VIP Chapter 098: A Clever Scheme

Just as Jiang Guihua was about to snap the big box shut, Ye Xiaoxuan suddenly grabbed the lid and looked up at her. "Mom, what's inside this treasure? Why do you all care for it more than you care about me?"

"Don’t talk nonsense!" Jiang Guihua’s face flushed red as she glared fiercely at Ye Xiaoxuan. "Where do you think we love you any less? I’ll admit to one thing if you want, but raising you for eighteen years without a single complaint—that’s no small thing! How could you be so heartless?"

Ye Xiaoxuan hadn’t expected such a strong reaction to a mere joke. Quickly forcing a smile, he said, “Mom, what’s gotten into you? I was just joking. I’m curious about this box—what’s inside? Why are you hiding it from me?”

Still simmering with anger, Jiang Guihua slammed the lid shut and locked it, shouting at him, “Don’t even think about looking! If you want to see, you’ll have to wait until I’m dead!”

Ye Xiaoxuan forced a bitter laugh. “That’s a bit much! Now I want to see even more. I just saw a dudou inside—that’s a kind of traditional undergarment, right? Does that mean I had a real sister before, or a real sibling or something?”

With a loud bang, Jiang Guihua slapped the box and barked, “Get out! Go back to your room!”

Startled by her fierce tone, Ye Xiaoxuan quickly retreated, sensing she might actually get violent if he stayed. Even Ye Baba’s face turned dark as he scolded, “What kind of nonsense are you spouting in the middle of the night? Look at how you’ve upset your mother! Do you want to kill us both? Go back to your room and sleep!”

Helpless, Ye Xiaoxuan timidly said to Jiang Guihua, “Mom, don’t be mad. I didn’t mean to upset you…”

Seeing tears welling in Jiang Guihua’s eyes, he dared not say more and hurriedly left, running back to his room. He casually reached to toss the key back into its usual place, but when he opened the drawer, he froze—there was another set of car keys inside!

That meant the thief hadn’t taken his keys at all; the thief had used his own!

Staring at the two identical keys, Ye Xiaoxuan finally pieced it together. Gritting his teeth, he cursed, “Damn you, Chen Tianlei! You actually tried to trick me! No wonder you sold me the car dirt cheap, no wonder you said the car was safe in the village. You were keeping a backup key all along, planning to steal it back!”

Fuming, Ye Xiaoxuan threw both sets of keys into the drawer, determined to confront Chen Tianlei the next day. Since the thief dared to come to his house at night, he probably wasn’t leaving tonight—he was likely hiding out at the Chen family’s home.

Now, reflecting on the entire incident, everything became much clearer. Chen Tianlei had left a spare key and likely didn’t come for the car itself tonight, but for that purple bracelet!

Chen Tianlei was a slacker by nature, always into petty theft. Now that he’d moved up in the world a bit, he usually avoided petty crimes that might damage his reputation. But the value of this target item—this bracelet—was beyond imagination, tempting him irresistibly!

This proved the bracelet was truly precious. Chen Tianlei took a huge risk stealing it and, to avoid suspicion or to facilitate escape, hid it in his own vehicle.

But if the rightful owner identified him as the thief, they’d certainly investigate the car. So Chen Tianlei preemptively sold the vehicle, cheaply, to someone he disliked—the perfect way to throw off suspicion. Then he’d wait for the right moment to retrieve the treasure.

Chen Tianlei really had a cunning plan.

Unfortunately, he underestimated the changes in Ye Xiaoxuan after their trip to Great Immortal Lake—the red eyes that see through the night, the dragon-scale armor that defends against most attacks, and the vigilance forged through life-and-death experience. Tonight, his scheme failed miserably.

Ye Xiaoxuan felt both pity and contempt for Chen Tianlei. All his scheming only ended up benefiting someone else.

Now that the treasure was in Ye Xiaoxuan’s hands, it was as if a miserly rooster had devoured it without a trace—no chance of ever getting it back.

But the question remained: how valuable was this treasure? Who had Chen Tianlei stolen it from? With his strength, he could easily command respect in the Scholar’s Village—why the fear, why such desperation as to sell his beloved car cheaply?

Suddenly, Ye Xiaoxuan sat up sharply in bed, a thought striking him.

He recalled what Hua Lingluo and Little Fish had said: Zhao Yanping had stayed in the village longer because he lost something. Could that something be the purple bracelet?

If even Chen Tianlei feared Zhao Yanping and his group, then those people must be formidable—they were backed by the Qitian Group, the largest private armed force in the country. No wonder Chen Tianlei was so cautious.

So the group Zhao Yanping led, who had raided Great Immortal Lake and taken many treasures, likely included this bracelet.

For the sake of this treasure, Zhao Yanping’s gang—posing as archaeologists but actually grave robbers—had killed dozens of people. That alone proved the bracelet’s immense value! No wonder Chen Tianlei risked everything to steal it.

But another question arose: how did Chen Tianlei know Zhao Yanping had this treasure? And with so many experts around Zhao Yanping, some stronger than Chen Tianlei, how did he manage to snatch the bracelet successfully?

Tonight was shaping up to be a sleepless one. Ye Xiaoxuan tossed and turned, pondering the mysterious bracelet, the black wooden box, the enigmatic Qitian Group, and even the secretive Chen Tianlei.

Just then, a flash of red light outside caught his eye, followed by a rumbling in the storm. But Ye Xiaoxuan recognized it wasn’t thunder—almost every dog in the village was barking, including the big yellow dog outside, joining the commotion.

Listening closely, the rumbling ceased, replaced by two crisp "pop" sounds. Cold sweat broke out on Ye Xiaoxuan’s forehead—those were gunshots!

How could there be gunshots here? Startled, Ye Xiaoxuan jumped out of bed, opened the window, and held his breath to listen.

There was a fire at the village entrance—someone’s house was burning. Despite the heavy rain, the noisy chaos outside was unmistakable.

Grabbing an umbrella from the doorway, Ye Xiaoxuan stepped outside. Just as he was about to leave the gate, Jiang Guihua shouted from the main house, “Where are you going? Don’t! Didn’t you hear the gunfire? It’s none of your business!”

Ye Xiaoxuan waved her off. “You stay inside. I’m going out to check. We’re neighbors—if someone’s in trouble and I don’t help, it’s not right!”

Jiang Guihua knew her son’s temper well enough to realize he was just looking for an excuse. He wasn’t being selfless—he was going out to watch the drama unfold.

Still, the gunfire meant trouble, and Jiang Guihua’s curiosity got the better of her. She called after him, “Don’t get too close. Just watch from a distance and come back!”