Folklore and Strange Tales: At the Start, You Retrieve the Sea-Suppressing Black Iron

King of Glasses...

Suppressing his doubts, Cheng Xiaojin took the counterfeit goods out of the drawer.

I wrapped the black cloth back up and put it back into the canvas bag. Then I took a damp towel and wiped the ink stains on the bedside table. It wasn't very clean; the pine soot ink had seeped into the wood grain and wouldn't fade for three to five days.

The walls and ceiling were even worse; they looked like someone had splashed ink on them, patches of black. If the landlord saw them, he'd fight him to the death.

He locked the door, went downstairs, and rode his bicycle to Tieguai Li's studio.

Tieguai Li was under the lamp, using a file to repair a gear on a Qing Dynasty clock. He didn't even look up when he heard him come in.

"How did it turn out?"

"His face was covered in graffiti, his buzz cut was black from his forehead to his chin, his white T-shirt was ruined, and his round face wasn't much better."

Tieguai Li snorted and ran the file along the gear twice.

"happy."

"It was certainly satisfying, but you know what? Master Qi said that Fatty Sun has started seeing Glasses King again, and the two of them are hanging out together once more."

The file stopped.

Tieguai Li raised his head, the light from the table lamp shining on his face, half bright and half dim.

"That bespectacled guy in the inspection room?"

"It's him. Fatty Sun made a special trip to the East Third Ring Road to find him today. He's already looking for outside help even before the news about Mo Lei has spread."

Tieguai Li put down the file and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.

"This is troublesome. If Glasses King reviews the Houhai deal, he will definitely hold onto that issue."

"I know."

"You know that, yet you're still spouting nonsense to me? Go and talk to Master Ma."

"Let's talk about it tomorrow. My brain just can't process anything tonight."

Cheng Xiaojin threw his canvas bag onto the cot, lay down without even taking off his shoes, and stared blankly at the rusty water pipes on the ceiling.

Tieguai Li glanced at him, said nothing more, and continued repairing his gears.

The Panjiayuan market opened the next morning.

Cheng Xiaojingang spread out the stall cloth, and Zhao Defa came over from next door with an expression as if it were New Year's Day.

"Gold, have you heard?"

"What did you hear?"

"That crew-cut guy under Fatty Sun went to someone's house to steal the night before last, but he got tricked and his face was sprayed with ink, making him look like Bao Gong (a famous judge in Chinese history). He tried to wash it off for two days but couldn't get it off. Yesterday, he was seen at the back gate of the market. Even though he was wearing a mask and a hat, you could still see the black and white streaks on his face."

Cheng Xiaojin didn't reply, but instead looked down and fiddled with a string of cracked Bodhi seeds.

Zhao Defa lowered his voice and leaned closer.

"There are even more bizarre rumors. Some people say that the crew-cut guy was blown out of one eye, and some people say that Fatty Sun himself went there and got sprayed all over his body."

"That's all just hearsay."

"Who cares if the rumors are true or not? Anyway, Fatty Sun has really lost face this time. Several of his underlings have deserted him in the past two days. Who would want to follow him and do such a disgraceful thing?"

After finishing his sentence, Zhao Defa patted Cheng Xiaojin on the shoulder and happily returned to his stall.

By noon, the news had spread throughout the entire East and South districts.

The versions are getting more and more outrageous.

Some say that Fatty Sun sent five men, and three of them were killed in the bombing.

Some people said it wasn't ink but sulfuric acid, and that it ruined the buzz-cut man's face.

Some people say that Cheng Xiaojin installed an electric fence in the house, and people who went in were electrocuted and turned into skewers.

Zhou Banxian strolled over at 11 a.m., squatted in front of the stall, and had an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"It's all the rage here, everyone in Panjiayuan is talking about you."

"Let them spread rumors, what does it have to do with me? I slept at Tieguai Li's place last night."

"Fine, keep pretending."

Zhou Banxian took out a handful of melon seeds from his pocket, cracked open two, and spat the shells on the ground.

"Let me tell you something. The crew-cut guy didn't come today, and neither did the round-faced guy. There's not even a tea server at Fatty Sun's shop."

"The thugs ran away?"

"Exactly, he left on his own; no one chased him away. Think about it, if you follow a boss to steal things and get made a fool of, running out covered in ink and seen by everyone on the street, who can survive like that once word gets out?"

Cheng Xiaojin nodded.

"If the crew-cut guy leaves, is there anyone else?"

"I heard from Old Li that there were two men in black T-shirts standing guard at the gate the day before yesterday, but I haven't seen them today."

At 2 p.m., Miao Daqing strolled over from the management office.

