I couldn't take it anymore; when I went home for Chinese New Year, the family genealogy book ha

Jiang Wanhai, leaning on his old birchwood cane, slowly made his way down the steps, panting with each step.

The stone steps to the secret chamber were steep and narrow, and a seventy-six-year-old man walked unsteadily.

There was another person following behind him—Wang Dagou.

Wang Dagou, looking embarrassed, followed behind Jiang Wanhai, one hand loosely protecting the old man's back, afraid that he might slip and fall.

"Brother Chen, Third Grandfather insists on barging in." Wang Dagou scratched the back of his head, looking distressed.

"I've stopped him three times already, and he poked me with his cane. I can't exactly fight with an old man like him, can I?"

Jiang Chen glanced at the gray mark left by the cane on Wang Dagou's body and waved his hand.

"Alright, you go up and keep watch, don't let anyone else in."

Wang Dagou felt as if he had been granted a pardon and turned around to scramble up the stone steps.

His tall frame, over six feet, was squeezed into the narrow passage, his shoulders rubbing against the stone walls on both sides, making a "scratching" sound.

They disappeared around the corner of the secret passage in just a few steps.

Jiang Wanhai stepped onto the rammed earth floor of the secret room and stood firm.

Before he could even catch his breath, his eyes swept around.

The flashlight beam shone on the several large, open metal boxes.

bullion.

Silver dollar.

Jewelry.

In the dimly lit, secret room, those golden objects stood out conspicuously.

Jiang Wanhai's eyes widened like copper bells.

His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, and he made a muffled "ho" sound from his throat.

The voice was exactly the same as Liu Cuifen's reaction when she saw the tin box in the ancestral hall.

"Great, big brother!"

Jiang Wanhai suddenly turned to Jiang Wanshan and slammed his cane on the ground with a thud.

"No wonder you were in such a hurry to hand over the keys today! You don't intend to share any of the gold down there with the second and third wives!"

The old man's face immediately darkened.

"Third brother, what nonsense are you spouting!"

Jiang Wanshan slammed his copper pipe onto the octagonal table, sending dust flying.

"This gold is ancestral property, a public asset. When did it become personal savings?"

"Public property?"

Jiang Wanhai sneered and pointed his cane at the boxes.

"You've been secretly hiding public property underground for decades without ever bringing it out? You haven't even given us a heads-up?"

"you--"

"Back when we divided the family property, you only gave us a few acres of barren land!" Jiang Wanhai's voice grew louder and louder, and the veins on his neck bulged out.

"The best paddy fields are all under the eldest son's name! The few acres of hillside land that my second son and I have grow grain that's not even good enough for pig feed!"

"Now look what's happened, there's still so much gold hidden down there!"

Jiang Wanhai pointed with his cane at the neatly stacked large yellow croakers in the box, his fingers trembling.

"It must be divided equally today! The eldest wife gets one-third, the second wife gets one-third, and the third wife gets one-third! Not a single gold bar can be missing!"

The old man was so angry that he trembled all over.

He suddenly stood up, raised his copper pipe, and was about to fire.

"You old bastard! All you think about is money, isn't it?!"

Jiang Wanhai dodged to the side, holding his cane horizontally in front of him, his mouth sharp and unforgiving.

"Go ahead and hit me! Kill me! Even if I die, I want the whole village to know that you, Jiang Wanshan, embezzled ancestral property!"

"I'd embezzle it all!" The old man waved his copper pipe twice in the air, his face turning ashen with rage.

"I've kept this secret for decades, I haven't even told my own grandson! I only revealed it today because I see Chen-ge'er is doing well! You idiot, you believe everything you hear!"

"Me, an idiot? You're the idiot!"

The two old men, whose combined age was nearly 160, took turns speaking, each louder than the other, their spittle flying back and forth in the beam of the flashlight.

Jiang Wanhai became more and more excited as he spoke, pounding his cane on the ground with a loud "thump-thump," which echoed throughout the secret room.

The old man was even more ruthless, swinging his copper pipe with great force, almost hitting Jiang Wanhai on the nose.

It looked like the two men, both over seventy years old, were about to start fighting.

Jiang Chen quickly stepped forward, placing one hand on the old man's shoulder and the other in front of Jiang Wanhai, separating the two.

"Third Grandfather, please calm down and don't get angry."

As Jiang Chen spoke, he pulled the old man back a little.

"Great-Grandpa, please sit down and rest. Put away your copper pipe and stop swinging it. If you hurt your back, I'll have to pay for an orthopedic specialist for you tomorrow."

The old man snorted, but still sat back down on the bench, his copper pipe resting on his knees, his chest heaving.

Jiang Wanhai, however, showed no sign of stopping.

He stiffened his neck, his triangular eyes gleaming as he stared intently at the boxes of gold bars, then turned his gaze to Jiang Chen.

"Chenzi, don't take your great-grandfather's side!"

Jiang Wanhai's voice was hoarse, but he pronounced each word very heavily.

"I've held a grudge about the family division all my life! If this gold isn't properly sorted out today, I'll never forgive your great-grandfather!"

He slammed his cane heavily on the ground, straightened his back, and his short figure cast a long, thin shadow in the light of the flashlight.

"If I don't take a whole chest of this gold today, I'll kill myself right here in this secret room!"

After these words were spoken, the secret room fell silent for two seconds.

The old man was so angry that his lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single word.

Jiang Chen looked at Jiang Wanhai's flushed face and his red, triangular eyes.

The old man was really anxious.

The old grudges from decades ago when the family divided their property were all brought up today in front of these boxes of gold bars.

Jiang Chen didn't rush to speak.

His gaze swept back and forth between Jiang Wanhai and the boxes of gold bars twice, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.