After the plastic paper was uncovered, it revealed a Chinese ink painting with mountains, water, and drifting clouds.

The two monkeys looked on with curiosity, craning their little heads, examining the inscription on the painting, trying their best to recognize it with their limited vocabulary.

The second monkey first uttered incomplete words: "Gift, wedding gift—"

"This is a dowry," Lingxin informed his younger brother.

"What’s a dowry?" the second monkey asked naively.

Lingxin, the little scholar, explained in a very professional tone, "A dowry is something that a woman’s family prepares to take to the man’s home when she is getting married."

The problem was that this explanation was too technical for the second monkey, who asked, "If I marry a wife, can’t I bring a dowry?"

Lingxin was speechless, defeated by his brother’s divine logic.

Luckily, the adults hadn’t been attracted by the children’s enlightening discussion yet. Whether it was Xiao Yebai or Gu Nuan, they immediately realized that there was something wrong with this painting.

"This is not just a painting," Gu Nuan said softly.

Xiao Yebai narrowed his eyes to a slit: such a thing, he hadn’t heard of it in the family. It seems there are many secrets hidden within the Xiao Family.

"Third sister took fourth sister’s painting, then—"

Xiao Shuju admitted with embarrassment, "Mine must have ended up in Lin Jiale’s hands."

The room fell into silence. Even when Xiao Shuju was in front of Xiao Shuzhu, she hadn’t felt this way. Now, the heavy atmosphere made her realize this matter might be more serious than she had imagined.

Both her younger brother and Gu Nuan probably knew a lot of things that the sisters didn’t know.

"Why did you bring it to my wife and me?" Xiao Yebai asked.

Xiao Shuju said, "Fourth sister said she wants to find a place for proper preservation, but she didn’t have a place here, so she could only rely on you."

Poof.

For some reason, this statement caused Da Bai to burst into laughter. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Xiao Shuju stared blankly at her brother, suddenly behaving madly.

What she said had tickled his funny bone.

Gu Nuan shook her head helplessly.

"Sister-in-law, what’s going on?" Xiao Shuju had to lean toward Gu Nuan and ask.

Gu Nuan said, "There’s no wall that doesn’t let the wind through. Since the things have been brought out and seen in the light, it’s unsafe no matter where they are stored, and it’s meaningless."

"Then, then what should we do?" Xiao Shuju asked in surprise.

Suddenly, Da Bai stood up, took out a lighter in the room, and lit a fire towards the corner of the painting.

Ah! Xiao Shuju screamed, covering her agape mouth with both hands, trying to stop him forcefully: "Yebai, what are you doing! Why are you burning it, such an important thing and you’re actually burning it!"

"Of course I should burn it; since it’s so important, the fewer people see it, the better," Da Bai, with little effort, set the painting ablaze.

The aggressive flames quickly turned the painting into an unrecognizable mess.

Xiao Shuju looked at the frame turned into nothing on the ground, speechless. Her brother was indeed a lunatic. She should have known; no, if it were her and Xiao Shuzhu, they really wouldn’t know what to do with this painting.