Yan Hongsha and Cao Yanhua had disappeared without a trace.

It was so long that Yi Wansan went to check the door twice: “They haven’t been killed by the shop owner, have they?”

Of course not. Just as he spoke, a message arrived in the WeChat group: “Come, everyone, come to Phoenix Tower, we’re having a shareholders’ meeting.”

The restaurant location wasn’t far from Lian Yan. The two had probably either gone to the restaurant after making trouble at Lian Yan or had seen the restaurant on the way and forgotten about Lian Yan altogether.

Mu Dai asked Zhang Shu to watch Pin Ting and walked out with Luo Ren. At the door, she turned back to beckon Yi Wansan: “Let’s go!”

Yi Wansan was stunned for a moment and stammered: “Am I a shareholder too?”

A question with an obvious answer. Mu Dai mocked him: “Didn’t we already say everyone has a share? You just have to ask, look how affected you are.”

Normally, Yi Wansan would have cursed her as a venomous woman in his heart, but this time, for some reason, he felt Mu Dai’s choice of words was quite accurate.

Just like Fatty Cao’s word “dramatic”—different approaches but equally apt.

Yan Hongsha and Cao Yanhua were cleaning in the restaurant, each with a broom, working with great enthusiasm. Uncle Zheng was wiping the glass. Seeing them enter, he put down his work and assigned tasks: “Someone continue wiping the glass. Look, there’s a ladder over there. Who wants to climb up to tear off the paper on the ceiling? Also, there’s paint over there, paint that wall.”

Climbing the wall wasn’t a task for others. Mu Dai went to get the ladder, Yi Wansan wrung out a cloth, and continued wiping the glass. Luo Ren didn’t move at first, frowning: “Couldn’t we hire cleaners for this kind of work? It wouldn’t cost much, and anyway, there will be major renovations later.”

Cao Yanhua’s plump face was sweaty: “Brother Luo, we’re starting a business! First, money must be spent sparingly. Second, don’t you feel a sense of accomplishment doing things yourself?”

He swung his broom, emotions surging: “It’s our restaurant.”

The three words “our own” were pronounced with particular pride.

Uncle Zheng said, “Don’t mind Luo Xiaodao, he just has an aversion to labor!”

Such an accusation made Luo Ren both laugh and cry. On the other side, Mu Dai had already put on a disposable plastic raincoat to protect against dust, with the hood over her head, looking both clumsy and adorable.

Rather than swim against the tide, Luo Ren had no choice but to put on a plastic raincoat too. Uncle Zheng said, “Everyone, keep working. I’ll check on Pin Ting and bring back some boxed meals for you. What do you want to eat?”

Yan Hongsha’s voice was loud: “The cheapest will do!”

Even as a wealthy lady, she was frugal to the extreme.

After Uncle Zheng left, Yan Hongsha updated them on the pearl situation. She had contacted a jewelry dealer who regularly did business with the Yan family. The batch of pearls was of good quality, though varied in size. The dealer offered a package price, which worked out to about 300,000 yuan.

Three hundred thousand! Cao Yanhua was overwhelmed by immense happiness, so excited he could barely speak coherently: “When… when our Phoenix Tower opens, I’ll quit my job at Ju Xian Lou and only work for our tower. We can also put Phoenix Tower flyers in the bar, so bar customers will come eat too…”

As he spoke, his eyes suddenly reddened, his voice growing hoarse. After a while, he crouched on the ground with his broom and fell silent.

Yan Hongsha was puzzled: “Fatty Cao, what’s wrong?”

Cao Yanhua hadn’t heard her speak, his heart thinking only: How wonderful.

Before, when he was a thief, when he fled from Liberation Monument to Yunnan to lie low, when he boasted to Yi Wansan about opening a bar and investing, he never imagined this day would come.

This restaurant wasn’t large, certainly modest compared to grand restaurants, but every brick and tile looked dear to him. This was his own—not stolen, not robbed, not obtained through improper means.

He thought: I must work hard, I must work hard.

