Zhuang Rui glanced at the amount on the contract, but didn't ask any questions. He picked up a pen and quickly signed his name. He figured that Wei Ge, who came from the same professional background as him, would handle these numerical matters very well.
"Alright, I'll transfer the rest of the money to your account tomorrow. I'm heading back now. Here, I'll give you your car keys. Oh well, never mind, I'll just take a taxi..."
Yang Wei finished packing up the contract Zhuang Rui had signed and was about to leave. He knew Zhuang Rui wouldn't be working tomorrow. He was originally going to ask for the car, but then he remembered that his driver's license had been taken away, so he reluctantly withdrew his hand.
"By the way, Lao Yao, you said on the phone that Officer Miao was looking for you. What's up?"
Yang Wei turned back after reaching the door. Curiosity isn't just a woman's trait; men can be even more gossipy.
"It's nothing. Officer Miao isn't very familiar with Zhonghai and wanted me to be his tour guide, but I was too busy with work today and forgot. When I called back later, no one answered."
Zhuang Rui answered honestly, feeling a little guilty. If Officer Miao took his anger out on the boss, it would be his fault.
"You...you actually stood up the pretty girl? Damn it, you were too busy to ask me to go? Oh no, my driver's license is still with that girl, little brother, I'm going to fight you to the death."
Viagra rushed towards Zhuang Rui with a look of grief and indignation. As a result, when he went out, he changed into one of Zhuang Rui's pants. His own pants had been torn by the white lion. The white lion was very obedient and did not bite anyone, but Zhuang Rui had not told it not to bite anyone's pants.
After seeing Yang Wei off, Zhuang Rui checked the time. It was not yet 10 o'clock. He turned on the TV and watched for a while, but the pretentious soap operas on it made him feel bored. Moreover, he kept thinking about Miao Feifei's reaction. She hadn't answered the phone since around 7 o'clock. Was she really going to take it out on Wei Ge?
"Dude, I'll call from a different phone, let's see if you answer..."
Zhuang Rui thought for a moment, took out his phone, looked at the number on it, and dialed it using the landline at home. It was answered after only two rings.
"Hello, who is this?"
Miao Feifei's voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Officer Miao, this is Zhuang Rui. I'm so sorry about today. It's my first day at work. I put my phone on vibrate during the meeting this morning, and then I was looking at documents at the company until after 7 p.m. I forgot that I was going to treat you to dinner. I tried calling you later, but no one answered. I'm really sorry. It's all my fault. I apologize to you. Hello, hello, are you listening?"
Zhuang Rui was afraid Miao Feifei would hang up on him, so he spoke at length without pausing for breath. After he finished, he noticed there was no sound from the other end of the line and assumed Miao Feifei had hung up. Just as he was about to put the receiver down, Miao Feifei's voice came through: "So how are you going to apologize?"
"Dude, I'll offer myself to you..."
Zhuang Rui swallowed those words back. He had made a bad choice in his friends. Liu Chuan and Wei Ge often said the same thing, which almost made Zhuang Rui blurt it out as well.
“I’m off tomorrow and the day after. Officer Miao, wherever you want to go, that’s where we’ll go. I’ll be the driver and tour guide, all meals and lodging included, completely free. How does that sound?”
Zhuang Rui has honed his verbal skills quite a bit during this time.
Miao Feifei wasn't a petty person. She had heard Zhuang Rui mention in the morning that today was his first day back at work in two months, so being busy was to be expected. After Zhuang Rui apologized, she wasn't angry anymore, but she did have the urge to tease him. So she asked, "Where are you planning to take me tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow... tomorrow..."
Zhuang Rui couldn't think of anywhere to take Miao Feifei for a moment.
"Weren't you just giving me platitudes? You clearly weren't being sincere. Are you afraid I'll make things difficult for your classmate and refuse to give him his driver's license?"
Miao Feifei's voice came out, and Zhuang Rui was so anxious that he actually broke out in a cold sweat.
