I curiously took out the cigarettes from inside. After taking out five packs, I finally discovered something unusual. The innermost part of the cigarette pack wasn't two packs of Yuxi cigarettes, but two soft Huazi cigarette packs. I pulled these two out, and with a clatter, the cigarette packs hit the table, leaving two small dents. I tore open the sealed tape, revealing a dazzling golden sheen!
My heart immediately leaped into my throat. Could there be an unexpected windfall?
I directly tore open the cigarette packs, and sure enough, each Huazi pack contained four small gold bars. The gold bars were marked with their weight, 200g each, a total of eight bars, 1600 grams, three catties and two taels. While not quite the weight of a brick, they were substantial. At market price, they should be worth around 500,000 yuan.
Great hermits hide in the city, and great thieves hide their loot in cigarettes. This tactic is truly ingenious!
A thief never leaves empty-handed. Since you hid it where I could find it, I won't be polite. I put the eight gold bars back into the cigarette packs and then packed all the cigarette packs and gold bars into a small backpack, taking them along with the food.
I retraced my steps, climbed back over the wall. Dusk was falling, and the couple had already left. I waded across the small river and returned to the cornfield. Zheng Bingbing had been waiting anxiously. Seeing me return, she pounced on me like a dog, snatched the food, opened it, and inhaled deeply, "Oh my, it smells so good! Where did you buy it from!"
"The town hall," I said with a smile.
"Huh?"
I recounted my adventure to Zheng Bingbing and finally took out the gold bars to show her.
"This... isn't it wrong?" Zheng Bingbing hesitated. "Are stolen goods considered ill-gotten gains?"
"If I had stolen them from an ordinary citizen's home, they would definitely count – of course, I wouldn't do such a thing – but if I stole gold bars hidden by an official in his office, I don't think it counts. These gold bars, could they possibly be his legal income? They must have an illicit origin. I call this being a righteous thief. You keep them for now, and later we'll find an opportunity to cash them in and donate them to those in need!"
Zheng Bingbing pursed her lips and smiled, "That's more like it! Uncle, you're amazing! I admire you more and more!"
"Stop admiring and eat quickly. Taste my cooking."
After eating and drinking our fill, I contentedly lit a Yuxi cigarette with a hint of gold, feeling a bit dizzy from the smoke.
The sky had completely darkened. Worried that Zheng Bingbing might be scared, I finished my cigarette and then got up to reinforce the tent's roof with two more layers of corn leaves, enhancing its light-blocking effect. Inside, I turned on the flashlight and used my backpack to shield the beam, so it wouldn't be discovered from the outside. Although the light was dim, it was enough.
The temperature dropped rapidly in the wilderness at night, becoming even cold enough to numb the hands. Zheng Bingbing and I put on all our clothes and sat on the ground, waiting.
We waited until eight o'clock in the evening when sleepiness finally struck again. Zheng Bingbing had slept late yesterday and had a full day of activity, so her eyelids were getting heavy.
"She'll wake up at twelve, won't she?" Zheng Bingbing asked. I nodded.
"Why don't we sleep first? I'll set an alarm."
"We can't turn on our phones," I warned. Ever since we discovered we were being tracked at the rental apartment, we had both turned off our phones.
"No need, this will do." Zheng Bingbing rolled up her sleeve, set an alarm for eleven-thirty on her outdoor watch, and then curled up on the mat, preparing to sleep.
Seeing Bingbing shivering from the cold, I pulled some blankets from Muji Ge and covered her. However, Zheng Bingbing still didn't dare to get too close to Muji Ge, maintaining a distance of half a meter between them.
I held on for a while longer, but I was also freezing. It felt like it was around zero degrees Celsius. A layer of white frost had already formed on the corn leaves nearby. The weather these past couple of years had become increasingly strange, with extreme heat in the south and biting cold in the north.
If this continues, we'll freeze to death if we don't get sleepy to death. I looked at Muji Ge on my left and Zheng Bingbing on my right, made up my mind, lifted the covers between us, and crawled in...