Chapter 205: Strolling the Zaocheng Night Market

Shi Yong cried on the phone,

"Brother, I understand, as long as you're alive that's fine, as long as you're not caught that's fine, don't worry, I won't act rashly, tell me, what's the next step?"

"You have a good relationship with Mao Hai in Zaocheng, ask him if he knows a person named Ding Li in Lao Cheng Qu."

"What do you want Ding Li for?" Shi Yong asked.

"I want to find Lao Wai, I heard Lao Wai is mixed together with Ding Li. I want to find Lao Wai through Ding Li." I took a puff of a cigarette.

"Is that the Lao Wai in prison?" Shi Yong asked again.

I nodded and said: "That's the Lao Wai. Hurry up and ask, I need to find him as soon as possible. Also, you ask Accountant Ding how much my guesthouse profit share is, first ask her for 500,000, then bring it to me, I have use for it. And it must be cash, you know?"

"Okay, I've noted it all. Brother, from now on to contact you just call this phone number, right? The phone card I bought for you that day, I didn't remember the number, your phone has been off."

So I couldn't get in touch with you.

"I want to go find you tomorrow." Shi Yong said urgently.

I said: "Don't come tomorrow, first help me inquire about Lao Wai's whereabouts. If you need to come over, I'll contact you. I won't waste words with you."

Shi Yong said: "Okay, brother, I'll contact Mao Hai right away."

I then hung up the phone and handed the phone to Xiao Fang.

"Where are we going?" Xiao Fang asked.

I said: "Let's just wander around the old city area. Being cooped up at home every day is suffocating."

"Let's go stroll the night market in the old city area. Anyway, coming back early is fine, nothing to do. Are you afraid?" Xiao Fang asked.

I smiled,

"My appearance has been completely altered, even my voice changed, what do I have to fear."

"I believe no one will recognize me."

"Alright, I'll park the car, then we'll go crazy browsing the stalls, and by the way buy a winter hat for my dad and for you." Xiao Fang said.

"I don't wear hats, buy one for Shangguan Zhuren instead." I said to Xiao Fang.

"What's the matter, a hat doesn't cost much. I'm not asking you for money." Xiao Fang said deliberately.

"Alright, you buy it. Sigh, it's already been two months, I haven't seen my wife and daughter, I don't know when I'll be able to see them. How is Zhou Wei's health recovering now? How is Ru Meng's academic performance?" I muttered to myself.

"Your wife hasn't woken up yet?" Xiao Fang asked.

I nodded,

"No, she's been staying at Li Ming's house, I don't know any details, really worrying."

"You don't need to worry, Zaocheng is such a small place, if anything happens it will spread all over the streets. Like this, I can have Xiao Fengjie help you ask Li Ming. That'll put your mind at ease." Xiao Fang looked at me and said with a smile.

"That's all we can do." I said, looking up at the overcast sky.

"Alright, don't frown like that, smile a little. I've always thought you're a strong-willed person, you can bear anything, these things are trivial to you." Xiao Fang looked at me and said sincerely.

Is this trivial? To a man, this is a big deal,

A family is everything to a man.

My worries, Xiao Fang simply doesn't understand.

Forget it, I won't think about these for now.

Anyway, there's nothing else, so I'll accompany Xiao Fang to stroll the night market.

At this moment, Xiao Fang's phone rang again,

Xiao Fang took it out and looked,

and handed the phone to me,

"Shi Yong's phone call."

I hurriedly answered,

"How did Shi Yong manage to find out?"

Shi Yong quickly said: "Brother, I've already found out, that Lao Wai really is mixed together with Ding Li in the old city area."

I said: "Great, do you know where Ding Li lives? We'll go find him right away."

Shi Yong said: "I didn't find out, I heard from Mao Hai that Ding Li runs a clothing wholesale business, setting up a stall in the old city area."

"That Lao Wai just follows him as a helper,"

"Brother, if you don't wait a bit longer, tonight I'll go with Mao Hai to the old city area specifically to find Ding Li."

"It's so late, you don't need to run to the old city area of Zaocheng anymore. I understand,"

"if I can't find him, I'll contact you again." I said.

"Brother, when should I go find you? I live alone in Shanghu, it's boring. I want to hurry to your side to protect you." Shi Yong said urgently over the phone.

I said to Shi Yong: "Shi Yong, I understand your feelings. Wait a bit longer, if I need you I'll contact you. Right now it's also inconvenient for me, if there are many people it's easy to attract attention. We must consider safety now."

Shi Yong said dejectedly: "Okay, brother, I understand, I'll follow your arrangements."

I said: "Shi Yong, I still have things to do here. I'll hang up first."

After I said that, I hung up the phone,

Then I told Xiao Fang: "Just now Shi Yong called, saying that Lao Wai follows Ding Li in the clothing wholesale business, always setting up a stall in the old city area night market. Tonight we need to properly browse the stalls,"

"look for Lao Wai."

Xiao Fang said: "What does that Lao Wai look like?"

I said: "This is simple, he's not tall, slightly overweight, has aftereffects of polio, walks with a limp. The rest doesn't matter."

Xiao Fang nodded,

"Finding a limp in the night market is still quite easy."

Xiao Fang and I parked the car, then went to the Zaocheng old city area night market.

This night market was built along Lin Shan Road,

It mainly helps unemployed people in the city start their own businesses.

Since it's November, it gets a bit dark as soon as it's half past five.

The weather is rather cold, so there aren't many people strolling the night market.

The whole night market feels desolate and cold.

Xiao Fang and I were walking slowly along Lin Shan Road.

There are quite a few stall vendors, each with a light in front, selling all kinds of goods.

They either shout out their wares or walk back and forth in front of their stalls.

We carefully observed these stall vendors, looking for Lao Wai.

Right here, I heard someone shouting loudly in the distance.

"Put on this leather jacket and you'll be number one no matter what you do. This winter is extremely cold; if you get frostbitten, what can you do?"

"If your waist freezes, your legs freeze, making you grit your teeth and grimace. Wearing a leather jacket is mighty cool; you can still look stylish in winter."

"It's got both leather and cotton lining, windproof and warm..."

Xiao Fang, hearing the distant shouting, said to me: "Let's go check it out; that leather jacket and that shouting are quite interesting."

I also heard that shouting voice,

I listened carefully, and the shouting sounded somewhat familiar,

In my mind I carefully thought of Lao Wai's voice,

That kind of thin, drawn-out way of speaking is especially similar to this shouting.

I said to Xiao Fang: "Let's go take a look."

Xiao Fang and I then walked up Lin Shan Road, and shortly arrived at the leather jacket wholesale stall.

All I saw was racks full of various leather jackets,

At another spot of the stall sat a short man, holding a microphone and shouting loudly,

"A leather jacket can be worn for years without wasting a few hundred yuan. It has zippers and buttons; even if you wear little underneath, it won't let the cold through."

"The wind blows, the snow falls; wearing our leather jacket you needn't fear—big snowflakes flying everywhere, we're not just blowing hot air..."