Life in siheyuan era

Around seven o'clock in the evening, Zhang Quanyi had not yet returned. Zhang's mother asked with concern, "What happened again?"

Old Hua Tou replied calmly, "His father found a master for Quanyi. Perhaps he was taken away by his master."

"Master?" Zhang's father exclaimed in surprise, then looked at Old Hua Tou but didn't dare say anything.

Zhang's mother said unhappily, "Father, Quanyi is already mischievous enough. You're finding him a master, isn't that just making him even worse?"

Seeing his wife speak, Zhang's father carefully asked, "Father, what does this expert you found for Quanyi do?"

Old Hua Tou replied readily, "An officer from the Street Committee."

Hearing this, Zhang's father felt slightly relieved. Officers are all educated people.

But Zhang's mother retorted, "How old is he to still be an officer at the Street Committee?" In her mind, the master Old Hua Tou found should be around forty or fifty years old.

Old Hua Tou replied, "Not old, twenty-one years old."

Hearing this, the couple looked at Old Hua Tou in surprise. Old Hua Tou was too lazy to say more and ordered, "Don't wait, let's eat."

In this courtyard, the Zhang family was preparing to eat, while in that quadrangle dwelling, Yan Jiekang stood in the front yard. Seeing Liu Guangfu come out, he immediately went up to him and asked in a low voice, "Did you see Zhou Zhiyuan?"

"Didn't see him. He probably hasn't returned yet," Liu Guangfu replied, then asked in a low voice, "What do you want him for?"

"I heard my brother say..." Saying this, Yan Jiekang looked around, then turned back and continued, "Zhou Zhiyuan knows the Deputy Director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. Asking him to step in should be able to get the boss out."

Yan Jiekang revealed something: Zhou Zhiyuan has connections.

Liu Guangfu immediately asked, "Bragging, right?"

"My brother saw it with his own eyes. That Deputy Director sent Zhou Zhiyuan back. Zhou Zhiyuan admitted it."

Yan Jiekang continued to confirm, but Liu Guangfu still didn't believe it. "The Deputy Director of the Municipal Bureau would send him? That's just bragging."

Liu Guangfu's attitude made Yan Jiekang doubt it as well. After pondering for a moment, he asked in a low voice, "Then what do you say we should do? If Zhou Zhiyuan can get the boss out, my brother and I will have an extraordinary position in Quanyi's gang."

"That makes sense..." Liu Guangfu affirmed his idea, pondered for a moment, and replied, "Let's try anything. We'll block Zhou Zhiyuan in the alley. If it works out, of course, that's better. If it doesn't work out, we won't lose anything either."

Having made their decision, the two walked out of the quadrangle dwelling's gate. After waiting until after eight o'clock without seeing Zhou Zhiyuan's figure, they became impatient. Liu Guangfu said, "We'll block him tomorrow morning."

Yan Jiekang replied, "Let's do it that way."

Zhang Quanyi sighed and said, "The master you found arranged a setup, sending more than twenty policemen to arrest me and my brothers at the police training base. At noon, they gave each of us two steamed buns and a bowl of cabbage soup. After eating, they separated us and made me write a 'statement of the problem' and conduct a profound self-criticism."

"I wrote three pages of stationery, then lay on the bed and fell asleep. When I opened my eyes, I saw a young man looking at my 'statement of the problem' and picking on me. I went to grab that booklet, and I got punched in the stomach..."

Zhang Quanyi narrated, and Zhang's father and mother felt sorry for him, but Old Hua Tou smiled and said, "All three punches landed on your stomach, and you couldn't dodge them?"

Zhang Quanyi smiled wryly and said, "He didn't punch fast. Every time he punched, I thought I could dodge, but every time I got hit in the stomach."

These words made Old Hua Tou's face reveal a solemn expression. He slowly asked, "What did it feel like after taking a punch?"

"It felt like my intestines were broken."

Zhang Quanyi's answer made Old Hua Tou sigh softly and say, "I observed that Zhou Zhiyuan's every move was extremely coordinated, without the slightest flaw. At the time, I thought he was an expert. I didn't expect him to have reached the height of concealed force!"

Saying this, Old Hua Tou looked at Zhang Quanyi and solemnly asked, "Do you know why you couldn't dodge that punch?"

"That's called just right. That punch was just right in terms of strength, speed, and technique, so you couldn't dodge it."

Zhang Quanyi didn't understand what Old Hua Tou was saying, and Old Hua Tou told him, "You can't understand because you haven't reached this level. This kind of level is indescribable, it can only be understood intuitively."

"And Grandpa can barely reach this level. Compared with Zhou Zhiyuan, I'm still a level below. He's been on the battlefield, but Grandpa is old. Is he willing to accept you as a disciple?"

This was what Old Hua Tou was concerned about. Zhou Zhiyuan's martial strength was outstanding, and he had a deep background. Judging from the situation of mobilizing more than twenty policemen, this force was quite powerful.

