"Uncle Tan, is it confirmed to be Zhu Changyong himself?"
"We can't be entirely certain, but in all likelihood, yes. When he applied for visitation, he provided documentation and photographs showing they used to be coworkers."
"Did the psychiatric hospital keep copies?"
"No."
Psychiatric hospitals were indeed strict with security, but that was directed inward, not outward. Moreover, outside visits from family members were already exceedingly rare. Once many families sent a mentally ill relative inside, their only wish was to forget the person ever existed.
"Uncle Tan, was it definitely suicide?"
"Her method of suicide was slitting her own throat in public."
Li Zhuiyuan tugged his collar up a little.
Then it had to be suicide. After all, if foul play or a hidden hand had been involved, it wouldn't have been staged in such a blatant, public manner.
"Uncle Tan, isn't there any suspicion that this Zhu Changyong induced or abetted her?"
"On paper, legally speaking, there is. But how do you prove it? Zheng Haiyang's mother was already diagnosed as mentally ill. The best the local police station could do was summon him for questioning. He did leave an address and phone number on the application form, but they belonged to a hotel."
Li Zhuiyuan looked up at Tan Yunlong. He suddenly realized the true reason the officer had come here.
"Uncle Tan, you came here for Zheng Haiyang."
Tan Yunlong nodded, feeling a wave of relief. Talking with Xiaoyuan was so much easier than dealing with his own foolish son.
"Xiaoyuan, the hotel address Zhu Changyong left is right here in Shigang."
Just then, Zheng Haiyang walked out through the school gates. He had eaten lunch with Tan Wenbin and Li Zhuiyuan, but since Tan Wenbin skipped evening self-study to follow Li Zhuiyuan around, Zheng Haiyang had been heading out alone.
"Brother Bin, why are you guys still here?" Zheng Haiyang noticed Tan Wenbin first and came over to greet him.
Tan Wenbin jutted his chin toward the side.
"Oh, your dad's here too."
Tan Yunlong had naturally spotted them as well. Turning around, he pointed a finger at Tan Wenbin and barked, "Go to the cafeteria with Haiyang, have dinner, and keep him company for evening self-study."
"What?" Tan Wenbin froze. Eating dinner with a buddy was no problem, but skipping morning and evening self-study was the cornerstone of his maverick pride!
Tan Yunlong glared at him.
Tan Wenbin's knees immediately went weak. He snapped to attention at once: "As you command, Sire!"
A son always knew when the tiger was only feigning anger—leaving room to play around—and when the tiger was ready to devour a person alive. Tigers didn't eat their cubs, but that was only because the cubs knew when to be clever.
"Let's go, Haiyang, off to the cafeteria."
"Brother Bin, going this late means not only waiting in a long line, but there might not even be any dishes left..."
"Cut the chatter. If worst comes to worst, we'll buy a few packs of Tang Monk jerky from the school canteen. If you don't leave with me right now, my old man might pull off his belt and whip me right in front of the school gates."
As Tan Wenbin and Zheng Haiyang walked inside, two plainclothes police officers followed behind them, clearly assigned to protect the target. During dismissal hours, the gate guards didn't stop anyone who looked like a student, but they kept a sharp eye on adults. When they saw the two plainclothes officers, they greeted them warmly.
In a small town, everyone's paths crossed sooner or later, and those two officers frequently visited the school to conduct legal education campaigns. Assigning them made communicating with the teachers straightforward and avoided unnecessary misunderstandings.
Before long, two male PE teachers, Luo Jinwen and Luo Wenhui, were also pulled aside to assist the police. The two were cousins. One had planned to buy groceries after work to celebrate his wife's birthday, and the other had a movie date lined up with his girlfriend, but both plans were instantly scrapped.
After assigning the task, the dean consoled them, soothing their frustration by praising them as the school leadership's most dependable men. It was true enough; when the school had needed people sent to the capital to investigate Li Zhuiyuan's student records, these two had been chosen, just as they had been the ones tasked with installing the curtains and spring bed in the principal's office.
"Come on, Xiaoyuan, let's go check out the hotel."
"Has he not checked out yet?"
"The station called to inquire. He checked out this morning, but we still need to take a look. Besides, I've already dispatched officers to watch Zheng Haiyang's house."
