dmims Chapter 104: Urgent Telegram from Huguo Temple, Gray Water Covers Half the Street
Chapter 104: Urgent Telegram from Huguo Temple, Gray Water Covers Half the Street
The old bread truck was heading to Beijing.
On the way there, I could still hear a couple of banter in the car, but on the way back, all that was left was the constant roar of the engine.
The wooden crate was placed under the feet of the people in the back row.
The iron box was re-wrapped, with three rounds of red thread and two layers of mugwort, but cold air still wafted out from the cracks.
The car mat near the box was covered in frost. Tieguai Li moved the toolbox half a foot away and cursed.
"Uncle Ma, if we put this thing back in the courtyard, will the well there be able to support it?"
Master Ma placed the teacup on his lap.
"Go back first, soak your hands, seal the iron, check the bronze plaque, all of these must be done in the courtyard."
Tang Wanqing sat in the back seat, while Cheng Xiaojin leaned against the car window, her hands tucked into her sleeves, with only thick dry cloths showing outside her cuffs.
After a while, she asked, "Does it hurt?"
Cheng Xiaojin didn't lift her eyelids.
"Ask the hand or the person?"
"Ask them all."
"I can't feel anything in my hands, and I feel sleepy."
"Don't fall into a deep sleep."
"Miss Tang, your requirements are even more detailed than the closing time at Panjiayuan Market."
Tieguai Li chimed in from the front: "The fact that he can still talk means he's not completely dead."
Zhou Banxian was holding the compass, his face still pale.
"Don't be smug just because you're still alive. You've lost half your hands on this trip."
Cheng Xiaojin shifted his shoulder, but didn't dare touch the wooden box.
"We lost some money, but at least we sealed off 30% of the city's waterways, got the Shen-branded token, and even got half a protective copper coin for Brother Nose Scar. In terms of business, we could barely call it diversified operations."
Master Ma glanced at him and said, "Don't include your life in that."
Cheng Xiaojin did not respond.
Outside the car window, the sky was gray.
There was standing water in the roadside ditch, and the water surface no longer chased after the wheels, but the dust still clung to the edge of the ditch.
Zhou Banxian looked down at the compass.
"Mancheng's wife has recovered, but Beijing's side might not be willing to take a break."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Cheng Xiaojin's cell phone rang in his pocket.
The ringing bell startled several people in the car, causing them to look up simultaneously.
Tang Wanqing held out her hand: "I'll take it."
Cheng Xiaojin shifted slightly: "Turn on speakerphone."
Tang Wanqing took out her phone, saw the caller ID, and immediately pressed the call button.
Tong Kexin's voice burst from the phone.
"Cheng Xiaojin, where are you?"
Cheng Xiaojin opened her eyes.
"Hey boss, can I get reimbursed for the braised soup?"
"Go to hell."
The sounds of wind, voices, and pots and pans mingled together on the other end of the phone.
"The water pipe on Huguosi Street burst, and grey water flowed down half the street. The tap at Sister Zhou's pancake stall turned on by itself, and water was flowing out."
The faces in the car all darkened.
Tang Wanqing immediately asked, "How many times?"
"I just heard that it was around 20, and I kicked over the water basin. The ground was covered in water, and there were many elderly people in the alley. I couldn't stop them by myself."
Cheng Xiaojin tried to sit up, but Tang Wanqing pressed down on his shoulder.
You can't go.
Cheng Xiaojin looked at her phone.
"She is at Huguo Temple."
"If you touch water now, you'll be throwing your life away. Go back to the courtyard and soak your hands first."
Tong Kexin also heard it on the phone.
"Tang Wanqing, hold him down, don't let him come any closer."
Cheng Xiaojin's expression turned a little cold.
"Tong Kexin".
"Don't give me that crap. I know what your hands look like right now without even looking. If you dare come any closer, I'll stuff you into a stew pot first."
Tieguai Li muttered to himself, "The landlady is ruthless."
Cheng Xiaojin stared at her phone.
Who else is on the street?
"Sister Zhou is at the stall, Old Li is at the street corner, and Sister Liu is leading a few people to block the sewer. What do you suggest we do? Stop talking nonsense."
Cheng Xiaojin leaned back into his seat and lowered his voice.
"Listen carefully, empty all the basins of water, and move all the buckets, thermos flasks, and soy milk containers to higher places. Nobody should touch the water with their hands. Use dry towels, old cotton-padded coats, and dry burlap sacks to block the faucets."
The sound of running could be heard from Tong Kexin's side.
"It's blocked but it keeps overflowing."
"Dried ginger slices, mugwort ash, and old braising broth—use as much as you have, don't dilute with water, just stick it directly to the edge of the water inlet."
"There's a pot of old broth."
Don't feel bad.
You owe me.
"Keep the accounts, including the pots and pans."
Tang Wanqing brought her phone closer.
"Keep everyone three feet away from the water. When the water is being counted, don't let anyone count along. You can curse, sing opera, or bang pots and pans, but make sure the noise drowns out the water."
Tong Kexin shouted on the other end of the phone, "Did you all hear that? Don't count! Anyone who dares to count will get a rolling pin and get hit with it!"
The voice of an old lady from the alley squeezed in.
"Kexin, where are the dried ginger slices?"
"The second compartment from the left at the braised food stall counter."
"Where's Ai Hui?"
