After thinking for a moment, Jiang Hao gave the order. In his opinion, the location where the Yu family's tomb raiding group was hiding cultural relics should not be too far away.
Moreover, Jiang Hao wasn't afraid of losing track of the person. Even after Zhuang Rui and Yu Zhenping completed their transaction, he could still pinpoint Yu Zhenping's location based on the backpack containing the money.
Chapter 699 Li Family Village
Jiang Hao guessed correctly, because at this point he had already heard the address of Jiaoshan from the bug on Zhuang Rui.
Meanwhile, the instruments inside the car showed that the target vehicle had entered the highway and was heading towards Jiaoshan.
After inquiring about the situation at Jiaoshan, Jiang Hao immediately arranged for personnel and vehicles to be deployed there, and his own command vehicle also headed towards Jiaoshan. ...
"Gentlemen, there aren't many people going to Jiaoshan at this time of year. It's so hot, there's no way to climb the mountain..."
The first taxi driver was a quiet type, but this second taxi driver was a chatterbox. After asking where he wanted to go, he kept talking non-stop, making Yu Zhenping want to pull out a gun and point it at his head to shut him up.
"My home is in Jiaoshan, can you please say less?"
Yu Zhenping's face was grim. He immediately recalled the words of the previous taxi driver: if he were really a robber, he would have shot this rambling driver dead.
"Okay, I won't say anything, I won't say anything..."
Considering the agreed-upon price of 400 yuan, the taxi driver finally shut up. Not only Yu Zhenping, but also Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei breathed a sigh of relief. This guy was too talkative; he could rival any taxi driver in Beijing.
After turning off the Zhengzhou-Shaolin-Luoyang Expressway, the road became much worse. The original asphalt road turned into a gravel road, and as we drove further in, the car became increasingly bumpy, as we ended up on a mountain road.
Zhuang Rui sat in the car and looked out the window. By the moonlight, he could see the distant mountain range. All around was quiet, and the only sound he could hear was the engine of the car.
From what the driver had just said, Zhuang Rui learned that although Jiaoshan was not too far from Zhengzhou, it was located in the Funiu Mountains and its economy was not very developed due to poor road conditions; it was a well-known impoverished mountainous area.
After bumping along the rugged mountain road for more than an hour, the road became a little easier to travel, and lights appeared ahead. Soon, the car entered a village, and Zhuang Rui saw a school sign by the roadside with the words "Hope Primary School" written on it.
It was only a little past eight o'clock in the evening. Because of the hot weather, many villagers gathered at the door to chat after dinner. When they saw a car driving by, they pointed at the taxi with curiosity, and some children even chased after it noisily.
Perhaps it was because of the trauma he experienced in Shaanxi, but whenever Zhuang Rui came to the countryside, he would always think of Yu Laoda's appearance covered in explosives. He couldn't help but glance at Yu Laoba sitting in front of him. Seeing that Yu Laoba's physique didn't look like he was carrying explosives, he felt a little relieved.
Guided by Yu Zhenping, the car passed through most of the village and stopped in front of a house at the village entrance. Beyond that, there were dense mountains.
Compared to the more dilapidated houses in the village, this house was a two-story building. From the car, all you could see was the high wall, with some broken glass on top of it, which was to prevent people from climbing over the wall.
"Mr. Ren, this place is truly a paradise on earth..."
Zhuang Rui got out of the car and looked at the mountains in the night. He could imagine that if it were early morning, there would be smoke rising from the village chimneys and mist in the mountains.
If Yu Zhenping is determined to stay here and not leave, the police probably really won't be able to do anything about him. This place doesn't even have a police station, let alone a security team. No one would expect that they would have such a stronghold in such a remote place.
"Hehe, this house is a gift for Boss Zhuang. You can come and stay here whenever you have free time. The people here are very kind and honest..."
Yu Zhenping also got out of the car, but as soon as he got out, he was surrounded by a group of children.
"Uncle Ba, Uncle Ba..."