"Uncle Tan, give me a moment."
Li Zhuiyuan ran over to Runsheng's tricycle and explained the situation to Ah Li. Ah Li nodded in understanding. Aside from the time she had discovered Li Zhuiyuan self-harming his palms and walked away in heartbreak, she never complained about whatever he chose to do.
Runsheng asked if he should drop Ah Li off at home and return with their gear, but Li Zhuiyuan declined.
Having sorted things out, Li Zhuiyuan ran back and climbed onto Tan Yunlong's motorcycle. The two soon arrived outside the hotel.
The hotel bore an utterly generic name: Xingfu Hotel.
To the left of the entrance was a breakfast eatery; to the right stood a hair salon. A typical salon would at least have an iron barber's chair, but this place had none. There wasn't even a pair of scissors or a comb on the counter. Inside sat only a drab, long sofa, upon which two heavily made-up women were cross-legged, knitting sweaters. Pasted on the glass door were words advertising haircuts and hair washing, alongside cupping, foot washing, massage, and PSA. Li Zhuiyuan suspected the letters on the last one were in the wrong order.
The hotel entrance was tiny, consisting only of a narrow staircase leading up to the reception desk on the second floor. Tan Yunlong presented his badge and demanded the guest register. The station had already confirmed by phone that Zhu Changyong stayed here, and they had ordered the room kept unoccupied for the time being.
Led by the proprietor, they walked into the deeper recesses of the building. The manager unlocked the door, and they stepped inside.
The room was minuscule, containing only a single bed, a nightstand, and a low table, with no television in sight.
Tan Yunlong began his inspection and quickly noticed extensive water seepage on the floor. "What happened here?"
"I don't know. Water started seeping in last night. The shop downstairs even complained to me about it. We knocked and came in to check at the time, but the pipes in the bathroom were completely normal. There was so much water on the floor, though, so we figured a pipe must have burst somewhere else and leaked in."
Li Zhuiyuan knelt on the floor to get closer to the puddles.
Even though the floor had been wiped down, the remaining traces of water still carried a subtle stickiness.
This closely matched the traits of water oozing from a dead-flipper.
Tan Yunlong turned to the proprietor. "After he checked in, aside from leaving on his own, did anyone else come to this room to see him?"
Li Zhuiyuan looked up at the manager as well.
The proprietor waved his hands. "No, no one came to see him in this room."
Li Zhuiyuan could tell from the man's micro-expressions that he was lying.
He also knew Tan Yunlong had surely caught it too, because Tan Yunlong had laid a trap in the phrasing of his question. For a room tucked so far down the hallway while the reception desk was out front, how could the proprietor be so positive no one had entered? The natural answer should have been "I don't know," rather than an assertive "no."
Tan Yunlong's face hardened. "I'll give you one more chance. Think carefully before you answer. Do you know what kind of trouble this man is in? If we find out later that you lied to us today, that's harboring a criminal—or even being an accessory."
The proprietor panicked instantly. His face contorted with inner struggle before he finally gritted his teeth and confessed, "Ah Mei came up here."
"Who?"
"From the hair salon downstairs. She came in."
"Did you arrange it?"
"N-Not exactly." The proprietor looked sick, sweat beading on his forehead.
In those days, running this sort of underground business out of a cheap motel was an unspoken norm. Some owners took a cut as partners, while others were simply the pimps themselves.
"Where is she?"
"Right downstairs."
Tan Yunlong and Li Zhuiyuan walked out and stepped into the adjacent salon. Ah Mei turned out to be one of the two women sitting on the sofa knitting sweaters.
Seeing Tan Yunlong enter, one of the women instinctively moved to pull down the rolling shutter. But when she saw Li Zhuiyuan trailing behind him, she blinked in surprise and laughed. "Little brother, you came along for some fun too?"
"He's with me."
"Alright, big brother. Pick one of us, and the other can stay and watch TV with the kid."
There was a black-and-white television in the room, but it appeared to be broken, not even plugged into the wall. Li Zhuiyuan was simply too young right now; had he been just a few years older, they would have happily entertained him too.
"Which one is Ah Mei?"
