The townspeople had dispersed, but such a commotion in the middle of the night naturally drew the attention of the neighborhood. Many curious onlookers quietly cracked open their side doors, peering out to see what had happened.0

“Creak...”0

Lady Calico closed the door, her arms full and heavy, then walked back to the stone table.0

The table remained as it had been—dishes still sitting on top, the flickering lamp casting a warm glow over the surface and the small area around it.0

But at this moment, she had no time to concern herself with the dishes. Instead, she eagerly reached into her pouch and began pulling out pieces of silver—one by one, handful by handful—placing them onto the table under the lamplight. She carefully examined each piece, counting with great focus.0

“So much money!”0

“Indeed...”0

On the table lay two complete ten-tael girdled beehive silver, two more that had been cut in half, roughly making another full ingot when pieced together. Alongside them were several small silver fragments and silver nuggets. At a rough estimate, there was already over thirty taels of silver.0

As for the copper coins that Lady Calico usually treated like treasures? At this moment, they were completely insignificant.0

And this...0