Although they were confident in the plan they had come up with, Bai Lan and Xu Jianbei hadn’t expected things to progress so smoothly. And the outcome was beyond their expectations.
It all started with that pendant.
Knowing that Hu Aimin’s target was the pendant, and that he had gone so far as to start a fire to get it, it was clear that the item was extremely important. So Bai Lan and Xu Jianbei decided to lure the snake out of its hole. They had Bai Baowei go to the public bathhouse with the younger guys from the courtyard. During the bath, they made sure Hu Aimin saw that the pendant was on Bai Baowei’s person.
The main purpose of this move was to let Hu Aimin confirm that the pendant was indeed with Bai Baowei. After that, things became simple.
Three days after the bathhouse incident, one evening, Bai Baowei was attacked from behind on his way home from work, narrowly escaping serious injury. Fortunately, they had made preparations in advance and caught the perpetrator on the spot.
Those caught were not only Hu Aimin, who had carried out the attack, but also Zhu Cheng, who had come along to help.
Once the men were caught, Xu Jianbei took them directly to the public security bureau.
“I really didn’t expect them to be so ruthless…”
As soon as Xu Jianbei and Bai Baowei returned, they gathered in the Bai family’s room. Without even taking a sip of water, Xu Jianbei couldn’t help but curse a few times.
Bai Lan, who had already learned the details of what happened, felt that things couldn’t be that simple. To be so ruthless meant the stakes must be very high.
“Will Bai Ping be implicated?” Although there was no evidence, Bai Lan knew Bai Ping must be involved.
“That depends on the investigation by the public security bureau.”
For this snake-luring operation, Xu Jianbei had already coordinated with people in advance. Now that Hu Aimin and Zhu Cheng had been caught, there should be significant gains to follow.
Just as they were talking, Widow Hu’s shrill scream rang out in the courtyard. It was evening, the time when people were getting off work and eating dinner. The courtyard quickly filled with people.
Widow Hu, as if blind to everyone else, charged straight toward the Bai household.
Bai Lan and the others were all sitting in the main room and naturally saw Widow Hu’s movements. Bai Lan was angry, knowing that Widow Hu had come to demand an explanation. After all, the commotion of catching Hu Aimin and the others had been loud—someone must have seen it.
But before Bai Lan could act, her mother and eldest sister unceremoniously shut the door directly in Widow Hu’s face.
Widow Hu’s nose barely missed being hit by the door, which made her even more furious. She immediately began slapping her thigh and hurling insults right at the Bai family’s doorstep.
None of the neighbors knew what had happened, and they all curiously tried to mediate. Some also pounded on the Bai family’s door, urging them to come out and talk things over properly instead of making neighborly relations so tense.
Inside the room, Xu Jianbei said, “We won’t go into all the details. But Hu Aimin tried to ambush my brother from behind—this needs to be made clear.”
Bai Baowei nodded. “I’m the victim. I’ll go explain things. I don’t believe Widow Hu will dare cause trouble. Hu Aimin set a fire before, and now he’s tried to assault someone from behind. He must have received a huge reward. There’s no way Widow Hu doesn’t know about this.”
With that, Bai Baowei opened the door.
The piercing shrieks immediately flooded into Bai Lan’s ears again. Bai Lan frowned. Looking at the neighbors’ expressions, she knew the matter needed to be clarified. Otherwise, who knew how much more trouble Widow Hu would stir up.
Just then, Qin Yan also came over to ask Bai Lan what had happened.
Datou had helped with today’s operation. Bai Lan didn’t hide anything from Qin Yan and gave her a brief summary, though she omitted the part about the pendant.
By now, the neighbors in the courtyard had also heard the whole story. One by one, they let out sounds of disbelief.
“I knew Hu Aimin wasn’t capable of much, but how could he dare to assault someone from behind? And someone from the same courtyard, no less!”
“Ha, it’s definitely because Widow Hu is crooked at the top.” Aunt Wan muttered from the side.
Hearing this, Widow Hu immediately lunged at Aunt Wan.
After Bai Baowei’s explanation, Widow Hu had become guilty and afraid to speak. Because she knew about the matter. But what she hadn’t expected was that trying to get a pendant would lead to an assault from behind. Not only that, but they had also been caught red-handed.
At this moment, her heart was in chaos, unsure how to save her only precious son. Then Aunt Wan jumped out and immediately became Widow Hu’s convenient punching bag.
