Chapter 218: Fumin Hostel

Ning Weidong pondered slightly: "That... what hostel..."

An Ning hurriedly said: "Fumin Hostel."

Ning Weidong said: "Can we go take a look in person?"

An Ning nodded and said: "Yes~"

"Then let's go over and take a look~" Ning Weidong waited for An Ning to change her clothes, and the two went downstairs together.

Arriving downstairs, they mounted their bicycles and headed straight for Chang'an Avenue.

Fumin Hostel is on the north side of West Chang'an Avenue, not far from Xidan.

It is a four-story building built during the Republic of China era, with a gray cement European-style exterior; it was built by a company from Germany before World War II and was later bought by the An Family.

Today, the entire building is divided in two from the middle, with only the eastern side still operating as a hostel.

An Ning and Ning Weidong parked their bicycles, took the parking tickets from the attendant, and walked straight into the hostel.

Because of the exterior design, the lighting on the first floor is not very good.

The lobby at the entrance originally had a huge crystal chandelier, but it was later damaged and replaced with incandescent bulbs; because the wattage was insufficient, it was somewhat dim inside.

Two women in their thirties were sitting at the front desk, looking listless.

Seeing Ning Weidong and An Ning enter, they yawned and didn't respond.

If it were a new guest, they would naturally come to handle the procedures, and there was no need for idle talk with those who had already checked in.

Ning Weidong followed An Ning straight up to the fourth floor, which was also the top floor of this hostel.

They arrived at Room 405.

An Ning took out a key and opened the door; she must have used some method to keep a room here long-term.

They entered the room.

One could tell that the decor of this hostel had once been quite good; the lower half of the walls was covered in solid wood wainscoting.

But because of its age, coupled with a lack of maintenance and repairs, it was now somewhat dilapidated.

Inside the room, three beds were lined up along the east wall, covered with blue and white checkered sheets and topped with somewhat yellowed white cotton quilts.

Because the window hadn't been opened, the air in the room was stale, with a smell of rotting wood.

Just as Ning Weidong was looking around, An Ning nimbly moved a chair from under the desk by the window, placed it under the west wall by the entrance, and stepped up onto it.

Hanging above was a mirror with a very vintage style, decorated with lace.

An Ning carefully reached out and took the mirror down.

Ning Weidong watched from the side; the wall behind the mirror was pasted with a newspaper.

An Ning turned and gave him a look; Ning Weidong understood, stepped up, took the mirror, and set it aside.

An Ning freed her hands and peeled off the newspaper on the wall, revealing a patch of wall about a foot square where the plaster was missing.

Ning Weidong's heart tightened.

Although he had guessed what he would see, seeing it with his own eyes still gave him a shock.

Behind the newspaper, a green metal cabinet door was revealed.

This must be a fairly large safe.

The reason for saying "must be" was that the stripped-away plaster only revealed a portion of the metal cabinet door.

The safe had been secretly hidden in the wall, and then the outside was plastered over with cement, seamless and flawless.

He made up his mind not to open it until the right moment.

Ning Weidong glanced at An Ning, his thoughts racing, and asked: "Can't find the key?"

A flash of helplessness crossed An Ning's eyes, and she nodded.

If that weren't the case, why would she need to ask Ning Weidong for help?

For such a large safe, if there was no key, it was almost impossible to force it open without alerting people outside.

An Ning had thought it over and over, not daring to act rashly.

If it were exposed and someone reported it, the gold, silver, and valuables her father left behind would definitely be confiscated.

It might even implicate her.

Finally, after an intense internal struggle, An Ning felt that only Ning Weidong could help her obtain the inheritance in the safe without any alarm or danger.

Having figured this out, Ning Weidong said bluntly: "I can help with this, but even brothers must settle accounts clearly; after it's done, I want seventy percent."

An Ning was not surprised when she heard this.

In fact, before she sought out Ning Weidong, she had anticipated that once Ning Weidong knew about this place, she would lose her leverage.

Although the items belonged to her family, they were now held by those with the "virtue" to keep them.

So when Ning Weidong proposed a "three-seven split," she actually felt more at ease.

An Ning said: "It's a deal."

Ning Weidong took one more look at the hole in the wall and had An Ning paste the newspaper back and hang the mirror up again.

An Ning asked: "What do you plan to do?"

Ning Weidong pursed his lips and asked in return: "How many days can this room be kept?"

An Ning said: "I found someone to buy an Introduction Letter and rented it for a month; there are still ten-plus days left."

Ning Weidong gave an "um" and said: "I'll go back and think about it."

An Ning said: "Then you'd better be quick; I'm afraid that long delays will lead to trouble."

Ning Weidong nodded, and then the two left the room and went down the stairs.

Because it was a hostel with people coming and going, all of them strangers, the clerk at the front desk didn't pay any attention.