Yi Wansan also remained silent. He kept wiping the windows, the glass before him as clear as crystal. Sunlight shone through, dazzling his eyes.

An unreal feeling. He had always thought he was someone who couldn’t find a home and could only wander outside. Now it seemed that one day, he too could have a roof over his head.

Even Mu Dai was quiet. She sat on top of the triangular ladder, looking up at the newspaper plastered on the ceiling, her thoughts drifting far away.

In the future, one day, even if Hong Yi didn’t want her anymore, she would still find a place to belong. Hong Yi had one, Zhang Shu had one, Luo Ren had one—no matter who had one, it couldn’t compare to having her own.

The atmosphere was strangely silent. Yan Hongsha looked at one person, then another, and quietly asked Luo Ren: “What’s wrong with them?”

Luo Ren was about to speak when his gaze was suddenly drawn elsewhere.

Across the street, Lian Shu was standing at the door of Lian Yan, seemingly wiping smudges off the glass.

Luo Ren frowned: “Did you and Fatty Cao go to Lian Yan?”

At the mention of this, Cao Yanhua became animated.

He vividly described the scene: how he and Yan Hongsha coordinated so well, how whenever Yan Hongsha picked up an item to examine closely, he would sarcastically “praise it to death,” essentially saying: “Sister Hongsha, your family is so rich, this is far too low-class.”

In short, they thoroughly disparaged the shop’s merchandise, and then, seeing Uncle Zheng in this store, they quickly came over to help.

Mu Dai tore off a sheet of newspaper from the ceiling with a ripping sound, lowering her head and repeatedly fanning the dust in front of her, then asked slowly: “Let me ask you two, did she pay any attention to you at all?”

Cao Yanhua found this strange: “Is that important?”

Yi Wansan sighed: “Brother Cao, you and the rich lady, from beginning to end, she never even looked at you. You two were just enjoying your performance.”

Yan Hongsha said nothing, thinking it was probably true. She and Cao Yanhua had been playing off each other, but Lian Shu had never once acknowledged them.

Suddenly, she felt deflated.

Yet also indignant as she looked at Luo Ren: “Why? She doesn’t even look at us, but she’s polite to you. Could it be…”

She was half-enlightened, half-surprised: “Could it be she’s trying to seduce you!”

Mu Dai looked down at him from her height, ominously: “Is that so? Why does she treat you differently? Don’t you have anything to explain?”

Everyone’s gaze suddenly focused on Luo Ren.

Luo Ren cleared his throat slightly and said, “How should I put this?”

Mu Dai’s heart skipped a beat.

Could there be a secret?

He said, “Bend down a little, I’ll explain to you.”

Half-believing, half-doubting, Mu Dai bent down. Luo Ren beckoned with his finger: “Lower, lower.”

When she bent low enough, Luo Ren came over, lifted his head, and pecked her on the lips.

Mu Dai’s face instantly turned bright red.

After a few seconds of silence, Yi Wansan and Yan Hongsha spoke almost simultaneously.

Yi Wansan: “Could you be more considerate?”

Yan Hongsha: “That’s not fair!”

Only Cao Yanhua remained silent. With his master present, as a disciple, he felt it wasn’t his place to say anything, but Brother San and Sister Hongsha had certainly spoken his mind.

Could you be more considerate? That’s not fair! I’m still single.

That evening, they set up a table in the bar for dinner. Zhang Shu was also very interested in their restaurant and, with his experience running the bar, gave many candid suggestions.

After dinner, Luo Ren went to the restroom. When he came out, he heard Yan Hongsha in the back hallway making a phone call, sounding somewhat exasperated: “Grandfather, don’t always think people want to steal your treasure. Mu Dai even saved my life! She doesn’t care about this stuff. Besides, telling family where you’re going is perfectly reasonable!”

Luo Ren walked away smiling, having a good idea of what was happening. After talking with him, Mu Dai must have made her request to Yan Hongsha. Hongsha’s response was heartwarming, whereas Old Man Yan seemed rather petty.

