From the crowded Baoyang Street, turning and turning, at the end of the alley, which was one level higher than the last, the gray-faced thief pressed his back against the wall, moving to the side little by little.

The alley was not wide, and a tall figure stood in front of him, with only narrow gaps on both sides.

The long strip of cloth was untied little by little from the blade of the Yanling knife in his hand, and the sunlight flashed on the exposed blade, shaking the thief to raise his hand to cover his eyes.

Sincere!

The sound in his ears frightened him to let go of his hand, and when he turned his head, he saw that the cold and glistening Yanling knife was deeply inserted into the wall on one side, and a few strands of messy hair on his sideburns fell from the other side of the blade.

If he takes a step further that way, the knife will cut off his ear.

The thief was frightened for a while, his legs trembled, and a burst of warmth spread from between the two strands.

"Say, what did you steal from Grandpa?"

Although Ge Lan asked, one knee was already on the thief's abdomen. I only heard him vomit violently, but he had to clean his throat immediately, and stammered back: "...... The little one is serious, ahem...... If you don't believe me, look at my pocket......"

As he spoke, he turned out the inside of his short coat and hollowed it out.

"Take your hands off!" said Ge Lan with a vicious snort.

The thief's face was full of pity, and he slowly raised his hands. At the base of the wall, where no one was looking, one of his feet was moving quietly to the side without the knife, and his upper body was motionless.

Ah——!h

A scream. Ge Lan's foot stepped on his foot and crushed him twice.

"Don't move. ”

Glenn said menacingly, one hand pressed the thief's hands folded against the wall, and the other reached into his clothes, groping left and right.

"Good...... It's itchy, ha...... Haha......" Ge Lan's hand touched from his waist to his arms, and then from his arms to his sleeves, and the thief laughed as he scratched the back of his furry hand.

Pregnant!

At the place where the sleeve tube was connected to the front piece, Ge Lan felt a small piece of hard object.

At this time, the thief stopped laughing, and the hands that were pressed against the wall by Ge Lan struggled, and he was hit on the knee in the abdomen.

"I said, don't move!"

"It's not...... That's not your thing. The thief held back the pain and said tremblingly.

"Oh?"

Ge Lan stretched out two fingers, reached into the small pocket, pulled out a few grains of silver, and put them into his arms.

Seeing that the money he had stolen was taken by the tall man in front of him, and his heart was dripping with blood, the thief hurriedly begged for mercy: "Master, master, just treat it as a small one to honor you, you let the little one go." ”

"It's easy to say, it's easy to say," said Ge Lan with a chilling smile.

“...... If you add this. ”

As he spoke, he ripped off the jade pendant around the thief's neck, smiled evilly, and pinched the rope and shook it around his head.

Now the thief struggled even harder, kicking frantically against the wall with both feet, trying to get out of Glan's hands.

The spinning jade pendant suddenly stopped, and was grasped by Ge Lanyi in his hand and carried into his arms.

Then he let go of the hand holding the thief, and pulled out the light fish knife that had been inserted deep into the wall by the way, and put the flat end at his side.

Since Long Qiao's arrest, this is the first time that Ge Lan has shown his strength so heartily. He took two steps back and took a stance, waiting for the escaped thief to attack.

Unexpectedly, the thief did not attack, but fell to his knees in front of Ge Lan with a thud, his face without hostility or cunning, only twitching eyelids and the corners of his mouth, and a pitiful look about to squeeze out water.

Thinking back to the empty scarf that fell, and remembering that the thief turned around and looked at him and showed his feet, at that moment Ge Lan's mind was only angry. But during the chase, he gradually figured out that the thief he was chasing did not have the lost two hundred and two taels in his hand, and the money had already been stolen by other pickpockets, and it was useless to catch this one......

But he soon thought that if he and Qi Zhilai could no longer find the two hundred and twenty taels of silver, let alone take a boat back to Taiwei, even today's food and accommodation would be a problem. His mind didn't stop spinning as he ran—it was better to use the ill-gotten assets of the bad luck thief in front of him to think of a new way. That's what he had in mind.

