On top of the Yaoshan Mountain, Yunzhong village.
The bonfire in front of the house was burning fiercely in the night. The roasted lamb was turned over, and the oil dripped into the fire.
The main hall reeked of alcohol, and the round tables were full of people, but at this moment they were all collapsed. Even those who had not completely lost consciousness were still leaning back against the wall with drooling faces and dazed expressions, their faces full of greed and satisfaction as if they were in a fairyland.
There was an indescribable stench in the room. If anyone had ever smelled it, they should be able to immediately realize that it was the unique smell of marijuana.
"Our boss Wang said that the goods are pretty good, and he will bring people up the mountain to pick them up at the appointed time, no problem!" A lean Mediterranean old man put his chopsticks on the table and said with a smile: "But I still want to ask, where are we going to pick up the goods? The local area will soon be covered by heavy snow, and we are not familiar with this place…"
A-Jie took a sip of wine and said lightly: "It doesn't matter if you are not familiar. When Wang Pengfei comes, we will send someone down to pick him up to the village. Then we'll go to the underground factory together."
"Hey, that's what I said, but this deep mountains and old forests—"
"You've been working under Wang Pengfei for several years, Old Cai. The surnamed Wang knows how to deal with us, so don't worry about your boss."
"Hmm…"
The Mediterranean called Old Cai didn't inquire more, but he was not reconciled and sneaked a glance not far away.
In the open space outside the main hall, the King of Spades had his back to him and was chatting with a young man beside him with his head slightly tilted. They stood very close to the campfire. The jumping flames reflected on the side face of the young man, showing the straight bridge of his nose and the depths of the pupils of his eyes, which shone brightly.
In such a noisy environment, he couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he saw the young man answering a few words from time to time with a gentle and calm attitude, and the conversation could be regarded as mutual. The King of Spades seemed quite happy. He turned his head and smiled and said a few words, and the young man also showed a slight smile.
Suddenly, the King of Spades turned his head this way as if he had noticed something.
Old Cai immediately lowered his gaze cautiously.
After a while, when he looked up again, he saw that the King of Spades had already left with the wine, leaving only the young man standing by the campfire.
Old Cai left the main hall on the pretext of relieving himself, went to the bathroom at the back of the house, jumped out through the window when no one was paying attention, and then bent down to come to the front yard in the dark. The young man was still standing there without moving, stretching out a pair of slender hands and slowly warming them up by the fire. Old Cai walked over slowly, looking left and right. When he came close, his body shrank, and most of him hid in the shadow of the eaves. He coughed and laughed: "Warming yourself by the fire?"
Jiang Ting didn't say anything. The bonfire reflected his slightly red face, and after a while he said: "It's freezing cold, the fire helps in keeping out the cold."
Old Cai said consolingly: "Winter is already here, spring can't be far behind."
"Where does spring come from in December?"
Old Cai still wanted to say something, but at this time, he saw a guard at the front gate of the yard coming, probably wanting to relieve himself. So he took a few steps back into the distance.
"You are too courageous!" Jiang Ting's attitude changed suddenly. Without turning his head, he lowered his voice and scolded: "Wang Pengfei is not easy to fool. If something happens, you will be killed by both the buyer and the seller! Who let you come here?"
Old Cai's eyes kept moving vigilantly around: "It's okay, that surname Wang still trusts me for the time being. Director Liu was very anxious and asked, why is there no news from Myanmar?"
Jiang Ting's Adam's apple slid up and down.
"…their people are dead."
Old Cai's pupils trembled slightly, and he said "ah" after two seconds, "It's… okay; don't feel guilty."
Saying that, he covered his mouth and asked: "By the way, do you really have no clue about the address of the factory?"
Jiang Ting shook his head; his movements were very slight, but Old Cai could see the seriousness in his eyes, "I was too anxious a few days ago and did something wrong. Now they are very defensive against me. But every time 'he' takes people out and comes back, it takes about six hours. Counting the inspection, foot trip, and back and forth to pick up, the factory should be within 60 to 80 kilometers nearby. "
Old Cai frowned and asked, "Can't you narrow it down?"
"..." Jiang Ting breathed out and said, "I'll try again."
Judging from his reaction, Old Cai knew that this request might be a little too much. But before he was sent to carry out this dangerous mission, Chief Lu of Jianning City talked to him and specifically mentioned one point: Jiang Ting would try his best to find a way to do something as long as he really wanted to do it.
Old Cai's eyes turned to him carefully, and he sighed softly: "By the way, Lu asked me to tell you that your 'family' is fine."
Sure enough, Jiang Ting immediately responded: "eh?"
Old Cai was actually just saying things according to Chief Lu's instructions and couldn't figure out a good way to do it in a moment of urgency, so he simply made a gesture of raising his arms to show off his muscles: "They're eating and sleeping, and their health is pretty good. Lu asked me to tell you to work with peace of mind and don't worry!"
