Chapter 4 Chapter 3 A Hollow Leaded Glass

He quickly put down the phone. I paid attention to the phone number Wen Baoyu answered just now. That area is quite far from my residence, at least half an hour’s drive away. Anyway, nothing happened. I just listened to Bai Su’s talk about Gu Jiufei’s pickpocketing history. Several cases praised by people. In one case, he once stole a blacklist to be arrested from the briefcase in the arms of the Japanese military police, so that several patriots could escape in time and saved many people. It was never known how the documents were stolen. There is another case where he was able to steal the bellyband of a beautiful woman without the beauty knowing it. In this case, everyone suspected that he had colluded with the beautiful woman in advance, and he stole it in order to protect himself For honor, you have to fight a duel.

Wait, it's all very interesting, Wen Baoyu said: "No, I already knew that he is a stranger in the world." I yawned and looked at the clock, more than half an hour had passed: "Our strange man from the Jianghu should be here." Wen Baoyu said: "He said he has a very strange thing to tell you, do you know what it is?" I laughed: "It could be anything." Wen Baoyu said: "The scope can be narrowed a bit—it must be related to his pickpocket career." I waved my hand: "That can be anything, by the way, what is the latest activity of Chief Aga?"

Bai Su has been flipping through a current affairs magazine, so I asked her this way, and Bai Su immediately replied: "I did a business of forty medium-range missiles, and the buyers were Iran and Iraq." I snorted, there is no difference between an arms broker and a warmonger.Bai Su continued: "It is estimated that he can make a profit of 200 million US dollars from this transaction, but it is speculated that there are even bigger transactions going on at the same time. Both the buyer and the seller are keeping extreme secrets." I suddenly stood up: "If the small box is related to this secret, hmph, ten Gu Jiufei and ten Wen Baoyu are not dead enough." Wen Baoyu's face was pale, but he put on a stubborn look, Bai Su Frowning, Wen Baoyu saw that Bai Su's expression was also so serious, and his complexion became paler.

Bai Su breathed a sigh of relief: "It's completely accidental, and it can develop into something I don't know." Wen Baoyu yelled, "Don't... scare me." I hit the table hard: "Gu Jiufei hasn't come yet, there might be an accident." Everyone fell silent for a while, and the silence lasted for a full three minutes. I was already pressing the phone number, and I asked Wen Baoyu for Gu Jiufei's phone number, and asked a friend of mine—he had the phone number, The ability to instantly find out where a phone is located. I got the address, Wen Baoyu said: "You can wait a little longer."

I shook my head: "It may be too late—" Wen Baoyu also answered the phone, but no one answered, I said seriously: "Xiaobao, you are not allowed to leave here, the matter is big or small, maybe it was just a false alarm, maybe—" I just talked about this, the doorbell rang, Wen Baoyu made a quick move, slid straight down from the handrail of the stairs, rushed to the door, opened the door, there was a very ordinary old man standing outside the door, Wen Baoyu stood still , let out a long breath, and immediately turned to look at me.The old man is naturally Gu Jiufei, and I also breathed a sigh of relief. I don't think the worry just now is superfluous. No one knows how things will develop.

Bai Su also went downstairs: "Uncle Gu? I often hear my father mentioning you." Wen Baoyu also laughed: "I've heard many legendary stories about you." Gu Jiufei walked in, he obviously already knew Bai Su's identity, so he gave a very strange gift to Bai Su - it was probably a big gift made by their pickpockets. Then, he shook my hand and introduced himself: "Gu Jiufei, a pickpocket." I have heard many people introduce themselves in front of me, but this is the first time I have heard someone claiming to be a pickpocket.I hurriedly said: "Wesley..." But for a while, I couldn't give a brief introduction to my identity, so I had to hesitate.

