Chapter 32

"Uncle Qi's daughter from the back courtyard." Shanhu kicked a stone awkwardly. "Gu Jinshui, I'm seeing her."

"Huh?"

Gu Jinshui froze.

He thought of what the girl had said and how she had acted. Something about it bothered him, but he kept that to himself. "That's good. Treat her well, and don't do anything foolish."

"I wouldn't!"

Shanhu answered at once. "Pearl's really shy. We haven't even held hands yet."

He looked a little wistful, then added, "Pearl's a good girl. If my mom knew I'd found someone like her, she'd be happy for me."

"She definitely would."

Gu Jinshui patted Shanhu's shoulder and took him out for a hearty bowl of stir-fried pork liver. They also ate eight sesame flatbreads, crisp from the oven and thick with sesame seeds. Every bite filled their mouths with toasted fragrance.

Only after they had eaten their fill did Gu Jinshui get down to business. They needed to watch Liang Renyi's house that night.

Shanhu agreed without a moment's hesitation.

Liang Renyi's house was a fair distance away.

After they arrived by bus, Shanhu jerked his chin toward a tree. Someone was behind it.

Gu Jinshui glanced over. Well, who else could it be but Song Jianshe?

He was crouched behind the tree in a straw hat. The trunk hid him, but anyone who looked closely would see somebody lurking there.

Gu Jinshui had worried they might be too early. Now it looked as though they had arrived at just the right time.

He patted Shanhu's shoulder. "Let's wait in the alley behind the house."

Night had fallen. Every household had finished dinner and was getting ready for bed, and no one wanted to waste money keeping a lamp lit. The alley was pitch-black.

Liang Renyi had to pass its entrance on his way to the Black Market. Gu Jinshui wasn't worried about losing him.

At midnight, in the darkness,

a light quietly came on inside the Liang Family home.

Xu Fenglai was nervous. "Renyi, are we really exchanging everything for cash at once?"

"Of course. We have to get this done quickly. They're pressing us for the money."

Liang Renyi tightened his grip on the bag against his chest. "More and more people are leaving the country. It used to cost three thousand per person, but now it's four thousand. What if the price keeps going up?"

A policy had come out earlier that year allowing people with immediate family abroad to emigrate if those relatives sent an invitation and the applicants passed a political review. Where there was a policy, there was a way around it. People who had wanted to leave but had no means finally saw an opening.

Others saw a chance to make money. They arranged connections between people at home and abroad and helped clients leave the country for several thousand yuan a head.

"That's true."

Xu Fenglai still felt uneasy. "Can we trust Old Zhao?"

"We've sold things through him for years. Why wouldn't we trust him?" Liang Renyi had his doubts too, but he decided to take the chance.

He checked the time and hurried her along. "Enough talk. I arranged to meet Old Zhao this afternoon. We'll have trouble if I'm late. Just stay here and be ready when I get back."

"All right."

Xu Fenglai thought it over, nodded, and saw Liang Renyi out with the kerosene lamp.

Afraid the neighbors would notice him, Liang Renyi did not dare bring a flashlight. He felt his way toward the Black Market in the dark.

Gu Jinshui and Shanhu were alert. At the sound of movement behind them, they pricked up their ears.

They pressed closer to the wall and watched Liang Renyi pass with a bag tucked against his chest. A little while later, Song Jianshe came out and went after him.

The sight was almost too funny.

Gu Jinshui and Shanhu stifled their laughter and followed quietly.

The Black Market was in a park across a nearby bridge.

Few people visited the park during the day, so traders had claimed it for themselves. At night, people came to conduct small deals in the dark. City residents bought rice, flour, and grain without ration coupons, as well as watches and radios. Farmers from outside the city came to sell chickens, ducks, and geese they had raised.

Those were the small trades. The big ones involved Foreign Exchange Certificates, US dollars, and gold.

Liang Renyi carried everything his family owned, his stomach churning.

With so much money on him, he could not help being nervous. If anyone brushed against him, he immediately glared at them, then steered clear of everyone else.

Shanhu whispered, "Gu Jinshui, your brother-in-law isn't too bright. Anyone could tell he's carrying something valuable."

He had a point.

Gu Jinshui alone had spotted two or three groups watching Liang Renyi.

The man really was asking for trouble.

As Gu Jinshui watched, someone rose from a corner. He was a tall, burly man with a military cap perched crookedly on his head, probably stolen from somewhere. He wore his coat open, exposing the knit shirt underneath.

He headed straight for Liang Renyi.

Looking more closely, Gu Jinshui noticed that several young men picking through eggs nearby also stirred when the man moved.

Gu Jinshui thought quickly. He had been to this Black Market before. It had only two exits: the front gate and the back gate.

He pulled Shanhu aside and gave him a few quiet instructions. Shanhu nodded repeatedly. Gu Jinshui then handed him half the fake gold bars he had brought, and Shanhu stuffed them into his pockets.

They split up and headed for the two exits.

"Ow!"

Liang Renyi was looking for Old Zhao when someone slammed into him.

Clutching his chest, he was about to swear, but when he looked up and saw the hulking man in front of him, his nerve failed. He took a step back, intending to leave.

The man grabbed his arm. "Where do you think you're going? You broke my watch. You have to pay for it!"

Liang Renyi's eyes widened. "You're trying to shake me down! You ran into me, and I barely touched you. How could I have broken your watch?"

"I don't care. You broke it!"

The man refused to listen.

