I didn't quite believe Qin Sisi's words, but I had to do what she asked. I found Wang Yong and we discussed buying some kilogram-grade roughs from the bag snatchers.
Since I wasn't too picky about quality, considering it a favor to his business, Wang Yong readily agreed. Wang Yong was a local, and though not old, he had a good understanding of jade roughs.
"Master Wang, I've been wandering around the market lately and heard something. Things like roughs, some are faked, glued, or have slices attached..."
"There are, but those are usually window materials, tricks used by scammers to fool customers. For the quantities you're looking for, don't worry about that."
"But I heard there's a type that fakes the rind, making it hard to tell the real from the fake."
"The fake rind is softer, and you can feel the adhesive quality."
After a few probing questions, it seemed Wang Yong was quite familiar with the forgery techniques in the market. I decided to delve deeper and smiled, "What you're saying, Boss Tang, is different from what I've heard. People say those fake rind roughs are indistinguishable, that the weathered layer on the surface, even the python bands, are just like the real ones."
Wang Yong scratched his head. "Boss Tang, I'm just an insignificant bag snatcher. I've never seen what you're talking about."
"Oh, the person who told me made it sound so real, I'm a bit uneasy. How about this, let's put our acquisition plan on hold for now. I'll do some more digging."
The bag snatchers' business had been slow lately. The probability of striking it rich by cutting roughs was too low. Nowadays, everyone preferred to play with window materials or semi-transparent roughs, willing to pay more for peace of mind. This Wang Yong didn't have very strong professional skills and was hesitant to cut them himself. Now, I had inadvertently become his major client. As soon as I mentioned pausing the plan, he panicked.
"Boss Tang, there's no need. To be honest, I've heard of the method you're talking about. It was a technique used by old Burmese people, and it's lost now."
I chuckled inwardly, going along with it. "If the technique is lost, how do people know about it?"
"It's a long story. Three years ago, when Brother Li came back, I heard him mention it once when he was drunk. He said he brought back a batch of jade roughs made with that legendary forging technique and would show us someday."
"The Brother Li you're referring to is Li Dazhi?"
"That's right, Captain Li Dazhi. He's quite a figure now. He lost three fingers gambling on stones back then, but he managed to make a comeback. Nowadays, in the stone gambling circle, everyone respects him."
I hadn't considered this point. No wonder Qin Sisi put Li Dazhi in charge of the forgery operations; it turned out Li Dazhi brought the technique back from Burma.
I hadn't realized this, but Wang Yong idolized Li Dazhi and couldn't stop himself from talking. "I want to be like the Captain someday, someone everyone respects, and also marry a beautiful wife."
"Does Li Dazhi have a wife?"
"I don't know if they're legally married, but that woman speaks so softly, like a movie star."
"Have you seen her?"
"Yes, when Li Dazhi first returned from Burma, he went to Beijing to sell roughs. Not long after, he brought back a young girl."
"Is her surname Qin?"
"I don't know that, Boss Tang. Why are you asking about this?"
I gave a somewhat awkward smile and said, "It's a bit gossipy. Master Wang, please go ahead and contact them. If you explain everything, that ability to fake the rind probably only exists in legends. It's my first time doing business with my brothers, let's do cash transactions, round numbers, and always round up."
Wang Yong's face lit up. "Boss Tang, you're truly generous. Don't worry, if there's any fake material, I'll face you with my head on the block."
"Always round up" meant that on top of the standard rounding rules, we chose to round up. For example, 2.3 kilograms would normally be rounded down to 2 kilograms, but with "always round up," it would be considered 3 kilograms, which made a significant difference in price. This was a benefit for Wang Yong, ensuring his diligence and saving me worry on such matters.
After Wang Yong left and was at the door, I suddenly remembered something. I asked him, "Does Brother Shun know about Li Dazhi mentioning the Burmese forging technique?"