As soon as Wen Baoyu saw me shaking hands with Gu Jiufei, he immediately extended his hand to Gu Jiufei—he had already arranged for our meeting, so it was time for Gu Jiufei to give him what he promised. Bai Su obviously still insisted on her original opinion, and called out: "Xiaobao." Wen Baoyu pretended not to hear, but still spread his arms towards Gu Jiufei. Gu Jiufei took a step back, smiled, but pointed at me. Wen Baoyu said "ah": "Change the pillar?" Gu Jiufei looked at me, Bai Su and Wen Baoyu also looked at me, I understood what Gu Jiufei meant, he meant that the small box, at that moment just now, he had used a superb technique to put it on me up.

I hurriedly opened my arms and jumped a few times, expressing that I had no idea where that thing was on my body.The weather was quite hot that day. Although there was air conditioning in the room, I didn't wear too many clothes. It was easy to see if there was anything hidden. Gu Jiufei still smiled: "Mr. Wei, please don't laugh, it's in your back pocket." I looked very surprised - I should be surprised, because he met me, shook hands, face to face all the time, and he was able to put things in my back pocket, which is of course extremely difficult. When Wen Baoyu heard it, he said "Aha", and immediately turned behind me. At that time, my arms were still open and held flat.Ordinary men's trousers have two back pockets, Wen Baoyu reached out and patted on the two pockets, his voice was loud and puzzled: "It's not right."

Gu Jiufei was startled suddenly, looking at me, I avoided his gaze, but Gu Jiufei already knew what was going on, and pretended to lose his voice: "Not here? That's terrible, there is someone taller than me The masters are here." Wen Baoyu poked his head out from behind himself: "Who? The first and second masters have arrived?" Gu Jiufei smiled: "I'm afraid he is an amateur." Wen Baoyu naturally understood, looking directly at me, I knew: "I'll give you ten minutes, if you can find it, look for it, if you can't find it, just follow the original plan, destroy it, don't let it exist."

Gu Jiufei was surprised: "Why?" I explained it to him in a very simple way, and at the same time reminded him that he got that thing from Chief Aga's body, which might have caused a great disaster for himself and Wen Baoyu. At that time, Wen Baoyu circled around me and pulled my hands away to see. It made sense for him to do that, because as soon as Gu Jiufei entered the door, he first saluted Bai Su and then shook hands with me. Naturally, at that time, he put something in my back pocket. And I, an "amateur master", immediately noticed it, took it out again, and moved it.I have been standing without moving, the most likely thing is that the things are still on my body.So Wen Baoyu not only turned me around, but also searched me at will - since I promised to give him ten minutes to search, I couldn't stop him.