"Brother, pick me! Isn't this your first time? Did a friend recommend me?"
Tan Yunlong produced his badge. "I'm police. I'm here to ask you a few questions. Sit down."
Both women froze in shock. The other one recovered quickly, her coquettish expression surfacing again, but under Tan Yunlong's cold stare, she withered instantly.
"Did you take a job at Xingfu Hotel last night? Do you remember Room 8025?"
"N-No, I don't remember."
"Think carefully before you answer. I'm not here on a vice raid today."
The woman beside her nudged Ah Mei's arm. "Hurry up and talk! Tell the truth and cooperate!"
Ah Mei grew flustered and said, "I took several customers last night. I don't know which room was which!"
The other woman's expression twisted at once. "You went behind my back and took extra..."
Clearly, Ah Mei had a closer relationship with the motel owner. In shops like this, unless a client specifically asked for someone, customers were taken in rotation. A motel guest was definitely not a regular, since the salon had its own back cubicles with beds.
Li Zhuiyuan spoke up. "The floor in his room was soaking wet, covered in water. The room felt heavily damp."
"Oh! I remember him now! But I didn't sleep with him! He paid me, but he only had me go to the front desk to fetch an immersion heater coil to boil water for him to drink. He kept saying he was desperately thirsty. I boiled so much water for him, and then he just told me to leave."
"Were there any other details? For instance, his accent?"
"It sounded like a northern accent. Also, he was carrying a black briefcase. That's all I know. We didn't take off our clothes or anything."
"Think about his face. Any details?"
"He was pretty tall, around one-eighty. Very skinny, but muscular. He wore a peaked cap. His skin was quite dark, like he had spent a lot of time in the sun. The skin on the back of his hands was peeling—I even asked him if he'd gotten sunburned."
Tan Yunlong nodded. Although there were no direct photographs, the description matched the man who had visited Zheng Haiyang's mother at the psychiatric hospital.
"If he contacts you again, find an opportunity to call the police immediately. He's very dangerous."
"Whew... whew..." Ah Mei patted her chest in terror. Getting caught in a vice sweep only meant detention; women in their trade feared the police, but they feared dangerous criminals far more.
Tan Yunlong lifted the metal shutter, stepped outside with Li Zhuiyuan, and mounted his motorcycle once more.
After riding for quite some distance, Tan Yunlong suddenly murmured, "Xiaoyuan, some things can never be completely swept away."
"What?" Li Zhuiyuan was momentarily taken aback, assuming Tan Yunlong was talking about the case. Then he understood. "Uncle Tan, I get it."
"A house can never stay clean forever, so you just have to sweep it often."
"Yes, Uncle Tan."
The retired elders in the work-unit compound liked to tell him similar things. It meant they genuinely viewed him as a promising young person and wished to pass down upright values.
Their next stop was Zheng Haiyang's home.
It was a very new, two-story self-built house; Li Zhuiyuan had been here on the day of the funeral. Originally, Zheng Haiyang's family had been quite poor, but his father had been shrewd and capable. Working as a seaman alongside his wife all these years had brought in good money, allowing them to build a new house.
Two plainclothes officers were stationed outside. Tan Yunlong greeted them before leading them inside together.
The two elderly grandparents were still wiping away tears, evidently having received the news from the psychiatric hospital. In truth, what worried them most was their grandson. Losing his father and then his mother in such rapid succession—what was the boy going to do now?
The only silver lining was that the house was finished, and their son and daughter-in-law had sent back plenty of savings over the years, all stored away safely.
Tan Yunlong explained his purpose, asking if any strangers had approached the house recently. The two elders insisted no one had.
Yet that was clearly impossible. If Zhu Changyong had chosen to lodge in Shigang, his only objective had to be right here.
During the questioning, Tan Yunlong specifically emphasized that this individual might pose a grave danger to Zheng Haiyang. Upon hearing this, the grandparents grew frightened, desperately begging the police to catch the bad man.
This was a test to ensure the elders hadn't actually been in contact with Zhu Changyong.
Sometimes, investigations ran into bizarre twists, and the strangeness stemmed not from the case itself, but from the people involved. Still, regarding their grandson, the two elders reacted completely normally, proving that Zhu Changyong was operating independently for his own ends.