After paying the parking fee, Ning Weidong mounted his bicycle and said: "I'm heading back first, we'll keep in touch by phone."

An Ning held her bicycle, watching Ning Weidong ride away, and couldn't help but let out a sigh.

He silently consoled himself; getting thirty percent wasn't bad, and at least it wouldn't be a case of trying to draw water with a bamboo basket—all for nothing.

……

It was only a little past four in the afternoon.

Ning Weidong returned to the Office, his mind filled the entire way with that safe embedded in the wall.

How could he get the things out without anyone knowing? Ning Weidong had been worried about this before; once the channel to the Soviet Union was opened, a large amount of capital would inevitably be needed later.

Ning Weidong's original idea was to go through a bank loan.

This was also the Zhao Family's idea; transferring Zhao Ruyi to the bank earlier was, in a way, paving the road for Ning Weidong.

But loans couldn't be taken out just like that; one had to follow the proper procedures so that no one could find any faults.

How long had Dongyi Company been established? There was no collateral worth mentioning.

This destined the loan amount Ning Weidong could obtain to be very limited.

If he could get this wealth left behind by An Ning's father, it would be equivalent to solving an urgent need.

Ning Weidong thought as he returned to the Office.

He glanced at the wall clock; there was still half an hour until five.

Ning Weidong grabbed the phone and called Zhao Ruyi: "Hello, Ruyi, come by my place first after you get off work."

Zhao Ruyi was slightly surprised; even if she were going to go over after work anyway, Ning Weidong making a special call meant there was something very important today.

She didn't even wait for the end of the workday, greeted her leader, and immediately ran out of her unit.

In less than twenty minutes, Zhao Ruyi arrived.

She asked: "Weidong, what happened?" She knew Ning Weidong was hosting Xieliaosha and his wife today and thought something had gone wrong in between.

Ning Weidong said: "Last time I asked you to keep an eye out for a suitable office building..."

Zhao Ruyi was stunned, not expecting it to be this: "How could it be that fast? This kind of thing definitely needs to be encountered slowly; didn't you say it wasn't urgent?"

Ning Weidong said: "There is a Fumin Hostel near West Chang'an Avenue; see if you can get it."

Zhao Ruyi didn't understand: "What's special about that hostel?"

Zhao Ruyi's reaction was not slow; she heard there was an inside story, otherwise Ning Weidong wouldn't have suddenly had a targeted goal.

Ning Weidong simply didn't cover it up: "It's like this..."

Blah blah blah, he told her about the situation with the An Family, and how An Ning had come to him about a large safe hidden in the hostel wall.

Hearing this, Zhao Ruyi couldn't help but widen her eyes.

This kind of plot was just like listening to a story.

However, since the words came from Ning Weidong, she still believed him, and she began to ponder, musing: "You want to take down that hostel directly and turn it into our company's office building, using the 'feign an attack on one front while attacking another' strategy to open that safe."

Ning Weidong nodded: "That's the idea. I went to see it this afternoon; that safe is very large, and we don't have the key, so it's hard to open easily."

Actually, if he really let go, he might not fail to find those professional experts with the skills to open safes.

It was just that, if he did that, it would be hard to guarantee that news wouldn't leak.

He was afraid of attracting some people who wanted to take advantage, and it might even alarm some powerful figures.

By then, even with the Wang Family and Zhao Family backing him, it might not be enough to suppress the other party.

What's more, once the influence of the Wang and Zhao families was used, a certain amount of benefits would inevitably have to be shared.

So, after thinking it over, Ning Weidong decided to simply use the guise of needing an office building to take over half the building occupied by the Fumin Hostel—killing two birds with one stone, achieving two things at once.

However, the difficulty of this matter was not small, and ordinary people simply couldn't do it.

Zhao Ruyi was a bit worried: "You said how much money could be in that safe? Don't end up working for nothing."

Ning Weidong said: "It shouldn't be little; the An Family was a famous big Capitalist back then, and this place should be where they hid their old foundation in preparation for a comeback."

Zhao Ruyi pursed her lips and cursed: "Wicked Capitalist!"

Ning Weidong said: "As for the An Family, we should still focus on unity; if we really cooperate with Li Yuanchao to produce televisions in the future, we will still need them."

Zhao Ruyi nodded, not knowing that Ning Weidong was confusing the issue by directly conflating An Ning with the An Family in Hong Kong.

In fact, they were not of one mind at all.

The thirty percent given to An Ning this time had nothing to do with the An Family in Hong Kong.

As for why Ning Weidong agreed to give An Ning thirty percent, he actually had other plans.

Through observation during this period, Ning Weidong confirmed that An Ning was indeed estranged from the Overseas An Family, but they were still of the same blood, so both sides still left some leeway.

Coupled with the schemes and abilities An Ning displayed, Ning Weidong intended to cultivate her into a white glove.

Zhao Ruyi leaned on the sofa and thought for a while: "The hostel's superior unit is the Second Light Industry Bureau, Second Light..."

