After generations of "family business" were passed down, these people's families evolved into tomb raiding families. Even in modern times, there are still many tomb raiding families in Shaanxi, Henan and other places.
As explained above, "official theft" is not subject to the law. "Private theft," on the other hand, is illegal. Unlike their ancestors, they dare not act so openly and usually only act in the dead of night.
The most concentrated areas for tomb raiding are Shaanxi, Henan, and Shanxi provinces. Due to the increased efforts of the government to crack down on tomb raiding in recent years, tomb raiders have now broken down into smaller groups, usually consisting of two people: one digs the tunnel and passes the burial goods out, while the other clears the soil and keeps watch. These groups are often brothers from the same family.
Weishi is located in the heart of the Guanzhong Plain, the area of the Eighteen Imperial Tombs. Naturally, it has no shortage of professional tomb raiders. In the county where Lao San lives, there is a man surnamed Hu who comes from a family of tomb raiders. He organized a group of unemployed people from the streets, set up a gang, and began to carry out group tomb raiding.
Initially, they excavated several large tombs and reaped considerable profits, acquiring many precious cultural relics. However, these people were all locals who had lived and worked in the area and had no way to sell them. Some people who came to buy cultural relics drove down the prices very low, and they took a lot of risks, but they didn't make much money. In addition, the government began to increase its efforts to crack down on tomb raiding, and patrol teams began to appear around many important mausoleums.
With their source of income cut off, the group, who were used to idling around, started to feel the pinch. As the saying goes, "When people's hearts are scattered, the team is hard to lead." A train runs fast only if the locomotive leads the way. Boss Hu of the tomb raiding group also racked his brains and started looking for new projects. He had to make sure his brothers had food to eat.
Don't break into houses? We organized a few times, broke into three houses, and found a total of 92.8 yuan. We were chased by someone with a kitchen knife for three streets. One of our brothers was almost hit by a car. The risk was too high and the reward was too low, so we gave up.
Robbing people on the road? That requires strength. The brothers can dig holes and pits, but it's hard work. The first time they tried, they were beaten to a pulp by two brothers from the countryside who were out early at the market. Later, they found out that the two brothers were well-known martial arts masters in the area, so that idea was also abandoned.
What? Start a small business? Are you kidding me? Ask three different people what one plus one minus one plus one equals, and you'll get three different answers. Expect them to start a business? They'll lose everything.
To maintain team cohesion, the leader racked his brains for several days without coming up with any ideas. One day, while out for a walk, he inadvertently saw the county grain and oil station's warehouse, and a thought struck him.
As everyone knows, Weishi is known as the granary of Shaanxi Province. Its grain and oil reserves are among the best in the country, with several large grain warehouses and many oil tanks with a capacity of tens of tons.
Of the basic necessities of life—clothing, food, shelter, and transportation—food comes second. People need to eat every day, and oil is indispensable. The boss, driven to desperation, turned his attention to cooking oil.
After Hu returned, he immediately convened a group meeting, which all key personnel had to attend. The topic of discussion was: how to get cooking oil out of the heavily guarded grain and oil warehouse?
"Let's rob it!"
Some people start speaking without thinking, and they're met with a barrage of middle fingers. What a joke! These grain and oil reserves are under national protection; there's a whole squad of armed police guarding them. What are you going to use to steal them? A Luoyang shovel? You'll be met with a magazine of bullets.
“We can cheat. We can get some fake delivery orders, drive a few trucks, and pick up the goods openly.”
The person who came up with this idea used to be an employee of the Shaanxi office of the China branch of the Asia division of the Global Documentation Group. Although he had never committed fraud himself, most of the people who sought his document services were professionals, and he had learned a lot of related skills.
This suggestion was unanimously praised. Boss Hu also highly commended the idea, saying it showed that everyone had put their minds to work. From now on, we'd be making a living through mental labor. So, the tasks were divided up: the person who made the fake documents naturally went to prepare the relevant documents, while the others either contacted trucks or found buyers. Immediately, everyone's enthusiasm was mobilized.
