311: One Hundred and Sixty-Eight: Anna’s Treasure 311: One Hundred and Sixty-Eight: Anna’s Treasure Lu Li never asked Anna about her past, knowing only that her mother was called Ann Lei and seed to co from noble lineage.
In fact, calling them nobility wasn’t quite accurate, unless the term was prefixed by “destitute”.
By the ti Anna was born, her family no longer held noble titles, possessing only a manor and a sparsely visited gallery.
With an inexplicable sense of shyness, Anna divulged the aforentioned details.
A few months after Anna succumbed to an infectious disease, her not-yet-recovered mother also died, heartbroken and exhausted.
“Are there any other mbers in your family?”
The successive deaths of mother and daughter gave rise to more thoughts in Lu Li’s mind.
Anna’s eyes revealed a sense of desolation, “No…
it was just and Mother, and then…”
Then both she and her mother were gone.
Eliminating the possibility of relatives murdering for inheritance, Lu Li turned and asked, “What about that manor?”
His gaze landed on the picture fra on the bookshelf, behind the lush green garden was a three-story residence.
Lu Li knew what beca of the gallery; it was given to the stingy boss Benjamin by Madam Ann Lei on her deathbed, who also indirectly facilitated Lu Li’s eting with Anna.
“It was…
donated, I think…” Anna’s voice faded.
Seemingly asking casually, Lu Li said, “Tell about the treasure.”
“‘Little Anna, let tell you a secret, our family has hidden a treasure, containing the Lota family’s and to , the most precious wealth.’ That’s what Mother told , when I was six…
seven years old.”
Anna was too young at that ti, and perhaps Madam Ann Lei was just appeasing Anna without a real treasure, but as an artistically cultured forr noble, she wouldn’t have lied to Anna.
Distinguishing reality from fairy tale was easy, and Lu Li asked, “Did she tell you where the treasure is hidden?”
“Um… let think…” Anna let herself sink into her mories.
Warm afternoon sunlight spilled through the window, the warm-toned cozy bedroom resembled autumnal maple leaves, little Anna sat in her mother’s embrace, clutching her dress and asked, “Where is the treasure?”
Madam Ann Lei’s face had now blurred in Anna’s mory, but she rembered her mother’s gentle and kind laughter as she said, “You know where it is.”
“How would I know where it is?” little Anna asked, tilting her head in confusion.
Madam Ann Lei rubbed her little head, “The treasure is buried in the deepest place in your mory.”
“Oh…” little Anna obediently responded, pursing her lips and falling silent, unlike other children who would likely whine and cry out to their mothers.
Madam Ann Lei pinched little Anna’s cheek on impulse, “I’ll tell you when you’re a bit older.”
Little Anna tried to dodge, but couldn’t escape the soft, warm hand and began giggling.
This scene slowly faded and beca patchy, the pages turning yellow and faded, with the bleak hues of cold gray filling her vision.
The contrast between warmth and desolation suddenly brought an extre discomfort and resistance to Anna’s heart, almost in an instant, a chilly aura emanated from her body, a hint of crimson surfacing in the depths of her pupils.
The shadows began to stretch outward but then stopped.
Lu Li’s palm rested on Anna’s shoulder, his lowered dark eyes t Anna’s mournful ones, “Stay calm.”
His voice and that shadow suddenly collided into view, and Anna stared at him, her eyes fixed on those unwavering, calm black irises, felt an inexplicable sourness in her nose, and turned her head slightly, emitting a mosquito-like whisper, “I miss my mother…”
“…”
Lu Li remained silent, knowing neither how to console nor what to say or do at such a ti.
But usually, one is supposed to say sothing.
He tilted his head in thought, then Lu Li added, “The pot is already boiling.”
The kitchen was broadcasting sounds of boiling water and the clatter of a lid being jostled.
Snapped out of her mories by his words, Anna hurried anxiously into the kitchen.
“Seems like everything’s all right now,” Lu Li thought to himself.
“It looks like everything is okay now…” Anna reined in her breath and, looking in the mirror, saw the crimson in the depths of her eyes fade away, she thought to herself.
She removed the steaming lid of the pot, stirred the contents with a soup spoon, and then replaced the lid.
Having composed herself, Anna floated back to the living room.
Lu Li had already returned to his desk and sat down.
Blushing slightly from their recent contact, Anna said, “Mother told I would know where it is, buried in the place I rember most clearly.”
“So where is it?”
“…”
Anna fell silent, looking at Lu Li and blinking.
“Forgot?”
“Mmm…”
Anna’s gaze drifted away, vacant and unfocused.
Her mother hadn’t told her the location of the treasure after she grew up.
“Maybe it won’t be hard to guess,” Lu Li suddenly said.
“There wasn’t much in your life when you were six or seven.
You just need to think about what was most precious to you back then.”
“Mmm…” Anna humd thoughtfully, pondering.
“Playmates, friends, elders, family,” Lu Li offered key words to help Anna’s recollection.
“Mmm……” Anna continued her long, thoughtful hum.
“Servants, food, beloved things.”
“Mmm……….?” The elongated hum ended with an upward inflection of confusion.
It seed Anna had rembered sothing.
Lu Li followed the clue about ‘beloved things’ as he continued, “Potted plants, dolls, vegetation, drawings—”
“I rember!
The most morable thing in my mory!” Anna suddenly exclaid, her eyes sparkling like stars: “I buried it beneath the roots of my sister’s tree!”
Lu Li said nothing, only looking at her with an inquiring gaze.
“It was a doll called Nini…
well, my sister is a tree that mother planted after I was born.
I always used to play with it as a child…
I buried it under the tree after the doll nad Nini ‘died’.”
“Died?”
Anna’s cheeks turned pink as she stamred, “I didn’t understand back then, I thought it died because its cotton stuffing was coming out…”
“And then?”
“Then it seems…
I can’t rember clearly, but the treasure must be there!”
Anna could no longer recall the details.
She only rembered that her mother had ntioned sothing about a “treasure” at that ti.
Indeed, that event was the most morable for six or seven-year-old Anna; she even rembered waking from dreams crying and shouting for Nini on several embarrassing occasions.
“Do you still rember where the manor is?”
“How could I possibly forget that,” Anna muttered, giving Lu Li the address of the manor and the location of her “sister.”
“I wonder how it is now…”
Anna’s tone was sowhat lancholic; she naturally couldn’t regard a tree as her sister, but indeed she had a special bond with that tree.
Having been led into a nostalgic reverie by Lu Li, Anna slipped back to the kitchen to attend to the food.
Lu Li had no reason not to believe Anna.
Anna’s forr manor was in Himfast, in the central part of the Ailen Peninsula.
A trip there wouldn’t take long.
However, he would wait until a few days later, after the rchant’s arrival before setting out.
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