Chapter 51: Bang Geng Has Gone Missing

"Oh my, Zhuzi, don't go wandering around if you don't have to." That day, as soon as He Yuzhu returned, the First Elder's wife greeted him from inside the room and said cautiously.

"First Elder's wife, what's the matter?" He Yuzhu naturally understood; many shops had been smashed in the past two days.

"You don't know, that someone, that someone in the neighboring courtyard, guess what happened to them?"

"Who? How am I supposed to guess that?"

After the First Elder's wife nagged for a long time, He Yuzhu finally managed to escape back to his own room, where Bang Geng had already been waiting for a long time.

Ever since Bang Geng started associating with Wang Xiumei, he had gotten to know many progressives. A group of them would gather together to carry out activities everywhere, and Bang Geng took the opportunity to get his hands on quite a few good things to give to He Yuzhu.

"Yo, eating on your own, are you?" He Yuzhu pushed the door open and teased Bang Geng, who was gnawing on a roasted sweet potato by the table.

Bang Geng was choked until his eyes rolled back, and it took a large jar of water before he could suppress his hiccups.

"Zhuzi Shu, close the door."

"Understood."

Once the doors and windows were shut, Bang Geng stealthily fished two ancient books out from his bosom, then pulled a few small items wrapped in cloth from his pocket and placed them on the table.

He Yuzhu opened the cloth bundle; inside were small items like jade cicadas carved from jadeite. He didn't ask where they came from; in any case, whatever Bang Geng brought back were things that were meant to be destroyed or things others were eager to discard.

Bang Geng didn't engage in petty theft anymore; he had money in his hands, was generous, and had become very close with Wang Xiumei and the others.

When others went to raid and ransack, he was specifically responsible for burning and destroying. If there was anything good, he would secretly keep it or go buy it afterward.

"I really admire you. Why do you treasure such junk? It's not edible, nor can it be worn. You risk getting caught to get these things. Here, there's a big treasure too." As he spoke, Bang Geng mysteriously took out a fist-sized bead from his bosom and introduced it: "Look, a night-luminescent pearl. It's said to be the one Cixi held in her mouth."

He Yuzhu was stunned and took it: "Nonsense, how could she hold something this big in her mouth? How much did this cost? It isn't fake, is it?"

Bang Geng was also taken aback and stammered: "It can't be fake, right? I saw it glowing at night, a greenish color. It cost one yuan and seven jiao; I bought it from a little kid."

He Yuzhu examined it carefully. The texture of the bead was fine, and it didn't look like the toys children played with in later generations, but he just didn't know if this thing was radioactive.

He quickly wrapped it up; he would wait to have it appraised later. If it ended up turning him into something like a Dzi bead, that would be bad.

"Do you still have money?" After wrapping everything up and putting it into the chest under the bed, He Yuzhu asked. He would move the items anyway once Bang Geng left, so he wasn't afraid of him seeing them. Besides, many of the things He Yuzhu had were found for him by Bang Geng; he knew exactly what he had, it was just that Bang Geng didn't think these pieces of junk had any value.

As for the rest, those were things He Yuzhu bought at the Black Market.

"I was just about to say that. I do, but I still need quite a bit more, the more the better." Bang Geng hurriedly put down the tea mug in his hand; he had been worrying about this recently.

"What for? What do you need so much money for?" He Yuzhu glanced at him sideways.

"What kind of look is that? I... I can't say, but I can guarantee you that I can bring back more junk for you." Bang Geng was anxious, but the words were swallowed back down when they reached his lips.

He had promised Wang Xiumei to keep the secret.

"Fine, here, these are various coupons, and this is money. Take them all, don't spend them recklessly, and don't break the law!" He Yuzhu took a cloth bundle out of his trouser pocket and handed it to Bang Geng. Bang Geng checked it, his mood instantly became excited, and he nodded repeatedly.

Then he called out and ran out.

"That little brat." He laughed and scolded, then stopped worrying about him. After all, Bang Geng's performance was quite good lately; he was well-behaved and had found many good things for him.

Bang Geng excitedly went home to say he wouldn't be back for dinner, then ran out again.

"Wang Xiumei, I got the money." Bang Geng arrived at the school excitedly. Sure enough, Wang Xiumei and several other group leaders were huddled together, constantly writing and drawing on a map.

"Oh? Jia Geng, really?" The crowd's eyes lit up at the news, and they all stared at Jia Geng. They were about to do something big; everything was ready, they just lacked the east wind.

"See if it's enough." Bang Geng excitedly took the cloth bundle out of his trouser pocket and laid it on the table. The group took the money and started counting it.

Only Wang Xiumei's eyes lit up, then she stared sharply at Bang Geng and asked: "Group Leader Jia Geng, where did this money come from?"

Bang Geng was stunned for a moment and hurriedly said: "I asked my Zhuzi Shu for it."

Wang Xiumei, however, remained relentless and asked: "You told him about our business?!"

"No, no I didn't."

"Then why did Comrade He give you so much money?!"

Bang Geng looked at the stern-faced Wang Xiumei, his eyes darted around, and he immediately said: "Zhuzi Shu likes to collect portraits, badges, and quotations. I told him I could get them for him, so he gave it to me. You know he's obsessed with this, Group Leader Wang. When we disperse to different places, we can just pick some up for Zhuzi Shu and bring them back."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiumei sighed, nodded like an adult, and said: "In that case, we owe it to Comrade He. Classmates, we must keep this in mind. We are able to make this trip thanks to Comrade He. Although he didn't participate voluntarily, he helped us a great deal. During our activities, everyone should collect some things for Comrade He along the way. Do you understand?"

"Understood!" the group said in unison.

"Good, let's distribute the routes. Everyone bring your student IDs. As long as we make a name for ourselves, we won't need to spend money on transport in the future!" Wang Xiumei clenched her fist, her face full of longing.

Beside her, Bang Geng also grinned broadly, but what he was thinking, no one else knew.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

Teacher Ran arrived at the Siheyuan in a rush early in the morning and happened to run into He Yuzhu, who was heading out.

"Yo, isn't this Teacher Ran? What wind blew you here?" He Yuzhu made a small joke.

However, Teacher Ran was not in the mood for jokes; she anxiously grabbed He Yuzhu and asked: "Where is student Jia Geng? Where did he go?"

He Yuzhu was stunned. Now that she mentioned it, he really hadn't seen him for a few days. He hurriedly took Teacher Ran to the First Elder's house.

"First Elder, this is Bang Geng's homeroom teacher, Teacher Ran. She's here to ask about something."

"Teacher Ran, hello..."

Before the First Elder could finish, Teacher Ran anxiously interrupted him: "Hello, I'm not a teacher anymore, I'm a school janitor. I'm here to ask, has Jia Geng been home these past few days?"

The First Elder was stunned, but still shook his head and said: "Didn't Jia Geng say the school was organizing an activity and he needed to stay over for a few days?"

Teacher Ran slapped her thigh and said: "What activity? This is bad, it's bad. Jia Geng and the others organized a progressive society and roped in a large group of classmates. If they haven't returned home, then they must have followed those junior high and high school students to run all over the country..."

"Ah?" Everyone was shocked, not understanding how Bang Geng could have gotten involved in this.

"It's worrying me to death. I don't know where they got the money for the tickets. Who is messing around like this? They're just children, why give them so much money!"

Listening to Teacher Ran's complaints, He Yuzhu touched his nose and thought: Is she talking about me?