I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

Chapter 53 Pei Jingluan's Suspicion

As Lin Ye stepped onto the first step, the soft sound from the back had already faded away.

Like closing the cabinet door.

It's very light.

He didn't turn around.

Turning back would be too obvious.

Gu Wantang walked in front, her back very straight.

She was wearing a dark dress tonight, walking slowly on the old wooden stairs without holding onto the railing.

Bai Jingchuan walked to the side and slightly behind.

It was more like an escort than a guide.

Lin Ye followed behind Gu Wantang, his hands hanging naturally at his sides.

My phone is still in my pocket.

He didn't know whether the message had been sent or not.

It cannot be confirmed any further.

The second floor is quieter than the downstairs.

The corridor was narrow, the wooden floor was worn and faded from being walked on, and a few small paintings hung on both sides.

Landscapes, flowers and birds, and a painting of a lady with a torn edge.

The painting is not big.

Each painting has a small lamp shining next to it.

The light was warm, making the paper appear yellowish.

Lin Ye glanced at it and then looked away.

If you now look at the door, the window, and the path as if you had just entered, it's not because you're ignorant, it's because you have something on your mind.

Bai Jingchuan pushed open the door to the innermost private room.

"Miss Gu, please."

The private room was small.

A round table and four chairs.

A low cabinet stood by the window, with a stove on it and water boiling on the stove.

Pei Jingluan sat by the window.

The string of thin beads was wrapped around his fingers, and he fiddled with them one by one.

He did not get up when they came in.

"Miss Gu."

Gu Wantang went inside.

"Mr. Pei."

Lin Ye followed behind.

Bai Jingchuan was the last to enter. He stood by the door, his hand resting on it, but didn't close it immediately.

Pei Jingluan glanced at him.

Bai Jingchuan then closed the door.

As soon as the door closed, the sounds from downstairs became even more distant.

Lin Ye didn't sit down.

Since Gu Wantang hasn't sat down, he can't sit down first.

Pei Jingluan poured two cups of tea.

He pushed a glass towards Gu Wantang.

A cup was pushed in front of Lin Ye.

"sit."

Gu Wantang sat down.

Lin Ye sat down next to him.

But I didn't touch the tea.

Pei Jingluan saw it, but didn't urge them.

"Are you worried there might be something in the tea?"

Lin Ye said, "I'm not thirsty."

"Don't people on the night shift at the cemetery drink tea?"

"drink."

"Then why don't you drink mine?"

Lin Ye looked at the cup of tea.

The tea soup is clear, the rim of the cup is thin, and the aroma is faint.

He smiled.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep if I drink tea that's too expensive."

Pei Jingluan also smiled.

"The people Miss Gu brought certainly know how to talk."

Gu Wantang said calmly, "He's a chatterbox."

"Being talkative is good."

Pei Jingluan picked up her teacup and took a sip.

"A gossipy person can't keep a secret."

Lin Ye didn't answer.

Pei Jingluan put down her teacup and looked at him.

"How long has Mr. Lin worked at Qingshan Cemetery?"

"Not long after."

"Will it be long before Miss Gu takes you to the Mountain and Sea Banquet?"

"Miss Gu is kind-hearted."

Gu Wantang glanced at Lin Ye.

It was as if they thought his story was too fake.

Pei Jingluan's smile deepened.

"Is Miss Gu kind-hearted?"

Lin Ye nodded.

"They're quite kind to poor people like me."

Bai Jingchuan stood by the door, his lips twitching slightly.

Pei Jingluan fiddled with the beads.

"The poor know best how to value things."

Lin Ye lowered his eyes and didn't speak.

Pei Jingluan asked, "How much do you think that bronze zun downstairs is worth?"

Lin Ye cursed Pei Jingluan under his breath, calling her an old fox.

Saying it's worthless is tantamount to admitting that there's a problem.

If you say it's valuable, you'll be led astray by him.

He said, "I don't understand."

Pei Jingluan said, "You noticed just now that Bai Jingchuan wasn't looking at anything, but at Miss Gu."

"That depends on the person."

"Can't you judge a person's worth by their price?"

Pei Jingluan placed the beads on the table.

The sound was very soft.

"Some people's eyes lit up when they looked at the bronzes. Some people's eyes lit up when they looked at Miss Gu. And some people's eyes lit up when they looked at the door to the back of the room."

The room fell silent.