When Zhuang Rui got out of the car, a group of village children kept their distance, but when they saw Yu Zhenping, they swarmed around him, shouting, "Uncle Ba!" "Come on, come on, eat up! Two yuan each, don't fight..."
Zhuang Rui had seen Yu Zhenping carrying a small bag when they were in Zhengzhou, and now he realized that it was full of candy. Yu Zhenping took the bag off and was handing out candy to the children in the village.
It's clear that Yu Zhenping really likes these children. After giving each child a piece of candy, he would affectionately pat the child's head. The cold look that often appeared in his eyes has become peaceful.
"It's Xiao Ba? You kids haven't been here in a while..."
While Yu Zhenping was handing out candy to the children, several villagers came over. The one leading them was an elderly man with a cane. He tapped Yu Zhenping gently with his cane and said loudly, "Get out of here, get out of here! You bunch of little brats, go home and suckle your mothers, don't crowd around here..."
Yu Zhenping looked up and said with a smile, "Uncle Li, it's alright, it's alright, it's all over..."
"Haven't eaten yet? Come on, let's eat at home. You don't even have a stove there. Little Liu, go home and tell your aunt to kill that rooster..."
Without saying a word, Uncle Li grabbed Yu Zhenping. Although the other villagers didn't know Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei, they greeted them warmly. Even the taxi driver was pulled along.
"I'm really hungry, but don't kill the chicken. We can just have something to eat for dinner. Boss Zhuang, let's go eat first..."
Yu Zhenping's stomach was practically growling, so he didn't stand on ceremony and called out to Zhuang Rui before heading off.
Upon seeing this, Kanye quickly shouted, "Which boss would like to pay me? I need to get home today..."
Upon hearing the driver ask for money, Yu Zhenping pretended to pat his pockets, but his eyes were fixed on Zhuang Rui. He said, "Money? Hey, look at me, I was in a hurry to get out. Mr. Zhuang, could you pay the fare first? We can settle the bill later..."
Let alone four hundred yuan, Yu Zhenping can't even come up with four yuan now. After eating two steamed buns at noon, he spent all his money on candy.
Zhuang Rui waved his hand and said, "What do you mean by 'counting' or 'not counting'? It's fine. Peng Fei, settle the fare..."
Zhuang Rui wasn't worried about not having a ride home. The police would definitely be able to enter the village tonight, and he could just follow the police car back.
"Come on, come on, let's go home for dinner. Little Liu, are you asking for a beating? Why haven't you told your aunt yet?"
After they finished talking, Old Li urged Xiao Liu to hurry home and kill the chicken.
"Hey...hey, Sixth Brother, no, we need to keep this rooster to crow. Just stir-fry some vegetables, Uncle Li, we've had plenty of meat outside..."
Yu Zhenping quickly pulled Xiao Liuzi back. He knew that roosters played a very important role in the countryside. They not only crowed, but also led a group of hens. If the rooster was killed, the house would surely be in chaos.
Old Li slapped Yu Zhenping's hand away with his cane and said, "A chicken is nothing. If it weren't for you guys making so much money outside, how would the kids in our village be able to afford to go to school..."
"No, Uncle Li, if you're going to kill a chicken, we'll leave right away..."
"Alright, you've eaten all sorts of things outside anyway, so this chicken won't make a difference. Tomorrow I'll have Dazhuang go up the mountain and hunt some game for you. Little Bazi, you don't know, city people love this kind of food..."
After rambling on for a while, Old Li realized he didn't recognize the two people behind him. He looked at Yu Zhenping and said, "Little Ba, why didn't your older brother and Er Gouzi from our village come this time? These two look unfamiliar to me."
"Uncle Li, my eldest brother and Er Gou are in Shenzhen right now. They've been quite busy this year. They'll come back once they're done. Then we'll build a middle school in the village, so the kids won't have to go to town to study. These two are guests from Beijing. They've never been to the countryside before, so I brought them here to have some fun. Tomorrow, you must have Da Zhuang hunt some wild boar or something to eat..."