Who knew that after everything was ready, a problem arose when they went to pick up the goods. They didn't understand the process and thought that having the delivery note was enough. However, when there are large quantities of goods to pick up, they usually notify the customer by phone in advance and then confirm by fax. As a result, they didn't need to pick up the goods, and the deal fell through. Fortunately, those people ran away quickly and weren't caught.
The truck driver got arrested? Please, don't treat us guys like idiots. This whole thing is obviously a mess, and you can't trace it back to the driver.
Even without work, life goes on. With such a large group of people to support, the money in hand is dwindling. After being locked up in his room for three days, Boss Hu actually came up with a plan: "What do we do? Professional tunnel diggers!" This plan is working.
So, a shop about a hundred meters away from the grain and oil station was rented by Hu Laoda's men at a high price. What did they sell? Audio and video products. Every day, two large speakers were placed at the entrance of the shop, playing popular songs. This made the staff of the grain station very happy. They could listen to free music every day, and their work was not so boring.
What were Boss Hu and his gang doing? They were digging a hole in the yard behind the shop, of course.
Hu Laoda personally surveyed the terrain, accurately measured the distance between the shop and the grain station, and obtained the properties of the soil layers using a Luoyang shovel. The group of people were eager to get back to their old ways.
Because he was familiar with the process, things went smoothly. Moreover, Boss Hu's professional knowledge was truly impressive. Half a month later, a tunnel 1.5 meters high and 2 meters wide was dug beneath the grain and oil warehouse.
The warehouse was naturally locked up, and it was rarely opened. To be honest, it really fed a lot of rats. When Boss Hu personally dug a hole in the ground, he almost thought he had entered a black cave. It was full of rats, some of which were so big they were almost like spirits.
This warehouse is a combined grain and oil storage facility. Grain is stored on the east side, and several huge oil tanks are on the west side. Boss Hu estimated the area and then filled in the hole. He drilled directly from below to the bottom of the oil tanks, used an oxyacetylene torch to cut a hole in the ground of the oil tanks, and installed a valve. As soon as the valve is opened, the oil will automatically flow into the oil drums below.
That wasn't enough. In order to keep up with modern standards, Boss Hu sent people to install double rails in the tunnel and specially made vehicles that could be pushed on the double rails. This greatly improved the efficiency of stealing oil.
Cooking oil is something people consume every day. Even now, let alone back in 2004, people in rural areas don't buy salad oil or peanut oil from supermarkets. So, Hu Laoda Grain and Oil Group was officially established and opened for business. Moreover, it developed very well. Due to its cheap price and high quality, it quickly opened up the market, and people from all around were able to use the grain and oil they provided.
With money in hand, life improved. In just half a year, Boss Hu and his gang became rich, driving around in cars and acting all high and mighty. But they were grateful for what they had earned. In just half a year, Boss Hu and his gang had made more than 20 million yuan, which was much more lucrative than tomb raiding. This strengthened their resolve to change careers.
Boss Hu didn't forget to develop new businesses. After stealing and emptying four oil tanks in a warehouse, he started to expand his business again, emptying all four warehouses in the grain and oil station. He is already preparing to open branches in other counties and cities, and wants to develop this business extensively.
A friend said, "If something is missing from the warehouse, how could the managers of the grain and oil station not know?"
They really didn't know. In their words, if so much grain was eaten by rats, it should be counted as a loss. Besides, grain was cheap and hard to move, so Hu Laoda and his men didn't touch it much. As for oil, it was a reserve. Who would open an oil tank to check if the oil was low? That would be crazy.
As the saying goes, if you walk by the river long enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet. Just half a month ago, a certain leader was coming to inspect the key national grain and oil reserve unit. Everyone from the county head to the ordinary staff of the grain and oil station got busy. Rat extermination and cleaning were carried out in a great manner. In order to ensure that the leader's inspection was a complete success and that there were no mistakes, even the oil tanks were inspected.
This inspection revealed a shocking truth: nine out of the twelve oil tanks in the entire grain and oil station warehouse were completely empty. This was a serious matter.
