My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 44: The Treasure of the East Courtyard

Zhang Lei took out a box of matches from his personal space, lit a dry twig he had prepared beforehand, and carefully walked down the steps by the dim light of the twig.

Once underground, he held up the torch and looked around. The entire space was gray and covered with a thick layer of dust. In the corner stood two or three bare wooden frames, which he estimated to be more than ten square meters in size.

Next to the shelf, there were more than a dozen boxes neatly stacked.

Zhang Lei suppressed his pounding heart, strode forward, and opened the box closest to him.

The moment it was opened, Zhang Lei's titanium alloy eyes were instantly blinded; the box full of gold bars almost made him stop breathing.

He suppressed his overwhelming joy and reached out to open the boxes next to him, one after another, becoming more and more alarmed with each one he opened.

Among the dozen or so boxes, there were three boxes of gold bars and five boxes of silver ingots. The remaining boxes contained either glittering jewelry and jade ornaments or antique porcelain vases with lustrous glaze.

Looking at the priceless treasures before him, Zhang Lei clenched his fists tightly, trying hard to suppress his overflowing excitement.

Zhang Lei didn't dare to delay for a moment. He quickly put all the boxes into his personal space and then held up a torch to carefully look around.

He found several rusty but still powerful suits of armor and weapons on the shelf. Without thinking, Zhang Lei scooped up everything he had found on the ground and put it all into his personal space.

He searched the underground space three or four times until he was sure that there was nothing left behind, and then nodded in satisfaction.

He then carefully cleaned up his footprints before going back down the steps to the ground, covering the iron plate, and carefully putting the bricks back in their original positions, leaving no trace of abnormality.

Zhang Lei took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a few deep drags to calm his turbulent emotions.

A dozen or so boxes of stuff, if stored for decades, would easily be worth several small fortunes. Taking these things out now would definitely do Zhang Lei more harm than good, but Zhang Lei is willing to wait. With these things, in another 20 years, he'll be able to live a life of ease.

Thinking of this, Zhang Lei couldn't help but want to laugh, but before he could laugh out loud, he heard someone banging on the gate and shouting his name.

Zhang Lei quickly stubbed out his cigarette and strode outside, only to hear Jia Zhangshi's signature loud voice shouting, "Zhang Lei, come out! Come out right now! What are you doing hiding in there?"

It turned out that Qin Huairu had told Jia Zhangshi all the information she had learned from an old woman. Jia Zhangshi was somewhat skeptical, so she decided to come to the east wing to see for herself.

To everyone's surprise, the door to the east courtyard was bolted from the inside. This made Jia Zhangshi even more convinced that Zhang Lei was up to no good inside, so she pounded on the door even harder and shouted at the top of her lungs.

Jia Zhangshi's shout drew curious onlookers from the courtyard, who all came running over to see what she was doing.

Hearing Jia Zhangshi's shouts, Zhang Lei cursed inwardly, "That old hag really never stops." He strode to the door and flung it open.

As Jia Zhangshi was banging on the door, her hand missed its target, and she lunged at Zhang Lei. Startled, Zhang Lei quickly dodged, and Jia Zhangshi fell to the ground with a thud.

Everyone couldn't help but laugh when they saw Jia Zhangshi lying on her back. Jia Zhangshi fell to the ground and immediately howled in pain, cursing, "Zhang Lei, you little bastard, did you deliberately throw me like that?"

Zhang Lei looked at Jia Zhangshi lying on the ground, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Hey Jia Zhangshi, what kind of fetish do you have? Why do you have a habit of sneaking in and climbing over walls?"

Jia Zhangshi struggled to her feet, quickly brushed the mud off herself, pointed at Zhang Lei, and yelled, "Zhang Lei, you dare to throw me down? I'll scratch you to death!"

As she spoke, she lunged at Zhang Lei, baring her teeth and claws. When Zhang Lei saw Jia Zhangshi's hand reaching out, he quickly dodged. It wasn't that he was afraid of Jia Zhangshi, but looking at her dark hands, he felt that if he were touched by them, he wouldn't be able to eat for three days.

