Xu Qingqing took this seriously. She put down the hairpin in her hand, squatted in front of Xu Yiyi, and asked him seriously.
"Baby, do you have any evidence?"
Xu Yiyi shook his head, but his little face was full of determination.
"I saw a lot of mangosteens in the fridge this morning, but when I opened it just now, all the mangosteens were gone, and there were more mangosteen shells in the trash can."
Hearing this, Xu Qingqing and Lu Chuanbai glanced at each other, and they both saw the thoughtfulness in each other's eyes.
But without evidence, they couldn't directly confront Aunt Zhou.
Moreover, Aunt Zhou was Qin Hongying's caregiver. If they made a big scene with Aunt Zhou and made her have a grudge against Qin Hongying, it might backfire.
Xu Qingqing patted Xu Yiyi on the shoulder and praised him with a smile.
"Yiyi has such great observation skills. Mom and Dad will handle this matter properly. You don't have to worry about it."
Then Xu Qingqing picked up Xu Yiyi's injured little hand, blew on the palm with the Band - Aid, and her voice was extremely gentle.
"Does your hand still hurt?"
Xu Yiyi hugged tightly the woolly mammoth hanging on the ground and shook his head sensibly: "Mom, my hand doesn't hurt anymore."
"That's good."
Xu Qingqing lovingly kissed Xu Yiyi on the forehead, ruffled his soft hair, and told him to go to sleep.
Xu Yiyi even sensibly closed the door for Xu Qingqing and Lu Chuanbai.
Xu Qingqing sat back on the chair and looked at Lu Chuanbai sitting by the curtain.
"What do you think we should do about what Yiyi just said?"
Lu Chuanbai rubbed his temples and suggested, "Let's take inventory of the things in the fridge later, and then check again tomorrow."
This was the best way for the time being.
Taking photos of the fridge on two days and comparing them could serve as evidence.
Xu Qingqing thought it was a workable method, so she leaned over and continued to study the hairpin.
This hairpin was a rare fired one. The glaze on it had been corroded by time. Xu Qingqing had used tweezers to remove most of the sealing wax covering it.
Most of the hairpin was now visible. Entwined with the end of the hairpin was a thin silver chain, and there was a semi - hollowed silver bell hanging on the chain.
The silver wires that made up the silver bell were as thin as needles. It was hard to imagine that such delicate craftsmanship existed back then.
Xu Qingqing carefully used the tweezers to tear off all the sealing wax. This ancient hairpin seemed to be endowed with a new radiance.
She tilted her head slightly, held up the hairpin against the desk lamp. The light of the lamp illuminated the completely hollowed end of the hairpin, and the shadows of the intertwined threads were projected on Xu Qingqing's face.
Xu Qingqing opened the system to scan the origin of this hairpin.
"Official name: Silver - based filigree silver - bell hairpin. It has been 538 years since it was made. It was the first hairpin ever fired in the imperial kiln. The cloisonné on it was made by the master Guang Dehua..."
"Cloisonné?"
Xu Qingqing's heart skipped a beat when she heard this. The knowledge stored in her mind immediately resurfaced.
It was a silverware that best demonstrated the highest level of cloisonné tire - making.
The pins of the hairpin were directly fired, and the silver wires were used to draw and weave the silver bell hanging at the end.
Xu Qingqing turned the silver bell and observed it carefully. With the prompt of the system, she found something she had never noticed on the shadow of the silver bell.
The light shone through the silver wires of the silver bell and landed on the beige tabletop. There actually appeared a charming figure of a young lady holding a fan.
When the angle was changed, there would be a handsome young man wearing an official hat.
Seeing these two vivid figures, Xu Qingqing felt her blood rush backwards. A warm current of emotion flowed from her heart to every part of her body.
This was really shocking. The ancients had always been trying to innovate and continuously improve. Even a small silver bell could have so many patterns.
Every time the bell was turned a tiny angle, the man and woman in the shadow would show different side profiles, just like three - dimensional figures, not at all like flat ones.
Xu Qingqing couldn't help but hold her breath, as if the two figures would step out of the shadow the next moment.
This was really amazing!
"Chuanbai, come and see what I've found!"
Xu Qingqing waved excitedly for Lu Chuanbai to come and see. She turned the bell as if she was performing a shadow - play.
Lu Chuanbai's expression changed from calm at first, to surprised later, and finally to stunned. He was as surprised as Xu Qingqing.
"It's so amazing." Lu Chuanbai couldn't help but sigh.
Following Xu Qingqing in the wonderful world of antiques, Lu Chuanbai gradually felt the charm of antiques.
The two held their breath and admired for a long time. Then Xu Qingqing carefully wrapped the hairpin with toilet paper and carefully put it in the drawer.
Xu Qingqing looked up at the electronic clock on the wall. It was almost 11 o'clock. She pointed at the door for Lu Chuanbai.
Lu Chuanbai immediately understood what Xu Qingqing meant. He got up, opened the door, and looked outside.
Except for the dim light emitted by the night - light hanging in the corridor, everyone in the villa had gone back to rest.
Xu Qingqing and Lu Chuanbai tiptoed downstairs and slipped into the kitchen. They opened the double - door fridge.
The double - door fridge was 1.9 meters tall, like a small freezer, and it was filled with all kinds of things. Besides fruits and vegetables, there were also various expensive meats and lobsters.
Lu Chuanbai took out his phone and took a photo of the fridge to preserve evidence. He planned to check the things in the fridge again after breakfast tomorrow.
Before leaving, Xu Qingqing casually glanced at the trash can and noticed a small corner of a medicine board.
"What's this?" Xu Qingqing's intuition told her that this must not be a good thing.
This corner of the medicine board was obviously cut from a medicine package, and there were still three letters left on it.
"Sle..." Xu Qingqing read it softly and frowned at Lu Chuanbai.
"Does Auntie have the habit of taking medicine?"
Lu Chuanbai shook his head in confusion: "Auntie likes to keep in good health. I've never heard that she has the habit of taking medicine."
But to be more rigorous, Lu Chuanbai ruffled Xu Qingqing's soft hair: "I'll ask her tomorrow. Let's go to sleep now."
"Okay." Xu Qingqing replied in a low voice and casually grabbed the small piece of trash in her palm.
The next morning, Zhou Qianqian was so excited about seeing her friends that she didn't sleep well all night. She got up at 5 o'clock, went downstairs casually, opened the fridge, took out a milk bucket, and gulped down several mouthfuls.
After drinking enough, Zhou Qianqian rummaged through the kitchen looking for fruits. She found that the mangosteens were all eaten, and there were only common fruits like oranges and apples left.
Zhou Qianqian immediately lost all interest. She dragged her shoes out of the kitchen and just happened to bump into Aunt Zhou who was going downstairs to make breakfast.
"Mom, the mangosteens are all eaten. You should buy more today."
Zhou Qianqian pouted and acted coquettishly with Aunt Zhou.
"My classmates are coming today. You should buy more expensive fruits to entertain them."
Since becoming Qin Hongying's caregiver, Qin Hongying would give Aunt Zhou the non - fresh fruits, including durians, avocados, mangosteens, etc.