Chapter 40: If You Want to Pry It Out, Not a Chance

An Ning felt a surge of ruthlessness in her heart and scrambled out of the Cellar in a flurry.

But once the cold night wind blew on her, she suddenly calmed down.

Having just guessed that the person who snatched the prize might be Ning Weidong, she had only one thought in her mind: to find him and settle the score.

Yet, once she calmed down, she began to hesitate.

Should she go or not? An Ning thought it over and over, and finally steeled her heart; she had to go this time, otherwise, she would be stifled to death.

An Ning hurried out in a rush, picked up the bicycle propped against the wall, mounted it, and chased off in the direction of the Dazayuan where Ning Weidong lived.

If her guess was correct, she might just catch up if she followed the route.

Ning Weidong did not expect this woman, An Ning, to be so persistent.

Just now, he had rushed out of the Cellar, climbed over the wall, and ran all the way; once he was out of the construction site, he began to walk normally.

He crossed Fuchengmen Inner Street and followed the hutong northward, his hands in his pockets, touching the cold, hard Big Yellow Fish, feeling quite pleased.

Three bars in total, ten taels each...

Just as he was calculating in his mind, a voice suddenly came from behind: "Ning Weidong, you stop right there!"

Ning Weidong recognized it as An Ning's voice and was startled; she had actually chased after him.

Looking back, he saw An Ning had already arrived on her bicycle not far away.

"Ning Weidong, is... is it... is it you?" Because she had been pedaling the bicycle for dear life, An Ning was panting and gasping, having completely lost her composure.

Ning Weidong smiled: "Sister-in-law, what are you saying? What is or isn't?"

An Ning tried her best to steady her breathing and said angrily: "Don't try to play dumb with me, just now over there, in the Cellar..."

When she reached the end, An Ning lowered her voice, as she was also afraid of being overheard by outsiders.

Ning Weidong raised an eyebrow. Since things had reached this point, he sneered: "Sister-in-law, so what if it is? And what if it isn't?"

An Ning faltered. Ning Weidong was clearly unafraid, so what could she do? "You..." An Ning was furious and said viciously: "Ning Weidong, don't forget, you were the one who took the initiative to find us! Now that you've found the items, you're eating it all alone. Aren't you afraid that if word gets out, you'll lose your standing in the underworld and be pointed at behind your back?"

Ning Weidong shrugged indifferently: "I have a proper job; I'm not someone who hangs out in the underworld."

"You~" An Ning was speechless.

The reason underworld honor was important was that those who lived by it existed outside of normal social regulations; their organizational structure, operational cooperation, and resource exchange could not be guaranteed by normal laws and could only be built upon honor.

Ning Weidong was not among them, so he really didn't have to buy into her act.

An Ning was still unwilling to give up: "Ning Weidong, do you still want any face? You were the one who found us and even borrowed money from us. In the end, we provided the people and the effort to find the place, and you came out to reap the rewards..."

Before she could finish, Ning Weidong interrupted: "Don't go there. Let's get this straight: I found Wang Jingsheng, not you. Don't give me this 'we' business. If it really were 'you all,' where is Wang Jingsheng? Why don't I see him? We're all thousand-year-old foxes, why play these games? Or how about we call Wang Jingsheng over right now? Sister-in-law, do you dare?"

An Ning's expression changed.

Ning Weidong keenly noticed this. Originally, he was just grasping at straws, feeling that it was unusual for An Ning to be out in the middle of the night alone without Wang Jingsheng.

Now it seemed he had guessed right; sure enough, An Ning and Wang Jingsheng were not of one mind.

An Ning's temperament and background were fundamentally different from Wang Jingsheng's, much like the couple Wang Kai and Shi Xiaonan in Ning Weidong's courtyard.

If not for special circumstances, it would be almost impossible for them to become a family. Shi Xiaonan might have the mindset of "marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog," but An Ning might not; she was smarter and had more ideas.

An Ning fell silent.

Ning Weidong smiled and turned to leave.

"You stop!" An Ning called him back again.

"Are you ever going to finish?" Ning Weidong was getting impatient. Anyway, the gold bars were in his pocket; trying to pry them out was impossible.

An Ning bit her lip, her eyes flickering as if pondering something, and said in a low voice: "Fine, I'll take a step back. I can stop asking about what you got tonight, but I have one condition: tomorrow morning, you come find me..."

"You want me to find you?" Ning Weidong couldn't quite figure out what this woman was up to.

But he knew that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Now that the other party was alone and unsupported, could she be planning to pull a big stunt tomorrow and set up a trap for him?

Just as he was about to say "I'm not going," he saw An Ning seem to guess his thoughts and she directly tugged at her collar.

She was also ruthless; with a rip, her outer coat and the padded jacket underneath were torn open, revealing a red shirt.

An Ning bit her lip and said: "If you say you aren't coming, I'll scream right now that you're molesting me."

Ning Weidong's face turned cold. He truly hadn't expected that a literary young woman like An Ning could have such a reckless side: "Sister-in-law, is this necessary? If you ruin me, your own reputation will be destroyed too."

An Ning sneered: "What reputation do I have? The daughter of a black-hearted Capitalist. Just tell me, are you coming or not?"

Ning Weidong frowned and couldn't help but re-evaluate this woman.

He had to admit, he had underestimated her.

This woman really had a streak of ruthlessness when it counted.

Seeing Ning Weidong silent, An Ning added: "Tomorrow, come to the Tongzi Building in Langxia Hutong, third floor, 315. I guarantee it will only be to your benefit."

"Benefit? What benefit?" Ning Weidong asked back.

Seeing him relent, An Ning breathed a secret sigh of relief: "In any case, it's a benefit. You'll know tomorrow."

Ning Weidong pondered the address An Ning gave him.

In the original owner's memories, he had some impression of this place.

It was just north of Wang Jingsheng's house, about a few dozen meters away.

It was an old Tongzi Building built in the fifties, and the people living inside were a mixed bunch.

Ning Weidong was suspicious, but he said "Fine" out loud.

No matter what An Ning was planning, now was not the time to clash head-on.

If An Ning went all out and really called people over, that would be the real trouble.

If Ning Weidong ran, that would be one thing, but if he couldn't run, there was no need to mention anything else; he wouldn't even be able to explain the three Big Yellow Fish in his pocket.

(End of chapter)