Siheyuan: The Era of Struggle

Chapter 322 True and False Luo Gang

Most people have seen wood boils, and they are nothing special, but the one on the tip of the knife is obviously different.

Through the dim light from the electric lamp in the room, it is clear that this wood boil has been played with frequently. Judging from the thick layer of patina, it must have taken at least three or four years to reach this level.

He Yuanchao's gaze stayed on the wood boil for only a moment and then he paid no more attention to it. All his attention was now on the board at the bottom of the cabinet. He wanted to see if what was hidden under the cabinet was what he thought.

Following the light of the flashlight, He Yuanchao leaned forward and looked at the small hole left by the wood boil for a while, then turned around and waved his hand to signal the national security and steel plant security to retreat.

Realizing that the danger was more serious than he had imagined, the steel plant guard hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and approached He Yuanchao and said, "Director, how about you direct me to take action?"

"Yes, Deputy Director He, don't take risks. If it doesn't work, find someone who knows about blasting to take a look."

As soon as the steel plant security guard finished speaking, Guoan, who had been standing still, also quickly spoke up and expressed his opinion.

After hearing what the two said, He Yuanchao remained unmoved and still waved his hand and said, "It's nothing serious. I asked you to retreat just in case."

The situation is unclear and everything is just his own conjecture. He Yuanchao doesn't dare to go around shouting and looking for someone at the moment. What if everything becomes known to everyone and ends up being a joke? He might be labeled as a coward and irresponsible person for the rest of his life.

Although he knew that it would be a painful thing to save face, He Yuanchao was a worldly man who could not escape from worldly fame and fortune, so he still cared about his face to some extent.

Seeing that He Yuanchao's attitude was firm and clear, the national security and steel plant security did not dare to waste time and walked cautiously towards the outer room.

After watching the two men retreat to the door of the outer room, He Yuanchao withdrew his hand, turned around and focused his gaze again on the hole in the bottom of the cabinet.

After measuring the hole, he found it was just big enough for a finger to fit in. He Yuanchao took a deep breath, aimed his right index finger, and thrust it in.

The bottom of the cabinet was empty just as he thought. He moved his fingers around and felt around, and found that there was no danger of any mechanism, so he gradually increased the intensity of his exploration.

He used his fingers to push against the bottom of the cabinet and moved it around, but there was no response. He Yuanchao then tried to hook his fingers on the bottom of the cabinet and lift it up.

Unexpectedly, the cabinet bottom plate, which had been motionless just now, showed signs of loosening. He Yuanchao showed an excited look on his face, but he did not dare to be careless at all. He slowly increased the strength in his hands, and the cabinet bottom plate was pulled up little by little.

As the cabinet bottom got closer to the cabinet door, He Yuanchao became more and more alert. He stared at the situation inside the cabinet without blinking, and did not miss any slight sound in the house.

I took the bottom plate out of the cabinet without any trouble. Just as I was about to take a look inside, a strong sense of crisis instantly filled my body, as if a ferocious beast suddenly appeared in the empty cabinet, ready to devour anyone.

Faced with this feeling, He Yuanchao did not think it was an illusion caused by nervousness. Although he did not put his head into the cabinet just now, he saw a hole at the bottom of the cabinet out of the corner of his eye.

He quickly threw away the cabinet bottom plate in his hand, took out a gun from his waist, and squatted to the left side of the cabinet. "I have seen you in the hole. Come out and surrender."

It is not known whether He Yuanchao's series of actions scared the things in the cave, but they did frighten the national security and steel plant security guards standing in the outer room.

"Director, what's going on in the closet? Is there anyone there?"

The steel plant security guard recovered from the shock and started asking questions anxiously while pulling out his gun and walking into the house.

When Guoan, who had already pulled out his gun, heard the steel plant security guard say it was a person, his face looked a little better, but he did not choose to go into the house. Instead, he hid behind the door of the outer room with a gun and stuck his head out to look into the inner room.

He Yuanchao heard footsteps beside him, turned around and saw that it was the security guard of the steel plant. He frowned and was about to ask him to leave, when suddenly an idea came to his mind.

"Xiao Zheng, don't come over here. Go outside and ask someone to give me two grenades."

As he spoke, He Yuanchao kept winking at the steel plant security, fearing that he would say something like "We didn't bring grenades when we came out."

Fortunately, the steel plant security guard was not a fool. When he saw his director winking at him, he quickly understood what he meant and said loudly, "Yes, Director. I'll go get someone to bring it to you right away."

