Chapter 209: I Get It, Except For My Brother, We’re Still a Family

Now that Jin Ran knew they were getting a divorce, he didn’t feel like he’d been wronged anymore.

He even felt a little guilty. "Buddy, a time like this is when you need your brothers. What hurdle can’t you get over? Come on, let’s go drinking tonight. We’re not going home ’til we’re drunk!"

Lu Shijing didn’t think it was a hurdle, though. "She and I... it shouldn’t be like this," he said.

"It’s only just begun."

Despite saying that, the sight of the divorce agreement was so irritating that he just went with Jin Ran.

Lu Shijing rarely went to nightclubs. The last time he’d been was when Shengsheng had been dragged here by that troublemaking sister of hers, and he had hauled her back home.

Back then, he’d only brought Gu Shengsheng home as an afterthought, believing he was just showing some humanitarian concern for her. He never expected to fall for her so quickly.

If he had to explain exactly why he liked Gu Shengsheng, he wouldn’t know. Nor did he know when it started. He just found himself caring about her.

Jin Ran noticed his spirits were low. Seeing the usually high-and-mighty man so dejected was actually exciting! ’It’s not every day you get to see this guy take a fall!’

He immediately snapped a photo to commemorate the occasion.

Meanwhile, Lin Kai was also busy taking pictures, even pairing them with some sappy TikTok music. He planned to show them to Miss Gu later.

’My ship can’t just sink like this!’ he thought. ’They have to be together!’

With that thought, he hurried to the Wanliu District, hoping Miss Gu hadn’t moved out yet...

Gu Shengsheng had indeed not moved out yet. As she was packing, Grandma sat on a suitcase, wiping her tears. The old woman looked pitiful. "If you’re leaving, take me with you... I can’t stand to stay in this house a moment longer."

Meanwhile, Lu Linlin was hugging Gu Shengsheng’s treasured, all-purpose little bag. "Sister-in-law, you’ll always be my sister-in-law! WAHHH! Now that my brother’s back, how am I supposed to live? I’m coming with you!"

Gu Shengsheng: "..."

’I knew Grandma and Linlin were on my side, but I hadn’t expected them to be *this* devoted.’

Madam Lu stood there, also anxious. "That boy just came back to life out of nowhere, and he doesn’t even have any regard for me, his own mother. Just wait a bit. See if he has a proper explanation when he comes back tonight."

"We all see you as part of the Lu Family. We can’t bear you leaving so suddenly."

Although Madam Lu was reluctant to admit it, in her heart, she still felt she had a good daughter-in-law.

But that son of hers was just too incompetent. When it came to matters of the heart, he couldn’t handle anything right.

Gu Shengsheng said, "Then I’ll leave tomorrow. Grandma, Mom, Linlin, when I leave, I’ll move to the courtyard house. You all have to move there too, just like we agreed. You can come live with me."

"We’re still a family."

Lu Linlin nodded happily. "I get it! We’re still a family, just without my brother, right, Sister-in-law? Is that how divorce works?"

The old lady quickly stood up, chuckling. "Oh, that would be so imposing of us."

Despite what she said, she was already pushing a small suitcase to her room to pack.

She didn’t forget to pull Madam Lu along with her.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Gu Shengsheng went to open it and found Lin Kai standing there, looking frantic.

"If this is about Lu Shijing, I think everything that needs to be said has been said," Gu Shengsheng stated. She always preferred to make a clean break, explaining things clearly. What she disliked most was ambiguity and indecisiveness.

Because Gu Shengsheng disliked deception, and she especially disliked the "I’m only lying to you because I love you" logic.

Lin Kai quickly shook his head. "Young Madam! I may work for the boss and take his salary, but my heart is with you!"

Gu Shengsheng rolled her eyes at him, not believing a word.

Lin Kai cleared his throat. "Here’s the thing. Yesterday, after you two argued and you left, the boss was digging alone in the woods by the grave and found a small box. He said there’s probably more deeper down, and he told me to give this to you."

"What’s the status of that place?" Gu Shengsheng asked. ’It seems suspicious now.’

"We’ve cordoned it off."

"Mm." ’When it comes to getting things done, Lu Shijing is very reliable. He’s dependable and thorough.’

"I understand. I’ll go take a look tomorrow." She started to go back inside.

But Lin Kai didn’t leave. With a troubled expression, he said, "Young Madam, I don’t know if I should tell you this, but the boss went drinking with President Jin tonight. He’s not in a good state, and I’m afraid something might happen."

Then, looking very worried, Lin Kai took out his phone and showed her a photo. Lu Shijing was a blurry mess, but you could see he was slumped over a table. Jin Ran, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear, looking as thoughtless as a complete moron.

Gu Shengsheng said, "Aren’t you there? Can’t you look after him?"

Lin Kai put on a helpless look. "There’s nothing I can do. The boss gets annoyed just seeing me. He even said not to come near him—he’d dock my pay a thousand yuan for every step I take closer. For the sake of my salary, do you think I’d dare?"

Gu Shengsheng: "..."

Just then, the old lady sidled up to her. "Shengsheng, you should go. Go check on him. Check on our grandson for us?"

With Grandma saying that, Gu Shengsheng found it impossible to refuse.

"Fine," she said.

Lu Linlin ran over excitedly. "I’m going too! Sister-in-law, you go pick up my brother, and I’ll go party at the club. I didn’t even get to go out tonight after finding out my brother was alive. My friends are still there, so it’s perfect timing."

Before Gu Shengsheng could even agree, Lu Linlin had already whisked her away.

Afterward, Grandma and Lin Kai exchanged a look. They were now fellow shippers on the same side.

...

Gu Shengsheng brought Linlin along, and she also grabbed that bag of hers.

Lin Kai asked curiously, "Miss Gu, what did you bring the bag for? Are you going appraising today? And live streaming?"

"Mhm," Gu Shengsheng nodded. "After we pick up Lu Shijing, I’m going to take a look at the place where you found the box."

’I just glanced at it. The envelope in the box didn’t contain normal text or ancient script. It looked more like telegraph text from that sensitive period.’

’You need a decoder to interpret this kind of text. I can probably buy a decoder at the Ghost Market.’

’As for what’s under the box, there’s definitely something special there; the metal detector picked it up, after all.’ Gu Shengsheng connected the dots. ’An item from a ’sensitive period’, requiring a decoder... and the envelope cover looked like it belonged to a Japanese person from that era.’

’So... it might be an air-raid shelter.’

Air-raid shelters were unique. They were mostly used as places to store loot when other countries came to burn, kill, and plunder.

But later, they couldn’t take it all with them, so it was left behind, buried in the ground. It was a bit like that time they’d found the cache of genuine antiques dug up from the earth.

’If there’s one letter like this, there are probably more in other locations... but that’s not certain yet...’

While she was here thinking about her work, Lin Kai was a blubbering mess, moved to tears as he messaged his boss: "Miss Gu was too worried about you, she’s coming to see you."

"She hasn’t said a word the whole way; she must be worried about you. Boss, you’re definitely in her heart!"