Courtyard House: I, the eldest son of the Jia family, have returned from the battlefield.

The woman glanced up at the shelf, thought for a moment, and said, "I want a... well, one that can chop big bones, but is also easy to use for cutting vegetables and meat. Do you have one like that?"

The waiter looked apologetic and shook his head: "Ma'am, I'm afraid we can't find what you're looking for here."

In general, they are used separately at home.

Or... why don't you go ask at the supply and marketing cooperative up ahead?

A hint of disappointment flashed across the woman's face, but she nodded: "Alright, I'll go look elsewhere."

Just as she turned to leave, the curtain to the inner room was lifted, and Master Ye came out with a kitchen knife half-wrapped in an old cloth, his face beaming with the warm smile typical of businessmen: "Madam, please wait."

"I just finished forging one of those kinds of knives you wanted."

The woman paused, turned around, and looked at the knife in Master Ye's hand that didn't seem particularly special. Her eyes were full of doubt: "Master, don't try to fool me."

"Is there really a knife that can both cut bones and is light and easy to use?"

Master Ye thumped his chest loudly, feigning a look of disdain: "Look at what you're saying! How many years has 'Liu's' been making this business in Dongcheng District? If this knife isn't good enough, just take it back and chop this signboard up right in front of me for firewood!"

Hearing this, the woman's doubts lessened somewhat, and she leaned closer to ask, "Then... how much does this knife cost?"

Master Ye held up two fingers and then opened his palm to show the knife: "To tell you the truth, I used the best steel to make this knife and spent a whole day working on it. I quenched it several times."

Well, the price... is naturally a bit higher, thirteen yuan and fifty cents.

"Thirteen yuan and fifty cents?"

The woman's eyes widened, and her voice rose slightly, "My God! Is this knife edged with gold or something? How much do I earn in a month? This is way too expensive!"

Master Ye wasn't annoyed. Instead, he revealed a mysterious and smug look and lowered his voice: "Big sister, to tell you the truth, this knife was originally made for a master chef at 'Hongbinlou'."

It's a pity that the master craftsman passed away a few days ago, so we can't use him anymore.

Otherwise, how could this knife even be sold?

A hint of surprise flashed across the woman's face, but it was quickly replaced by a calculating look.

She waved her hand, her tone softening but still resolute: "Master chef, I'm just a home cook, not a head chef in a restaurant. I don't need such top-of-the-line equipment."

Please, have mercy and pick out a cheap and practical one for me, something that will do.

Upon hearing this, Master Ye frowned deeply, his face showing a very troubled expression.

He remained silent for a long while before speaking as if he had made a great decision: "Sigh... Sister, now that we've come to this point, I won't hide anything from you."

There are no knives in the shop that can do both.

"The one I have here was played exactly according to those requirements."

He sighed, "Seeing that you're really keen to buy, how about this, I'll compromise, twelve yuan and fifty cents, that's the lowest I can go."

If you still think it's too expensive, then... well, there's nothing I can do. You'll just have to look elsewhere.

The woman stared at the knife, then glanced at Master Ye's face, which looked like he'd suffered a huge loss.

His expression shifted, his lips pursed, as if he were quickly calculating something in his mind.

After a long pause, she seemed to grit her teeth and uttered a number: "Ten yuan."

Master, I'll take it for ten yuan.

One knife is enough for half a month's worth of food; who would be willing to buy it if I told them? Please consider this my opening sale and do me a favor.

Upon hearing the price, Master Ye's lips twitched slightly, and his entire face scrunched up as if someone had truly cut a piece of flesh from his body.

He hesitated, rubbing his hands together, his gaze shifting back and forth between the woman's determined face and the knife in her hand.

Finally, he let out a long, extremely reluctant breath, his shoulders slumping: "Alright... Sister, you really know how to bargain."

I'm speechless.

"Ten bucks it is. Consider it a discount; I'm selling it to you at a loss to make a friend today."

"It's rare to see you so agreeable, so you can have this knife."

Outside the shop, Jia Dongming's gaze pierced through the walls and the noise, taking in the entire scene inside the blacksmith's shop.

If we hadn't known Master Ye's background beforehand, this bargaining between buyer and seller would have seemed no different from any ordinary market transaction.

