Old Fei said worriedly, "But what does he plan to do next? Even if the target stops, he still needs time to change boxes."
At this point, the foreigner got tired of walking around and plopped down in a chair. The safe was right next to him, in the center of the living room; he could easily reach it with just a slight lean.
Clearly, another problem arose. Shi Qian had already quietly crouched behind the chair, gently placing the fake safe he was carrying on the ground, but switching the two safes would not be easy.
Shi Qian grabbed the bottom of the cabinet next to the foreigner with both hands and slowly moved it inch by inch. The foreigner was sitting on the side of the cabinet, facing the porch and the bedrooms, with his back to the window, so he couldn't see someone climbing behind him to move the cabinet.
After Shi Qian moved the cabinet two inches, the foreigner also sensed something was wrong. He turned his head to look at the safe and patted the top of it. Shi Qian immediately pulled back. The foreigner, feeling reassured, continued moving it, resting after a while. The foreigner, on the other hand, would sit for a while, observing. The two men, one tall and stout, the other small and wiry, looked like monkeys trying to steal from a bear.
When Shi Qian moved the safe to a corner, the foreigner finally started to experience visual fatigue. In the short time it took him to rub his eyes, Shi Qian had already switched the two boxes over. After rubbing his eyes, the foreigner realized that the safe was actually in its original place and nodded in satisfaction.
What happened next left us speechless. Shi Qian brazenly carried the discarded safe to the window, quickly and silently opened it a crack, and tossed the safe out into the air. We all gasped, but the safe simply hung there, not falling. We then realized that Duan Tianbao, dressed in black, had been lurking outside the 803 window. He caught the safe in one hand and began climbing towards the top floor, wriggling like a fat caterpillar. At this point, the operation was more than half successful; the theft was complete.
Shi Qian quickly closed the window and returned to his original spot. His series of actions—opening the window, throwing the box—were executed flawlessly, taking less than two seconds. Yet, the foreigner still heard the slight noise. He whirled around to see Shi Qian, crouching low and tiptoeing like a ballerina, moving behind him again. Sensing something was wrong, the foreigner jerked his head back, only to find Shi Qian had already moved back. Despite the extremely tense situation, their humorous, pantomime-like performance still made us laugh.
The foreigner finally gave up his reconnaissance, and the two of them sat down back to back, silently and tacitly understanding each other like two old friends. Shi Qian then wiped his sweat and made a face at us from afar.
Fei Sankou wiped his sweat and said, "Your friends..." He didn't finish his sentence, and we didn't know what he meant, but everyone understood that it was the best compliment.
Five minutes later, an excited voice came from the expert team on the rooftop: "The safe is open!" But they immediately added with surprise, "Boss, there are two Qin King Ding tripods in the safe, but we only have one replacement. What should we do?"
Old Fei tensed up again. He thought for less than a second before decisively ordering, "Take both of them. This operation is over. Let the police handle the aftermath." I grabbed him and snatched his communicator, saying, "Listen carefully. The real Qin King's Ding has a mark made by a sharp weapon on the inside of the leg under the thunder pattern. Feel it carefully. If neither of them has it, then they're both fake. Over."
Chapter Fifty-Six: Watching from the Sidelines
As soon as I finished speaking, I realized I had been a bit rash. It seems that only three people in the world, including myself, know the secret of the Qin King's Tripod...
Sure enough, while the experts were busy touching the cauldron, Fei Sankou asked, "How did you know that? It seems that the Qin King's Ding has never left the National Museum of History since it was unearthed in 1962. Even the old experts who have been responsible for its maintenance for many years can only conduct in-depth analysis with the help of instruments."
Just then, an excited voice came through the intercom: "Boss, there really is a mark on the back of one leg, but it's almost impossible to feel because it's covered by patina."
I said, "Let's change to that one!"
The man on the other end clearly recognized that I wasn't Lao Fei, and asked hesitantly, "Boss, are you sure?"
I said to Lao Fei, "I'll explain the other things to you later. There's no time now. The foreigner from the restaurant will be here soon."
One of Lao Fei's field staff members finally couldn't help but say, "You're in charge. You know this isn't like picking watermelons at a watermelon stand."
Fei Sankou gave me a deep look and said into the intercom, "Confirmed!"
Next, the fake safe, which I had tapped with cigarette ash, was put back into the safe and handed to Duan Tianbao. Duan Tianbao's short, fat body scurried back to the window of room 803. He gave Shi Qian inside a signal, and Shi Qian skillfully caught the safe and returned to wait behind the foreigner. But it seemed much more difficult to switch the safe back now—the foreigner's hand was now on the safe.
