Urban Martial Saint

Lin Dade didn’t know Ye Qing’s identity, but seeing how confident Ye Qing appeared, he could guess that Ye Qing was no ordinary person. Thus, his attitude towards Ye Qing became even better, constantly asking if Ye Qing wanted to visit the scenic area.

Ye Qing wasn’t in the habit of sightseeing and asked Lin Dade to take him back directly, as Liu Changping’s matter was more crucial to Ye Qing at the moment.

Lin Dade didn’t insist and while driving Ye Qing back on his tricycle, he also pointed out some scenic spots along the way. However, Ye Qing’s mind wasn’t on this, so he didn’t pay much attention.

As they were nearing Ye Qing’s residence, Lin Dade suddenly stopped the vehicle and looked at Ye Qing awkwardly, saying, ”Young Brother Ye, this... I... I have something to tell you...”

”Go ahead.” Ye Qing glanced at Lin Dade, wondering why he had become so hesitant.

”Do... do you know anyone who wants to adopt a child?” Lin Dade glanced at Ye Qing and said, ”Don’t get me wrong, I’m asking for the woman next door. She really can’t afford to raise her child and wants to find a good family to entrust the child to. Young Brother Ye, I see you as a good person, so I thought, could you help ask around? Saving a life is better than building a seven-tier pagoda; I really can’t stand to see the child suffer. Of course, if it’s too much trouble, then forget it; I’m just... just casually asking...”

A vision of the skinny Ding Ding flashed through Ye Qing’s mind, and he felt a pang in his heart. How desperate must a mother be to consider giving her child away? Lin Dade was truly compassionate, still worrying about such matters!

”I can help look into it, but after all, the child has a mother.” Ye Qing said, ”This matter should be discussed slowly. If she really can’t raise the child, then I can help take care of it, but it mainly depends on her wishes.”

Ye Qing ran a large orphanage, so taking in one more child wasn’t a big deal for him.

”Really?” Lin Dade was overjoyed and said repeatedly, ”Young Brother Ye, you truly have a heart of gold; we’ve really met a good person. Young Brother Ye, I’ll be straightforward with you, I see that woman’s situation getting worse and worse. Her in-laws keep pushing her to divorce, and her own family ignores her. Now she gets by meal to meal from whatever people can spare. Her injuries won’t heal, and it’s uncertain how much longer she can hold on. Giving her child away might actually be a good thing for the child. Ah, tell me, what kind of mother would give up her beloved child unless she had no other choice?”

Lin Dade sighed and lamented all the way as he drove Ye Qing back to his residence. Old Wang Ba had returned earlier and was in the yard, earnestly reading palms for a young man. That old rascal just couldn’t stay idle and tried to swindle people wherever he went.

Ye Qing gave Lin Dade some money, asking him to buy more vegetables for the evening. However, Lin Dade refused to accept anything, saying that Ye Qing had already given him over one hundred at the traffic police station, totaling over six hundred for the day, despite having done hardly any work. He felt guilty about it. Tonight, he insisted on treating, not letting Ye Qing spend any money.

Ye Qing didn’t insist, as Lin Dade was indeed an honest and straightforward man, which was clear to see.

After a while in the room, Old Wang Ba came back mysteriously. In his hand, he was holding a broken bowl, which together with his look, transformed him from a Traitor Dealer into a beggarly one.

”Why did you bring out your dinnerware?” Ye Qing looked at Old Wang Ba in surprise.

”Shush, shush, shush!” Old Wang Ba made a series of silencing gestures toward Ye Qing, walked up mysteriously, placed the broken bowl on the table, and said, ”Do you know what this is?”

Ye Qingqi asked, ”Your grandfather’s dining bowl?”

”Screw you!” Old Wang Ba flipped Ye Qing the bird, caressing the bowl, and said, ”This is blue and white porcelain, look at this bowl, look at these patterns, look at this craftsmanship, it’s definitely a treasure from the Ming Dynasty Blue and White Porcelain.”

Ye Qingqi asked, ”Where did you get this from?”

”Today, while I was out gathering information, I passed by a household using this bowl to serve food to their dog. Those people really don’t know what they’ve got, a crime against heaven, and I discovered it.” Old Wang Ba raised two fingers and said, ”Two hundred yuan, and I took it!”

”What?” Ye Qing exclaimed, ”Spent two hundred on a dog bowl? Are you crazy?”

”I was planning to swindle them at first, but they raised the price when they saw I wanted to buy it. I had no choice; I ended up spending two hundred!” Old Wang Ba held the broken bowl excitedly and said, ”But, taken to the black market, this piece could sell for three to five hundred thousand. Boy, I hit the jackpot!”

”Really?” Ye Qing took the broken bowl and examined it carefully, then remarked, ”Why does the bottom of this blue and white porcelain bowl have a Samoyed patterned on it?”

