The following story is from the Qing Dynasty Zou Tao's notebook novel "Three Borrowings of Lu Pen Talk", which has been slightly changed when translated.
There is a person in Nanhui with the surname Yang, who ranks eighth in the family, so he takes the name Yang Ba (this name is obtained, fortunately not the surname Wang, haha). Yang Ba did not do business since he was a child, and later became a gentleman of Liangshan, that is, a thief. In order to be a good thief, he also learned martial arts skills, especially the cornice walking on the wall.
Due to the high technology, few people know about crossing the wall, so Yang Ba has stolen a lot of things over the years, so he has also made a fortune.
However, later Yang Ba was also arrested several times, fortunately, they were all small things, the sentence was light, the fine was small, and the family foundation was still there. After being arrested and released from prison for the last time, Yang Ba calculated that he had stolen a lot of money before, enough to live for himself, so he washed his hands in a golden basin, changed his evil ways, and never stole anything again, so he bought a few acres of land and cultivated it for a living.
Ten years passed quickly.
Not long after, a high official in the same city lost a string of chao beads (a pendant of the Qing Dynasty dress, hanging around the neck, similar to today's necklace). According to the official grade and status, the beads and colors used in the beads are different, and the higher the rank, the more valuable the beads are), worth about one thousand taels of silver. The government investigated for a long time, but never found out who stole the pearl.
The arresters in the county court exhausted all kinds of methods, but they still could not catch the murderer, and the county order was so angry that they all beat them all, but they still did not know how to find the murderer. There was no way to catch it, and involuntarily began to suspect Yang Ba, so several people went to Yang Ba's house together to ask questions.
After Yang Ba heard about it, he sighed and said: I did steal a lot of things before, and I have been in prison several times, but ten years ago I had already washed my hands and stopped drying, and you know that I have already farmed for a living, and I have never stolen anything again. Now that so many years have passed, you officials still refuse to forgive me?
The catchers also sighed and said: We are not suspicious sir, but we really can't find the murderer, the case has been hanging for a long time, we have also been scolded by the old man, so we came to you for help, not Mr. Doubt. After Yang Ba heard this, he asked them to take themselves to see the county commander.
Arriving at the county court, the county commander asked Yang Ba if he had stolen the chaozhu.
Yang Ba said loudly: I changed from evil to righteousness many years ago, and you know this matter. Besides, this case has been so long, the officials and big brothers have used a lot of effort, and they have not found the murderer, and the case has not been solved, indicating that this person is a powerful character. It is not a way for the old man to beat up the official and the big brother, and I can't bear it, I am willing to help solve the case. Give me a month and I'm sure I'll catch the killer.
The county order is also no way, thinking that Yang Ba has been a thief, and he should also know about thieves, plus he is very good at martial arts, and he can fly over the wall, so he agreed.
Yang Ba began to make overt and covert visits in the nearby area, but there was no clue, so he continued to expand the scope, but he still had no clue.
On this day, Yang Ba came to a town in Zhejiang and saw a family, the house was gorgeous, the gate was spacious, and someone inside seemed to be whispering something, very suspicious. So he paid a bribe to the doorman, saying that he was a guest of the owner, and entered the house. The doorman took Yang Ba to a house where the beds had been made, and after a while there were boys delivering food. Yang Ba wanted to ask him where the owner of the house was, but the boy didn't say anything.
The next night, the boy told Yang Ba that the host had set up a banquet and invited them to dinner. Yang Ba followed the boy and came to a place. There was only one person sitting in the first place, and he guessed that this person was the homeowner. On either side sat a dozen people, each with a small table with food and wine on it. Everyone ate and didn't speak. After eating, the owner gave each person a small bag, and Yang Ba also had one.
Immediately, everyone left the house and went to the courtyard, and then everyone performed light work and flew in all directions in the air, and soon disappeared.
Yang Ba also jumped up and flew up, followed by a person. Only to see this person open the small bag, take out the night clothes inside and put them on, and then fly away again. Yang Ba opened the small bag and looked at it, and sure enough, there was a set of black clothes, as well as fire folds and small chisels. Yang Ba knew that these flying people were all thieves in the name of the homeowner, and they all went to steal things, and then they came back with things to hand over to the master. From this point of view, the person who steals the pearl must have a relationship with the homeowner.
Therefore, Yang Ba put on a night-time suit, found a relatively rich family, and entered lightly. Everyone in the room was asleep, Yang Ba entered a house, he did not take clothes and jewelry, he took dozens of gold bars out.
Back at the owner's house, the boy took him to the room again, eating and living all inclusive, but he could not see the master. Ten days later, the boy told him that the master set up a banquet in the evening, and Yang Ba knew that this was the master coming to receive the goods.
In the evening, the crowd gathered, and the feast was the same as the last time. Soon, the crowd finished eating, and everyone began to show their booty. It's just that there is a little bit of a strange thing, everyone is holding small things, and even some people are simply empty-handed. Yang Ba thought to himself: Stealing such a small thing is too bad than himself, and when he is proud, he sacrifices dozens of gold bars to the owner of the house.
When everyone saw that Yang Ba had taken so many gold bars, they changed color one after another, and immediately grabbed Yang Ba, and then tied them to the pillar. One of them said: We steal only small treasures, and we will not ask for anything within a thousand taels, and as for gold and silver, we regard it as dung. You stole gold bars, and you think stealing gold bars is very powerful, obviously not our people. Say, who the hell are you? Hurry up and be honest, maybe spare your life!
Yang Ba knew that this group of thieves was actually an alliance, and had its own rules. He had no choice but to tell an official in Nanhui about the loss of Chaozhu and about his own handling of the case for the county order.
After saying that, a girl dressed in red stood up and said with a smile: I stole the beads, I saw the beads that day, after stealing them, I looked at them in the moonlight and felt that the beads were not worth a thousand taels of silver, so they were placed under the stone of the steps and did not bring them out. When Yang Ba heard about it, he was terrified, because the girl in front of him looked only about ten years old. He interceded with his master and let himself go back, and the people did not have difficulty in letting him go.
Yang Ba had run out of travel expenses, he did not dare to steal anymore, and begged all the way back to Nanhui. He infiltrated the house of the grand official, got the beads from under the steps, and then presented them to the county order. The county commander was very happy and rewarded him with a sum of money, and after the high official heard about it, he also rewarded Yang Ba with a lot of silver. However, the matter of the Zhejiang Thieves Alliance, the county order did not care.