She mused for a moment, suddenly remembered something, stood up, went to the desk, grabbed the phone, and dialed: "Hello, Second Sister..."

Ning Weidong listened from the side, knowing she was calling her second sister, Zhao Yushui.

Zhao Ruyi said: "Second Sister, I remember you have a classmate whose dad is in our city's Second Light... Yes, her name is Wang Hongying... She's not there anymore... Oh, I have something, a serious matter!... She really transferred..."

After chatting for a while, Zhao Ruyi put down the phone and looked at Ning Weidong: "Wang Hongying was Second Sister's junior high classmate; her dad is now at the Ministry of Light Industry..."

Ning Weidong understood in his heart.

Just now, the phone said she was 'no longer at the Second Light Industry Bureau'; after all that, it turned out 'the maternity ward sent good news, she got promoted'.

Zhao Ruyi said: "Second Sister said she can help contact them, but we need to talk carefully about what the situation is. She said to have Brother-in-law stir-fry a couple of dishes tonight, and we should go over."

Ning Weidong agreed.

Since confirming his relationship with Zhao Ruyi, he had met Zhao Lichun and his wife a few times, but had only met Zhao Yushui and her husband once.

Zhao Yushui's husband was named Yu Yan, and he worked at the Urban Construction Bureau.

Ning Weidong took two bottles of Moutai from the office cabinet.

Although they were Zhao Ruyi's second sister and brother-in-law, it certainly wouldn't be good to go empty-handed, especially since he was going to ask for help.

He waited a while longer.

Zhao Yushui hadn't finished her shift just yet; if they had gone directly, she likely wouldn't have been home, so Ning Weidong and Ruyi arrived first.

At about five-thirty, Ruyi drove, heading straight toward the north of the city.

The apartment where Zhao Yushui and her husband lived was provided by Yu Yan's work unit, located near Madian Bridge.

The car drove for over ten minutes.

Parking the car on the side of the road outside the residential compound, Ning Weidong and Ruyi carried two bottles of liquor and had also bought a braised pork knuckle on the way.

It was the very first building inside the entrance of the residential compound.

Ruyi was familiar with the way, trotting upstairs.

Arriving at the east unit on the third floor, she knocked on the door and, without waiting for a response from inside, called out, "Second Sister, open up~"

Before her voice had even faded, the door opened.

Zhao Yushui glared at her: "I could hear you shouting from here~" She then looked at Ning Weidong and smiled: "Weidong is here~ come on in."

Ning Weidong called out "Second Sister" and followed her inside.

Ruyi acted as if she were back in her own home, changing into the slippers on the floor and walking inside: "What good food is Brother-in-law making?"

Ning Weidong set down the liquor and changed his shoes as well.

In the kitchen, a man in his thirties poked half his body out and smiled to greet them; it was none other than Yu Yan.

Zhao Yushui said: "Weidong, you two go ahead and sit."

Ruyi didn't stand on ceremony either; she glanced toward the kitchen, plopped down on the sofa, and picked up a banana from the coffee table in front of her, snapping it off the bunch.

Ning Weidong wasn't reserved either; he had already been before Father Zhao, so there was even less need to be nervous coming to Zhao Yushui's home.

He went to the kitchen doorway and said: "Second Sister, Brother-in-law, don't make too much, just stir-fry a couple of simple dishes will do."

Yu Yan, holding a large ladle, said: "It'll be ready in a moment."

Zhao Yushui was chopping vegetables nearby and, without turning her head, said: "Weidong, you and Ruyi set up the table."

Zhao Yushui and her husband's apartment wasn't considered small for this era: two bedrooms, one living room, one kitchen, and one bathroom.

However, there was only a living room and no dining room; the dining table was usually folded and stood against the wall, only being put down when needed.

Ning Weidong acknowledged her, went to set up the table, and asked Ruyi to fetch the bowls.

After bustling about for a while, the four of them finally sat down.

Yu Yan untied his apron and smiled at Ning Weidong: "Weidong, let's you and I have a good drink today."

Ning Weidong agreed, took the initiative to pour liquor for Yu Yan, and asked Zhao Yushui: "Second Sister, would you like some?"

Zhao Yushui waved her hand: "No need, Ruyi and I will drink soda; you two go ahead and drink~"

Ning Weidong didn't insist: "Then I won't worry about you two~" As he spoke, he poured himself a glass and clinked it with Yu Yan's.

Including the braised pork knuckle, there were four dishes on the table: peanuts, pan-fried hairtail, and a Muxu Pork.

It wasn't particularly sumptuous and was quite rushed, but it wasn't shabby for a regular family meal.

Ning Weidong didn't toast with Yu Yan but took a shallow sip, and Yu Yan took the initiative to ask: "Weidong, I heard from Yushui that you want to find Wang Hongying?"

(End of this chapter)