Chapter Thirty-Nine: Sneaking Away

  In the dead of night, everything fell under the reign of the dark god, and the entire inn lost its bustle and noise. Except for the occasional snoring sounds and snores coming from the rooms, everything was quiet.

  Zhao Erhu hid under the bed, not daring to make a sound, until he felt that the couple on the bed had fallen fast asleep. He then slowly and carefully crawled out from under the bed.

  The room was very dark, fortunately, Zhao Erhu hid under the bed and was in the darkest corner. As soon as he crawled out from under the bed, he immediately adapted to the darkness in front of him. Taking advantage of the darkness, he carefully and cautiously approached the couple who were hugging each other, face to face, sleeping on the bed. He looked around them nervously, peeked at them, and heard a faint snoring sound coming from the man's nostrils, as well as a gentle breathing sound coming from the woman's nostrils. Zhao Erhu believed that they were indeed asleep, and slept very soundly.

  Now, Zhao Erhu was completely at ease. Hehe, the first half of the night didn't work out, but the second half will, and heaven is fair. They say that a thief's luck won't run out empty-handed, that's all about opportunity. And isn't this opportunity right in front of me, given to me by heaven?

  Damn it, this pair of men and women are actually trafficking in opium, no wonder that leather bag had so many silver coins. This is also ill-gotten wealth. When Master was alive, he once told me that any ill-gotten wealth, not taking it would be a betrayal of one's own conscience. Ah, leaving behind a full leather bag of shiny silver coins, how could that person not be tempted?

  As he thought of this, Zhao Erhu stepped forward lightly and examined it carefully. He found that the leather bag filled with silver dollars was under the man's head. Zhao Erhu stretched out his hand to pull the bag gently, but found that the bag was pressed tightly under the man's head and couldn't be moved.

  Zhao Erhu couldn't help but curse in his heart: "Greedy ghost, can't even sleep with a clear conscience, has to put the leather bag under his head while sleeping. Deserves to die, doesn't even give me a chance to make a move."

  Take another look at the couple on the bed, and you wouldn't feel that there's still someone standing beside their bed in the middle of the night. Probably they're exhausted from doing that thing, anyway, judging from their breathing sounds, it can be determined that they are still sleeping soundly in a sweet dreamland, without any sign of waking up.

  Now, Zhao Erhu felt at ease. He was unwilling to sneak into this room with great difficulty and then slip out empty-handed again. If his fellow workers found out about it later, they would laugh their teeth off. He had said that he wanted to show off in front of his two brothers and help them get out of trouble. But if he left empty-handed, not only would he not be able to get out of trouble, but also tomorrow morning's room rent would not be paid. If those two really ran away on their own, wouldn't Zhao Erhu be beaten half to death by the hotel owner and then sent to the police station in handcuffs?

  No way, this is absolutely impossible, no matter what, I must get that handbag.

  Thinking of this, Zhao Erhu looked around the bed, but didn't find anything that could replace the leather bag to swap it out from under the man's head.

  Just as Zhao Erhu was worried, he suddenly looked down and saw the man's leather shoes under the bed and the woman's high heels that had been kicked off. "Hey, got it! I'll let you sleep with your leather shoes tonight, you big smoke dealer."

  Zhao Erhu picked up the leather shoes of the men and women under the bed, found an empty cloth bag next to them that was used for unknown purposes, stuffed the several pairs of leather shoes into the cloth bag in a mess, placed the cloth bag at the bedside, stretched out both hands, carefully lifted the man's head who was still snoring, swapped one hand, slowly pulled out the leather package under his head, then pulled over the cloth bag containing the leather shoes and slowly stuffed it under the man's head.

  After doing all this, Zhao Erhu picked up the leather bag filled with silver coins and turned back to take a look. The man didn't feel anything at all, still snoring away sweetly, unaware that the leather bag under his head had been switched with a cloth bag containing his own shoes.

  Zhao Erhu carefully carried the stolen bag. He quietly came to the window, lifted the curtain, hung the bag on his own shoulder, climbed up the not-too-high windowsill, and gently pulled the curtain back, taking advantage of the night color, slowly sneaking back into his own room.

  Back in his own room, Zhao Erhu couldn't hide the excitement in his heart. Every time he succeeded in stealing, he would feel this way, and a sense of joy would arise from his success. He hastily put the leather bag on his bed and opened it to count his "fruits of labor". After counting all the silver coins in the bag, he found that not everything inside was silver coins - there were also some colorful paper notes. Underneath the paper notes, there were two black file folders, which seemed to contain some documents. Zhao Erhu didn't recognize these things. Anyway, he thought that the couple must be up to no good, and they even had connections with government officials and military officers. Moreover, they were also involved in the business of smuggling opium.

  In the past, I heard from a master that those who sell opium should be killed if caught. It's definitely not something good. It seems I was right to take these things like clips and paper, they might come in handy someday, so I'll keep them.

  It's still dark outside. Zhao Erhu can't leave the hotel for now. The hotel gate is locked at night and he can't get out. He has to wait until dawn before he can settle his bill and leave.

  Wait, Zhao Erhu began to lie on his own bed, lying on the bed but didn't dare to sleep, despite being busy for a night, not even a little sleepy. Two eyes stared at the ceiling, staring and thinking of his sworn brothers Li Guoting and Ma Fei.

  These two people went out to make money, where did they go? Until now. Not even a ghost has been seen. Leaving him alone in this empty hotel. You'd better come back and report to me, let Zhao Erhu know whether you've made money or not, whether you're dead or alive. This is really torturing people.

