Chapter 6: Three Cowards Of The Rat’s Gallbladder
Cao Weida shrugged, poured himself another cup, “How would I know? It depends on when the little devils and Imperial Army settle down.”
Little Ear nodded. The police these days might look independent on the surface, but they ultimately still had to listen to the little devils.
Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun—a law that holds true at any time.
After a moment of silence, Little Ear suddenly probed, “Brother, I want to ask if you have any connections to bail someone out?”
“Hm?” Cao Weida raised an eyebrow and shook his head. “Master Lian, you’ve asked the wrong person. I’m just a little patrolman—how could I have the ability to bail someone out?”
“Brother, don’t rush to refuse.” Little Ear hurriedly said, “One of my brothers went to Bada Hutong last night, and on his way back in the evening, he was caught by the Military Police. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“.” Cao Weida was speechless and looked over with suspicious eyes. “He went to Bada Hutong and still came back in the evening?”
“This matter, sigh~~” Little Ear explained with a wry smile, “Things being like this, I won’t hide it anymore. I’ll tell you the truth—my brother is a soft ear. He told his wife he was going out to handle something for me and didn’t dare not come back at night. Who would’ve thought the unlucky bastard would run into that mess and get caught.”
Cao Weida wanted to laugh and held it back with all his might to keep from laughing out loud.
Little Ear smiled helplessly. “This unlucky bastard—if he weren’t my brother, I’d be laughing my ass off.”
“After the incident, I pulled a lot of strings. After all, he’s my own brother, right?”
“If it were one of our own, it’d be easier to handle—I have some connections I can reach. But with the little devils, I really have no way.”
“But now his wife is staring me down, saying it happened because he was helping me with my business. She wants me to figure out a way to get him out. Tell me, who do I reason with? I can’t tell my brother’s wife that he brought it on himself by fooling around, right?”
“That’s true.” Cao Weida nodded in agreement. Telling his wife the truth wouldn’t help at all—it was better left unsaid.
But from this, it was clear Little Ear was truly loyal, no wonder he had risen from a small thug to someone with a reputation.
“Forget it, I’m just anxious and grasping at straws. If brother really can’t help, then never mind—I’ll think of another way.”
Cao Weida quite admired Little Ear’s character.
Of course, that wasn’t a reason to help him.
He had been thinking of a way on the way here, and now there was a ready-made excuse!
A person suddenly came to mind—a little devil, to be precise.
If handled properly, there was a chance to get him out.
If he could connect with that line, then in the future, for any search and arrest operations or other things that interfered with his slacking off, he could push them off seamlessly, right?
So he asked, “Are you sure your brother has no connection to the resistance?”
Little Ear was very certain. “Of course I’m sure. He’s my own brother—how could I not know him?”
“They’re good at fighting and brawling, assassination? Impossible!”
“Like this—honestly, I do know someone in the Imperial Army who might be able to help, but I’m not sure if it will work. Plus, we need to spend some money to test the waters first. Win or lose, that money can’t be refunded. Do you want to give it a try?”
“Really?” Little Ear’s eyes lit up. “Brother, don’t worry—I understand the rules!”
“After the matter, whether it succeeds or not, I’ll prepare your share of goodwill!”
Seeing him say that, Cao Weida smiled. “Master Lian, aren’t you afraid I’m tricking you, taking the money and denying it?”
“No way!” Little Ear shook his head. “I may not have other skills, but I have some eye for people. Brother, you’re not someone who doesn’t keep your word.”
“Besides, as long as there’s hope to save my brother, even if I’m tricked, I’ll accept it. I can’t just abandon my brother to his fate, right?”
He knew how ferocious the little devils were. Innocent or not, the little devils had always believed in killing a thousand innocents rather than letting one guilty go free.
Even if they knew his brother was wronged, without connections, the end result would be the same.
Good judge of character?
Cao Weida found it odd in his heart and glanced at his ears. Little Ear’s two ears were still intact now, but if the plot developed as it should, one of Little Ear’s ears would be cut off by Jin Hai.
The reason was that Jin Hai failed to honor his promise to release his brother. In a fit of anger, he kidnapped Jin Hai’s sister Jin Ying, leading to a conflict where Jin Hai cut off one of his ears.
Still, he quite admired the man’s loyalty.
“What’s your brother’s name?”
“Sun Dahu!”
“Alright, I’ve got it.”
Little Ear went into the room and came out with two gold bars in hand, placing them on the table and pushing them toward Cao Weida. “Brother, here—these are two gold bars. Sorry to trouble you to test the waters. Whatever shortfall there is later, just tell me. As long as I can afford it, no problem!”
He turned and instructed Yan San nearby:
“San’er, get Brother Cao thirty jin of smoked meat and twenty jin of sparkling stars.”
