When the doorman, Lao Gu, saw Zhou Xiaozheng and the other two, he remained focused on Zhou Jiao, smiling respectfully and muttering a bunch of words. It was simply that the eldest lady had returned, and he could finally go home.
Zhou Xiaozheng silently watched everything in front of him, and the old man in front of him, feeling that time was really cruel.
After bidding farewell to the grandparents and grandchildren, the three of them walked out of the yard and took a last look back at the yard behind them.
Walking on the street. After a while, Zhou Xiaozheng glanced at his son-in-law, only to find that the young couple had already noticed him, and he was secretly relieved.
Here they come, finally following—Zhou Xiaozheng glanced at them with disdain. Even with such tracking skills, they weren't afraid of embarrassing themselves.
He curled the corners of his lips slightly and deliberately walked in the crowd with his daughter and son-in-law.
A thin, dark young man hesitated for a moment and quickly followed.
At this moment, Zhou Xiaozheng noticed from the corner of his eye that the other party was indeed not a trained personnel, and immediately stretched out his right hand to rub his left ear.
Sharp-eyed Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao exchanged glances, both noticing the strangeness of his actions. They smiled at each other and followed Zhou Xiaozheng, watching the crowd around them as if nothing had happened.
A man came out from the dark - if Zhou Jiao saw him at this moment, she would recognize him. The other person was Uncle Wang, whom she had been with a few days ago.
He gestured to someone nearby and noticed that they were heading towards the old house. He smiled with relief, glanced in the direction of Zhou Xiaozheng and the other two, smiled and shook his head, and, carrying a lunch box in his hand, he swayed as he approached the thin, dark young man.
After walking for a long time, they reached the intersection and were about to turn the corner. The man who had just left appeared in front of them after taking a shortcut and shook his head slightly at Uncle Wang.
Uncle Wang smiled and shook the net bag, and the two of them did not make contact. Seeing this, the man in the distance turned around and left.
Elsewhere on the street, Zhang Guoqing stood up and tied his shoelaces. He looked back and saw that the man had stopped following him. He frowned slightly. Why did he always feel like someone was staring at his back?
"Don't dawdle, go back quickly. The child will start crying!" Zhou Xiaozheng looked at his son-in-law with a smile in his eyes, and after saying that, he pulled Zhou Jiao and walked forward quickly.
"Dad, wait for me." As soon as Zhang Guoqing saw his expression, he knew that his father-in-law had made preparations in advance, and immediately ran forward with a smile.
Zhou Jiao noticed that besides the three of them, there was also a couple walking ahead. She winked at Zhang Guoqing, telling him not to ask. Her father would tell them when they returned to Beijing.
It wasn't that she was paranoid; she simply had too many concerns about being in an unfamiliar place. She was already suspicious of Mr. Cheng's early return to the guesthouse, let alone the fact that someone was following her.
Zhou Jiao sighed inwardly. Her father had made such a big fuss this time that everyone knew their family was going south. She knew something would go wrong. Sure enough, they showed up, but she didn't know who they were.
"It's okay, just some small fry." Zhou Xiaozheng whispered to Zhou Jiao. Since he was planning to come to the old house, he had already laid out the plan. With his daughter around, hiding the truth was a piece of cake.
He took this opportunity to show those rats in the dark his methods. He, Zhou Xiaozheng, had not appeared in front of those people for a long time, and it seemed that many people had begun to forget him.
This time he would use bloody means to let those greedy guys see whether the Gu family’s property was so easy to seize.
Zhou Jiao noticed her father's relaxed expression, a cheerful mood. She immediately smiled and nodded. As long as her father could handle it, and knew what was going on, that was all that mattered. Before she knew it, her loving father would soon have a few more lives on his hands.
Uncle Wang, Wang Dawei, followed the thin, dark-skinned young man to a small courtyard. He didn't go in, but watched him from a distance.
After about ten minutes, the other party came back with a cloth bag in his hand.
