Chapter 454: Master, what do you do for a living?

Jiang Nian turned his head and saw Wang Yuhe, a full-grown one, standing by the road staring at him.

The two faced each other, big eyes staring at small eyes.

He lowered his head to look at the big bag in his hand, which held a shovel. Then he looked at Wang Yuhe again, and his whole being felt off.

"When did you get here?"

The school gate faced South Street directly, and it was now the afternoon school-dismissal time. Students came and went on the road in endless numbers, like carp crossing the river.

"Been here a long time. From when you just went into that little corner. I followed you the whole time, then watched you take out the little shovel."

Wang Yuhe tilted her head up to look at him, her eyes round as marbles.

"What are you going to do?"

"Why ask so much, why are you the only one here?" Jiang Nian was speechless. "Where's Chen Yunyun? Why don't I see her?"

"Oh, Yunyun and Chai Muying went to buy stuff." Wang Yuhe looked at him again. "Your turn to talk, what are you going to do?"

Jiang Nian turned to leave. "Lan Peiting."

"Where's Lan Peiting?" Wang Yuhe circled around him once, blocking his way. "Can I follow you there?"

Jiang Nian: "

"No, go play by yourself." He refused outright. "If you're really that bored, go back to the classroom and do some practice papers."

He was going to dig up a small gold bar, not go shopping.

"I don't want to do practice papers. If you won't let me follow, forget it." Wang Yuhe threw a tantrum, then stood still on the spot.

Jiang Nian slowly typed out a question mark — shouldn't she be angry and walk off at this point?

What's with this person?

"Ahem, then go on, walk away." Jiang Nian couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Why should I!"

"Fine then, but you're not allowed to follow me." Jiang Nian already didn't really feel like digging today — after all, things had gone badly from the very start.

But the moment he thought about the small gold bar weighing thirty-one grams, at the current gold price, close to ten thousand, money picked up for nothing.

After all, this wasn't ownerless — it was an heirloom small gold bar. Cash it in with a straight face, then eat a meal with a straight face,

Inflow!! A fierce inflow into the market!

"Oh, I won't follow you." Wang Yuhe was slightly displeased, but she kept her word. "If you change your mind, you can call me."

"Okay."

"Really, have you changed your mind?"

"No."

Those two words shattered her anticipation, and Wang Yuhe immediately stopped smiling. Standing still on the spot, she gazed pitifully at his retreating back.

She saw Jiang Nian had taken a little shovel — he was definitely going to dig something up.

Baba baba.

Just thinking about it made her drool, she really wanted to dig too.

However, she kept watching until Jiang Nian's back disappeared. In the end no miracle happened, and she couldn't help feeling lost.

Wang Yuhe furrowed her brow

— yet still didn't shift her position.

Until...

"Damn, I really can't handle you." Jiang Nian emerged from behind her. "If I left, were you planning to go tattle?"

Wang Yuhe saw him appear, and her eyes lit up. First delighted, then hearing those words, her cheeks puffed up like a steamed bun.

"I can keep my mouth shut!"

"Who knows."

"You you you!!!" Wang Yuhe flushed red with anger, unable to out-talk him. "Anyway, take me with you, I'll keep the secret.

"Fine, I really give up." Jiang Nian waved his hand, glanced at her. "You'd better be. Let's go together, keep up."

"Oh oh." Wang Yuhe stuck to him, asking about this and that, a chatterbox to the extreme. "Jiang Nian, what are you going to dig up?"

Jiang Nian didn't even want ears anymore, his head twice the size.

"Ask less, listen more."

"What does 'ask less, listen more' mean?"

"It means shut up."

"Oh, then you still haven't said what you're digging up later?" Wang Yuhe was full of enthusiasm. "Tell me first, how about it?"

"Damn it!" Jiang Nian held his forehead.

He brought Wang Yuhe along because he was afraid she'd blab — if someday some disappearance case got out, he'd have to turn himself in with the small gold bar. For ten thousand yuan, is all this trouble worth it?

