Chapter 23: A Black Deal

Wen Nuan casually shoved the money and tickets into her pocket, though in reality, she had already placed them in the space. How dangerous the black market was, even her pinky toe could guess. Wen Nuan knew better than to be careless.

After bidding farewell to Hai Ye, Wen Nuan immediately dismissed the idea of wandering around the black market. After all, nothing was more important than her life.

However, what she didn’t expect was that even though she was extra cautious, she was still followed by someone.

Noticing someone trailing behind her, Wen Nuan quickly darted into a nearby alley. After a few turns, she swiftly entered the space.

“Where is she?”

“I saw her turn in here, but in the blink of an eye, she vanished!”

 Wen Nuan listened carefully to the sounds outside the space, knowing she couldn’t just leave easily.

“What should we do now? How do we explain this to Hai Ye when we go back?”

“Shut up! Hurry up and split up to search. A young girl like that, do you really believe she could just vanish into thin air?”

“Yes!”

The hurried footsteps gradually faded into the distance. Wen Nuan didn’t immediately exit from the space. Instead, she began to calculate what her next move should be.

To her surprise, the so-called “black eats black” situation had actually happened to her. No wonder Hai Ye had agreed so quickly earlier; it seemed he had been planning something all along.

From the sound of the footsteps, it seemed the people following her numbered at least four. It looked like she was being taken seriously after all.

 Without the space, she would definitely have had a hard time escaping tonight—if she were lucky, she might still have her life.

Since they had already made their move, she couldn’t just sit idly by. After all, this was the “black eats black” world—whoever got eaten didn’t matter, right?

A few minutes later, footsteps came again.

“Found her?”

“No, Fourth Brother, what do we do now?”

“What to do? Just tell the truth. That little girl is clever. Don’t let me catch her next time, or she’ll be in for a rough ride!”

Wen Nuan rolled her eyes inside the space. She was curious to see who would end up getting the rough ride.

 “Let’s go. We’ll report back to Hai Ye. If there’s a punishment, I’ll take it!”

“Sorry, Fourth Brother, it’s all our fault!”

“What does it have to do with you? Besides, I’ve been working with Hai Ye for so long, he won’t really do anything to me. At worst, he’ll just deduct some wages!”

After that, the sound of footsteps faded. Wen Nuan knew that the group had left.

The place where the deal had just taken place was likely their hideout, but it was just one of the contact points. Wen Nuan considered it for a moment before deciding to leave the space.

Watching the four men’s backs from a distance, she trailed behind them quietly.

Sure enough, the place they went to this time was not the compound where Wen Nuan had just made the deal with Hai Ye, but it was not far either.

As the saying goes, “The cunning rabbit has three burrows,” and these black market folks definitely didn’t just have one hideout; they could have five or six.

However, with time limited, Wen Nuan didn’t want to make too much noise, so for tonight, getting the information here would suffice.

Watching as the four men turned into a red gate, Wen Nuan quietly scaled the wall of the compound.

“Hai Ye! We lost her. That kid is too slick!”

The leader, Fourth Brother, lowered his head and stood humbly in front of Hai Ye, acting very submissively.

“Alright, since we lost him, we lost him. We’re not short on this one deal. Just be more careful next time!”

“Thank you, Hai Ye!”

Hai Ye waved his hand and dismissed them.

“Zhao Lei, check tomorrow who’s living in that compound. My Zhang Changhai’s money isn’t that easy to spend!”

“Yes, Hai Ye!”

Wen Nuan watched as Hai Ye handed the property contract and deed to a man named Zhao Lei. She felt a little nervous.

Although the house technically belonged to Qi Chunmei, it wouldn’t be hard to trace it back to her. This was a bit careless on her part.

 Wen Nuan truly regretted her hasty decision to sell the property.

After some consideration, she decided to wait and see if there was any chance to retrieve the deed and contract. As long as they no longer had the documents, the whole matter would have no evidence to support it.