"Let's go to the City God Temple tomorrow. The Nanxiang steamed buns there are famous far and wide. Yu Garden is also right next to it. If we want to do shopping, it's not far from Nanjing Road. What do you think?"
In desperation, Zhuang Rui thought of this place. Actually, he had only been there once with his boss and a few others when he was in college. He didn't remember anything except that there were a lot of people there.
"Okay, if you stand me up again tomorrow, I'll... I'll..."
Miao Feifei raised her little fist on the other end of the phone. Thinking that she had nothing to threaten Zhuang Rui except for confiscating Yang Wei's driver's license, she couldn't help but feel a little deflated.
"Don't worry, Officer Miao. If I stand you up again tomorrow, I'll drive to the entrance of your traffic police squadron and commit a traffic violation to give you a chance to exercise your authority. Is that alright? It's late, I won't disturb your rest any longer. See you tomorrow."
After hearing the reply from the other end of the phone, Zhuang Rui hung up the phone with a smile. He still had a good impression of Miao Feifei. Putting aside her identity as a police officer, Miao Feifei did not have the affectation of ordinary girls. She was straightforward, generous, and a very easy friend to get along with. However, that was all she was—friends. Zhuang Rui had never had any ulterior motives.
The next morning, Zhuang Rui first prepared the white lion's food. Although the white lion was not picky about food, no one dared to neglect such a Tibetan mastiff worth tens of millions. After cleaning up, Zhuang Rui drove straight to Yang Wei's villa area, because Miao Feifei also lived there.
"Can a junior traffic cop afford to live here?"
Zhuang Rui parked his car outside the gate and called Miao Feifei. Looking at the rows of private villas inside, he couldn't help but wonder about Miao Feifei's background. A Beijing native working in Zhonghai and living in a villa worth tens of millions of yuan—only a fool would believe she had no connections.
Miao Feifei arrived quickly. Zhuang Rui had just opened the car window and lit a cigarette when he saw a girl carrying a backpack walk out of the gate. When she got to the car, even Zhuang Rui, who was almost immune to beautiful women, couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
Miao Feifei wasn't very tall, only about 1.67 meters. However, she wasn't wearing her police uniform today. Instead, she wore a tight-fitting gray wool sweater and jeans. Although she was wearing flat sneakers, her beautiful figure was still clearly visible.
What stunned Zhuang Rui was precisely this. He hadn't expected Miao Feifei, after taking off her police uniform, to have such a good figure. Her high breasts, slender waist, and long legs, coupled with her delicate and charming face without any makeup, made one feel an urge to hold her in their arms and protect her at first glance.
"Go ahead and smoke if you want, I'm used to it. Just open the car window."
Miao Feifei opened the passenger door and got in. She saw Zhuang Rui frantically trying to put out his cigarette, but she waved him off nonchalantly. Her former fellow detectives were all heavy smokers, and she had long since become addicted to it.
Zhuang Rui, somewhat embarrassed, tossed his cigarette butt out the window, started the car, and thought, "How dare you smoke with a traffic cop sitting next to you? You'll be charged with traffic violation later, and you won't even have a chance to argue."
The Zhonghai City God Temple was first built during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. At the time of its initial construction, it was still small in scale. It was expanded repeatedly during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and its area continued to grow. It is a Taoist temple of the Zhengyi sect, and often holds Taoist rituals with the aim of "helping the world and saving people". Today is the weekend, and there is a Taoist ritual. Zhuang Rui and Miao Feifei are holding the xiaolongbao and spiced beans they just bought. They are eating them while watching the Taoist priests set up the ritual with great interest.
Zhuang Rui was also seeing a Taoist ceremony being held for the first time. Dozens of Taoist priests walked back and forth around the open space in front of the City God Temple, chanting scriptures, singing praises and making wishes. They walked in circles and performed rituals, sending the wishes of believers to the heavens and inviting the gods to the altar. Many believers sang along on both sides, making it a very grand scene.
"This is pointless, it's like a shamanistic ritual. Let's go."
