The warehouse stairs were so narrow that two people could not walk side by side, so Sun Miao'er and Fu Yuchi could only go up one after the other.
As Sun Miao'er stepped onto the stairs, the wooden staircase creaked, and the entire staircase even swayed with the rhythm of her steps.
This sudden sway made Sun Miao'er afraid to be careless, and she took each step with extra caution, for fear of stepping on the stairs.
"Master, I'll go up first. This staircase is too fragile; two people can't walk on it together." Sun Miao'er tiptoed up the stairs. The space on the second floor of the warehouse was much narrower than the first floor, and it was crammed full of wooden crates, leaving almost no empty space.
A moment later, Fu Yuchi also went up to the second floor. Perhaps because of his good skills, he made no noise when he went upstairs. When he suddenly appeared behind Sun Miao'er, he startled her.
Sun Miao'er clutched her chest, staring at him in shock. The place was too small; when she turned her head, she almost touched his chin and felt the man's warm breath, which carried a strong herbal fragrance.
"Master, why didn't you say anything before you came up?" Sun Miao'er complained softly, and hurriedly turned her head to look for the goods. Fortunately, Xie was tied up by Chen Laowu and couldn't get away, so they had the opportunity to look for evidence here.
Sun Miao'er searched line by line, muttering to herself, "Zhao, Zhou, Ge, Wu, found it! Wei!"
She exclaimed in surprise. The seals on the top few boxes clearly bore the character "Wei" in regular script. She roughly counted them; there were about seven or eight, which was indeed not many. Just as Wei Rongchang had said, they were all small orders.
But it's so high, how can we get it down? But if it can be put up there, there must be a way to get it down.
Sure enough, in one corner of the warehouse, there was a wooden ladder, propped up at an angle, just big enough to climb up.
Sun Miao'er had a sudden inspiration. "Master, please get me the ladder."
"Let me do it." Fu Yuchi lifted the wooden ladder with one hand and set it up in the passageway. It wasn't very high, but it was still quite dangerous.
Sun Miao'er looked at Fu Yuchi's figure, then at the remaining space between the ladders, and said, "Master, you can't get up there, the space is too small. Even if you did get up there, you wouldn't be able to move around properly. Help me hold the ladder up."
After saying that, she kicked up her legs and started climbing the ladder. Having learned how to climb the ladder in Yunniang's courtyard that day, she was now very skilled and climbed to the top in no time. "Master, hand me the dagger."
Holding the dagger, Fu Yuchi's short dagger was extremely sharp. The scabbard was inlaid with a pigeon blood ruby, and the dagger itself was silver and shiny, so bright that it could reflect a person's image. It was far superior to ordinary iron blades.
Sun Miao'er did not break the seal, firstly because she was afraid that Xie would find out, and secondly because she was afraid that if they went to court later, the evidence would be destroyed. She only used a short dagger to cut open the wooden box, made a gap, pulled out a piece of cloth from inside, and cut off about an inch of it.
"alright."
She reached out and leaned out, wanting to take some cloth from the box next to her, but the two wooden boxes were quite far apart.
No matter how hard Sun Miao'er tried, she was always just a little short.
Finally, after changing angles seven or eight times, she was able to reach another wooden box. However, at this point, she could only place her feet on the wooden ladder, with her entire body leaning out.
So close!
Sun Miao'er hastily pried open the wooden box with a dagger, followed the same procedure, and took out the cloth.
Just then, the wooden ladder made an unusual sound. She was still immersed in the joy of finally getting the cloth when the piece of wood under her feet suddenly broke.
At that moment, her mind went almost completely blank.
She was thrown into the air and landed on Fu Yuchi. Fortunately, Fu Yuchi was below to catch her, preventing her from falling in a mess.
She pinned Fu Yuchi's upper body down in an indescribable position. Although she was slender, the impact of such a solid fall was still considerable.
The problem is that the space is too small, making it difficult to maneuver.
Sun Miao'er tried to get up, but there were boxes on both sides, so she had to slowly back away. "Master, don't move, let me get up first."
"I told you to let me do it, but you didn't believe me." Fu Yuchi's face suddenly turned red. He was indeed a bit older, but he couldn't resist the girl in his heart tormenting him like this.
Sun Miao'er stood up shyly, turned around to hide her embarrassment, still clutching the two pieces of cloth tightly in her hands, her palms sweaty and now feeling chilly. "I was just worried that it would be inconvenient for you, Master. Look, this wooden ladder is collapsing even though I've stepped on it. You definitely won't be able to stand up to it."
“That’s because you’re using it incorrectly,” Fu Yuchi said with a smile.
Sun Miao'er hid the cloth, straightened her clothes which had been wrinkled, and said in a panic, "Master, let's go and see, maybe Chen Laowu is still here."
The two returned to the shop from the backyard. Only Xie was checking the goods. Chen Laowu was nowhere to be seen. However, Xie's face was slightly pale, and he seemed to be in a very depressed mood. It seemed that the two had not reached an agreement.
"Shopkeeper, all the goods are loaded." Sun Miao'er asked, trying to glean something from Xie's words. "Are you done with your work?"
The man surnamed Xie looked up and glanced outside. The street was deserted. People who bought rice and grains usually came in the morning, so apart from those two hours, there were hardly any customers on the road in front of the gate. People who bought cloth would not come here.
"You two come with me later to pick up a shipment," Xie said in a low voice.
As it was getting dark, the man surnamed Xie took the two of them out the door.
Sun Miao'er inquired, "Shopkeeper, where are we going?"
"Speak less, do more!" The man surnamed Xie couldn't swallow his anger at the thought of Chen Laowu asking for 2,500 taels of silver. But he was already on this pirate ship, and there was no turning back.
The streets are dark at night, and even though it's in the city, there aren't many people on the streets unless it's the first or fifteenth of the lunar month.
Sun Miao'er held a lantern in front to light the way for the man surnamed Xie, while Fu Yuchi walked at the very back.
She didn't remember how many alleys she had passed through, but finally she listened outside a house. However, the man surnamed Xie went straight past the front door and went to the back door.
After knocking three times, someone came to open the door. The man surnamed Xie asked, "Where's the goods?"
“Our boss wants you to come in and talk,” the man replied.
The man surnamed Xie led Sun Miao'er and the other woman into the house. The house was brightly lit, and through the paper windows, one could see a black silhouette. Sitting inside was a man.
"You two wait outside," Xie instructed before going inside, leaving the two of them standing in the courtyard.
Who could be inside? Could it be Chen Laowu? But Chen Laowu would openly come to see Xie in broad daylight, so why go to all this trouble to meet here?
The house was chosen in a secluded location, and the courtyard showed no signs of habitation; it seemed more like a place specifically used for meetings and shady dealings.
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