The empty room was a place for counterfeiting, not even a factory, just a workshop. A master craftsman from Myanmar, along with a few apprentices, worked there. They weren't locals, their Chinese limited to a few polite phrases.
The Myanmar master craftsman's skills were truly unparalleled; he crafted fake skins that looked like works of art.
The creation of fake skins was not a novelty; people in China had done it before. The methods were similar: grinding weathered jade rough stones, mixing them with quartz sand, and binding them with a gel. The resulting fake-skinned rough stones could fool even experts. However, to a connoisseur, they were still identifiable. The fake skin was too soft and had a sticky texture.
To mask this flaw of softness, the Myanmar master craftsman added an extra step. He made the fake skin thicker, then buried it in ground with a specific pH balance. After a period of corrosion, the fake-skinned rough stones became extremely similar to the surface of weathered jade rough stones, making them indistinguishable from the real thing.
...
Captain Li Dazhi spoke a few words to the master craftsman in Burmese. The master craftsman's attitude towards me immediately changed, and he wore a broad smile. He unearthed a rough stone from the ground as if digging potatoes and presented it for my inspection.
The surface of the fake-skinned rough stone still had a sour smell. When it left the workshop, the master craftsman would wash it clean, dry it, and sometimes even forge python markings.
I was amazed by the master craftsman's counterfeiting skills, giving him several thumbs-up. The master craftsman beamed with pleasure. Afterward, Li Dazhi took me to a small room nearby for flower tea. Two enamel mugs were brought, one for each of us.
"Why was that master craftsman so polite to me?"
"Of course, I told him you were the boss."
I frowned, not taking Li Dazhi's words as a joke. I felt the Myanmar master craftsman didn't know who he was working for.
"I wouldn't have thought it, Kongwu actually trusts you so much, entrusting you with such a huge secret."
Li Dazhi laughed heartily, "There's no need to discuss that. Tang Nan, you've seen enough. Do you think there are any police here?"
I felt Li Dazhi was deliberately testing me. These people clearly looked like pure Burmese, how could there be police among them? Judging by their attire, they were just workers and probably didn't earn much. It was likely that the Myanmar master craftsman would never imagine that the deceptive technique he relied on for a living, and even disdained himself, had long been placed on another stage and sold at a high price.
I looked at Li Dazhi, who was fiddling with his thumb ring, and sneered, "Don't mess with me. If the police could find this place, they would have raided it long ago."
"Then where do you think the police are? We can't access the stones elsewhere. We still have no clue how the fake-skinned rough stone you bought got out."
"Haven't you considered that the problem might have occurred during transportation?"
"That's even more impossible."
Li Dazhi flatly denied it. I frowned, looking at him. His expression was very confident, implying that this part of the process was definitely rigorous.
"Flies don't land on eggs that aren't cracked. How could it be impossible?"
"I drove those fake-skinned rough stones over the day before the Kongwu auction."
"Think again about anything that was different from usual."
As I prompted him, I observed Li Dazhi. He started fiddling with the thumb ring on his remaining hand. Perhaps he didn't even notice this small habit. After a long period of thought, he looked at me with a forced smile, "Alright, Tang Nan, you've got some skills. You come here and try to stir up trouble. Are you implying that the fake-skinned rough stone you bought was leaked by me, and that I'm a dog for the police within Kongwu?"
"I never said that."
"You can go. I will explain everything to Qin Sisi."
Was he scared? Not necessarily. Li Dazhi, though not as enigmatic as Old Ghost, was formidable in his own way, possessing a protective layer that made him unfathomable. Was he telling me to leave so he could explain to Qin Sisi, or report to her? Qin Sisi brought me here, and simply because we verbally agreed on a partnership, she had Li Dazhi take me to such an important place. I felt it was a trap. Now, I'd take the opportunity. Since Li Dazhi wanted me to leave, I would indeed leave.
...
