Chapter 198: What’s In These Boxes?
Having caught this disease, they knew it well in their hearts; they could no longer work in this line of business.
If they continued any further, their outcome would basically be death!
Moreover, it would be an extremely painful death.
But when they learned that what they were infecting was a little devil, a sense of pride unexpectedly arose in their hearts.
Turns out, even after catching this from a soldier, there was finally a day when it proved useful!
Kawakami Kyoju, still unaware that he had fallen into a trap, was surrounded by two women, laughing lewdly, utterly smug and pleased with himself.
Before Little Ear and the procuress had even left, he was already impatiently reaching out to grope the two women, while letting out lewd laughter from his mouth.
Contempt flickered in the two women’s eyes, but their expressions still showed a coquettish pretense of reluctance.
Little Ear and the procuress chuckled and tactfully withdrew, and after stepping outside, Little Ear took out two paper packets and placed them in her hand:
“This is opium. Find a way to get this little devil to smoke it.”
The procuress drew in a sharp breath. My god, shelling out such a huge sum—what god had this little devil offended?
Anyone around Tianqiao from various social strata knew that Little Ear was now mixing with the red-hot Cao Weida, and with that thought, she cautiously said:
“Master Lian, could it be that this little devil offended Cao…”
Before she could finish, Little Ear glared at her with both eyes, stopping her cold. “Don’t ask about things you shouldn’t know. Just do your job properly!”
“Yes, yes, yes, I’ll shut up, I’ll shut up.” The procuress shrank her neck. She didn’t have the courage to pry into big shots’ business; she had just let it slip a moment ago.
Little Ear shot her an annoyed glance. “Let him eat well, drink well, and stay a couple more days. Don’t worry about the money—as long as you don’t trick me, I’ll pay you every cent later.”
The procuress fawned with a smile: “Rest assured, Master Lian. I’ll make sure he’s comfortable; he’ll be so delighted for days and nights that he won’t want to leave!”
Little Ear nodded in satisfaction: “Good. He’s in your hands for now. Remember, know what to say and what not to say.”
“Rest assured, Master Lian. I’ve been in this business for years; I have plenty of experience. Nothing will go wrong.”
“That’s good. I’ll head out first.” Little Ear had just started to step away when he stopped, saying earnestly: “You’re helping me this time, so I’ll give you some advice: do fewer bad things. This area is now under Cao Ye’s jurisdiction.”
“On Cao Ye’s turf, forcing good women into prostitution and doing evil deeds are absolutely not tolerated.”
The procuress gave a bitter smile,
“Heh, do fewer bad things? If I could marry a decent man in this lifetime, or even have a bite to eat, I wouldn’t have ended up in this place.”
“Even if I want to be a good person now, I can’t. Once you’re in the jianghu, it’s deeper than the sea…”
“Forget it. Anyway, I don’t expect a good end, so I’m not afraid of retribution. Back when I was in trouble, I didn’t see any righteous lord helping me out.”
Such thoughts were not unique to her; she didn’t even consider that her retribution might come from the government and the people.
In her view, though Cao Weida had a good reputation among the people and was indeed lenient toward the common folk in the lower districts, it was only a bit better than before.
Especially since Beiping was still occupied by little devils these days. No matter how prominent Cao Weida seemed now, if he offended the Japanese, got sidelined by them, or was simply arrested, things in this jurisdiction would revert to the old ways.
In the torrent of great waves, how much influence could a single drop of water have, and how long could it last?
He might be upright now, but who could say for sure about the future?
The end result would be the same anyway.
At best, it’s called going with the flow; at worst, consorting with evil!
Little Ear fell silent at once, sighing inwardly.
Born in turbulent times, everyone was just scraping by. Most bad people didn’t start out wanting to be bad; life forced them into it.
And once they became bad, turning back was almost impossible.
He took out a bundle of red paper wrapping a bundle of silver dollars and handed it over,
“Do the job well. I understand, but rules are rules; they still have to be enforced. Alright, I’m off.”
