345: 345 345: 345 Zheng Ergou trembled, pointing across, “Chuanzi, do you feel that…
behind the window…
there’s…
soone?”
“Boom!” All of a sudden, it felt like Chuanzi’s entire scalp was about to explode.
Zheng Dazhi had a gun, and in the entire police station, only three people were qualified to carry guns, and he was one of them.
If they were discovered by him, getting shot without a chance to explain would be the end of it.
Chuanzi’s Adam’s apple bobbed, he swallowed and steadied himself, and turned to look.
It was pitch-black; there were no doors or windows to be seen.
The light coming from who-knows-where showed nothing but large snowflakes—there was nothing to see!
Having cald down, Chuanzi saw Zheng Ergou still shivering and felt even more contempt for him, and the thought of killing him to take the five million for himself swelled even more.
“Brother Gou, there’s nothing there, I only saw this,” Chuanzi grabbed a handful of snow from his shoulder and sared it on his face, “Feeling better now?”
The icy shock steadied Zheng Ergou’s nerves, and probably sensing the mockery in Chuanzi’s words, Ergou’s mood sank again.
He sulked without saying a word, just wanting to get the money quickly.
Chuanzi couldn’t see his expression but saw that he seed to be okay, and they continued their actions.
How to break in was another big problem.
Compared to wooden doors, iron doors are not only heavier but also more prone to making noise.
Here, the hinge was key—if the hinge was under more pressure, that pressure would create noise.
Even lubricating oil wouldn’t work.
“Brother Gou, give a hand.”
“What’s up?”
“Opening the door.
Don’t make a…
hey hey hey, stop fumbling around.”
“Dammit, I’m not blind!
Who the hell wants to touch you!”
Chuanzi took Zheng Ergou’s hand and placed it on the doorknob, “Push slowly, don’t make any noise, and stop imdiately if sothing feels off.”
“And you?”
“I need to stuff cotton in the hinge.”
“Why stuff that stuff in there?”
“To muffle the sound.
Your brother definitely did it on purpose.
I felt it, it’s all rusted inside; it would definitely be loud opening the door.”
Zheng Ergou thought about it, it was true, every ti the gate of the backyard was opened, it was so loud that the front yard could hear it.
Without further thought, Zheng Ergou started to carefully open the door, and not until they had fully opened did the two relax their hands.
“What are you doing?”
Seeing a shadow fumbling in the door fra, Zheng Ergou asked with a shiver.
“Found a cigarette butt.”
“So what?”
“It could’ve been placed in the crack by your brother.
People living in the compounds like to use this trick.
They stick a cigarette butt or a piece of paper in the gap of a table drawer; it’s easy to tell if soone has tampered with it if it’s been moved.”
Ergou Zheng nodded, “What now?”
“Take off your clothes.”
“Take off my clothes?!” The voice was sowhat irate.
“Remove your cotton-padded jacket.
It’s too bulky.
If you bump into any glassware and break sothing, the noise will be huge!”
Originally hesitant, Ergou Zheng saw Chuanzi start to undress first.
Gritting his teeth, he awkwardly peeled off his own padded jacket as well.
He had learned his lesson and asked Chuanzi directly, “Where should I put the clothes?”
Chuanzi pointed to the ground, “Anywhere.”
Ergou Zheng folded his clothes neatly and put them under the eaves, where there was less snow, so it wouldn’t be too cold to put them back on later.
“Brother Gou, be careful when we go in.”
“Fuck!
You’ve got a flashlight!
Why didn’t you take it out earlier?”
Chuanzi ignored him, checked where to step, called him to co in, and then closed the door.
The cigarette butt was pocketed by him, to be reinserted in the door crack later when leaving.
The so-called flashlight was actually a spotlight, small in size, bright in light, and more importantly, it did not scatter light; it illuminated wherever it was pointed.
Because bright light wasn’t allowed, Chuanzi covered it with a layer of white cloth.
A fist-sized beam of light shot out; outside of the light column, there wasn’t the slightest glimr, and everything remained pitch black.
“Chuanzi, screw this.”
The spotlight made a round inside the room, but actually, there was nothing.
There were quite a few items in the room, but most were broken tables and chairs, along with so plastic bags labeled with “Vietnam Aroma Rice,” which upon inspection, turned out to contain flour.
Against the wall was a square table.
Ergou Zheng said that the table was an antique, exchanged by his mother from Panjiayuan, and was supposedly used by Empress Dowager Cixi.
Chuanzi sneered at this, saying that even the rotten grass outside would burn better than this as firewood.
After carefully searching for a while and finding squat, there was no sign of any hidden treasure.
Sure, there was money – they found a coin worth one fen, stuck in the corner of the wall, a damn coin from ’73, which even the bank wouldn’t take.
Ergou Zheng’s face was one of intense irritation as he started searching inch by inch with the spotlight, poking around in the wall cracks with his finger for ages, uncovering nothing but clods of dirt.
It was only now that Chuanzi truly understood how important it is to have a good partner.
The principle of “amnities before army,” proclaid for hundreds of years, failed them at the crucial mont.
Chuanzi really wanted to slap himself – he had just followed along, excited like a puppy, at his words.
What an idiot!
Was Zheng Dazhi soone easy to deal with?
Soone who had stayed in the police station for a decade without incident was definitely not easy to handle!
Fuck!
The five million in this house might just be a ruse of his, a farce made especially for others’ amusent.
Chuanzi, with a bitter heart, looked at Ergou Zheng who was still not giving up, digging here and there.
He glanced at him with disdain, fumbled in his pocket, found no cigarettes, and sat down on the ground in frustration, leaning against the wall and pondering what went wrong.
Setting aside whether there was anything in this room, the first thing to confirm was whether Zheng Dazhi really had the five million.
Judging by Ergou Zheng’s tone and the layout of this room, it should all be true.
Even if there wasn’t five million, there must be sothing else worth hiding.
Chuanzi recalled this saying from his teacher, Duan Liu,; his thoughts gradually cald down.
At the sa ti, he gave up the idea of continuing the search that night.
A burglar never leaves empty-handed; even if you can’t take sothing away, you must leave sothing behind.
A sly smile crossed Chuanzi’s lips as he stood up and started peeing on the table that was said to have been used by Cixi.
Ergou Zheng shone the light on him, saw the urine on the floor, then shone the light on his privates, scornfully comnting that his thing was really small.
Chuanzi didn’t reply, just stood there dazedly, head bowed, intently watching the spot where he urinated, gazing at the puddle on the floor…
“Chuanzi.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ve got sothing I want to talk to you about.”
“Speak.”
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