A smile tugged at Zhang Er's lips as he lowered his voice. "Your dad has the key, doesn't he-"
A-Wu waved her hands frantically in alarm:
"No, no! If anyone finds out, we're done for!"
Seeing that A-Wu raised no other objection and only feared being discovered, Zhang Er felt even more confident:
"We'll just sneak out a few valuable things to sell. There's so much in that room-who would notice a few missing pieces? Even if someone from the Wang Residence comes to take over, they won't know how many things there were to begin with! We'll only take a few. You keep quiet, I keep quiet, and neither gods nor ghosts will know."
A-Wu was torn and frightened, her voice trembling:
"But... but..."
Zhang Er's voice seemed coated in honey as he continued coaxing her:
"Never mind that nobody will notice-even if they do, they won't make a fuss. The city's such a mess right now, and the household has no master. With a few things missing and no evidence, who can say whether they were lost or what happened? The authorities won't bother with something so trivial! A-Wu, you're such a clever girl. Surely you know that in times like these, money is life!
"We servants get a full meal when our masters prosper, but once they're gone, who cares whether we live or die? If we don't take this chance to get some money to keep us safe, what'll we eat when the household breaks up-shit? The young master's gone anyway. What difference do a few more or fewer possessions make? Are we supposed to leave everything to the Wang Residence? Do they need these things? What slips through their fingers would feed us for several lifetimes! The young master treated you so well. He wouldn't