He shoved Liang Renyi. With the bag against his chest, Liang Renyi lost his balance and stumbled back several steps. Before he could steady himself, something cracked behind him, followed by a shout: "My eggs!"

Broken eggs lay splattered across the ground.

The farmer selling them was an honest-looking man. He stared, stunned, then quickly stood up. "I didn't break them. The eggs were fine when I handed them over."

The two hotheaded young men buying the eggs saw the mess and flew into a rage. One punched Liang Renyi in the head.

The blow made stars burst before Liang Renyi's eyes. He could barely stand. Then someone suddenly reached into his arms, snatched the bag, and bolted.

Liang Renyi was slow to react to most things, but the instant the weight vanished from his chest, he came to his senses. Covering his eye, he felt inside his coat. Nothing. The bag was gone!

"Robbery! Someone stole my things!"

Liang Renyi's howl rang through the park.

Song Jianshe heard it as soon as he entered. From his higher vantage point, he spotted someone carrying a bag and sprinting north.

Without stopping to think, Song Jianshe gave chase.

"Hey! Move! Out of the way!"

There were plenty of people in the park, and it was dark. The thief collided with one person after another as he ran.

Song Jianshe pursued him but did not dare shout for anyone to catch the thief. He meant to steal the loot himself. If someone caught the thief, Liang Renyi would get his things back.

His family had put up one and a half small gold bars to satisfy Liang Renyi. That was a fortune, money they had hidden for years without daring to spend. If they had not expected a much bigger payoff, they never would have parted with it.

The thief ran fast. He was probably a local hoodlum who knew the area inside out: which paths were clear and where he could jump a barrier.

After running a while, he left Song Jianshe and the others far behind. He glanced back, saw no one, and whistled in delight.

He hefted the bag. "These must be the gold bars and cash Old Zhao mentioned, right?"

His eyes darted around. Not a soul was in sight.

He grinned. So much for honor among thieves. How many hoodlums had any to begin with? He had the goods now. He would not dare take much, but surely he could slip a little cash into his pocket.

He set the bag on a bench by the gate and unzipped it. Small gold bars gleamed inside. With those in front of him, the banknotes hardly seemed worth a glance.

"Damn, I'm rich!"

Grinning from ear to ear, he rubbed his hands and reached for a bar. At that moment, a brick slammed into the back of his head. Pain flared, and he realized someone had caught him off guard. Panic surged through him, but then he lost consciousness.

Gu Jinshui spat out the blade of foxtail grass he had been chewing. "You sure took your time. I've been waiting here for ages."

He shoved the man aside and checked the bag. Inside, gold bars of different sizes clinked together with a pile of gold jewelry. Some pieces, including bracelets and hairpins, looked old and were exquisitely made. Even a casual glance told him they were valuable.

This had to be the inheritance Father Liang had left Liang Ying, the one Liang Renyi had taken.

Gu Jinshui quickly swapped the contents with those of his own bag. He had barely finished when he heard Song Jianshe nearby, panting, "Stop... running."

Gu Jinshui's eyes flicked toward him. He kicked the unconscious man aside, picked up the bag of fake gold bars, tossed in a handful of cash, and hid the real valuables. Then, as Song Jianshe drew close, he made as if to run.

With the thief right in front of him, Song Jianshe found a sudden burst of strength. His legs stopped aching, and his heart no longer seemed to pound. He sprinted forward with everything he had and grabbed for the bag. Somehow, the man let him snatch it away.

The man had his back to Song Jianshe and wore a hat. He looked stunned.

Song Jianshe was beside himself with triumph.

He clutched the bag to his chest and ran as hard as he could. Gu Jinshui pretended to pursue him, then quietly doubled back, collected the valuables he had hidden, and went to meet Shanhu.

"How did it go?" Shanhu asked.

He had been crouching by the front gate for ages, collecting several mosquito bites. Nothing had happened there, and he had nearly fallen asleep from boredom.

"Done." Smiling, Gu Jinshui pulled out a handful of cash, nearly two hundred yuan, and gave it to Shanhu. "This is for you."

"No need. I don't need this much. We already make plenty from our business."

The amount startled Shanhu, and he hurriedly waved it away.

"Take it," Gu Jinshui said with a smile. "Besides, it's not just for you. You and Pearl might be getting married soon, right? You'll need to buy her a bride price gift. I hear people expect the four big items these days."

Shanhu scratched his head and chuckled. "Gu Jinshui, Pearl said she doesn't want the four big items. She just wants me to buy her an outfit."

So Shanhu had bought her the wool coat and bell-bottoms after all.

Gu Jinshui was not surprised in the slightest.

He had been out making his way in the world since he was thirteen or fourteen. Though he had always kept his distance from women who sought out men with money, he had seen enough of such relationships.

Pearl's family was so poor they had to borrow rice. How could they afford a wool coat costing over two hundred yuan, let alone fashionable bell-bottoms? That money could have covered the household's expenses for months, or a whole year if they were frugal.

"She only said that because she's shy. Don't take her at her word."

"You should give her something," Gu Jinshui said. "Save up for a television, or buy her a watch."

Shanhu knew little about such matters, but after thinking it over, he decided Gu Jinshui was right. Pearl was being considerate. He could not take advantage of that.

He accepted the money, a little embarrassed. "When we have the wedding, I'll invite you to the banquet."

"I'd like that."

Gu Jinshui agreed with a smile. He sent Shanhu home, then carried the bag through the dark, climbed over the back courtyard wall, and quietly slipped through the window into his own