Chapter 66: Living Here?

With an excited heart and trembling hands, Li Qi finally touched it!

It was a secluded cave, set upon a steep slope that normal people could hardly climb, featuring an opening just big enough for a single person to squeeze through, and approached from a terribly tricky angle.

Only someone like Li Qi, who could recall every single word Mu Yubo had said, who possessed years of experience exploring mountain caves, and who was endowed with extraordinary physical skills, could have pulled it off.

He could not help but thank the bounty of nature.

Inside a tightly wrapped heavy canvas bag lay a woven plastic sack.

And inside the woven sack was a mass of old banknotes.

Two hundred and seventy thousand! Clutching the large woven sack, Li Qi felt quite like he was dreaming.

Even in his past life, thirty years later, he had never laid eyes on so much cash. Because he had never held a steady job, even maxing out online loans could never get him such a high credit limit...

On those predatory lending platforms where borrowing meant digging your own grave, his overdraft limit had never once exceeded five thousand.

Dragging the bulky sack, he backed out step by step, and then suddenly froze!

A voice drifted from the cave entrance.

"Du Shuangquan, did you hear that? There was some movement up above."

"In the dead of winter, out here in the deep mountains and old forests, who could possibly be around? Commissioner Liu, you're just being overly suspicious."

Du Shuangquan? Wasn't that his eldest brother's father-in-law?

Li Qi slowly turned his head and looked toward the cave entrance.

Where he stood was pitch black, impenetrable to light, but the cave mouth admitted a faint glimmer. Combined with the inexplicable enhancement of his five senses after his rebirth, he could clearly see Du Shuangquan standing alongside another short man dressed in a black leather jacket.

The man had a receding hairline, a protruding belly, and looked to be in his forties, appearing exceedingly greasy.

At that moment, the man was peering cautiously into the cave, allowing Li Qi a clear view of his features, though the face was completely unfamiliar, one he had never seen before.

Commissioner Liu stared for a long while and indeed saw nothing at all, which finally set his mind at ease.

"The current situation in China is not like it was back in our day; we must exercise twelve-point caution.

Did you manage to steal the slag I asked for?"

Du Shuangquan pulled a dark, lumpy piece of iron from inside his coat.

"I got it. This was from a batch of scrapped iron they melted yesterday and dumped into the waste pit.

Security is really tight nowadays, and I had to go through a lot of trouble, buying people cigarettes and alcohol."

Commissioner Liu waved a hand impatiently.

"You telling me all this simply means you want more money. Rest assured, this mission is of utmost importance, and the funds are extremely generous—we won't fall short on your share.

I'll give you one thousand yuan right now.

However, let's get our ugly words out first: within ten days, you must steal a block of cooled molten steel from the No. 1 Ironworks for me.

I want the final molten steel after they have adjusted the composition and additives. This is vital to the Empire.

Half a month from now, when we hold price negotiations with China, we must seize absolute initiative.

As long as you can pull this off, I can apply for a ten-thousand-yuan bonus for you."

Hearing that ten thousand yuan was within reach, Du Shuangquan involuntarily swallowed hard, his eyes shining brightly.

Still, he mused hesitantly, "This is awfully difficult. As you know, the iron ore in Taihe City is of high grade and excellent quality, and even the scrapped iron slag fetches a high price from buyers.

So many eyes are on this stuff. Just getting this piece out was no small feat.

That No. 1 Ironworks specializes in producing special-grade iron, and there are armed guards stationed at the gate. Getting my hands on finished molten steel is simply too hard."

Commissioner Liu felt an itch of hatred deep in his roots.

His name was Liu Chuanxi, the descendant of the little Japanese who had stayed behind in China years ago. However, their espionage department had made arrangements long ago, providing him with forged Chinese parents and all fake documentation, so apart from a select few, no one knew his true identity.

And his mission was to remain dormant in China for the long term.