Obviously not worth it.

Letting Wang Yuhe know doesn't matter either — she'd just find it exciting. As for splitting it half-and-half with whoever sees it, don't even think about it.

My money, and I have to give half away?

In your dreams!

The sky gradually darkened. Jiang Nian bought Wang Yuhe off with a meal, and the two walked out of a Chinese fast-food restaurant.

"I don't know what it is either. My third uncle dropped it."

"Third uncle?"

"Yeah, he went abroad." Jiang Nian made it up off the cuff — Nan Pai San Shu is also a third uncle. "This thing has to be told from the beginning."

"During New Year, third uncle told me a story."

He blabbed on and on, wrapping the dropped item in a layer of adventure color, and didn't mention how he knew the coordinates.

Wang Yuhe didn't care about any of that, her eyes sparkling.

"Going on an adventure?" "Something like that—call it what you want." Jiang Nian preempted, "My third uncle's stuff is probably worth a lot."

"Oh oh, I won't steal your stuff."

"It's not mine—it's my third uncle's." He reminded her, "More importantly, only the two of us know about this."

"Second secret?"

"Yes, remember to keep it secret."

"Fine, I guess one more secret won't hurt." Wang Yuhe exclaimed excitedly, "It sounds interesting, just like that textbook passage—what passage?"

"Tang Mu

Sawyer's Adventure." She chattered nonstop, even reciting a bit of the original text.

"Tang Mu, this point is beyond doubt. But we've taken preventive measures; no one will ever get lost in that cave again."

"Oh, you've got a good memory." He casually praised her.

"Of course! My mind is the best!" Wang Yuhe beamed, standing tall and proud, "Once I've seen it, I never forget."

"Pfft, then I'll have to watch out for you when I enter passwords later." Jiang Nian said.

"You!!"

"Did you learn the Tang Mu Sawyer passage when you were little?" Wang Yuhe, too impatient to be angry, dashed back in front of him and asked.

"No memory at all? Hmm?"

Jiang Nian didn't answer—he had reached the entrance of the abandoned vegetable market and stopped, lifting his head to look.

A small slope of red soil, dry and withered with weeds. A gravel path stretched inward, revealing the blue corrugated metal outline of the small market.

There was no gate; further in, a long stone platform could be seen.

Occasionally during holidays, children played hide-and-seek here, leaping from one long stone platform to another, laughter ringing like silver bells.

Wang Yuhe shivered, unable to suppress a chill.

"This... this place..."

"Yes, right here." Jiang Nian, adhering to the principle of making full use of everything, instructed her, "Partner, keep watch for me."

"Huh? Just... just me?" Wang Yuhe stepped back.

"Scared?"

"Not at all!"

"Aren't you fond of Tang Mu Sawyer's Adventure? Believe in the spirit of adventure, child." Jiang Nian patted her shoulder.

Though the two had nothing to do with each other, having a handy tool made things much easier—it reminded him of another textbook passage.

Robinson Crusoe. Wang Yuhe was Friday.

The moment he thought of Robinson Crusoe, he couldn't help but point and criticize. Damn Friday, ruining the satisfaction of island farming!

Ever since Friday showed up, Robinson Crusoe became boring.

Hated! Hated! Hated!!

He picked up his shovel and walked upward, leaving Wang Yuhe alone, trembling with fear—glancing here and there, her face pale.

Jiang Nian:

He couldn't hold it anymore. He turned back, carrying the bag, stared at Wang Yuhe for a moment, then slapped his face and groaned.

"Sis, we're not committing a crime."

"You dig... your thing."

"You look like a guilty thief—what's the point of digging?" he said. "I told you to keep watch, not to lure people over."

Fuck.

When the police uncle asks you to pass on a message for me—

will you?

How embarrassing would that be?

To prevent Wang Yuhe from messing things up, Jiang Nian dragged her inside and made her hold the bag open to collect dirt—he'd need to refill it later.

