Seeing her sleeping soundly, Gu Qingcheng couldn't bear to wake her, so she let herself be hugged, serving as a human cushion.
Who would dare disturb a cute little one sleeping peacefully?
Fortunately, Du Lanyue was soft, and though she clutched her tightly, she didn't dig in uncomfortably.
While Du Lanyue was asleep, Gu Qingcheng entered the mountain cat supermarket and opened the storage cabinet to check the dozen or so boxes she had retrieved from the underground river the previous night.
These boxes were made of rattan and wood, and some of the slats had loosened from being submerged in water for so long.
Gu Qingcheng counted the boxes; there were only 15 in total in the storage cabinet.
Upon opening them, she found a jumble of items. Five boxes contained various exquisite ancient porcelain pieces, such as cups, bowls, and plates. These would probably be worth a lot of money. However, in times of peace, people collect antiques; in times of chaos, gold is prized. In the current climate, antiques wouldn't fetch a good price, so she'd probably have to keep them for herself.
There were six boxes of gold bars.
And four boxes of various jewelry and ornaments.
The jewelry and ornaments varied in type, including gold bracelets, earrings, necklaces, as well as jade bracelets, various malachite, jadeite, amber, and so on. They were exquisitely crafted and contained everything imaginable.
Gu Qingcheng mused that the diverse styles and varying aesthetics of these ornaments clearly indicated they had been plundered from countless disaster victims.
In total, these 17 boxes contained nothing but valuable items, enough wealth for anyone to live comfortably for three generations without worry.
And Gu Qingcheng was incredibly lucky.
As the saying goes, disaster strikes the weak, but heaven favors the rich.
The wealthier one becomes, the luckier one gets.
After counting this fortune, Gu Qingcheng couldn't help but sigh, wondering how she would share half of it with Du Lanyue.
People like Gu Qingcheng became more displeased the more the other party was demanding or greedy.
But when someone like Du Lanyue was selfless and had few desires, she felt it was wrong to let her be shortchanged.
Thinking of the cargo dock she was building, Gu Qingcheng had a flash of inspiration. Why not offer Du Lanyue a stake in the business with the gold, and then repay her gradually through dividends?
Yes, that was decided.
Of course, Gu Qingcheng would only take a small portion of the gold, and in return, she would give Du Lanyue one-third equity in her own share, allowing Du Lanyue to receive continuous dividends.
Given the current situation, as long as the water level didn't rise further, the cargo dock's dividends would continue indefinitely, providing Du Lanyue with a substantial asset for security.
Naturally, if anything unforeseen happened at the dock, Gu Qingcheng could devise other solutions. The main thing was to ensure Du Lanyue didn't suffer any losses.
People with good fortune are like this; even in peril, luck is on their side.
Gu Qingcheng checked her "joy points" again. She already had 1 million, primarily gained from using medicines from the Phoenix Pharmacy to save people.
Gu Qingcheng hoped to reach 10 million joy points soon to unlock new features for her farm.
As for the farming and animal husbandry within the farm, the system automatically managed everything after deducting labor joy points each day, freeing Gu Qingcheng from any worries.
Gu Qingcheng suddenly felt Du Lanyue stir in her arms, seemingly waking up.
Gu Qingcheng quickly exited the mountain cat supermarket. As Du Lanyue opened her eyes, she saw Gu Qingcheng looking at her with a dazed expression.
Perhaps because she had slept so comfortably, Du Lanyue hugged her tighter. Then, as if realizing something was amiss, she stiffened. Immediately after, Gu Qingcheng felt a kick on her calf.
"Ouch, that hurt! Sister Lanyue, what are you doing?"
Gu Qingcheng was confused.
"Why are you hugging me?"
Du Lanyue seemed not to have realized her situation, jolting awake from a pleasant dream to find herself being held.
"I'm hugging you? You were tossing and turning in your sleep and rolled over to hug me!"
Gu Qingcheng explained, not angered by her words.
Du Lanyue gradually came to her senses, recalling her sleeping posture. Indeed, she had clung to Gu Qingcheng like an octopus.
It seemed she had misunderstood Gu Qingcheng.
"Ah, I see. I'm sorry."
Du Lanyue blushed, turned her back, and quickly got out of the warm bedding, rising from the ground mat.
"It must be early outside. Are you hungry? Shall we get something to eat?"
Gu Qingcheng didn't mind.
Perhaps Du Lanyue wasn't used to sleeping with others.
She herself didn't care. When she participated in archery competitions, they sometimes slept in communal barracks, everyone sprawled out together.
On one occasion, she woke up early to find her captain's feet sticking out just below her nose, almost ruining her breakfast.
Du Lanyue merely hugging her was much better.
Seeing that Gu Qingcheng seemed unfazed and hadn't admonished her like a proper gentleman for being immodest or behaving improperly, Du Lanyue breathed a sigh of relief and said,
"Okay, what do you want to eat?"
"Let's make a meat congee. I found a couple of preserved eggs yesterday, so we can have century egg and meat congee."
Gu Qingcheng fibbed.
After all, any newly discovered supplies could be attributed to the bandits' stash.
"Alright," Du Lanyue agreed.
Gu Qingcheng diced the preserved meat and century eggs, rinsed the rice, put it in the pot with the preserved meat, and hung the pot over the fire to start cooking the congee.
As the flames licked the bottom of the pot, the water began to boil, and the aroma of congee and meat filled the stone room.
"We eat until we're full, then sleep until we're full, turning into little pigs," Du Lanyue said, trying to break the awkward silence now that she was fully awake.
She had hugged someone and slept, taken advantage of them, and then kicked them, wondering if she had caused any internal injuries.
"Don't worry, I estimate Da Peng and the others should be here soon."
Gu Qingcheng knew Wang Da Peng came from a military background and had a keen sense of vigilance. If she didn't return all night, he would surely sense something was amiss.
"Oh, is that so?" Du Lanyue's tone lacked joy, and instead held a hint of disappointment. She leaned closer to Gu Qingcheng and asked, "Young Master Gu, is your leg alright?"
"It's fine, what could be wrong?" Gu Qingcheng asked, confused.
"I... I kicked you. I kicked quite hard, didn't I? I hope I didn't injure you?"
Du Lanyue steeled herself and asked with a thick skin.
"Haha, it's fine. How could it hurt? People like us are tough, injuries are common," Gu Qingcheng said, referring to her experiences during her athletic career.
Upon hearing this, Du Lanyue felt a pang of sympathy.
"Your life must have been so hard. From the outside, it must seem like you're living in luxury, with no one realizing how difficult things are for you now."
"Heh, my father always said, 'One must endure the bitter to taste the sweet,' and those times indeed made me more accepting of my current life." Gu Qingcheng said with emotion.
If she hadn't been an athlete, in her era, ordinary children could be considered to live in luxury by today's standards.
No worries about food or drink, a wide variety of food, and affordable clothing.
Even the emperor in the current imperial palace lived less comfortably than a retired elder in her time.
Seeing Gu Qingcheng walk normally, Du Lanyue's heart finally eased a little.
Since she had kicked her leg, Du Lanyue couldn't very well force her to show it.