Du Shuangquan was a subordinate he had developed. Firstly, Du Shuangquan's father had been a spy; secondly, Du Shuangquan possessed absolutely no bottom line—he would suckle at any breast for milk and sell his own mother for money.

Yet he was extremely greedy and plagued by all sorts of vices.

Liu Chuanxi knew that Du Shuangquan was merely trying to drive up the price.

"I will take your difficulties into consideration, report to superiors, and fight for an extra five thousand yuan in funding for you. How about that?"

"Alright, alright! Thank you, Taijun, thank you, Excellency.

Our superior hasn't changed, right? Still Madam Guojuan?"

"Shut your mouth! Is her name something you are allowed to utter?

Remember this: I have never spoken her name, and you have never heard it either, or I will put a bullet through you right now!"

Liu Chuanxi's face instantly twisted hideously.

Five years ago, after Du Shuangquan successfully completed a major mission, Liu Chuanxi had been so overjoyed that he chatted with him a bit longer and, in a moment of carelessness, let slip the name of their superior.

As a result, Du Shuangquan had memorized it and brought it up from time to time as a bargaining chip to extort more money from him.

Once a breach of discipline like this leaked out, both Du Shuangquan and he could face immediate execution.

Though he deeply regretted it, he was completely helpless.

"Ten days from now, I will wait for you right here. Don't worry, I will try to squeeze out a bit more money for you.

Du-san, you must be extremely careful. This mission is critical, and your sample might allow us to earn countless amounts of money.

I'm counting on you."

Like all little Japanese, Liu Chuanxi bowed deeply, then tucked the iron slag away and left. Meanwhile, Du Shuangquan counted the thousand yuan he had just received twice, stuffed it into his pocket, and also departed.

Li Qi did not move.

Sure enough, a dozen minutes later, Liu Chuanxi returned with a small handgun in hand, searched the cave repeatedly for a long time, and only then departed once more with a cautious expression.

Li Qi waited another half hour until everything outside grew completely silent before emerging with the woven sack in his arms.

Du Shuangquan was a spy, his handler was Commissioner Liu, and Madam Guojuan was their supreme leader.

Madam Guojuan... Aunt Qiu had once mentioned a person named Guojuan—the very person who had concealed the fact that her mother was still alive, depriving his mother and Aunt Qiu of the chance to recognize each other.

Was it her? Not necessarily.

Back in those years, plenty of people shared that name. He placed a question mark in his heart, leaving the matter open to doubt.

Pocketing the money, he headed straight for the Bat Cave.

With such a massive bag of cash, carrying it straight home was out of the question. While the original mountain cave was indeed secluded, it was clearly used by spies as a rendezvous point, so he had to find another place for safekeeping first.

And no one was more familiar with the Bat Cave than he was!

Li Qi pulled out twenty thousand, hid the rest securely, and then headed home.

The next day, he went to find Old Lady Hao, intending to buy the vacant house right next door to hers.

Passing by the alley entrance, he habitually stopped in his tracks, only to realize that Liu Yuting hadn't spawned today.

She hadn't frozen to death, had she?

Suddenly unable to see her, he felt a slight sense of loss.

Little did he know that Liu Yuting hadn't frozen to death, but she had lost half her life anyway. As for the Ivory Village Task Force, they had been completely wiped out, with all four old men currently lying in the hospital.

Instead, a cat squatted atop the wall, letting out a few meows when it saw Li Qi.

Li Qi glared at it.

"What gibberish are you babbling about? Take your head off and let me suck on it a couple of times."

The cat turned tail and fled.

Old Lady Hao didn't live far away. The house belonged to her eldest son, who had moved to another region, leaving it vacant.

As old neighbors, the old lady asked for three thousand, and Li Qi barged the price down to twenty-eight hundred, successfully closing the deal.

Signing the paperwork, he directly completed all the formalities.

When he had time, he would let his eldest sister clean the place up and move in, so she and her daughter could finally have a proper home.

