On the way, Shi Jingxia was curious about everything, pointing to the distance and asking, "What's that thing, it looks like a large sickle, and there are so many of them."
Jiang Erwa said, "That's not a sickle, it's called an oil pump, also known as a donkey head or kowtowing machine."
Shi Jingxia suddenly realized, "Oh, it's pumped out. I thought someone dug a hole and scooped it out with a ladle?"
Everyone laughed, and Shi Jingxia fell silent.
Thinking about what happened last night, I felt a bit embarrassed and said, "Lao Jiang, about last night..."
"Hey, it's okay."
Jiang Erwa turned the steering wheel, and the car turned onto a bumpy road. "Men work in the oil fields, and women stay at home. This kind of thing is nothing new, everyone does their own thing."
His words left us speechless.
The person we were going to meet was called Jin Shiqing, a former colleague of Jiang Erwa's who was sentenced to two years in prison for stealing state assets. After being dismissed from the unit, he became a dispatcher at the fishermen's wharf.
As we were talking, we arrived at our destination. Looking out of the car, we saw the fishermen's wharf not far away, with dozens of fishing boats crowded together, their red flags fluttering in the wind.
"Don't they go out to sea?" Duan Huairen leaned over and raised his voice deliberately.
"The wind and waves are too strong today, and there's an orange warning. They're all docked here. Let's go this way."
Jiang Erwa led us to a row of camping cabins resembling containers. Without knocking, he opened the door and went in.
A person was lying on the bed, none other than Jin Shiqing, with a cigarette in his mouth, a book in one hand, and the other hand in the wrong place.
"Hey, Lao Jiang, what brings you here?"
Saying this, he stuffed the book under the pillow and sat up.
"The wind outside is so strong, it blew me over."
"You're quite the joker."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Jiang Erwa also lit a cigarette and sat down on the bed opposite Jin Shiqing.
The space in these camping cabins was very small, with two single beds facing each other. They were so close that their heads could touch.
After explaining our purpose, Jiang Erwa got straight to the point and asked, "If you can find these two treasures, I'll give you two hundred thousand as a reward."
Jin Shiqing looked at me. Although Jiang Erwa's offer was a bit beyond expectations, I nodded in agreement.
However, Jin Shiqing still seemed hesitant, so Jiang Erwa patted him on the shoulder.
"I say Xiaojin, you're at least a descendant of the Qing Dynasty royal family. Why are you so afraid? The downfall of the Qing Dynasty happened just like that."
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, most descendants of the royal family changed their surnames to avoid disaster. Some took the surname Guan, some Wang, some Jin, etc.
Jin Shiqing lit another cigarette and engaged in intense ideological struggle. After smoking half of it, he threw it on the ground and stamped it out. He took out a notebook from the drawer and pointed his finger at it.
"Look, a month ago, two people came to ship these two items."
Looking closely, there was a line written on it: Two large wooden boxes, Ji Fishery 0825, February 2nd, Incheon Port, South Korea.
Duan Huairen asked, "What did those two people look like?"
"I don't have much impression of the man, but he sounded like a southerner. The girl was very beautiful, about the same age as you two." Jin Shiqing recalled and pointed to me and Shi Jingxia.
Shi Jingxia looked outside and asked in confusion, "With so many people coming and going at the wharf, how do you remember them so clearly?"
Jin Shiqing scratched his head and smiled flatteringly, "First, because the girl was indeed beautiful and to my taste, hehe. Second, because she had a manicure, it was a design by Manicure Athena, and I remember it very clearly."
Upon hearing this, we exchanged glances and confirmed that it was indeed Bai Ruoxue without a doubt.
"Where are these two large wooden boxes now?"
Jin Shiqing hesitated and said, "Ji Fishery 0825 is an ocean-going fishing boat. It can't transport goods, otherwise it would be smuggling, so the items are not here."
"Then where are they? Speak up."
"It's not that I don't want to say, but I really don't know."
Jiang Erwa pointed at the messy room and said, "Xiaojin, look at yourself, you smell like rotten fish and shrimp, and you have a criminal record. Which woman would marry you? So, you need money. Women love money, twenty thousand, think about it."
The latter part of Jiang Erwa's sentence was deliberately emphasized.
Jin Shiqing looked helpless. "I'm just a dispatcher, I really don't know."
Suddenly, he changed the subject and remembered something. "Oh? Right, you can go ask Lao Jia."
"Who is Lao Jia?"
"The boss of Ji Fishery 0825. Those two people came with him."
"Where is Lao Jia?"
"He went to Hebei to buy fishing nets and will be back in three days."
Suddenly, Shi Jingxia said, "Wait a minute, you're lying. Today is the twenty-eighth day of the lunar month, and there are still four days until February second. Buying fishing nets at this time? Who are you trying to fool?"
Jin Shiqing stiffened his neck. "Fine, don't believe me."
Jin Shiqing gave us an address, but there was no specific building number, only the name of the community, a place called Petroleum New Village. However, he told us Lao Jia's license plate number, saying it was a Jetta.
So, using the license plate number as a breakthrough, we began searching for this Jetta in the community.
Persistence pays off. Two hours later, we finally found the car. Jiang Erwa's Xia Li car was parked not far away, and we sat in the car, monitoring everything.
In the evening, the Jetta honked twice, and a few seconds later, a person walked out of the building and got into the car.
The figure seemed familiar, like we had seen him somewhere.
The Jetta slowly started and drove towards the entrance of the community. Jiang Erwa quickly started the car and followed. After a few traffic lights, the Jetta got onto an expressway and sped towards Tanggu.
We were already out of the urban area, with no street lights, just broken cement roads, and hardly any other cars in sight.
To avoid alerting the target, Jiang Erwa turned off the headlights and followed the car ahead using its taillights.
In this way, our car was like a bumper car, bouncing all the way. As we went further, the road became more remote. After about an hour, the Jetta in front stopped.
The wind was particularly cold, and the reeds on both sides of the road swayed back and forth, making a rustling sound.
Jiang Erwa pointed not far away and said, "That's the site of the Dagukou Battery Ruins Museum. During the invasion of the Eight-Power Allied Forces, they landed from there. Now, the Dagukou Battery Ruins Museum has become a red patriotic education base, reminding future generations to remember history and never forget national humiliation."
He then pointed to another place and continued, "We used to drill a few wells nearby. Other than a huge coffin storage site, there's nothing else here. What is Lao Jia doing here?"
I said, "When things are abnormal, they tend to be suspicious. There must be some secret."
Shi Jingxia, with her hands in her pockets, facing the wind, asked, "What's a coffin storage site?"
Jiang Erwa described a custom that sent chills down our spines.
Here, people don't rush to bury the dead. Instead, they temporarily store the coffins. Every few years, they hold a large burial, with people buried according to their seniority.
Suddenly, I had a bold idea. Could the body of Princess Pingyuan, Yuan Mingyue, and the warrior figurine of Yuwentai be hidden in the coffin storage site?