Saying that, Jiang Nian groped in the dark.

He found a coordinate with his small shovel, pulled out a slender iron rod, and struck downward with the wooden handle of the spade—then stopped instantly.

He estimated the depth, felt something. He drew a circle first, then cut downward, cleanly removing the patch of turf.

Wang Yuhe crouched beside him, mouth open in an O.

"How are you so professional?"

Jiang Nian glanced at her, then smiled without warmth, speaking coldly.

"I dug all the graves in the village."

"Ahh!?" Wang Yuhe froze in terror, trembling as she stared at him. "Jiang Nian, you... you won't hurt me, will you?"

Jiang Nian rolled his eyes, speechless.

"I'm kidding. Isn't digging a hole something anyone can do?"

Hearing this, Wang Yuhe finally relaxed.

But when she looked down, she noticed that while they'd been talking, a perfect circular disk of soil had been cleanly removed, leaving a smooth, round pit.

Clearly, it was meant to be replaced after refilling.

"Jiang Nian! You said you weren't professional!" Wang Yuhe nearly screamed like a groundhog. "You—you—you've been reading what kind of stuff?!"

"Survival guides. Don't overreact." Jiang Nian dug while speaking, gathering all the dirt into the bag.

"Digging dirt is just a small trick—next time I'll take you fishing."

"Really?" Wang Yuhe's attention shifted, and she brightened again. "I'm great at fishing!"

Jiang Nian grunted and dug a vertical hole. The winter soil was frozen hard, so he broke it open purely with brute strength.

Soon, a fifty-centimeter hole took shape.

With one shovel strike, he hit bottom. He let out a sound, thinking: the System didn't lie—he pulled out the object.

Half a finger's length, wrapped in oil paper.

"What's this?" Wang Yuhe leaned close, her head bumping against his. "So tiny—why so many layers?"

"A Gold Seeker's Talisman. But don't look." Jiang Nian pulled out a sealed bag from his pocket and tossed the talisman inside along with the gloves.

"Why not?"

"You'll have nightmares. Aren't you afraid something will come for you at night?" Jiang Nian stared at her, about to tell a ghost story.

"Then I… I won't look!!" Wang Yuhe backed down faster this time.

"You say you won't look, so you won't?" Jiang Nian tucked the bag away, nested it inside another bag, and began backfilling the soil.

The entire bag of plastic-wrapped soil was fully backfilled; he didn't replace the round lid.

Perfectly seamless.

What to do with the tools? Of course, take them and store them in the rented storage shed.

The two walked back to school together, passing streets bright with lights and crowded with traffic. Near evening self-study, students hurried past in droves.

Wang Yuhe returned to her chattering state, talking and asking all at once.

"Have you studied 'The Golden Hook'?"

"Of course we have. Isn't the county textbook the same as the town's?" Jiang Nian rolled his eyes, his head throbbing.

"Not necessarily. What about 'Social Opera'?"

"We studied that too. And Run Tu." Jiang Nian replied offhandedly, then suddenly asked, "You brought the keys, right? I gave you both."

"I brought them."

》

The two turned into the Jiaowan Apartment complex, walked a few steps, stopped by the sycamore tree, and turned into the half-open courtyard.

Almost all the storage rooms in the first row were rented to students; only the one at the very back was lit, and above it was Shi Wan's apartment.

The indoor light spilled like threads onto the mottled cement floor.

With the dim glow, Wang Yuhe opened the security door.

Click—the light turned on, revealing the interior layout. Different from when they'd first rented it, but the back half of the room was clean and empty.

Probably because Jiang Nian had mentioned he'd later use it to store goods.

The front half was carpeted. The bathing area had waterproof tarp laid down, with a pink partition built.

On the wall hung a hairdryer and a hot plate; on the floor sat several storage boxes and two wheeled racks, piled high with girls' belongings.

On the table and chair, mirrors and combs were neatly arranged.

Jiang Nian blinked in surprise. "You've cleaned up pretty well."

"Of course we have!"