Chapter 42.2: Caught Red-Handed
Jiming Bridge.
Changning City happened to sit at a key transportation point along the ancient Grand Canal. The canal ran straight through the city, and several bridges had been built to make it easier for people to cross. Jiming Bridge was one of them.
It had been built more than six hundred years ago and was considered the largest arch bridge in the city.
Its location was excellent. It was relatively close to the city center, with large stretches of open space on both sides and plenty of foot traffic. Even before the founding of the country, it had been a gathering place for people from all walks of life.
After the founding of the country, those people were assigned new jobs, and the vacated spaces were given to seal engravers.
These seal engravers were all self-employed. Most of them had disabilities that prevented them from working in factories, but they hadn’t completely lost their ability to live independently. So the neighborhood office had specially arranged for experienced craftsmen to teach them a trade, giving them a way to make a living.
Standing on Jiming Bridge, Feng Zhengming saw stall after stall occupied by vendors with various disabilities.
The nearest vendor was extremely short, looking almost like a ten-year-old child. The person beside him had one empty trouser leg dangling loose, with a pair of crutches behind him. The person to his left looked perfectly normal at first glance, but when he stood up to reach for something behind him, his entire body swayed unsteadily, almost as if he had suffered a stroke.
Guo Lianyi sighed softly.
“They’ve all had such hard lives.”
Tian Jianguo, meanwhile, was counting the bridge pillars.
“Are there more seal engravers here than before? The stalls have already reached the sixth pillar? When I brought my little sister here to get a seal carved a couple of years ago, they only went as far as the fourth pillar. That’s practically half again as many!”
Guo Lianyi couldn’t help looking toward the seal engravers who had recently set up their stalls farther away. After a moment, he said, “They all look pretty young, and their arms and legs seem fine. They look like educated youths who returned to the city over the past few years. They probably couldn’t get into the factories and needed to find some way to make a living, so they came here to carve seals.”
Tian Jianguo furrowed his brows.
“With so many new seal engravers suddenly showing up, can they really still make enough to get by?”
Feng Zhengming hadn’t had a seal carved in seven or eight years. Even when he occasionally passed through here, he’d never paid much attention to how the craftsmen were doing.
But after hearing Tian Jianguo’s comment, his suspicions immediately surfaced as well.
When there are more sellers than buyers, they obviously make less money. Less money means poverty, and once people become desperately poor, they’re much more likely to take risks and break the law.
“Hard to say, but things are definitely going to be harder than before.”
Feng Zhengming immediately continued, “Let’s split up and ask around. Pay particular attention to those with good skills, those short on money, and those who haven’t been coming out to set up their stalls much lately. Especially anyone with a previous history of counterfeiting. People like that are highly suspicious.”
“Got it, Captain Feng.”
Everyone split up and headed toward different stalls to make inquiries.
Feng Zhengming also walked off the bridge and stopped at the stall closest to the bridge entrance.
The owner of this seal-carving stall was a gray-haired old craftsman.
His stall wasn’t large. In fact, none of the seal-carving stalls were particularly big. There was simply a wooden box with multiple compartments, set on a small stool. At the front were around twenty seals that had already been carved, placed upside down so that their finished names were visible.
Beside them were various materials for making seals—some stone, some wood—in different sizes and shapes. Behind those were all kinds of seal-carving tools.
The old craftsman sat behind the box with his head lowered. He held the seal blank between his legs, secured in a small seal-carving vise.
His left hand steadied the material while his right hand repeatedly worked at it with a carving knife. Half of a reversed “张” character had gradually begun to emerge.
Feng Zhengming glanced over the finished pieces.
Most were name seals, but there were also three or four that were purely decorative. Among them was an orchid rendered in delicate lines, the strokes so fine they were barely thicker than a fingernail.
Feng Zhengming was somewhat surprised. “Oh, Master, why are there flower designs carved here too?”
“Oh, those are xianzhang—leisure seals, basically just for fun.”
The old craftsman looked up. “They used to be commissioned by scholars and painters, so they could stamp them on their articles and artworks. These days, quite a few young people like them too.”
Feng Zhengming asked, “So there are quite a lot of people who get them carved?”
The old craftsman shook his head slightly. “It’s all right, I suppose. This stuff isn’t easy to carve, and only young people with money to spare and scholars can really afford them. Most people who come here just get a name seal.”
“Oh.”
Feng Zhengming nodded slightly. “Then there can’t be many people who are good at carving these xianzhang, right?”
“Of course not. Someone who can draw can at least provide a design. Some people don’t even know what they want, so you have to draw something for them first and then carve it. Not everyone has that kind of skill.”
The old craftsman continued chatting casually as he worked.
