Clouds of Mystery Over the Villa Chapter Four: Laying in Wait

The moon hung in the sky like a great silver platter. Jinyue sat on the sofa in the living room, listening to the vinyl record player spinning out the notes of the “Symphony of Fate,” sipping red wine in small mouthfuls as she gazed at the silvery moon through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

In her memory, the moon back home had a scent—a whiff of kitchen smoke and fire. But here, the moon resembled those described in novels, shadowed by flowers and entwined with climbing vines, carrying an air of unreal, dreamlike fantasy.

With a creak, the window was opened again. A man in a gray leather jacket jumped inside and stood by the window. He did not approach Jinyue, but instead gazed at her from afar, as if admiring a beautiful painting.

“Truly lovely…” the man couldn’t help but exclaim. He avoided saying “you are beautiful,” for to him, beauty was aloof and held a note of rejection, while loveliness was real and within reach.

Jinyue turned her head, frowning as she fixed her eyes on the man. “You still haven’t taken my words to heart. How many times have I told you not to break in through the window? Someone’s already noticed the marks. Luckily, I was able to place the blame on Aunt Cai, but now that she’s gone, if anyone else suspects, how will I explain it? Would it be so difficult for you to disguise yourself? If you can’t even manage that, then perhaps we shouldn’t see each other anymore.”

“I remember everything you say,” the man replied, head bowed like a child caught doing something wrong. “It’s just that things were too urgent today—I had no time to put on a disguise…”

“What happened?”

The man raised his head, hesitating. “I lost a bag…”

Jinyue shot to her feet, her eyes wide with alarm. “What do you mean? Where did you lose it?”

“It was in the early hours—I was carrying three bags and hailed a taxi. The driver told me to put them in the trunk, which seemed fine at the time… But when we reached the Chunjiang Bridge, something unexpected happened. I just got out and took two bags from the trunk when suddenly a traffic cop showed up. The driver, afraid of being fined, sped off in a hurry…”

Jinyue was stunned, her voice trembling with shock. “So what now? If someone discovers it… How could you mess up such a simple task!”

“I’m sorry…” the man muttered. “But you don’t have to worry too much. I took down the taxi’s license plate number; we’ll get the bag back. The driver didn’t return to the taxi company today—I checked. He’s due back at eight tomorrow morning. I also got his phone number. I tried to book a ride and planned to retrieve the bag when he picked me up, but he said he was on a long-distance job out of town… Still, that means he hasn’t found the bag yet, which is good news.”

“Let’s hope that before you get the bag back tomorrow, the driver doesn’t discover it.” Jinyue bit her lip. “If he opens it and sees what’s inside…”

“It won’t matter,” the man said with a dismissive twitch of his lips. “I checked the other two bags. The one that’s missing was just filled with odds and ends—nothing distinctive, nothing anyone could recognize.”

Jinyue shook her head. “We have to get it back. If the driver turns it over to the police, we’ll be in trouble.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there first thing in the morning and get it back for sure…” The man moved closer to the sofa, his eyes filled with tenderness as he reached out to caress Jinyue’s cheek.

Jinyue turned away, evading his hand. “Yang Hai will be back tomorrow. This matter must be settled cleanly… And you’d better not come here again for a while. If there’s anything, just call me.”

The man withdrew his hand in disappointment, and at the mention of “Yang Hai,” a surge of anger welled up inside him. “That bastard doesn’t treat you right. Why stay with him? Why not just leave him, and the two of us can find a place in the countryside, live a simple, quiet life…”

Jinyue cut him off coldly. “Don’t say things like that. There’s no going back for me, nor will I ever live such a life with you. You don’t need to stay by my side anymore. You should have your own family, live your own life…”

Suddenly, the man swept Jinyue into his arms, holding her tightly, as if to press her into his own body. “I won’t leave you alone. Even if I must spend my whole life in your shadow, I’ll still stay by your side…”

“Just wait here,” Hou San squatted by the edge of the taxi operations center’s lot, glancing at the black briefcase by his feet. He tore off a chunk of flatbread and swallowed it. “Monks can run but temples can’t. We’ll just lie in wait—when that bastard shows up, we’ll find a chance to swap back our treasure and leave…”

“Third Brother,” Zhu Dachang stared hungrily at the flatbread in Hou San’s hand. “How do you know it was the driver who swapped our treasure?”

