Chapter 2990: Stubbornly Tamed 07

The vessel at West Harbor B District berthed; its hull slowly drew alongside the quay under the tug's pull, mooring lines were thrown ashore, and workers shouted as they secured the lines to the bollards.

This ship's route isn't long, but it carries a variety of cargo divided into several holds; the lowest hold contains several batches of goods requiring special customs declaration, which is why Jin Chen came personally to take inventory today.

Chenshu slipped in while Jin Chen was busy inventorying, sneaking out from the pilot house, making a wide detour to avoid dock workers and patrolling security, then climbing down the narrow ladder on the ship's outer side, scaling a railing, and finally squeezing into the side door of the lower hold.

He was actually a little anxious inside.

According to the original plan, he should have sneaked into the hold while Jin Chen was inventorying the cargo, taken the item and left, unseen and unheard.

But Jin Chen was more alert than he expected—or rather, paid him more attention than he thought; just now in the pilot house Jin Chen was clearly listening to a report, yet he glanced over casually as he was about to slip away, making his spine tingle. Fortunately Chen Gai arrived just in time, saying there was a minor dispute in the east dock that needed handling, so Jin Chen shifted his gaze and led the people away.

The hold's air was stagnant, making it hard to breathe; large steel containers were stacked crisscrossed, leaving a narrow passage barely wide enough for a person to slip through sideways.

Chenshu stood at the passage entrance, quickly scanned the hold's layout, and, according to the wireless cipher, searched for the item to be smuggled into Yucheng aboard this ship.

He had long suspected that Jin Chen monitored his movements in Yucheng, and last night's events confirmed the guess.

Jin Chen had been watching him ever since he first set foot in Yucheng three months ago; his movements have been under Jin Chen's control from day one.

Fortunately he had kept a backup.

The cargo on this ship had been arranged before he married Jin Chen.

Back then he didn't know what kind of person Jin Chen would be, nor that he'd be watched so closely; now it seems that habit saved his life.

He quickly located the container indicated in the cipher, crouched, pulled a small knife from his waist, pried open a board at the bottom of the wooden crate, found the flat metal box inside, and slipped it into the inner pocket of his windbreaker.

Done.

Chenshu exhaled, just turned around, and heard footsteps and voices coming from ahead.

Chenshu's heart tightened; he instantly darted behind a nearby cargo crate, crouched and held his breath—if one didn't approach close and look carefully, it would be hard to notice someone hiding there.

"Brother Zhou, everything you want is in this batch," a fawning voice said, smiling.

"They're in the cargo's interlayers; I personally supervised the loading, each layer packed tight and sound. As long as the unloading is timely, nobody will notice. This shipment will go smoothly and fetch a good price—I've figured it out, it's up thirty percent from last time."

"Following you is great; the profits are bigger."

Chenshu peered through a gap in the crate and saw a stooped middle-aged man in dockworker's uniform, holding a flashlight, bowing and scraping as he spoke to the person beside him.

The person beside him was tall, wearing a dark jacket, his back to Chenshu, so his face couldn't be seen.

"Do a good job, don't get caught—there'll be plenty of benefits for you later."

"If Jin Chen finds out, neither of us will get off easy."

Chenshu crouched behind the supply box and sucked in a cold breath.

Quite the accomplice.

And there's actually someone using this ship to smuggle goods in.

No, that's not right.

Chenshu quickly ran through it in his mind: whoever could tamper with this line couldn't be an outsider; it must be someone close to Jin Chen, and from the jacketed man's tone, this wasn't the first or second time—this batch indicates there had been a previous one, and maybe even the one before that.

That's smuggling.

Chenshu wasn't feeling sorry for Jin Chen over that cargo; he just thought he'd been terribly unlucky.

He'd only come to pick up an item—how did he end up in this mess!

Sneaking into the hold already carried the risk of being discovered; now the risk has doubled.

Besides him, there are two bigger thieves in the hold.

Footsteps sounded again, and the two men began inventorying the goods in the hold.

Chenshu peered again through the gap in the supply box, saw clearly the jacketed man walking ahead, and his heart jumped once more.

He had seen this person before.

Three months ago, when he and Jin Chen had just married, they'd stayed a few days at Jin Chen's villa north of Yucheng, where he'd glimpsed this person reporting work to Jin Chen from afar—apparently the third-in-command after Chen Gai.

What was his name again?

Chenshu frowned, raked his memory, and yes—Zhou Cheng.

I never expected the old man to have a mole in his entourage.

Chenshu drew back his head, re‑hid himself, clicked his tongue in vexation, and worried: the hold has only one exit, the way those two came in; if they don't leave, he can't get out.

He waited a while, then waited another while.

The air in the hold grew more stifling, with no vents or windows; Chenshu felt uncomfortable, wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, and his fingertips were slick with sweat.

Worse still was the time.

Jin Chen only allowed him an hour of leisure outing.

From when he left the pilot house to now, nearly forty minutes have passed; he still needs time to exit here, act nonchalant returning to the pilot house, and fabricate an excuse for where he went and what he did.

If the time's up and he hasn't returned, Jin Chen won't send people after him, but he'll certainly ask—and given Jin Chen's temperament, the questioning won't be gentle; it's annoying as hell!

Chenshu gritted his teeth, his lovely eyes darting back and forth across the hold.

He needed to create a distraction to draw those two's attention away, then slip out the exit; there was nothing handy—crate, tools, odds and ends—so he glanced down at his windbreaker.

Chenshu lowered his head, twisted off a button, aimed toward the opposite side of the hold, near the drainage wheel where the machinery's roar was already loud.

He flicked his wrist and threw the button out.

"Who!"

Zhou Cheng and the stooped man turned simultaneously, their flashlight beams snapping toward the sound.

Chenshu seized the chance, darted out from behind the crate, and moved toward the exit hugging the shadows.

On the opposite side of the hold, Zhou Cheng and the stooped man walked to where the button had fallen, sweeping the flashlight back and forth over the ground, but saw nothing.

"Deputy Zhou, could it be a rat?" the stooped man whispered, "There are lots of rats down here; knocking things over now and then is normal."

Zhou Cheng looked around again, then pointed his flashlight toward the exit, "Maybe."

"Let's go, hurry up with the inventory—don't delay the real work." "Yes, yes, yes."