Chapter 20: Trap

  In the morning, Cong Ye had developed a habit in the army, opening his eyes at 5:30 sharp. Within five minutes, he would have finished everything including dressing and washing up. Standing in the courtyard, Cong Ye quietly stood there without making any noise so as not to disturb Yan Qing Cheng's sleep. Facing the direction where the sun rises in the east, he began to breathe in and out repeatedly, just like what that elderly person whose name he still didn't know had taught him back in the orphanage.

  Since that night, after drinking high-proof baijiu, Cong Ye got into the habit of meditating at night before going to bed. After several days, he felt that the mysterious hot flow in his meridians had grown stronger. The growth of the hot flow made Cong Ye clearly feel an increase in his strength. As he practiced day by day, Cong Ye became more and more familiar with how to guide the hot flow. Just like now, standing still, keeping a rhythm of one breath in and out, as long as Cong Ye's thoughts reached it, the hot flow would immediately respond.

  As the eastern sky brightened, after the sun had risen above the horizon with a golden edge, Cong Ye found that his sister's room was still quiet, so he went to the kitchen and started making breakfast for two people. Before long, after finishing breakfast, Yan Qingcheng also got up and came to the courtyard, saying somewhat apologetically:

  "Sorry, I got up late today."

  "Sister-in-law, it's nothing, you've always been cooking for me, I feel a bit embarrassed too."

  Seeing Yan Qingcheng's face seemed a bit tired, Cong Ye asked with concern:

  "Sister-in-law, didn't you sleep well last night?"

  "Really?"

  "But why does sister-in-law's face look a bit pale?"

  Yan Qingcheng's face turned slightly red, she turned her head to look elsewhere and said in a low voice:

  "It's really nothing."

  Congye saw his sister-in-law's face suddenly turn red and didn't ask any more questions. He carried the prepared breakfast into the house.

  "Sister-in-law, go wash up first."

  After having breakfast together, Cong Ye said to Yan Qingcheng:

  "Sister-in-law, I'm leaving now. If I can't come back by noon, I'll give you a call."

  Every morning, Cong Ye always bid farewell with this sentence.

  As always, Yan Qingcheng would get up and see Cong Ye off to the door, watching his back disappear outside before closing the gate with a creak.

  "What an immature kid, doesn't even know about girls' monthly periods."

  Yan Qingcheng thought to herself, for no reason, and felt her cheeks burning slightly.

  Cong Ye came to the crowd waiting to be employed on the street, habitually pinned his veteran ID on his chest, quietly waiting for the arrival of the employer.

  "Hey, you're a veteran?"

  "Yes, I just got discharged."

  "What a coincidence, I'm also a veteran, but an old one."

  The one who took the initiative to greet Kusunoki was a middle-aged man in his 40s, almost approaching 50 years old. The man looked carefully at Kusunoki's discharge certificate and spoke again:

  Cong Ye, nice name, I'm Jia Cheng.

  "Hello, Brother Jia. Are you also here looking for temporary work?"

  "No, I'm here to find workers. The company plans to swap the sofas and coffee tables in several rooms, so I came to find someone to help move them out. Does Brother Congye want to do it?"

  "I'm just here looking for work."

  At this time, someone on the side also came up and wanted to chat with him for a couple of sentences, but Jia Cheng said:

  "Alright, alright, there's not much work left, one person is enough."

  After finishing speaking, she pulled Cong Ye's arm.

  "Come with me, Congye brothers."

  "Alright."

  Following Jia Cheng, leaving the intersection where they were standing earlier, he turned a corner and got into a more luxurious off-road vehicle parked by the side of the road, looking for something in his hand towards Cong Ye.

  "Get on the bus."

  "Jia Ge is doing quite well for himself, able to afford such a good car."

  "Big brother, when I was first discharged from the army, I was just like you. Although I didn't work odd jobs, I was also struggling on the poverty line for a long time. It wasn't until these past two years that things got a bit better. Brother, keep working hard and one day you'll surpass me."

  "Hah, I dare not think that I didn't learn anything in the army, only this body of strength can still be exchanged for some money."

  "Don't lose heart, brother, nobody is born with it, take your time."

  The car made seven turns and eight bends in the city, came to a relatively quiet street, and stopped in front of a nightclub.

  "Brother, we've arrived. This is Big Brother's company."

  Getting off the car, Cong Ye took a look and found it was a nightclub, and couldn't help but ask:

  "Is this opened by Brother Jia?"

  "Yes, big brother is the same as you, no special skills. Besides, relying on a single skill can only make a living, wanting to get rich is impossible."

  As they spoke, they led Cong Ye to the interior of the nightclub. The first floor was a very luxurious lobby, and along the stairs, they arrived at the second floor. There were many rooms on both sides of the long corridor, and Cong Ye roughly estimated that there were more than twenty rooms.

  "Brother, come and take a look."

  Jia Cheng opened the door of a room, pointing at the sofa and coffee table inside, saying to Cong Ye:

  "These sofas and coffee tables have been used for many years, it's time to replace them, many customers have complained about this. So please brother, move all the sofas and coffee tables out of these rooms, if you can contact a junk collector, sell them for some money, give it all to you. As for labor costs, how about thirty per room?"