The words were poorly made up, but to his surprise, Jiang Ting believed them, and the corners of his tightly pursed lips curled up in the cold wind, and he made a serious "hum" with a smile.
Old Cai felt a little ashamed in his heart.
But in their line of work, shame couldn't be eaten as a meal, and the real thing was to climb up the ladder. Old Cai gritted his teeth and hurriedly struck while the iron was hot: "So you pay attention and put in more effort. Listen to me, if you can find out where the underground factory that stores the bulk goods is—"
At this moment, Jiang Ting caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, and his expression changed slightly in an instant.
There was a corner of the corridor not far behind Old Cai that had been blocked during the day and was a dead end now. But now there were faint footsteps coming out from behind, and at the moment Old Cai's voice sounded, the footsteps stopped suddenly.
A half figure was exposed behind the wall, and a shadow was cast by the moonlight on the ground, like a ghost protruding its upper body from the darkness.
"If we can find out where the underground factory that stores the bulk goods is—"
In the blink of an eye, Jiang Ting raised his eyes, met Old Cai's gaze, and silently mouthed.
"——I, we," Old Cai saw clearly what the mouth shape represented. Suddenly, a gust of hot blood rushed to the top of his head and instantly turned into piercing ice, exploding from the scalp to the eardrums!
"We," he couldn't hear what he was saying at all, but the experience of walking on the tip of a knife for many years saved him:
"Our boss will never treat you badly; no matter how much the thank-you fee is, you can get it after the transaction is completed!"
A terrifying silence enveloped everything.
"..." Jiang Ting stared at Old Cai, seemingly unaware of the person slowly walking out not far away, and snorted mockingly: "Thank-you fee?"
Old Cai didn't dare to move, let alone dare to look back, and he only looked straight ahead at him.
"I feel at ease staying here. I can get as much business and money as I want. By telling Wang Pengfei about the information, what can he give me? Do business well. It will snow in a while. You should finish your work early and go home. Complicating things deliberately won't be good for both of us, understand?"
Cold sweat rolled down Old Cai's forehead, only for him to see that one of Jiang Ting's hands was still by the fire, and he waved the other one impatiently:
"Tell your boss to drop these kinds of thoughts; get out!"
The bonfire swayed, and the noise of the banquet in the main hall came from a distance, but there was no movement behind him.
Old Cai took two steps back; the calves in his trousers were trembling, and he swallowed hard:
"You…you don't know what's good; just wait and see!"
Jiang Ting smiled, and Old Cai huffed and strode away with his neck straight.
The main hall became quiet again, and Jiang Ting remained calm, still standing by the campfire and warming his hands. Half of the figure behind the corner of the corridor remained motionless as if frozen. After a long while, there were finally rustling sounds and the sound of footsteps stepping on gravel, and branches approached.
Only then did Jiang Ting turn around and see Wen Shao, who smelled of alcohol and smiled against the firelight, "You haven't left yet?"
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but this tone always gave people an indescribable sense of subtlety.
Jiang Ting smiled and didn't speak, and only heard him ask: "I saw someone passing by here just now, who was it?"
"Oh, the one surnamed Cai."
"What was he doing here?"
Jiang Ting didn't speak and met Wen Shao's gaze. After warming up leisurely in the fire for a while, he asked with a smile, "What if I told you and also got into trouble?"
Wen Shao said, "How could that be? You're overthinking it."
"Small things, and it's already been dealt with, forget it."
Wen Shao was unmoved and looked at him with a slight smile.
"…You really want to get to the end of the matter." Jiang Ting finally compromised helplessly: "He came to ask where we hid the goods and said that Wang Pengfei was willing to give me a thank-you fee. I have already sent him away; now you look like you're going to kill. Go, do whatever you want."
The smile in Wen Shao's eyes finally had some sincerity, and he shook his head and sighed: "Wang Pengfei has never been honest enough; I have discovered that a long time ago. The person surnamed Cai was chasing after A-Jie inside just now, asking where the factory is, but hit a soft wall. It was probably because he saw that you were easy to talk to, so he came here to hit the nail."
Jiang Ting asked casually: "Then you still want to do business?"
"Yes. "
Jiang Ting glanced at him.
"What?" Wen Shao asked.
"You're taking this kind of risk; are you not afraid of being slapped coldly by that surnamed Wang?"
"Are there any decent people in this business? Aren't they all ghosts and snakes?" Wen Shao laughed, as if he didn't care about scolding himself, and added without further ado: "Don't mention that the buyer is playing tricks, even if the police catch up to us, the deal must still be done."
Jiang Ting unexpectedly paused: "…this batch of blue goods is so big?"
This batch of "blue gold" originally belonged to Wu Tun. After he mastered the simplified synthesis procedure, he opened up an underground factory in the depths of Yaoshan Mountain. Carrying the King of Spades to mass-produce new fentanyl compounds and then selling them to southwest China, Myanmar, and Laos at relatively low prices. Due to its remote location and limited conditions, the output of this underground factory was not very high. Compared with the Golden Triangle area in the last century and the current northeast of Myanmar, it was quite small.
