The new house wasn’t tidied up yet, everything was still in disarray. When Hongdou and the others arrived, Mrs. Yu was directing the family’s old servants at the bottom of the stairs on where to place items upstairs. She turned around, and lo and behold, Hongdou and He Yunqin had arrived—delighted, she quickly told the kitchen to add a few more dishes.
In this era, affected by the turbulent times, ordinary people’s smiles carried a trace of bitterness even on days of great joy. Yet during these days of moving house, even knowing war could break out at any moment, Mrs. Yu and Yu Chongyi had no intention of living carelessly through it—while tidying the new residence, they kept everything orderly and strove for thoroughness in every detail. Wang Bide and the others were affected by this calm, steady atmosphere in the Yu family, and their own hearts settled somewhat as well.
With nothing pressing to do, and dinner not yet ready, Hongdou took Gu Yun around to look at the various rooms. Before long, Gu Yun was called downstairs by Detective Wang to take notes. Mrs. Yu found a moment to quietly pull Hongdou aside, saying, “Your brother read in the newspaper yesterday that your father-in-law is organizing the Shanghai Factory Relocation Committee—the He family might move to Chongqing at any time. When Yunqin came this morning, I confirmed this with him, and he said it’s indeed true. He even brought out a sum of money he’d prepared in advance, insisting on giving it to help cover the cost of the Yu family’s house purchase. He said that with war about to break out in Shanghai now, no one knows how long the foreign concessions can hold out. To spare both families from worry, he strongly urged that we move to the interior together with the He family. He also said that since the house has already been bought, it’s fine to just leave it be for now—once things settle down, we can return to Shanghai, and either way it’s still an asset. I naturally wouldn’t accept it—the cost of the house is nothing to the He family, but it wouldn’t hurt the Yu family’s foundations either. Besides, this was our family’s own property purchase to begin with—why should our son-in-law need to help subsidize it?”
Hongdou, hearing that her mother clearly didn’t object to moving to Chongqing together, felt one great worry lift from her heart, and said, “He Yunqin already suspected something was wrong with the house in Tongfu Lane. Now that the new house was just bought and war is about to break out, he’s worried you and Elder Brother might suffer losses, which is why he offered the money to help. Judging by what’s happened these past few times, his suspicions haven’t been wrong at all—that house really does have a bad person in it.”
“A bad person?” Mrs. Yu was startled.
Hongdou said, “The one who attacked Auntie is very likely Miss Qiu on the third floor.”
“Miss Qiu?” Mrs. Yu’s mouth fell open in shock. “Why would you suddenly suspect her?”
“It’s not something I can explain quickly.” Hongdou waved a hand. “Mother, in your usual dealings with Miss Qiu, did you ever notice what size shoes she wears?”
Mrs. Yu thought hard for a long while, then shook her head helplessly. “I really never paid attention. She usually goes out at night and isn’t often seen around the building during the day. Even though we’re neighbors, I’ve actually spoken with her fewer times than with my mahjong friends. Besides, ever since I found out she’s a dancing girl at Bailemen, I’ve been even less willing to associate with her—we’ve barely exchanged a few words, so how would I know what size shoes she wears?”
That made sense too. Her mother, disliking Miss Qiu’s profession, had more than once suggested moving out as soon as possible. It was only because Miss Qiu never brought people up to the floor and conducted herself with some sense of propriety that her mother had reluctantly tolerated her.
“We’ve had so little contact—even after being neighbors this long, I really can’t tell if she’s good or bad. Everything seemed fine—why would she want to harm your aunt?”
Hongdou only said, “I’m not saying it’s definitely her, but she’s highly suspicious. You and Auntie usually talk on that floor without any restraint—Miss Qiu lives upstairs, and it wouldn’t be strange if she overheard a few things. If that’s how she learned Auntie has a chronic ailment, it wouldn’t be odd at all. And if we can further confirm she wears a size-39 shoe, her suspicion becomes even greater. Mother, Detective Wang and He Yunqin are investigating this matter, so you don’t need to worry about it. But let me ask you—have you made up your mind yet? Will you come to Chongqing with us? If you’ve decided, we need to start packing right away.”
Mrs. Yu wore a hesitant expression. “I’ve been thinking about this all day. I’ve discussed it with your brother several times, but still haven’t been able to make up my mind.”
Just then a servant announced dinner was ready. Hongdou said, “Mother, the logic is right in front of you—if I’m in Chongqing while you and Brother are in Shanghai, once Shanghai falls, we won’t just be unable to see each other, we might not even be able to send letters. There’s still something waiting for me at the He residence, so I have to hurry back after dinner. Think it over carefully tonight, and if you’ve made up your mind, I’ll come again tomorrow.”