Because the leaders' inspections needed to be kept secret, the rat extermination and cleaning operations could not be done superficially. Therefore, the theft of grain and oil was reported to the local government leader in a very confidential manner.
"Investigate! Investigate thoroughly!"
This was a matter of life and death for him, and he was very serious about it. After the county criminal police brigade moved in, they immediately discovered the special valve under the oil tank. Following the clues, they found that the tunnel was also exposed.
To be honest, Boss Hu and his gang were a bit too unprofessional in their work, or rather, they were getting too carried away with their success. After six months without any problems, they had completely relaxed. They had originally sent two underlings to monitor the grain and oil station, but now they didn't bother with it at all. In their eyes, the grain and oil station was just a money tree.
Having discovered the root of the problem, things became much easier. In order not to alert the enemy, they did not dig through the tunnel, but instead secretly set up surveillance and search around the area, casting a wide net. In less than two hours, the video store came into the sights of the investigators.
Boss Hu was unaware that he was being watched. Coincidentally, the oil in the new warehouse's oil tanks was almost empty again. In order to keep the business going, Boss Hu, who no longer operated the equipment himself, came to the shop to prepare to open another tunnel. This kind of professional task still required his guidance.
With the boss present, department managers and key company personnel naturally followed suit, making the arrest proceed exceptionally smoothly. Within half an hour, the entire group, from the CEO to the sales and general staff, was apprehended without exception.
The funniest thing is that because the sound system in the store was so loud, when the criminal police team entered the backyard, those guys were still chatting at the top of their lungs. They probably wouldn't have heard a few shots fired.
When something like this happens, it's natural to conduct an emergency interrogation overnight and to tally up the national losses. If the losses can be recovered, wouldn't the leadership's responsibility be lighter?
The third brother was transferred there because of this incident. He spent two whole days calculating and finally came to the conclusion that a total of more than 40 million yuan worth of edible oil reserves had been lost.
"Third Brother, this matter is truly... truly..."
After hearing this, Zhuang Rui thought for a long time but couldn't find the right words. At first glance, it sounded ridiculous, but upon closer inspection, it was a complete man-made disaster.
The third brother smiled helplessly and said, "Alright, anyway, if the sky falls, there are always taller people above. It has nothing to do with your third brother. By the way, youngest brother, I've been quite busy these past few days and haven't had much time to spend with you. If you're bored, have Er Mao take you for a stroll in my field. The watermelons are ripe now, so you can eat as much as you want."
"Third Brother, why are we being so polite? You go ahead and get busy. I'll take White Lion for a stroll in the fields later."
Zhuang Rui rarely comes to the countryside, so this is quite a novelty for him.
"Hmm, a scientific expedition team has come not far from my melon patch. I'll have Er Mao take you to see what's going on."
The third brother was a little embarrassed, but now that he was going to be the groom, he had to personally entertain the relatives and friends who came, otherwise people would say he was impolite. So he could only ask Zhuang Rui to do it.
Chapter 238 Feng Shui Patterns, Rustic Charm
There's no hustle and bustle of city commuters. No roaring traffic, no scorching heat from steel cages baking in the sun. In the countryside mornings, a gentle breeze blows, smoke rises from distant village chimneys, and the occasional crowing of roosters and barking of dogs echoes, giving one the feeling of stepping into a traditional Chinese ink painting.
The white lion became excited and ran around Zhuang Rui quickly. Its posture was very elegant. Even while running, its huge head was held high, like a noble king looking down on his territory. Every now and then, they encountered a few stray dogs, who tucked their tails between their legs and hid by the roadside, trembling.
Shaanxi is arid and has little water, but a branch of the Wei River happens to pass through this small village. In the distance, the mountains rise and fall like dancing dragons, stretching all the way to the edge of the village, a truly vivid sight. The winding Wei River, like a jade belt, gently floats past Zhuang Rui's eyes before slowly flowing eastward.
The books Zhuang Rui had been reading during this period mainly focused on classical Chinese and Chinese geography, but also included some treatises on feng shui. In his view, the feng shui of this place seemed to match some of the statements in the books.
