Chapter 36: There is a secret compartment inside the secret compartment The Ning family lived in this courtyard. The entrance to the cellar was in the southeast corner, between the back house and the east wing. The area of this cellar is not small, equivalent to the size of a room, and more than two meters high. It is called a cellar, but in fact it is a basement built when the house was first built. It was originally used to store wine, and now it is a cellar shared by five households across the courtyard. Just now Ning Weidong thought, since Qi Jia is the best at hiding things in the cellar, why can't he? Moreover, Ning Weidong thought hard and actually found some useful information from the original owner's memory. I came to the entrance of the cellar and opened the wooden door with a cotton curtain. The cotton door curtain is relatively large and can block the gap in the door. The rusty hinges creaked. Hang a light cord inside the door. Grab it and pull it, and with a "click", the light comes on.
Inside the door is a U-shaped brick staircase, walk down it. There was only a ten-watt incandescent lamp with dim light below. There are five shelves in total, one shelf belongs to one family, some have three layers and some have four layers. Because spring is coming soon, most of the food in stock has been eaten by each household, and the shelves look empty. Ning Weidong came to the shelf in their house, squatted down, reached out and pressed on the wall at the bottom grid. After fumbling for a few times, he actually opened a small secret door with a click. After opening it, there is a small secret compartment inside. As far as I can remember, this was discovered accidentally by the original owner when he was a child, playing hide-and-seek in the cellar in the summer. But then again, it's not really a secret. The adults in the yard had opened it a long time ago when they were cleaning the cellar. It must have been there where the original owner of the yard hid some small things. After liberation, the yard became a slum, and there were several secret compartments for hiding things. But when I opened it, it was empty. Ning Weidong opened the secret door and did not stop, but continued to poke around inside with his fingers. As I recall, the original owner was young when he discovered this secret compartment. He didn’t care whether it was clean or dirty, so he crawled halfway into it and found a small round hole inside. When I poked it with my finger, I actually opened another secret compartment inside the secret compartment! This design is quite clever. Some silver dollars and banknotes are placed outside. If they are discovered, they can be taken away. The secret compartment inside will be used to store more valuable treasures. Generally speaking, in this situation, most people would choose to lock in the money and leave immediately. Few will venture to continue the search. Even if there are, they will most likely look for another place and won't continue to focus on this place. Sure enough, Ning Weidong quickly discovered the small hole.
But the original owner could put his fingers in when he was a child, but now he can’t. Fortunately, the screwdriver I brought with me was still stuck in my waist. I was so busy packing up my money that I didn’t have time to take it off, and it came in handy now. Ning Weidong quickly retracted his hand, took out a screwdriver and poked it in again. Perhaps due to the age, the copper mechanism inside has rusted and stuck together. Ning Weidong failed to pry it open at once, so he added more strength and then he heard a click and opened the second door of the secret compartment. Not surprisingly, it was also empty inside, and the space was about the same size as the drawer of an ordinary bedside table. Enough to hold Ning Weidong’s money. After confirming, Ning Weidong was very happy and immediately stood up to go back to the house to get the things. But he suddenly paused, frowned, thought quickly, and couldn't help but come up with an idea. "Could it be that Qi Jiazui really only left these few things?" Ning Weidong frowned and recalled the process of discovering the dollars and cash in the cellar. At that time, because the board above fell down, the things inside fell all over the floor, and a dollar was scattered. Ning Weidong was busy picking up the things and did not check the situation inside carefully. Could it be that... there is another secret compartment hidden in that secret compartment? Ning Weidong's imagination was not the only thing he had imagined. Compared to what Qi Jiazui had bought back then, these dollars plus two hundred yuan were really too little. He insisted that this was the safe house set up by Qi Jiazui and that the money was just in case. It made sense, but it was a bit far-fetched. But if it is just a cover-up, it seems more reasonable. The more Ning Weidong thought about it, the more he felt it was possible, and he immediately decided that he must go and take another look. But as the old saying goes, a bird in the hand is worth a thousand in the bush. No matter how anxious you are, you have to deal with the things at hand first. You can't just throw those dollars under the bed and ignore them. Ning Weidong returned to the earthquake-proof shed and pulled out the foot basin from under the bed. He found a cloth bag and poured out the money inside. He tied the cloth bag into a knot, stuffed it into his arms, and pushed the door open again. He went to the cellar, lay on the ground, reached into the bag and stuffed it into the second secret compartment, closed the partition inside, and then closed the secret door outside. He stood up, patted his knees and trouser legs, and took a large cabbage out. He went back and forth twice and came out empty-handed. People saw him through the window and couldn't help but wonder what he was doing in the cellar. Ning Weidong took the cabbage to the upper room and put it on the eight-immortal table, but he didn't rush out. The man who was 'shut down and restarted' by him must have gone to inform Zhang Jinfa when he woke up. He saw Ning Weidong coming out of the cellar, and Zhang Jinfa must have gone there to check the cellar. Ning Weidong was in a hurry at that time and did not pick up all the dollars that fell on the ground. If Zhang Jinfa was not blind, he would not have turned a blind eye to it. Plus the open board on the top made a huge hole. Anyone could see that there was something there originally, but it was taken away. If I go there now, there is a high probability that I will run into Zhang Jinfa's men. Ning Weidong thought about it and decided not to be impatient and to wait until the evening.
There really is another secret compartment hidden in there, and there is nothing we can do even if Zhang Jinfa finds it. However, the probability of this happening should be small. Qi Jia finally made two layers of secret compartments. The first layer was only to hide from others, and the second layer would not be easily discovered. Besides, this time I have about 2,000 yuan in cash and currency, which is enough for the food. …… While Ning Weidong was thinking about this, Zhang Jinfa was already in an uproar. The young man who was forcibly "restarted" by Ning Weidong woke up, staggering and finally finding his way back. Zhang Jinfa was shocked when he saw his expression: "Xiao Wuzi, did you fight with someone?" Little Wuzi's name is Zhou Wu. He has been practicing martial arts with his father since he was a child. He is also a good wrestler and has a reputation in all the major wrestling arenas in Beijing. He is considered the number one fighter under Zhang Jinfa. When he fights with others, as long as he doesn't use a knife, he can knock down four or five people. He came back today with a face full of scratches, and it was obvious that he didn't get any advantage. Zhang Jinfa was still quite concerned about his "number one expert" and hurried over to check. Zhou Wu grinned and said with a wry smile: "Brother, damn, I've met a tough guy this time." (End of this chapter)