Thus, the two naturally started fighting.
This turn of events was unexpected for Bai Lan. Widow Hu had clearly come to cause trouble for the Bai family, so how did she end up fighting Aunt Wan?
Bai Lan couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth. She exchanged a glance with Xu Jianbei, and the couple both found it quite absurd.
That night, the entire courtyard, even the whole alley, was buzzing with excitement over this matter.
——
The public security comrades acted quickly as well. News arrived the next afternoon.
Bai Lan had just returned home from work when she heard that Bai Ping had been arrested. The news came from the steel mill. It was said that the public security comrades had gone directly to the steel mill director’s home that afternoon and taken Bai Ping away.
With so many households in the steel mill’s residential compound, the news spread like wildfire.
Hearing that Bai Ping had been taken away, Bai Lan breathed a sigh of relief.
After the neighbors in the courtyard heard about it, they were all curious how Bai Ping was connected to all this.
That night, as Bai Lan and Xu Jianbei lay in bed, they were still discussing what exactly the pendant was.
And soon enough, Bai Lan would learn that secret.
——
It came in another dream. In the dream, Bai Lan saw the full story of the pendant as it played out in the original drama.
In the original short drama, Bai Baowei had not returned to the Bai family. However, Zhu Cheng, coveting the pendant, still managed to steal it from Bai Baowei through Fang’s eldest sister-in-law. Bai Baowei was very disappointed, but since the item was lost at home and couldn’t be recovered, he felt sad for a while and then let it go.
After obtaining the pendant, Zhu Cheng didn’t act immediately. Instead, he waited quietly for the right moment. He waited until the movements had ended and the markets had opened. Once the markets opened, he could quietly take it out of the country.
That was when the pendant’s true purpose was finally revealed.
Bai Lan watched as Zhu Cheng in the dream held that pendant. To be precise, at this point, the pendant was no longer a pendant. The outer layer of jade had been chipped away, revealing a delicate, small golden key.
Zhu Cheng took this golden key to a foreign bank in Hong Kong, opened a safe deposit box that had been sealed for many years, and retrieved the antiques, calligraphy, paintings, gold, silver, and jewelry inside.
Yes, this safe deposit box had been set up during the war years by a major capitalist from Haicheng. Anyone holding that golden key could inherit the contents of the box. The reason for this arrangement was to prevent accidents and ensure that future generations could access this wealth and rise again.
But the capitalist was unlucky. He was killed before he could flee Haicheng and had no chance to explain about the golden key. By that time, the golden key had already been disguised as an ordinary, unremarkable white jade pendant.
The pendant changed hands several times and, by a stroke of luck, ended up with Bai Baowei’s grandmother, who eventually gave it to him.
As for how Zhu Cheng knew about this—it was because while working in Haicheng, he had come across a handwritten memo from that major capitalist. In it, the pendant was mentioned briefly.
Back when he was at the Bai household, he had seen that Bai Baowei wore a pendant matching the description.
Before he could figure out a way to get the pendant, in this life, Bai Baowei’s true identity was exposed, and he followed Bai Lan and her husband to the northern city.
Zhu Cheng had thus missed his chance with the pendant. Of course, he was unwilling to give up. So he gritted his teeth and followed them to the northern city, looking for another opportunity to strike.
Even his marriage to Hu Aihua was a means to better obtain the pendant. Of course, while preparing for the wedding, Zhu Cheng had also gotten to know Bai Ping. Seeing that Bai Ping also coveted the pendant, he decided to cooperate with her. After all, Bai Ping and Bai Baowei had quite a history.
Bai Lan watched the scenes unfolding in her dream, not knowing what to say.
Bai Ping had certainly obtained some memories from her past life through dreams as well. Otherwise, she wouldn’t know the origin of this magical pendant.
If Bai Ping hadn’t gotten mixed up with Zhu Cheng, she might have actually succeeded. No matter how cautious one is, the chances of Bai Ping successfully stealing the pendant were actually much higher than Hu Aimin’s.
…
When Bai Lan woke up, she was still a bit dazed.
Seeing his wife like this, Xu Jianbei thought the baby in her belly was acting up. Bai Lan quickly said, “I had a dream.”
Because the story behind the pendant was so bizarre, Bai Lan felt it was better to tell Xu Jianbei about it.