The distant mountains form an embracing shape, further encircled by the Wei River, creating a "water-embracing" configuration. To the northwest, a continuous mountain range blocks the northwest winds blowing from Gansu, forming a "mountain-encircling" configuration. Although Zhuang Rui wasn't an expert in feng shui, he could tell this was truly a "mountain-encircled, water-embracing" feng shui treasure. It was a feng shui pattern signifying both wealth and nobility. According to the book, such a place would surely contain the tombs of emperors and generals; no wonder Lao San mentioned a scientific expedition team here.
"Brother Zhuang, please sit down. I'll go pick out a watermelon for you. Our watermelons are all sandy-fleshed, big, and sweet..."
Before they knew it, Zhuang Rui and Er Mao, who was leading the way, had arrived at Lao San's melon patch. As far as the eye could see, melon vines covered the ground, and beneath the thick, lush leaves, one could see round watermelons.
Near the dirt road in the melon patch, there was a thatched shed with a bamboo bed inside, probably where the night watchman lived. Er Mao had Zhuang Rui sit on the bed while he went to the field to pick watermelons.
"Hmm? Where's the white lion?"
Zhuang Rui didn't stay in the shed, but followed Er Mao carefully into the melon patch. When he turned around, he found that Bai Shi was nowhere to be seen.
Just as Zhuang Rui was about to shout, the white lion came running from a distance, like a white lightning bolt. It had only been in sight for a few seconds when it was in front of Zhuang Rui.
To Zhuang Rui's surprise, the white lion was carrying a large, fat rabbit in its mouth. As if to show off, the white lion placed the rabbit in front of Zhuang Rui and rubbed its large head against Zhuang Rui's body, almost smearing the blood from its mouth onto Zhuang Rui's clothes.
"Brother Zhuang, your big dog is amazing! Rabbits around here usually hide near their burrows. They're really hard to catch. I doubt even wild boars in the mountains could beat your big dog..."
Er Mao exclaimed in surprise when he saw the rabbit, which weighed at least five or six pounds. He looked at Zhuang Rui with envy. For children who had lived in the countryside for many years, being able to raise a powerful hunting dog was a very prestigious thing.
Zhuang Rui bent down, picked up the dead rabbit, and glanced at it. The rabbit's body had been completely bitten through by the white lion, with several bloody holes exposed in the front and back. He casually handed it to Er Mao and said, "Brother Er Mao, take this rabbit back with you. It'll be a good dish."
The reason Zhuang Rui picked up the rabbit first was because he knew that the white lion would never allow Er Mao to reach out and take its prey. If Er Mao had made that move before, the white lion would probably have pounced on him long ago. Of course, without Zhuang Rui's order, he would not bite.
Er Mao took the rabbit and ran happily towards the shed.
Zhuang Rui patted the white lion's head affectionately, took an apple from his pocket, and threw it far away. Without waiting for a command, the white lion darted out like lightning, catching the apple in mid-air before it hit the ground. It then hopped back, only to deliver a core to Zhuang Rui's hand.
Looking at the white lion beside him, Zhuang Rui felt a strange feeling. If this had happened before, he would definitely have been regarded as a spoiled brat who drove dogs and trained hawks.
"Brother Zhuang, come and eat some watermelon..."
After patting and tapping around in the melon patch, Er Mao picked out a large watermelon weighing over ten kilograms, laboriously carried it into the shed, and called out to Zhuang Rui.
"If we take this melon back to the village and soak it in the well at the village entrance for a few hours, it will taste much better."
As Er Mao spoke, he used a watermelon knife from the shed to cut open the watermelon. The watermelon was ripe, and before he could even cut any further, the whole watermelon split open, and juice flowed all over the ground.
"Mmm, delicious. Er Mao, how do you know this melon is ripe?"
Zhuang Rui praised the melon as he ate it. It had a sandy texture, and when you bit into it, a sweet taste went straight to your heart. Zhuang Rui used to see other people tapping watermelons a few times when they bought them, and he would try to do the same when he bought his own, but he didn't know anything about the proper way to do it; it was just something he did for fun.
