TIPS – Chapter 70

The workers could no longer dig up anything valuable from the field, and their enthusiasm gradually faded, turning into disappointment and frustration.

“If there’s nothing, then forget it. Everyone, just focus on farming and don’t delay the work,” Song Jingwei said, no longer holding out hope after such a long time without any findings. He didn’t know how to comfort the workers either—this kind of thing was simply a matter of luck.

Hearing this, although the workers still thought about treasures, they had no choice but to awkwardly return to their tasks and continue working. After all, they were hired laborers meant to farm, not treasure hunters.

However, in less than half a day, rumors began spreading in Chashan Village.

It was said that the Shen family’s main branch had dug up an extremely valuable treasure from the field and had already taken it home.

Why was it always the Shen family’s main branch? It seemed like every good thing that happened favored them.

Everyone was filled with envy. Over the past six months, the Shen family’s main branch had been continuously receiving good news. Compared to them, other households remained the same as before—those who couldn’t afford meat before were still eating only vegetables at every meal.

The family that had changed the most in Chashan Village was undoubtedly the Shen family’s main branch. From being impoverished farmers with nothing, they had somehow become wealthy landowners overnight. And now, they had even found a treasure—this was truly extraordinary.

Then, someone spread a rumor that the treasure was worth tens of thousands of taels of silver. However, Song Jingwei was said to be stingy, only giving the worker who found it two strings of copper coins. That was far too little.

Hearing this, the villagers found it reasonable. If the treasure was worth tens of thousands, yet only two strings of coins were given as a reward, the difference was too great. They didn’t even consider the fact that the land belonged to the Shen family, the workers were hired by them, and that the treasure rightfully belonged to them. The fact that Song Jingwei gave anything at all was already generous—he could have chosen to give nothing.

But human greed knows no bounds. When given one, people want two, and when they have two, they desire half of everything.

Shen Dongming was still in the fields when he overheard people talking about how his family had found a treasure. Hearing that it was supposedly worth tens of thousands of taels, his heart itched with excitement, and as soon as he could, he grabbed his hoe and rushed home.

At lunchtime, the whole family was gathered.

Seeing the hesitant expressions on Shen Dongming and Yang Shi’s faces, Song Jingwei immediately guessed what they were thinking. Amused, he turned to Shen Junxi and said, “Go ahead and take it out, let your parents have a look.”

Shen Junxi nodded, got up, and went to retrieve it—it had been locked in Song Jingwei’s cabinet.

The Shen couple looked a bit embarrassed after hearing this, but the temptation of a treasure was too great. Excitement and curiosity overpowered everything else.

“Daughter-in-law, is that treasure really worth that much?” Shen Dongming asked expectantly. If it truly was worth tens of thousands of taels, wouldn’t their family’s wealth double again?

“It’s definitely valuable, but how much exactly is hard to say,” Song Jingwei replied hesitantly, not telling them that they might not be able to keep it in the end.

“Oh, oh, as long as it’s valuable,” Shen Dongming said with satisfaction. He didn’t really have a concept of tens of thousands of taels—after all, the largest sum of money he had ever seen in his life was a fifty-tael silver ingot.

When Shen Junxi brought out the jade Buddha, both elders stared in awe. They carefully touched it from top to bottom, repeatedly marveling, “This is a fine piece, a really good piece. No wonder it’s worth so much money.”

Curious, Yang Shi asked, “Jingwei, what kind of jade did you say this was?”

To farmers, jadeite and nephrite were indistinguishable; they simply referred to them all as jade.

“This is jadeite,” Song Jingwei answered. It might even be the highest-grade imperial green jadeite, which would be incredibly valuable in modern times.

“Oh, so it’s jadeite.” The texture felt amazing, and they continued praising it, “Such a fine piece—no wonder people say it’s worth a fortune.”

“What exactly are they saying?” Song Jingwei asked curiously, wondering what kind of exaggerated rumors were circulating outside.

“Ah, they’re saying it’s worth tens of thousands of taels of silver,” Shen Dongming said, his face glowing with excitement. Even if it wasn’t worth that much, it had to be close, right?

Song Jingwei didn’t want to dampen his enthusiasm, so he simply said, “It’s very valuable, but probably not that many tens of thousands of taels. At most, it shouldn’t exceed fifty thousand. If we find the right buyer, it could certainly be worth over ten thousand.”

The Shen couple didn’t care about the exact amount—just knowing it was valuable was enough. They admired and touched the jade Buddha again before finally feeling satisfied.

“Junxi, hurry and put it away properly. Make sure it stays hidden, understand?” they warned, knowing the principle that wealth should not be flaunted.

“Mm,” Shen Junxi nodded, but as he lifted his eyes, he noticed his wife smiling—not an obvious grin, but a faint smile nonetheless.

Lowering his head to look at the jade Buddha in his hands, he wondered if this item was what had made his wife happy. He seemed to finally understand its value and became even more careful as he carried it back to store it safely.

In truth, Song Jingwei wasn’t smiling because of the jade Buddha itself, but because of the Shen couple’s straightforward and amusing reactions. He found them incredibly endearing.

He said, “There will probably be a lot of rumors in the coming days, but don’t take them to heart.”

The more valuable the jade Buddha was rumored to be, the more people would talk about how stingy and unkind he was. Some gossip would inevitably involve the Shen family’s main branch as well.

Song Jingwei didn’t want the elderly couple to be troubled by it. After all, they had to interact with the villagers regularly, unlike him, who had little to no dealings with them.

