bookcurios Chapter 2007 You thought it was just an account book?
Chapter 2007 You thought it was just an account book?
The chill in the cellar seeped into your bones.
Shangguan Wanqing sat in the corner with her knees drawn up to her chest, with only a thin layer of dry grass beneath her.
This is the cellar where the Shangguan family stored winter vegetables in their early years. It is more than two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) deep underground, surrounded by rammed yellow earth, and never sees sunlight.
It was winter, and the temperature inside the cellar was even lower than outside. The white breath exhaled immediately condensed into white mist, which slowly dissipated in the dim light.
The only source of light came from the cellar entrance.
Directly in front of Shangguan Wanqing, there is a sloping staircase leading upwards. At the top of the staircase is an iron plate with a fist-sized hole in the center.
The faint light filtering through the warehouse floor revealed a lantern hanging on the wall above.
This little bit of light barely reached the bottom of the cellar.
Shangguan Wanqing's white cotton-padded jacket was so dirty that its original color was no longer discernible. The cuffs and hem were torn in several places during the struggle, revealing the white cotton wadding inside.
The red scarf was taken away, along with the shoes.
She was barefoot, with a cast iron shackle fastened to her ankle, the other end of which was nailed to the wall.
The inner wall of the iron ring was rough, and after two days, the skin on her ankle was almost worn through. The wound was throbbing with pain in the damp and cold environment.
What's even worse is the hunger.
From the time I was locked up, for two nights and one day, I was only given two meals.
Each meal consisted of a cold, hard steamed bun, a bowl of clear soup, and a few pieces of green vegetables floating on top.
The steamed buns were made from a mixture of two types of flour, so they were coarse and hard, and swallowing them would make your throat hurt.
The water was well water from the Western Hills, stored in a bucket and placed in the southeast corner; it was icy cold.
All of this filled Shangguan Wanqing with sorrow.
It's unbelievable that a daughter of the Shangguan family has fallen to such a state.
The two meals were incredibly ironic.
But Shangguan Wanqing didn't touch today's portion.
It wasn't that she wasn't hungry; she was very hungry.
On the contrary, it felt like there was a hand squeezing my stomach, causing waves of cramping pain.
But she also knew that her father was testing her.
Test her will, test her bottom line.
If she begs for mercy, if she shows weakness, if she admits defeat, then she has truly lost!
She can't lose.
Because Sha Chun had already sent the letter out.
Although that child is simple-minded, he values relationships and will always keep his promises.
Li Xiangnan has now seen the plum blossom letter and the words written for him!
He will definitely come!
This thought was like a fire, burning in the cold of the cellar, giving her the strength to keep going.
"Ah……"
Shangguan Wanqing gently exhaled, watching the white mist rise in the dim light.
She wiggled her frozen fingers, then took a deep breath and forced herself to stand up.
She started boxing.
When she was a child, her mother taught her Plum Blossom Fist, saying it was to strengthen her body and also to prevent her from being bullied.
At this moment, it really did have the effect of strengthening the body.
When practiced to a high level, this skill can indeed mobilize the body's Qi and blood to resist the severe cold.
She has lost count of how many times she has called in the past two days.
Soon, the icy fingertips began to warm up, and the numb toes slowly regained sensation.
She moved, the iron chains of her shackles rattling loudly in the silent cellar.
The chain was only long enough for her to move around in a five-square-meter area, not even enough to reach the stairwell, but it was enough for her!
Twisting and leaping, with eyes closed.
Repeat, begin, repeat, begin.
Her punches had no target, no opponent, but they were powerful. Soon, sweat seeped from her forehead, quickly cooling down in the cold cellar.
However, the warm current within the body grew stronger and stronger, like a flame burning in the dantian, dispelling the coldness all over the body.
I don't know how long they practiced, until the iron plate at the cellar entrance was suddenly lifted.
She plopped down on the floor, pretending to have just been startled awake, and the sound of chains abruptly stopped as the door opened.
Then, light, a large swath of blinding light, poured down from the opening.
Shangguan Wanqing subconsciously squinted and shielded her eyes from the sudden light with her hand.
The footsteps descended the wooden stairs, heavy and rhythmic.
Shangguan Wuji has arrived.