But this jade pixiu seems to be very important to him. Looking at the thief who was kneeling on the ground with a crying face, Ge Lan was moved with compassion again.

"Master, please, this jade pixiu is the only relic of the ancestors, and it is not worth a few dollars...... If you are short of money, the small one will be stolen from you. ”

Ge Lan was already soft-hearted, but when he heard him say "steal again", he burst into flames again.

"It's really a dog that can't change eating. He reprimanded sharply, "If you want me to pay it back, you can, earlier today, on the way from the Shuntongli Dock to the Baijia Medical Center, the two hundred and two taels of snowflake silver in the empty square scarf you stole were snatched away first......

“...... If you are well-informed, help me inquire about any of the unscrupulous pickpockets in Changxinggang who have made a windfall. If I find it, I will not only return you to the jade pixiu, but also draw two taels of silver from there to reward you. ”

The thief who was kneeling on the ground nodded hurriedly, and in the space where Ge Lan couldn't see clearly, a pair of eyes were rolling around as if he had some crooked idea.

"No problem, no problem, at the latest tomorrow night, the little one will give you news, and I will go to the dock to wait after these two days. ”

......

In the tea stall, the mysterious man with the eastern face had already left, leaving his large bowl of tea that was motionless and resting opposite Qi Zhilai.

After a long time, Ge Lan saw Qi Zhilai sitting in a distance, trotted to the table with a smile, and slapped a few pieces of broken silver on the table.

"Little Er, two bowls of flower carvings, a plate of pig ears!"

He shouted and greeted, one hand held down by Qi Zhilai—

"Where's the money?"

"I'm chasing the thief. Ge Lan replied lightly, "He also promised to inquire about the whereabouts of the two hundred and two taels of silver for us." ”

When Qi Zhilai heard this, he turned around and shouted at the guy: "I don't want Huadiao wine! ”

The guy who ran diligently was stunned when he heard this, and his steps suddenly slowed down.

Qi Zhilai took out two grains of broken silver from the table, and put the remaining hand into his sleeve.

"Qi Zuo makes you ......," Ge Lan wanted to say and stopped.

Qi Zhilai rolled up his sleeves and said: "Now is the time to be short of money, I will do such a black thing, and I am not an old master who persuades people to be kind, but what is the matter with your sloppy handwriting?"

Ge Lan said confidently: "I said that the thief will help us find the two hundred and two taels, relying on this handful of broken silver, it doesn't hurt to be generous today and tomorrow." ”

Qi Zhilai shook his head, "Don't talk about this, just now an elder with an eastern face came to me, and he said that Cai Zhao is fine, and that group of pirates will not come to provoke us again......"

"Is there such a good thing?" said Glenn incredulously.

"Just talk about some conditions......"

"Pig ears!"

As he spoke, the shopkeeper shouted, serving a plate of braised pig ears dipped in red oil.

"The man also hinted," Qi Zhilai leaned into Ge Lan's ear and whispered, "stealing the ...... from the sale of the ship."

“...... It's acquaintances. ”

"What do you think?" she asked, sitting back.

Ge Lan thought for a moment, frowned, and said, "Could it be the person from the dock?"

"Two bowls of clear soup noodles!"

......

The Shuntongli Dock in Changxing Port is built on an artificial canal connecting the river, and the entrance and exit on the water are the locks at both ends, and the entrance and exit on the shore are the red lacquered gates on both sides.

At dusk, when there was no one around, a sneaky figure deviated from the avenue, took three or two steps to the side door of the dock, and knocked lightly three times.

The door slowly opened a slit, revealing the dockyard owner's fat chin that grew into his neck. The sneaky figure spoke to him for a few words, and then slipped through the crack in the door, where the dockyard master gently closed it.

On the stall not far from the dock, Ge Lan picked up a piece of green jade with a red rope, and the hole in the center was facing the direction of the side door of the dock.

Isn't this the thief who didn't steal that thing in the afternoon and was robbed by him?

Ge Lan put down the jade bi and got up to go, when one hand was grabbed by Qi Zhilai.

"Do you know the guy who just came in?" she asked.

Ge Lan looked back and smiled, "It's not that coincidental, I just came to this dock to try my luck, and I really met an acquaintance......"

