CHAPTER 558: CHAPTER 454: MASTER, WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING?

Jiang Nian turned his head and saw Wang Yuhe, such a big presence, standing by the roadside staring at him.

The two locked eyes, big eyes staring at small eyes.

He looked down at the large bag he was carrying, which contained a shovel. He looked at Wang Yuhe again, feeling uneasy.

"When did you get here?"

Outside the school gate, facing South Street, it was the time for school to let out in the afternoon. The road was teeming with students, as crowded as carp crossing the river.

"I’ve been here for a while, ever since you went to that little corner. I’ve been following you and saw you take out a small shovel."

Wang Yuhe looked up at him, her eyes round and lively.

"What are you going to do?"

"Why are you asking so many questions, and why are you alone?" Jiang Nian was speechless. "Where’s Chen Yunyun? Why didn’t I see her?"

"Oh, Yunyun and Chai Muying went shopping." Wang Yuhe looked at him again, "It’s your turn to say, what are you going to do?"

Jiang Nian turned to leave, "Lazy to listen."

"Where is Lazy to Listen?" Wang Yuhe circled around him, blocking his way, "Can I come with you?"

Jiang Nian: "..."

"No, you go play by yourself." He refused outright, "If you’re really that bored, go back to the classroom and do some practice tests."

He was going to dig up some small yellow croaker, not go shopping.

"I don’t want to do practice tests, forget it if you won’t let me come." Wang Yuhe pouted and then stood still in place.

Jiang Nian slowly formed a question mark, shouldn’t she be getting angry and walking away by now?

What’s up with this person?

"Ahem, then walk away." Jiang Nian couldn’t hold it in anymore.

"Why should I!"

"Alright, then you can’t follow me." Jiang Nian already didn’t want to dig today, starting off on the wrong foot.

But then he remembered the small yellow croaker weighing 31 grams, which was about ten thousand bucks at the current gold price, free money essentially.

After all, it’s not ownerless; it’s an ancestral small yellow croaker. Urgently cash it in, then urgently feast on it.

Into the market!! Definitely into the market hard!

"Oh, not following you." Wang Yuhe seemed a bit dissatisfied but kept her word, "If you change your mind, you can call me."

"Okay."

"Really, have you changed your mind?"

"No."

Those two words shattered the anticipation, and Wang Yuhe immediately stopped smiling. She stood still, watching his back eagerly.

She saw Jiang Nian take the little shovel, surely he was going to dig something.

Thinking about it alone made her drool, she also really wanted to dig.

However, she kept watching Jiang Nian’s figure disappear. In the end, no miracle happened, and she couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

Wang Yuhe furrowed her brows, yet stayed put.

Until...

"Damn, I’m really afraid of you." Jiang Nian emerged from behind her, "If I left, you’d plan to rat me out, right?"

When Wang Yuhe saw him reappear, her eyes lit up. Initially delighted, she then heard his words, and her face puffed up like a bun.

"I’m very tight-lipped!"

"Who knows."

"You you you!!!" Wang Yuhe was so angry her face turned red, unable to argue with him, "Anyway, take me along, I will keep the secret."

"Fine, you win." Jiang Nian waved his hand, gave her a glance, "You’d better be, let’s go together, keep up."

"Oh oh." Wang Yuhe latched on, asking questions left and right, chatterbox to the max, "Jiang Nian, what are you going to dig up?"

Jiang Nian didn’t want ears anymore, two heads becoming one big.

"Ask less, listen more."

"What does ’ask less, listen more’ mean?"

"Means shut up."

"Oh, by the way, you haven’t said what you’re going to dig up yet?" Wang Yuhe was eager, "Why don’t you tell me first?"

"Good grief!" Jiang Nian held his forehead.

He brought Wang Yuhe with him because he’s afraid she would blab, and if a disappearance case came out one day, he’d have to surrender with the small yellow croaker.

All this mess over ten thousand bucks?

