Chapter 77: Something’s Wrong

“Why, are you worried?”
“No, no…”
Xu Fei waved his hand repeatedly.
Old Li pulled him into the house and guided Xu Fei to sit on the long bench, taking out the pack of Red River cigarettes Xu Fei had sold him.
Xu Fei smiled as he took one, quickly striking a match to light one for Old Li first.
Old Li took a couple of drags.
“By the way, Brother Li, why was the door left open?”
Old Li was taken aback by his question.
“What?”
He got up, walked to the window, and glanced outside.
“That’s strange, the door was supposed to be locked.”
Xu Fei, hearing this, felt his heart tighten once again.
He stood up and went outside.
Behind him, Old Li muttered nervously, “How could the door be open?”
But the corners of his mouth curled up in a sinister grin.
When Xu Fei reached the truck, he saw the rain tarp was still in place—it didn’t look like it had been disturbed. He climbed onto the truck, but the sight that met him made his heart leap.
The entire truckload of millet was now less than half full.
“The millet is gone!”
He looked at Old Li below the truck.
“What?!”
Old Li flicked his cigarette butt onto the ground and scrambled up onto the truck. Seeing the half-empty cargo bed, he shook his head repeatedly and said, “What happened here?”
Xu Fei jumped down from the truck.
Of the original twenty-five thousand pounds of millet, only a little over ten thousand remained. He glanced at Old Li and asked, “Are you sure you didn’t see anyone come in?”
Old Li shook his head. “After you left, I locked the door.”
Xu Fei turned and walked toward the gate. Only when he reached it did he realize there was no lock at all.
“What are we going to do?”
Old Li played his part to perfection, looking so remorseful he seemed ready to slap himself.
“Brother Li, forget it. This isn’t your fault. I was the one who chose to store the millet here.”
“But I promised Lao San I’d keep an eye on it for you.”
Xu Fei knew there was no point blaming Old Li, so he didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he said, “Brother Li, I’ll spend the night outside your gate. I hope I won’t disturb you?”
“Don’t say that. I already feel terrible about losing your millet. How about we call the police?”
Old Li said this because Li Dabiao had instructed him to, hoping to make Xu Fei abandon the idea.
Xu Fei had actually considered it, but now that Old Li suggested it, how could he go through with it? If he called the police, wouldn’t that be openly expressing suspicion toward Old Li?
“No, Brother Li, it’s just some millet. Consider it a lesson for me.”
Xu Fei pulled Old Li back into the guard room.
He asked Old Li to find another key and lock the gate, then sat down on the chair by the door.
“Why don’t you lie down for a while?”
Old Li asked, feigning embarrassment.
“No, Brother Li, you go rest. I won’t be able to sleep anyway, so I’ll keep watch here.”
“Sigh, it’s all my fault, you know…”
Old Li kept blaming himself as he lay down on the bed, pretending to close his eyes while peeking through a slit at Xu Fei, who sat by the window.
A cold smile flickered at the corner of his mouth.
…

The next day.
Lao San An arrived at the cinema very early.
He had arranged to meet Bao Pengfei from the Xinghai Grocery at seven-thirty. When he entered the guard room, he saw Xu Fei slumped over the windowsill.
“Fei, what are you doing here?”
Xu Fei rubbed his eyes when he saw Lao San An, and said, “The millet was stolen last night.”
“What!”
Lao San An instinctively glanced at Old Li, who had just sat up on the bed.
“Lao San, it’s all my fault.”
Normally, given Lao San An’s temper, he would have questioned Old Li, but seeing him take the initiative to admit fault, he found himself at a loss for words.
“What exactly happened?”
Xu Fei recounted the whole incident.
“How did the door get opened?”
Lao San An looked at Old Li.
“I—I don’t know. If Xu Fei hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have known either.”
Lao San An glared at Old Li, inwardly cursing him as useless.
But since they all worked in the same place, and he’d asked Old Li for a favor, he couldn’t really hold him responsible.
Still…
To Lao San An, this matter wasn’t as simple as Xu Fei thought.
“Brother San, let’s go to the grocery store first,” Xu Fei said, getting up and leaving the guard room.
Lao San An followed, first checking the truck.
“How did so much get stolen?”
As he started the truck, Lao San An glanced at Xu Fei, who had climbed in, and said, “I don’t think this is so simple.”
Xu Fei nodded as well.
“To move over ten thousand pounds of millet with a truck, Old Li would have known—unless…”
He looked at Lao San An. “Actually, I checked at dawn. There were no tire tracks in the yard, which is quite strange.”
“Hmph!” Lao San An glanced back at the guard room.
“That old fox, could he have been involved?”
Xu Fei remained silent.
Without evidence, he wouldn’t speak.
Speculation could only guide an investigation; to accuse someone without proof risked wronging them.
“All right, Brother San, let’s go. We’ll discuss this matter later.”
Lao San An nodded.
The truck slowly pulled out of the cinema.
In the rearview mirror, Lao San An glanced sidelong at Old Li, who stood at the gate watching them.
“That old scoundrel must be up to something.”
“Brother San, we can’t confront him directly.”
“I know.”
They soon arrived at the grocery store.
Bao Pengfei was already waiting.
But his expression was off.
When Xu Fei got out of the truck, Bao Pengfei didn’t get up. He just sat in his chair, holding a prepared receipt in his hand.

“Brother Bao, you’re early,” Xu Fei said with a smile, handing him two packs of Red River cigarettes he’d brought along.
Bao Pengfei actually pushed the cigarettes back.
“Xu Fei, this might be the last time I buy your millet.”
“Huh?”
Xu Fei was taken aback.
“Don’t misunderstand. It’s not up to me.”
“Director Shen?”
“No, it’s from higher up.”
“Higher up?”
Bao Pengfei handed the receipt to Xu Fei. “If you want the details, you’d better ask Director Shen.”
He went to the truck, directing Lao San An to drive it into the warehouse.
Xu Fei had no choice but to help unload the truck with Lao San An, then sent him off while he went to Director Shen’s office.

Knock, knock…
Shen Shuming was sitting at his desk, looking worried.
What troubled him was precisely how to explain everything to Xu Fei.
When he heard the knock, he looked up and, seeing Xu Fei, awkwardly stood up and opened the door for him personally.
This gesture took Xu Fei by surprise.
“What’s going on, Director Shen?” Xu Fei asked directly.
“Sit, sit. Would you like something to drink?”
“No, thank you.”
Xu Fei took out a cigarette.
“Director Shen, I—”
“Go ahead, smoke.”
Normally, Xu Fei wouldn’t smoke in this office; Director Shen disliked it, but today he broke his own rule.
Shen Shuming didn’t stop him.
After Xu Fei exhaled a puff of smoke,
Shen Shuming sat behind his desk, folding his hands in front of him. “You see, Xu Fei, I—”
“Director Shen, I already know.”
“Oh, you know? Ha, Bao Pengfei really can’t keep a secret.”
He shook his head, looked at Xu Fei, and said, “The leaders at the City Supply and Marketing Cooperative called me personally. I couldn’t refuse.”
Xu Fei nodded.
He hadn’t expected competition for his business to appear so soon.
“Do you know who it is?”
“Not yet, but I was told they’d deliver a batch of millet in the next couple of days. So, your twenty thousand pounds… may not…”
“There isn’t twenty thousand pounds.”
“Oh? Why not?”
Xu Fei explained what had happened the night before.
“Stolen? How could that happen? Did you call the police?”
Xu Fei shook his head. “It would be difficult to investigate, so I didn’t call.”