Chapter 33 Cellar Wang Jingsheng noticed that his wife suddenly stopped and couldn't help but exclaimed "Oh". An Ning came back to her senses, bit her lower lip, and said hesitantly, "Have you seen the cellar in that courtyard?" Wang Jingsheng was stunned, blinked his eyes, then yelled "Fuck!", slapped his thigh, turned around twice on the ground, and looked at An Ning again: "You mean~ Qi Jia was most likely to have hidden the things in the cellar!" Just now Wang Jingsheng was going to the cellar to get something and reminded An Ning. Since there is not even a three-foot-deep excavation inside the house, the only place left to hide things is the cellar. Wang Jingsheng walked out without saying a word. But An Ning stopped him and said, "Wait a minute, I'll go with you." …… On the other side, Ning Weidong suddenly had an idea and also thought of the cellar. Generally speaking, the shantytowns in the capital have cellars for storing winter vegetables, which are usually shared by several families.

Each family has its own storage shelf to store cabbage, potatoes and radishes, and each family has its own shelf. Especially in the past few years, supplies were in short supply and every family had a hard time. Cabbages, pickles and the like were extremely precious. If a family was short of two cabbages, there would be a commotion in the yard. Therefore, almost no one in the cellar would touch other people's things, so as to avoid making a fuss. It was most likely that Qi Jia had made a secret compartment in the cellar to hide some things. Thinking of this, Ning Weidong immediately got up from the bed, hurriedly put on his shoes and coat, went to the upper room to get a flashlight, a screwdriver and a hammer, and rushed out the door. But he happened to run into Bai Fengyu coming out of house. When the two met, Bai Fengyu was slightly surprised. She knew that Ning Weidong had worked the night shift yesterday and should have slept for the whole morning. "Weidong..." Bai Fengyu called out, she had something to say. Ning Weidong was busy making money and had no time to pay attention to her. He responded and walked without stopping. Before Bai Fengyu could say anything else, he had already walked out of the Moon Gate. Bai Fengyu blinked her eyes and the corners of her mouth twitched. She had a smile on her face, but she couldn't smile. Ning Weidong walked quickly and soon arrived at the construction site again. Turn into the alley and it's the second door in front. Ning Weidong's eyes suddenly focused, and he dodged and hid in the doorway next to him, carefully sticking his head out to look forward. I noticed an arm and a foot sticking out from the wall at the gate of the front yard. Judging from the posture, it seemed that someone was leaning there. Ning Weidong immediately thought of Zhang Jinfa. Just now, he and Wang Jingsheng's men had withdrawn. Ning Weidong pursed his lips and turned to walk into the yard. This is exactly where Ning Wei and the other two were hiding before. Walking into the courtyard gate, I soon found the temporary steps built with bricks by Ning Wei and his team.

Ning Weidong stepped on it and climbed over the wall. He walked along the wall with his back bent, and soon arrived behind the east wing of the next yard. Crouching here, you can roughly see the situation in the yard over there. Sure enough, there were two people wandering around in the yard, and there were also shadows moving in the messy digging room. At the bottom of the steps of the north room, where Wang Jingsheng and Ning Weidong had smoked this morning, stood a man of medium build wearing a military officer's coat. The man was in his thirties, not wearing a hat, had a big bald head, a cigarette in his mouth, and one of his legs was shaking rapidly. At first glance, he didn't look like a good person. "It's really Zhang Jinfa~" Ning Weidong narrowed his eyes and recognized this person. Last night, when Ning Weidong discovered that someone was staring at Wang Jingsheng, he guessed it was Zhang Jinfa. Now that I see him in person, it’s confirmed. Ning Weidong remained calm. Zhang Jinfa probably guessed that Wang Jingsheng had other intentions in asking him for help, but he probably didn't know much about the specific situation. At this time, he was also staring at the side room that was in a mess this morning. After waiting for a few minutes, Zhang Jinfa and his gang found nothing. A young man came up to Zhang Jinfa and muttered to himself. Zhang Jinfa threw the cigarette in his mouth to the ground, spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm, and then led his men away. Ning Weidong looked at it and breathed a sigh of relief. After watching those people leave, he waited patiently for a few minutes before climbing down from the top to find the entrance to the cellar. There are regulations for courtyard buildings, and there are not many places to dig cellars. In addition, the doors and windows were removed and the cellar entrance was exposed, so it was quickly found. Ning Weidong stretched his neck and took a look inside. It was pitch black and he could only see a very small area below the cave entrance. Going down the straight wooden stairs, your feet made a "crunching" sound as they stepped on the ground. Ning Weidong turned on the flashlight and saw a lot of broken glass in the cellar, which should be the ones left by the broken glass bottles used to make tomato sauce. This kind of tomato sauce is a unique way of eating in Beijing. In the summer, when tomatoes are particularly cheap, you can buy them, wash them, process them, and seal them in glass bottles. They can be kept until the beginning of next spring. Almost every household has them. Ning Weidong scanned the area with a flashlight. The cellar was emptied except for a few rotten logs and broken glass on the ground. Ning Weidong frowned. Although he guessed that Qi Jia's most precious things might be hidden here, he had no idea where to start looking. This cellar should have existed when the house was first built. In order to save costs, the cellars dug later were rarely built with blue bricks, but this place is quite neat. Ning Weidong knocked on the cellar wall with a screwdriver, listening carefully to the echo, hoping to find the mezzanine. After knocking around, I didn't hear any hollow drum sound. Ning Weidong had a serious expression and felt a little doubtful. Could it be that he was wrong again?

I shone the flashlight on the cellar ceiling, wondering if it was hidden up there or underneath. The flashlight shone towards the ground again. The floor of the cellar was originally paved with red bricks, but due to years of use, it was covered with a layer of soil and had turned completely black. Only in the places where the bricks were moved could some traces of brick joints be seen. Ning Weidong thought about it and looked up. If it is on the ground, you have to open the secret compartment and turn over the bricks, which is not only very cumbersome, but also easy to leave traces. With Qi Jiazui's personality, he would not leave such a clue. It is more likely that he hid the secret compartment in the wall behind the shelf, but after knocking around just now, there was no hollow sound, so the most likely possibility is the cellar ceiling. Generally speaking, due to the limited height of the cellar and the oppressive darkness, when people go down here, they tend to bend down and look down. In addition, there was an electric light in the cellar. Before going down the ladder, I turned it on at the entrance of the cellar. The light was too glaring and I would not look up. Ning Weidong thought about this and pointed the flashlight upwards again to observe carefully, while holding a screwdriver in his hand, he poked here and knocked there. The ceiling of the cellar is made of wooden beams as thick as a human arm, with boards placed on the beams and tarpaulin on the boards. The tarpaulin is covered with a layer of soil that is about half a meter thick to the ground. Ning Weidong searched for a while and finally his eyes fell on the place where the light bulb was originally hung. Because electricity is involved, this place will not be moved easily. If you really want to hide something, this is undoubtedly an extra layer of insurance. "Would Qi Jiazui think so?" Ning Weidong pondered and stretched out his hand. (End of this chapter)