Hou San snorted. “Who else could it be? From the time we left the villa district to returning to the hotel, we never let the bag out of our sight—except when we took the taxi and put it in the trunk. And that bastard was after our treasure from the start—he insisted we put the bag in the trunk.”

“But how did he swap it? He was driving the whole time and never got out for the trunk.”

“You know nothing,” Hou San retorted. “There’s definitely a trick to that trunk. He could press a button up front and our bag would fall into a hidden compartment, swapping it for another…” He squinted. “That’s how it is, no doubt. I read about it in a book—it’s called ‘The Cat Swapping for the Crown Prince.’ That’s why I tell you to read more—there’s everything to learn in books.”

Zhu Dachang chuckled foolishly and nodded in agreement, though his eyes remained fixed on the flatbread.

Hou San glanced at him and shoved the rest of the bread into Zhu Dachang’s hands. “All you think about is eating. Take it and go—once I get our treasure back, I’ll treat you to a full Imperial Banquet and stuff you till you burst, you bastard.”

Zhu Dachang grinned broadly, chewing the bread in huge bites.

“Hurry up and eat,” Hou San snorted. “After this, we’ve got business to do. And stop grinning like that—I’ve told you, we’re supposed to be fierce bandits. If you keep looking so simple and silly, who will be afraid of us? You need to look fierce, understand?”

Zhu Dachang swallowed his bread, thumped his chest, and tried to imitate the village mongrel, scrunching his nose, baring his teeth, furrowing his brow, and grunting menacingly.

Hou San rolled his eyes, about to offer more heartfelt instruction, when a taxi slowly pulled into the operations center. Spotting the license plate, Hou San patted Zhu Dachang’s shoulder and stood up, rolling his neck as his eyes gleamed with anticipation. “The rabbit’s here. Time to act!”

Zhu Dachang hastily stuffed the remaining bread into his mouth, grabbed the black briefcase by Hou San’s feet, assumed his best savage mongrel expression, and glared fiercely at the approaching taxi.

Hou San took two blue masks from his pocket, putting one on himself and handing the other to Zhu Dachang. “Put it on. Don’t let them see your face.”

Zhu Dachang nodded vigorously, taking the mask and struggling to fit it over his broad face. The strings pulled tight, digging painfully into his ears, but he managed to cover his mouth and followed Hou San, breathing heavily.

The taxi stopped near the restroom at the operations center. The weary driver got out, yawned, and shut the door. He hunched his shoulders and went into the restroom, emerging half a minute later humming a tune. He pulled a wad of receipts from his pocket and strolled into the office, slapping them on the desk as he quickly filled out forms, joking with a woman painting her nails at the table.

Hou San and Zhu Dachang approached the taxi. Zhu Dachang bent low to peer inside and, seeing the keys still in the ignition, gestured excitedly to Hou San. Hou San’s eyes narrowed as he walked to the back, rubbing his hands in anticipation as he opened the trunk.

It was empty.

Hou San’s face froze. After a moment’s thought, he scowled and gestured for Zhu Dachang to join him in the taxi.

At the far end of the operations center, the man in the gray leather jacket had just straightened up when he saw Hou San and Zhu Dachang, briefcase in hand, heading for the taxi. He frowned, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and strolled toward the restroom, pausing just inside to secretly observe the pair. When he saw Hou San open the trunk, he tensed, ready to seize the briefcase at the right moment.

But as he watched, he realized Zhu Dachang wasn’t putting the briefcase in the trunk but instead climbed into the taxi with Hou San, leaving the man momentarily at a loss.

Soon, the driver emerged from the office, whistling as he walked to the stairwell, where he smoked a cigarette and stretched. Glancing at his watch, he strode briskly to the taxi, slid into the driver’s seat, and reached for the ignition—only for two heads, one large and one small, to suddenly pop up from the backseat. His pupils contracted in shock. “Who are you? What are you doing in my car…”

Before he could finish, Zhu Dachang’s fist crashed into his head. The driver saw stars and collapsed onto the steering wheel.

Hou San dragged the driver into the backseat, bound his hands and feet, and stuffed a wad of cloth into his mouth. He then slid behind the wheel, started the engine, and sped out of the operations center.

The man in the gray leather jacket immediately broke into a run, his face ashen as he watched the taxi disappear into the distance. He leaped onto a motorcycle parked by the roadside and followed at a distance…