Seeing that it was still early and there was nothing to do, Old Lady Cheng urged them to go and come back early. She also planned not to eat lunch inside, but to take the children out for a walk and see if there was anything she had forgotten to buy.
After the four of them said goodbye to the old lady, Lin Lishan and Cheng Ruzhu went back to their room and brought out two large bags, but they didn't say where they were going.
After they led Zhang Guoqing and his wife out of the restaurant, they walked a long way. Finally, when they passed a secluded alley, the two of them quickly changed out of their military uniforms and put on the coats in their bags.
Zhang Guoqing, standing nearby, quickly took the clothes. He quickly folded them and stuffed them into the bag. Then, feeling uneasy, he covered both bags with a black cloth bag he was carrying and tied them shut. The moment he saw them both out of their uniforms, he knew without needing any explanation that they were up to something shameful.
Zhou Jiao carefully examined the two men's appearance and clothing, noting in particular that their pants and boots were in good condition. She nodded and slowly walked forward, pulling her mother along.
Seeing her nervousness, Cheng Ruzhu smiled and said softly, "Don't be nervous, we've already found out. We're not revealing our identities just in case."
"Well. We met an old man this time. This family is probably going to run away. The old man in the black market contacted us when he saw that we were not short of money. He also specifically stated that he needed to trade with gold. As soon as I heard it, I knew he was going to run away again. I was so angry! I must make a killing from him this time. Who is he?" Lin Lishan whispered angrily.
Zhang Guoqing suppressed a smile. The most endearing thing about his mother-in-law was her strong sense of justice, which didn't hinder her petty bourgeois pursuit of material things. She was also a kind person, at least she wouldn't report it. While connections could allow one to flee abroad these days, what evidence did someone truly need to bring someone down?
He was quite curious about this old man. Why didn't he leave early or late? His timing was perfect!
"Does he trust you? Where is the transaction taking place? What is being traded?" Zhou Jiao was silent for a moment, considering the pros and cons, and began to ask for details.
Lin Lishan whispered in her ear, "A lot of stuff. He said his family has moved to the suburbs and there's no one around. He has a stockpile of fabric and some belongings. He wanted us to come and see him. He wanted to trade gold. Your aunt and I were afraid he was setting a trap, so we secretly followed him home, but we didn't expect it to be true. From the outside, the yard looked like it was still a villa, and the collapsed area only had two rooms. We have to go and see it in person to know the details."
Zhou Jiao glanced at the two of them disapprovingly. Still following? No one knew who was following whom. It's been 58 years now, and he's still able to hide things for so long, and even knew to run away—he's a veteran fox.
She and Zhang Guoqing exchanged a glance, each realizing they had to go with them. Otherwise, if they went there secretly without permission, they'd be finished if something unexpected happened. This place was full of all kinds of people, so how could women like them just barge in?
Zhang Guoqing knew they were just bored. Their comfortable lives made them want to take risks, but now they had no choice but to proceed with caution.
He hadn't quite gotten around to asking: Did they clean up after themselves after following them? But seeing how excited they were, he probably thought they were safe. He still felt uneasy and had to go check on them.
After noting down the address, Zhou Jiao hailed a tricycle. She winked at Lin Lishan and the others, urging them to remain silent. She then began to communicate with the driver in the local dialect, trying to gather information.
She no longer cared about Cheng Ruzhu's curiosity about how she had learned the local dialect in just a few days. Usually, the driver knew a lot about the surrounding environment and the background of the residents. She had to first determine his background.
Zhou Jiao thanked the driver with a smile. She had a vague suspicion that he was the owner of the cloth shop. Perhaps his background was clean, and the liquidation wasn't severe. As for why he wasn't merged? Either he deliberately went bankrupt, or he wasn't originally a prominent figure.
She found another tricycle. More than half an hour had passed when the two tricycles took them to a stop not far from the old man's house.
After paying the money, Zhou Jiao was not in a hurry to go in, and asked Zhang Guoqing to ask around at a few houses not far away.
After a while, Zhang Guoqing came back, nodded with a smile, and said, "He is a smart man!"
Lin Lishan and Cheng Ruzhu were extremely nervous about Zhou Jiao at this moment. Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief, a smile on their faces, glared at the couple, and led them into the villa.
The other party should have known they were coming. When they saw them come in, they quickly opened the door to welcome them.
Zhou Jiao listened to him and Lin Lishan's conversation and glanced at him in surprise. He was so unhurried, it really didn't seem like he was in such a hurry to go to the black market to find a buyer.
While the three of them were chatting, Zhang Guoqing observed the other person. He looked to be in his sixties, dressed casually, and his outstretched hands were uncalloused. He then looked at the two beds in the room and noticed the two or three patches on the quilt. A smile crossed his face, and he nodded slightly to Zhou Jiao.
Zhou Jiao was afraid her mother might let something slip during the conversation, so she immediately stepped forward and said, "Grandpa, let's take a look at the things first. Is that convenient for you?"
The other person stared at her for a long time, then looked at Zhang Guoqing. After a moment of silence, he said, "Did your mother and the others tell you that they wanted to trade gold?"
After saying this, seeing Zhang Guoqing nod, the old man smiled at him playfully, then extended his hand to invite Zhang Guoqing and the others into the inner room.
As soon as they entered the inner room, the old man asked Zhang Guoqing to help move the big bed.
After moving the big bed, Zhang Guoqing stepped aside to avoid suspicion.
The old man pried open the bricks against the wall, revealing a dark room inside. He glanced at the others and began to move things out of the dark room one by one and put them on the big bed.
As the old man unloaded the black oil-paper-wrapped items one by one, Zhang Guoqing couldn't help but assess him again. He didn't believe the old man trusted his group enough to risk revealing his true identity. It simply meant he was desperate to leave immediately. Now that everyone was gone, he certainly wasn't worried about whether they would frame him.
Zhang Guoqing saw that the old man's eyes showed no worry, not like someone experiencing a family crisis. He secretly wondered how he could tell that things were not going well. He carefully recalled the newspapers and magazines he had read recently. He had no time to think about these things right now. He was thinking about how to get the old man to teach him a few tricks.
"Okay, that's all. Besides the fabric, it's all these miscellaneous items. If you want them, just name a price."
Zhang Guoqing saw his mother-in-law and others checking the hundreds of rolls of cloth, then looking at the unfolded valuables on the bed. He smiled at the old man.
The real purpose is not the wine, the so-called mess of things by the old man is the highlight.
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