With the elders' consent, the two plainclothes officers were sent to look around inside.
Tan Yunlong walked out into the courtyard, lit a cigarette, and took a deep drag.
"Uncle Tan, thank you for your trouble."
This wasn't even Tan Yunlong's jurisdiction to begin with, and it technically didn't even constitute an official case yet.
"Xiaoyuan, what kind of talk is that? I can't just pretend a potential danger doesn't exist. Say, Xiaoyuan, what do you make of this?"
As he asked, Tan Yunlong's sharp, hawklike gaze slowly swept across the surroundings. He had a distinct feeling that Zhu Changyong might be lurking nearby.
"Uncle Tan, is it possible Zhu Changyong came here not for a person, but for a specific object?"
"An object?"
"Yes. He might not have come to kill anyone."
This was Li Zhuiyuan's conjecture. The person who truly possessed Zhu Changyong's real identity records was Li Lan's secretary, Xu Wen. But judging by Xu Wen's attitude when discussing him outside the restroom, they weren't enemies; they might even share a certain intimacy.
Wanting someone *dead or alive*—if not spoken of a mortal foe, usually implied the opposite extreme.
This also shed light on Zhu Changyong's background. Although he had snuck aboard that ship, he was different from the two foreign groups led by Honda and Ashley. Even if terrible things had happened beneath the sea, he had no reason to target a crew member's family upon returning to land.
"Then I'll go ask again."
Tan Yunlong went back inside to inquire.
Li Zhuiyuan didn't follow. Instead, mimicking Tan Yunlong's earlier motion, he scanned the surroundings. Only, while Tan Yunlong searched for a living person, Li Zhuiyuan searched for a dead-flipper.
The result was the same: nothing.
Li Zhuiyuan took paper talismans from his pocket and pressed them against the courtyard flagstones and the doorframe. He kept plenty on him at all times, and he plastered every last one across the premises.
Tan Yunlong walked out. "I asked. They claim there are no special belongings. But this time, they might be lying."
Having detected the lie, taking them down to the station would easily yield answers under the weight of that environment. But they couldn't do that now.
"Uncle Tan, we can tell Zheng Haiyang and let him ask when he gets home."
"Mm, good idea."
Tan Yunlong rode the motorcycle back to the school gates with Li Zhuiyuan and ordered two bowls of noodles at an eatery outside.
"Xiaoyuan, what toppings do you want?"
"None for me, Uncle Tan."
By the time they finished their noodles, the third-year evening self-study had concluded. The noodle shop was wrapping up its final business of the day before closing.
Tan Wenbin and Zheng Haiyang walked out side by side. Linked by filial instinct, Tan Wenbin immediately sensed his father's presence.
Tan Yunlong pulled Zheng Haiyang aside for a talk. He didn't take it upon himself to break the news about the boy's mother, but laid out the stakes clearly: a dangerous person was after something belonging to his family, and his grandparents knew what it was but were deliberately concealing it from the police, which could bring grave danger upon the household.
Zheng Haiyang promptly promised that he would question his grandparents as soon as he got home.
Then, pressing his lips together, Zheng Haiyang asked, "Uncle Tan, is my mom... gone too?"
Both were sailors. His father's death had been confirmed, while his mother remained missing without a word, unable even to attend the funeral. Zheng Haiyang had long harbored a grim premonition.
"You'll have to ask your grandparents about that. I don't know either."
"Okay, I understand, Uncle."
Once they finished, Tan Wenbin slung an arm around Zheng Haiyang's shoulder, pulling him aside for some brotherly advice.
"Brother, you see my dad standing right there next to Brother Xiaoyuan, right? You've got to listen to reason. Trust me: you can disobey my dad, but you must obey Brother Xiaoyuan. If you cross my dad, the worst that happens is jail time. If you cross Brother Yuan, people might end up eating at your funeral feast."
"Brother Bin, I understand. All I have left are my grandparents, and I want them to be safe. Besides... to be honest, I feel terribly guilty."
"About what?"
"My dad is dead, and my mom might be gone too, but as their son, I don't feel all that heartbroken inside. I feel like an awful person."
