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

"puff."

Jiang Chen couldn't help but laugh out loud.

It wasn't mockery, but the kind of laughter that comes from being amused.

Two elderly men in their seventies almost got into a fight underground, just like two children fighting over candy.

"What are you laughing at!" Jiang Wanhai glared at him.

"Third Grandfather, if you want money, just tell me. Why bother with these inanimate objects?"

Jiang Chen pointed to the several metal boxes.

"This little bit of gold, at most, adds up to five hundred million."

"Five hundred million is not enough?"

Jiang Wanhai was stunned, his mouth agape.

"You're more arrogant than someone with athlete's foot! Five hundred million is a small amount?"

"Third Grandfather, last year alone, the net profit of our village's processing plant was more than that."

Jiang Chen held up one finger and shook it.

"Not to mention the tens of thousands of acres of farms, railway lines, building material factories, and other industries."

Jiang Wanhai's lips moved, but he didn't say anything.

Of course he knew Jiang Chen was rich. He had witnessed the changes in the village over the past two years—large apartments, heavy trucks, helicopters, railways—each of which was incredibly expensive.

But knowing is one thing.

Seeing boxes of gold bars with your own eyes is another matter entirely.

"Five hundred million in gold bars, are they valuable? Yes, they are." Jiang Chen walked to the octagonal table, took out a black bank card from his jacket pocket, and slammed it on the table with a "thud".

Dust was kicked up and tumbled in the beam of the flashlight.

"There is 5 billion in readily available cash in this card."

Jiang Chen's voice wasn't loud, but it could be heard clearly in the secret room.

"If you feel comfortable taking things left by your ancestors home to buy meat, then take a box right now."

Jiang Wanhai's eyes darted back and forth between the black card and the gold bars.

"but."

Jiang Chen's tone turned somber.

"Once this gold bar leaves this door, your third branch of the family will not receive a single penny of the year-end dividends from Jiangjia Village."

The room was so quiet that you could hear the faint sounds of some kind of insect gnawing at the soil above.

Jiang Wanhai's Adam's apple bobbed.

He glanced again at the box of gold bars, then at the black card on the table.

Five hundred million yuan in gold bars, and annual dividends.

He's not stupid.

Last year, the third wife received several million dollars in dividends alone. This year, their assets have increased several times over compared to last year, and next year will only see more.

What's more, he personally witnessed Jiang Jianwen and his group being driven out of the village today.

The cost of 300 million per household.

This kid is really ruthless.

If they dare to drive Jiang Jianwen away today, they'll dare to drive Jiang Wanhai away tomorrow.

Jiang Wanhai swallowed hard.

The cane tapped the ground twice, the sound noticeably softer than before.

"You...you really mean that?"

"My word is my bond." Jiang Chen picked up the black card from the table and put it back in his pocket.

"This gold will all go into the ancestral hall's public account. It will be used to repair ancestral graves and update the family genealogy. No one should try to pocket a single penny."

He glanced at the old man, then looked at Jiang Wanhai.

"The eldest son's family remains untouched, the second son's family remains untouched, and the third son's family remains untouched. What belongs to our ancestors should be used for the sake of our ancestors. This is called taking from our ancestors and using it for the benefit of our clan."

The old man snorted coldly on the bench and tapped his copper pipe twice on his knee.

"Did you hear that? Chen-ge'er is much more sensible than you, you old senile fool!"

Jiang Wanhai blushed.

He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

The cane rubbed against the ground twice, making a "squeak" sound.

He muttered, "Fine, I'll confiscate it then. I was just worried you'd be biased, big brother."

The voice was much lower than before.

The posture that had just made him seem like he was about to crash into the secret room had vanished without a trace.

Jiang Chen didn't press the issue to refute him.

He knew his third grandfather well—he was stubborn but soft-hearted, concerned about his reputation, greedy for money but also afraid of being taken advantage of.

Giving him a way out is more effective than arguing with him a hundred times.

"Third Grandfather, please go upstairs and rest." Jiang Chen walked over and helped Jiang Wanhai up.

"It's damp down here, and your legs aren't good, so don't stay here too long. I'll have Attorney Zhou draft the documents for the public accounts later, and then we'll hold a short meeting and deposit the gold bars into the accounts in front of the whole clan. Nobody will be able to say a word then."

Jiang Wanhai snorted, shook off Jiang Chen's hand, and walked up the steps by himself, leaning on his cane.

After taking two steps, he turned back.

"Tatsuko."

"Um?"

"You're alright, kid."

After saying that, he climbed up the stone steps without looking back.

The sound of the cane striking the stone grew fainter and fainter until it disappeared around the corner of the dark passage.

The room fell silent again.

The old man let out a long sigh and tapped his copper pipe twice on his leg.

"This third son will never change this bad habit in his entire life."

"Why bother arguing with him?" Jiang Chen smiled. "We've been brothers for decades, a few words will suffice."

The old man didn't reply, but just gave Jiang Chen a look that was hard to describe.

There was relief, reassurance, and a hint of weariness typical of the elderly in his eyes.

"Alright, close the box." The old man stood up and dusted off his Zhongshan suit. "You've had enough of this today, go upstairs and rest."

"etc."

Jiang Chen walked to the last box and bent down.

He noticed something was wrong when he closed the lid.

The last box, containing silver dollars and jewelry, has a shallower bottom than the other three.

Although the external height of the boxes is about the same, the internal storage space is smaller.

He reached into the box and carefully lifted the remaining silver dollars and jewelry onto the ground beside him.

The bottom of the box was exposed.

A thick layer of cotton cloth was placed on the sheet metal base.

Jiang Chen lifted the cotton cloth.

There is another layer below the base plate.

Something wrapped in layers of waterproof oil paper lay neatly in the interlayer.

It's about the size of a book.

The oiled paper was coated with sealing wax.

The sealing wax had turned dark red, but the mark pressed on it was still faintly discernible—it was the seal script character "江" (Jiang).

"Great-grandfather."

Jiang Chen raised his head.

"There's something else down there."