Seeing Zhang Lei dodge, Jia Zhangshi assumed he was afraid of her, so she relentlessly pursued him. Seeing her persistent behavior, Zhang Lei's anger flared, and he once again used his "Child-Severing Kick," lightly touching Jia Zhangshi's leg.

Immediately, Jia Zhangshi let out a pig-like scream, clutching her leg and bursting into tears.

The onlookers stared in astonishment at the scene. Zhang Lei, feigning innocence, said, "Jia Zhangshi, what are you doing now? Trying to extort money? Don't you know the situation? Everyone's watching. I didn't even touch you."

The onlookers, seeing Jia Zhangshi throwing a tantrum, also tried to persuade her.

"Jia Zhangshi, you've gone a bit too far!"

"That's right, everyone saw it. You were the one who kept chasing after Zhang Lei, and you fell down. How can you blame him? You're even pretending your leg hurts."

"That's right, that's right. Zhang Lei was just sitting peacefully in the yard, and you had to bang on the door and make a scene. You were in the wrong to begin with."

Hearing the accusations from her neighbors, Jia Zhangshi had no way to explain herself. She didn't know what had happened; she just felt something touch her, and the pain was unbearable, as if she were being killed.

After a while, Jia Zhangshi felt a little better. She looked up and saw Qin Huairu in the crowd, immediately yelling, "Qin Huairu, are you blind? Seeing me in so much pain and you don't even help me up!"

Qin Huairu blushed and paled as she listened to Jia Zhangshi's scolding. She awkwardly squeezed over, reached out to support Jia Zhangshi, and whispered, "Mom, I just arrived and saw you."

Helped to her feet, Jia Zhangshi glared fiercely at Qin Huairu, then turned to Zhang Lei, pointing her finger at his nose and demanding in a shrill voice, "Zhang Lei, was what happened just now something you did with sorcery?"

Hearing Jia Zhangshi's words, Zhang Lei couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Jia Zhangshi, have you been watching too much Journey to the West? Magical arts, my foot! Why don't you imagine yourself as Tang Sanzang? Oh?" ​​Zhang Lei slapped his forehead and said, "Right, I forgot you can't read."

Hearing Zhang Lei's sarcasm, Jia Zhangshi cursed loudly, saying, "Zhang Lei, you little bastard, don't try to change the subject! Tell everyone why you came to this east courtyard, and what you've been doing in there!"

Zhang Lei looked at Jia Zhangshi and said, "Jia Zhangshi, you're really meddling in other people's business. What I do in there is none of your concern!"

Madam Jia, forcing a smile, said, "How can it not be my business? The east wing belongs to the entire courtyard. Are you trying to take over the east wing? And you definitely weren't doing anything good in the courtyard just now, otherwise why would you have locked the door?"

After hearing Jia Zhangshi's words, Zhang Lei deliberately dragged out his words, saying, "Jia Zhangshi, why do you think I locked the door? That's my privacy, I can't tell you."

Upon hearing this, Madam Jia, as if she had caught someone red-handed, immediately shouted at the onlookers, "Did everyone hear that? Zhang Lei is guilty! Privacy? What privacy do you have that you have to hide in the east courtyard?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked puzzled and turned to look at Zhang Lei.

Zhang Lei raised an eyebrow, looked at Jia Zhangshi, and retorted, "What, Jia Zhangshi, do you want to see my privacy?"

With her neck stiffened, Jia Zhangshi shouted defiantly, "I want to see! What can you do about it?"

Zhang Lei blinked, a mischievous smile appearing on his face: "What you want to see, I can't show you."

Jia Zhangshi immediately pressed on, asking, "Zhang Lei, if you're not feeling guilty, why won't you let me see?"

Zhang Lei laughed even harder, his voice not loud but loud enough for everyone present to hear clearly: "Mrs. Jia, I really can't show you this. I just locked the door because I needed to pee and took care of it inside. What, you want to see me pee?"

He paused, deliberately lowering his voice, yet with a hint of mockery: "Jia Zhangshi, are you so widowed that you're longing for a man too much?"

Upon hearing this, the onlookers burst into laughter.