  "What Brother Jia says goes, brothers rely on their strength to make a living, more or less is all the same."

  "Brother, you're indeed a veteran, with the style of a soldier in your bones. I like it. It's okay, employees don't start work until 1 pm, and there are only two security guards in the company now. Take your time moving, new furniture will be delivered as you move. I still have some things to do, so I won't stay here with you. Let's have a good chat when big brother comes back tonight."

  "Big brother has something on his mind, just go ahead and take care of it, I'll handle things here."

  Jia Cheng was sent downstairs, in front of Cong Ye, Jia Cheng instructed the two security guards a few words, and then got into the off-road vehicle and drove away.

  Congye returned to the second floor and began moving down room by room. Although the sofa and coffee table were not heavy, they were somewhat large in volume, and the corridor was a bit narrow. When he moved into the fourth room, Congye had to sit down and rest for a while. Just as Congye sat on the sofa he had just moved outside the nightclub, resting, a rural man riding a tricycle with an out-of-town accent asked:

  "Hey brother, are these old furniture for sale?"

  "How much can you give?"

  Jia Cheng had once instructed that the old furniture they replaced would eventually be thrown away in a landfill if no one wanted it.

  "How much does your brother want to sell it for?"

  "Haha, pay and I'll sell."

  That person came back and forth several times, then said to Cong Ye:

  "The coffee table is five yuan per piece, and the sofa is eight yuan per set."

  "It's a bit too little, how about this, one tea table and one set of sofa as a suite, you give me twenty yuan in total."

  "Twenty bucks? Then you'd better sell it to someone else."

  "Eighteen?"

  "I can give you at most fifteen yuan."

  "Alright, fifteen is fifteen, pay up and load them. There are twenty sets in total, enough for you to make several trips."

  Congye was still very happy, Jia Cheng gave 30 yuan for labor in each room, and a set of furniture sold for another 15 yuan, which is 45 yuan. Twenty rooms would be 900 yuan, which is equivalent to several days of odd jobs. Congye calculated the account while secretly thanking Jia Cheng in her heart.

  Congye moved into the twelfth house at 11:30, and the person who collected second-hand furniture was diligent, pulling a total of four trips to take away all the tea tables and sofas that Congye had already moved out. The twelfth house, with twelve suites, cost one hundred and eighty yuan, not a cent less, which was handed over to Congye.

  "Brother, aren't you taking a rest at noon?"

  Cong Ye didn't answer Ershouhuo's question, but instead turned around and looked at the two security guards inside the door. The two walked out and said:

  "We two are going to have lunch now, lock the door for half an hour, you also go eat, come back at 12:30."

  "Alright."

  Congye felt a bit tired and hungry, thinking that there were still eight rooms to go in the afternoon, not to mention moving the new furniture upstairs. Just as he was about to call Yan Qingcheng to say he wouldn't be back for dinner, he suddenly remembered that Jia Cheng had said that the new furniture would arrive at any time, but why hadn't it arrived yet? In less than two hours, the Night Club would open for business, and if the furniture didn't arrive, wouldn't it delay business?

  "It's a pity I didn't leave Jia Gege a phone number."

  The leaves rustled, and when she looked up at the two security guards, they had already walked far away.

  "Brother, I'll come back this afternoon, don't sell the rest to others."

  "Don't worry, come over here."

  "Alright."

  The second-hand goods collector walked away happily on his tricycle. Cong Ye also went to a nearby street, first looking for a public phone booth to call Yan Qingcheng. Afterwards, he casually ate a bowl of wontons and three pancakes at a small food stall by the road. At 12:30, Cong Ye returned to the entrance of the nightclub again, saw that the door was already open, and walked in, intending to continue moving the remaining tea tables and sofas from the eight rooms upstairs.

  "Who are you looking for?"

  Cong Ye was taken aback, the person in front of him was no longer the two security guards from this morning, but a stranger he didn't recognize, about twenty years old, with hair dyed in a flashy style. Had the security guards changed shifts?

  "I'm not looking for anyone, I'm here to work."

  "What do you do?"

  "This morning, Boss Jia asked me to move the tea tables and sofas in the rooms. I've already moved twelve rooms, with eight more remaining. You'd better call Boss Jia quickly and ask him when the new furniture will arrive, don't delay the afternoon business."

  "What did you say, Boss Jia? Are we moving furniture again?"

  Looking at the young man's puzzled face, Cong Ye suddenly had a bad premonition.

  "I'm the actual boss of this nightclub, what's with this 'Boss Jia' nonsense? Come up here with me and let me see what you've been smuggling in."

  Congye now somewhat understood, he should have fallen into someone else's well-designed trap.

  Just as the two were talking, four young men came in from outside, all dressed similarly to the one who had just claimed to be the boss.

  "Hey guys, keep an eye on him, don't let him get away."

  After finishing speaking, the young man who claimed to be the boss quickly went upstairs to the second floor, and soon heard a shout from upstairs.

  "What a big nerve, broad daylight robbery, I have 20 KTV rooms with sofas and coffee tables, and they actually moved away 12 of them. If I had come an hour later, would there be anything left?"

  The young boss shouted from the second floor and came down to the first floor in front of Cong Ye just as he finished speaking.