"Brother Runsheng, head south to Aunt Zhang’s small shop."
On the way south, they saw another person, but this one had it a bit tougher. He didn’t have a power tower, just a power pole, so he had to hang himself up there with tools.
Out of caution, after passing him, Li Zhiyuan continued south to Aunt Zhang’s small shop and bought some things.
Tan Wenbin asked for a pack of Xiao Su cigarettes.
Of course, it was with his own money.
He expertly tore open the packaging, ripped off a strip, then peeled open a corner of the cigarette box and flipped it over in his palm, a few cigarettes slipping halfway out.
"Runsheng, want one?"
Runsheng glanced back but stayed focused on riding, "I don’t smoke."
"Brother Xiao Yuan, do you want one?"
Li Zhiyuan shook his head.
Tan Wenbin had to bite one himself, take out matches, use his palm to shield it, and lit it.
"Hiss... huff... cough, cough, cough... gag!"
He first choked, coughing continuously, then tears came out, finally dry heaving.
*It was clear; his move was quite flashy, probably practiced in his mind many times, yet he couldn’t actually smoke.*
Tan Wenbin said a bit embarrassed, "I’m a little nervous, wanted to ease up."
*Evidently, no one told him what exactly was happening now, not even he himself knew what was going on, but he still found a way to immerse himself in it.*
Going north was simple since Li Sanjiang’s house was just north of Big Beard’s house.
On the way, they passed another power pole, with someone hanging on it too.
Li Zhiyuan could now confirm that these four electricians were disguised water monkeys.
*Even if it was rural electrical facility maintenance, they wouldn’t suddenly arrange so many people and so densely,*
*typically, one electrician would check a large area alone.*
*But unless someone was particularly attentive, most people wouldn’t notice anything unusual,*
*everyone was familiar with the occasional electrician on a power pole, and since they weren’t from the village or town, few took the initiative to greet them.*
Back home, arriving at the workshop, Li Zhiyuan took out pen and paper and, with Big Beard’s house as the center, sketched a rough map of the farmland, river, and power poles.
Runsheng and Tan Wenbin leaned over from left to right, studying the map intently.
In the rural plains area, all four vantage points around were manned. This was just the known surface, undiscovered observation posts might still exist, or they could be added at night if absent during the day.
*Originally, Li Zhiyuan planned to wait until nightfall, then sneak with Runsheng to the edge of Big Beard’s fish pond.*
*Now, it seemed impossible.*
*During the day, the crowd could help conceal them, but at night the village roads were mostly empty,*
*and when they were digging the grave, the lookouts outside would definitely be more vigilant.*
Li Zhiyuan said, "There are ten people in the troupe, at least four more on the outside, counting Ding Dalin and the two now in the hospital, this water monkey crew numbers almost twenty."
"So many people?" Runsheng scratched his head, "I thought this kind of work could be done with just one or two."
Li Zhiyuan smiled, *The difficulty of robbing a water grave was naturally higher, and generally, the water areas wouldn’t be too sparsely populated, so water monkeys typically operated with bigger crews, focusing on quick digging and quick departure.*
"Brother Runsheng, the question now is, how can we sneak in tonight without being noticed?"
*The means prepared on their side were to assist Little Huang Ying. If they couldn’t observe from nearby, they wouldn’t grasp the timing for action.*
*They certainly couldn’t afford for Runsheng to fight with the water monkeys before Little Huang Ying even made a move.*
*If that were really the case, it would be better to call the police right now.*
"Well, Xiao Yuan, can we go this way?"
Runsheng pointed all the way down the river on the map.
This river was quite close to Big Beard’s house and the fish pond.
"Yeah, Xiao Yuan, we could walk underwater up to here, come ashore, and hide in the haystack; for breathing, we could hold a straw each."
*Initially, Li Zhiyuan thought the proposal was unreliable, but upon reflection, surprisingly feasible.*
*Runsheng was strong and a good swimmer, plus he had experience fighting corpses underwater.*
*A twelve-flag array plus Corpse Recovery Diver gears would provide enough weight for underwater walking.*
*Moreover, the haystack upon coming ashore was quite close to the fish pond.*
*The only drawback was, if he were to go along, he might need a rope tied to Runsheng, which would look a bit awkward.*
"Brother Runsheng, your proposal is not bad, let’s settle on this for now."
Having received approval, a smile appeared on Runsheng’s face, he knew watching more movies would pay off.
"Not bad, really a great method." Tan Wenbin nodded, "So, can you tell me what exactly we’re doing tonight?"
"Brother Binbin, after the dinner gathering, I’ll tell you everything."
"Brother Xiao Yuan, you’re not lying to me?"
"All right, I trust you."
The dinner gathering started quite early, at five o’clock, everyone was called to be seated, and the dishes came out quickly.
Li Zhiyuan led Tan Wenbin again to find Li Sanjiang so they could sit and eat together.
Li Sanjiang’s face still had the flush from drinking at noon; feeling his belly, he didn’t feel very hungry, so he asked Ding Dalin, who sat next to him:
"Why start the dinner so early?"
"Sanjiang, you know, I’m from overseas, there’s a time difference."
The excuse was lame, but since the dishes were already coming out, there was no need to say anything more.