"Yes, he does. Brother Shun hosted Li Dazhi that day, and a few of us bag snatchers who were on good terms came to accompany him. I had just entered this circle back then. If Li Dazhi hadn't seemed so impressive, I wouldn't have joined this line of work."
"Thank you, I understand now. I'll trouble you then, Master Wang."
...
The questions I asked Wang Yong today went beyond my original plan. This was my initial thinking: Qin Sisi had just agreed to cooperate with me and then told me about the forgery base. Could this forgery base be a lure? Or perhaps they had already perfected this forgery technique, and even if the Burmese master craftsman was caught by the police, it wouldn't affect the grand scheme.
However, after the conversation with Wang Yong, the puzzle pieces in my mind rearranged themselves. Li Dazhi brought this forging technique back from Burma, at the cost of an eye. He also brought these people back to Ruili. After that, Li Dazhi took these fake rind roughs to Beijing and then brought back a delicate young lover. Li Dazhi had been to Beijing, and Brother Shun had mentioned that the jade thumb ring on his injured hand was bought from an antique market in Beijing for 300 yuan.
However, a question arises: during my interactions with Li Dazhi, he never mentioned having a wife. If he had a delicate young lover that everyone envied, why would he still be exchanging flirtatious glances with Hongmei? If the delicate young woman he brought back from Beijing was Qin Sisi, then that is something to consider.
This "Empty House" clique has been inextricably linked with Li Dazhi from the very beginning.
Thinking this, I recalled the "Law of the Schemer" from the internet. Guiguzi could control the world without leaving his home, and Liu Bei, despite his tears, managed to divide the world with the ambitious Cao Cao.
Someone who can set up a scheme is not necessarily the schemer.
The police judged Qin Sisi not to be the perpetrator of the Empty House crimes because she didn't control the finances. If Qin Sisi were truly the schemer behind this operation, then her not taking the ill-gotten gains would be inexplicable.
Perhaps Qin Sisi truly has someone behind her, and is that person Li Dazhi?
...
My inference isn't solely based on Li Dazhi bringing the fake rind rough manufacturing technique back from Burma and also bringing back a woman suspected to be Qin Sisi from Beijing. The most crucial reason is that I seem to have found the real motive behind Li Dazhi killing Brother Shun. Brother Shun knew about Li Dazhi's connection to the fake rind roughs because of Li Dazhi's drunken confession. If Qin Sisi's scheme from the beginning was to lure the police in, Brother Shun would have been the biggest flaw in this plan, thus Li Dazhi's motive for murder wasn't Hongmei and his son.
Looking at Hongmei's attitude towards Li Dazhi and Chen Ashun, if Li Dazhi wanted to reclaim Hongmei and his son from Chen Ashun, it would have been easy. There would have been no need to kill.
...
I sat there, the recent events flashing through my mind like pictures. Finally, my memory settled on the Empty House logo I saw at the factory for the first time.
Empty House?
Brother Shun had mentioned that most of the old houses used to look like that.
And the old district Li Dazhi took me to seemed to have many such houses.
Could it be possible? It's worth a try.
I took a taxi to the old district. First, I went to the Empty House forgery base. The police had acted quickly; it was already sealed. I decided to try my luck nearby, perhaps I could find the Empty House.
I walked around the vicinity several times without seeing any old houses that matched my memory. Just as I was starting to think I was overthinking things, I suddenly noticed a discreet alleyway in a place I had just passed.
This alleyway was between two closely adjacent low-rise buildings, the kind residents build themselves. There was a fence between them. If someone hadn't walked out of the alley, I would have found it hard to imagine that the path between the two properties was a narrow alley.
I walked into the alley and at the end, there was a courtyard. In the courtyard stood two houses. One was beautifully renovated, while the other was an abandoned empty house. Cracks covered the exterior wall of the empty house, and the dark gray concrete walls looked dry and ancient, as if weathered by years of sun and wind.
This wall didn't have the green plants like the Empty House logo, but the overall appearance was strikingly similar.
I knew then that I had found the main base of Empty House.