Chapter 38: A Windfall

In the end, Bai Fengyu failed to obtain any promises from Ning Weidong.

Between men and women, the so-called "level" or how skillfully one manipulates the human heart, to put it plainly, is just a contest of who is less able to let go.

Ning Weidong did not care about her, so even if this woman had a thousand clever schemes, it was all in vain.

When evening came, he finished his dinner.

Outside, the sky had turned dark, and Ning Weidong used the excuse of going out to walk off his meal; he grabbed a flashlight, strolled along, and left the courtyard.

Feeling a bit impatient to see if there were truly more hidden compartments concealed beneath the Cellar, he couldn't help but quicken his pace.

Walking along Fuchengmen Street, he could see from afar that the construction site ahead was brightly lit.

Ning Weidong was somewhat surprised, as work should have stopped long ago at this hour.

Walking closer, he saw that the construction site had somehow brought in several searchlights, and two more excavators had been driven directly into the site; with a "Boom— boom—", a single scoop would topple a large section of wall, with one machine doing the work of dozens of workers swinging sledgehammers.

There were even more people here watching the spectacle than during the day; besides the men, there were quite a few women who had finished their meals and come over for the fun.

They were watching it almost like a peep show, and some even brought sunflower seeds in their pockets.

Ning Weidong did not know what situation had arisen that suddenly accelerated the demolition speed.

Yet he was secretly relieved, as he had calculated during the day that it would take three days to reach the room belonging to Qi Jiazui.

They still had two days left.

With the current pace, there was no way they had two days; by tomorrow afternoon at the latest, the ground would be leveled.

Regardless of his thoughts, tonight was the final opportunity.

Ning Weidong licked his lips, retreated from the crowd of onlookers, and entered the nearby alley.

There was no need to be sneaky; ever since the people inside had moved out, people often went in there in the dark to relieve themselves, both small and large, and no one cared.

Ning Weidong didn't turn on his flashlight, walking with practiced ease through the abandoned alley; he could feel the slight vibrations from the ground caused by the excavators, and he quickened his pace.

Soon, he arrived near that courtyard.

Ning Weidong didn't just walk straight over brazenly; he still kept his guard up, going first to the adjacent courtyard, climbing up along the wall, and observing silently for a while.

Below was pitch black, without a single glimmer of light, and there were no abnormal movements.

Ning Weidong observed carefully for a moment and frowned.

He hadn't actually discovered anyone lying in wait nearby.

The reason he waited until dark to come was precisely to guard against Zhang Jinfa lying in wait here.

Yet he didn't know that Zhang Jinfa had wisely chosen "admitting defeat" over "taking action."

Zhang Jinfa lived quite a comfortable life, with several hundred Ocean Coins in various monthly income, living in a detached courtyard, with a wife at home and a mistress on the side; it wasn't worth it to risk his life against someone.

Moreover, since Zhou Wu, who had been beaten, had accepted it himself, there was no reason for him to step up.

In the end, all of Ning Weidong's precautions and careful planning had become a one-man show.

In the freezing cold, he squatted on the wall for a full seven or eight minutes until his legs went numb, only then climbing down and heading straight for the Cellar entrance.

Because he had been here during the day, he was quite familiar with the path.

But fearing an ambush inside, he first shone his flashlight around to confirm no one was there before descending the ladder.

However, once Ning Weidong got down, he frowned.

He swept his flashlight around, and there was actually a metallic reflection on the ground! Ning Weidong let out an "Eh?" and hurriedly checked carefully.

He discovered that the Yuan Datou coins that had fallen on the ground were still there! Ning Weidong didn't understand; was Zhang Jinfa so rich that he couldn't even be bothered to bend down to pick up Ocean Coins?

This was clearly impossible.

The only explanation was that after he left during the day, Zhang Jinfa hadn't brought anyone back, and no one else had entered this Cellar. Ning Weidong was completely baffled; logically, this shouldn't be!

But there was no time to think too much; he was more eager to verify his guess about the hidden compartment.

Ning Weidong tilted his head back, holding the flashlight up to shine it toward the top.

The light shone into the hole, revealing every detail inside.

Ning Weidong squinted and looked carefully, trying to find any potential mechanism.

Yet he found that the inside was actually very smooth, made entirely of dark red hardwood planks.

These planks were joined together seamlessly; Ning Weidong's eyes grew sore from looking, but he couldn't see anything.

He simply gave up, pulled out the screwdriver he carried with him, inserted it into the gap along the edge of the hidden compartment, and slowly pried it open.

As the gap grew wider and the screwdriver probed in a distance, Ning Weidong gave it a hard pry.

Suddenly, with a "Crack!", a large piece of the wooden plank on one side of the hidden compartment was pried open.

Because he used too much force, the screwdriver was bent, and that piece of wood also cracked.

Ning Weidong reached out and pulled off the pried-open plank, which still had rusty nails attached, and tossed it into the corner of the Cellar.

However, behind this plank, there was no hidden compartment, but rather a wall plastered with cement.

Ning Weidong was not discouraged; after prying open the first plank, the subsequent ones were much simpler.

Prying them open one by one along the edge gaps, a space finally appeared behind the fourth plank, and there was a mechanical structure on the edge of this plank.

The opening method was actually quite ingenious; it likely required a special tool to pull this plank back slightly and then push it to the side, which would open the flap and reveal the hidden compartment.

It must be said, if not for the direct violent dismantling, even knowing there was a mechanism inside, one wouldn't be able to open it in a short time.

Ning Weidong couldn't help but feel secretly happy, yet he didn't forget to be careful, shining the flashlight while probing inside with the screwdriver to confirm it was safe.

The space in this hidden compartment was smaller and couldn't hold large items.

He was somewhat disappointed; at the very least, the porcelain and calligraphy that Qi Jiazui had obtained back then couldn't possibly fit inside.

But soon, this feeling of disappointment was dispelled by a glint of reflected yellow light.

"It's gold bars!"

Ning Weidong's eyes lit up, and he immediately swept the screwdriver toward the spot reflecting the yellow light.

Suddenly, with a "Ding!", it hit the metal inside; Ning Weidong hurriedly exerted force, used the screwdriver to rake it out, moved it to the edge, withdrew the screwdriver, and reached his hand inside.

Suddenly, he touched a cold metal block that felt very heavy in his hand.

"Is it a Big Yellow Fish?"

Ning Weidong's heart rate accelerated as he pulled his hand out and shone the flashlight on it.

Due to oxidation, the surface did not have a brilliant golden luster, and the cast shape was not very regular either.

However, the steel stamp of the "Shanghai Central Mint" on it proved that this was indeed a Big Yellow Fish.

This type of Big Yellow Fish used the old system of ten taels, which converts to 312 grams in the metric system.

The current gold price is about thirteen yuan, so one Big Yellow Fish is worth nearly four thousand yuan.

Ning Weidong did not have much certainty before coming here; after all, it was all just his speculation.

Who would have thought that he would actually manage to fish out a Big Yellow Fish, so he hurriedly reached his hand back in.

However, at this moment, Ning Weidong's heart skipped a beat as he heard hurried footsteps coming from above.

(End of this chapter)