Upon hearing Old Li mention Er Gouzi's name, Yu Zhenping's face showed a slightly unnatural expression, but under the cover of night, the villagers did not notice and crowded around him as they arrived at Old Li's house.
"Yes, we have plenty of wild game here. I'll have Dazhuang take some men to set traps in a bit. Xiao Ba, how much does it cost to build a middle school...?"
When Old Li heard Yu Zhenping say that he wanted to build a middle school in the village, his wrinkles immediately smoothed out with a smile. He had long forgotten about asking Yu Zhenping about the villagers and grabbed Yu Zhenping, asking him a barrage of questions.
"Uncle Li, it doesn't cost much. The key is to hire teachers to give lessons. We can just pay them a salary..."
No one knew what Yu Zhenping was thinking. He chatted with Old Li in the local dialect, which Zhuang Rui could only understand most of, while Peng Fei listened with great interest.
As they talked, they arrived at Old Li's house. Zhuang Rui now knew that Old Li was the village secretary of Lijia Village. However, the village secretary was obviously very honest and upright. His house was just as dilapidated as everyone else's, with only a black and white television set from Village 21 in the main room.
Although people in the countryside eat late, they had already eaten long ago. Old Li's wife had lit the fire again and was frying eggs. She also heated up a few steamed buns before serving them.
Sure enough, Yu Zhenping and Zhuang Rui were starving. They grabbed the cornbread buns and ate them with scrambled eggs with scallions. Afterwards, they had a bowl of egg drop soup.
These are all free-range eggs, very fresh. They could sell for eight or nine yuan a pound in the city.
"Wow, this soup is really delicious..."
Zhuang Rui thoroughly enjoyed his meal. Even the lunch at the fancy hotel couldn't compare to the delicious food here. After finishing his meal, Zhuang Rui took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes and offered one to each person in the room.
Chapter 700 The Living Buddha of Ten Thousand Families
"Kid, these cigarettes must cost several dollars a pack, right?"
Old Li had seen Zhonghua cigarettes when he was young, but after becoming the village party secretary, he never saw them again. When he went to meetings in the town or township, he would smoke cigarettes that cost a few yuan a pack as a courtesy. At home, he would just roll tobacco leaves in paper and smoke them.
Inside the room was a young man who had worked away from home. After taking the cigarette from Zhuang Rui, he hadn't lit it yet. Hearing Old Li's words, he couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Uncle Li, you're ignorant, aren't you? This costs sixty or seventy yuan a pack..."
"What did you say? Sixty or seventy yuan a pack?"
Upon hearing this, Old Li quickly stubbed out his lit cigarette, examined it for a while in his palm, and said, "You kid, aren't you talking nonsense? This cigarette is the same as the one I smoke at meetings in town, it only costs a few yuan at most..."
"Uncle Li, forget about how much these cigarettes cost. Auntie's cooking is delicious. Consider this hundred yuan as payment for our meals..."
After finishing his meal, Zhuang Rui didn't want to stay there any longer. Otherwise, if the police arrived soon, he probably wouldn't even be able to see those cultural relics.
When Old Li saw Zhuang Rui take out his money, his face changed. He picked up the 100 yuan and tried to stuff it into Zhuang Rui's hand, saying, "No, no, a few fried eggs aren't worth that much..."
"Uncle Li, please take this. Aren't we going to eat wild game again tomorrow? That stuff is really expensive in the city. Consider this as payment for the meal..."
After Zhuang Rui arrived in this small mountain village and met these simple and honest rural people, the restlessness in his heart disappeared, and he also gained a new understanding of Boss Yu and his group.
From the conversation during dinner, Zhuang Rui had already figured out that the reason why Yu Laoba was so familiar with the people in the village was because of the Hope Primary School in the village.
This Hope Primary School was built with donations from Mr. Yu and a local villager nicknamed Er Gouzi.
Of course, Zhuang Rui didn't think that Boss Yu would be so kind as to spend hundreds of thousands to build a school. If he wasn't mistaken, Boss Yu's purpose was to establish a base for hiding cultural relics here.
