The beloved but ungrateful girl is reborn: This time she has truly changed.

The room was small, with an old-fashioned wooden bed, a large wardrobe with peeling paint, a table, and a large dark brown camphor wood chest, which was placed neatly at the foot of the bed.

This box!

Qi Weiwei walked to the box and squatted down, her nose instantly stinging with tears.

The box was exquisitely crafted, with brass-bound corners and a brass clasp, secured with a small black lock.

This is one of Grandma Wen Sumei's dowry chests, which she brought from her family home.

Later, Grandma and Grandpa moved to their old house in the suburbs, and Sun Xidi "borrowed" the box and never returned it.

In her previous life, Qi Weiwei had never paid attention to these details and always thought that the box belonged to Sun Xidi, never touching it.

Many years later, when her grandmother was seriously ill, she held her hand and said, "Weiwei, there's a hidden clasp in the lower left corner of my old camphor wood chest. Press it down to open it. Inside... inside there are some things that were meant for you... I don't know if they're still there..."

By then, the box had long since disappeared during several moves.

Looking back now, whatever was inside, Sun Xidi must have taken it all for herself, right?

Qi Weiwei reached out and felt around the bottom left corner of the box.

She felt the warm, smooth texture of the camphor wood and carefully touched it. Sure enough, she felt a small bump on the inside of the corner of the box.

She pressed it down hard.

A soft "click" sounded.

The lid of the box popped open slightly.

Qi Weiwei opened the box.

It was almost completely stuffed inside, and a warm smell, a mixture of sweet pastry aroma and fabric scent, wafted out.

On the top layer were several tin boxes printed with the words "malted milk powder" and "peach shortbread," as well as a bag of White Rabbit milk candy wrapped in oil paper.

Qi Weiwei opened the malted milk powder box and saw that there was still half a can left—this stuff was expensive, and most people couldn't afford it.

In her past life, Sun Xidi always said that her family was poor and that she should be frugal. But all these good things obviously ended up in the bellies of Tang Tiantian and her two illegitimate children.

She moved the food aside and continued flipping through the pages.

Below are neatly folded pieces of fabric.

Woolen fabrics, woolen fabrics, pure cotton fabrics, solid colors, floral patterns, whole pieces, and small pieces—it's practically a small fabric shop.

Qi Weiwei frowned—in her previous life, she had never seen Sun Xidi hold a needle even once, let alone make clothes.

These fabrics are probably all stockpiled for Tang Tiantian—that woman loves beauty and wants new clothes made every time the seasons change.

She continued rummaging through the fabric and found several handkerchief pouches underneath. When she opened them, she found some odds and ends: a few silver hairpins, a pair of jade earrings, and a few silver dollars.

These were all Grandma's old things, which Sun Xidi "borrowed" from her.

She carefully placed these old items into a handkerchief bag and set it aside, intending to take them with her later.

She also found the two bracelets her parents had given her, which they had also put in the handkerchief bag.

At the bottom of the box, a dark red velvet bag came into view, about fifteen centimeters square and four fingers high.

Qi Weiwei's heart started racing.

She took out the velvet bag, which felt heavy in her hand.

Upon opening it, you'll find a tin biscuit box. The pattern on the lid is worn away, but you can still vaguely make out that it's a phoenix.

Open the tin box—it's full of unity!

Qi Weiwei's breath hitched.

She carefully took out the money and began to count it.

Ten yuan each, eighty in total.

Eight hundred yuan.

It was exactly the amount of dowry her parents gave her back then!

In her past life, when she got married, her parents scraped together 800 yuan to keep as a dowry.

Sun Xidi was talking to Tang Aijun about the crickets, saying that the new bride was loose-fisted and she was afraid she would spend money recklessly, so she wanted to keep it safe for her.

She was naive back then and actually entrusted it to the old lady.

Later, whenever he needed money, he had to watch Sun Xidi's expression, asking for it in small amounts, like five cents or a dollar, and then being scolded for "wasting money."

It turns out that Sun Xidi had never touched the money; it had been hidden at the bottom of a box all along!

Qi Weiwei took out all the money without hesitation and stuffed it into the pocket sewn into the lining of her cotton-padded jacket.

A thick wad of cash filled my pockets.

There was also a stack of receipts in the tin box.

She flipped through them and found grain coupons, cloth coupons, oil coupons, and even ten industrial coupons—these were rare and could be used to buy sewing machines and radios.

She took them all.

Just as she was about to close the tin box, she suddenly felt that something was wrong with the texture.

The bottom of the box sounded somewhat hollow when tapped.

Qi Weiwei examined it carefully and found a very thin gap on the edge of the bottom of the iron box.

She scratched at it with her fingernail, widening the gap and revealing the inner layer underneath.

She pulled a passbook out of the mezzanine.

The cover is dark blue and bears the words "People's Bank of China".

Opening the book, the account name column reads: Qi Weiwei.

Deposit balance: RMB 2,000.

Qi Weiwei gasped.

Two thousand yuan!

In an era when a worker's monthly salary was around thirty yuan, two thousand yuan was an enormous sum!

But why is her name on this passbook?

Where did Sun Xidi get so much money?

She pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized—

Tang Aijun's father, Tang Qu, was the director of the Revolutionary Committee and wielded considerable power.

Although Sun Xidi was just an old woman from the countryside, she relied on her son's influence to "do favors" for people and receive benefits in return.

This money is probably ill-gotten.

Writing her name was probably just in case—if they were investigated, they could pin the blame on her.

After all, she is the daughter of the Qi family, and her grandfather used to be the director of a steel rolling mill. It seems plausible that she has a huge amount of savings.

What a vicious thought!

Qi Weiwei sneered.

Since it's written in her name, it belongs to her.

The debt of three thousand yuan is now settled!

She also stuffed the passbook into her pocket.

Then, she picked out a few pieces of similar color from the scraps of fabric, crumpled them into balls, stuffed them into the tin box, wrapped the velvet bag back up as before, and put it back at the bottom of the box.

Cover it back with the cloth, and put the food back on the top shelf.

The box was closed and the snaps were fastened.

Everything was restored to normal.

Qi Weiwei stood up and looked around the room.

His gaze fell on Sun Xidi's pillow—the pillowcase was already faded from washing, and the embroidered mandarin ducks on it had faded.

She walked over and touched the pillow; it was of uniform texture and probably filled with grain husks.

There was nothing hidden.

In her previous life, Sun Xidi suffered from insomnia and always complained that her pillow was uncomfortable.

Qi Weiwei felt sorry for the old lady, so she specially asked someone to buy new grain husks from the countryside and also bought new cloth to make her a pillow.

The old lady smiled broadly, saying that her granddaughter-in-law was the most filial.

Looking back now, it's truly ironic.

She left the room and gently closed the door behind her.

Next target—Tang Tiantian's house.

The door to the west wing was also unlocked.

As soon as I opened the door, the scent of face cream wafted out.

This room was much more spacious and brighter than Sun Xidi's. The windows were not covered with old newspapers, but with translucent paper, and there were light pink curtains hanging on them—which was considered a luxury in the 1970s.

The room was decorated with great care.

A single bed was covered with floral sheets, and the quilt was neatly folded.

A desk stood by the window, with a mirror, a comb, face cream, and several movie magazines on it.

Two large chests stood in the corner. One was Qi Weiwei's grandmother's dowry chest, and the other was new and painted red.

Qi Weiwei walked to the desk first.

The drawer wasn't locked, and she pulled it open with a "rip".