Seeing me and Uncle Mei arrive together, Hong Jie was very satisfied. While gargling and washing her face, she said to us, "Sit down for a while, I'll take you over after I tidy up."

I nodded and sat obediently on the sofa in the store.

Uncle Mei, however, didn't waste any time and kept asking, "Is this line of work safe? Will we be targeted by the authorities? Do you have lookouts?"

Hong Jie smiled and assured him, "Put your heart at ease. We're all veterans of over a decade. We've been all over the place for so many years and never had a problem. The entire Hongyan Town is full of our eyes and ears. If there's any trouble, someone will report it to us immediately."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but feel a wave of fear—thank goodness we didn't rush to call Jiang Yongguang to close the net. It turned out that there were far more lookouts than just Hong Jie. If the Xiaoling Guards had acted rashly, they probably would have come up empty-handed.

Uncle Mei nodded slowly, took out a cigarette, and slowly smoked it. He then asked Hong Jie, "How much are we getting paid? Give us a clear number. We can't work for you for nothing if the price isn't right."

Hong Jie was a straightforward person and said decisively, "After it's done, twenty thousand for each of you. Is that okay? Usually, newcomers can't get this price. I'm giving you a high price because I see that you're both good swimmers, and I get along with Rongsheng."

To be honest, this offer was indeed generous.

Uncle Mei didn't say anything else. He immediately took a puff of his cigarette and nodded, "Deal."

Hong Jie then reminded us, "By the way, don't reveal this price to anyone else. Some people have been working their butts off for years and their reward isn't even as good as what you two newcomers are getting. If they find out, they'll easily get jealous and cause conflict, understand?"

Uncle Mei and I nodded quickly, "Understood."

Having talked to this point, Hong Jie also finished getting ready. She immediately put on a coat, turned off the lights in the massage parlor, and led us out the door, heading towards the Yazi River.

Although she didn't tell us where we were going, Uncle Mei and I could recognize that this was the direction to Hope Elementary School.

Sure enough, after walking for about twenty minutes, we saw the construction site of Hope Elementary School.

There was no construction at the site at night, but there were a few illuminated night lights.

Although we had already guessed that this was a smokescreen used by Shopkeeper Wang for tomb raiding, Uncle Mei and I still had to pretend to be surprised.

"Isn't this a construction site?" I asked.

"I heard they're building some kind of Hope Elementary School," Uncle Mei followed up.

Hong Jie sneered, "What Hope Elementary School? It's just a way to fool people. There aren't even any kids in this godforsaken place of Hongyan Town. Who are they building a Hope Elementary School for? Ghosts? I'm telling you, the entrance to the ancient Shu tomb of the Yazi River is right under this foundation. Didn't expect that, did you?"

Uncle Mei and I immediately said in unison, "Didn't expect that! Really didn't expect that!"

Hong Jie looked proud and said to us with a twinkle in her eye, "Hope Elementary School is just a cover. It's called 'appearing to repair the plank road while secretly crossing Chencang.' Building a house during the day and raiding tombs at night. With this method, no one will suspect no matter how big the commotion. We can go underground without worry. The construction team outside will cover for us. Unless there's an inside informant, the authorities will never target us."

After hearing this, Uncle Mei nodded and said, "Then I can rest assured."

I took the opportunity to inquire, "Hong Jie, it seems like our *zhiguo ren* (the one who provides for the team) is quite rich. To raid a tomb, he can actually build a Hope Elementary School directly. That must cost a lot of money, right?"

Hong Jie laughed, "Compared to the treasures underground, what's a Hope Elementary School? Don't underestimate the size of this construction site. In reality, building a Hope Elementary School, with all the construction fees, labor costs, material costs… adding it all up, three to five hundred thousand yuan will cover it all. But how much profit is there in flipping a *da rou guo* (big meat pot - refers to a large tomb)? Do you remember?"

I quickly said, "I remember, millions or even tens of millions in profit."

"That's right. As long as we can reliably *zhiguo zuofan* (provide for the team), what's donating a Hope Elementary School?" Hong Jie said boldly.

As we spoke, we approached the construction site, and two tall, sturdy, and fierce-looking security guards immediately blocked our path.

Usually, the security guards on construction sites are older veterans, but the security guards on this construction site were all strong men who looked like tough characters.

Obviously, they were all gold-medal thugs specially arranged by Shopkeeper Wang to ensure the safety of the construction site.

When the two security guards saw Hong Jie, the expressions on their faces immediately softened a lot.

"Hong Jie, you're here?"

One of the dark-skinned men said with a faint smile.

"Yeah, bringing two newcomers today." Hong Jie explained, "The boss should have told you about it, right?"

"He told us." The dark-skinned man nodded and immediately made way for us, letting us in.

After entering the construction site, Hong Jie led us all the way to a foundation in the middle.

There were scaffolding erected everywhere, covered with green dust-proof nets. From the outside, you couldn't tell what was inside at all. The concealment was quite good.

After we approached, a skinny man immediately came up to us. When the man saw Hong Jie, a lewd smile appeared on his face. He walked over and wanted to touch her, saying with a grin:

"Little Hong, you're here to bring warmth to your brother again?"

Hong Jie dodged his groping hands with a look of disgust and said in a deep voice, "Get lost! Don't get touchy-feely with me!"

Then she introduced him to us, "This is Lao Wu, he'll take you underground later."

I quickly greeted him, "Master Wu."

Unexpectedly, Hong Jie and Lao Wu both laughed after hearing this. Hong Jie said, "Rongsheng, his surname isn't Wu. His nickname is Centipede, that's why we call him Lao Wu."

I then understood the meaning of "Lao Wu," just like how Tu Xingsun's surname wasn't actually Sun.

I guess in this line of work, few people use their real names.

As we were talking, another person walked out of the construction site.

This person was in his forties, looked refined, and even wore a pair of glasses. His temperament was completely different from the tomb robbers I had met before. Instead, he looked like an intellectual.

When he walked out and saw me and Uncle Mei, he asked Hong Jie in surprise, "Why are there two more newcomers?"

Hong Jie quickly said, "These two are good swimmers and can be of great use."

Then she introduced the intellectual to us, saying, "This one with glasses is surnamed Xu, called Professor Xu. He's quite something. He's a real professor who teaches at a university!"

Professor Xu was very pleased to hear this and deliberately pushed up his glasses to show off.

Unexpectedly, Lao Wu next to him immediately exposed him, sneering:

"Professor my ass! He's just a bookworm who only knows how to read. Let me tell you a joke. This guy was hired by my *zhiguo de* (the one who provides for the team) with a lot of money to be a *tui zi* (engineer), specializing in digging tunnels and draining water. As a result, in the last tomb, he accidentally broke through the waterproof wall and drowned more than a dozen of our brothers… If my *zhiguo de* hadn't been soft-hearted, he should have been buried alive on the spot!"