Wang Jianshe had no idea he had been exposed and was being watched.
He was lucky—the venom from the wasp and the centipede neutralized each other, sparing his life.
Once the swelling on his face subsided a little, Wang Jianshe couldn’t wait to rush back up the mountain.
Shen Nanchu watched his energetic figure with deep confusion.
"System, what exactly is hidden on that mountain? Why is Wang Jianshe so persistent?"
"Well…" The system hesitated. "Even I don’t know."
Shen Nanchu: "…You’re the system. How can there be something you don’t know?"
System: "Even if I’m the system, if something has nothing to do with the host, I can’t know about it in advance."
Shen Nanchu caught the key point. "So, this has nothing to do with me?"
System: "Theoretically, yes."
Shen Nanchu fell silent.
She was the one who discovered Wang Jianshe, and she had been watching him for so long—yet in the end, she got nothing out of it?
That didn’t align with the principle of fair exchange.
She didn’t care about credit, but she would take the spoils.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t be Shen Nanchu’s style.
If she wasn’t part of the game, she’d just force her way in.
Simple as that.
Wang Jianshe remained oblivious that his every word and action were being observed.
He combed through the entire mountain again but still found nothing.
Defeated, he sat on a large rock, his still-swollen face dark with frustration.
He had searched these damned mountains of Wang Family Village countless times.
Aside from his initial discoveries, there was nothing now.
Impossible!
Those things couldn’t have just vanished. They had to still be in Wang Family Village.
After sitting for a while, Wang Jianshe left.
The villagers were working today, and as the village party secretary, he couldn’t be absent for long.
Shen Nanchu watched him return to the fields, a glint flashing in her eyes.
……
At Wang Jianshe’s house.
Shen Nanchu stood beside a wall slightly taller than a person.
System: "Host, you’re not thinking of climbing over, are you?"
Shen Nanchu: "Why not?"
With a single push off the wall, she vaulted into Wang Jianshe’s yard.
The move was identical to Pei Zhengnian’s.
The system couldn’t help but marvel.
Truly a match made in heaven.
……
Wang Jianshe’s house was like any other villager’s. After a full inspection, Shen Nanchu found nothing unusual.
Standing in the middle of the room, she closed her eyes.
Countless chaotic sounds filled her ears—
The clucking of chickens and ducks, an old man coughing next door, the rustling of insects on the ground…
Drip… drip…
Whoosh—
Shen Nanchu opened her eyes.
Found it.
The system was stunned.
Its host was amazing.
(ఠൠఠ)ﾉ
Stepping outside, Shen Nanchu’s gaze locked onto the well in the courtyard.
A faint smile curled her lips.
Well hidden.
It was an abandoned dry well.
Moss covered the rim, but the inside was suspiciously clean.
Grasping the rope, Shen Nanchu descended into the well.
Her feet touched solid ground.
Looking around, she was met with a hidden chamber.
The bottom of the well had been hollowed out into a secret room.
The drip-drip she had heard earlier came from a radio on the table.
Picking up the notebook beside it, Shen Nanchu read carefully.
Her pupils dilated in shock.
Unbelievable.
Wang Jianshe’s parents—and even his grandparents—were spies.
Back then, during the retreat, his grandparents had been left behind to guard the gold bars buried in the mountains.
This radio was also left by them.
Now, in Wang Jianshe’s generation, the long-silent radio had finally received a message.
The higher-ups ordered him to dig up all the gold bars and prepare them for retrieval.
So far, Wang Jianshe had unearthed half of them, stacked in a corner.
Shen Nanchu estimated there were at least a dozen crates.
Thanks for the hard work, Wang Jianshe. Now, these gold bars are mine.
(●ˇ∀ˇ●)
Without hesitation, she opened the crates and transferred all the gold into her space—leaving only empty boxes behind.
As for the remaining half, even with his grandparents’ map, Wang Jianshe hadn’t found them.
Of course he wouldn’t.
"Beside a half-person-tall sapling?"
"Under a black boulder the size of a person’s embrace?"
What kind of landmarks were those?
After so many years, the surroundings had changed.
No wonder Wang Jianshe only managed to dig up half last time, letting Shen Nanchu swoop in.
She’d take the rest too.
A wicked grin spread across her face.
(‵▽′)ψ
Retracing her steps, she left as quietly as she came—taking nothing but the gold.
On the mountain, Wang Jianshe, oblivious to the theft, continued his search after finishing his supervisory duties.
Today, he had discovered two more gold deposits.
He’d dig them up tonight.
System: "Host, should we intercept him later?"
Shen Nanchu shook her head. "No."
Why waste a perfectly good night’s sleep digging dirt?
Only a fool would do that.
The system wanted to ask—then what about the gold?
By the next day, it had its answer.
Shen Nanchu woke up naturally, then once again slipped into Wang Jianshe’s house while he was away.
She descended the well and collected the gold he had painstakingly hauled back the night before.
Brilliant.
The system was at a loss for words to praise its host.
What a masterstroke—letting the mantis hunt the cicada while the oriole waits behind.
Effortlessly intercepting the gold without lifting a finger.
The system took notes.
In the following days, Shen Nanchu occasionally wandered the mountains, pinpointing the exact burial sites of the gold bars and remarking them according to Wang Jianshe’s grandparents’ notes.
Here, she chopped down all the trees, leaving only a sapling.
There, she rolled a black boulder into place.
……
Wang Jianshe had been in high spirits lately—aside from his severe dark circles.
(⓿_⓿)
Every day, he made new discoveries on the mountain, working late into the night to finish.
He was exhausted… but happy.
Shen Nanchu was happy too.
Waking up to free gold every day was a dream.
At the village entrance, the two crossed paths.
Wang Jianshe looked like a man drained of vitality, his eyes sunken.
Shen Nanchu, radiant and refreshed, resembled a pampered young lady.
Shen Nanchu: "Secretary Wang, off to the mountain again?"
Wang Jianshe: "Comrade Shen, heading home after work?"
Shen Nanchu: "That’s right. A whole day’s work is tiring—time to rest."
Wang Jianshe: "Your job’s so relaxed. Unlike me—born to toil!"
Shen Nanchu: "Secretary Wang, you’re serving the people."
Wang Jianshe: "It’s my duty."
Shen Nanchu: "Keep it up!"
Wang Jianshe: "You too!"