"Bah, what nonsense are you brooding over? Your parents were away all year round, seeing you maybe once a year. It's completely normal for the bond to feel a bit distant."
"But they worked so hard out there for my sake."
"Look at it this way, pal: let it go, and don't beat yourself up. The dead can't come back. If your parents could see you, they wouldn't want you bawling your eyes out and trapped in grief forever. They'd much rather see you healthy and happy. Eat well, drink well, study hard, and get into college. You still have your grandparents to take care of in the future."
"Thank you, Brother Bin."
Li Zhuiyuan walked over. "Brother Binbin, do you have any talismans left in your pocket?"
"Sure do! These are our trademark anti-counterfeit seals!"
"Give them to Haiyang. Haiyang, I stuck some talismans outside your house. When you go back, check to see if any of them have changed color. Then paste a few more outside your bedroom door and your grandparents' door. Don't tell anyone I gave them to you."
"I understand, Brother Xiaoyuan. I'll just say they're peace talismans."
The next morning after morning self-study, just as Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin walked into the classroom, Zheng Haiyang hurried over and whispered, "I asked my grandparents last night, and they told me. When my parents came home last time, they really did bring something back."
Tan Wenbin asked hurriedly, "What was it?"
"Well, I can't quite describe it. Let me draw it." Zheng Haiyang took a pen, flipped open a page in Tan Wenbin's notebook, and began sketching.
Tan Wenbin frowned. "What kind of damn thing is this?"
"I've never seen it myself. I'm just drawing it based on my grandparents' description."
Li Zhuiyuan said flatly, "A ding."
"Holy crap, a national treasure!"
As a high school senior, Tan Wenbin naturally understood what a bronze ding represented.
Li Zhuiyuan recalled Zheng Haiyang's mother mentioning that it had been her first time entering that place, but not her husband's. That meant her husband had brought something out during his earlier expedition.
"But my grandparents said it was very small..."
Li Zhuiyuan said, "Not every ding is massive; there are small ones. What color was it?"
"Dark greenish-black."
Li Zhuiyuan said, "Then it truly might be an ancient relic."
No wonder Zheng Haiyang's grandparents had chosen to hide the truth during Tan Yunlong's second inquiry. Having lost their son and daughter-in-law, the elders naturally attached immense sentimental value to the object.
Tan Wenbin asked, "Did you bring it?"
Zheng Haiyang shook his head. "Back then, my parents hid it down the well in our courtyard. My grandpa and I tried fishing it out last night, but we couldn't snag it."
Tan Wenbin said, "Then we'll have Runsheng go to your place tonight to dredge it up. Runsheng's a pro at this."
Li Zhuiyuan asked, "Did the talismans change at all?"
"I checked when I got home last night and checked again before coming to school this morning. None of them changed color."
Tan Wenbin breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. He hasn't come."
Li Zhuiyuan corrected him, "He hasn't come *yet*."
"Um, will my family be in danger?" Zheng Haiyang asked anxiously.
Li Zhuiyuan said, "There are police stationed outside your house."
Tan Wenbin chimed in, "They can't stay too long, two days at most. Otherwise the officers will start grumbling, since there's no official case filed."
"Brother Xiaoyuan, Brother Bin, then what should I..."
"We'll go to your house tonight," Li Zhuiyuan said calmly. "Once we pull the thing out of the well, your family will be out of danger."
Tan Wenbin asked curiously, "What do we do with it once it's out? Right now, that thing looks like a hot potato."
Li Zhuiyuan rested his head on the desk, preparing to catch up on sleep. He had spent half the previous night drawing Little Oriole. Even so, the boy answered casually, "Hand it over to the state."
Tan Wenbin asked cautiously, "If it was found out in international waters, do we really have to hand it over to the state?"
The boy had already positioned his arms into a pillow and closed his eyes. "Then you can take it home."
"No, no, no!" Tan Wenbin shook his head in terror. "To the state it goes! Let the state have it!"
At noon, the three went out to eat. Afterward, Tan Wenbin called Aunt Zhang's store, telling Runsheng not to bring Ah Li along tonight, but to come equipped with gear.