The middle-aged woman paid the money, wrapped the kitchen knife in a cloth bag, picked it up, and went out the door.

Jia Dongming's gaze followed the movement, and he had already made a pretty good judgment: the woman who bought the knife was probably from that side as well.

Seeing her get on her bicycle and disappear into the distance, Jia Dongming immediately whispered to Zhao Jun beside him, "Send a few people to follow that woman who just went out. Make sure to find out where she is."

Zhao Jun accepted the order and then gave instructions to Zhang Ming and the others.

Zhang Ming and the others dared not delay and quietly followed.

Inside the shop, Master Ye watched the woman leave, then turned to the young shop assistant behind the counter and smiled: "Little Song, it's getting late, I'll head back now."

"You should pack up and go home around five o'clock."

"Chief, the blacksmith is out."

Not long after Zhang Ming and the others left, Master Ye strolled out of the shop.

Zhao Jun, who had been keeping watch outside, caught a glimpse of this and quickly whispered a reminder.

Jia Dongming looked in the direction of the sound and saw Master Ye standing at the entrance of the blacksmith shop, his gaze seemingly casual but actually scanning the street warily.

"You all stay here and keep an eye on the shop."

Jia Dongming quickly made a decision: "I'll learn from this master craftsman."

"Do you need a hand?"

Zhao Jun asked.

"No need."

Jia Dongming shook his head, "There might be more people coming to the shop. You only have a few people left, so you can't be scattered."

Keep an eye on it until the shop closes.

Zhao Jun said no more and nodded in agreement: "Mingbai."

"Director, please be careful."

Master Ye stood at the door for a moment before taking out his keys from his pocket, unlocking the bicycle parked by the roadside, and slowly riding it into the alley.

Jia Dongming did not follow immediately.

He stood there, watching the figure disappear around the street corner. After waiting a few more moments, estimating that they had moved four or five hundred meters away, he got into his car and gave Zhao Jun one last instruction: "I'm leaving this place to you."

After saying that, he rode his bicycle into the already dimly lit alley.

He trailed far behind, maintaining an imperceptible distance.

Mr. Ye, who was riding his bicycle ahead, seemed relaxed, but every time he turned at an intersection, he would naturally turn his head to glance behind him.

Jia Dongming stared intently into the distance, his hawk-like eyesight allowing him to see that Master Ye first went to the deli to cut half a package of braised meat, and then went to the supply and marketing cooperative to pick up two bottles of liquor.

Then, Master Ye pushed his cart, turned into Sesame Alley, stopped in front of a small courtyard, opened the gate, and went inside.

Jia Dongming did not approach.

He stopped at the corner of the alley, hidden in the shadows, but his gaze had already pierced through the brick wall, carefully examining the courtyard inside and out.

The courtyard is not large, roughly square, about a hundred square meters, with one main room, two side rooms, and a small side room.

However, what chilled him to the bone was that several strange objects were buried underground in the courtyard, with wires faintly connected to each other.

At this moment, Master Ye had already entered the courtyard.

He first stood in the courtyard, looked around, and then walked to the front of the main house.

He lowered his head, examined the door lock carefully, reached out and plucked a very thin strand of hair from above the keyhole, then took out the key, opened the door, and carried the wine and meat into the house.

"That's quite meticulous."

Jia Dongming thought to himself, "There's a secret mark left on the door lock."

If someone unknowingly barges in, he'll find out as soon as he returns.

After entering the house, Master Ye sat in the main room for only a few minutes before suddenly getting up and quickly walking to the back of the courtyard gate.

He unlatched the door, pushed the gate open a crack, peeked out, and carefully looked around the alleys for a while. After confirming that there was nothing amiss, he closed the gate again and bolted it back in.

Back inside, he closed the door again.

Then, he picked up the braised meat and wine on the table, walked to an inconspicuous old cabinet by the wall, reached out and opened the cabinet door—the figure flashed and went straight inside, the cabinet door then gently closed, and there was no sound in the room.

Jia Dongming's gaze pierced through the wall like an eagle's, locking onto Master Ye's movements.

When the figure flashed and disappeared through the hidden door in the cabinet, it quietly emerged from beneath the ground in the neighboring courtyard. Jia Dongming's pupils suddenly contracted—so that's how it is! The seemingly ordinary courtyard next door was the real snake's lair, and the answers to those dangerous items he had detected earlier were now clear.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, they did not rashly send Zhao Jun and others to keep watch directly, otherwise they would not only have alerted the enemy, but no one would have been able to detect this carefully arranged nest and the murderous intent hidden within.