“I’m not bragging, but along this whole road, you could count the people who can carve a good xianzhang on one hand!”
You have to draw the design first? So they can draw too? That’s another essential skill for making counterfeit coupons.
Feng Zhengming’s heart stirred. He hurriedly continued, “Then, Master, could you tell me which people are especially good at carving xianzhang?”
The old craftsman’s hands suddenly stopped.
He looked up and studied Feng Zhengming carefully for several seconds before speaking thoughtfully.
“You’re not actually here to get a seal carved, are you? You’re with the government?”
An old tree grows a spirit, and an old person grows wisdom.
A craftsman this experienced had no doubt encountered countless people over the course of his life. Figuring out Feng Zhengming’s identity after just two questions was perfectly normal.
Feng Zhengming’s expression didn’t change. He simply admitted it.
“That’s right. I’m just asking you about people with this kind of skill.”
The old craftsman pondered for a moment before slowly saying, “As for people with this skill, I’m one. There’s Old Lu near the bridge entrance, Master Yang with the full beard, and that young woman on the left wearing a headscarf. Don’t let her age fool you—her skills really aren’t bad. Her husband passed away, and she’s raising four children by herself. Life’s pretty hard for her. If you’re looking to get a seal carved, you could have her do it.”
Feng Zhengming turned his head and took a look.
The woman was a middle-aged woman about his age. Her face was weathered from years of hardship, and the exposed skin of her hands was quite rough. Her clothes were patched in several places.
She certainly looked poor, but there was a stubborn determination between her brows. She didn’t look like the type who would make counterfeit coupons.
After pondering for a moment, Feng Zhengming asked again, “Anyone else? Especially anyone who doesn’t exactly stay on the straight and narrow, or someone who hasn’t been coming around as regularly lately.”
“Hmm…”
The old craftsman lowered his head and thought for quite a while before looking up.
“There actually is someone. His surname is Ding. He’s got a bit of a limp, so everyone calls him Lame Ding. I’ve forgotten his given name. His skills are pretty good too, and quite a few painters like to have him carve their xianzhang.”
“Six or seven years ago, I heard he made some forged documents for someone and got caught. He was sent away for six months of reform through labor. After he got out, he just quietly carved seals and kept his head down.”
“But business hasn’t been good these past two years. He said he wanted to change trades and go into some big business. I don’t know what he was planning to do. Anyway, he hasn’t been around here for three or four months.”
Every single detail matches. He even has a history of forging documents!
Feng Zhengming couldn’t help marveling at how frighteningly accurate Jiang Xia’s understanding of criminal suspects was.
He hurriedly followed up, “Master, do you know where he lives?”
The old craftsman thought for a moment before replying, “I think somewhere around Qiaolin Subdistrict. Maybe the third alley, but I don’t know which house exactly.”
That was already enough.
Feng Zhengming marked this man as their primary suspect and continued questioning the old craftsman to find out whether there were any other suspicious individuals.
…
Meanwhile, while he was making his inquiries, Lame Ding’s brother Ding Si and his good-for-nothing buddy Yang Da happened to be riding their bicycles down the street.
The three brothers had sold another batch of ration coupons a few days ago, and they’d made a decent amount of money. They were absolutely thrilled.
Unfortunately, they hadn’t had time to spend it yet. They needed to sell off all the remaining coupons as quickly as possible, then head somewhere no one knew them and enjoy the good life.
People who had been to the south said that down there, they had already started doing away with ration coupons. As long as you had money, you could buy anything you wanted—jackets, bell-bottom trousers, leather shoes, even radios you could hang from your waist. You could even find women to keep you company.
As Yang Da fantasized about the wonderful life that awaited them, he looked up—and saw a face that made his blood run cold.
Why does that guy squatting over there look so much like Feng Zhengming, the captain of the Third Squad?
What was he doing here?
Yang Da immediately looked around and, sure enough, spotted several other familiar faces.
A countless number of thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, and every single one pointed toward the most terrifying possibility.
“We’re in big trouble. The cops have caught our trail!”
“What?”
Ding Si froze. Still half-doubtful, he said, “The cops? That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re here to investigate us, does it?”
“By the time you’re sure they’re here for us, you’ll already be waiting to get arrested!”
Yang Da was getting anxious. Lowering his voice, he spoke rapidly.
“Stop wasting time. I’ve been arrested plenty of times before, so listen to me. Let’s hurry home, grab the money and everything else, and go find your brother. If nothing happens, then I just got spooked for nothing. We won’t lose anything. But if those really are the cops, we’ll be able to get out of here as quickly as possible!”
Yang Da spoke with such urgency that Ding Si didn’t dare take any chances. He quickly agreed.
“Okay.”
The two mounted their bicycles and hurried home.