The pendant was no longer a secret. Bai Ping and Zhu Cheng had both been arrested. Neither of them was the type to remain steadfast under pressure. They would likely reveal the secret of the pendant soon. So, the pendant might have to be handed over to the state.
But that safe deposit box had never belonged to them anyway, so handing it over wouldn’t be a loss.
Sure enough, after hearing this, Xu Jianbei found it unbelievable. But he immediately set out to investigate the matter. He couldn’t get information from the public security bureau, but the major capitalist from Haicheng must have a known name and identity. By looking into that, something could surely be uncovered.
Xu Jianbei soon made progress and learned some information.
At the same time, the public security comrades came to see Bai Baowei again. This time, he handed over the pendant.
When he returned home and told everyone what had happened, the whole family found it very miraculous.
“Anyway, I’m not going to think about that safe deposit box. The public security comrades said they would find a skilled master to remove whatever is inside without damaging the pendant. After that, the pendant will be returned to me.”
This was a very good outcome. The whole family felt they weren’t short of money. Windfall wealth like this would only burn their hands if they accepted it. It was best for the state to take it over.
With that, the matter came to a close. During this period, Widow Hu caused a few scenes but didn’t dare cause any more trouble. After all, the implications were too significant—beyond what Widow Hu could handle.
In the end, Hu Aimin was sentenced to 20 years of reform through labor at a frontier farm for arson and attempted robbery with assault.
Although Bai Ping was involved, she wasn’t a principal conspirator and was ultimately sentenced to only 3 years of reform through labor. Even so, Director Song’s family would never forgive her. As soon as the verdict was announced, they used their connections to divorce Bai Ping.
Fang’s eldest sister-in-law, far away in Haicheng, met the same fate.
As for the principal conspirator, Zhu Cheng, he was sent to the same farm as Hu Aimin for reform through labor. His sentence, however, was 30 years.
These verdicts naturally sparked another round of heated discussion. The alley where the Bai family lived was bustling with people coming and going. Many came to inquire about Bai Ping and Hu Aimin. The fact that Hu Aimin had dared to commit arson and robbery was particularly shocking and terrifying for the time.
As for Bai Ping, because the pendant was connected to a large amount of wealth, the details were not made public. So although everyone thought it was remarkable that a female comrade like Bai Ping had been involved, their attention remained focused on Hu Aimin.
This meant that Widow Hu no longer dared to wander the alleys gossiping about others. Whenever she went out, people would stop her to ask about Hu Aimin.
As for Hu Aihua, after learning of Zhu Cheng’s motives for marrying her and the outcome of his verdict, she quickly divorced him to distance herself and returned to her mother’s home. She also lost her job due to the influence of Hu Aimin and Zhu Cheng’s actions.
If it weren’t for the monthly compensation from Widow Hu’s late husband, the mother and daughter might have gone hungry.
This filled Widow Hu with resentment toward the principal conspirators, Zhu Cheng and Bai Ping. Zhu Cheng was sentenced to 40 years of reform through labor—Widow Hu wouldn’t live to see him released. But Bai Ping was different. Bai Ping was sentenced to only 3 years and would be out soon.
Holding onto this thought, Widow Hu gritted her teeth and endured. As soon as Bai Ping was released three years later, Widow Hu immediately tracked her down and harassed her daily.
But that is a story for another time.
Anyway, after these people were arrested, Bai Lan found that life became much quieter. Since outsiders still loved to come to their courtyard to gather information, Bai Lan and Xu Jianbei simply moved back to the factory housing temporarily, continuing to work and care for the pregnancy in peace.
Several more months passed, and the baby was born safely. By then, the uproar caused by the pendant had subsided. The couple returned to the courtyard once more.
Spring went, autumn came. First, the movements ended. Then, the college entrance examinations were announced. Bai Lan looked at her child and at the people around her who were overjoyed at the news that the gaokao was being reinstated, and she felt a surge of excitement in her heart.
Good days were coming soon.
Just then, Xu Jianbei, who had gone out to look for a house, came rushing back excitedly. While happily telling Bai Lan that the gaokao was being reinstated, he also told her that he had found a one-entry siheyuan, a small courtyard house, about a ten-minute walk from their current courtyard. It would be perfect for their family of four.
Hearing this news, Bai Lan was overjoyed. The gaokao was coming, and soon they would have a new house. She was confident that their days would only get better and better from now on.
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