Chapter 33: The Cellar

Wang Jingsheng noticed his wife suddenly stop and couldn't help but let out an "Ah."

An Ning came back to her senses, bit her lower lip, and said with some hesitation, "Did you check the Cellar in that courtyard?"

Wang Jingsheng was stunned, blinked his eyes, then let out a "Damn it," slapped his thigh hard, paced back and forth on the ground twice, and looked at An Ning again: "You mean~ Qi Jiazui most likely hid the things in the Cellar back then!"

Wang Jingsheng's intention to go to the Cellar to get things just now had reminded An Ning.

Since there was nothing after digging three feet deep in the room, the only place left where things could be hidden was the Cellar.

Wang Jingsheng didn't say another word and started walking out.

But he was stopped by An Ning: "Wait, I'll go with you."

……

On the other side, Ning Weidong had a sudden inspiration and also thought of the Cellar.

Generally speaking, the Dazayuan in Beijing all had Cellars for storing winter vegetables, usually shared by several households.

Each family had their own storage shelves to keep Chinese cabbage, potatoes, and radishes, each using their own.

Especially in the past few years, when supplies were scarce and every family had a hard time, these Chinese cabbages and pickled vegetables were precious; if any family was missing two cabbages, it could cause a scene in the courtyard.

Therefore, almost no one would touch another family's things in the Cellar, to avoid suspicion and causing embarrassment.

It was entirely possible that Qi Jiazui had made a secret compartment in the Cellar to hide some things back then.

Thinking of this, Ning Weidong immediately sat up from the bed, hurriedly put on his shoes, threw on his overcoat, went to the Upper Room to grab a flashlight, and also took a screwdriver and a hammer, then strode out the door.

He happened to run into Bai Fengyu coming out of her home.

The two came face to face, and Bai Fengyu was slightly surprised; she knew Ning Weidong had worked the night shift yesterday and, by rights, he should have slept all morning.

"Weidong..." Bai Fengyu called out, having something to say.

Ning Weidong was busy trying to make money and had no spare time to pay attention to her; he responded, kept walking, and before Bai Fengyu could speak again, he had already passed through the Moon Gate.

Bai Fengyu blinked her eyes, the corners of her mouth twitched, and although she had been smiling, she couldn't manage a smile anymore.

Ning Weidong walked quickly all the way and soon arrived at that construction site again.

Turning into the alley, the second gate in front was the one.

Ning Weidong's gaze suddenly sharpened; he dodged into the doorway next to him and carefully poked his head out to look ahead.

He discovered that at the entrance of the courtyard in front, an arm and a foot were exposed from the edge of the wall; judging by the posture, someone should be leaning there.

Ning Weidong immediately thought of Zhang Jinfa.

Just now, both he and Wang Jingsheng's people had withdrawn.

Ning Weidong pursed his lips and turned to enter this courtyard.

This was exactly the place where Ning Wei and the other two had hidden before.

Following the courtyard gate inside, he soon found the temporary steps Ning Wei and the others had built with bricks.

Ning Weidong stepped on them, flipped over the wall in one go, walked along the wall while hunched over, and soon reached the back of the East Wing Room of the neighboring courtyard.

Crouching here, he could roughly see the situation in the courtyard over there.

Sure enough, two people were wandering around the courtyard, and shadows were also flickering in the messy, excavated side room.

Below the steps of the North Room, where Wang Jingsheng and Ning Weidong had smoked this morning, stood a person of medium build wearing a military-style overcoat.

This person was in his thirties, wore no hat, had a completely shaved head, had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, and one leg was shaking rapidly; at a glance, he didn't look like a good person.

"It really is Zhang Jinfa~" Ning Weidong narrowed his eyes, recognizing this person.

Last night, when he discovered someone else was watching Wang Jingsheng, Ning Weidong had guessed it was Zhang Jinfa.

Now that he saw the person himself, it could be considered confirmed.

Ning Weidong remained calm; Zhang Jinfa must have guessed that Wang Jingsheng had ulterior motives in asking him for help, but he probably didn't know much about the specific situation. At this moment, he was also staring at the side room that had been left in a mess that morning.

After waiting for a few minutes, Zhang Jinfa and his gang had gained nothing, and a young man went up to Zhang Jinfa and muttered for a while.

Zhang Jinfa threw the cigarette from his mouth onto the ground, spat a thick glob of phlegm hard, and only then led his people away.

Watching this, Ning Weidong breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing those people leave, he waited patiently for a few more minutes before climbing down from above to look for the Cellar entrance.

Siheyuan architecture had its regulations, and there weren't many places where a Cellar could be dug.

Plus, since the doors and windows had all been removed, the Cellar entrance was also exposed, and he found it quickly.

Ning Weidong stretched his neck and peered inside; it was pitch black, and he could only see a very small area below the opening.

He went down the vertical wooden ladder, his feet making "crack, crack" sounds on the ground.

Ning Weidong turned on his flashlight and looked; there was quite a bit of broken glass in the Cellar, which should have been left behind from those glass jars used for making tomato sauce.

This kind of tomato sauce was a unique way of eating in Beijing.

When summer came and tomatoes were particularly cheap, people would buy them, wash them, process them, and store them in sealed glass jars, which could be kept until the following spring; basically, every household had them.

Ning Weidong swept the flashlight around.

Except for a few pieces of rotten wood and the broken glass on the ground, the Cellar had been emptied of everything.

Ning Weidong frowned; although he guessed in his heart that Qi Jiazui's things might be hidden here, he had no clue where to start looking.

This Cellar should have existed when the house was originally built.

Cellars dug later rarely used blue bricks to line the perimeter to save costs, but this one was quite neat.

Ning Weidong used the screwdriver to tap the Cellar walls, listening carefully to the echoes, hoping to find a hollow space.

As a result, he tapped all the way around and didn't hear any hollow sounds.

Ning Weidong had a stern expression, doubting in his heart: could he have guessed wrong again?

He took the flashlight and shone it on the ceiling of the Cellar, wondering if it was hidden above? Or was it below? He shone the flashlight toward the ground again.

The floor of the Cellar was originally paved with red bricks, but due to years of use, it was covered with a layer of dirt and had turned completely black; only where the bricks had shifted could one see some traces of the brick seams.

Ning Weidong thought for a moment, then looked up again.

If it were on the ground, opening a hidden compartment would require prying up bricks, which is not only quite cumbersome but also prone to leaving traces.

Given Qi Jiazui's personality, he would not leave such a trail.

It is more likely he hid the compartment in the wall behind the storage rack, but after tapping around just now, I didn't hear any hollow sounds, so the most likely remaining spot is the ceiling of the Cellar.

Generally speaking, because the height of the Cellar is limited, coupled with the darkness and oppressive atmosphere, people who go down here are accustomed to bending over and looking downward.

Furthermore, since there were originally electric lights in the Cellar, before coming down the ladder, one would turn them on at the entrance, and once down below, the glaring light would make one even less likely to look upward.

Thinking of this, Ning Weidong used his flashlight to observe upward carefully again, holding a screwdriver in his hand, poking here and tapping there.

The Cellar ceiling consists of wooden beams as thick as a person's arm, with boards laid across them, tar paper on top of the boards, and a layer of soil covering the tar paper, reaching a thickness of about half a meter to the ground surface.

After searching for a while, Ning Weidong's gaze finally landed on the spot where the electric light originally hung.

Because it involves electricity, this area would not be easily disturbed.

If one really wanted to hide something, this undoubtedly adds an extra layer of security.

"Would Qi Jiazui think the same way?" Ning Weidong pondered, raising his hand and reaching over.

(End of this chapter)