The next morning, Cao Weida emerged from Xinghong’s room, stretching lazily with a refreshed look.
Ever since the women had all moved into the residence, his harem blessings had arrived; no more sneaking over rooftops late at night to another woman’s place far away.
Just like last night—he had started out sleeping in Du Shiniang’s room.
“Master, time to eat.” When Cao Weida arrived in the living room, Ru Qiulan greeted him with a flushed face.
Just looking at her complexion, it was clear she was living a good easy life.
The advantage of having a strong second brother was this: even with several women, as long as they were satisfied, infighting in the inner chambers would decrease a lot.
If they were always left wanting, no amount of suppression would work.
There were only five women in the courtyard house total, and Cao Weida took at least two each night, so he could feast every other day—no chance of anyone going unsatisfied.
“Send a portion to the eldest concubine and second concubine’s rooms.” Cao Weida instructed a nearby maidservant, then sat down to eat.
Hearing this, the other three women exchanged glances, amusement flickering in their eyes.
Ru Qiulan covered her mouth and chuckled lightly: “Master, you need to take it easy. We sisters all know you’re vigorous, but our bodies can’t take this kind of wear and tear.”
“Every time we serve you, we’re sore in the back and waist for half a day before recovering.”
“Look, ever since we sisters all moved in together, we’ve never once had breakfast all in one piece.”
At these words, the two maidservants in the room couldn’t help laughing, their eyes sparkling as they looked at Cao Weida. So their master was this formidable?
Thinking about it carefully, it seemed true—they’d never served all five concubines breakfast together.
“Cough cough.” Cao Weida spat out the rice in his mouth and coughed repeatedly several times before glaring at her annoyedly,
“Can’t you shut your mouth while eating? You dare say anything. Hurry up and eat.”
Though he said this, a smug look involuntarily appeared on his face.
Men could take anything, but not being told their prowess was lacking!
That bone-deep competitive spirit wouldn’t tolerate being underestimated.
After eating, Cao Weida went to the police station as usual to report for duty.
After roll call, Cao Weida called Little Ear over: “How’s that little devil doing?”
“Don’t worry, Big Brother Cao. He’s taken the bait. In a few more days, we can close the net.” Recalling the sycophancy toward that bastard Kawakami Kyoju these past few days, Little Ear felt a wave of nausea.
A short, ugly piece of trash who thought so highly of himself—damn, no self-awareness at all!
Good thing they weren’t together all the time, or he really might not be able to resist beating that damn bastard to death!
“Good.” Cao Weida’s already pleasant mood brightened even more.
Daring to eye his woman—he wouldn’t let him off easily!
He’d make sure he felt what utter devastation was!
It was just a little devil anyway—any revenge was justified.
Little Ear hesitated, then said: “Big Brother Cao, you mentioned going to Xiaguang Garden before. Still going?”
“You said it’d be in two days, but now five days have passed, and Han Lu nags in my ear every night…”
Xiaguang Garden?
Cao Weida thought back and immediately remembered.
He slapped his forehead—right, right, he had promised Little Ear, but these days enjoying his harem at home had him so blissed out he’d forgotten all about it.
“Got it. This afternoon, then. I’ll head over.”
“Alright, I’ll call and notify them right away.” Little Ear looked relieved, drawing repeated eyerolls from Cao Weida:
“Little Ear, have you no spine? How’d you let a woman wrap you around her finger like this?”
“Let me tell you, that woman isn’t simple—her intentions aren’t pure. Don’t actually fall for her!”
“No way, Big Brother Cao. I’ve kept all your words in mind and always remember them.” Little Ear smiled awkwardly,
“I know Han Lu just values me for following you; ultimately, it’s your power she relies on through me.”
“Rest assured, I’m just playing along with her—mutual benefit. She’s sensible enough; never skimps on the monthly stipend.”
“And knowing your temperament, she’s never dared touch your taboos.”
“That’s for the best.” Cao Weida patted his shoulder. “As long as you know better, don’t mind my nagging.”