He took out the jade pixiu from his arms and hung it on his fingertips, "Just entered, it was the thief I just chased, it seems that your mysterious man is right, this profiteer wants to empty gloves white wolf!"

"But didn't he succeed? What's the use of you trying to pierce it? Qi Zhilai still felt that Ge Lan was too impulsive, and he still didn't let go of his hand.

Ge Lan shook the jade pixiu and said confidently: "This is a matter of ruining his family's reputation, I have this evidence, and I am not afraid that the thief will not admit it." ”

Qi Zhilai still stared at him uneasily, there was a subtle difference between unease and distrust, Ge Lan felt a trace of warmth inexplicably, and smiled inexplicably.

"You've only been treated for your leg injury, and the money is with you, so wait for me to come back." ”

"No, I'm with you. ”

......

The red-painted gate on the side of the Shun Tongli dock was banged by the two of them. It was now time to close the door, and the dock master approached the door with some wariness, pushing it aside a little to wait and see.

Syllable!

Sensing that the latch of the door had been opened, Ge Lan slammed the door on his feet, and the dock owner's nose and forehead were red marks, and he was knocked out three steps away and fell to the ground.

"What a traitor," Ge Lan sneered and dragged out a long voice, "The front foot paid the money and collected the boat, and the back foot sent someone to steal the money back, boss, but, really, will, do, live, meaning!" said at the end of the gritted teeth and word by word.

Ge Lan blocked the crack in the door, condescendingly, the backlit figure seemed to be three feet high, and there were very threatening words from it, which frightened the dock owner's legs in a panic, and grinded back a few steps away.

"Come on...... Someone!"

He shouted in fright, the sound echoing through the docks, dark all around, but the commotion could be heard.

Ge Lan untied the knife, and the sunset that came through the crack in the door was reflected on it, and the blade seemed to have drunk blood.

The owner of the dockyard rolled over and tried to get up, but Ge Lan stepped on his back, like a fat mouse that had been stepped on, and the rest of his body writhed ugly.

"Don't move!"

Graham raised her knife and shook the daylight so everyone in the dock could see it, then slashed it diagonally down to the back of the dock owner.

"I know you didn't steal the money, but it's your fault to have this thought. The two of us can only rely on this ability to kill people when they are walking in a foreign country! If you want to test my knife with the life of your master, you can come up. ”

There was a small tugle in the darkness, and there was no big movement.

"Very good! The two of us are not unreasonable, ask your proprietress to come up with an abacus and calculate, he will dismantle my boat and sell it in the future, how much oil and water can your family get in total, take this price and make a subtraction with the two hundred and two taels given to me, and give me the remaining amount of money now." You just don't do this business, you don't lose or make money, how about it, it's fair, right?"

The dock owner, who was trampled on the ground, turned his head with difficulty when he heard this, and quibbled: "Your broken ship is not worth the price at all, two hundred and two taels are not worth it, I have no money to make here, you should leave quickly!"

"Really?" Graham crushed his feet on his back, squeezing his heart and lungs through his ribs, and the dockmaster could no longer speak, only a vague whimper in his throat.

"Fifty taels! fifty taels!" The voice of the proprietress with a crying voice came from the depths of the dock, "I'll take it right away, you guys are about to let go of the master." ”

The sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets in a panic, and after a while, a shriveled old blue cloth bag was thrown at the two of them.

Ge Lan didn't have empty hands, Qi Zhilai on the side reached out to catch the cloth bag, untied it, and saw that it was indeed a silver pair of white flowers.

"Okay! Then I wish your store a prosperous business, but don't do such a lack of virtue again!"

Ge Lan lifted his foot and withdrew his knife.

Before going out, he lifted the jade pendant-

"Little thief, I'll return this jade pixiu to you when I leave Hong Kong, and help me take care of this family!"

......

At night, next to the wharf of Changxing Port, an inconspicuous house, a member of the Coast Guard with a mustache took out a large handful of silver taels with white flowers from behind the broom at the base of the wall by means of the light, and counted them in fascination, until the last ingot, it was exactly two hundred and two taels.