Gu Wantang picked up her teacup but didn't drink it.

Bai Jingchuan stood by the door, no longer smiling.

Lin Ye looked down at the table.

There was a thin water mark next to the teacup, which was splashed out when the tea was poured.

He stared at the watermark for a while before smiling.

"Then I must be the most useless."

Pei Jingluan looked at him.

"How so?"

"I only saw the desserts."

Bai Jingchuan's expression darkened slightly.

Pei Jingluan was not fooled by him.

"Even snacks have a price."

Lin Ye said, "Mung bean cakes aren't worth much."

"That depends on who has the item."

Pei Jingluan reached out and turned the teacup on the table halfway around.

"The mung bean cakes from the roadside stalls cost three yuan a pack. If you put them in the tea room of Guiyun Club, Miss Gu's people will think that something is hidden inside."

Lin Ye's fingertips tightened slightly.

Pei Jingluan knew they cared about that pastry.

They may not know that Lin Ye saw the hidden door.

But Bai Jingchuan brought up what had happened in the tea room.

Lin Ye did not refute.

Refuting too quickly is like admitting it.

He glanced down at the teacup.

"How much does this cup of tea cost, Mr. Pei?"

Pei Jingluan looked at him.

"You want to buy it?"

"I won't buy it."

Why?

"I can't afford it."

"What if someone buys it for you?"

Lin Ye raised his eyes.

Pei Jingluan's voice was not loud; in fact, it could be described as gentle.

But those words were even more unpleasant than Bai Jingchuan blocking the entrance to the tea room.

Gu Wantang put down her teacup.

"Mr. Pei, before asking the price, you should at least ask if they're selling."

Pei Jingluan looked at her.

"Miss Gu has misunderstood. I just want to know why everyone is sitting at the table."

Gu Wantang said, "He came with me, naturally for my sake."

"Does Miss Gu believe that?"

Gu Wantang did not answer immediately.

Lin Ye spoke first.

"Whether you believe it or not is not important."

Pei Jingluan turned back to look at him.

Lin Ye said, "The important thing is that I'm sitting next to Miss Gu now."

Bai Jingchuan's smile faded by the door.

Pei Jingluan was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled.

"This answer is better than those jokes."

Lin Ye lowered his head.

"Thanks."

Pei Jingluan said, "Do you know how many people are outside tonight?"

Lin Ye didn't say anything.

"Not just for Miss's people."

Pei Jingluan slowly said, "There are also reporters, onlookers, and people hoping to find a bargain. The secondhand market has never lacked these kinds of people over the years."

Gu Wantang said, "So Mr. Pei invited me upstairs because he was afraid I would disturb your plans downstairs?"

"Miss Gu is downstairs, and people downstairs are uneasy."

"Will people's hearts be at ease once I come up here?"

"At least Bai Jingchuan doesn't have to keep looking at you."

Gu Wantang smiled.

It's very shallow.

"Mr. Pei is quite frank."

Pei Jingluan also smiled.

"Few of the people sitting here tonight enjoy listening to nonsense."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Lin Ye again.

"Mr. Lin, what do you think I'm afraid of?"

Lin Ye did not answer immediately.

Pei Jingluan's question was too direct.

The more direct you are, the more it seems like you're setting a trap for him.

He looked down at the tea noodles.

The tea noodles are very stable.

He thought of the grave in the western section of Qingshan Cemetery that had no photograph.

The voice kept repeating:

The one in the display case is fake.

Don't take it away.

There's wind inside the wall.

There's another one underwater.

These words swirled in his mind, but he suppressed them.

Don't think too deeply about it.

When you think too much, it's easy for it to show on your face.

Pei Jingluan knew about Qingshan Cemetery, knew about Gu Wantang, and knew that his surname was Lin.

We knew they were targeting the backcourt.

She even knew to test him with "mung bean cake".

This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

The Mountain and Sea Banquet had been watching them for a long time.

Lin Ye raised his eyes.

"Mr. Pei isn't too worried about Hongyun Cold Chain."

Pei Jingluan did not move.

"I'm not too worried about Miss Gu bringing up the bill."

Lin Ye continued, "Just now, Miss Gu mentioned Hongyun Cold Chain, and Mr. Bai touched it. You didn't."

Bai Jingchuan's expression turned cold.

Lin Ye seemed not to have seen it.

