The ghost market is dark and gloomy. Unless you're an expert, you won't recognize the vendors, and you won't be able to see what's on the stalls clearly unless you look closely. Even if you can see clearly, you might not be able to tell the real from the fake. So it all depends on luck and skill.
An Moxue and Wu Sicheng walked from one end of the stall to the other, looked at many stalls, but only found three that were worth buying.
The time was approaching, and the two left the ghost market with their belongings.
Not far from the alleyway they had just come from, the two of them simultaneously spotted a furtive figure.
He was described as sneaky because he carried a large snakeskin bag on his back, the contents of which were unknown. Even in the dark of night, he was always lurking around, looking here and there, which was clearly not normal.
An Moxue asked, "Follow me?"
Wu Sicheng said, "I'll go with you, you put the things in the car."
"OK."
When An Moxue returned, the person Wu Sicheng had been following hadn't gone very far.
"What's going on?" Are you sure this isn't a joke? Who would do something so bad?
"It looks like this is the first time. Let's grab him and question him." After saying that, Wu Sicheng ran out and headed straight for the man.
With a swift move, he pinned the man to the ground. The man screamed in terror, then trembled, pleading, "Spare us! We'll give you everything, just let us go!"
An Moxue and Wu Sicheng exchanged a glance; it really might be a rookie committing a crime for the first time.
An Moxue took the woven bag, opened it, and found some antiques inside, all of them bronze artifacts, including items of various sizes.
Wu Sicheng's voice, infused with internal energy, rang out, "Where did this come from? Where are you planning to take it?"
"I stole it. I was going to sell it as scrap metal. It's quite heavy. I can get a few bucks from it."
An Moxue thought to herself, "Is this thief joking?"
These are all antiques, and you're selling them as scrap metal?
Is he genuinely ignorant, or is he pretending?
Both of them found it amusing, and the man didn't seem to be lying.
"Where did you steal it from?" Wu Sicheng added a few more bursts of internal energy.
The man still hasn't dared to look up. "It's the third house from the south on this street. They have a lot of porcelain vases, but I didn't want to carry them, so I only took these that aren't easily damaged and can fetch a good price."
The two people listened and inexplicably wanted to laugh; was this guy some kind of clown?
Wu Sicheng asked, "Didn't the homeowner notice?"
The man stammered, "No, no one. I'll just take it and leave." It wasn't hard to hear the nervousness in his voice.
Wu Sicheng then asked, "Do you know who lives there?"
"I know, a minor leader in the Revolutionary Committee."
Both of them noticed the contradictions in the thief's words.
"Take a look?" An Moxue asked.
Wu Sicheng nodded, "Mm."
The two men led the man to the door and asked, "Here?"
"yes."
Wu Sicheng handed the person over to An Moxue and said, "I'll go in and take a look."
As he spoke, he leaped into the courtyard.
A short while later, Wu Sicheng returned and said to An Moxue, "You and I will take him to the police station. You find a place to hide here."
An Moxue looked at Wu Sicheng with a puzzled expression, and he nodded.
No way! Is something going on inside?
Wu Sicheng left with the people and the stolen goods.
An Moxue found a place to hide.
When Wu Sicheng returned, there were three people in the car. When they entered the courtyard, they found a large number of porcelain and bronze artifacts inside the house, all of which were antiques.
After the handover, Wu Sicheng drove An Moxue away, thinking that this matter had nothing to do with them anymore. However, when the police investigated further, they found that it involved a smuggling line and also uncovered a spy network, arresting more than a hundred people involved in the case.
"Mo Xue, I never expected that a petty thief would lead to such a big case. Tell me, did this thief do a good thing or a bad thing?"
"This is what they call doing good with bad intentions!"
"By the way, school starts tomorrow. The house is almost finished being renovated. Let it air out for a few more days before moving in! Or maybe we can move in next semester?"
"Hmm, no rush. We need to get everything tidy up before moving in, otherwise it'll be a hassle."
“Okay.” He wished he could live in his house forever.
The next day, An Moxue got up to practice martial arts as usual, but Old Ma and Aunt Ma got up early to make breakfast and put together a set of clothes they had bought in Beijing. From shoes to clothes, Old Ma even put on leather shoes that he had rarely worn since he retired from the army. He had also gone to the barbershop to get a haircut the day before.
After finishing their meal, it was still early, so Old Ma urged, "Mo Xue, hurry up, bring your ID, admission notice, and camera."
"Uncle Ma, no rush, it's only 6:30, Wu Sicheng hasn't arrived yet!"
"Okay!" Then she saw Old Ma checking his watch every now and then, and Aunt Ma doing the same.
"Oh dear, when is Comrade Wu arriving? Why didn't he come earlier on a day like this? It'll be seven o'clock in ten minutes." Aunt Ma complained as the sound of a car came from outside the door.
"Oh, you've finally arrived!" Aunt Ma jogged to open the door.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw Wu Sicheng and a middle-aged beautiful woman standing at the door with some things in their hands.
Wu Sicheng introduced, "Mom, this is Aunt Ma, Aunt Ma, this is my mom."
The two extended their hands and shook hands briefly. Aunt Ma then warmly greeted them, "Please come in, Comrade Wu's mother. You've also come to take Mo Xue to school."
Xiuyu said gently, "Yes, elder sister, you can just call me Xiuyu. You look older than me."
The three people entered the house chatting and laughing. Two of them put down their things, and after another round of pleasantries, they became acquainted.
Aunt Ma said, "Mo Xue, shall we go now?"
"Let's go." An Moxue, carrying her bag, handed the camera to Wu Sicheng.
The group walked to school like that.
Even from some distance from the school, I could see many students heading towards it, all carrying bedding and luggage, some with patches on their clothes but all clean and tidy, and some even looking thin.
"Those who can go to university have such a good outlook; they all have a lot of vitality," Old Ma said, looking at the students with genuine admiration.
"That's right, those who can go to school and receive national higher education are all pretty good."
As we entered the school gate, Aunt Ma said, "Quick, right here, let's take a picture of Mo Xue as a souvenir. We need to capture that school monument in the photo."
As Aunt Ma spoke, she personally took over, pulling An Moxue along, and also called out to Wu Sicheng, "Comrade Wu, get the camera ready and take a picture of Moxue."
At the bustling entrance, several well-dressed and good-looking people, including Old Ma, a handsome old man, and Aunt Ma, a beautiful woman, were taking pictures, attracting the attention of passersby.
However, they were all seasoned veterans who paid no attention to the people around them and simply enjoyed taking photos.
After taking photos at the gate, the group went into the campus in high spirits. Old Ma, Aunt Ma, and Wu Sicheng's mother, Xiuyu, seemed very excited.
An Moxue and Wu Sicheng exchanged a glance when they weren't looking, their expressions a mixture of helplessness and joy.
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