Zhuang Rui's guess was correct; the facts were basically consistent with his imagination.
More than ten years ago, Yu Laoda met a man from this village who was working away from home. This man was Er Gouzi, whose real name was Li Wudi. Perhaps his parents named him this in remembrance of their ancestors who were invincible on the battlefield.
However, Li Wudi was a bit different. He had never wanted to farm since he was a child and spent his days idly. After driving his parents to their deaths, he spent his days stealing chickens and dogs. In the end, he couldn't make a living in the village anymore, so he finally packed his bags and went out to work and earn money.
Later, Boss Yu recruited Li Wudi into his tomb raiding gang, and they committed many cases together, making Li a core member of the gang.
Er Gouzi, who had once wreaked havoc on Lijia Village, returned home in glory. He held a three-day banquet in the village and sincerely apologized to the villagers he had wronged, presenting them with valuable gifts. This made the simple and honest villagers readily accept Er Gouzi, who had now become a big boss.
As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. Old Master Yu was suspicious by nature. In addition to setting up two places in the city to store antiques, he also lived in this village for a whole year.
As for Boss Yu, he is Er Gouzi's business partner. He came to Lijia Village to stay for a while because he was feeling unwell and needed a quiet place to recuperate.
With Yu Laoda's methods, over a year, he won over these simple and honest villagers, who all regarded him as one of their own. Yu Zhenping had also lived here for more than half a year, so he was also very familiar with these villagers.
There were originally no people living at the foot of Funiu Mountain. Legend has it that after Li Yan was poisoned by Li Zicheng at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the descendants of Li Yan and Hong Niangzi came here to live in seclusion, hence the name Li Family Village.
Perhaps out of fear of being found by government troops, Lijia Village was like a secluded paradise, only making contact with the outside world during the Republic of China period. It was not until after liberation that it was officially named and included in the government's planning.
Originally, the local government planned to build a road for Lijia Village in order to develop the tourism resources of Funiu Mountain. However, the policy changed later, and the original ecology was to be protected, so the road construction was put on hold.
Seven or eight years ago, Lijia Village was so poor that it was unimaginable. The village party secretary had to take a five or six-hour oxcart to go to the town for a meeting. He could only make the trip three or five times a year to exchange for some firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea.
As the saying goes, "To get rich, build roads first." Without roads, Lijia Village remained poor. To go to school, one had to travel dozens of kilometers. Some people wanted their children to go to school but lacked the means. As a result, most of the children in the village were illiterate.
After arriving here, Yu Laoda first used Er Gouzi's name to take 100,000 yuan to pave a road that was barely passable. Then he took out several hundred thousand yuan to build a Hope Primary School, which was recognized by the higher-level government, and teachers were assigned to it.
It can be said that Er Gouzi and Yu Laoda brought about tremendous changes to the village. Even the 21-inch color TV in Lao Li's house was a gift from Yu Laoda, ostensibly to enrich the rural people's leisure life.
As a result, Er Gouzi and Yu Laoda's status in the village rose dramatically, and their prestige even surpassed that of the old Party Secretary. The villagers practically worshipped the two as living Buddhas.
The two-story building that Er Gouzi built at the same time as the school, although envied by the villagers, was not so conspicuous. Others built a four-story school for the village, so it was only natural for him to build a two-story building.
In previous years, Yu Laoda would come here every year under the pretext of recuperating his health and stay for one or two months, and Yu Laoba would usually accompany him.
Over time, the villagers stopped treating them as outsiders. Even if no one lived in the house for a year or two, no one would bother with it. Moreover, the villagers knew that there was nothing in the house except some broken metal.
These villagers had no idea what it must have felt like for these so-called benevolent monks, who, in their spare time, had thoroughly excavated their ancestors' tombs, unearthing numerous suits of armor and weapons from the late Ming Dynasty.
"Uncle Li, why are you being so polite with me? Boss Zhuang is a big boss, even bigger than my older brother. Just take the money..."