The Emptied Basement

A rare opportunity. Hua Jin Yin's supernatural ability, following the tree roots, touched the injured man. She silently chanted: "Collect!"

Immediately after, the man's figure was gone from the basement. The experiment was successful, and Hua Jin Yin was overjoyed. She then urged her supernatural ability to approach the large chests.

Collect, collect, collect! For more than ten consecutive times, each large chest vanished into thin air. It wasn't until the last chest, which Eighth Brother was leaning against, that Hua Jin Yin hesitated whether to collect it or not, fearing that collecting the chest would simultaneously collect Eighth Brother into her space. After weighing it repeatedly, she decided to give up for now.

At worst, she would come back to experiment a bit and then decide whether to collect it.

She was about to go out to find a nearby police station to release the man she had collected into her space when the courtyard gate was suddenly knocked loudly: "Er Hua, open the door!" It was Chu Lai Ying's voice.

Hua Jin Yin was helpless and could only go open the door first, only hoping that the man in her space wouldn't suddenly wake up.

Chu Lai Ying carried a piece of meat in her hand, followed by Da Hua and Xiao Hua, one carrying a fish, the other a canvas bag full of Guoguang apples.

Following at the very end was Hua Jian Zhu, carrying a bag of rice on his shoulder and two bottles of wine in his hands. Even Hua Ai Dang beside him carried a string of oil-paper-wrapped candies and pastries.

Seeing Hua Jin Yin, Hua Ai Dang raised the bag of candies and pastries in his hand: "Second Sister, baked pastries and Eight-Petal Crisp, they smell so good."

Hua Jin Yin affectionately stroked this adorable cousin's head and asked Chu Lai Ying: "Why did you buy so many things?"

"Eating at the state-run restaurant is too expensive; we'll buy them back and cook ourselves. Didn't your First Uncle say braised pork belly tastes good? Your First Aunt is making it for you all to eat."

After speaking, Chu Lai Ying happily ran straight into the outer room, not hearing Hua Jian Zhu softly muttering: "I said the state-run restaurant's braised pork belly tastes good, not that yours tastes good."

Hua Jin Yin found it amusing after hearing this, and thinking of Chu Lai Ying's cooking skills, she felt a little sorry for these fish and this piece of meat. However, if she were to cook, she probably wouldn't be eight parts as good as Chu Lai Ying. In both her lives, she had never managed to light up the cooking skill.

An earth-shattering roar came from the outer room: "Where are the pots? Where are the basins? Which shameless person stole all the things from the house?"

Hua Jin Yin hadn't paid attention to what was missing in the house after entering. Now, hearing Chu Lai Ying's roar, she quickly ran into the outer room and indeed saw that the iron wok, which should have been on the stove, had disappeared. Looking closely again, the dish rack in the outer room was also empty; the bowls, plates, spoons, and chopsticks that were originally inside were all gone.

No need to wait for Hua Jin Yin to speak, Chu Lai Ying had already rushed out into the yard, heading straight for the left courtyard, clearly having long understood the character of the neighbors.

But no matter how she knocked on the door outside, or how she cursed, there was no movement from that house. If she hadn't been certain there were people inside, Hua Jin Yin would have suspected that everyone in that house had gone out.

Knocking didn't open the door, so Chu Lai Ying stood there cursing loudly: "Did you use all the money your man earned to support a wild man outside? Or did you have an incurable disease and use it to buy medicine? You even dare to steal from my house; haven't I beaten you enough these past few years that your skin is itchy again? Quickly return the stolen items to me, or I'll directly report you to the police and have you arrested. With a professional thief in the house, let's see if your man can keep his iron rice bowl stable."

Inside, there was still not a sound, but it caused such a commotion that neighbors all came out to watch. A few years ago, everyone had witnessed Chu Lai Ying's fierceness. At that time, she carried a cleaver and blocked the door of this house, eventually scaring the people in that family so much that they didn't dare to leave their house for several days.

She hadn't expected that after so many years, the two families would be arguing again.

