20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 699: Big Flagpole
There are many people in the Rong family and they are of varying sizes. With different methods, they can be distinguished by their height, weight, and appearance.

Most of the thieves who steal wallets on the tram are petty thieves and are not worth mentioning at all. However, big thieves who are able to break into houses by climbing over roofs or opening skylights are rare because the risk is too great. Not many people dare to do it, and not many people are able to do it. In the provincial capital, the number of people who have this ability can be counted on one's fingers.

This "big flagpole" is Lao Rong, a famous man in the west of the city.

His original surname was Qi, and because he was tall and thin, he called himself "a big flag".

This name is too loud and may be offensive. The Jiang family already has its own business in Fengtian City, so what's the point of this extra "big flag"?
Fortunately, he was also a man who knew when to advance and when to retreat. Seeing that the Jiang family was at its peak, he made concessions in every way and did not dare to offend them.

So, "a big flag" became a "big flagpole".

With just one word difference, one's status and position were lowered.

As early as the Qing Dynasty, Daqiganzi was an expert in breaking into houses and picking locks, and could be considered a senior member of the "Rong Family". Later, as he grew older and his legs and feet became less agile, he began to teach and taught, taking in a few apprentices. Relying on the reputation he had made in his early years, he gradually became the leader of a thief.

When people are in Fengtian, they naturally become the Jiang family's "supporters".

Zhao Guoyan got the news, but he was not in a hurry to investigate. Instead, he asked, "This big flagpole has been in the industry for so many years, he should have some family background. How come he is living so tight?"

Shopkeeper Yu sighed and said, "Well, he loves to show off, his ambition is higher than the sky, he always wants to be a big boss, he doesn't even take a look at himself to see if he is the right material. I heard that he bought stocks last year and lost everything, so he suddenly became poor."

"Oh I got it."

"Of course, I just heard about it, that's all."

Shopkeeper Yu hurriedly added a few words to the conversation.

Zhao Guoyan smiled and whispered to comfort him, "Manager Yu, we are just chatting casually, please don't be too reserved."

Shopkeeper Yu said hurriedly, "No, no, I'm not being reserved, but I'm afraid of delaying the boss's important event. Don't let my idle words cause any misunderstandings, that would be a sin."

"Then have you ever heard what stocks he bought to lose money?"

"Oh, I dare not say that. After all, he has lost money, and Daqipao is a face-saving person. He can't show off his arrogance on the street, don't you think?"

Zhao Guoyan thought about it carefully and it made sense, so he put down his tea bowl, stood up and said, "Okay, Shopkeeper Yu, you go ahead and do your work. I'll go look somewhere else."

"Okay, okay, since you're here to work for the boss, I won't keep you here in vain." Shopkeeper Yu quickly stood up to see him off, "Come sit with me some other time when you're free."

Zhao Guoyan walked to the door of the store, but suddenly stopped and reminded with a smile: "By the way, Shopkeeper Yu, those few sentences I just said..."

Before he finished speaking, Shopkeeper Yu, who was very smart, immediately widened his eyes and asked in confusion, "What did you say? Didn't you come to see the jade-faced golden Buddha in my back hall today?"

Zhao Guoyan smiled knowingly, then clasped his hands and said, "Okay, Manager Yu, please stay. I'll leave first."

"Take care, take care. Come by often when you have time. Please bring hello to our boss for me!"

Shopkeeper Yu stood at the door of the store and watched Zhao Guoyan leave until his figure disappeared from his sight. Then he breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the house.

Suddenly someone on the street called him: "Shopkeeper, would you like to buy this porcelain vase made during the Qianlong reign? It's a treasure passed down from my family!"

Shopkeeper Yu was very impatient and waved his hands, saying, "Go away, I won't do business this month. Come back next month if you have good stuff!"

"Hey, Old Yu, did you take a pill this morning?" The man rolled his eyes fiercely. "It's up to you if you want to take it or not. Good things don't need a buyer. I'll go find someone else!"

Shopkeeper Yu sneered and said, "Boy, I'm too lazy to argue with you. Go ask around the streets right now. I can't say much. If any antique shop dares to open and accept the goods within three days, I will kill you."

His confidence comes from the Jiang family.

The Jiang family is determined to recover the stolen goods, and the colleagues who receive the goods, whether they are black or white, will definitely try their best to avoid suspicion. The better the goods, the more they dare not accept them.

After all, if the thief could steal a piece of jade, he might dare to steal a piece of porcelain.

Who dares to take risks easily?