A hurried report came through the intercom: "Boss, boss, the target at the restaurant has left and is heading towards the 8th floor!"
We turned our binoculars around and, sure enough, saw the foreigners downstairs had gotten up and come to the elevator. One of the field agents said, "Boss, we've caught them red-handed. Even if they discover us, we can just formally arrest them. There's no need to switch the safe back. I suggest we end this operation and let that Shi Qian guy leave."
Fei San said, "Even if we wanted to notify him, there's nothing we could do. Don't worry, I believe Shi Qian also wants to end this mission perfectly."
The field clerk said, "But... it only takes 40 seconds to get from the elevator to the room." Now that the national treasure is in hand, all that's left is a cat-and-mouse game; it doesn't matter if things fall apart. However, I didn't want to tarnish Shi Qian's perfect career, so I gestured for him to leave, telling him that someone was already up.
While keeping an eye on the foreigners' movements, Shi Qian occasionally glanced in our direction. Although we were hidden in the darkness, Shi Qian, who was used to operating at night, could still see us. He saw me gesturing wildly across from him, and I wasn't sure if he understood what I meant, but he just nodded slightly at me.
The voice came through the intercom again: "Target has entered the elevator, 2 seconds remaining until arrival at the room. Countdown begins: 19, 18, 17..."
I was at my wit's end. I shrugged at Shi Qian in despair. Old Fei calmly gave the order: "Inform all forces to be prepared for a direct confrontation!"
A deep, stern voice came through the intercom: "Received."
At this moment, Shi Qian finally understood what I meant, because the countdown had reached "10, 9, 8, 7..." I bent my fingers at him—I needed to get the binoculars, and one hand's fingers weren't enough.
Shi Qian sighed and pulled something from his pocket, walked around to the side of the foreigner carrying him, and let go. A small pellet fell onto the foreigner's shoulder. In the instant the foreigner instinctively flicked the pellet away, Shi Qian had already switched the safe, opened the window as usual, and tossed it to Duan Tianbao before leaping out...
The countdown then began: "5, 4, 3..."
As soon as the door opened, another foreigner entered the room. While he turned to change his shoes, Shi Qian thoughtfully closed the window for them from the outside. When the countdown reached "1", Shi Qian disappeared into the night at just the right moment.
Fei Sankou did not join in the jubilation of those around him. He held up his binoculars and looked for a while before saying, "What Shi Qian pulled out of his pocket was actually a small insect."
His field colleague joked, "We should celebrate that bug's success."
Fei Sankou shook his head and said, "There shouldn't be any small insects in a five-star hotel. Obviously, Brother Shi Qian also thought of this. The reason he hesitated to use this trick was because it wouldn't seem flawless. He's really a perfectionist."
...
Five minutes later, the key figures in this operation had all gathered in the command vehicle. When two young men, barely older than me, carefully handed the Qin King's Ding to Lao Fei, I exclaimed in surprise, "These are your lock-picking experts?"
Old Fei laughed and said, "You think all experts are white-haired old men? If that's the case, we'll just take the appraisal experts to the top floor as well."
I hurriedly shook hands with the two young men, trying to ingratiate myself: "I'll come to you next time I forget my keys."
Two experts: "..."
Old Fei excitedly grasped Shi Qian's hand and said, "Absolutely amazing! That's what performance art is all about!" Then he quickly grabbed Duan Tianbao's hand, "And you, thank you so much!"
The short, stout Duan Tianbao said humorously, "It has nothing to do with me. You can hire a window cleaner to do the job just as well."
But we all know that this is an overstatement of modesty—which window cleaner would dare to climb eight floors without a rope around their waist?
Old Fei solemnly placed the Qin King's Ding in my arms and said, "Please authenticate it one last time to see if it's real or fake."
I found the thunder-shaped pattern on the cauldron, and rubbed it hard with one finger. There was indeed a very faint mark on the inside of the leg beneath it. As I've said before, only three people in the world know this secret—of course, more people know it now. No one knew before because the most you'd do with such an antique is to gently brush it with a small brush; who would dare to scrub the knife marks beneath the patina with their bare hands?
I handed it back to Fei Sankou: "It's really true."
Someone nearby carefully carried the national treasure into a specially treated box. Fei Sankou instructed them, "Take the cauldron to Beijing as soon as possible. If this operation is a complete success, I will recommend you for commendation."