Just as they walked back to the school gate, they saw Wu Xinhan riding out in his car. The driver was focusing intently on the road, while Wu Xinhan sat in the back seat, waving his hands animatedly and speaking with grand flair. He was on his way to a meeting and couldn't resist holding a final dress rehearsal during the ride.
Inside the school grounds, a celebratory banner was already hung high:
*Warm Congratulations to Student Li Zhuiyuan of Our School for Winning First Place in the Municipal Mathematical Olympiad!*
Curiously, the original words "First Prize" had been crossed out with a diagonal slash and replaced with "First Place." Because the competition ranked awards into tiers, there were multiple first prizes, but only one perfect score. The banner had been made in advance, and Principal Wu had personally ordered the correction. There was no need to replace the banner; the edit made it look all the more domineering!
Located in such a brutally competitive district, the school had been suppressed for far too long. Having finally seized an opportunity, they naturally had to vent their pride.
Li Zhuiyuan merely glanced at it, lowered his head, and continued walking.
Tan Wenbin slapped his thigh in excitement, sprinting back to the classroom ahead of him to round up the underprivileged students in the class.
"What are you all standing around for? Time to work, time to work! Volumes two, three, and four are being sold as a bundle! Except for students receiving hardship aid, no discounts for anyone!"
When Li Zhuiyuan walked in, the classroom looked like a chaotic wholesale book distribution fair, packed with a bustling crowd inside and even more students crowding the corridor outside.
The moment the Olympiad results were posted, the entire school market had erupted. It wasn't just third-years lining up to buy the problem booklets; numerous second- and first-years, and even plenty of middle-school students, had rushed over to buy them. For the younger students, they would need them eventually anyway. Most importantly, by the time they reached high school, the prize winner would already have graduated to university, so they wanted to grab a copy now to soak up some of his good fortune.
Many students, upon purchasing a booklet, immediately pulled out the talisman slipped inside, planted a kiss on it, and carefully tucked it back in with immense reverence.
As one student squeezed past Li Zhuiyuan, a booklet slipped and tumbled to the floor.
Li Zhuiyuan glanced down at the cover and discovered the title Tan Wenbin had given the collection:
*Zhuiyuan Secret Papers*.
The buying frenzy showed no signs of abating even after the bell for noon self-study rang.
In the end, the vice principal and class teacher Sun Qing came over together and called Tan Wenbin out before the crowd finally dispersed.
An hour later, Tan Wenbin returned, grinning ear to ear as he slumped back into his seat.
"Brother, selling problem booklets will be a breeze from now on! You just write the questions, and the school will handle the printing and distribution!"
"Then what took you so long?"
"Are you kidding? I obviously had to negotiate our copyright share with the school! Even between family, accounts must be kept clear!"
"Oh?"
"We're not just selling this one batch! When they sell to other schools in the city, or across the province, we have to collect licensing fees and royalties. The profit-sharing split had to be nailed down. Even after we graduate and go to university, we'll keep receiving checks!"
"Brother Binbin, you really have a mind for business."
"I'm nothing! It's all thanks to you, Brother—you're the priceless asset here. So, after school tonight, are you going to sign the contract with the school? We have an old school-run enterprise license that was practically defunct, but now it's perfect for this."
"I'll authorize you to go in my place."
"Brother, you trust me that much?"
"Mm."
Li Zhuiyuan had no obsession with making money. In that respect, he was very much like Brother Liangliang; their attitude toward money had always been that having enough was plenty, their true pursuits lying on an entirely different plane.
Throughout the afternoon classes, Tan Wenbin spent his time drafting his business proposal.
Li Zhuiyuan glanced at it a couple of times and noticed he had laid out milestone plans, much like an earn-out agreement. For example, winning awards at the provincial Olympiad, national Olympiad, and international Olympiad each demanded a progressively higher royalty split. Although Tan Wenbin had no chance of competing in the Olympiad himself, he possessed an exceptionally sharp grasp of the competition tiers. In addition, college entrance exam scores were factored into the terms.
"Brother Binbin."
"Yeah?"
"What does your mother do?"
"My mom? She's an accountant."
Because they had to visit Zheng Haiyang's house after school, Tan Wenbin used a little trick in the infirmary before the fourth period to fake a fever and secure a sick slip. After handing it to Teacher Yan in the staff office, he slipped away to negotiate. During fourth period, Teacher Yan distributed practice sheets for the students to work on because the school leadership had summoned him to help crunch the numbers for the contract, resulting in an awkward teacher-student "coincidence."