Miao Feifei got bored after watching for a while and pulled Zhuang Rui to leave.
"Shall we go to the flower, bird, and antique market?"
Zhuang Rui sought Miao Feifei's opinion.
“Okay, when I was in Beijing, I loved going to Liulichang. Let’s go see what good things they have.”
Miao Feifei's words surprised Zhuang Rui; it turned out she was quite the expert.
The people of Zhonghai have turned antique collecting into a major folk tourism attraction, integrating it into a sprawling cluster. There are three or four antique markets near the City God Temple and Yu Garden, which, together with the scattered folk and antique shops on the old street, form a vast and spectacular antique collecting community.
Antique markets across the country are all pretty much the same. Stalls display both new and old Dongyang wood carvings, Tibetan antiques of all sizes such as Thangkas and Tibetan Buddhist implements, and calligraphy, paintings, jade, ceramics, and more. The only things that are somewhat unique are the old or newly printed calendar posters, old phonographs, old vinyl records, electric fans from the 1930s, old telephones, and so on. These items made Zhuang Rui and Miao Feifei linger for quite a while.
"Zhuang Rui, you're a professional. Do you think this piece of jade is an ancient jade? The shopkeeper said it's from the Ming Dynasty, and it looks like it to me."
Holding a dragon-shaped jade pendant, Miao Feifei excitedly asked Zhuang Rui about her workplace. On the way there, Zhuang Rui had already told her about his workplace.
"Officer Miao, you actually believe him when he says it's from the Warring States period? The patina is obviously artificially aged..."
Zhuang Rui looked at Miao Feifei with some helplessness and said that he originally thought she was an expert, but after arriving at the antique market, Zhuang Rui found that Miao Feifei was a complete novice. Her level was about the same as Liu Chuan's, and she looked at everything as if it were real.
"Just call me Feifei, we're friends now."
Miao Feifei wasn't angry. She put down the jade pendant in her hand and ran to the next stall, revealing the forthrightness of a northern girl in her words.
Zhuang Rui shook his head and quickly followed. He realized that finding treasures at these stalls was like finding a needle in a haystack. They had passed thirty or forty stalls along the way, but there wasn't a single item that caught his eye.
"What are you doing? Why are you following us? Are you trying to steal something?"
"Ouch, grandma, be gentle, my arm is going to break! I'm not a thief, really not, this stall owner can vouch for that."
Zhuang Rui was squatting on the ground, looking at a pair of jade unicorn paperweights. Although the paperweights did not contain any spiritual energy, their design and craftsmanship were very beautiful, attracting Zhuang Rui's attention. Just as he was looking at them in a daze, he suddenly heard Miao Feifei's voice beside him, along with a man's cries of pain and pleas for mercy.
"What happened?"
Zhuang Rui turned his head and saw Miao Feifei twist the arm of a young man in his twenties behind his back, her face full of anger.
“This man has been following us since we came in. When you squatted down just now, I saw him walk behind you, acting suspiciously and not like a good person.”
Miao Feifei applied a little force to her hand, and the young man let out another pig-like scream.
"Sister, I'm really not a thief! Brother, please say something! We see each other all the time, you can't just watch me get wronged!"
The young man looked at the stall owner next to him and pleaded.
“Young man, he’s not a thief. He’s just trying to make a living in this market. Let him go.”
The stall owner in front of Zhuang Rui spoke up, but his tone carried a hint of disdain.
"Really? Don't follow us anymore."
Miao Feifei noticed that several stall owners nearby seemed to recognize the young man, so she let him go. The young man, who was rendered immobile by Miao Feifei, a girl who looked delicate, was too embarrassed to stay there and lowered his head to disappear into the crowd.
Zhuang Rui smiled. He knew the young man's background; he was sure he had mistaken them for rich suckers. However, seeing that Miao Feifei was unaffected and was still happily browsing through the stalls, Zhuang Rui didn't say anything more. After turning a corner, Zhuang Rui had forgotten about what had just happened.
"Brother, I'm really sorry about earlier. My little brother here doesn't know how to do things properly."