When Wen Baoyu was looking for that thing, Gu Jiufei and I were still talking, and Gu Jiufei also looked a little worried: "I'm not afraid, people who have met me once or twice will not remember me, but this kid Xiaobao... ..." Wen Baoyu protested loudly: "I am no longer a child." Gu Jiufei changed his words: "This young man is handsome, anyone who has seen him once will remember him." At this time, Wen Baoyu had spent at least five minutes with no results, and was in a panic. Hearing this, he hurriedly said: "Then, if I am hunted down and told to hand over that thing, and if I fail to hand it over, then I must How can you bear to tear people into pieces?" I snorted and said, "Even if I can hand it over, I still can't save my life. There are nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine pieces of corpse, which is no different from ten thousand pieces." Wen Baoyu sighed, "It's always better." He said, stomping his feet vigorously, and turned towards me: "If you don't know what that thing is, you think it must be an important item from Chief Aga, and you are worried all day long. How will you live in the future? It is very likely, It's just normal stuff." What Wen Baoyu said made a lot of sense. That thing might be so common that if you lose it, you lose it. Chief Aga might not care at all. Isn't it wrong for us to scare ourselves here? When I thought of this, I immediately looked at Bai Su, who obviously felt the same way and nodded. Wen Baoyu was very sensitive, and immediately saw the signs, and jumped up: "The trick is really fast, alas, I am unlucky to deal with three pickpockets." Bai Su sniffed, "I didn't do anything, I just took the stolen goods..." When she said this, she couldn't help laughing, she stretched out her hand, and the small box was in her hand—naturally, I handed it to her very quickly. As soon as Wen Baoyu stretched out his hand, he snatched it and put it on a small round table. We all sat down around this small round table. Bai Su poured wine for Gu Jiufei and me. Carefully untie the gold thread on the outside, and undo the velvet wrapping the small box. After unraveling the velvet, a small silver box was revealed, and the lid was opened──At that moment, several people were very nervous, because they could immediately know what was in the box. Inside the box is a "crystal" almost the same size as the box (actually leaded crystal glass, which has been widely called "crystal" since I don't know when). Wen Baoyu blinked and took out the piece of glass. It looked like a small cellophane weight. If he saw such a piece of glass on other occasions, even though it was crystal clear, he would not pay much attention to it. It's just a small decoration. However, it was taken out of a secret pocket of a character like Chief Aga, so it must not be just an ordinary piece of glass. The four of us passed it around and found that this piece of glass is hollow—the hollow part is very small, the size of an ordinary dice. If the hollow part is not square, we must think it is the air bubble left during the manufacture. . After discovering this point, it doesn't make much sense, it's just hollow, and there is nothing in the hollow part, which can be seen clearly at a glance. Wen Baoyu first asked: "What is this?" Gu Jiufei's answer was extremely humorous: "This is a piece of glass, young man." Wen Baoyu glared at him, Bai Su frowned: "Could it be something commemorative?" I sneered: "I don't think a person like Chief Aga would be so emotional." Bai Su snorted: "Devils also have feelings." I spread my hands, naturally I will not continue to argue on this issue, I knocked hard on the glass: "You must find out what's weird about this, if you're not here, I don't know how long you'll have to be paranoid." Wen Baoyu patted his chest: "Don't worry, wrap it on me." I naturally know that Wen Baoyu has a lot of grounds for saying this. He and nonsense and beautiful scenery have almost turned Chen Changqing's big house into the most varied research institute in the world—not that they are large in scale and have many instruments. , but said that there are the most tricks, from the study of embroidery to insects, from ancient weapons to modern stereos, the four have a wide range of interests, and there is enough money for them to use, so naturally the world has turned upside down. Bai Su still frowned, Gu Jiufei took a big sip of wine: "I don't think the matter will be serious, and this piece of glass doesn't seem to have any secrets──" Seeing our disapproving expressions, he added: "Glass has no secrets, because it is transparent, and no secrets can be hidden." After saying this, he thought he was humorous, so he laughed aloud. I don't think it's funny at all: "I once had a big glass block that turned out to be an astrologer, it looked like glass." Gu Jiufei was very familiar with my experience. He nodded and patted his head again: "Yes, I forgot, it was sent to someone by a tomb robber." A very strange feeling rose in my heart, and I pointed to the glass: "If there is any secret hidden in it, its owner will definitely try his best to get it back." Wen Baoyu smiled: "That's a big deal and I'll give it back to him." Gu Jiufei also laughed, and the atmosphere was quite relaxed. I