Chapter 30: Wait a Little Longer

The person outside the door hurriedly said, "Brother Ning Weidong, Ning Wei sent me to find you."

Upon hearing this, Ning Weidong immediately opened the door.

Standing outside the door was a young man wearing a blue cloth cotton-padded jacket, a dog-fur hat tilted to one side, and white mist puffing from his mouth.

He was about the same age as Ning Wei, a bit shorter in stature, with eyes that revealed a sharp wit.

As the door opened, he immediately said, "Brother Ning Weidong, I am Wang Xuewen, do you still remember me?"

A vague memory surfaced for Ning Weidong; back then, there was always a thin, scrawny kid by Ning Wei's side, who seemed to be called Wang Xuewen.

"Xuewen," Ning Weidong replied, then asked, "Is there a situation on Xiao Wei's end?"

Wang Xuewen nodded busily: "Ning Wei and Zhao Chunming are keeping watch..."

Ning Weidong had no impression of Zhao Chunming; he was likely someone Ning Wei trusted as well.

He hadn't expected that Wang Jingsheng would make progress so quickly.

Without another word, Ning Weidong immediately returned to his room to put on his overcoat and left the courtyard with Wang Xuewen.

The two arrived at Fuchengmen Street, but instead of walking along the main road, they went straight to the opposite side and ducked into a small alley.

Before long, after several twists and turns, they entered a messy, dilapidated courtyard.

The people who originally lived here had long since moved away; it was pitch black without a glimmer of light, the doors and windows of the houses in the courtyard had been dismantled, and the roof tiles had been stripped away.

Moving house in this day and age was not like in later generations; all sorts of miscellaneous items, anything that could be thrown away, were discarded.

Nowadays, resources were scarce, and even dried dung was considered a good thing that had to be taken along.

Moreover, after moving, scavengers and scrap collectors would come to rummage through the place several times, leaving absolutely nothing behind.

"Third Brother," as soon as Ning Weidong entered, two figures swayed out from a wind-sheltered room nearby.

After his transmigration, Ning Weidong's physical fitness had not only improved significantly, but his vision and hearing also exceeded those of an ordinary person; he saw these two people clearly—one was indeed Ning Wei, and there was a short, sturdy youth beside him.

He asked in a low voice, "What's the situation?"

Ning Wei said, "Just now, Wang Jingsheng snuck here from home..."

Ning Weidong's heart tightened, and he hurriedly asked, "Is the person still there?"

It was pitch black, and for Wang Jingsheng to come out so furtively, it certainly wasn't without purpose.

Ning Wei pointed to the east: "They are in the neighboring courtyard, follow me." As he spoke, he led Ning Weidong into the room where they had been hiding.

It was called a room, but only the surrounding walls remained; the roof tiles, purlins, and beams had all been dismantled—it was truly "a home with only four walls."

Under the eastern gable wall, a step for climbing had been built using salvaged bricks, about a meter high.

Ning Wei was in front, moving with extraordinary agility; he vaulted onto the step in one motion, reached up to use the leverage, grabbed the top edge of the wall, kicked off the wall with his other foot, and landed silently on the wall top.

Ning Weidong watched from behind, and seeing Ning Wei go up, he followed suit, stepping on the makeshift step to climb onto the wall top.

Ning Wei was startled when he saw him up there; he had originally intended to give him a hand.

Although Ning Weidong's physique could not be called broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, he also didn't look particularly agile or nimble.

Who would have thought that his movement just now was even easier than Ning Wei's.

Wang Xuewen and Zhao Chunming did not follow, remaining below to provide support.

"Third Brother, be careful, walk this way." Ning Wei lowered his voice, crouching as he walked along the wall top.

Ning Weidong pulled his cotton overcoat tight and followed behind.

Following the wall, they crossed the western wing of the neighboring courtyard; Ning Wei stopped and crouched down, reaching out to point at the side room between the eastern wing and the northern house.

Ning Weidong also stopped; he could see the light of a flashlight flickering inside, and could vaguely make out two figures and hear rustling movements.

Ning Weidong had long anticipated that once Wang Jingsheng found a lead, he would definitely want to keep it for himself, and he couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Just then, the flashlight beam flickered and moved out of the room.

By the light of the flashlight, Ning Weidong looked closely and saw that it was indeed Wang Jingsheng and his wife, An Ning.

An Ning appearing here surprised him somewhat.

Although he had only met her once, An Ning had left a deep impression on Ning Weidong.

In terms of looks alone, this woman was not as pretty as Bai Fengyu or Shi Xiaonan, but she possessed a unique, refined temperament stemming from a scholarly family background.

He hadn't expected that she would also be able to follow Wang Jingsheng in the middle of the night to a place where you might step in excrement with any given step.

But upon second thought, he felt relieved; a woman like An Ning who could marry Wang Jingsheng must have gone through many twists and turns, and no matter her background, she would have been tempered by it.

Just as he was thinking this, the two flashlight beams below suddenly vanished.

Wang Jingsheng and An Ning stepped into the night and quickly left the courtyard.

Ning Wei watched, holding a pebble in his hand, and threw it back into the room they had just come from.

With a soft "pop," one of the two men below, Wang Xuewen and Zhao Chunming, immediately split off to follow Wang Jingsheng and his wife.

Afterward, Ning Wei whispered, "Third Brother, shall we go over and take a look?"

"Wait a little longer," Ning Weidong grabbed him and shook his head.

Ning Wei was somewhat puzzled, not understanding what Ning Weidong was waiting for, but ten seconds later, another flashlight beam flashed from not far away.

Following the flashlight, two people arrived at this courtyard and went straight to the side room that Wang Jingsheng and his wife had just inspected.

"Damn, that was god-like foresight!" Ning Wei turned back to look at Ning Weidong with an expression of disbelief.

Ning Weidong, however, remained expressionless, appearing calm and collected.

In truth, it was just luck; he was just taking a shot in the dark, knowing beforehand that Wang Jingsheng had sought out Zhang Jinfa.

People like Zhang Jinfa might appear carefree on the surface, giving the impression of being crude and bold, but in reality, they were all shrewd, exceptionally cunning and cautious when encountering matters.

They couldn't be called truly intelligent—very few truly intelligent people entered this line of work.

But then again, those who were completely brainless and only knew how to be brave and ruthless wouldn't last long either; they would have been eliminated long ago.

Therefore, Ning Weidong had specifically kept an eye out, guarding against Zhang Jinfa.

And he had actually caught him! The two people behind were definitely Zhang Jinfa's backup plan.

Zhang Jinfa was cunning and suspicious; how could he possibly let Wang Jingsheng use him for nothing?

A moment later, those two people flashed their flashlights in that side room for a while and then left quickly; they were likely going to report to Zhang Jinfa.

Only then did Ning Weidong gesture to Ning Wei, say "Let's go over," place his hand on the top of the wall, and vault directly over.

Ning Wei followed closely behind, and one after the other, they arrived at that side room.

This place was no different from the other houses; everything was in shambles, the doors and windows had been dismantled, the roof tiles were gone, and the interior was completely exposed to view.

This room was less than ten square meters in total, and a row of heated brick beds was built against the north side, taking up more than half the area.

"Flashlight~" Ning Weidong reached out his hand to Ning Wei.

Ning Wei had a bright silver flashlight hanging from his waist, which Ning Weidong had spotted as soon as they arrived.

Taking the flashlight, he pushed the switch with a "click," and a not-too-bright orange beam of light shone out.

Just a moment ago, the light had been dim, and he had only taken a rough glance.

With the light from the flashlight, Ning Weidong took another look and immediately frowned tightly.

(End of this chapter)