"Miss Gu mentioned that Mr. Bai also touched the Gu family's accounts. You still haven't."

Pei Jingluan stopped fiddling with the beads.

Lin Ye said, "So what Mr. Pei is afraid of is probably not these things."

Gu Wantang glanced at him.

No one stopped them.

Pei Jingluan asked, "Then what am I afraid of?"

Lin Ye smiled.

"I have no idea."

The room fell silent.

Bai Jingchuan seemed to relax a little.

Pei Jingluan, however, continued to look at Lin Ye.

Lin Ye continued, "If I had known, I wouldn't be sitting here drinking tea now."

Pei Jingluan suddenly smiled.

This time it seems like they genuinely find it interesting.

But he only chuckled once.

"clever."

Lin Ye said, "It's not that I'm smart, it's that I'm cowardly."

"You coward, yet you dare to come?"

Lin Ye glanced at the cup of tea in front of Gu Wantang.

"There's nothing I can do, Miss Gu gave too much."

Gu Wantang frowned.

"Linye."

"I'm telling the truth."

Lin Ye leaned back in his chair a little.

The poorer a person is, the bolder they become.

That's half true and half false.

Pei Jingluan could tell.

But he didn't expose it.

He reached under the low cabinet and took out a brown paper bag.

The paper bag is not thick.

There is no glue used to seal it.

He placed the paper bag on the table without opening it immediately.

Lin Ye's phone vibrated in his pocket.

Another one.

He didn't look at it.

My palms slowly started to sweat.

Tao Shuang may have received a message from "the back alley".

It's also possible that Ningzhi posted something again.

But looking at your phone now is obviously not appropriate.

Pei Jingluan noticed his hand.

"Any news?"

Lin Ye smiled.

"Night Shift Group"

"Is the night shift at the cemetery that busy?"

"The dead aren't busy, but the living are."

Pei Jingluan nodded.

That's true.

He opened the paper bag and pulled out several photos.

The first picture is the door to the tool shed in room A17.

This wasn't the angle from which Gu Wantang and the others took the photo.

The shot is taken from a different angle, like it was taken from the end of a corridor.

The second picture is from the night of the dredging operation in the artificial lake.

Outside the cordon, Lin Ye stood in the shadows of the trees, only half of his face visible.

The third picture shows an intersection near the old cold storage facility on South Ring Road.

Ning Zhi was wearing a hat and looking down at her phone.

When Lin Ye saw the third picture, his finger almost moved.

He forcefully suppressed it.

Pei Jingluan pushed the three photos to the center of the table.

"Mr. Lin, you investigated very quickly."

Gu Wantang's expression turned cold.

"Mr. Pei's men are also keeping a close eye on things."

Pei Jingluan did not deny it.

"People in the flea market are all timid. They always have to take a look at the slightest disturbance."

Gu Wantang said, "Is this what you call taking a look?"

Pei Jingluan said, "Didn't Miss Gu also have someone guarding the back alley?"

The room fell silent again.

Lin Ye's phone vibrated again.

He still didn't look at it.

Pei Jingluan put the photos back one by one.

"Miss Gu, this tea session tonight has really lost its charm."

Gu Wantang looked at him.

"So, Mr. Pei, what would you like to talk about?"

Pei Jingluan didn't look at her.

He looked at the forest.

I want to tell you a story.

Lin Ye's throat moved.

Pei Jingluan said, "The most valuable thing about an object is never the bronze, jade, or porcelain, nor is it its age."

He put the photo back into the paper bag.

"It's a story."

Gu Wantang said calmly, "Stolen goods can be used to tell a story?"

"certainly."

Pei Jingluan said, "Stolen goods are what need stories the most. Without a story, they are just stolen goods. With a story, they can become old collections, family heirlooms, overseas repatriations, or private donations."

His tone was as calm as if he were talking about a legitimate business.

"Whoever has the possession of the item has the right to tell the story."

Lin Ye felt a chill creep down his spine as he heard those words.

He remembered the counterfeit goods in the Qingdao Expo display case.

I recall the ledger in the hidden compartment of A17.

I recalled the rotten metal plaque on the wooden box at the bottom of the lake.

The real items were replaced, and the fake items were put in the display case.

The dead have no names.

The living changed the story.

Pei Jingluan looked at him.

"Mr. Lin, how did a cemetery security guard suddenly come to know so many stories?"

Lin Ye didn't say anything.