…
Feng Zhengming, meanwhile, had no idea he’d just crossed paths with the criminals. He questioned four or five more people. Although they gave him a few other names, the person who remained the most suspicious was still Lame Ding.
Feng Zhengming had a pretty good idea of things by now.
He stood up and quickly walked over to regroup with his team.
“How did your inquiries go?”
Tian Jianguo spoke first.
“I found two suspects on my end. One of them is particularly suspicious. His nickname is Lame Ding, and his real name is Ding Er.”
“What a coincidence. The person who came up as the most suspicious in my inquiries was also Lame Ding.”
Guo Lianyi added casually, “According to what I’ve heard, this man recently rented a place somewhere else. He often goes several days without leaving, and occasionally carries a bag in and out. Nobody knows what he’s doing.”
“I’ve heard his name more than anyone else’s too.”
Feng Zhengming pondered for a moment.
“This guy is the most suspicious. The longer we wait, the more likely something will go wrong. Since he’s staying at the place he’s rented, let’s go find him there. Old Guo, did you get the exact address?”
Guo Lianyi shook his head. “We only know it’s somewhere around Jixiang Street. We’ll have to ask around some more.”
“That’s enough. Let’s go!”
They acted immediately. The group mounted their bicycles and quickly pedaled toward Jixiang Street.
＊
Jixiang Street was an old neighborhood.
The houses here had always been packed tightly together, and after the founding of the country, there hadn’t been enough space to build any large factories. Without large factories, there naturally wasn’t enough money to build apartment buildings either, so the area remained full of single-story houses, many of them rather old and run-down.
As the local children grew up and found jobs, they would gradually move closer to the factories where they worked. As a result, a few houses in the area had become vacant and were available for rent, with prices being extremely cheap.
When they arrived by bicycle, Feng Zhengming looked around. Seeing a middle-aged man approaching from across the street, he quickly raised a hand.
“Comrade!”
The middle-aged man stopped.
“Can I ask you something?”
Feng Zhengming stopped his bicycle and planted one foot on the ground.
“Is there a man in this area, probably in his thirties, with a bit of a limp, who’s renting a room around here? Where does he live?”
“A man with a limp?”
The middle-aged man scratched his head and thought for a moment.
“There is, actually. Just go to the very end up ahead, turn left, and it’s the first or second… third gate. That’s right. But wait, who are you, and what do you want with him?”
“We’re the police. Don’t ask questions.”
Feng Zhengming answered briefly, then put his foot on the pedal and pushed off. The bicycle immediately shot forward.
Tian Jianguo, Guo Lianyi, and the others quickly followed.
The middle-aged man froze when he heard the answer.
Then his eyes suddenly lit up.
“Police, huh? There’s an eighty percent chance they’re here to arrest someone. How long has it been since anything like this happened around here? I’d better go see what’s going on!”
Curiosity got the better of him, and the middle-aged man immediately turned and followed after them.
By then, Feng Zhengming had already reached the corner.
He turned left and continued cycling forward.
There were gates facing them on both sides, and he had no idea whether it was the third gate on the left or the third on the right. He was just regretting not asking for clarification when the gate on the right suddenly opened.
A man with a limp walked out, a bag slung over his shoulder.
Well, look at that. Talk about delivering himself right to their doorstep!
Seeing that he was only three or four meters away, Feng Zhengming immediately shouted, “Lame Ding!”
Lame Ding instinctively turned his head at the sound of his nickname.
He froze for a second.
Five burly middle-aged men were bearing down on him, all of them radiating an unmistakable air of authority. His heart instantly panicked.
On instinct, he threw down his bag, turned around, and ran.
‘I only called your name. Why are you running?’
That was practically a confession!
Feng Zhengming became even more certain. He stomped hard on the pedals and, without the slightest concern for his bicycle, rammed it straight into Lame Ding.
After tripping him up, he let go of the bicycle, lunged forward, and pinned Lame Ding beneath him.
“You’ve got the wrong guy! I’m not Lame Ding!”
Lame Ding was still struggling, but Tian Jianguo was already pressing down on him. He pulled out his handcuffs from behind his waist and firmly cuffed the man’s hands behind his back.
“Would you look at that! This really was the guy!”
Guo Lianyi came over, holding the bag Lame Ding had just thrown away. He rummaged through it and pulled out four bundles of identical cloth ration coupons.
And that was only what he could grab with one hand.
With Tian Jianguo holding the suspect down, Feng Zhengming got to his feet. Looking at the ration coupons in Guo Lianyi’s hands, he exclaimed excitedly,
“Ha! Caught red-handed! Looks like we’ve cracked the case!”
As he spoke, around the corner in the distance, a hand clamped tightly over Ding Si’s mouth and slowly dragged him away.
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