Chapter 142 Asking for information
After Director Zhao's beating, people in the kitchen no longer dared to gather information about the case being handled by the Bagua Bureau.
He Yuzhu was still very concerned about this case. After all, he had participated in the auction and bought a bunch of bronzes. But Master Song, the most gossipy person in the kitchen, was too frightened to ask for information anymore, so He Yuzhu could only find a way to find out on his own.
But the news about this case in the bureau is still quite eye-catching. I can only think of another way.
The black market is a place with relatively good information. After the arrests in the past few days, I don’t know if it will still be open. He Yuzhu decided to take a look at it at night.
At night, He Yuzhu quietly got up and went out, riding his bicycle to the black market.
Seeing that the people charging at the door were still there, He Yuzhu knew that the black market was still operating normally.
With the basket on my back, I slowly arrived at the entrance of the black market. Just as I was about to pay the entrance fee, the gatekeeper asked, "Brother, what is in your basket?"
Something is wrong. The person guarding the door before didn't even ask you what kind of goods you had. You just had to pay to get in. If you suddenly asked about the goods, there must be something happening that you don't know about.
He Yuzhu calmly put the rice he had prepared into the space and replaced it with some thick stick noodles. Then he opened the sack covering the top and let the gatekeeper take a look: "Nothing? I got some stick noodles and wanted to change to some fine grains." .”
Gatekeeper: "Okay. Go in."
While He Yuzhu was arranging his backpack, he pretended to ask casually: "Didn't you not check the goods before? Why do you start checking now?"
After collecting the money, the gatekeeper stopped talking to He Yuzhu and turned back to his companions.
Seeing this, He Yuzhu had no choice but to put his backpack on his back and go into the black market, planning to go to the stall owner to inquire. He was well-informed.
When he came to the place where antiques were usually bought and sold, He Yuzhu didn't see any antique stalls in the distance. He was very surprised. What's going on? Why are the antique stalls gone? After getting closer, I saw only a few figures wandering in the darkness.
He Yuzhu did not understand the situation and did not dare to step forward. He pretended to be passing by and turned to other stalls. I found a ticket seller in the black market who specializes in ticket scalping to inquire about the situation.
He Yuzhu handed the other party a Chinese cigarette: "Brother, may I ask something?"
The ticket seller took the cigarette and looked at it before putting it away. He didn't want to smoke it: "China? For the sake of the cigarette, you can tell me. There is nothing here that I don't know about."
He Yuzhu: "I just want to ask, where are those stalls selling antiques? An elder in the family wants to exchange some jade for Tao as a birthday gift."
Ticket seller: "You'd better go shopping elsewhere. If you have any connections, would you like me to introduce you to one?"
He Yuzhu: "Going somewhere else? The antique stall here is no longer open?"
Ticket seller: "No one will come to sell it for the time being."
He Yuzhu took out another pack of large Qianmen, took out one and handed it to the ticket seller: "Why?"
The ticket dealer took the cigarette and put it on, took a puff before saying, "I don't dare to show off anymore. Recently, a few people reselling antiques were caught here, and they said they were involved in some case. It made people panic, and the market almost closed down again. Fortunately, there was some connection from above, and it was stabilized. But recently, antique stalls are no longer allowed to be set up. We will have to wait for notification when we will allow them to be set up."
Involved in the case? It must be the recent major cultural relics case in the bureau.
He Yuzhu: "Thank you, brother. I will look for other connections."
Ticket seller: "Do you want me to introduce it to you? The fee is reasonable."
Ticket sellers also work part-time as intermediaries, and they also charge intermediary fees for introducing business.
He Yuzhu: "No, I know people, and I usually set up a stall here. I just didn't see him this time, so I came to ask."
Seeing that He Yuzhu was uninterested, the ticket seller knew that he would not be able to earn the agency fee: "That's fine. You can come to me when you need tickets in the future. The price is fair."
He Yuzhu: "Okay."
It seems that the task force has done a good job of keeping secrets. These people don't know much about major cultural relics cases. There was no need for He Yuzhu to waste time here. He said goodbye to the ticket seller and went home.
Unable to find out the latest news, He Yuzhu had to wait quietly. At this time, it was better to be still than to move. As long as he doesn't make blind inquiries and attract the attention of the task force, He Yuzhu believes that this matter will never be traced to him. And the task force won't be here long. After all, according to those people's plan, after the auction, the remaining items will soon be taken to other places and smuggled out of the country.
As expected by Yuzhu, within a few days, the people from the task force in the guest house received reliable news that those people had already moved people and antiques to Jinmen, and were preparing to take a boat out from there. The people from the task force quickly followed to Jinmen.
After the task force left, He Yuzhu estimated that the black market would return to normal, so he went to the black market again at night.
Seeing the black market as usual, He Yuzhu went straight to the place where antique stalls gathered, and found a familiar stall owner here.
He Yuzhu stepped forward and asked the stall owner: "What happened in recent times? Last time I came here, there was not a single antique stall. I thought something had happened to you?"
Stall owner: "A while ago, some workmen disguised themselves and lurked in the black market, and caught a few people flipping bronzes. Fortunately, I took the bronzes we bought and had them repaired, otherwise you wouldn't have seen me."
He Yuzhu asked in a low voice: "Are those arrested related to the auction?"
Stall owner: "It's related. The bronzes they dumped were all bought from the auction. And after they were arrested, several surrounding yards of the auction were sealed off the next day."
He Yuzhu: "Oh? Did you catch the person from the auction?"
Stall owner: "Of course. This time, the work security team is mainly targeting the tomb robbers. Otherwise, it would not be as simple as just arresting a few peripheral personnel. It is estimated that the core members will also be arrested."
He Yuzhu: "Then the organizer of this auction estimates that the loss is not small? Is the little money collected enough to cover the loss?"
The street stall owner also gloated and said, "It's probably quite embarrassing. Not only did I not make any money after taking this order, I also lost a lot."
He Yuzhu: "Then the news is so tight now, why do you people start setting up stalls again so quickly?"
Stall owner: "The people in charge of the black market notified us. They said that the people from the task force chased the tomb robbers to Jinmen. It's okay now. No one is in charge."
Indeed, these are small fish and shrimps, not worthy of the task force. As long as the stall owner is fine, He Yuzhu will not be involved.
He Yuzhu: "Okay. Take out the jade you collected for me and let me take a look. I'll take it with me today."
"Okay." The stall owner turned around and took out the recently collected jade stones from his backpack and placed them in front of He Yuzhu.
He Yuzhu was not polite to the stall owner. He picked up the jade and inspected it one by one. After confirming that there was no problem, he gave the rice he brought to the stall owner.