"Don't lift the incense burner or clean out the ashes under it."
Cheng Xiaojin spoke up: "Boss lady."
Tong Kexin, panting, said, "Speak."
"Sister Zhou's stall is the most dangerous. She moves the soy milk machine, water bucket, and thermos far away. She wraps the faucet with three layers of dry towels and smears the outside with old soup and stove ash. If she keeps counting, she hits the pan with a pancake spatula, yells at her, and scolds her. She can't let her mouth shut."
There was a pause over there.
"She almost counted along with me just now, but I scolded her back."
Cheng Xiaojin's throat tightened.
"Don't let her be near the water."
"Know."
Soon after, the sound of a spatula hitting a wok came through the phone.
One after another.
Zhou Banxian listened for a moment and then nodded.
"It works. The alleyways are full of life and warmth, much better than drawing a talisman on the spot."
Tong Kexin called out again, "Sister Liu, take some people and collect all the water basins from the entrances of the street. Old Li, don't use brooms to push the water away, cover it with dry soil. If anyone has furnace ash, bring it out quickly."
Cheng Xiaojin listened to the commotion on the other end, her fingertips felt numb, but her heart was clenching tighter and tighter.
"Kexin, don't stand in the water."
"I'm wearing rain boots."
"Rain boots won't work either."
"Cheng Xiaojin, take care of yourself now. If I can't hold on, I'll call you and leave my last words."
Cheng Xiaojin chuckled briefly.
Don't say discouraging things.
"Then come back alive."
The car was quiet for a moment.
Tang Wanqing took over the conversation.
"Once the spiking at the stall subsides, immediately lead your men to retreat to the back of the braised food stall. Scatter dried ginger, mugwort ash, and stove ash at the entrance, and don't stay in the middle of the street."
"I heard you."
Master Ma said, "Kexin, don't run towards the courtyard. Aunt Zhang's room is protected for now by the Qianlong Tongbao coins. You guard this section of the water network around the Guosi Temple and don't chase after the sound of water in the distance."
Tong Kexin lowered her voice.
"As long as Aunt Zhang's house is alright."
Master Ma moved the teacup to his feet.
"Save lives."
Someone on the other end of the phone shouted, "Kexin, Sister Zhou isn't counting the stalls anymore."
Tong Kexin immediately shouted back, "Don't come any closer, keep blocking them. I'll chop off the hand of anyone who dares to lift the towel!"
Cheng Xiaojingang breathed a sigh of relief, but his face turned pale again.
Tang Wanqing pressed down on his shoulder.
Don't get distracted.
Cheng Xiaojin stared at her phone.
"Boss lady, listen to me."
"explain."
"You just stay here and don't chase the water. No matter which alley you hear water in, don't go deeper into it, especially don't go into shady alleys, don't open manhole covers, and don't touch old water pipes. Wait for me to come back."
Tong Kexin's voice fell silent.
"You soak your hands first."
"I know."
"You know nothing, you just wanted to run over here first."
Tieguai Li chimed in, "The boss's wife is brilliant. He practically got off his seat just now; he was almost ready to get off the bus and run over himself."
Cheng Xiaojin looked at the front row.
"Brother Li, this is called betraying someone on the battlefield."
"Call for safety."
Zhou Banxian snorted: "Let Kexin take over Huguo Temple for now, but what about the nose scar? The protective copper coins can only be used for seven days."
Cheng Xiaojin's gaze fell on the small cloth bag that Master Ma had put away.
"I can't go now. The copper coins need to be sent out first. The nose scar is still with Boss Lin. Only if he's alive can we know what Boss Lin's next move will be."
Tang Wanqing frowned.
"You can't deliver it yourself."
"Have Han Shaobai find someone to run errands, or have Glasses King act as a go-between, as long as the stuff gets to Scarface's hands."
Cheng Xiaojin paused, then looked at another cloth bag. "There's also the Shen brand, the old man surnamed Shen, Cheng Shouyi, the Nanyang line. These three things need to be connected."
Master Ma looked at him.
"Soak your hands first. If you can't keep your hands, you won't be able to touch any of the lines afterward."
Cheng Xiaojin failed to make a comeback this time.
"Okay, let's soak our hands first."
On the other end of the phone, Tong Kexin called out a few more times from afar.
After a while, she brought the phone closer to her.
"Cheng Xiaojin".
"Um."
"If your dad really left behind some kind of trap, don't jump in alone. You're not alone now."
Cheng Xiaojin turned to look at the car window, where a layer of fog had formed on the glass.
A thin line slid down through the fog, curving at the bottom.
Cheng Xiaojin's breath hitched when she saw the Cheng family's signature vertical hook.
Before he could see it clearly, a water streak came across from him and swallowed the hook.
At the same time, the bronze plaque with the character "Shen" in Master Ma's bag tapped softly.
The Zhenhai Iron in the wooden box responded softly.
The compass needle in Zhou Banxian's hand deviated between three and seven, and trembled twice.
Cheng Xiaojin stared at the traces of mist that had been wiped away by the water.
"Dad, who changed these numbers?"
No one answered.
On the other end of the phone, Tong Kexin suddenly cursed.
"The sound rang again at the end of the street; we've counted to forty-three."
Several people in the car looked up at the same time.
The sky turned grayish-white.
The old bread cart drove along the road in the early morning, heading into Beijing.