What's more, in the business of collectibles and antiques, the rule is "if you don't open for three years, you can make a living for three years after you open it."

If you have a good business, you should work hard to improve it. Why do you have to commit a crime at this critical juncture?
Not worth it!

…………

On the other hand, after leaving Guangutang, Zhao Guoyan did not go directly to question "Big Flagpole", but met with Xifeng. He first checked all the Lao Hes who collected contraband in the city one by one to make sure that the jade carving of "Old Monkey Offering Peaches" had not been shipped out. He also inquired about a lot of street gossips, and finally began to investigate "Big Flagpole".

This step cannot be reversed.

As the saying goes: To catch an adulterer, catch both of them; to catch a thief, catch the stolen goods.

Since he dared to steal, he must have a backup plan, so he is not afraid of being questioned.

We are all working online, talking big and talking without any solid evidence, so we have to give each other some face.

If they start brandishing knives and guns, or even torture people into confessing, that would be really unreasonable.

At the same time, Mr. Jiang Erye at the yamen gate also asked about the whereabouts of the owner Chen Guojin in the past few days.

After several inquiries, it was already dark.

Comparing the information from both sides, they could see the problem at a glance, and the suspicion of the big flagpole suddenly increased.

Rumor has it that Daqiganzi bought shares in a money shop last year, but lost all his money; others said that he misjudged the market when he was trading in foreign currencies, which led to the shrinkage of his wealth.

All in all, no matter which statement is true, he suffered a setback in business and suffered a great loss.

I have been living a bit financially tight lately, and this has been confirmed by many people.

More importantly, when Chen Guojin first arrived in Fengtian, he made an appointment with friends to have a drink at Deyi Building, and the big flagpole happened to be there that night!
As a result, the Jiang family had no choice but to send someone to visit.

Who should be sent?

It's easy to imagine that the leader of Fengtian Rongxing must be in the dark.

In the past two years, although Wen Tingge has been doing business mostly in Shanghai, he often rushes back to Fengtian to report. Now it is just the end of the first month of the year and he has not had time to go back. If something goes wrong with the "Rong Family" in the city, it is natural for him to come forward to inquire about it.

So he asked his sister-in-law to light a few firecrackers and headed straight for the nest on the big flagpole before it got dark.

…………

It was dinner time and the sky outside the window had already turned dark.

There were faint sounds of salutes coming from the direction of the inner city; that was the fireworks show organized by the Marshal's Mansion to celebrate his birthday.

The world's sorrows and joys are not the same. Some people are happy and cheerful, while others are sad and miserable. Daqiganzi sat at the table on the kang. Although there was wine and meat in front of him, he couldn't help sighing and looked like he couldn't bear to live.

A dead skinny camel is bigger than a horse.

Even though he lost money in business, the master still had to eat and drink as usual, but the five or six young apprentices under him suffered.

Except for the eldest brother, the other disciples of Daqiganzi are all young men in their twenties. They are handsome, speak and behave like young masters. They are all the result of special training so that they can behave like thieves without any pretense.

If you want to be a great thief, you must first know the goods.

To be able to see and taste gold, silver, jewelry, antique paintings and calligraphy, jade carvings, and Western clocks and watches, one must first get into the circle of wealthy people, be able to distinguish the authenticity of the goods, and understand their value before one can talk about stealing money and treasures.

Otherwise, after working for such a long time, only two "fishy goods" were produced. Wouldn't that make people laugh out loud?
Stealing fake goods is not the worst case scenario. What we are afraid of is that someone deliberately sets up a trap to use fake goods to seek the real thing. Who wouldn’t be fooled?

The world is dangerous, and there are many people who prey on other gangs. How can you learn a real lesson without losing a layer of skin?

When Daqiganzi was wealthy, he often took his disciples out to see the world.

Over time, these kids have developed a picky taste.

Now, seeing the master drinking and eating meat while they themselves can only eat bran and vegetables, how can the disciples not be anxious?
The eldest brother was sweet and good at talking. Seeing that the master was frowning, he stood up and came over, smiling and comforting: "Master, as long as there is green, there is no need to worry about running out of firewood. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, so don't get angry! How about this, I will accompany you for a meal, just to relieve your boredom!"

"piss off!"

The big flagpole immediately protected the wine glass, glared and cursed: "It's only half a catty of wine in total, it's not enough for me to drink, do I need you to drink with me?"

"Master, don't we still have the land outside?" The eldest brother begged with a playful smile, "We lost money in business, but we are not that poor. We have been eating steamed buns and porridge for two months in a row. It's really uncomfortable without meat in our stomachs!"