He was said to be in his seventies, yet why did he place so much importance on treasure and wealth?

He said goodbye to Mu Dai and returned home with Uncle Zheng and Pin Ting.

Later that night, he received a text message from Mu Dai.

“Not in Yunnan Province, but in Guizhou, Si Zhai. Old Man Yan wouldn’t say anything more specific.”

First saying it was in Yunnan, now changing to Guizhou—what, did he think Mu Dai was easy to fool?

Luo Ren’s displeasure with Old Man Yan grew another layer.

He went to the room storing the ominous slips, opened the computer to search for Si Zhai’s location, then stood up, took a blue pin, and walked to the map on the wall.

Looking at the map, Si Zhai was located at the border between Guizhou and Guangxi, but since Old Man Yan was willing to mention the name “Si Zhai,” it meant the final destination must not be Si Zhai itself.

This town had mountainous areas comprising 80% of its total area.

Luo Ren pondered as he pushed the pin in.

At the same time, Mu Dai was also looking at a map.

Yan Hongsha and Mu Dai shared a room. After washing up, they lay on the carved bed, tossing and turning. Hongsha curiously examined the indentations on the wall that Mu Dai used for martial arts practice, trying to climb the wall herself, unsuccessfully.

So she looked down at the carvings on the bed frame, pointing to the “instant promotion upon horseback”: “Last time, was it here that you saw that ‘immortal pointing the way’ inscription?”

Mu Dai casually murmured an affirmative.

She had found Si Zhai’s location: “It’s at the border of Guizhou and Guangxi. I’ve heard that in Guizhou, there’s not three li of flat land, so the roads must be difficult. With your grandfather at such an advanced age, can he withstand the jolting?”

Yan Hongsha lay down on the bed, pulling the covers to her chest, infinite melancholy in her voice: “There’s no choice. My grandfather and uncle are both extravagant spenders. You don’t know, my uncle has dabbled in many businesses, always using our family home as collateral. He’s not cut out for business—each venture ends in loss. If creditors come knocking in the future, that house will most likely be repossessed…”

Mu Dai was taken aback and turned to look at Yan Hongsha.

Usually, she was bright and boisterous. Now, suddenly quiet, furrowing her brow and talking about making a living, it was hard to adjust to.

She had thought Hongsha would never worry about money.

Yan Hongsha’s voice grew increasingly soft: “Grandfather’s eyesight is failing. I don’t understand how to see treasure energy, so I can’t continue in this line of work. After this venture, we need to seriously think about what to do. I still have to support Grandfather in his old age…”

She muttered indistinctly, gradually falling asleep.

Mu Dai watched her for a while, then turned off the light and got into bed.

Yan Hongsha slept on the inside, while she slept near the edge. Unable to fall asleep immediately, she did as usual, reaching out to feel the carvings on the bed frame.

Instant promotion upon horseback.

She traced the shape, sometimes touching the little monkey’s head, sometimes scratching the little horse’s tail with her fingernail.

Counting in her mind: one round, two rounds…

Just like counting sheep. Completing one circuit was one round. As she traced, she fell asleep.

Before, Hong Yi had said to her: “Look, this little horse and monkey, their heads and tails have been rubbed shiny. Mu Dai, if you rub a few more times, you’ll rub the lacquer right off.”

So what? Carved so delicately, isn’t it meant to be appreciated?

Three rounds, four rounds…

By the fifth round, her heart suddenly jolted.

In the darkness, she couldn’t help but feel her hair stand on end.

Her finger still lingered on that outline, trembling somewhat uncontrollably.

This shape didn’t seem to be “instant promotion upon horseback.”

A flash of light, then a soft click of a camera taking a photo.

Luo Ren had already returned to his room to sleep. Perhaps due to the physical labor, everyone was sleeping earlier than usual today.

However, the computer wasn’t locked, and the automatic photo transfer and stitching software ran on its own.

The screen automatically displayed the photos, seven in total, arranged in a row.

In the last photo, the phoenix’s head had tilted at an eerie angle, and its previously half-closed eyes had finally opened.