Chapter 139 Even a Dog Wouldn't Do It (Bonus Chapter 2/4 for Monthly Tickets)

The street corner is very narrow, and the houses are scattered at different heights. There are tricycles and motorcycles parked along the walls.

The boys, barely out of school, darted around, while the women, in groups of three or five, or seven or eight, gathered against the wall to chat idly.

The car was parked on the side of the road, and the three of them walked into the alley.

Foam boxes were piled up in the corner, their lids flipped open, filled with kitchen waste and leftover food. Blackish-green liquid oozed from the corners of the boxes, and a sour, rotten stench assaulted the senses.

In October, the old man wearing a kitchen hat was still shirtless. The ladle was being tossed high into the air, and a few wisps of the sizzling aroma of Sichuan peppercorns seeped from the cracks in the window, which were so greasy they were unrecognizable.

The clatter of mahjong tiles mingled with laughter and curses as a burly man with a full-back dragon tattoo and a cigarette dangling from his lips walked out of the card room. His gaze instinctively met Gu Ming's, and the burly man was startled for a moment before instinctively looking away.

Several scantily clad, heavily made-up women leaned against the wall, whistling at Lin Sicheng and winking at him.

Ye Anning glared back fiercely.

Gu Ming blinked, unsure of what to say.

Lin Chengwa, you're really in luck from now on...

As we continued forward, the streets gradually widened, became much quieter, and also much deserted.

This is Qujiang Township in Chang'an District, a genuine urban village. Heading south from the village entrance, you'll find rolling, verdant hills.

That was the Shanglin Garden during the Han Dynasty, where Emperor Xuan of Han's Duling Mausoleum and Empress Xu Pingjun's Shaoling Mausoleum were located.

Besides, there are many ancient tombs from the Han and Tang dynasties. Therefore, the people in this area are generally quite fierce.

After walking a while longer, they encountered a few elderly women chatting. Lin Sicheng went up to them and asked, "Hello, ma'am, could you please tell me how to get to Tao Qizhi's house?"

The old man was taken aback: "Their family has been gone for a long time?"

"It's nothing, we just came to check!"

"Oh~" The old lady's eyes turned strange. She looked her up and down and then pointed forward, "Go two more alleys, turn north, and it's the house with a lantern hanging at the door."

"Okay, thank you!"

Lin Sicheng thanked him and continued forward.

When they arrived at the place the old lady had mentioned, Lin Sicheng stopped and pointed again: "This is it!"

The three-story building was tiled, and the aluminum alloy doors and windows gleamed silver. Osmanthus trees were planted in the yard, and a few golden branches leaped over the wall.

It must have been quite wealthy, but the vermilion gate was tightly shut, the latches secured with wire. Even stranger, white lanterns hung above the gate tower, white couplets were pasted on the gateposts, and many wreaths stood on both sides.

What's even stranger is that the wreaths have changed color and look like they've been there for several years.

The more Gu Ming looked, the stranger it seemed. He stepped forward and peered through the crack in the door.

Paper money was scattered in the courtyard, and an incense table was set up at the entrance of the main room. Looking further inside, Gu Ming was stunned.

The hall doors were wide open, and inside sat a bright red lacquered wooden coffin, followed by an offering table, a portrait of the deceased, and candlesticks.

Funeral hall?

But what kind of family would set up a mourning hall in the main room?

More importantly, the coffin, photos, and altar were covered in dust, clearly indicating that they had been there for several years.

Seeing Gu Ming's strange expression, Ye Anning looked at him as he stood up, and suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

"A coffin...is there a dead person inside the coffin?"

Lin Sicheng didn't say anything, but squatted down and pinched three tufts of soil. After standing up, he bowed again.

In an instant, Ye Anning's face turned pale.

"Cousin Ye is afraid too?"

nonsense.

Ye Anning glared at Gu Ming, then looked at Lin Sicheng: "Is there really someone in the coffin?"

certainly.

It's been sitting here for two years, and according to the original trajectory, it will be stuck for another two years.

"That man's surname is Zhao, his name is Zhao Jing, and his home is in Zhao Jiawan. It's just over Shanglinyuan."

Lin Sicheng pointed south, "As the saying goes, 'those who live near the mountains live off the mountains.' There are quite a few people trading things around here, and quite a few digging tunnels and pits. Every household has one or two things that open up the door..."

"So after dropping out of school, Zhao Jing started dealing in odds and ends, but to be honest, he wasn't very talented and was a very honest person, so he always lost more money than he earned. He was sentenced to a year and a half in prison, and after that he calmed down for a while. Then he got married and had children, and then he went to work on construction sites."

"After working for less than two years, he found it too hard and went back to his old job. But unfortunately, he really didn't have the talent, and his life naturally got worse year by year. In this way, he didn't make any money, but his debts kept piling up."

"Then, two years ago, Zhao Jing somehow heard that Tao Qizhi had unearthed some treasures from the Du Mausoleum, and came to visit him. I don't know how they negotiated, but in the end, he bought a Han Xuan Emperor gold wuzhu coin for eight thousand yuan..."

