Chapter 147 Discovery

Xiao Weiguo took out a cigarette, handed it to the elderly gatekeeper, and probed for some information.

"Uncle, I have a few younger family members who are looking to transfer schools recently. I heard that your Xinghua Elementary School has an exceptionally good teaching standard, so I came to inquire about it."

"Ah, it's about that then you've asked the right person. The teaching here is indeed top-notch."

"Among the teachers inside, who is considered the best? I have a strong preference for veteran teachers. Uncle, just tell me about the teachers who are middle-aged or older." Xiao Weiguo took out another cigarette and handed it over.

Xiao Weiguo had already analyzed the situation. Based on the description in the letter, the traitor had been lurking inside for a long time. Given that, the person must be a teacher, and likely middle-aged or older.

Making a reasonable guess, it was even possible they had been teaching at this school since before the Liberation.

"Middle-aged or older veteran teachers? That would definitely be Teacher Manyi and Teacher Zhang Changqin, the husband and wife," the gatekeeper said reminiscingly. "You young man might not know this, but this couple has been teaching at the school since before the Liberation. Nowadays, they only teach the graduating classes. In their classes, many more children get admitted to good junior high schools compared to ordinary classes."

"Are they a married couple? Uncle, do you happen to know where they live? I'm planning to bring my younger siblings and pay them a visit at their home."

"How can that do? I certainly can't tell you where they live. Otherwise, what would happen if everyone went to disturb them? No, I won't tell you, I won't." The gatekeeper shook his head repeatedly.

Seeing this, Xiao Weiguo shoved the better part of a pack of cigarettes directly into the old man's hands and said sincerely, "Uncle, please do me a favor. My younger siblings' grades are terribly poor, and they desperately need such a good teacher to guide them. Otherwise, they'll just end up with a rudimentary primary school education."

The gatekeeper looked at the pack of cigarettes, then at Xiao Weiguo, and mentally judged that he probably wasn't a bad person.

"Oh well, I might as well tell you then. They live in Courtyard No. 3 on Stone Alley, not far from the school. They're actually neighbors of this old man."

"Uncle, let me ask you one more thing. Are there any other family members living with this couple? I'm planning to bring some children's gifts when I visit. What do you think?"

"Not good at all. To tell you the truth, as wonderful as this couple is, they've had a truly wretched fate. They're already past forty, yet they don't even have a single child of their own. Every day, besides teaching, the two of them just shut themselves up in their room, grieving and sorrowful. We, their old neighbors, see it all, and it's just heartbreaking." As the gatekeeper spoke, he slapped his own thigh.

The more Xiao Weiguo listened, the more he felt this matched the exact profile of the person he was looking for. Could things really be going this smoothly?

The age matched, the number of people matched, and they had no children. From a traitor's perspective, this arrangement made complete sense.

After thanking the gatekeeper, Xiao Weiguo memorized the two names in his heart: Manyi and Zhang Changqin.

Then, he took two gifts out of his spatial dimension, hung them on his bicycle, and headed toward Stone Alley.

One had to put on a full act, after all.

Besides, this would allow him to inspect the premises firsthand for any evidence proving they were traitors.

Carrying the gifts through the gate of the large shared courtyard, Xiao Weiguo stated the purpose of his visit, and a crowd of people eagerly vied to point him in the right direction.

Following the directions, he walked to the back courtyard. Their neighbor pointed at two rooms and said, "Young man, these are the two teachers' quarters. You can wait here for a bit. Who knows if they'll be back at noon? If not, you might want to come back this evening."

Xiao Weiguo thanked the helpful neighbor and sat directly on the steps outside the two rooms.

He swept his mental awareness inward.

He scanned both rooms thoroughly, finding nothing amiss. Everything inside appeared completely normal.

"Did I guess wrong? Are they just a completely normal pair of teachers?"

Reluctant to give up, Xiao Weiguo scanned the rooms a second time, but truly found nothing at all.

