I matched all the passwords, and the old man looked at me: "Are you ready for the money? I only accept cash."
"I haven't seen the thing yet, and I don't know how much it is worth." I know that I have to be very careful when dealing with these people.
"Wait." The old man said calmly, then bent down and took out a long object wrapped in oilcloth from the hidden compartment at the bottom of the stall.
He peeled off the corners of the cloth layer by layer, revealing half of the yellowed and streaked bones.
Before I had time to take a closer look, the old man's expression suddenly changed, and he quickly wrapped the tiger bones again: "I won't sell them anymore."
Before he finished speaking, he had already put away the stall and turned around to get into the alley behind him.
I turned around and looked around, and I understood why the old man left in a hurry.
Two plainclothes men were walking not far away. Among them, I recognized the tall and tall middle-aged man. He was Team Liu from the police station.
"Chen Hao, why are you here?" Captain Liu saw me and said hello.
"It's my girlfriend's birthday soon. I want to go shopping for old things and see if I can find any." I suppressed the fluctuation in my heart and responded as if nothing had happened.
"That's right, you go ahead and do your work first, we still have tasks." Captain Liu nodded and walked along the street with his colleagues.
They did not chase the old man. It seemed that Lao Yu was not their target.
After this interruption, the old man had already disappeared without a trace.
Looking at the empty alley, I could only go back first.
On the way back, I called Huang Li: "Teacher Huang, what specific characteristics are needed to identify tiger bones?"
"This thing is very deep and cannot be explained in just a few words. Have you found a channel?" came Huang Li's voice
I briefly told about the seller I met online and how I met Lao Yu at the West Street Market today.
Huang Li's reminder came from the other end of the phone: "Be careful, nine out of ten people selling tiger bones these days are scammers. Maybe it's a trap set up, and they are pretending to be making medicine with beef bones."
After hanging up the phone, I carefully recalled today's experience, from the ease of contacting the seller online, to the mysterious contacts in the market, to Lao Yu's too quick reaction when plainclothes showed up.
This is all too coincidental, like a carefully choreographed drama.
Huang Li is right, this kind of thing is not so easy.
I temporarily suppressed the idea of continuing to search for tiger bones. I was really anxious and confused, but fortunately Huang Li woke me up in time.
After gathering my mood, I returned to the takeout site first. There are a lot of things to deal with at the new site in the west of the city today.
Several riders are waiting for interviews, there are also a group of novices who need training, and the schedule is full.
Right now, it’s business to take care of these urgent tasks.
The work that was delayed in the days after entering the mountain piled up into a small mountain.
The site is expanding too fast, and we need to train a deputy webmaster as soon as possible to share the burden.
After get off work in the evening, I called Chen Zhipeng and asked him if he wanted to be the webmaster.
Unexpectedly, he refused: "If you don't do it, how can you make as much money as a webmaster by running a takeout business? Besides, I don't like to manage people."
Although Chen Zhipeng has only been in the industry for a short time, he knows his way around it.
When a webmaster wants to make more money, he will inevitably have to take a commission from the riders’ orders, which is an offending job. He would rather run a few more orders to feel at ease.
"I also know your concerns," I still want to fight for it again.
"But there is really no more suitable candidate right now. Where are you now? Why don't you come out and have a drink and chat while eating."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then Chen Zhipeng's compromising voice came: "Okay, I'm here at West Street Kou. Where are we going?"
"It's just us in the old place. The "BBQ restaurant" I often go to.
After hanging up the phone, I picked up my coat and walked out of the station. Zhang Wei also chased me, "Where are you going? Take me with you."
I wanted to talk to Chen Zhipeng, but Zhang Wei's presence was not convenient: "Another day, I have something important tonight."
Zhang Wei complained: "What important things can happen so late at night?" But she didn't follow.
After a while, not long after I arrived at the store and sat down, I saw Chen Zhipeng riding a battery scooter at the corner of the street.
I filled him up with beer: "It seems like we haven't sat down and drank like this for a long time."
Chen Zhipeng picked up the meat skewers, took a bite, and said vaguely: "You are a busy man now, it's hard to see you."
I smiled bitterly, he was right.
During this period, I have to manage two takeout sites and worry about the business of the pharmacy. It is really hard to do both.
"That's why I urgently need to find a reliable helper." I answered the question.
"How about it? Think about it again. Your salary will definitely be increased. Although there is no guarantee that you will earn more than when you ran the order, it is still stable at more than 10,000 per month."
Chen Zhipeng took a sip of beer and remained silent.
I picked up the bottle of wine and refilled it for him: "If you have any requests, just ask. Shift arrangements and performance calculation methods are all negotiable."
Chen Zhipeng said implicitly: "I have fallen in love with someone recently and I really want to meet her. ”
I then remembered that when he came to work in the city, his main purpose was to find a wife: “Then why don’t you go and meet her?”
He shook his head with a wry smile, “I wanted to meet her several times, mainly because I had no money.”
Chen Zhipeng earns a good income from taking out food, but he also has a sick mother and a sister who is in high school at home, so most of his monthly salary goes into this bottomless pit.
"It's okay," I poured him a glass of wine.
"If you really want to meet, I can help you solve the money matter first."
Chen Zhipeng's eyes lit up, and then he hesitated: "But this..."
"Stop this and that, we are close buddies." I put my arm around his shoulders, "Men should dare to love and hate."
"Okay, I listen to you." Chen Zhipeng finally let go.
Unexpectedly, half an hour later, I followed Chen Zhipeng and stood under the flashing neon sign of the half-awake bar.
"The person you want to see is here?" I was speechless.
Chen Zhipeng adjusted his collar nervously and nodded.
"You're here, let's go in."
We walked into the bar, and the loud music engulfed us instantly.
Through the dark passage, I leaned close to his ear and raised my voice: "What's the name of the girl you know?"
"Jiu'er." Chen Zhipeng's eyes could not wait to cast their eyes towards the bar.
Jiuer? This is not a serious girl's name, it is clearly a common alias used by wine drinkers.
No wonder he always said he didn’t dare to come to see me if he didn’t have money. It’s easy to get in to a place like this, but it’s hard to get out sober.
It's been a while since I've been to the Half-Awake Bar. Looking around, I have to admit that Li Zaiyun does have two skills. The place is more lively than before, and the lighting and sound have been upgraded to higher-end ones.
I walked straight to the bar, knocked on the table and asked the Korean bartender: "Is there a Korean bartender here named Jiu'er?"
The bartender spoke with a strong Korean accent with some hesitation: "Jiu'er? She...is not here now." He was vague, but his eyes subconsciously glanced at the booth in the corner.