When school let out that evening, Li Zhuiyuan saw the principal's car pull up. Principal Wu stepped out and greeted everyone he saw with radiant warmth, practically bursting with energy and high spirits. He looked like an oppressed daughter-in-law who had finally outlived her tyrannical mother-in-law.
Before the principal's gaze could sweep toward him, Li Zhuiyuan and Zheng Haiyang sprinted out the school gates and found Runsheng.
Tan Wenbin was already waiting there, his left ear swollen red and huge, like Maitreya Buddha's.
"Brother Xiaoyuan, the contract is settled! From now on, write all the problems you want, and just sit back and count the cash!"
"Brother Binbin, your ear..."
"Teacher Yan was only scolding me at first, but when I demanded that the questions you drafted for the Olympiad team be counted toward the commercial booklets too, he blew his top, twisted my ear, and called me out on my fake sick slip."
"Thank you for your hard work, Brother Binbin."
"Not hard at all! We couldn't let the school take advantage of us!"
The three climbed onto the tricycle, and Runsheng pedaled them to Zheng Haiyang's house.
Arriving in the courtyard, Runsheng immediately set to work dredging the well, but he couldn't snag a thing. In the end, he simply climbed down into the well himself, diving beneath the water, but still failed to locate the bronze ding.
Tan Wenbin said, "The ding isn't in there. Could Zhu Changyong have come and taken it already?"
Li Zhuiyuan nodded. "It's possible."
Zhu Changyong had checked out that morning, while Tan Yunlong's station hadn't received the notice requesting assistance until the afternoon. In theory, Zhu Changyong could have come here the night before, retrieved the item, and left Shigang early that morning.
Zheng Haiyang asked anxiously, "What do we do if it's gone?"
Li Zhuiyuan said, "If he already took it, your family is safe."
Zheng Haiyang patted his chest. "Right, right... you're right, Brother Xiaoyuan."
Dusk had fallen.
Zheng Haiyang's grandparents warmly insisted that the boys stay for dinner before heading home.
Everyone sat around the table, and Runsheng lit a pre-meal cigarette.
In the kitchen, the grandparents were bustling about happily, remarking how Haiyang had never brought classmates home to visit before. They also chided Zheng Haiyang for not giving them advance notice so they could have bought more groceries at the morning market.
Tan Wenbin smoothly smoothed things over, keeping the atmosphere lively, while reminding them, "Make sure to cook plenty of rice!"
Once several dishes were laid out, everyone dug in.
Zheng Haiyang's grandmother smiled. "There's still the head dish coming right up!"
Tan Wenbin raised his chopsticks. "Great, great, the head dish is my absolute favorite!"
The head dish was also known as Tongcheng Stewed Three Delicacies, or simply the hodgepodge stew. It featured fish balls, pork rind, wood ear mushrooms, egg ribbons, quail eggs, and other ingredients in a rich broth. It was a staple at local banquets, whether for weddings or funerals.
As they ate, the light bulb overhead began to flicker. Then, with a sharp snap, it went out.
"Old man, go see if the breaker tripped."
"Coming, coming! Move aside a bit, old woman. Everyone sit still, I'm bringing out the head dish first, don't get scalded!"
*Clunk...*
The heavy dull thud of a large basin being set onto the wooden table echoed in the darkness.
"Eat up, boys, make yourselves at home! Plenty of food!"
"Old man, hurry and check the breaker! The neighbors' lights outside are still on, it's not a village blackout!"
"Alright, alright, I'm going right now!"
Moments later, the grandfather's voice drifted in from outside: "Old woman, the breaker tripped! I'm flipping it back on!"
The power surged back. The light flared on.
Around the table, every hand poised with chopsticks froze in place.
Sitting dead center on the table, holding the steaming head dish... was a bronze ding.
Though the light had returned, the faces of the two elderly people darkened into an eerie pallor. Standing beside the table, they waved their hands unceasingly, chanting:
"Eat... go on, eat... don't be shy... hehehehe..."
Chapter 54