As soon as he finished speaking, three other disciples echoed him, "Yes, these steamed buns gave me heartburn. I couldn't sleep all night and had acid reflux at night. How about you take us out for another meal?"

"Fuck you, that's my money! I'm already lucky enough to take you out for a good meal, but you're still pushing me too far. I raised you to make money for me, but you don't even think about honoring your master, and you're always trying to scheme against me and steal my food. You're a bunch of ungrateful wolves!"

The flagpoles were smashed and hit, and the disciples who led the commotion were scolded one by one. Only the two disciples who kept silent were praised.

"You guys, at least learn from Xiaowu and Lao Geda. I don't expect you to solve problems for me. If you complain less, will it suffocate you to death?"

The eldest brother had a sullen face, and he returned to the table and sat down. He was silent for a moment, and couldn't help but muttered softly: "Can we be blamed for this? We also want to open a business, but the Jiang family won't let us. What can we do?"

"You are not allowed to do business, but you still don't know how to check it out in advance?" The big flagpole scolded, "It's windy outside, but that's only temporary. After this month, everything will be back to normal. All of you should be more diligent and practice more. Don't always think about being lazy - God rewards hard work, don't you understand?"

"I'm already a thief, and God rewards hard work, so why don't I just carry the big bags?"

"What did you fart?"

"No, no, it's windy outside."

The eldest brother hurriedly explained, but he hadn't thought that his words would be put into practice when a clanging sound was heard in the yard.

Everyone frowned and stretched their necks to look out the window, but it was pitch black and they had no idea what was going on. They murmured to themselves, "The wind is really strong today. It's almost spring, but it's a late spring cold!"

"Clang, clang!"

The big flagpole straightened his back, pricked up his ears, listened carefully, and couldn't help cursing: "Damn it, there are chicken feathers in your ears, is that the wind? There was clearly someone knocking on the door, but you didn't even have this little bit of vigilance, how can you succeed in the future?"

After saying that, he raised his hand and pointed, and immediately ordered: "Old Lump, go out and see who is here."

The young apprentice, who was about sixteen or seventeen years old, stood up and walked out of the room while wiping the corner of his mouth.

There was still snow in the yard that had not melted.

The wind outside was howling and cold, making people shiver.

“Bang—bang—bang!”

The knocking on the door was still going on, like a death-chasing ghost, as if the two door panels would be torn down if I answered it later.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" The young apprentice walked quickly through the courtyard, his tone somewhat dissatisfied, "Stop knocking, we still need this door!"

After hurrying and hastening, he finally arrived in front of the courtyard gate. He reached out and unbolted the door. Just as it opened a crack, the two door panels seemed to be suddenly knocked open by something. There was a loud "clang". Fortunately, the young apprentice was agile and took a step back in time, so he was lucky enough not to be knocked down.

Looking up, I saw seven or eight strong men standing under the moonlight.

Everyone was wearing black clothes and black pants, like zombies, with a stern face, serious expression, and a sense of intimidation without even getting angry.

The person who came had bad intentions and his every move was murderous.

The young apprentice was immediately intimidated and couldn't help showing fear. Just as he was about to speak, his throat tightened and he swallowed as if in response, almost choking himself to death.

"Old man, who's here?" the big flagpole shouted from inside the house.

The young apprentice looked back at the bright window, and seemed to regain some confidence. He finally asked tremblingly: "You, you are..."

However, before he could finish his words, he was forced aside by the burly man in front of him.

Then, the sturdy men outside the door suddenly split into two rows, and another figure walked out from them.

Wen Tingge, leaning on his cane, stepped over the threshold and led the brothers into the yard. He glanced at the young man who answered the door and asked coldly:

"Are you the disciple of the big flagpole?"

"Yes."

"You look unfamiliar!" Wen Tingge turned his head away and stared at the bright window of the main room. "Are you new here?"

The young disciple nodded stiffly, and then asked: "You... have something to ask my master?"

"have you eaten?"

"what?"

Wen Tingge turned around and repeated calmly: "I'm asking you, have you eaten?"

"I'm eating in the room!" The little apprentice didn't understand and didn't dare to ask more. He thought that he spoke too softly and made the other party unhappy!

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, a big hand pressed on his neck, as if afraid that he would escape, and locked him tightly like an iron clamp.

"Let's go!" Wen Tingge walked slowly across the yard with his cane, "Take me to see your master!"

(End of this chapter)