But the King of Spades came here in person, not for the product itself but for something more important than the blue product—a simplified synthesis formula.
He led a group of people to wander in this village deep in the mountains and old forests for such a long time, and he must have figured out the formula and production process in the underground factory. If the remaining batch of blue gold in stock was not much, it could have been sold casually or even destroyed on the spot.
"—It's quite big." Wen Shao said casually, "I have to hurry up and sell it; otherwise it will be a pity."
What kind of unimaginable, huge amount of drugs was it that made the King of Spades feel that it was a pity to destroy them?
Under the light of the fire, the depths of Jiang Ting's eyes were dim.
Suddenly the King of Spades changed his tone: "But don't worry."
"…?"
Jiang Ting raised his head from the fire, and suddenly his left hand was grabbed.
The shimmer of light in the depths of the King of Spades' eyes was gentle and deep. Although he didn't have such feelings at all, he at least imitated them very well:
"Even if I run into the police, I won't let anything happen to you. Just like you said, even if we die in this life, we will be together."
Even if we die, we will die together.
——However, under the dark and cold river water, another person came against the current, struggled to open the car door, held his hand, and dragged him to the brighter side of the river with his last breath of oxygen.
On the mountain road in the rainstorm, the G65 was frantically wagging its tail and was slammed into the mountain wall with a bang. He pressed his knees and hands on the broken glass all over the floor, gritted his teeth, climbed to the side of the police car, and dragged the man out of the distorted car.
Even earlier, that man, with his face covered in dust and blood and his right palm that still had the bloody wound cut from the bottom of a wine bottle, stood amidst the hustle and bustle of the crowd and the flickering police lights, with fierceness and sharpness all over his body, looking at him in the command car from afar.
There had never been a promise between them to live and die together, and it might be because of this that the story couldn't reach the end of them growing old together.
Jiang Ting met the gaze of the King of Spades and slowly smiled. He didn't take back the hand that was held. He was standing here just now with his head raised at the same angle, seeing Old Cai exaggeratedly clench his fist and bend his arm, saying loudly: "Eat and sleep well! Chief Lu said that your 'family' is fine!"
The smile in Jiang Ting's eyes became clearer.
With such a smile, he looked at the King of Spades as well and replied: "—Okay."
...…
A few days later, early in the morning.
The tattered Wuhong Lingguang1 bounced on the mountain road, passed through the rugged woods and weedy slopes, and finally climbed up the mound with difficulty, and finally, its engine was turned off with a bang.
"That's right here!" The old policeman of the local police station at the foot of the mountain was just a part-timer. His main business was farming all year round, and he spat out a strong local accent: "Get off here and go forward. After 8 or 9 li2 is the Laojia village. This road is easy to walk, without much effort! Just a few slopes and a river. You can carry the girl on your back, and you will be there in half an hour!"
Ma Xiang in the back seat twitched and looked at Han Xiaomei, who innocently spread her hands.
Both of them were dressed as migrant workers returning home to visit relatives as if in the 90s. The Ma Xiang, a boy with 2D harem, was wearing a Beijing brand watch and artificial leather shoes full of dirt. Han Xiaomei, a girl with a rotten mind, was carrying a street bag on her shoulder with both the LV flower logo and the Chanel logo printed on it. Both of them had gold chains around their necks that might fade in case of contact with water. Han Xiaomei was obviously not used to her new necklace. She had already reached into her collar to scratch it several times, and now her five fingers were a little yellow.
"I say, Captain Yan," Han Xiaomei asked with a bitter face, "Can we have a gold-plated one in our bureau next time? Why don't we buy stainless steel ones and use them as platinum? Chief Lu said that our lurking this time is considered a 3A-level key operation, the equipment can't be sloppy like this. Can they really reimburse the medical expenses for skin allergies?"
"People in the mountains don't recognize platinum. You are from the county town to buy medicinal materials. The more gold you have, the better." Yan Xie, from the driver's seat, turned his head around and said hoarsely: "Ma Xiang, your accent is very wrong so far; try not to open your mouth when you go from house to house to inquire about the news. I taught Old Zhang how to talk to the villagers. You two follow behind and watch, listen, and observe more, and once you find any clues about drug dealers in the nearby mountainous area, report back here immediately. I will wait for you in the car."
Ma Xiang and Han Xiaomei listened and nodded. Yan Xie turned to the old policeman, surnamed Zhang, and politely said: "My two followers will be handed over to you. Be careful, don't expose them, and pay attention to safety."
Old Zhang had never seen a leader bigger than the head of the local police station in his life. After meeting all the senior officials from the city bureau, he was already very panicked, and he waved their hands again and again after he heard this: "I'll be careful! I'll be careful!"
Yan Xie reluctantly tugged at the muscles at the corners of his mouth.