Smoked meat was blackened rice, while sparkling stars was millet.
Yan San didn’t speak, but he acted quickly. Soon he came in carrying two cloth bags, one in each hand.
Little Ear said, “These are just a little token from brother. The hardship fee after success is separate. If you ever run short of grain, just tell brother—I’ll give it to you at wholesale price.”
Tsk, for his brother, this was really bleeding money.
Cao Weida sighed inwardly. With this kind of loyalty, no wonder he had made a name for himself.
“One thing at a time—these grains cost what they cost.”
Little Ear naturally didn’t want to take the money, but Cao Weida insisted on paying.
After a brief standoff, seeing Cao Weida’s firm attitude, he could only accept it.
“Brother is generous, so I’ll shamelessly take it.”
“That’s only right. Master Lian, you’re generous—I’m not stingy either.” Cao Weida smiled and, after paying, suddenly remembered he forgot to get some for Duomen. He added, “Almost forgot—add ten jin of cornmeal. How much?”
As he reached for money, Little Ear immediately stopped him. “This little bit is on me—no need to pay.”
This time Cao Weida didn’t insist further—any more politeness would be too disrespectful.
In a secluded spot, confirming no one was around, Cao Weida immediately stored all the bags in his space.
Sixty jin altogether—pretty heavy to carry.
Having bought so much grain at once, Cao Weida was in a good mood, humming a tune as he headed home.
But just as he reached the corner, a flashlight’s strong beam hit his face, followed by a shout:
“You, stop! What you doing!”
Cao Weida’s heart jolted, cursing himself for being too careless. He squinted toward the light.
He saw a little devil about 1.5 meters tall, in military uniform, aiming a Type 38 rifle at him warily. Flanking him were two puppet soldiers, watching him vigilantly too, their guns tracking with the little devil.
“Taijun, I’m one of us, one of us! I’m from the police station! My identification is in my left pants pocket—you can check it!” Cao Weida cursed the damn traitor inwardly but immediately put on a fawning smile, raising his hands in an obedient pose.
Three guns pointed at him. Though his physique was very strong and he could scale walls and leap roofs, he wasn’t Superman. At this range, any move and he didn’t think he could outrun bullets.
The little devil clearly didn’t understand him and could only speak a few phrases in Chinese.
Like “stop,” “die die,” “what you doing,” and such.
Little devils who understood Chinese were rare anyway—why else need translators?
But the two puppet soldiers clearly understood. Traitors though they were, they were Chinese people after all.
Hearing it was one of their own, their tense expressions eased, though they didn’t drop their guard.
Exchanging a glance, they slowly approached, first pressing Cao Weida against the wall, then starting to search him.
Cao Weida suppressed his inner rage and obediently let them search.
Soon, his identification was found. They checked it against the light, then against his face. A shifty-eyed traitor suddenly remembered and raised an eyebrow. “You’re Cao Weida, one of the Three Cowards of the Rat’s Gallbladder from the police station?”
Cao Weida’s mouth twitched. Three Cowards of the Rat’s Gallbladder: him, San’er, and Zong Xiangfang.
The nickname wasn’t flattering at all, but he hadn’t realized his reputation was already this “famous.”
Cao Weida smiled awkwardly. “Sir, you’ve got me.”
The other traitor asked doubtfully, “You know him?”
The first traitor sneered, “Know him? He’s infamous. Just ask around the station and you’ll hear—Three Cowards of the Rat’s Gallbladder, cowards! These three are always chicken-hearted. At the slightest danger, they run faster than rabbits.”
Cao Weida fumed inwardly. Fucking hell, talking like you’re some heroes.
The traitor realized upon hearing—it was a coward!
His initial wariness vanished, and he adopted an arrogant, haughty posture, barking:
“Hey, kid, what are you doing out so late? Confess honestly! If you bullshit, I’ll shoot you right now!”
“Hey hey hey, that hurts—go easy, we’re all on the same side!” Cao Weida yelped in pain, but got no sympathy from the two traitors. Instead, his head was smacked hard.
“Fuck, stay still! Who’s on your side, you stinking patrolman? Who do you think you are?!”
“No bullshit—answer what we ask. Talk back again and I’ll beat you to death!”
They wouldn’t dare act tough with the little devils or fight the Nationalists or Communist Party, but bullying their own? They had plenty of experience.
Fucking hell, now you’re playing the disdain chain?
You damn traitor, what the hell are you so cocky about!
“Yes yes yes, I’ll answer, I’ll answer.” Cao Weida obediently confessed, “We ran out of grain at home, so I came out to buy some.”
“Where’s the grain!” The traitor demanded fiercely, greed flashing in his eyes.
