, looked around first, and after making sure no one was nearby, he began using his feet to pace off a spot near the half-wall. After taking a few steps, he stopped, picked up the shovel he had brought tied to his waist, and started digging.
Since he had brought tools, Fu Yurou grew even more terrified.
"The Host does not need to worry; Fu Aiguo harbors no malicious intent."
Fu Yurou was surprised. "You can detect that?"
The System replied: "As long as there is malicious intent that poses a threat to the Host's life, it can be detected."
"Well, then I'm slightly, just a tiny bit, relieved."
As if.
Detecting it didn't mean it could protect her.
If he suddenly flew into a rage and attacked her, she wouldn't be able to beat him anyway!
No, she needed to be more careful next time. It seemed she really had been lying in a hospital bed for too long and lacked real-world experience.
While her mind was wandering, Fu Aiguo had already stopped digging and, aided by the moonlight, dragged a large trunk out from the pit.
"This is what your mother left for you," Fu Aiguo said in a lowered voice. "Now is not the time to take these things out, but since you don't trust me, take them and go."
Fu Yurou let out a breath and feigned composure. "Is everything here?"
She had merely uttered it on impulse, but Fu Aiguo's tone carried a trace of sarcasm.
"What, afraid I'd covet your mother's belongings?"
Fu Yurou fell silent. That wasn't entirely outside the realm of possibility.
She wasn't the real Fu Yurou, and she felt no father-daughter bond toward Fu Aiguo.
Even for the original owner, there hadn't been much affection to speak of.
People in this era were extremely busy; Fu Aiguo went to work all day, and the person Fu Yurou had spent the most time with was actually her stepmother, Huang Meifeng.
Huang Meifeng had never mistreated her in words or actions, always maintaining the persona of a good stepmother, falling short only in a few minor details.
"Yurou," Fu Aiguo suddenly softened his tone a little. "Dad admits he hasn't cared enough about you over the years, but... never mind, take care of yourself from now on."
At this moment, Fu Yurou ought to have felt a pang in her heart, followed by a deep father-daughter bonding moment with Fu Aiguo to resolve their emotional knots.
Yet she truly could not resonate with Fu Aiguo.
With her mind entirely focused on the trunk, she nodded and said, "Mm-hm, I'll take care of yourself—take care of myself, I mean. Don't worry."
Fu Aiguo choked slightly and asked, "Where are you going to put these things?"
Fu Yurou said, "You go on ahead. I'll find a place to put them myself; it won't implicate you."
She needed to wait for Fu Aiguo to leave so she could store the items inside her spatial dimension; once she did that, nobody would ever find them.
Fu Aiguo was silent for a moment before saying, "I'll wait for you up ahead. You can't take these things home; once you've hidden them, come over."
With that, he even left the shovel behind.
In Fu Aiguo's view, the most Fu Yurou could do was find another spot to bury the things, otherwise something this large couldn't possibly be carried away.
And it would have to be nearby, too.
As soon as Fu Aiguo left, Fu Yurou whisked the trunk directly into her spatial dimension, her heart finally settling completely.
"System, is there only one trunk here?"
Unassured, Fu Yurou asked just to be safe.
The System replied, "There is only one trunk, but there are two people keeping watch on you from behind the large tree not far away."
"What, I've been discovered?" Fu Yurou was startled. She looked up, but in the distance, the shadow of the large tree was vague, and she couldn't make out anyone behind it at all.
Did they see her put the trunk away just now?
"It's your stepmother and stepsister. Their line of sight was blocked, so they didn't see you store the trunk."
Knowing what she was thinking, the System kindly offered a reminder.
Fu Yurou let out an initial sigh of relief. As long as they hadn't seen it, that was fine.
"Huang Meifeng and Zhang Pan, huh?"
Knowing who was tailing her, Fu Yurou let out a cold laugh.
They were planning to rob the robber!
If she didn't have her spatial dimension, she really might have fallen for it.
Looking at the pit in front of her and the shovel left on the ground, Fu Yurou's eyes rolled as an idea struck her, and she started bustling about energetically.
She began digging pits all around—just shallow layers of dirt scooped up on the surface, the kind that were immediately buried back in.
Finally, she grew utterly exhausted. After digging four of them, she called it a day and headed back.
Heh, you two mother and daughter can take your time searching.
Shouldering the shovel, she sauntered back with a swagger. After walking for a short while, she spotted a figure waiting ahead.
It was Fu Aiguo.
Fu Yurou quickened her pace and went up to him. "I've hidden everything. Let's go back."
On the way back, father and daughter remained silent the entire time.
It wasn't until they stepped inside the house that Fu Aiguo paused his steps and said, "The money at home doesn't add up to two thousand; I can only give you one thousand. As for the rest, once you go down to the countryside, I'll draw my salary every month and mail it to you."