As soon as he finished speaking, the steel plant security guard was afraid that the person in the closet would discover his flaw, so after thinking for a moment, he turned around and ran out of the house.

"This kid is good. If he becomes an actor, he might have a bright future."

Looking at the actions of the security guard Xiao Zheng, He Yuanchao couldn't help but mutter something in his heart, then turned around and shouted into the cabinet.

"You heard what we said. Do you want to come out on your own, or do you want me to send you to death with a grenade? Think about it carefully."

In fact, until this moment, He Yuanchao was not sure whether there was anyone hiding in the cave. He was just cautious and did not want to put himself in danger for no reason. After He Yuanchao finished speaking, there was still silence in the cabinet without any response. He was not in a hurry and patiently stood by the cabinet like an experienced old hunter.

The orange light shone on him, casting a long shadow on the ground. Against the backdrop of the dark night outside the window, it looked extremely strange and terrifying.

When the national security personnel saw this scene, they didn't know whether He Yuanchao had really discovered someone or had gotten himself stained with something dirty. Their already tense hearts were now beating violently in their chests, as if they were going to jump out of their mouths.

Bang bang bang~~
A burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the house, and the national security personnel hurriedly turned back to look at the door as if they had found a savior.

When he saw that it was the steel plant security guard who came into the room, he felt as if a heavy shackle had been lifted off his body. He immediately felt a lot more relaxed. If he hadn't had the support of the wall, he might have fallen to the ground.

As soon as the steel factory security guard entered the room, he didn't even look at Guoan, who was pale, and raised the army green bag in his hand and shouted loudly: "Director, I got the grenade back."

Seeing the security guard's performance, He Yuanchao gave him a thumbs up and said in an anxious tone, "We've been waiting for you. Hurry and bring it here."

"I'm coming."

The security guard ran over to He Yuanchao and handed him the satchel, saying, "Director, I was afraid that two pills wouldn't be enough, so I asked them for a few more. You can use as many as you want. If there aren't enough, I'll get more."

After taking the bag, He Yuanchao ignored the acting-addicted guy and turned to the cabinet and said with a smile: "Okay, you are quite patient.

I'll give you one last chance. I'll count to three. If you don't come out, I'll throw a grenade in. This hole is perfect. It saves us the trouble of digging a pit."

After saying that, He Yuanchao reached into his bag and began to count numbers with a calm expression.

"One, two."

Before he could utter the last three words, a decadent voice suddenly came from the closet, "Don't throw grenades, let's talk."

Hearing the response from the cave, He Yuanchao's guess came true. He suppressed his excitement and replied in a strong tone:

"There's nothing to talk about. Either you come out or I throw a grenade. There's no other choice."

After saying this, He Yuanchao gently placed the bag in his hand on the ground, ready to deal with any emergency.

After waiting for a while, seeing that there was still no movement in the cave, He Yuanchao became a little anxious no matter how patient he was.

"Tell me whether you are coming out or not, I don't have time to waste here with you."

"Director, why are you wasting your time talking to him? Let's just throw a grenade and blow the bastard to death. It will be a great achievement if we find the body and bring it back."

The steel plant security guard knew that the grenades in the bag were fake, but that did not hinder his desire to perform. As soon as He Yuanchao finished speaking, he spoke up and agreed.

I don’t know if the two people’s singing in unison scared the people in the cave, or if they really had no way out and had to come out and surrender. As soon as the steel plant guards finished speaking, the people in the cave immediately took up the conversation.

"Comrade...Comrade, don't throw the grenade. I'm going up right away."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of moving things was heard in the cave, and then a man with his hands raised above his head slowly emerged from the cupboard.

"Don't...don't shoot, I...I don't have a weapon."

The man looked at the two black gun muzzles pointing at him outside the cabinet, swallowed, and said nervously.

Looking at the man standing still in the cabinet, the steel factory guard glared and said sternly, "Stop playing tricks and get out now."

After saying that, the steel plant security guard clenched the gun in his hand, stepped forward, grabbed the man's hand in the cabinet and dragged him out.

The man did not resist and climbed out of the cabinet under the force of the steel plant security guards.

After the steel plant security searched the man and handcuffed him, He Yuanchao looked at the man who looked almost exactly like Luo Gang and said, "Mr. Luo, tell me who you are!"

Hearing this, the man glanced at the high-spirited He Yuanchao and said with a somewhat dejected tone, "I am Luo Qiang, a major intelligence officer in the Intelligence Department of the Beijing Station of the Security Bureau."

(End of this chapter)