Clearly not worth it.

Letting Wang Yuhe know isn’t a big deal, after all, she’d only find it exciting, as for wanting half the share, forget it.

His money, share half with others?

Dream on!

The sky gradually darkened, Jiang Nian bought Wang Yuhe with a meal, and the two walked out of a Chinese fast-food restaurant.

"I don’t even know what it is, my third uncle dropped it."

"Third uncle?"

"Yeah, he went abroad." Jiang Nian casually made it up, Southern Third Uncle is also a Third Uncle, "This matter started at the beginning."

"During the New Year, my third uncle told me a story."

He rambled on, adding an adventurous layer to the lost item, without mentioning how he knew the coordinates.

Wang Yuhe didn’t care about those details, her eyes sparkling.

"An adventure, huh?"

"Pretty much, if you say so." Jiang Nian said ahead, "My third uncle’s item, it’s probably quite valuable."

"Oh oh, I won’t steal your stuff."

"It’s not mine, it’s my third uncle’s." He hinted, "What’s important is, only the two of us know about this."

"A second secret?"

"Yeah, remember to keep it secret."

"Okay, one more or less doesn’t matter." Wang Yuhe said excitedly, "Sounds interesting, just like that textbook piece."

"What textbook piece?"

"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." She chattered excitedly, not stopping at all, even reciting a bit of the original text.

"Tom, there’s no doubt about it. But we’ve taken precautions, so no one will ever be lost in that cave again."

"Oh, you have a good memory." He complimented offhandedly.

"Of course, my brain is the best!" Wang Yuhe said proudly, head held high, "Once I see it, I won’t forget it."

"Tsk, then I’d better watch out when I give you my passwords next time." Jiang Nian remarked.

"You!!"

"Did you learn that Tom Sawyer piece when you were little?" Wang Yuhe, not having time to get angry, ran ahead to ask him again.

"No impression at all? Hmm?"

Jiang Nian didn’t answer. By this time, he had already reached the entrance of the abandoned market and couldn’t help but stop and look up.

A small slope of red earth, with dry and withered weeds. A small gravel road extended inward, revealing the blue iron outline of the small market.

Without a gate, you could see the long stone platform further in.

During holidays, you could occasionally see children playing hide-and-seek here, jumping from one long stone platform to another, their laughter echoing like silver bells.

Wang Yuhe shivered and couldn’t help but tremble.

"This... this place..."

"Yes, it’s right here." Jiang Nian, adhering to the principle of using everything to its fullest, instructed her, "Partner, keep watch for me."

"Huh? Just... just me alone?" Wang Yuhe took a step back.

"Scared?"

"Not at all!"

"Don’t you like ’The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’? Believe in the spirit of adventure, kid." Jiang Nian patted her shoulder.

Although the two were unrelated, having someone to help did come in handy, which reminded him of a class text.

’Robinson Crusoe’, Wang Yuhe was like that Friday.

The moment he thought of Robinson, he couldn’t help but want to point fingers. Damn Friday, it ruined the joy of farming on the island!

From Friday’s appearance, Robinson wasn’t as good anymore.

Hate, hate, hate!!

He carried the shovel and went up, leaving Wang Yuhe alone, frightened and on edge. A moment looking here, a moment with a pale face.

Jiang Nian: "...."

He couldn’t hold it in any longer and walked back with the bag. Staring at Wang Yuhe for a while, he covered his face with a slap and complained.

"Sis, we’re not committing a crime."

"Dig... your digging."

"With your guilty look, might as well not bother digging." He said, "I told you to keep watch, not draw people over."

Damn.

In the future, you’d probably ask the officer to relay a message to me, right?!

How embarrassing would that be?

To prevent Wang Yuhe from messing things up, Jiang Nian pulled her in. He had her open the bag to collect soil, which they’d need to refill later.

After speaking, Jiang Nian worked in the dark.