Hua Jin Yin's sharp eyes saw the two men she had seen in the basement earlier also mixed in with the crowd watching the commotion. It seemed they hadn't yet discovered that the basement had almost been emptied. Hua Jin Yin was afraid that looking too much would make them notice her attention was on them, so she quickly shifted her gaze back to the tightly closed main door of that house.

"Old Master Hua, you haven't lived here for many years; what did the Zhao family steal from your house again?"

As soon as she heard someone respond, Chu Lai Ying's spirits lifted: "Is that Old Master Peng? It's been years, and your esteemed self's spirit is even more robust, isn't it?"

Old Master Peng was delighted after hearing this, stroking his beard and smiling incessantly: "This is just retirement, nothing to do, so I go to the park to exercise. Much better than sitting in the office when I was working."

"Oh, oh, in a few years, my Jian Zhu will also retire. By then, the children will all be grown, and I'll also follow your esteemed self and go exercise."

"Easy to say, easy to say. What brings you all here today?"

Then Chu Lai Ying suddenly spoke loudly: "Ai, isn't it that my younger brother passed away, and I was afraid my biological niece would be bullied by these malicious people in the city, so I brought her home to live. Before, I thought we'd occasionally have to come back here to stay for a few days, and there was nothing missing in the house, so things like pots, pans, bowls, and dishes weren't moved. Today, if I hadn't come to check, I wouldn't have known that some petty person, taking advantage of no one being home, almost emptied the entire house. I think, wasn't it because they weren't beaten cruelly enough before, that after only a few years, they've forgotten how they used to prostrate on the ground begging for mercy?"

"Ah? Not someone else moving? But don't falsely accuse them. After being beaten so badly last time, would her family still dare?"

Chu Lai Ying said contemptuously: "Although I don't live with the neighbors much, I know that on this street, everyone except his family is a good person. Who else could do such a shameless thing?"

One sentence made the surrounding neighbors continuously nod, all inexplicably straightening their backs. Indeed, the eyes of the masses are as clear as snow.

Although Hua Jin Yin wasn't sure if this family had actually stolen anything, from the fact that they dumped trash into her yard, she could tell that this family wasn't good people, and no one would be wronged by being scolded.

But she once again transmitted her supernatural ability into the apple tree in front of this house. Through the apple tree's roots, connected to the pear tree's roots, the situation of the surrounding neighbors' households became clear as the palm of her hand. The result was that she found her missing items in the room above Eighth Brother's basement.

Hmm? Eighth Brother stole her pots, pans, bowls, and dishes, and she took their chests. It seemed they were even.

But Chu Lai Ying was cursing so fiercely; why didn't the people in that house, who were being wronged, come out to defend themselves?

Hua Jin Yin once again urged her supernatural ability, following the pear tree roots to look at that house again, and as soon as she scanned past the boundary wall between the two houses, she discovered another basement.

Three consecutive families had dug three basements underground; she didn't dare to imagine if the land beneath her feet had all been dug hollow.

If all the basements in her house that needed to be collected had been collected, Hua Jin Yin thought, she should still sell this house when she had the chance later. If she wanted to buy again, she would choose a place without basements and buy another house; otherwise, one day with heavy rain, she would have to worry about whether the house was still above ground.

She was about to look more closely at what the neighbor's basement was hiding when, at this very moment, her supernatural ability was once again exhausted.

The moment her supernatural ability was cut off, Hua Jin Yin was exhausted, her face pale, her forehead covered in sweat, her limbs weak, and her entire body collapsed weakly, staggering backward. Hua Da Hua, beside her, quickly reached out to support her in fright: "Mom, Mom, don't curse anymore; Er Niu fainted from anger."

Chu Lai Ying, who was cursing fiercely, no longer paid attention to scolding people. She loudly called Hua Jian Zhu: "Damn it! Aren't you going to quickly take Er Niu to the hospital?"

Hua Jian Zhu frantically picked her up and ran towards the hospital. Chu Lai Ying chased after him, and after running a few dozen steps, she didn't forget to throw back a sentence: "My Er Niu fainted from anger; if anything happens, don't blame me for taking a cleaver and chopping people!"