Wang Dawei pondered for a moment, still standing in the corner. Seeing the other party leave, he stared at the blue brick and tile house. If he guessed correctly, the owner of this house was not the mastermind behind the incident.
Soon, an elderly man emerged. His hair was gray, and his legs were already halfway inside the coffin. Still in good health, he strode briskly out.
Wang Dawei saw that the other person looked around before leaving the house, so he guessed that this person was the contact who had just had contact with the dark and thin young man.
Seeing the other party's caution, he followed from a distance. After crossing two streets, he saw the old man go to the post office to print a telegram and mail two letters.
Wang Dawei immediately looked at the time on his watch. After noting the time, he didn't rush into the post office. He continued to follow the old man, watching him go shopping and going to the restaurant. He secretly laughed at the old man. This old man was in a really good mood.
Nearing the afternoon shift, the man with Wang Dawei appeared before him. He immediately stepped forward to give him a few words, leaving him to continue watching the old man while he hurried to find his comrades to check the telegrams and letters sent by the old man.
At around three o'clock in the afternoon, Wang Dawei put away the note, said goodbye to his comrades, and went to meet his partner.
In front of the square, Wang Dawei and his friend sat by the flower bed.
"There was nothing unusual at Brother Zheng's ancestral home. He left at noon, and the doorman, Old Gu, and his grandson returned home later. No one was seen at the main or side gates. Later, I went to inquire and found that there were only a few members of the Gu family left; they were either dead or had moved away.
The old man just now was also surnamed Gu. He was the only surviving male from the second branch of the Gu family. The rest of the second branch had all died, and he had only one daughter, who married into Hai City. I heard her husband's family was very well-off. He usually kept to himself, and many people called him "Old Coffin" behind his back. I went back with him this afternoon, and I didn't see him leave the house.
Wang Dawei asked, "Did you find out his son-in-law's last name? What kind of job does he do? How many times a year does his daughter come home? Besides the old man, who else usually comes to visit? Doesn't he have any close friends? For example, who can he get along with?"
"Haha... I must have found out. The other party's son-in-law's surname is Liu, and the old man usually calls him Xiaoqing. No one knows his exact name. I heard that he is a senior technician in the garment factory. I guess he is either a machine repairman or a pattern maker. Because of the adoption, the old man has a bad relationship with his son-in-law. In the past two years, even his grandchildren haven't visited.
The strangest thing is, this old man has no friends. He's so stingy that he won't let anyone touch a single onion in his yard, and he often eats out. Behind his back, the neighbors call him "old man" and "old coffin." They wish he'd die soon...
Wang Dawei stopped listening to his gossip and began to think about the problem. Now that he had found out the content and address of the old man's request, he knew what he was going to do by tipping off the capital. He was so old, what was he planning to do? He couldn't take anything with him after he died.
He smiled disdainfully. Just as his brother Zheng had predicted, these people were truly relentless. If the Gu family mansion truly contained a treasure, it would have been gone long ago when the Japanese raided it. How could it possibly have survived until now?
Standing up, Wang Dawei patted the other man's shoulder and said, "I have to rush back to work tomorrow, so I'll leave the rest to you. Just make sure Brother Zheng is safe."
"Come on, I think I'll just go back with you. There are guards around Brother Zheng, but no one is guarding him. Are you sure you're not kidding me? You want me to protect the Soldier King?"
Hearing this, Wang Dawei laughed heartily, "Alright. I'll see what Brother Zheng says tonight. It seems there's no problem here, but it won't be possible without someone in the capital."
"Brother Zheng will leave tomorrow after paying his respects. There's not much point in me staying here. If you're worried, I can transfer two of my old brothers over to keep an eye on the old house."
"No need. The old house will be handed over after tomorrow." Wang Dawei quickly stopped him and pulled him away. Although he didn't understand why Zhou Xiaozheng handed over the old house so easily, it seemed that two families in Beijing had their eyes on the Gu family's old house, so it was better to get rid of this trouble.
“People die for money, birds die for food.” - Who knows who might be eyeing you secretly, so it’s always better to be careful.
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