He used a small shovel to find a coordinate, took out a thin iron rod. With a hammer on the wooden handle of a shovel, he struck downwards, stopping instantly.

He estimated a depth, feeling something was there. He first drew a circle, then cut downward to extract the grass in one piece.

Wang Yuhe squatted nearby, her mouth forming an ’o’.

"How are you so professional?"

Jiang Nian glanced at her and suddenly, with a sinister smile, said gloomily.

"I dug all the graves in the village."

"Ah!?" Wang Yuhe was instantly scared silly, trembling as she looked at him, "Jiang Nian, you’re... you’re not going to harm me, are you?"

Jiang Nian rolled his eyes at her, speechless.

"Kidding you, isn’t digging holes something anyone can do?"

Hearing this, Wang Yuhe finally relaxed.

Only when she looked down, she realized that during their conversation. A disc-shaped soil piece was taken out, leaving a smooth circular pit edge.

Obviously, it was meant to be replaced after backfilling.

"Jiang Nian! You said you’re not professional!" Wang Yuhe almost shrieked like a chipmunk, "You, you, you... what do you usually watch?!"

"Survival in the Wild, stop making a fuss." Jiang Nian spoke while digging, collecting all the soil in the bag.

"What’s a small digging technique? I’ll take you fishing another day."

"Really?" Wang Yuhe’s attention was diverted, becoming happy again, "I’m really good at fishing!"

Jiang Nian hummed and dug a small vertical hole. The winter soil was hard to dig, so he relied purely on brute force.

Soon, a fifty-centimeter small hole formed.

One more shovel down, he hit the bottom. He immediately exclaimed, believing the system was trustworthy, as he dug out the item.

About half a finger long, wrapped in oil paper.

"What is this?" Wang Yuhe moved closer, her head bumping against his, "So small, wrapped in so many layers?"

"Tomb Raider Talisman, children shouldn’t look." Jiang Nian took out a prepared sealed bag from his pocket and tossed it in with the gloves.

"Why?"

"Nightmares, aren’t you afraid something will visit you at night?" Jiang Nian stared at her, ready to tell a ghost story.

"Then I’m... not watching!!" Wang Yuhe quickly chickened out.

"You think you can just not watch?" Jiang Nian packed the bag, nested it into another bag, and started backfilling the soil.

A large bag of soil was perfectly backfilled, then the disc was placed back.

Seamless.

As for the tools? Of course, take them back to the rented storeroom.

The two went back to school together, the road bustling with colorful traffic. Approaching evening self-study, all of them were fast-paced students.

Wang Yuhe resumed her chirpy state, talking while asking questions.

"Did you learn about the Golden Fish Hook?"

"Of course, the county’s textbook is the same as the town’s, right?" Jiang Nian rolled his eyes, feeling his head was about to explode.

"Not necessarily, what about ’The Story of a Play’?"

"Learned it, and also Runtu." Jiang Nian replied casually, then suddenly asked, "You brought the keys, right? I gave you both."

"Brought them."

The two turned into the alleys of the teacher’s dormitory area, walked a few steps. Stopped at the phoenix tree, turned and entered the half-open yard.

Almost all the storerooms in the first row were rented by students, at this time only the innermost one was lit, and above was the teacher’s house.

The indoor light poured down, falling like silk onto the mottled concrete ground.

With the dim light, Wang Yuhe opened the security door.

Click, the light turned on, revealing the interior structure. Different from when they first rented it, the back half of the small room was clean and spacious.

Probably because Jiang Nian mentioned once, it would be used for storage later on.

The front part, the floor was covered with a carpet. The shower area was laid with waterproof cloth, and a pink partition was made.

A hairdryer and instant heater hung on the wall, several storage boxes and two wheeled racks on the floor, filled with girls’ products.

On the table and chair, mirrors and combs were placed neatly.

Jiang Nian was a bit stunned, "You guys kept it quite nice."

"Of course!"