He believed that the first person to use "Tingzhu" as a pavilion name was a clever and refined individual, but the eightieth person to do so was an unbearably vulgar fool.

  Now, not only was there "Wurou" in this courtyard, but the bamboo had almost been completely cut down.

  Bamboo could be used to make clotheslines or build pergos, so Wang Dong often traded bamboo for meat. When a person is starving, they often forget what elegance means.

  Suan Meitang, Fei Baozi, and the others had stayed here st night, but now they—and their dogs and monkey—had vanished without a trace. The only ones left standing there in a daze were Guo Dalu and Lin Taiping.

  At their feet were several chests—brand new chests.

  Wang Dong asked, “Your guests left without saying goodbye.”

  Guo Dalu nodded.

  Yan Qi said coldly, “If they′re gone, they′re gone. No need to make such a fuss about it.”

  Guo Dalu didn′t say anything. He simply handed over a piece of paper.

  On it, a few words were written in charcoal: “Five chests as rent payment. Please accept them. Until we meet again.”

  Yan Qi said, “Paying rent for a pce you stay in—that′s nothing unusual.”

  Guo Dalu sighed. “It′s not that it′s unusual; the issue is that they overpaid significantly.”

  Wang Dong asked, “What′s inside the chests?”

  Guo Dalu replied, “Nothing much... just a few crates of ‘stinking copper.’”

  If money really had a stench, then the contents of these five chests could surely suffocate thirty-eight thousand people.

  Four of the chests contained nothing but silver ingots—rge and small, in every shape and size. The smallest weighed at least ten taels. Even if the smell didn′t kill, the sheer weight certainly could.

  In one of the chests were nothing but jewels—all kinds of jewels. There were pearls, jade, agate, and various other gemstones whose names couldn’t even be identified.

  Any one of these chests could have bought the entire Fortune Manor.

  Wang Dong and Yan Qi were also stunned.

  After a long while, Yan Qi finally exhaled and said, "Last night when they arrived, they didn′t bring these five chests with them."

  Guo Dalu replied, "No, they didn′t."

  Lin Taiping asked, "Then where did these chests come from?"

  Yan Qi sneered, "They were either stolen or robbed."

  Guo Dalu said, "The stamps on these ingots are all different."

  Yan Qi replied, "Of course they are. No one keeps these many ingots at home. They must have stolen them from many different households."

  Wang Dong sighed, "To rob so many homes in a single night—that′s quite a skill."

  Yan Qi said, "It′s not that unusual. A skilled thief can hit a thousand homes by day and a hundred by night."

  Guo Dalu remarked, "They went through all that trouble to steal these things, only to give them to us. Thieves like this are truly rare in the world."

  Yan Qi said, "Maybe they′re trying to frame us."

  Guo Dalu asked, "Frame us? Why would they do that? We have no grudge against them."

  Yan Qi said leisurely, "Did you really think she fancied you and specially brought these five chests as a dowry?"

  Lin Taiping said, “Forget about all that. The real question is—what do we do with these five chests now?”

  Guo Dalu replied, “Do what? Since they were given to us, we take them, of course.”

  Yan Qi sighed. “This person has a real talent—no matter how complicated something is, the moment he speaks, it suddenly becomes simple.”

  Guo Dalu said, “It is simple.”

  Wang Dong disagreed. “No, it′s not.”

  Guo Dalu asked, “What′s so complicated about it?”

  Wang Dong said, “There′s no way they would just give us so much treasure for no reason. There has to be another motive.”

  Yan Qi added, “Not to mention, since these things were stolen, if we accept them, doesn′t that make us thieves too?”

  Wang Dong said, “You can do anything in life—except be a thief. The moment you steal once and get a taste of it, you won′t want to do anything else. You′ll be a thief for life.”

  Yan Qi nodded. “And then your sons will be thieves, too. One old thief raising a big thief, and a big thief raising little thieves.”

  Guo Dalu ughed. “No need to insult me. I have been a thief once before, but instead of gaining anything from it, I lost my st sword in the process.”

  Wang Dong said, “Stealing takes skill. It′s not something just anyone can do.”

  Lin Taiping said, “I think the best thing we can do is return all of this to its rightful owner.”

  Guo Dalu asked, "Return it to whom? Who knows where these things were stolen from?"

  Yan Qi replied, "If we don′t know, we can find out."

  Guo Dalu asked, "Where can we find out?"

  Yan Qi said, "Down the mountain. Since all these things were stolen st night, they must have been taken from the vilges below."

  Guo Dalu looked at the chest full of ingots and sighed, "You′re right. This pce really isn′t poor... Any pce with this much gold can′t be considered poor."

  He suddenly smiled and added, "So, at least for today, Fugui Mountain Vil truly lives up to its name."

  Although Fugui Mountain Vil′s wealth was short-lived, they were still happy.

  Because they had made the wisest choice.

  This might have been the closest they had ever been to wealth, but they did not covet it, nor did they try to seize it through greed, deceit, or means. That′s why they remained happy, like flowers and grass basking in the spring sunlight.

  They knew that happiness was far more precious than wealth.