"Even a cunning rabbit has three burrows, but a venomous snake is even more so."

Jia Dongming muttered silently, a fine layer of cold sweat seeping down his back. "If we rush in without knowing the situation, we'll probably be destroyed in an instant, and he'll just take advantage of the chaos to escape."

His gaze followed Master Ye as he descended underground.

Beneath the courtyard lay a hidden secret: a secret room lay dormant, a radio sat silently on the central wooden table, and a glaring flag hung on the wall.

On the other side, a dozen or so wooden crates were neatly stacked, their lids ajar, revealing the cold gleam of hard metal and the subtle luster of gold and jade artifacts.

Just as Jia Dongming was about to examine the layout of the courtyard, the entrance to the secret room opened again.

Master Ye strode in, sat down, and began tapping the keypad.

The rapid ticking sound was particularly clear in the silence.

Although Jia Dongming did not have the codebook to decipher the contents, he had already engraved the rhythm and frequency into his mind.

He had just shifted his gaze back to the surface alleyway when a stern voice suddenly rang out behind him:

"Comrade! Who are you?"

Jia Dongming turned around and saw two middle-aged men and women wearing red armbands staring at him warily.

He relaxed and calmly took out his ID and handed it over: "Please don't misunderstand, I'm from the security department of the steel rolling mill."

The middle-aged man at the head of the group took the identification and glanced at it. His expression immediately turned solemn, and he returned it with both hands: "Deputy Captain Jia! We are from the street office. We came to check after receiving complaints from the public."

My apologies.

"Perfect."

Jia Dongming put away his identification and lowered his voice, "We are investigating a case involving enemy agents. The target is lurking in the front yard."

I was planning to go to the neighborhood office later to ask for their assistance.

"Enemy agents?!"

The middle-aged man's expression brightened. "I know this area well. Which household are you referring to?"

"May I ask how I should address you?"

"My surname is Zhang, Zhang Shengli, and I am the deputy director of Jingshan Subdistrict Office."

This is my colleague, Wang Xiuzhi.

Jia Dongming shook hands with the two men and pointed to the lone, thin sapling peeking over the wall: "Director Zhang, do you recognize that yard?"

Following his gaze, Zhang Shengli blurted out, "That's the home of blacksmith Ye Quanwang."

His wife died in childbirth years ago, and he now lives alone.

Could it be that he…?

Jia Dongming nodded slightly: "There is already conclusive evidence showing that this person is an enemy agent."

To thoroughly investigate any remaining accomplices, the investigation must remain confidential; please, both of you, refrain from making this public for the time being.

"Don't worry!"

Zhang Shengli immediately and solemnly promised, "We will absolutely keep quiet."

Jia Dongming did not reveal that the neighboring courtyard was the real hideout, but continued to ask, "Who does Ye Quanwang usually associate with? Does he have any relatives?"

When asked about Ye Quanwang's usual associates, Zhang Shengli hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Team Leader Jia, Ye Quanwang works at the blacksmith shop on Dong Street. In his spare time, he often has a couple of drinks with Xiao Quan, the gatekeeper of our street's scrap yard."

He also has a younger sister who married and moved to Tianjin years ago; I'll have to go back and look up the address in the register to find out.

Jia Dongming's eyes flickered: "Xiao Quan? What's the background of this old master?"

"Xiao Quan is fifty-four years old this year, a long-time resident of Sesame Alley."

Zhang Shengli replied, "The year the Japanese occupied Beiping, everyone in his house was killed."

Later, when a recycling station was set up on the street, he was assigned to guard the gate.

Jia Dongming chuckled upon hearing this: "Ye Quanwang is a bachelor, and Xiao Quan is also single. What a coincidence."

He paused, then asked, "Will Xiao Quan stay at the station tonight, or go back to his own home? What's his house number?"

"The scrap yard needs someone to look after it at night, so he usually sleeps in the gatehouse."

My home is at No. 107, Sesame Alley, a detached courtyard house.

After noting down the address, Jia Dongming nodded and said, "I'll go take a look around later."