Turning his head, Zhuang Rui saw the white lion staring at him expectantly. He quickly put the other half of the watermelon on the ground. It was a watermelon weighing over ten kilograms. Even half of it was too much for him and Er Mao to eat.
Er Mao, munching on a watermelon and wiping his mouth with his sleeve, mumbled, "Brother Zhuang, if you tap a watermelon and it makes a 'plop' sound, it's ripe and will spoil if you don't eat it soon. If it makes a 'thump' sound, it's ripe but can still be kept for a few more days. If it makes a 'clang' sound, it's not ripe yet. You can always buy watermelons this way in the future."
Arriving in this tranquil countryside, Zhuang Rui seemed to have returned to his childhood. After eating a slice of watermelon, he went into the melon patch and, following Er Mao's instructions, started tapping on the melons one by one, having a great time. He thought to himself, "If I learn this trick, I'll never buy unripe melons again."
"roar!"
Just as he was having a great time, Zhuang Rui suddenly heard the roar of the white lion, which startled him. He quickly stood up. He knew that the white lion never roared, so this sound meant that the white lion was extremely angry.
Looking in the direction of the sound, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but chuckle. The white lion was about four or five meters away from him, scratching at a hedgehog in the melon patch with its paws.
This must be an adult hedgehog, entirely gray, its quills completely bristled up. It was curled up in a ball, motionless on the ground. The white lion seemed to have suffered a bit, occasionally poking at it with its paws, and after being pricked by the quills, it quickly retreated a few steps.
Upon seeing Zhuang Rui approach, the white lion stopped going forward and instead began to growl at the hedgehog. It was probably quite helpless; for this creature covered in thorns, it was like a dog trying to bite a hedgehog—it couldn't find a way to bite. It hadn't been paying attention earlier, and when it bit down, its mouth was pricked quite badly.
"Brother Zhuang, tell your big dog to step back a bit, I'm going to catch it. This thing is wicked; it always steals our melons, and it always picks the big ones..."
Er Mao also ran over at the sound. When he saw that it was a hedgehog, his eyes lit up. He told Zhuang Rui to keep the white lion in check, but he turned around and ran back to the shed.
Zhuang Rui also wanted to see how he caught the hedgehog, so he called the white lion back. The hedgehog could sense the threat from the white lion and remained curled up, motionless.
When Er Mao came out of the shed, he had a tattered burlap sack and a stick in his hand. He walked up to the hedgehog, opened the sack, and used the stick to push the hedgehog, which was too scared to move, inside. Zhuang Rui was dumbfounded. He thought it would be difficult to catch, but it was so easy.
"Brother Zhuang, this hedgehog meat is delicious, even more fragrant than rabbit meat. I'll have Sister-in-law Long Hair cook it for you tonight."
Er Mao was very excited to have caught the hedgehog. After tying the sack shut, he held it in his hand and kept swinging it around.
Zhuang Rui waved his hands repeatedly upon hearing this. Although he loved meat, he still avoided this animal covered in thorns.
Zhuang Rui played in the melon patch for a while, then remembered the scientific expedition team that Lao San had mentioned. He was a little curious, since scientific expeditions in the field were most likely about cultural relics archaeology or ancient tomb excavation. So he said to Er Mao, "Brother Er Mao, where is that scientific expedition team? Let's go take a look."
"It's not far from here. Look, just over that little hill ridge. I'll take you there."
Er Mao is Liu Changfa's younger cousin. His task today is to keep Zhuang Rui company. He is very happy to be with Zhuang Rui. First, he got a rabbit, and then he caught a hedgehog. Now he can brag to his friends when he returns to the village.
"Er Mao, why are you picking watermelons again? I really can't eat any more."
Zhuang Rui had eaten so much of that small piece of watermelon that he was feeling quite full. Now that he saw Er Mao squatting there picking at the watermelon again, he quickly went over to stop him. Even though it wasn't worth much, he couldn't let it go to waste.