After thinking for a while without figuring out what Xia Dongyang might do next, Xia Yu let the matter go. He joined Xue You in bowing to the elders, and then the group began walking home.
The grave was somewhat far from the small town, but the April weather was pleasant, neither too cold nor too hot. Small unidentified flowers still bloomed along the roadside, making the journey quite comfortable.
Seeing that Xue You remained gloomy, Xia Yu said to her, “Don’t you like taking photos? Take out your phone and take some.”
“No.” The girl was still thinking about what had just happened. She noticed that Xia Dongyang had looked at their grandparents and her older brother, but not at her at all.
She felt a little wronged.
She gripped Xia Yu’s hand a bit tighter.
“How about visiting a temple on the way home?”
“No, I only like beautiful big temples with amulets,” Xue You shook her head again, declining Xia Yu’s suggestion.
Xia Yu felt he needed to talk to his younger sister. If it were him, he wouldn’t mind if Xia Dongyang ran away and abandoned him. Although he would feel a little resentful, he definitely wouldn’t stay upset like Xue You.
“We still have two days off. How about we go visit Lishan Temple?” Xia Yu suggested. Lishan Temple was a relatively famous scenic spot in a city near Zilang.
“Really?” The girl immediately became happy, completely forgetting about Xia Dongyang.
“Really. We can leave this afternoon and arrive by tonight,” Xia Yu planned the trip.
Lishan Temple was located on Lishan Mountain. Right now was the season when peach blossoms were in full bloom on the mountain. Xue You could take the photos she liked there, and Lishan Temple also sold amulets that the girl liked.
“I want to buy a fortune amulet!” Xue You felt her recent luck had not been very good.
“What was the last one called again?” Xia Yu referred to the amulet he had bought for the girl on his way back from the small town of Yin Shulan.
“It was a safety amulet. Can’t you even remember what you bought yourself?” Xue You took out her keys, and the red safety amulet was hanging on her keychain.
The safety amulet was embroidered with golden patterns, not at all old-fashioned, but rather stylish.
“In this world, mobile games and TV dramas aren’t as developed as on Earth. This entertainment gap is filled by traditional culture, such as performances of various ancient musical instruments, different chess competitions, and temple culture.”
With attention comes money, and with money comes product upgrades. Amulet prices have risen, and materials and designs have become more refined.
“People get old and forgetful,” Xia Yu said, placing his hand on Xue You’s head.
“You’re old? What old?” Xia Nianhong laughed at Xia Yu.
Xia Ye also smiled. They had all forgotten Xia Dongyang.
Xue You’s mood improved, and she took out her phone to take photos of Xia Yu, their grandparents, and others.
Xia Yu then thought of another thing—the issue of Xue You’s talent.
It was easy for him to access Xue You’s body, but how should he explain it to her? Should he say he was an alien, like he had told An Siyao and others? He hesitated to deceive his own younger sister.
Because of this, he hadn’t taken action these past few days.
Now, he had a new idea.
He would just enter her body while she was asleep.
After accessing Xue You’s body to check her abilities, he could use a calming technique to put himself to sleep. That way, if Xue You felt something strange, she would just think it was a dream.
He could try it tonight or tomorrow night.
He wondered where this girl had her talent.
Liu Manman had tested her musical talent, which was ordinary. Her cooking was just okay. She had shown no remarkable performance in art or physical education classes. Although she liked taking photos, the pictures weren’t that great. Even in fashion and makeup, she was worse than Xia Yu himself.
He hoped it wasn’t some useless talent like slacking off or shifting blame.
Wait, that might not be useless after all.
With these two skills, one could live comfortably no matter where they were.
Slacking off could allow one to remain relaxed no matter how busy they were, and shifting blame could ensure that one wouldn’t get fired for slacking off—because it was always the world’s fault.
After imagining what kind of talent Xue You might have, Xia Yu stopped his wild thoughts.
He would find out eventually.
After walking for half an hour, they arrived at their building. Xia Nianhong met a neighbor coming downstairs.
They greeted each other.
The neighbor curiously asked, “Why are you just coming back now? Your son was already home.”
Hearing this, Xia Nianhong’s expression changed.
The four of them returned home together, but neither the living room nor the bedroom had any sign of Xia Dongyang.
However, there were signs of the bedroom being ransacked.
Seeing the black cat they had brought along, still safely sleeping in the corner of the balcony, Xia Yu breathed a sigh of relief. The black cat was very useful, and if anything had happened to it, he would definitely make Xia Dongyang pay.
Meanwhile, Xia Nianhong discovered that the cash they had kept in the drawer was gone.
It wasn’t a large amount, just under five thousand yuan.
“How did he get the key?” Xia Ye was very angry.
Xia Nianhong went outside to the corridor and reached into a flowerpot: “The spare key we kept here is gone.”
Hiding keys in flowerpots was almost a standard skill among rural grandmothers. Xia Dongyang knew this and easily got the key.
This was a small town with no outsiders coming in, and the residents had weak security awareness.
“Fine, let’s just consider it buying him a coffin!” Xia Nianhong said bitterly.
Five thousand wasn’t a small amount, but it wasn’t a huge sum either. After all, the money had gone to Xia Dongyang, not a stranger. Their feelings were more of helplessness than anger.
“I’ll get the locks changed tomorrow,” Xia Ye said.
With that, the matter seemed to end.
However, Xia Yu felt uneasy. He had a feeling that Xia Dongyang had done more than just take money.
Since this matter wasn’t directly related to him, his telepathy couldn’t warn him.
“What about your bankbooks?” Xia Yu asked.
“There’s a secret code on the bankbook. Even if he took it, he couldn’t withdraw the money,” Xia Ye said. “Besides, we’ve hidden the bankbook very well.”
“Let me check first.”
Prompted by Xia Yu, Xia Nianhong brought a stool and reached up to the top of the wardrobe.
“It’s gone.” She looked at Xia Yu.
“When you set the password, did you use your birthday or something else that’s easy to guess?” Xia Yu asked again.
Xia Nianhong looked at Xia Ye. The bankbook was under his management.
“We used your birthday, but changed the month to your grandmother’s birthday month,” Xia Ye looked at Xia Yu.
“That’s fine. If the secret code is entered incorrectly several times, it will lock automatically,” Xia Nianhong relaxed a bit.
“But I remember when I opened this bankbook, Dongyang was with me,” Xia Ye sitting on the bed began to tremble.
“Did he know the secret code?” Xia Nianhong’s hands also began to tremble.
“He was the one who set the secret code,” Xia Ye said.
Xia Nianhong clenched her teeth and slapped her thigh: “Call the police!”
Xia Yu and Xue You accompanied the two elders to the police station to report the case.
Although most of their life savings had been squandered by Xia Dongyang, they still had 80,000 yuan left.
Xia Yu didn’t really care about the missing money, and he comforted the two elders.
With this incident, Xia Yu and Xue You couldn’t leave to travel and had to stay.
In the evening, after thinking for a while, Xia Yu entered the black cat’s body.
Although he felt that Xia Dongyang would probably run away after committing the crime, he still decided to investigate.
If they handed the case over to the police, tracking Xia Dongyang wouldn’t be difficult, but retrieving the money would be unlikely. Xia Dongyang would definitely hide the money once he sensed danger, and Xia Nianhong and Xia Ye would never send him to prison.
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