The Shen family couple spoke in unison, “As long as we got something good, that’s what really matters. Who cares what others say?” When they heard people talking badly about their daughter-in-law, they would even spit in disdain. Those people should consider who they were working as laborers for, and who was paying them thirty taels of silver a year. According to Yang Shi, those gossiping folks were just ungrateful white-eyed wolves—no matter how many benefits you gave them, it wouldn’t stop their mouths.

If they ever came across another good opportunity like this, they wouldn’t be so generous next time.

Yang Shi thought this to herself, but she knew her daughter-in-law was someone with his own ideas. She didn’t dare make decisions in front of him, so she planned to have her son pass along a message instead, telling him not to be too kind to the villagers—it was pointless.

That afternoon, when they returned to the house, Song Jingwei saw that Shen Junxi was rummaging around for something. Teasingly, he said, “What’s wrong? Lost your treasure?”

Hearing his voice, Shen Junxi immediately looked up, his face turning red as he shook his head and gestured, “No, I’m looking for a wooden box.”

“For storing the treasure?” Song Jingwei opened a few cabinets, found a wooden box of roughly the right size, and handed it over. “Here you go.”

“Mmm.” Shen Junxi smiled and took it with both hands.

“What are you staring at me for? Try it out and see if it fits,” Song Jingwei said when he noticed the young man staring blankly at him.

“Mmm, mmm.” Shen Junxi nodded eagerly and carefully took out the jade Buddha he had hidden away. Song Jingwei noticed that the statue was wrapped in a layer of pale silk, and Shen Junxi handled it with extreme care. He asked, “Do you really like this thing?”

“Mmm.” Shen Junxi nodded, his eyes bright with excitement, clearly showing his fondness.

“Oh,” Song Jingwei thought to himself. Then just keep it safe. He had a feeling they might not be able to hold onto it for long, though he wasn’t sure why. He didn’t know that the reason Shen Junxi liked the Buddha so much was because he thought he liked it. In reality, Song Jingwei wasn’t particularly fond of the statue—at least, not for its value.

“Are you feeling tired? Why don’t you lie down and rest? I won’t disturb you,” Shen Junxi said after carefully storing the Buddha away, noticing that Song Jingwei was standing near the bed.

“Oh, I’m just digesting my food…” Song Jingwei absentmindedly patted his stomach, only to feel the unmistakable roundness of a growing bump. At over six months along, it was getting harder to hide.

As he frowned, Shen Junxi’s gaze followed his movement, landing on his belly.

Compared to Song Jingwei’s discomfort, Shen Junxi’s expression was filled with warmth and longing. If he could, he would love to ask if he could touch it. But he didn’t dare—he knew Song Jingwei wouldn’t allow it. Since their marriage, aside from a few times holding hands and the nights they had shared a bed in their old house, there had been little to no physical contact.

He really wanted to touch it, but he was afraid Song Jingwei would be angry. He didn’t even dare to sneak a touch while Song Jingwei was asleep.

That morning, Yang Shi got up early to open the door and saw two unfamiliar men dressed in fine clothing outside. She curiously took a few extra glances, and to her surprise, the elderly man and the young man with him approached her.

Yuan Jinyun, with his grandson Yuan Qingsui, walked over with a kind smile and asked, “Is this the home of Mr. Shen Dongming?”

Hearing this, Yang Shi hurriedly waved her hand. “Yes, this is our home. Shen Dongming is my husband, but he’s no ‘mister’—just an ordinary farmer.” She then asked, “And you two… what business do you have with my husband?”

Yuan Jinyun chuckled, “I heard that your family runs a Private School, so calling him ‘mister’ isn’t inappropriate.” Then he continued, “We grandfather and grandson heard that your family recently acquired a jade Buddha?”

At the mention of the jade Buddha, Yang Shi’s heart skipped a beat. Her first thought was—could it belong to someone else? But after thinking it over, she shook her head. It had been buried in her daughter-in-law’s land, so it belonged to her daughter-in-law. No one could argue otherwise. Feeling reassured, she replied, “Yes, that was just a few days ago. Why do you ask, sir?”

“Haha, I have always been passionate about Buddhist statues and would love the chance to admire it. Would that be possible?” Yuan Jinyun asked warmly.

The elderly man seemed very kind, exuding an air of wisdom and refinement. Yang Shi glanced at the young man behind him—his arm was injured and held up in a sling, but his demeanor and appearance were just as gentle as the old man’s.

“Alright then, please come in and wait a moment. I’ll go ask my daughter-in-law,” she said. Seeing their puzzled expressions, she smiled and explained, “The jade Buddha belongs to my daughter-in-law. I have to ask him first.”

“It’s a jadeite Buddha?” Yuan Jinyun was a little surprised.

“Yes, my daughter-in-law said it’s made of jadeite,” Yang replied with a smile. She wasn’t boasting, but she couldn’t help feeling proud. The villagers might not know the difference between jadeite and regular jade, but now she could.

She led the grandfather and grandson to the outer courtyard’s flower hall and served them tea before heading toward her daughter-in-law’s courtyard.

Inside, both Song Jingwei and Shen Junxi were there. After breakfast, Shen Dongming had gone out, while Pei Hongxuan and Wu Xi had returned home to eat and hadn’t been visiting much lately. Shen Junxi had been sitting with his wife for a while and was just about to leave when Yang Shi came in.