thought of the situation when I thought something had happened to Gu Jiufei just now, and felt that I was too nervous.When I thought of this, I glanced at Bai Su, and Cha Bai Su was also looking at me, with the corners of his mouth turned up, half a smile, as if saying that I was too nervous.As for the fact that Gu Jiufei wanted to destroy the things picked up by Gu Jiufei, it was Bai Su who brought it up first, so I gave her a look, and she immediately blinked, indicating that she was justifiably nervous, and I was too nervous. Bai Su and I, when we are together so well, we can completely guess each other's intentions from a small action of the other party, which is almost the same as communicating with words. It is naturally very rare for two people to be able to do this, and she obviously thought of it Knowing this, we both smiled contentedly at the same time. All of this was seen by Gu Jiufei, and he suddenly patted Wen Baoyu on the shoulder: "Do you see that, young man, flirting with each other, that's the same thing, um, a pair of twin girls in the playground that day, One of them is your girlfriend?" When a young man is asked such a question, there is no one who does not blush. He hurriedly said, "No, no, those two... those two..." After hesitating for a long time, what happened to "those two", I still couldn't come up with it, which made the three of us laugh, and Wen Baoyu was embarrassed. Wen Baoyu reached out and grabbed the piece of glass, but before he could put it back into the box, he just held it in his hand and rushed out. When he reached the door, he yelled: "I'm going to study it, and I'll tell you the results when I get it." He opened the door, and shouted again: "Maybe there is an invisible demon inside the glass, it grows when it sees the wind, and swallows people when it sees---" When he called here, he seemed to suddenly remember that if an invisible demon swallows people, it must be in an extremely strange state, so he took a "swish" breath, didn't say any more, and with a "bang", closed the door. Close and go. After that trifle, the atmosphere was naturally much more relaxed. In addition, that piece was really very ordinary. It seemed that it was just a gadget for expressing glass craftsmanship, and it didn't deserve too much attention. So, after Wen Baoyu left, we chatted for a while, and I asked Gu Jiufei straightforwardly: "Mr. Gu wants to come to see me, is there any strange purpose?" As soon as this question was asked, Gu Jiufei's expression became serious. He slowly turned the wine glass, took a sip of the wine, and said: "I have quit the pickpocket business. For the past twenty years, I have been living in Penang, the Malay Peninsula, doing a small business. I have a little savings, and my life is very good. Comfortable." I said "hmm": "Yes, Penang is a good place for retirees to live, where they can live leisurely and truly have nothing to do with the world." Gu Jiufei smiled, expressing his satisfaction with his life in the past 20 years, but then, his complexion became cloudy again. Bai Su and I didn't urge him, but just looked at his fingers, stretching and flexing subconsciously. , Stretch and move, surprisingly soft and flexible, sometimes dizzy, it feels like ten snakes of different lengths instead of ten fingers.That was probably the main condition for his decades of successful pickpocketing. He first showed an embarrassed smile: "I live alone, with two very loyal servants, and my residence is on the outskirts of the sea, very quiet, and my life is not disturbed by others, and I hardly communicate with others , this kind of life, two things are the most important, one is reading—” When he said this, he paused, and then said again: "So I know a lot of your experiences, and I also know that Mrs. Bai is the daughter of Boss Bai. Is Boss Bai okay? Everyone is old." Bai Su replied politely. Gu Jiufei said: "Another thing, I still insist on the training of pickpocket skills. There is a secret room with a special wooden man hanging in the air. I have to practice at least four or five hours a day to prevent my fingers from becoming hard. Flexible... It's ridiculous to say it, maybe it's because of vanity, although I decided not to be a pickpocket anymore, I still want to maintain my skills." I made a moaning sound: "Please don't analyze your own psychology, tell a story." Gu Jiufei's eyes widened: "Shouldn't psychological description be used to express the literary nature of the story?" I was amused by him and laughed: "Literary? I'm afraid it's hypnotic." Gu Jiufei also laughed: "It's quite strange. It's not impossible to make a long story short. It's inevitable to miss something. It's better to explain it in detail. By the way, I also raise birds, and I raise a lot of them. Raising birds is very interesting. Bringing bird cages and utensils for raising birds has also become a specialized knowledge, and it is fun to observe each other, exchange ideas, and show off the treasures you have personally obtained." Bai Su and I both nodded to express our understanding. Gu Jiufei's story should also start from here - if he didn't raise sparrows, he wouldn't come to this place often, if he didn't come, such things wouldn't happen. The place is a forest of