Chapter 144: Half for You, We're Going Home!

After Mayor Wei left, Ming Dai put the troublesome potato into her spatial warehouse and sat back down on the edge of the bed.

The information she had received was so shocking that she felt somewhat dazed.

Looking at Zhou Sinian, who was quietly "sleeping" on the bed, Ming Dai sighed, fully understanding why Mayor Wei wanted to keep the truth from him.

Even though she had only spent the better part of the last six months with Zhou Sinian, she could sense that he was someone who valued emotional bonds deeply.

If you give him a small stream, he will repay you with an entire ocean.

If he were to hear those things again, Zhou Sinian would probably go mad, wouldn't he?

It was better to keep it a secret for now. Once Zhou Sinian was completely recovered, she would let him decide what to do next.

Ming Dai didn't wait outside. Instead, she took Zhou Sinian into her space and went back to take a nap herself. Having stayed up for two full nights in a row, she was starting to reach her limit.

The moment Zhou Sinian woke up, he leaped out of bed, his gaze sweeping the surroundings with vigilance. Finding himself in his own room within the space, he was visibly stunned.

Then, he felt a soreness and discomfort at the back of his neck.

Frowning, he rubbed his neck as he walked out.

*Uncle Wei hit me!*

He came out to complain to Ming Dai, but found that she wasn't in the living room. Upstairs was completely quiet, meaning she probably hadn't gotten up yet.

Little Mimi saw Zhou Sinian come out and walked over, wanting to rub against him affectionately.

Zhou Sinian politely declined and retreated into the kitchen.

When Ming Dai woke up and came downstairs, she saw that Zhou Sinian had already eaten and was sitting in the living room in a daze. Little Mimi was lying in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, basking in the sun and licking her fur with a round, bulging belly—she must have been fed by Zhou Sinian already.

Seeing Ming Dai come down, Zhou Sinian immediately stood up to complain: "Ming Dai! Uncle Wei hit me!"

Ming Dai checked his neck; there was nothing wrong with it. Mayor Wei certainly knew how to pull his punches.

"Didn't you hit him last time? One time each, perfectly fair."

Zhou Sinian followed her to sit down at the dining table, his brows furrowing as he felt something wasn't quite right about that statement.

Zhou Sinian must have wanted dumplings; he had boiled water dumplings for the morning. Ming Dai's were spinach and egg, and she had thoughtfully poured a small dish of vinegar for him.

"Ming Dai, did Uncle Wei leave? Why did you bring me inside?"

Ming Dai swallowed a dumpling and nodded. "He had business and left first. He told us to come back out at nine o'clock, so I brought you in here to catch up on your sleep."

Zhou Sinian looked at her blankly. "Oh."

Ming Dai didn't say anything more and focused on eating her meal.

Just as Ming Dai was finishing up, Zhou Sinian suddenly spoke: "Ming Dai, I don't have a mother anymore."

Ming Dai paused and looked at Zhou Sinian. "I don't have a mother either."

Zhou Sinian looked at her with a hint of dejection. "Originally, I wanted to share half of my mom with you, but now I don't have a mom anymore, so I can't share her with you."

Ming Dai was taken aback, not expecting him to say that.

Looking into his eyes, she saw a sorrow he hadn't even realized he was showing, and nodded. "Well, but you have an uncle. Uncle Wei can share half of himself with me."

Zhou Sinian burst into a smile. "Right! I can share Uncle Wei with you. Which half do you want?!"

***

Far away, Mayor Wei Yan, who was in the middle of a meeting, felt a chill run down his spine: *Is the weather acting up again?*

Ming Dai was speechless. "There's no need to divide him quite that literally. Didn't he tell me to call him Uncle Wei too? That already means he's sharing himself with me."

Zhou Sinian nodded. "Alright! Then Grandpa and my other two uncles can share themselves with you too!"

Ming Dai was amused by his generous attitude. "Thank you, you're really such a nice person."

Zhou Sinian chuckled foolishly. "We're family!"

Taking the opportunity, Ming Dai brought up: "Uncle Wei said we can go visit your grandpa and younger uncle. They're undergoing re-education at Liaowang Mountain Farm. When we get back, we can ask around, and if it's convenient, we'll find a chance to visit them."

Zhou Sinian became excited. "Really?! When are we going? Will Grandpa and Little Uncle dislike me? If I forgot them, will they be angry?"

Ming Dai answered as she cleaned up the table, and before long, she was driven to the verge of a breakdown by his endless questions!

Checking the time, it was almost nine o'clock. Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian put on their disguises again.

It was still the familiar grandfather-and-grandson duo. There was no help for it; Zhou Sinian was simply too tall and too conspicuous. Disguising him as a grandfather walking with a hunched back made it a bit better.

Zhou Sinian pressed against the wall to observe for a moment, and seeing the coast was clear, he helped Ming Dai scale the wall and exit.

Soon, a pair of grandfather and grandson emerged from the alley and melted into the bustling crowd, disappearing from view.