Zhuang Rui suddenly felt someone pat his shoulder from behind. He quickly turned around and saw a kind-looking middle-aged man standing next to him. This was the young man who had just been reprimanded by Miao Feifei.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to get revenge?"
Miao Feifei also saw the two of them, and quickly put down the item she was looking at and walked over. The young man quickly took two steps back and said, "Gentlemen, please don't misunderstand. My brother has business to discuss with you."
The middle-aged man looked around mysteriously and said in a low voice, "It's not convenient to talk here. Let's find another place to talk. There are fewer people over there. Please, could you please move over there?"
Zhuang Rui grew impatient upon hearing this. This guy was practically in the same line of work as a monkey! His answers were even worse than a monkey's. Just as he was about to wave him away, Miao Feifei asked excitedly, "What kind of business?"
Not to mention, he even pulled Zhuang Rui towards the place the man pointed out.
Arriving at the secluded spot the man had indicated—actually just a quiet place between two shops where no one else was setting up stalls—the middle-aged man approached Zhuang Rui and his companion with a serious expression and said, "Gentlemen, would you like some antiques? They were just dug out of a tomb, guaranteed to be genuine, and the earthy smell hasn't even been removed yet."
Zhuang Rui frowned upon hearing this, and was about to speak when Miao Feifei interrupted him, saying, "Where is it? Let's take it out and see. If it's real, we'll take it."
"Madam, it's not convenient here. The items unearthed from the tomb are being inspected very strictly. If you two really want to see them, just walk a few steps with me. It's not far away. I guarantee you two will have a worthwhile trip."
Upon hearing Miao Feifei's words, the middle-aged man became slightly excited and leaned forward again.
Zhuang Rui panicked and pulled Miao Feifei back, leaning forward and bringing his mouth almost to the middle-aged man's ear. He said in a voice that only Miao Feifei and the middle-aged man could hear, "Get the hell out of here. If you try to trap me again, I'll take you all to the police station."
As soon as he finished speaking, the middle-aged man's expression changed drastically. He turned around, grabbed a bewildered young man standing beside him, and turned to leave. Miao Feifei called out to him a few times, but the man didn't dare to stop and disappeared into the crowd in the blink of an eye.
"Zhuang Rui, are you deliberately causing trouble? That person said there were unearthed cultural relics. If I follow the clues and catch a tomb raiding gang, I can be transferred back to Beijing. Why did you drive them away?"
Watching the two disappear into the crowd, Miao Feifei stomped her feet in anger, venting all her resentment on Zhuang Rui. Although she majored in criminal investigation, she had never solved a case independently before, and Zhuang Rui had ruined such a good opportunity.
Zhuang Rui looked at Miao Feifei's angry face and couldn't help but smile wryly, saying, "Feifei..."
"Call me a police officer. We're not that close."
"Uh, Officer Miao, you said that when you were in Beijing, you often went to Liulichang and never encountered this kind of person? This is the first time I've heard this before?"
Zhuang Rui thought that if this wasn't explained clearly, judging from Miao Feifei's expression, it would probably be even more serious than standing her up yesterday.
"No, when I went to Liulichang before, no one followed me. What does that have to do with today's events?"
Miao Feifei was confused by Zhuang Rui's question.
"When you went to Liulichang back then, you were always wearing a police uniform, right?"
Zhuang Rui thought of a possibility and asked, and after seeing Miao Feifei nod, he continued, "That's right. In Beijing slang, these people are called 'tagalongs.' We're here to find treasures, but they're here to rip people off. They specialize in selling fake items to deceive tourists. The antiques they talk about are indeed unearthed, but those things were buried by themselves and then dug out by themselves. If you want to catch tomb raiders, wander around the wilderness of Shaanxi and Henan. That's more likely to yield clues than digging them out of the tomb raiders."
"Is everything you're saying true?"
Miao Feifei looked at Zhuang Rui with suspicion.
Chapter 152 Chenghua Doucai (Part 1)
"Officer Miao..."