The director of the market management office usually treated Sun Pangzi like a brother, but today, when he passed by Sun Pangzi's storefront, he didn't even turn his head. He went straight to Cheng Xiaojin's stall, took out a cigarette case, and handed him one.

"Xiao Jin, how's business lately?"

Cheng Xiaojin did not accept the cigarette.

"Director Miao, have you changed your attitude? You didn't look at me like this last time when you were urging me for the stall fee."

Miao Daqing chuckled and stuffed the cigarette back into his hand.

"Just kidding, just kidding. There's no rush about the stall fee; you can pay it before the end of the month."

After saying that, he turned and left, but came back after taking three steps.

"By the way, if anyone causes trouble in the market recently, let me know and the management office will definitely handle it."

Cheng Xiaojin watched his retreating figure, and understood perfectly well what was going on.

The winds changed, and Fatty Sun's teeth were pulled.

After closing up shop in the evening, Cheng Xiaojin went to Master Ma's house.

In the courtyard, thrushes hopped around in their cages, while Grandpa Ma sat in a rattan chair, scraping tea foam with the lid of an enamel teacup, making a clinking sound.

"sit."

Cheng Xiaojin sat down.

"I've heard about the commotion outside. Your move with Mo Lei has completely shattered Fatty Sun's reputation. Three people have left his side in three days, and even Miao Daqing has started to distance himself from him."

"Master Ma, I'm not at ease..."

"You really shouldn't be so uneasy, you're not stupid."

Master Ma skimmed off the tea foam with the lid of the jar and took a sip.

"Mad Dog had three teeth pulled, but he still has canines. He has no henchmen and no face left. His only chance to turn things around is that he holds a card in his hand."

"King of Glasses"

"Yes, that card is King of Glasses."

Cheng Xiaojin rubbed his fingers together.

"Does King of Glasses know about the counterfeit goods?"

"He may not know, but he suspects it."

Master Ma placed the teacup on the armrest and looked up at the sky through the leaves of the locust tree in the courtyard.

"Last time when he was inspecting goods at Houhai, you stopped him from knocking on the door. On the surface, he didn't say anything, but that thorn has been sticking to him ever since. He must have been thinking about why you didn't let him knock after he got back."

"So now he's teamed up with Fatty Sun again, is he trying to help Fatty Sun turn things around?"

"It's not necessarily about helping Fatty Sun. People like Glasses King don't take sides; they rely on their own professional judgment."

"Sun Pangzi went to him simply to get him to come forward and prove that the first item was problematic or to authenticate the second item as genuine, but whether Glasses King will cooperate depends on his own judgment."

"You mean, it's possible that King of Glasses won't help Fatty Sun?"

"It's possible, but it could be worse."

Master Ma glanced at him.

"If Glasses King figured out the problem with the first thing himself, he might not tell Fatty Sun; he might go directly to Boss Lin."

Cheng Xiaojin stopped.

"Looking for Boss Lin?"

"The inspection shop opened by King of Glasses' partner mainly provides authentication services for overseas buyers. Boss Lin is a long-time client of the inspection shop, and King of Glasses has a direct communication channel with Boss Lin, without having to go through Fatty Sun."

The courtyard was quiet for a while.

The thrush sang twice, its calls crisp and piercing.

Cheng Xiaojin took the Zhonghua cigarette from behind his ear, tapped it twice on the armrest of the rattan chair, but didn't light it.

"Master Ma, my biggest problem right now isn't Fatty Sun, it's time."

"How so?"

"Boss Lin will have to carefully inspect the goods sooner or later. He has his own appraisal team in Penang. Even if Glasses King doesn't get involved, this bomb will still explode. The only difference is whether it explodes sooner or later."

Master Ma nodded.

"So your next step isn't to deal with Fatty Sun, but to deal with this bomb."

"So how should I deal with this?"

Master Ma didn't answer, but picked up the teacup and tapped the lid twice more.

"Don't rush, let's wait and see how the Glasses King plays his cards."

It was already completely dark when Cheng Xiaojin left Master Ma's house.

He was riding his bicycle toward Tieguai Li's studio when his phone rang halfway there.

An unfamiliar number, a landline in Beijing.

He hesitated for a second, then answered.

"Boss Cheng, I'm Wang Haiqing. We're acquaintances, you could say."

His voice was neither hurried nor slow, carrying a polite tone that was neither warm nor cold.

"You can call me King of Glasses if you like, that's what everyone in the industry calls me, I don't mind."

Cheng Xiaojin's bicycle was parked on the side of the road, with one foot on the ground.

"We need to meet, not about Fatty Sun."

The other side paused for a moment.

"For that item you sold to Boss Lin."