Ye Anning was taken aback: "Fake?"

Lin Sicheng nodded: "Of course! Let alone eight thousand, even eight hundred thousand wouldn't buy a Han Xuan gold wuzhu coin... After trying to sell it to everyone and failing, Zhao Jing came to return the money after realizing it was fake. Tao Qizhi naturally wouldn't return it, and so it went back and forth like this for more than three months..."

"Afterwards, Zhao Jing was pushed to the limit and said that the eight thousand yuan was borrowed by him, and that he would fight to the death if Tao Qizhi didn't return it. Tao Qizhi didn't believe him and said, 'If you have the guts, hang yourself here, and I'll return it to you...'"

Lin Sicheng sighed and pointed to the gatehouse: "And then, Zhao Jing hanged himself here..."

Gu Ming was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously looked up. Suddenly, he saw a pair of trousers with their legs rolled up hanging from the top beam of the gatehouse.

He looked completely bewildered: "Just for eight thousand yuan?"

"Yes, eight thousand yuan!"

Lin Sicheng nodded emphatically: "You only think that I earn tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan at a time, but you haven't considered that eight thousand yuan is basically the net income of a strong laborer in their twenties or early thirties for a year. In fact, many families work hard for a year and still can't save eight thousand yuan..."

"And in this area, so many people are involved in the illegal trade, but more than 80% of them don't even earn 8,000 a year. Most of them are heavily in debt, and in the end, they are forced to take risks because they have no other choice..."

"Think about it again. Along the way, we've seen plenty of women chatting and children running around, but apart from that card room, how many men have you seen?"

Gu Ming was startled: "They went in?"

"Only a portion of them went in; the majority fled!"

"Everyone wants to get rich, and everyone wants to buy genuine products, but where do so many genuine products come from? And how many ordinary people can distinguish between high-quality fakes and genuine products?"

They were so desperate that they had no choice but to dig a hole and go down into the pit. But your dad's a policeman. Go back and ask him. Forget about imperial tombs; even if it's just a regular Han Dynasty tomb, how many years will he get for digging just one shovelful?

With your careless nature, it's no different from having "I'm so easily fooled" etched on your forehead. Then compare yourself to the person lying in their coffin—how many years did it take you to get to where you are now!

After a slight pause, Lin Sicheng sighed again: "Even if you have a good eye and are careful enough, you might not come across anything worth more than eight thousand yuan a year. Items worth a few hundred or a thousand yuan are the norm."

And after a year of struggling, you might not even earn eight thousand. Instead, you're constantly on edge, afraid of being scammed… So, Gu Ming, in this line of work, finding a bargain is a legend; being fooled is the norm!

Gu Ming was stunned and speechless.

Ye Anning blinked, looking left and right.

After a long while, Gu Ming peeked at the coffin through the crack in the door, then looked at the trouser legs on the lintel.

Lin Sicheng sneered: "What, you don't believe me?"

“I don’t disbelieve it!” Gu Ming shook his head. “I’m just wondering: it’s been two years, why hasn’t he been buried yet?”

“A life can be lost so easily, how can we accept this? The Zhao family is a prominent family, so they set up the mourning hall here and asked the Tao family for one million. The Tao family could only report the case to the police. Afterwards, the police station, the district, and the municipal bureau all came, but it was no use.”

Upon further investigation, it turned out that Tao Qizhi had been imprisoned first: although the gold wuzhu coin was fake, he had quite a few other genuine items in his home… He was sentenced last year and ultimately received an eighteen-year sentence!

"When the Tao family saw that I was already in jail, they thought, 'Why should I pay you anything?' So, the two sides reached a stalemate... The relevant departments mediated several times, but the Zhao family insisted on paying one million."

Finally, Tao Qizhi's wife, driven to desperation, abandoned her child and ran away. Afterwards, the grandparents had no choice but to move away with their grandson overnight.

Zhao Jing's wife abandoned their child and remarried. His parents had died young, and his clansmen took advantage of the situation, demanding a million yuan as compensation. In the end, his body was left exposed... Thus, one family was torn apart, another was ruined, and some even died without a proper burial..."

Lin Sicheng shrugged: "So, you still can't do it?"

Gu Ming glanced at the coffin inside again, then gritted his teeth in resentment: "What the hell am I supposed to do?"

Even a dog's mother wouldn't do that!

It's best not to do it.

Otherwise, Uncle Gu will have to teach you a lesson.

Lin Sicheng nodded secretly, then looked at Ye Anning.

Ye Anning pursed her lips: "I usually don't buy them!"

She doesn't usually buy things, but that was in the past.

But after getting to know him, Ye Anning, while admiring him, also felt a certain resentment deep down.

It's roughly similar to the mentality of "wanting to prove oneself".

And such a fall can be a major setback.

Lin Sicheng thought for a moment and said, "Sister Anning, you'd better never buy it!"

Ye Anning smiled and said, "Can I call you when I buy it?"

Lin Sicheng was taken aback: Could you really say no?

He nodded, and Ye Anning smiled, her eyes narrowing...