“How could I? I know it’s all for my own good.” Little Ear grinned cheekily: “Anyway, what she gives us—we’re not losing out. Take the bargain when it’s there.”
“Two pure Qingyin Small Class girls, no less. Han Lu went to great lengths and spent a fortune to buy them—rare finds outside!”
Cao Weida wagged a finger at him, laughing scoldingly: “Get lost, you and your big mouth. Go notify them if you’re going to.”
After sending Little Ear off, Cao Weida was completely free.
A patrol officer’s duties weren’t few.
Like maintaining public order, personnel oversight, household registration management, traffic control, hygiene and epidemic prevention, and such.
But for him, a seasoned slacker, he slacked whenever possible, delegating all that work to his subordinates.
As the saying goes, now that he’s the boss, how could he handle everything personally? Otherwise, what’s the point of the position?
As long as public order in the jurisdiction stayed stable, there were no issues.
Just as Cao Weida had his feet up on the table, smoking and humming a tune, Yan San knocked and entered.
“Cao Ye, I’ve pretty much got the intel.”
Cao Weida’s face turned serious; he sat up straight and said curtly: “Speak.”
“Yes!”
“Cao Ye, last night when you gave me the signal, I kept a close eye on the Six Nations Hotel entrance. After Liu Xiangting came out, I tailed him from afar.”
“I thought he might be alert, so I didn’t get too close, but surprisingly, he had no vigilance. I followed him all the way to Dachuan Trading Company on Chang’an Avenue.”
“Hold on,” Cao Weida waved a hand. “What does this Dachuan Trading Company do?”
The name alone screamed Japanese-owned.
“Reporting to Cao Ye, the company does goods trading business.”
Trading business?
Cao Weida nodded, signaling him to continue.
“He didn’t go in the front door but sneaked in the back. I spotted quite a few people in the courtyard.”
“After midnight, trucks came and went sporadically, unloading several boxes from them—they looked heavy.”
“I counted carefully: three trucks entered over the night, all escorted by soldiers on guard.”
“And they came from different directions, so I suspect the boxes were transported from various places.”
“Guards were posted nearby, so I didn’t dare get close. It wasn’t until dawn that Liu Xiangting returned to Yanglian Hutong and didn’t come out again. That’s all the details.”
After hearing Yan San’s report, Cao Weida sank into thought.
Even a fool could tell these things were extremely important, or they wouldn’t need armed soldier escorts.
Clearly, this Dachuan Trading Company was not as simple as it appeared.
If it were just a trading firm, why the massive operation!
Of course, that wasn’t the point.
The key was what exactly was in those boxes!
Worth all this effort, secretly transporting them after midnight.
And it was connected to Kawashima Yoshiko, who would stop at nothing to regain the Japanese Army’s trust—definitely nothing simple inside.
After racking his brain with no answers, Cao Weida suddenly slapped his own head and cursed himself: “Damn, I’m such an idiot, stuck in a rut. Who cares what they’re transporting? I’ll just rob them and see!”
He pulled a Beiping map from the drawer and spread it out. “Where’s Dachuan Trading Company?”
Yan San pointed to a spot on the map: “Here.”
Cao Weida studied it carefully, then said: “Call a few reliable brothers and put Dachuan Trading Company under surveillance too, especially at night.”
“But be careful—don’t get too close or take risks. Compared to those boxes, brothers’ lives come first!”
Yan San was deeply moved. In their line, who didn’t want a boss who truly valued his brothers’ lives?
With Cao Weida caring so much for them and the great treatment, he’d gladly go through fire for Cao Ye!
“Got it, Cao Ye. Don’t worry, I’ll keep both places locked down tight!”
“I said, brothers’ lives come first!” Seeing his moved expression, Cao Weida was extremely satisfied—that was the effect he wanted.
Caring for his brothers’ lives was genuine, but that wasn’t the only reason.
Another was that if these brothers got exposed and caught, unable to withstand interrogation and ratted him out, it’d be trouble.
If these things were important enough to the little devils, he might even have to make a run for it in time.
