“If it was designed by Grandpa, why would he do that?”
Shui Miao instantly reached a conclusion based on his understanding of his grandfather—that Grandpa must have disliked this person. Wang Yong must have some unforgivable flaws; otherwise, there was no way Grandpa would ever do such a thing.
“He seems pretty good to me, I don’t see any flaws,” Shui Miao scratched his head, deliberately pretending to be clueless, and pointed at the tall wall as he asked Wang Yong, “Uncle, a wall this high must be to keep wealth inside, right?”
Shui Miao subtly tested Wang Yong to see how he would respond.
Upon hearing this, Wang Yong was immediately surprised and gave a thumbs-up, turning around excitedly to Xiong Ying, “Master! Your apprentice truly has insight! At such a young age, he immediately saw through the secret of my wall. Amazing, absolutely amazing!”
Wang Yong actually praised Shui Miao.
After hearing this, Xiong Ying merely smiled faintly, flicked some ash into the ashtray, and said, “It’s nothing special. It’s just that you have too many valuable items in your house. If you don’t surround and hide them, the wealth will leak into someone else’s home. Anyway, let’s not talk about this anymore; let’s discuss the matter at Boss Sun’s house.”
Though Xiong Ying’s words sounded casual, they were actually meant for Shui Miao to hear.
Shui Miao suddenly understood. So it really was Grandpa’s design. The explanation about keeping wealth from leaking out made sense, but to an expert’s eyes, there was a problem. Shui Miao had heard from Grandpa before that hiding valuable items was called gathering wealth, but if people were also living inside, it was called imprisonment. Combined with the prison-like height of the wall, in some ways, Wang Yong might indeed face imprisonment.
Shui Miao didn’t speak and instead stood in front of the antique shelves, inspecting the items one by one. Suddenly, he noticed that several of the antiques were covered in a lot of dried, black mud. He couldn’t understand why Wang Yong hadn’t washed it off. Antiques were valuable—could the mud stuck on them also be valuable?
At this moment, Wang Yong sat on the sofa, legs crossed, shaking one leg while smoking, and said, “You know the old villa at the Sun residence, Master. Recently, I don’t know why, but there have been repeated rumors that the house is haunted. I even heard that he invited several Taoist priests, but they ran away before even stepping through the door. Originally, Sun Jijun didn’t care much about that villa—after all, it’s not his only property. But lately, his father is coming back from Hong Kong, and the old man is sentimental, insisting on living there, so Sun Jijun is now in a hurry to find someone to exorcise the spirits.”
“Such a thing exists!”
Another case of malevolent spirits! Shui Miao became interested and quickly turned around to sit on the sofa.
Xiong Ying couldn’t help but frown, putting on a serious expression.
Shui Miao immediately saw through Grandpa’s trick. He was deliberately making things difficult to negotiate a lower price later. If his guess was correct, after Wang Yong spoke a few more sentences, Grandpa would get up and leave.
After a pause, Wang Yong continued, “Master, this time you can rest assured. As long as the job is done well, I guarantee the full 50,000 yuan will be paid without any deductions. As for me, I just want that diamond VIP singing card.”
“Hehe, with your rusty voice, you still want to sing?” Xiong Ying chuckled, suddenly stood up, pointed at the antique shelves, and frowned, “Little Wang, didn’t I tell you before? Your house can lack anything, but it cannot lack water! Water is wealth. Look at how dry your place has become!”
Shui Miao secretly smiled, thinking Grandpa was indeed using his old tricks again.
Wang Yong stood up looking quite troubled, “Master, I really don’t know what’s going on with my house. Every morning, noon, and night, I use a mist sprayer to increase the humidity inside, but it still gets extremely dry. If this continues, I might have to spray mist over a dozen times a day.”
“If it’s still dry despite such high humidity, then it’s not a normal issue,” Xiong Ying frowned and said, “In that case, misting won’t solve the problem anymore. You should place a few wooden basins made of willow wood in the house, fill them with water, and connect a plastic tube to continuously supply water to the basins. In short, you must ensure the humidity. Don’t be careless!”
“Alright, alright, I’ll go buy the basins right away…”
Wang Yong obeyed Xiong Ying’s instructions and hurriedly prepared to leave.