”Ah? What the heck is that?” Old Wang Ba scrambled over, grabbed the bowl, and took a look, his face instantly turning ashen and his hair standing on end. At the bottom of the bowl, indeed, there was a figure of a Samoyed, though it was not very clear. It had been obscured by mud before; once Ye Qing got ahold of it and wiped away the mud, the figure revealed itself!

Old Wang Ba held the bowl, stupefied for a long while, then suddenly he threw back his head and howled to the sky, ”Damn it, years of catching eagles, and now the eagle has pecked out my eyes!”

Seeing Old Wang Ba’s breakdown, Ye Qing couldn’t help but wonder, ”You, being so shrewd, got conned too?”

”Oh, don’t even mention it!” Old Wang Ba lamented, ”When I first saw this thing and the seller was reluctant to sell, I got a bit anxious, fearing they’d realize it’s worth a lot. So, after buying it, I just grabbed it and ran. Who could have guessed it was a fake?”

Old Wang Ba, looking at the Samoyed at the bottom of the bowl, grumbled. ”This damn dog bowl, now they make them like blue and white porcelain, are they sick or what? It’s a deliberate scam!”

”This is you trying to scam someone else, and it backfired on you. They never said they wanted to sell it to you,” Ye Qing said. ”Next time, don’t think about deceiving others. Aren’t you a fortune teller? Aren’t you afraid that doing too many bad deeds will bring heavenly retribution?”

”How can this be considered a bad deed? It’s like Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai; one wishes to hit and the other is willing to be hit. They gave me money, I provided them with emotional comfort—fair trade!” Old Wang Ba shrugged and said. ”Besides, how do you know I was deceiving them? My fortune-telling is pretty accurate!”

”So accurate in fortune-telling, yet you didn’t foresee that today you’d lose money?” Ye Qing picked up that broken bowl and said, ”Samoyed huh, quite trendy. You still want this dog bowl? If not, I might take it back, Blackie could use it!”

”Go , go, go…” Old Wang Ba waved his hands dismissively, feeling annoyed every time he saw the broken bowl.

Ye Qing didn’t provoke Old Wang Ba further, setting the broken bowl aside and asked, ”Now, on to serious business, have you found out anything?”

”Nonsense, when Eighth Master steps into action, how could he come back empty-handed?” Old Wang Ba said proudly. ”I’ve checked. Here in Xishan City, there are seven deputy directors of the city police. Only one of them is surnamed Lu, named Lu Jiangong, and he’s the executive deputy director with significant power.”

Ye Qing nodded, ”Looks like it’s him then!”

Old Wang Ba continued, ”I also asked around through some contacts, and over twenty years ago, he really did carry out a mission in a village. That mission was concerning the people from Guan Erhe Village!”

”You still have contacts here?” Ye Qing asked in surprise.

Old Wang Ba boasted boastfully, ”Heck, do you think I’ve been just fooling around these years? I’ve traveled far and wide, I have contacts everywhere!”

Watching Old Wang Ba’s sleazy demeanor, Ye Qing didn’t feel like mocking him, and instead said, ”So, it’s definitely him then. We need to figure out a way to approach him, clarify what happened back then, and find out where that child actually went. Maybe the kid is still alive!”

”That he’s still alive is almost certain, but now there’s a key issue…” Old Wang Ba looked at Ye Qing and said, ”This Lu Jiangong is the executive deputy director of the city police, effectively the second-in-command, wielding immense power. Moreover, the police chief has been undermined by several other leaders in the city, and most of the department’s power is controlled by the deputy directors, with him leading them. Essentially, he’s practically the top figure in the Xishan City Police Department. It’s not going to be easy to get close to him, and it will be even harder to get him to talk about what he did back then!”

Ye Qing frowned, this was indeed a troubling issue. Given Lu Jiangong’s distinguished status, Ye Qing couldn’t deal with him the way he did with businessmen or underworld figures. Otherwise, kidnapping a deputy director of the city police would be a crime that could make Ye Qing wanted throughout all of Huaxia. How to get Lu Jiangong to confess was truly troubling.

”Actually, if we could get him to tell us the whereabouts of that child and find the child, no matter what we do here, it wouldn’t matter—it will all be sorted out by others!” Old Wang Ba said, looking at Ye Qing. ”But the key issue is that we must find that child, then Liu Changping will step in to help us.”

Ye Qing said, ”That means we have to make sure we can find that child from back then so we can take a huge risk?”

”Exactly!” Old Wang Ba nodded and looked at Ye Qing, asking, ”Any thoughts?”

Ye Qing frowned, silent for a moment, then shook his head, ”This can’t be rushed, let’s observe a bit more. Take me to recognize someone tonight. If it really can’t be helped, we’ll have to kidnap him and force him to reveal where that child is!”

”Are we playing that big?” Old Wang Ba glanced at Ye Qing, was silent for a while, then gritted his teeth and said, ”Alright, it’s settled then. Bastard, I’m all in this time, if worse comes to worst, I’ll just flee the country!”