Climbing along the wall, Wen Nuan ascended the large tree in the courtyard. The tree was tall, with lush branches and leaves, providing her a perfect hiding spot.

Taking out her watch from her space, she checked the time—it was already past one in the morning.

The train was at 7 AM, which meant she still had six hours left, but she needed to make a quick stop back at the guesthouse. So, at most, she could only stay here for another four hours.

 Before dawn, she had to leave this place. Otherwise, it would be easy to expose herself, and the guesthouse was already a risky spot.

Hiding in the tree for two hours, the courtyard finally fell silent. The sound of snoring filled the air, and the once peaceful yard now harbored hidden dangers that Wen Nuan couldn’t afford to overlook.

Staying in the shadows, she carefully made her way along the wall into the small courtyard. Ever since she studied that martial arts manual, her movements had become much more swift and agile.

She quietly slipped into the first room, only to find it was a study. The furnishings inside were all exquisite.

Though Wen Nuan wasn’t particularly familiar with the items, following the principle of “better to mistakenly kill a thousand than let one escape,” she carefully stored everything in her space.

The once serene bamboo forest was suddenly filled with various pieces of furniture. But this was just the beginning.

However, after Wen Nuan had stored everything into her space, the room was left with nothing but a bare bookshelf. No matter how she tried to move it, the bookshelf wouldn’t budge.

[Could it be that the space is full?]

Wen Nuan was puzzled and couldn’t believe it. She decided to check the space herself. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that there was still plenty of room left!

So, after exiting the space, Wen Nuan began to examine the bookshelf more closely.

Based on her previous experience searching for treasures at her grandfather’s house, Wen Nuan suspected that this bookshelf might be the key to opening a secret door or mechanism.

She explored it thoroughly—top to bottom, left to right—but still couldn’t find the trick. She felt a bit frustrated.

As she turned around and leaned against the bookshelf, preparing to change her approach, Wen Nuan accidentally triggered a mechanism.

Suddenly, a hidden door appeared on the wall. Wen Nuan was startled but, fortunately, the noise wasn’t loud enough to draw anyone’s attention.

She quickly regained her composure and moved toward the hidden door. To her surprise, it led to a secret chamber!

The secret room wasn’t very large, only a few square meters. Inside, it was filled with redwood boxes. Wen Nuan opened one at random, and her eyes widened at the sight of gold bars gleaming inside.

She counted quickly—there were several boxes of gold bars, eight boxes of jewelry, and the remaining two boxes contained ancient artifacts and calligraphy.

Wen Nuan wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about antiques and calligraphy, but she could tell that these items looked quite impressive.

Thinking about it, these must have been treasured in the secret room for a reason—they were undoubtedly valuable.

Although times were turbulent and unstable, and many of these artworks and antiques could have been destroyed, there would come a time when they would prove useful.

Moreover, these old items were witnesses to history; they held significant meaning.

After placing everything into her space, Wen Nuan began to methodically search through each room.

By coincidence, she didn’t expect that right next to the study was the bedroom of that Hai Ye.

“Enemies meeting, eyes filled with hatred?” Wen Nuan shook her head.

Though she had gained great fortune, she wasn’t someone driven by a thirst for blood.

This man might have had thoughts of “black eats black,”^[1]The phrase “black eats black” is a metaphorical expression often used to describe situations where corrupt, criminal, or morally dubious individuals or groups exploit, fight, or betray … Continue reading but he hadn’t succeeded in his schemes.

At most, she’d clear out all his belongings and consider it compensation for herself—a lesson for him to learn!

Action follows the heartbeat—Wen Nuan swiftly emptied everything from Hai Ye’s bedroom. She had seen the handbag that contained money earlier, and it was now resting on Hai Ye’s bedside.

Wen Nuan quietly took the handbag, heavy with contents. When she had time, she’d count how much money and how many tickets were inside!

After Wen Nuan left, Hai Ye’s room was left with only the bed he had been lying on. There wasn’t even a single stool left.