Today they were heading back. Ming Dai had asked about the departure times when they got off the train earlier, and they still had time to look around a bit more.

They wouldn't go to the black market; the commotion yesterday had been a bit too big. Ming Dai planned to take Zhou Sinian to the scrap yard instead.

After asking for directions, the two of them shuffled over together.

The scrap yard in Song City was much larger than the ones in the county town or the commune, and there were far more good things inside.

Especially since there was a batch of cultural relics sent over by young zealots from various counties and districts, destined for centralized destruction!

Ming Dai was almost crying with excitement!

The staff here were unfazed. Quite a few people had already come rummaging around that morning, all secretly slipping them a little something. The staff didn't care how they searched, as long as they didn't overdo it.

As for what they could find, that depended entirely on their own skill.

However, people nowadays weren't fools either; things like gold and gemstones that could be recognized at a glance had long since been taken away and never made it to the scrap yard.

What remained here were mostly books, paintings, a pile of ceramic jars, and worthless scrap metal.

Ming Dai didn't mind at all!

Treasure-hunting function activated!

Whoa!

She found two pieces of Yuan dynasty blue and white porcelain, and remarkably, they were a matched pair, perfectly preserved.

There was a whole box of Song dynasty Ru porcelain, though unfortunately all broken into fragments, but still holding immense collection value!

The remaining rare ancient books were stacked box after box. Although over ninety percent of them turned out to be fakes upon closer inspection, Ming Dai wasn't afraid. With the treasure-hunting function turned on, she took the real ones and left the fakes behind.

Anyway, the staff had said that all of these were going to be hauled away and burned tomorrow, and they didn't know the exact quantities anyway, so close enough was good enough.

In the end, Ming Dai also collected all the textbooks and children's books.

There were quite a bit of furniture pieces on the scene as well, making Ming Dai's eyes burn with covetousness, especially a set of rosewood furniture that had clearly been confiscated during a house raid and discarded here by someone who didn't know its value.

***

However, furniture was too large a target, so she couldn't take all of it away, and only selected a few favorite decorative items to keep.

While collecting the furniture, she accidentally discovered a jewelry box inside a hidden compartment of a bed. Ming Dai tucked it into her space to check later—besides jewelry, there were five small gold bars!

An unexpected windfall!

After finishing up, Ming Dai contentedly followed Zhou Sinian as he rummaged through the scrap metal that caught his interest, standing guard by his side.

The scrap here was of a higher grade than in the county town. Zhou Sinian dug out quite a few good things, and if Ming Dai hadn't been worried about missing their train, he would have liked to keep digging a while longer.

Finally, carrying two bundles of newspapers, the two of them walked out of the scrap yard with great satisfaction.

The middle-aged woman working at the scrap yard looked at the five pieces of candy in her hand and shook her head at the two of them. Another pair of fools—what was there to look around a scrap yard for? If they had money, they should go browse the supply and marketing cooperative!

Shopping could bring joy, but finding things for free could bring happiness.

All the way until they boarded the train, the smile never left Ming Dai's face. Zhou Sinian was the same, puttering around in his space with his newly acquired scrap, muttering and making plans, temporarily forgetting the sorrow of the previous night.

It was another bumpy journey all the way back, only this time without Zhou Sinian's endless chatter.

Since it was daytime, Ming Dai told him not to worry about accompanying her and to keep busy with his own tasks.

Zhou Sinian first put away his scrap metal, then went to check on the vegetable plots and crops, fed the little sheep and the silly roe deer, checked on the little wild boar's wound, and urged the big and small pigs to produce offspring.

However, with Ming Dai absent, he was noticeably less lively than before. He kept spacing out while working, not even noticing when Little Mimi approached him.

Ming Dai watched him, but didn't know how to comfort him.

In neither of her lives had she experienced what maternal love felt like. Although she could understand Zhou Sinian's grief, she couldn't truly empathize.

Forget it, she would just cook him more delicious food when they got back!

For a foodie, there was nothing that couldn't be solved by a good meal!

If there was, then make it two!

When the train arrived at the county railway station, it was already afternoon.

As soon as she stepped out, Ming Dai saw Third Master Liu waiting at the entrance of the station, blankly watching the flowing crowd of people out of boredom.

Ming Dai walked closer and called out to him, startling him back to reality.

"Little Mingzi, you're back?! Was the trip smooth?"

Ming Dai smiled cheerfully and took out a paper package containing four peach blossom pastries. "Smooth, everything went well. Third Master, have a taste of these."

Third Master Liu smiled happily as he took it, immediately opened it, and picked up a piece to take a bite.

*Mm-mm!*

The peach pastries were crisp and crumbly; even with his less-than-sturdy teeth, he could easily bite off a piece. They were fragrant, sweet, and incredibly delicious!

"Little Mingzi, get in the cart, let's go home!"

Ming Dai cheerfully agreed and hopped onto the horse-drawn cart.

Third Master Liu carefully tucked the paper package away against his chest, reached out to let the horse lick the pastry crumbs off his hands, flicked the reins, and drove the cart toward the commune.