Around dinnertime, Qin Sisi asked to meet me at a small restaurant. She wore flat shoes, jeans, and a loose-fitting t-shirt, with a small imitation gold chain bag slung across her. This was a stark contrast to her usual composed demeanor, especially with her lively ponytail, which revealed her true age.
Tonight, Qin Sisi invited me to eat Burmese spicy and sour noodles, a local specialty of Ruili. I felt Qin Sisi's invitation to eat this had a deeper meaning. Not long ago, Old Ghost had made a rare appearance, and at that time, Old Ghost was eating Burmese spicy and sour noodles.
Just as I was about to sit down, my eyes naturally swept over a plump figure in the corner. What was going on? Old Ghost was here too. He had his back to me, eating with gusto. My expression almost cracked.
"What's wrong?"
"I didn't expect Sister to be so young."
"I'm not old to begin with; wearing a cheongsam makes me look older."
Old Ghost had mentioned that Qin Sisi was only around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Dressed like this, she looked like a twenty-four or twenty-five-year-old university student.
I didn't reply to her. Honestly, I was a bit preoccupied. Right now, all I wanted was to walk up to Old Ghost, bang on his table, and ask him what he was doing here. But I couldn't. I could only observe him from the corner of my eye. When Qin Sisi looked at me, I would slowly shift my gaze, making it seem like I was surveying the entire place.
"Don't worry, I just picked a random restaurant. I haven't seen anyone familiar during this unplanned encounter." After saying this, perhaps to lighten the mood, Qin Sisi deliberately leaned closer to me and whispered, "That fat guy behind us eats like a pig, hehe."
As she moved closer, a faint scent of perfume wafted from her. I should have blushed, but in reality, I felt extremely awkward, my face stiff, pretending to be cool. This made Qin Sisi a bit helpless. She smiled, "This isn't an official occasion, why be so serious? We're partners, and we'll be spending more time together. Are we going to talk with a straight face every day?"
"Why did you ask me to come, what do you want to ask?"
"You're cold like a robot. Since you asked, I'll get straight to it. You've seen Kongwu's main base. Do you think Li Dazhi is the mole?"
"No."
"Why?"
"The logic is simple. The police wouldn't kill people for no reason."
"Li Dazhi handled the body himself, so the murder might be fake. Chen Ashun was a very controllable person. I never thought that killing Chen Ashun was for any particular reason. If you suspect him, his motive for murder becomes plausible. A fake murder to cover up his true identity."
"No, Li Dazhi had his reasons for killing."
"Perhaps that stone wasn't lost through regular procedures."
Hearing my misleading statement, Qin Sisi frowned and pondered, "Could it be during the time Kongwu was raided by the police? But is that possible? The police didn't have such strong professional knowledge. They did confiscate some rough stones, but mixed with real and fake, they couldn't tell without cutting them."
"In fact, they did."
I continued to weave a false narrative. With this possibility, Qin Sisi should have no grounds to refute. As expected, Qin Sisi fell for it. She frowned and said, "Since you don't suspect Li Dazhi, I'll give you a list of everyone who had access to the information. Can you help me investigate?"
"You can do this yourself, why do you need me to do it?"
"They didn't not arrest me last time because they thought the mastermind behind it was most likely in direct contact with me. So, they decided to cast a long line to catch a big fish."
"Knowing this, you still haven't run?"
"My goal is one hundred million, and one more game is enough. Before that, you must help me find out who the police are! Then, I'll arrange a mastermind for the police, and they can solve the case."
I smiled and gave her a thumbs-up, "Golden Cicada Sheds its Shell!"
Qin Sisi smiled subtly and asked, "Brother, aren't you hungry?"
I glanced at Old Ghost, who was still eating noodles with gusto, and suddenly felt very hungry, "I am actually a little hungry."
"I'll have whatever you have. Boss, another order of spicy and sour noodles."
I looked at Qin Sisi's bowl and frowned, "Don't make it the same. Use less chili."