Afterward, he spent three whole days breaking down the two hundred and seventy thousand yuan into smaller amounts, running around savings offices in Taihe City and surrounding townships to deposit it bit by bit.

In this era, depositing a few hundred or a thousand yuan drew no attention, but depositing tens of thousands all at once was genuinely startling.

He also bought some new clothes and shoes for his father, himself, his eldest sister, and his niece.

After a moment of thought, seeing that Li Zhi's shoes were on the verge of exposing his toes, he decided to buy him a pair of cotton-padded shoes as well. Even if he didn't buy them himself, his father would feel too soft-hearted not to.

Better to spare the old man the expense.

Besides, the fellow had been quite well-behaved lately, contentedly playing the transparent man and pitching in with household chores. Although he knew Li Zhi's true nature was vile, as long as the brat didn't stick his head out to disgust people, Li Qi could tolerate him continuing to skulk along.

After all, the old man was still around.

On the evening when they received the new clothes, the whole family was overjoyed, especially Gao Junmei, who was bouncing with glee. She slipped the new clothes on and danced around happily.

Li Li forcibly peeled them off her, insisting they must be saved for the Chinese New Year.

Li Zhi had also been full of anticipation, but upon seeing that he only got a single pair of shoes, the veins on his neck bulged with fury.

"You all get whole outfits bought for you! How come I only get a pair of shoes?

If Mom were still here, she'd definitely buy me the most!"

Li Qi sneered.

"If you're not satisfied, you don't have to take the shoes. I'll keep them for myself."

"Why should you? That's my size."

"Your shoes are whatever size my feet are."

Seeing that his father wasn't going to speak up for him and knowing he couldn't get the upper hand with Li Qi, Li Zhi snatched the shoebox and stormed back to his room with a furious expression.

Once again, deep resentment toward his family welled up inside him. He was the one destined to change the family's fate—why should he be the one suppressed and bullied?

Could it be that heaven was about to place a great responsibility upon him, and must first test his resolve and exhaust his sinews?

Li Zhi vowed that one day, he would make these bumpkins regret it and pay them back a hundred or a thousand times over for the humiliation of today!

...

After depositing the final sum of money, Li Qi let out a long breath and dragged his exhausted steps home.

Before he even stepped through the door, he saw his second sister-in-law, Tang Chunyan, standing at the entrance with her hands on her hips, cursing up a storm.

"Li Third, was your mouth scrubbed out with a shit-stirring stick? Your throat connects straight to your large intestine, and everything you say sounds like farting!

Didn't you say you were going to get money from Aunt Qiu?

I've been waiting for you for days—are you trying to drop dead?"

Li Qi didn't deign to argue with her. He was now a wealthy man with a net worth of over twenty thousand, and his life was far too precious.

Picking a fight with a shrew like this?

That lacked all perspective. If he angered himself sick, all those twenty-odd thousand would benefit someone else.

In the future, he was going to be a man who traveled the globe and possessed countless beauties.

So Li Qi smiled.

"Tomorrow morning, let's meet at the bus station and take the first bus into the city."

"Fine! I'll trust you one last time. If you dare play me for a fool again, I'll twist your head off and throw it in the cesspool."

Tang Chunyan swaggered away. Watching her solid back, Li Qi smacked his lips.

His second brother had really suffered through the years.

He wondered if his hip joints were still intact.

He went inside, briefed his eldest sister, and the next day the two of them changed into clean clothes and headed to the bus station.

An hour or so later, following the address given by Zhou Guodong, the three of them arrived at a residential area in the southern part of Taihe City.

Li Qi looked up to see a neat row of small red two-story buildings, each with its own garden, the entire residential area enclosed by a two-meter-high wall that kept outsiders out.

Outside the main gate, two soldiers holding rifles with straight backs cast vigilant gazes toward the three of them.

Tang Chunyan had never seen such a formation, and her voice trembled slightly.

"Third, you're saying that Aunt Qiu... lives right here?"