He was wearing a thick mink coat and carrying a bright lantern in his hand.
The light cast varying shadows on his face, making his already serious expression appear even more somber.
After standing at the bottom of the wooden stairs, he looked at his daughter.
The father and daughter looked at each other.
One stood in the light, wrapped in an expensive fur coat, even the soles of his shoes were spotless.
A person was huddled in a dark corner, dressed in rags, barefoot, with bloody wounds beneath the iron chains around their ankles.
The scene is chillingly ironic.
It's hard to imagine that this scene actually took place in the extravagant Shangguan family in 1980.
"Are you cold?" Shangguan Wuji asked, his voice devoid of any emotion.
It seemed that the woman in front of him was not his own flesh and blood.
Wanqing didn't speak. She put down her hand, straightened her back and sat up straight. Although her clothes were thin and she looked disheveled, the stubbornness that came from her bones made her posture not humble.
"Are you hungry?" Shangguan Wuji asked coldly again.
Still no one answered.
"Looks like you're neither cold nor hungry!" Shangguan Wuji nodded, then raised the lantern in his hand, illuminating the steamed buns and clear soup on the table diagonally opposite Wanqing. "What? You're disgusted by this food?"
“If Father wants to starve me to death, he can just say so!” Wanqing’s voice was already hoarse, but she still expressed her meaning clearly, “There’s no need to test me like this!”
Shangguan Wuji smiled.
That smile was chillingly cold, like the frost gradually forming on the walls of the cellar.
"Starve you to death? Why would I want to starve you to death?" Shangguan Wuji took a step forward, and the halo of the lantern immediately enlarged, covering both father and daughter. "You are my last child, Wanqing, how could I bear to let you die?"
These words were spoken gently, but Wanqing could sense the chill in them.
"Then why did Father lock me up?" she retorted. "Because I informed Li Xiangnan?"
The smile on Shangguan Wuji's face vanished. He stared at his daughter, his eyes like knives, scraping across her face inch by inch.
"You admitted it?"
"Why should I admit to something I didn't do?" Wanqing met his gaze without flinching. "I told you, I just went to see the snow. Father doesn't believe me, and I have no choice. You will choose the answer in your own way!"
"To see snow?" Shangguan Wuji repeated the two words, his tone full of sarcasm. "When in this vast Western Hills is there no snow? Why did you have to ride that bike out on that particular day, falling and getting covered in mud to see it? Wanqing, do you really think your father is senile?"
Shangguan Wanqing remained silent.
She knew that arguing would be useless.
Her father had already concluded that she had betrayed him, so all explanations were futile.
"What benefits did Li Xiangnan give you?" Shangguan Wuji asked angrily. "Was it money? Power? Or did he promise you something that made you betray even your own family?"
"He didn't give me anything in return!" Wanqing's voice was soft but firm. "I just feel that you shouldn't treat him like that! He saved so many people, helped so many people, and never harmed anyone! Why do you keep targeting him?"
"Why?" Shangguan Wuji seemed to have heard something amusing. "Because his surname is Li, is that reason enough?"
Shangguan Wanqing shook her head: "I don't understand! What exactly did the Li family do that requires the Shangguan family to monitor them for decades? Is it just because Mu Huanying is Li Dequan's wife? Is Father afraid that some secrets from back then will be exposed? Or was it that Father started that fire back then? What exactly are you plotting?"
This question is direct and sharp.
Shangguan Wuji's eyes suddenly turned cold.
He stared at his daughter for a long time, then said with disappointment, "Wanqing, you are really smart! But...did you expect me to tell you all this so that you would turn around and tell Li Xiangnan?"
Boom.
Shangguan Wanqing felt a chill run down her spine; her little trick had been easily seen through by her father.
"Father, what about the account book?" Wanqing persisted, determined to gain more information and escape the control of the Shangguan family. "You must be after the Mu family's account book, right? I really don't understand what use that thing is that you've gone to so much trouble to find it for decades!"
The cellar fell silent.
The only sounds were the crackling of the burning wick in the lantern and the suppressed breathing of the father and daughter.
Shangguan Wuji did not answer immediately. Instead, he carried the lantern to the opposite wall and looked at the thousands of scratches made by fingernails.
"You think that's just an account book?"
"???"