He had no choice but to make an excuse that he had matters to attend to and would return to visit on his day off.

Exiting Stone Alley, Xiao Weiguo turned back for a glance. For a brief second, he felt as though he had forgotten something of great importance.

Never mind, he would put that aside for now.

Since it was just noon, Xiao Weiguo found a state-run restaurant and treated himself to a hearty meal.

In the afternoon, he had to handle the household registration matters for his father and Hongmei's family.

At present, this was the absolute most important task—even more important than catching a traitor.

The lead at Xinghua Elementary School would just have to be investigated further later. In any case, the traitor wouldn't run away from there in a short time.

Xiao Weiguo returned to the police station in Nanluoguxiang and smoothly handled Xiao Pingle's household registration transfer.

Xiao Pingle's household registration wasn't met with any obstruction, because having a formal urban job and housing served as a solid endorsement; obstructing it would have been pointless.

During the process, he also inquired about transferring the household registrations of his four younger siblings. The household administration staff replied that logically there shouldn't be any issue, but it required an acceptance letter issued by the neighborhood committee before they could process it on their end.

Armed with Xiao Pingle's newly registered household booklet, Xiao Weiguo went straight to the neighborhood committee.

This time, Officer Xiao Liu was not around, and the director was not in the office either. Another officer received him, and the grain ration booklet and other items for Xiao Pingle were issued quite promptly.

However, when Xiao Weiguo asked about transferring the household registrations of his four younger siblings in the countryside, the feedback was that as long as the police station registered them, the neighborhood committee would naturally accept them—after all, they already had a house and met the housing transfer regulations.

This left Xiao Weiguo's head spinning. Were these two departments just passing the buck back and forth?

Director Xu Meihui was not around today either, leaving no one to consult.

He would simply have to come back tomorrow and talk directly to Director Xu.

Fortunately, he knew the director of the neighborhood committee, and the director could be considered one of their own. Otherwise, Xiao Weiguo feared he wouldn't have even the slightest clue how to proceed.

Today could be considered a fruitful day: not only was the new house fully renovated and moved into...

His father had also officially started his job.

He had also managed to get some leverage on Shao Jiefang.

As for the Xinghua Elementary School lead, more detailed clues had emerged, which would require follow-up.

His father's household registration and grain booklet issues were also resolved. Living in the city, the grain booklet was the lifeline of an individual and a family; no matter how much importance one attached to it, it was never an overstatement.

Of course, Xiao Weiguo was an exception. He didn't seem to have ever used a grain booklet to collect grain or other rations, so he could simply hand the grain booklet over to Xiao Pingle and not worry about it anymore.

Checking the time, it was mid-afternoon, so Xiao Weiguo rode his bicycle toward Yang Moquan's place on his own.

He had learned most of the Baji Quan taught to him previously, and Xiao Weiguo intended to learn a few more forms.

Besides, he needed to visit that place from time to time to strengthen their bond.

No matter what, masters Yang Moquan and Tian Xuguo had bestowed upon him the grace of passing on their martial arts.

He took a bag of vegetables from his spatial dimension to use as a visiting gift. The vegetables in his space grew at an astonishing speed, so this little bit felt to Xiao Weiguo like nothing more than a few weeds.

Arriving at the single-compound courtyard, Yang Moquan happened to be out in the yard.

Greeting him as he stepped inside, Xiao Weiguo saw that Yang Moquan was not alone; besides him, there were four other elderly men.

The group was intently admiring several objects displayed on a table.

Yang Moquan told Xiao Weiguo to make himself comfortable, and the group didn't stop because of his arrival.

One of them was holding a porcelain vase and said, "This Qianlong-era famille rose hollow-cut auspicious double-gong revolving vase is simply so exquisite. Every time I see it, my heart flutters. Come on, Old Qian, you might as well just cede it to me; the price is fully negotiable."