  Look, the window outside showed a faint light of dawn. The rooster in the yard also started to crow. Zhao Erhuo got up and went to pull the door. He found that his room door was still locked by the hotel owner from the outside.

  Zhao Erhu's heart was racing, if the hotel owner didn't come to open the door in the morning, those two people would wake up and definitely find that their bags had been stolen. At that time, they would make a fuss. The hotel owner would definitely call the police and lock the hotel gate, not letting anyone out. If he was caught in the room next door, he would be out of luck.

  Thinking of this, Zhao Erhu's triumphant mood when he stole the goods earlier disappeared. Instead, he felt a wave of fear, the kind of fear that comes from being discovered and caught.

  "Let's just follow our fate!" Zhao Erhu thought to himself as he gazed out at the faint morning light outside the window.

  Just outside the window, it was getting brighter. When the east emitted its first ray of sunlight, there was a sudden movement at the door of the inn, and then the door was opened by the shop assistant.

  With a look of disdain, the shop assistant shouted at Zhao Erhu, who was lying on the bed: "Hey, boss is asking you, when are you going to pay the store money?"

  Zhao Erhuo got up from the bed and said to the shop assistant, "Hey, isn't it just a broken-down shop? What's so great about it? It's just two rotten dollars. You're acting like we owe you money or something. If we can't afford to pay, then we won't stay in your shop. Wait, I'll go settle the bill right now. Don't look down on people." He turned around, slung his bag over his shoulder and said to the shop assistant, "Let's go. Lead the way to the counter to settle the bill."

  The shop assistant heard Zhao Erhu's words and really wanted to rush at him, but suddenly saw that Erhu said he was going to the front desk to settle the bill, and also saw Zhao Erhu pick up a black leather bag from the bed. His face changed immediately.

  "Sir, did your two brothers send you the money? Alright, alright. I'll take you to the front desk to settle the bill." The shop assistant's attitude made a 180-degree turn. A smile also appeared on his face. He led Zhao Erhu down the stairs and came to the counter in the front hall, saying to the boss lady, a stout middle-aged woman sitting at the counter: "Boss lady, settling the bill for room 4 on the second floor."

  It was probably just after getting up in the morning, and the boss's wife was still yawning, listening to the store clerk say that the boss's wife poked her head out from behind the high counter, opened her sleepy eyes, took a look at Zhao Erhu, and said: "Wait a minute, let me check the account."

  After finishing, the boss's wife stretched her waist again and bent down to flip through the account book on the counter. Soon, the boss's wife showed that chubby face with wrinkles from behind the high counter again, saying to Zhao Erhu standing in front of the counter: "Two days' room fee, plus three meals. Total two dollars."

  Zhao Erhu didn't say a word and took out two silver dollars from that black leather bag and threw them on the counter.

  "Sir, are you staying or not?" The landlady picked up the two silver dollars, weighed them in her hand, and immediately put on a smile, saying to Zhao Erhu.

  "We can't stay here." Zhao Erhu replied.

  "Next time you come, little master, stay with us." The landlady said with a smile to Zhao Erhu.

  "Alright, next time I come, I'll stay at your place again."

  Zhao Erhu thought to himself, "Your family's rundown inn is really something. The shop assistants look like evil spirits." Next time, even if you kill me, I won't stay here. However, he didn't want to linger here any longer. The more he delayed, the more danger there would be - this he knew better than anyone else. He hastily said, carrying that black leather bag, and headed towards the door.

  Behind him came the voice of the landlady: "Young master, slow down. Welcome back next time."

  Zhao Erhu didn't even turn his head back, nor did he respond to the landlady's words behind him. He walked straight towards the hotel's gate, stretched out his hand to pull it open and stepped out.

  Just then, Zhao Erhu suddenly heard a hurried footsteps coming down from the stairs, followed by the voice of the man he had hidden under the bed to eavesdrop on last night.

  "Oh no, oh no! There's a thief in the hotel! My leather bag has been stolen!" The man rushed downstairs and shouted at the landlady sitting behind the counter.

  Zhao Erhu thought to himself, "Oh no, that person must have woken up and discovered their bag was stolen. They've come down to report it to the police." This is not good, he had just left the hotel room, if they found him now, it would be hard to escape. Fortunately, the old lady boss and the people in the store understood, there was still a little time, hurry up and run now.

  At this thought, Zhao Erhu's feet seemed to have been greased, and he slung his bag over his shoulder and took off running towards the street ahead.

  The woman who lived with the man also ran down at this time. After they explained what had happened to the landlady and the shop assistant, the landlady immediately ordered the shop assistant to close all the doors of the inn, and no guests were allowed to enter or leave. Then, she prepared to send someone to the police station to report the incident. At this moment, the landlady suddenly thought of the half-grown boy who had just checked out with a black leather bag. She immediately asked: "Is the package you lost a black leather bag?"

  "Yes, yes, it's a black leather bag." The man replied repeatedly.

  "Something's wrong. The one who stole your purse might be that boy who just finished paying and walked out. I saw him carrying a black purse on his shoulder, very similar to the one you described."

  "Has he just left?" The man's face showed a tense expression and asked hurriedly.

  "He just walked out, I guess he won't go far," said the boss's wife.

  "Ah, it's not just the money that was stolen, but there were also very important documents in my bag. This is a disaster! Madam boss, quickly get your people to chase after them! If they can't catch up and retrieve my belongings, I'll have you all go to the police station!" the man threatened.

  The boss's wife was also pale, her tense expression shouting loudly at the clerks in the store: "What are you all still doing there, hurry up and chase after them. Go and chase!"

  The fellows who were waiting in the shop heard the boss's wife's words and ran out one after another to chase Zhao Erhu, who had just left the door.