In Nanling Village, the custom for hosting a banquet was a long noodle breakfast in the morning and a feast at noon.
In recent years, with poorer conditions, no one would normally be so extravagant.
The morning long noodle meal, due to a shortage of white flour, had long since become疙瘩汤 (a type of soup with flour dumplings).
The noon meal was also as simple as possible, with fewer meat dishes and more vegetarian ones.
At one point, even wooden fish and wooden pork knuckles appeared.
The Su family's grand banquet this time made the villagers envious and jealous.
They all marveled that only those with true wealth dared to host such an event.
To share in the good fortune, most of the villagers came to the Su family to help.
Many hands make light work, and with the help of twenty or so villagers, all tasks were completed.
By evening, everyone had finally prepared everything needed for the next day's banquet and breakfast.
The Su family naturally didn't let the helpers work for free. In the evening, they were again served a meal of mixed rice, with more white rice than yellow, and stewed pork and cabbage with vermicelli.
Some of the helpers ate their fill, while others took portions home to supplement their own meals.
In any case, everyone was satisfied.
However, the Su family members still couldn't sleep at this point. They first finished some of the remaining tasks and then convened a family meeting.
The topic of the family meeting was simple: to officially divide the family and distribute the largest asset.
Grandpa Su instructed his three sons to go to the cellar and carefully unearth the boxes that had been hidden there.
Back then, to hide the boxes securely, the eldest son, along with his two brothers, had dug six feet deep to conceal them.
In the intervening years, only Grandpa and Grandma Su had unearthed them once when they went to Beijing to open a restaurant, and then reburied them in the same spot.
Unearthing them now was not easy.
The three Su brothers, armed with flashlights, worked for half an hour before finally managing to retrieve the boxes from underground.
Regarding the large sum of money the family possessed, only Su Xiaotian and the elders of the family were aware of it.
The younger generation, including Su Shouwen, knew nothing of this matter.
When everyone gathered in the main hall and saw the boxes, they were all astonished.
When had the family ever had such boxes?
The boxes looked very simple, and even after being buried underground, the wood seemed to retain its luster, indicating they were quite extraordinary.
"Grandpa, Grandma, what is this?" Su Shouwen, as the eldest grandson, asked first.
"This is a treasure that Xiaotian discovered on the mountain years ago. I thought we wouldn't be coming to the old house much in the future, so this time, we'll unearth it and divide it among your families."
Grandpa Su took a puff of his pipe, his tone very calm, as if he were discussing a trivial matter.
When Su Shouwen looked at Grandpa Su, his expression was one of disbelief.
Grandpa said this was a box of treasures? And these treasures had been in their home for several years?
"What's inside?" Su Ciliang asked.
Although his personality was not as boisterous as before, having become much more steady over the years, his inherent nature was still somewhat lively.
After returning to Nanling Village, he was still more spirited than his brothers.
He seemed to be full of curiosity about everything.
"Gold bars, small gold bars, and some jewelry and jade," Grandpa Su said, his tone still very calm.
It was as if he were saying that the box contained a lot of jars and stones.
However, the young brothers of the Su family were so shocked their mouths hung open.
What?
The family had a box full of gold and jewelry?
In the past, only the families of wealthy landlords had jewelry and gold, so how did their family have it too?
Xiaotian discovered it, how did Xiaotian discover it?
Why wasn't it brought out sooner?
If it had been brought out earlier, wouldn't they have been able to live a good life years ago?
Wait, it shouldn't have been obtained that long ago, right?
It should have been around the time Xiaotian fell into the water, and Grandma said Xiaotian was favored by the Dragon King, that the family's fortunes improved, and these treasures also came home then?
"Xiaotian, how did you discover it?" Su Ciliang asked incredulously.
Were the treasures in the front and back of the house, or on the mountain?
Or were the treasures actually in the river?
Sent by the Dragon King, it seemed plausible that they were in the river!
Su Xiaotian smiled and said, "It was on the mountain, I discovered it by chance."
"By chance?"
The brothers were dumbfounded.
To discover such a box of treasures by chance!
Why couldn't they discover it?
"Even the mushrooms followed Xiaotian, maybe the treasures also followed Xiaotian!" Su Xiaojiu suddenly blurted out.
Years ago, Su Xiaoba had said that wherever Su Xiaotian went, mushrooms would grow.
Now that he said this again, it reminded everyone of Xiaojiu's childish words from many years ago.
Everyone burst into laughter.
After the laughter subsided, Grandpa Su spoke solemnly.
"This matter, only we family members should know. To outsiders, even to your own maternal families, not a single word can be spoken!"
Grandpa Su sternly warned the daughters-in-law, including the granddaughters-in-law.
This matter was too significant to let the news spread. If it did, it might endanger Xiaotian.
Grandpa Su had considered not mentioning Xiaotian's contribution to this matter, but he feared that if he didn't attribute it to Xiaotian's discovery, the other grandsons in the family might have opinions.
After all, the children had all grown up, unlike a few years ago.
Especially Shouwen, who was already married and would soon start his own family.
No matter how much he doted on his sister, could it compare to his wife?
Although Li Linlin didn't fully understand the implications of their words, she guessed that Su Xiaotian had exceptionally good luck, and she nodded eagerly.
Wang Xianghua and the others also nodded.
"Father, don't worry, we know the importance of this. I won't even tell my own family!"
Grandpa Su looked at all three daughters-in-law as they made their promises, and then nodded with satisfaction.
"This windfall our family has is also Xiaotian's good fortune," Grandma Su said. "This is the largest asset our family has. After this is divided, our family will be considered completely separated."
"Mother, Father, actually, whether it's divided or not doesn't matter. What matters is that the family lives well together!" Su Lao Er said carelessly.
"It's still better to divide it. Keeping it in the cellar isn't ideal. The box contains a total of twenty large gold bars and twenty small gold bars."
As Grandpa Su spoke, he opened the lid of the box.
Under the lamplight, the box was indeed a dazzling expanse of gold, almost blinding everyone.
"A couple of years ago, when your mother and I went to Beijing, we took away two small gold bars. The rest are all here."
After a moment of stunned silence, everyone finally reacted.
"Father, since Xiaotian discovered it, it should belong to Xiaotian," Eldest Son Su said, his voice strained.
Before, he had found it incredible when his mother said Xiaotian was favored by the Dragon King, but now, he felt it might be true.
This child, Xiaotian, had been incredibly lucky since she fell into the water.
He had previously thought of relying on this box of treasures to live, but now that the family's life was good, he no longer had that desire.