Deliberately Approaching
Chapter 60: A Generous Dowry!

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: A Generous Dowry!

On the other side, Southern Bamboo Forest.

Tang Xiaowan squatted on the ground, rubbing her nose, and scouted the area left and right.

After swinging on the swing, as she and Cheng Shi took a walk through the small path, they noticed that a lot of bamboo shoots had sprouted in the bamboo grove. On a whim, they embarked on a thorough forage.

Before they knew it, they had dug up two huge piles!

At this moment, the two were pondering how they could take them back without being discovered by Li Zishen.

Calling Uncle Cai for help would definitely give them away.

They had sneaked out without using the main entrance, making their way like thieves, which was especially amusing.

"Ah, it’s all because I’m broke, otherwise I could gather all the former staff of Mei Garden, and we wouldn’t need to play hide-and-seek with that old man Li Zishen. He’s always bossing me around, it’s so annoying."

After hearing this, Cheng Shi’s jaw clenched as his deep eyes flickered with a hint of gloom.

So the young lady wasn’t happy in Mei Garden, deprived of freedom. It’s my fault for being negligent, for leaving at that time and making the young lady live under someone else’s roof, unable to return to her own home.

"Miss, don’t you have some money hidden in a secret compartment? Have you forgotten?"

Tang Xiaowan: "?"

The girl, who had been squatting, suddenly stood up.

Her round, apricot eyes widened unconsciously as she swallowed, "What did you just say?"

Seeing Tang Xiaowan somewhat befuddled, Cheng Shi continued, "Miss, you’ve forgotten. Inside the walk-in closet, next to the small floral cabinet where the shoes are kept, if you open the door and push hard against the back panel, a secret compartment will pop out."

"Let’s go, let’s go back quickly."

"What about these bamboo shoots? Are we leaving them?"

Tang Xiaowan’s brows lightly furrowed, clearly reluctant to let go, so she took out her phone, preparing to ask Li Zishen for help, when suddenly a figure appeared.

"Lady Tang, shall I take care of this for you?"

"Wow, Bai Long, where did you..." Tang Xiaowan paused with a slight hook of her lips, "Thank you, give them to Uncle Cai for me."

"Sure, no problem."

"Then goodbye for now, let’s have lunch together at noon. I’ll be waiting for you."

Bai Long: "..."

Tang Xiaowan gave Cheng Shi a knowing look, leisurely making their way to the exit.

On the way back, they neither ran nor hopped.

...

On the second floor of Mei Garden.

Tang Xiaowan had already rummaged through the small cabinet in the walk-in closet but had never thought about a secret compartment.

Upon entering, she headed straight for the wooden cabinet with the small floral pattern and carefully opened it, pulling out all the colorful socks one by one.

Indeed, as Cheng Shi described, after a forceful push, a black secret compartment appeared.

"It’s a wooden box!" Tang Xiaowan looked up at Cheng Shi standing behind her, her smile beaming with delight, "How magical, it’s so interesting."

"The box was a gift from the old madam."

Tang Xiaowan nodded her head and sighed softly before she opened it.

Inside the wooden box were two bundles of hundred-yuan bills, a ruby necklace, a ruby ring, ruby earrings, and two gray bank cards with passwords attached.

All the rubies were single stones, embellishing the platinum, all in simple and elegant designs.

"Miss, the password is your birthday, the Gregorian one."

"Oh, right, right, the same as my ID card."

Though the rubies were valuable jewelry and the color was pretty, they did not catch Tang Xiaowan’s interest much. After a brief look, she tossed them back into the wooden box and paid no further attention.

To her, the two bundles of stark naked cash and the bank cards were the highlights.

Exactly what she needed right now!

"That’s fantastic, now that we have the money, we can summon everyone back and revitalize Mei Garden. I wonder how much is in these two cards, but it’s definitely a lot. These seem to be platinum cards."

Tang Xiaowan held the cards, turning them over and over, wishing she could see right through them.

"If you haven’t used them, it’s twenty million."

"What, twenty million?"

"Yes, but it seems you’ve mentioned before that this money, the dowry left by the old lady, wasn’t to be touched unless absolutely necessary, so..."

"Now is the time. Let’s go ahead and use it, rather than having Li Zishen secretly monitoring it."

After saying this, she snickered a few times, very pleased with herself.

But her triumph was fleeting, and once again she thought of her grandmother, Tang Mei.

This must be all of Grandma’s savings, right?

You not only took me in with a kind heart, but have also considered so much for me, afraid that I’d have no money for food in the future?

Grandma, I miss you so much.

"Don’t be sad, Miss. Mei Garden will be restored," said the voice reassuringly.

"Yes, absolutely, it will be," she replied.

"Miss, actually, with the current situation, we don’t need to call everyone back. Probably just seven or eight people would suffice, and we can take care of the rest after the renovations are finished," suggested Cheng Shi.

"Mhm, seven or eight people, you’re right," Tang Xiaowan paused and looked steadily at Cheng Shi, "What do you think is an appropriate salary?"

"Just the same as before would be fine. No one would mind. Some have lived in Mei Garden for most of their lives. They have deep feelings for it."

"If that’s the case, why let them go? I heard from Li Zishen that Grandma planned to return to Huang City to retire?"

"The old lady... she..."

"What, why have you stopped talking?"

"The old lady, she might have her difficulties, I’m just guessing randomly. I’m not clear on the details."

"Never mind, I don’t want to think about it anymore. You’re right, Grandma must have her reasons for her decisions. I’ll leave this matter to you, but do it quietly, and don’t let Li Zishen find out."

No sooner had she finished speaking than two bundles of cash were handed over to Cheng Shi, "Take this for now. If we need more, I’ll transfer it. However, it will have to wait until we get to Jin City; I need to get a new phone number and a new phone."

Cheng Shi nodded, though he was quite puzzled inside.

He didn’t want to ask too much.

As long as Tang Xiaowan was alright and happy, that was what mattered.

"Miss, there’s also the matter of the safe in the old lady’s room. Have you looked in it? It contains Mei Garden’s blueprints, the official seal, and other things, as well as something from out of town..."

Tang Xiaowan’s phone interrupted Cheng Shi, a message from Li Zishen.

[Xiao Wan, the former people of Mei Garden are all back. Do you want to come downstairs and see if there’s anything to instruct?]

Tang Xiaowan’s face changed suddenly, a hint of surprise on her features.

No wonder I haven’t seen Chen Xin these last few days; turns out, like Bai Long, he’s been carrying out your secret missions.

To set my mind at ease, using both carrots and sticks?

"Miss, what’s wrong, what happened?"

"No need for us to bother anymore. The people of Mei Garden have arrived; they’re waiting in the first-floor hall. They’ve all come back. That was really quick action.

"Was it Mr. Li who arranged this?"

"Yes, who else could it be? He managed to bring back so many people, all for my sake. He really is capable, far more so than me!"

After Tang Xiaowan said that, she lowered her eyes and smiled faintly.

Cheng Shi saw it all.

He knew Tang Xiaowan was blaming herself.

"Mr. Li meant well, afraid that you..."

"Yeah, let’s go, let’s go down and take a look."

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