As the saying goes, a guilty conscience needs no accuser. Even though the people in the cabin felt that the soldiers weren't after them, they still couldn't rest easy. They got some food, filled their stomachs, and then left the cabin.
Wei Aiguo followed them from a distance, leaving markers as he went so his comrades could find him.
They followed him all the way to the train station at the foot of the mountain. What should they do now?
There were many people at the train station; if a bag full of detonators were detonated, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Wei Aiguo had no choice but to follow them. They managed to get on the train first, and Wei Aiguo also managed to get on the train.
Perhaps feeling more relaxed now that they were on the train, Wei Aiguo noticed they were both sleepy and quickly went to find the train conductor.
Wei Aiguo showed his identification and said he had been following a spy. When asked which spy it was, Wei Aiguo said he couldn't say, and the train conductor immediately agreed to cooperate and didn't ask any further questions.
First of all, Wei Aiguo's military uniform was too eye-catching. The train conductor found him a boiler operator's uniform and hat.
Wei Aiguo pulled his hat down lower, put his hands in his sleeves, and hunched over. The two men didn't even notice that Wei Aiguo was following them.
Unexpectedly, they got off the bus after only a few stops.
The train conductor hadn't contacted the military yet, so Wei Aiguo couldn't give up and had to keep going...
Actually, it was only at this time that Shu Hang returned to the camp with Shen Dongqi, and they immediately reported the situation.
Tian Zhenguo got lost; he hadn't even reached his unit yet.
The troops immediately organized personnel to go into the mountains with the local police to find the cabin, but it was already empty. Following the marks left by Wei Aiguo, they found the train station. Upon arriving at the station, the troops received a call from the train conductor, learning where Wei Aiguo had gotten off, but Wei Aiguo's whereabouts vanished from that point on…
The two were on another train, this one with strict ticket checks. Perhaps they were feeling guilty, because even though they had tickets, they were more nervous than Wei Aiguo, who had evaded the fare.
He changed carriages multiple times on the train. Afraid of getting lost, Wei Aiguo didn't dare to sleep at all.
Fortunately, Wei Aiguo was adept at concealing himself while hunting to avoid startling his prey, and he had developed a remarkable ability to hide, which prevented him from being discovered. He was also not caught by the train conductor checking tickets.
Wei Aiguo didn't have enough money for tickets, and he didn't know where they had bought tickets for. He evaded paying the fare the whole way.
Wei Aiguo followed them all the way to J City. The two men handed the detonators over to Chu Shaowei, the leader of the gang, to exchange for money.
Chu Shaowei then handed the detonator over to someone else. During the handover, Chu Shaowei was extremely cautious, and Wei Aiguo even noticed that the person who came was a driver.
Are they from a government agency?
He wanted to follow the last person to receive the detonators, but they had come by car, and Wei Aiguo couldn't keep up.
Having reached this point, Wei Aiguo was at a loss. He had lost contact with his superiors and had neither support nor outside assistance.
Should he call the police? That car made Wei Aiguo wary, and he didn't dare.
It's understandable that Wei Aiguo thinks this way; only government agencies have cars, and those who can use them are high-ranking officials. Even if the leadership doesn't know, the driver might be using the car without permission. But isn't the driver also a government employee? He could probably find out about it anytime.
He regretted not cutting off the detonator. Wei Aiguo couldn't suppress his anxiety as he thought about where the detonator was and what harm it might cause.
Wei Aiguo tied up the uncle and nephew who had given him the detonators and were trying to leave.
Wei Aiguo didn't get much useful information from them. They said the detonators were stolen from a mine, and someone had helped find a buyer named Chu Shaowei. As for who Chu Shaowei bought the detonators for, or what he intended to do with them, they knew nothing.
The cigarettes and canned luncheon meat were provided by the intermediary. They weren't entirely sure of the intermediary's identity. However, those who possessed these items were people with some influence.
Wei Aiguo's identification documents cannot be used at this time.
Wei Aiguo didn't entirely believe what the uncle and nephew said. He found a letter of introduction on them. Since these letters of introduction didn't have photos, Wei Aiguo used his nephew's identity: Zhang Jianjun, 24 years old, a villager from a small village in the south visiting relatives in J City. He used this identity to rent a detached house. The two men were still tied up in the house.
Wei Aiguo only had a few yuan on him. He had never been full since he started following the Zhang family uncle and nephew, and he had only managed to get to J City by sneaking into the city without paying for tickets. After tying them up, they took money from them and then went to the post office and, after going through several layers of transfers, made a phone call to the army.
The phone call was transferred multiple times and had no confidentiality. Wei Aiguo only said that he was in J City with his relatives, who had sold firecrackers to someone whose identity was unknown.
Wei Aiguo told the military his rented address.
Wei Aiguo decided to become a vagrant and make contact with thugs in order to get close to Chu Shaowei and follow the clues.
In reality, Wei Aiguo is practically a vagrant now; his clothes are already tattered, and he hasn't changed or washed them for days. On the train, an old woman took pity on him and gave him a steamed bun…
He wandered around the black market, buying whatever he found that wasn't expensive. He would then resell it for a few cents. Within two days, he had attracted the attention of some people in the black market.
Selling things honestly on the black market won't bother Chu Shaowei's men. But reselling on the black market is out of the question; only Chu Shaowei's people are allowed to do that. How could they let Wei Aiguo get a share? So Wei Aiguo fought them, and none of them were a match for him.
With the keen senses of a hunter, Wei Aiguo suspected that someone was spying on them during the fight.
Just when Wei Aiguo thought they were going to find fault with him again, Chu Shaowei stopped them, saying he admired him and praised him highly, and even considered recruiting him into his group.
There's a saying that you can't buy something if you're too eager, so Wei Aiguo didn't agree immediately.
The reason is simple. I'm strong and capable enough to earn my own living, so why should I be subject to your control?
Several of the men who had been beaten tried to curry favor with Wei Aiguo, claiming they admired him. Admiration my foot! They just wanted to find out about their situation.
Wei Aiguo openly admitted that he was a vagrant. He explained that he had abandoned his farming job to become a vagrant because he had beaten up the brigade leader's son.
Chu Shaowei was even more tempted after hearing this. Not being able to go home meant he could only wander around outside – perfect! Wouldn't that mean he'd have to rely on him?
But Wei Aiguo remained lukewarm. He was still involved in the black market, and had become familiar with Chu Shaowei's people, but he just wouldn't join you.
Wei Aiguo had already thoroughly investigated Chu Shaowei's reputation. It was rather strange that someone like him would give him this much face.
Wei Aiguo also discovered something else: although Chu Shaowei was the boss, he was subtly afraid of Jiang Changping, who was by his side. In reality, Jiang Changping was the one who truly held the power.
Isn't that strange? If you're going to be the boss, then be the boss. Why stay behind the scenes?
Jiang Changping was only interested in the income from the black market. He wouldn't interfere unless Chu Shaowei's misdeeds resulted in death.
This is what Wei Aiguo learned from overhearing their conversation.
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