1970s: My childhood sweetheart ran away, and I turned around and married the wildest chief.

The woman in gray was taken aback. She hadn't expected Qiao Wanqing to react so quickly, and she hadn't even expected Qiao Wanqing to refuse.

She was experienced with this kind of thing. Young girls like this are the most shy, and most of them, even if they are unhappy, are too embarrassed to say it.

Sister Xu looked a little displeased. "You little girl, you're too sharp-tongued. It's just a few mushrooms. I'll just trade you some vegetables."

Qiao Wanqing frowned. "You're a strange person. You reached out and took my things without my permission, and then you said I was good-natured. I think you're the one who's good-natured. You tried to take advantage of me and failed, so you blame me for being too good-natured? Have you really opened your eyes? Who's your husband? I'm curious, is this how the cadres in the organization educate their family members?"

When Qiao Wanqing asked her who her man was, the older sister hesitated to speak.

Having lived in the family compound for a long time, she had learned some of the rules. It wasn't like it used to be in the countryside. She now knew that the brigade commander was a very powerful officer and that she couldn't easily offend him.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Qiao Wanqing knew that the other party had some concerns and was a reasonably sensible family member. At least on the surface, she knew something about the situation. So she smiled and said goodbye to everyone, "Everyone, you're busy. I'm going home now."

It's rare to see a girl this age who's so capable. Everyone was silent for a moment. Besides, this girl was obviously from the city and had her own social circle. In such a large family compound with so many family members, there would naturally be small circles. For girls with connections in the city, especially the family members of high-ranking military officers, most people wouldn't bother to offend them, except for a few oddballs.

"She seems to be from the performing arts troupe; she looks somewhat familiar to me."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then realized, "No wonder she's so beautiful."

There are too many military officers marrying female soldiers from the cultural troupe; they've long been used to it.

It was just a minor incident, and everyone went home in twos and threes. However, Sister Xu was very unhappy. She hated people with good conditions the most. They were so stingy with even a little something. Back in her hometown, she would have dragged such people out for criticism long ago. Unfortunately, this was in the army. Her husband had taught her a lesson several times and wouldn't allow her to act recklessly. Otherwise, all the families of these officers in the army would be in trouble. They were all snobbish and looked down on people!

Qiao Wanqing carried her things home. She didn't take the incident to heart. The military base was the safest place, and the area where she lived was separate from the families of ordinary officers, so they generally didn't have much interaction.

However, she had to be careful of the woman in the gray clothes. The woman's eyes were very sinister. Such a person could be very dangerous if she got out of control, unless she was under control. Fortunately, this was the military base, so even if she had sinister thoughts, she wouldn't dare to be too arrogant.

Qiao Wanqing entered her own courtyard, and had just put down her load. Before she even had time to wash her face, she heard the sound of a car at the gate. Qiao Yuanhe had arrived.

He sent over Qiao Wanqing's dowry.

There were four quilts in total, and four suitcases filled to the brim.

Qiao Yuanhe said solemnly, "There are some special things in the box, all for you. I happened to be going out on a mission today, and my grandfather asked me to take them out. Keep them safe. My grandfather specifically instructed you not to let Lu Mingzhou know for the time being. Money can be tempting, so just keep them to yourself. Whether you tell him later depends on the situation."

Qiao Wanqing was taken aback. "Grandpa already gave me a form yesterday, and there's another one? Why did you take it out again?"

Qiao Yuanhe explained, "This one is quite valuable and small, making it easy to hide. You've already taken it out, so you're relatively safe. No one will search your house for no reason. Hiding it in other places isn't necessarily safe either. We've lost a batch before, so we just let you take it out."

"You've always been good at hiding things since you were little. Grandpa thinks it's safer to keep them here with you. By the way, besides Grandpa and Grandma, only Mom and the two of us know about this. Your uncles and the others don't know either. Grandpa told you not to tell anyone."

As he spoke, he took out another list and handed it to Qiao Wanqing, "This is also your dowry. My grandfather asked me to give it to you."

Qiao Wanqing was very surprised. Didn't they give it to her yesterday? Why are they giving it to her again today?

She took the list and looked at the items listed, many of which she had seen when she was a child. The list had the signatures of her maternal grandparents and mother, as well as her maternal grandfather's personal seal.

This thing is definitely effective in the Xu and Qiao families.

She asked, somewhat surprised, "Giving me so many, what about your other brothers and sisters?"

Qiao Yuanhe shrugged. "This is Grandpa's decision. Others don't get this kind of treatment when they get married. You've made a great contribution to the family by getting married this time, so naturally the family will treat you well. The Lu family isn't wealthy, so we'll give you more money to support you so that you can have a better life in the future. Even if the Lu family doesn't prosper, you'll still have money in your hands, so you can live a good life."

"Grandpa said that right now, you're the safest person in our family, so he's giving you extra money. In case anything happens to the family in the future, at least what you have here will be safe."

"And all those things you hid before are yours. In addition, some of your maternal grandparents' private property will also be given to you as part of your dowry, but it hasn't been taken out yet, it's just left outside so as not to affect you."

The things she hid before, including the 20,000 yuan, were things that were previously kept in the small villa.

The Qiao and Xu families' assets are mostly outside, but they still have some at home, though not much. These are mostly valuable items that are small in size and easy to hide on their person.

She was worried that the Revolutionary Committee would find out, so she said she had a way to hide it, and her grandfather gave her the things.

At that time, the family was already thinking of getting her married to escape the situation. Even if something really happened to the family after she got married, she should be able to get out of trouble. Her belongings would be considered as her dowry. So they gave them to her and then left her alone, not knowing exactly where she was hiding.

Those things have been lying in her space all along.

Grandpa Xu knew the principle of not putting all your eggs in one basket. As an old man, he had witnessed the chaos of the times when he was young and he was prepared. Even though he had been abroad, he had hidden some wealth in China to ensure that his descendants could make a comeback.

Qiao Wanqing looked at the list of expensive items and fell silent.

She felt that the Xu family was likely even wealthier than she had imagined. She was just a grandchild, and a granddaughter at that. It was impossible for someone as young as her to know the Xu family's wealth. She had often been to the Xu family home when she was a child, and as an adult, she was naturally curious about just how rich capitalists were in this era. After observing for so many years, it seemed that the Xu family's wealth exceeded her expectations.

Because she had never seen or even heard of many of the items on the list.