Xiong Ying nodded, “Okay, you go and come back quickly. We’ll go check out the Sun residence first, and you can catch up later.”
Xiong Ying waved at Shui Miao and walked toward the door.
Wang Yong nodded repeatedly and rushed off toward the garage.
After leaving Wang Yong’s house with Grandpa and pushing the bicycle a few steps, Shui Miao saw Wang Yong riding past in a hurry on his bicycle. He felt confused immediately—how come Wang Yong, who was so rich, only rode a bicycle? Judging from his behavior, he seemed to believe Grandpa’s words without any doubt. But why was Grandpa deceiving him? He actually believed that simply spraying water could bring wealth?
Shui Miao knew that feng shui indeed had its mysterious aspects, but the idea that proper feng shui alone could bring instant wealth was pure fraud. If that were true, Grandpa would have already become a millionaire long ago.
Xiong Ying glanced at his watch and nodded, muttering to himself, “We can still make it for lunch if we hurry.”
But Shui Miao didn’t rush to ride his bike. Instead, he looked at Grandpa with a puzzled expression and asked, “Grandpa, Wang Yong seems quite nice and friendly. Why are you tricking him?”
…
Xiong Ying looked at Shui Miao in slight surprise, not expecting him to see through the issue.
Seeing the sincerity in Shui Miao’s eyes and a hint of maturity on his face, Xiong Ying suddenly realized that Shui Miao was no longer the silent child who used to follow him around. A sudden wave of emotion swept over him as he felt how time spares no one, and how unknowingly he had already become an old man.
Xiong Ying silently walked to the shade of a nearby tree. Seeing no one around, he softly said to Shui Miao, “You can’t judge people just by their appearance. In the future, when you’re out in society, you must be more cautious. Sometimes, the people who seem the most approachable are often the least trustworthy. Don’t be fooled by Wang Yong’s apparent gentleness and modesty—riding a bicycle and keeping a low profile. In fact, he’s a ruthless person who eats people without spitting out the bones. He used to be a tomb robber, and many people have died because of him. I’m just pretending to be ignorant and using our connection to earn some extra money.”
So Wang Yong was actually an expert tomb robber!
Shui Miao’s heart stirred. If that were the case, then the antiques in Wang Yong’s house must all be genuine?
Seeing Shui Miao’s eyes gleam with interest, Xiong Ying coldly smiled and said, “You’re thinking about targeting him? All those antiques you saw are fake.”
“What! Fake…?”
Shui Miao was stunned, “This… can’t be serious. If they were fake, why would he build the wall like that?”
“Hehe, it’s a mixture of truth and falsehood,” Xiong Ying stroked his beard, smiling proudly. After glancing around with sharp eyes, he lowered his voice again to whisper to Shui Miao, “There’s a priceless treasure hidden in his house, something worth a fortune. I’ve invested a lot of effort to get it. The reason why his house is always so dry and lacks water is actually due to this treasure. However, obtaining it will take some time. But in my opinion, within a year, I should get the chance…”
Xiong Ying narrowed his eyes, looking like a cunning old fox.
Shui Miao quickly swallowed and eagerly asked, “Grandpa, what exactly is this treasure!?”
…
Xiong Ying turned his head and saw Shui Miao’s face flushed with excitement, looking as if he’d taken some aphrodisiac. Immediately frowning, he sternly said, “You little brat, look at how greedy you are. Just the thought of something valuable gets you this excited? I earn what I want through my real skills, making people willingly give it to me. If it were you, wouldn’t you just go rob them?”
Xiong Ying waved his hand, glared at Shui Miao, and angrily strode off.
Why did the weather suddenly change?
Shui Miao awkwardly smacked his lips, thinking to himself, “Such a precious treasure… wouldn’t anyone be tempted?”
But after thinking it over, he realized Grandpa’s intentions were actually well-meaning. He did this entirely to teach him not to be so shallow, to become smarter and more sophisticated in dealing with people and matters. A true wise person could make others willingly hand over what he wanted without violating his conscience.
“Grandpa, wait for me!”
After understanding Grandpa’s true intentions, Shui Miao’s mood suddenly brightened. His thinking opened up, and he seemed to mature all at once.
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