This was what Old Hua Tou valued more. Because of his parents' constraints, he couldn't roam the pugilistic world, but he was also a figure in the capital. He had interacted with all kinds of people and understood the black and white. Zhou Zhiyuan's purpose in doing this was obvious: to prove with facts that the path Zhang Quanyi was going to take was not a crooked one.

Understanding this, Old Hua Tou wanted to find a backer for Zhang Quanyi. This backer was ready-made. It would be most reliable for Zhou Zhiyuan to accept Zhang Quanyi as a disciple.

But Zhang Quanyi denied it. "He didn't accept me as a disciple, but asked me to call him Second Brother and gave me homework."

Saying this, Zhang Quanyi got up, took a satchel from the heated brick bed, took out a book from it, and handed it to Old Hua Tou.

Old Hua Tou took it and glanced at it, seeing four large characters printed on the page: "A General History of China". He couldn't help but smile and said, "He asked you to read history books?"

"He said that reading history can enlighten the mind, and he also asked me to transcribe an article every day. If I can persist for two days, he will give me guidance once."

Zhang Quanyi explained Zhou Zhiyuan's arrangement. Old Hua Tou affirmed it, then suddenly thought of something and said in a low voice, "Second Brother said, please wait for him at the used bookstore in the Rolling Steel Factory tomorrow at noon."

Old Hua Tou nodded lightly. Zhang Quanyi calling Zhou Zhiyuan Second Brother showed that he was convinced.

Zhang's father and mother also understood. Old Hua Tou had arranged a promising person for Zhang Quanyi. This person first let Zhang Quanyi start with reading, which was definitely the right educational method.

Although they only had elementary school education, they absolutely supported learning. This was the choice of most parents. Seeing this "A General History of China", they were delighted.

But what they didn't know was that Zhang Quanyi hadn't told the whole truth. He concealed the person Yuan Shi. Zhou Zhiyuan wanted to test his awareness of confidentiality.

These were Zhou Zhiyuan's original words, "Only the words I allow you to say can be said. There are some things that I don't allow you to say. You can't tell your parents above, and you can't tell your wife and children below. If you can't do this, don't follow me."

Zhang Quanyi firmly remembered Zhou Zhiyuan's words. If he couldn't follow Zhou Zhiyuan, he wouldn't be able to learn the unique skill of punching the stomach. Those three punches had hurt him half to death. Wouldn't it be a loss if he couldn't learn it?

Zhang Quanyi gritted his teeth with this expectation, never revealing a single word. While he was enduring this hardship, Zhou Zhiyuan, Shen Lanbo, and Yuan Shi walked into Mo Youji's small courtyard.

This west wing room was temporarily occupied by Zhou Zhiyuan, and Mo Youji happily participated in the meeting. He was also a person in an organization and served as an advisor.

As an advisor, he had to express his opinion. He stared at the drawing and slowly said, "Based on Zhiyuan's observation, judging from the surrounding layout of the Anxin Hotel, the quadrangles on both sides should be where its main forces reside."

Mo Youji was ashamed. He had been to that alley, but he hadn't seen the mystery of these two quadrangles.

"The student surpasses the teacher!" He used these words to comfort himself. The master was proud to have a disciple with this level. So he expressed his own views and said, "Judging from Hua Ping's statement, if that thin figure is Hu Dapeng, it should also involve the issue of antique smuggling."

Hua Ping was Old Hua Tou's real name. Mo Youji not only knew him, but also knew some of Bai Wenming's details. "As far as I know, Bai Wenming has a younger brother named Bai Wenhua, who disappeared before liberation. If he ran to XG, he might become the contact person for antique smuggling."

Mo Youji's analysis was approved by Shen Lanbo. "These people are greedy for money and profit and will not let go of the opportunity to make money. The question is, where do we start?"

"My opinion is to take multiple approaches. First, use connections to transfer Comrade Yuan Shi to the purchasing department of the Modi Restaurant, keep an eye on Wu Shan, then monitor Gu Chengliang, and use various relationships to get close to Bai Wenming."

"After Comrade Yuan Shi enters the Modi Restaurant, I will be hospitalized in the military hospital to provide support."

"And Zhiyuan must complete his own tasks as soon as possible, while conducting nighttime reconnaissance of the Anxin Hotel to grasp Bai Wenming's movements."

"And please Comrade Hua Ping find an opportunity to contact Hu Dapeng, with Zhang Quanyi's assistance, while Hu Feng and Hu Biao will be monitored by investigators."

Shen Lanbo arranged everyone's tasks, but ignored Mo Youji. Mo Youji expressed dissatisfaction, but Shen Lanbo smiled and said, "We have you old man sitting in the headquarters of the joint investigation team, providing us with timely advice."

The joint investigation team was the name of their mass organization. Regardless of the attitude of the higher-ups, they would establish it first. Mass participation in anti-espionage was a legitimate act encouraged by the state.