about 400 square meters. The forest is not very dense, but sparse and green. The green grass on the ground has obviously been carefully selected when the trees were planted. All of them are not only beautiful in shape, but also There are horizontal branches that people can reach to hang birdcages, and most trees will bear some fruits of different sizes. When the birdcages are hung on the lush branches, even the birds can peck these fruits. fruit. This forest is part of a large private garden, not far from an old style big house.The first-generation owner of the big bungalow was fond of raising birds, so he planted such a forest for the purpose of raising birds—of course it was many years ago, but the descendants no matter whether they still raise birds or not, the ancestor’s precept is this forest , as long as people with birds can come and go freely without hindrance, so, naturally, it becomes a gathering place for bird breeders. From morning to night, especially in the morning, people who come with bird cages rarely It is said that there are one or two hundred, which is very lively. That morning, Gu Jiufei held a newly acquired expensive bird cage and was very proud, thinking that his bird cage made of rosewood wood and cut into thin strips would definitely become the topic of all bird friends up.But as soon as he arrived, he found that the bird cages were hanging in the forest as usual, but the people gathered together, but it was very abnormal—all the people gathered under a tree, and the people on the outer floor stood on tiptoes, look forward. Gu Jiufei also immediately discovered that everyone's eyes were focused on a bird, and inside the cage was a starling. Mynah is a kind of bird, although its body hair does not have bright colors, but it has a handsome body, and its intelligence is quite high. It is good at imitating various sounds, even human words, so it has always been a pet in the bird breeding world. Since the starlings are bigger, the cage is also enlarged accordingly. Gu Jiufei saw a starling jumping up and down in the cage. It didn't seem to be anything special, and he didn't have any special impression of the bird. , I don't know why it has attracted so many people's attention. When he held the birdcage and squeezed into the crowd, his pickpocket instinct made him feel that this was the best opportunity for pickpockets, because everyone's attention was focused on the starling. Of course, he didn't make a move, he just asked the person next to him: "What's wrong with this starling? What's so interesting about it." The man did not turn his head, still staring at the starling, his voice trembling with excitement: "It speaks, speaks." Gu Jiufei said "Hey": "Mynah can talk naturally, who can raise a dumb mynah." Gu Jiufei's voice was a little louder, which attracted the attention of the rapt people. A few of them turned their heads to look at him with dissatisfaction. Not having a starling, that naturally made him very angry, he was about to say something more, when the starling in the cage suddenly spoke. There are many examples of starlings or parrots that can be trained to speak, and some can even speak very clearly, and they can also speak a lot of sentences. This is because these birds have the ability to imitate various sounds. But recently, some ornithologists have proved that a bird that can "talk" knows what it is "saying". For example, to train a starling, give it a kind of "cereal bug" it likes to eat, and then tell it to say: "I want cereal bugs." It didn't take long before he said, "I want cereal bugs." And when he learned that, he said it, and it turned out that he wasn't being fed cereal bugs, and he refused to eat and got angry. This proverb says, "I want cereal bugs," knowing exactly what that sentence means—that and anthropology can be applied to human language—and, in theory, it does, although in fact, it doesn't. Few people have succeeded in training a bird to be fluent in human speech. Among the birds that can "talk", the voice of parrots is relatively low, while the voice of starlings is high-pitched and loud. By the way, I’ve said a lot, and here’s what happened—when Gu Jiufei was about to utter a few words, the starling in the cage suddenly spoke in the high-pitched voice that starlings usually make (it sounds like they’re screaming loudly) Come, what he said was: "Gu Weng, you are late, what a sandalwood cage." For a moment, Gu Jiufei couldn't believe his ears. Mynah, you can train to call him "Gu Weng" when you see him, that's very easy, or you can train to say "You're late", but the sandalwood birdcage he holds in his hand is not a real one People who have been raising crows for decades may not be able to recognize them. If it is a starling, it is absolutely impossible to recognize it at a glance.Not only Gu Jiufei was in a daze, but the eight of them were also in a daze. When everyone was in a daze, the starling said again: "Come here, come closer." The person in front of Gu Jiufei naturally stepped aside, and Gu Jiufei also walked forward naturally, until he came to the starling. At this time, a yellow warbler favored by Sandalwood looked very restless, jumping back and forth , making an ugly cry that shouldn't be all that the oriole has.