He Yunqin was anxious to deal with other matters, and urged Hongdou to leave right after dinner. After Gu Yun got into the car headed back to the Gu residence, the two of them drove back to the He residence together.
On the way, Hongdou asked He Yunqin, “From what you and Detective Wang were saying earlier, are you going to Bailemen to find Miss Qiu?”
He Yunqin nodded. “I’ve been thinking—at the time there was a man and a woman in that car. If the woman in the car was Miss Qiu, who would the man be? Mrs. Pan has seen Bai Haili several times before—if she can recall Miss Qiu’s voice, she shouldn’t have absolutely no impression of Bai Haili’s voice. Yet she hasn’t mentioned Bai Haili even once until now. Judging from this, the identity of the man in the car is questionable. Of course, based on Auntie’s recollection, we might as well rule out Bai Haili for now.”
Hongdou furrowed her brow—that would be very strange indeed. While that man was so brazenly talking with Miss Qiu inside a police department car, where had Bai Haili and his men gone? Bai Haili had run rampant for years—unless he’d encountered someone important enough to fear, he’d never willingly give up a police department car for someone else’s use.
She suddenly remembered a photo of Wu Ruhai from Nanjing she’d seen in the newspaper some time ago—this man wore Western suits, and now that she thought about it, it matched Auntie’s description fairly well. Recalling the recent rumors that Bai Haili had been actively currying favor with Wu Ruhai, her heart gave a sudden jolt, and she arrived at a conclusion: “Could the man in the car have been Wu Ruhai?”
“Wu Ruhai suffered two assassination attempts after coming to Shanghai, and luckily escaped both times. The organizations in Shanghai all believed he’d secretly returned to Nanjing—who would have thought he was still hiding here in Shanghai. If it really was Wu Ruhai in that car, then all sorts of previously puzzling things would make sense. Bai Haili is his lackey—he’d have both the duty to protect his safety and the duty to help him contact informants on his behalf. As for Miss Qiu, her identity is rather more complicated.”
Hongdou was startled. He Yunqin quickly explained, “Her real name is Liu Yazhen. She has a secret identity as an information broker.”
“An information broker?”
“Yes. She’s skilled at gathering information and selling it at a high price. At first I only knew she was a dancing girl at Bailemen—I specifically went to ask her about a friend of ours who went missing a few months ago, and it was only in the past month that I learned this is what she does professionally.”
Hongdou froze—no wonder He Yunqin had gone to the third floor to find Miss Qiu that time.
He Yunqin continued, “Aside from these two identities, no one really knows Miss Qiu’s true stance. But judging from past patterns, Miss Qiu is after profit and has never gotten involved in dealings that cost lives. My guess is that whatever connection she has with the police department, even with Wu Ruhai, is purely for the purpose of trading information—perhaps she’s involved in the search for the gold, or perhaps she’s providing other leads to Wu Ruhai. When she was negotiating a deal with Wu Ruhai, she may have unexpectedly run into Auntie—since Auntie counted as a half-acquaintance to her, she may have feared Auntie would leak the information, and that’s what triggered the murderous intent. This is only a guess—we still have far too few clues at the moment.”
Hongdou looked at He Yunqin. His tone when he said this wasn’t at all certain—clearly, he himself didn’t fully believe this theory either.
Seeing worry on Hongdou’s face, He Yunqin smoothed the top of her hair. “If even Wu Ruhai is involved in this, we don’t have much time left. First, we need to find a way to get Miss Qiu to talk. Second, we need to find the whereabouts of the gold as quickly as possible. I have a lot to deal with tonight and can’t stay home with you. Mother has already invited Director Cheng over—if there’s anything bothering you, don’t hesitate to tell him.”
The car arrived at the He residence. The two got out. Hongdou, knowing the matter of the gold was of the utmost importance, didn’t want to trouble his mind further, so she forced a light tone: “I already felt much better this morning. Right now I can eat and sleep just fine—when Director Cheng asks what’s wrong with me, I’ll really have to think hard about what to say.”
He Yunqin said in a deliberately low voice, “Just tell him the truth—”
Just then Steward Yu came over and said, “Second Young Master, quite a few guests have arrived at home. Director Cheng is here too.”
He Yunqin was taken aback. He’d originally only planned to walk Hongdou to the door and leave, but hearing this, he changed his mind and said to Hongdou, “Let’s go in.”