Chapter 16: Jumping The Wall To The Kang Is No Good
That evening, Cao Weida secretly took Zheng Chaoyang to the warehouse. After personally inspecting this batch of supplies, he secretly contacted Luo Yong that same night.
After confirming they were all genuine, Luo Yong immediately reported to his superior.
The superior took this matter very seriously. After the Communist Party was established, they had always been short on supplies. Now that such a supplies deal had suddenly appeared, they naturally couldn’t miss it.
Zheng Chaoyang didn’t dare to slack off after receiving the reply and immediately contacted Cao Weida without delay.
Cao Weida said directly: You set the transaction location, just tell me right before departure, but one condition: the money must be brought.
With such sincerity shown, Zheng Chaoyang naturally wouldn’t hold things back. In fact, this batch of goods had indeed caught the Communist Party off guard, after all, the money wasn’t a small amount at all.
At eighty percent of the black market price, that was over 160,000 silver dollars!
But no matter how difficult, the Communist Party couldn’t just watch it slip away. They were already scrambling to gather the funds from all directions.
The higher-ups had said that even if they had to sell pots and iron, they must scrape together this sum!
Early the next morning, after roll call, Cao Weida carried a bag and found Ono Shiota.
“Ono-kun, I’m disturbing you again.”
“Cao Sang, take a seat quickly.” Seeing Cao Weida arrive, Ono Shiota smiled until his eyes were almost invisible.
This man was his God of Wealth. Even if not fawning over him, he still had to speak nicely, “We’re friends, no talk of disturbing or not. Come sit at my place more often when you have nothing to do.”
“Then I really will come disturb you more often from now on.” Cao Weida handed over the bag, “I pulled some strings to get you some tea leaves from your homeland, matcha, but the quantity is small, only two taels.”
“I was thinking, you’ve crossed oceans to come here to build the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, bearing heavy responsibilities, yet you can’t avoid missing your homeland.”
“So I took the liberty of finding some, hoping it can slightly ease your homesickness.”
“What?! It’s actually matcha?!” Ono Shiota was overjoyed and hurriedly took it, his eyes unable to hide his delight.
He gently sniffed it and showed an enjoying expression,
“Yōshi, it’s been so long since I smelled the taste of home. It’s truly unforgettable.”
“Cao Sang, you’ve gone to great trouble. Thank you so much!”
“No, no, I just did what little I could.” Cao Weida chuckled, though deep down he felt nothing but contempt.
This tea wasn’t some damned Japanese matcha at all, just ordinary Chinese matcha.
Matcha originated in China and was introduced to Japan during the Tang Dynasty, originally called macha tea, also known as tuan tea.
Macha tea was very popular during the Tang Dynasty. Perhaps because of this, the little devils who wanted to imitate everything Chinese at that time brought macha tea to Japan.
And those backward, barbaric little devils, how had they ever seen such an elegant way of drinking tea?
So, needless to say, macha tea was extremely popular in Japan and was once defined by the scholar-official class as an elegant tea.
Its influence even continued to the present day.
In reality, macha tea had long declined in China. In the tea ceremony, Chinese tea arts had already undergone multiple transformations.
How to drink macha tea?
Grind the tea leaves into powder, then brew and drink it. One sip fills the mouth with tea froth— just thinking about that taste tells you everything.
Not to mention modern Chinese people couldn’t get used to it; people in this era in China couldn’t either. By now, macha tea had long fallen out of favor, and high society scorned it entirely.
Only those who liked tea but had no money would buy some of this bulk tea to moisten their mouths.
And precisely because few people drank it, it actually wasn’t easy to find on the market.
Cao Weida had Little Ear collect some, which took quite a few connections, before buying some from a farmer outside the city.
After buying it back, Cao Weida had someone package it to look upscale, changed the name, and it became matcha.
Smelling the taste of home? More like smelling that farmer’s sweat odor.
A wild boar only deserves chaff feed!
Contempt aside, he flattered on his lips: “Such fine tea, a person like me couldn’t tell good from bad. It’s like a cow chewing peonies, completely wasted. Only someone with your status who understands tea tasting can be worthy of it.”
“In ancient times, a treasured sword matches a hero; now, fine tea matches you, bringing out the best in each other!”
It helped that Ono Shiota’s Chinese was pretty good; otherwise, he really wouldn’t catch the charm.
This flattery session thoroughly delighted Ono Shiota, who laughed so happily his big teeth nearly fell out.
“Alright, alright, Cao Sang, stop praising me. Tell me, you didn’t come today just to deliver tea, right.”
“They say nothing gets past Ono-kun.” Cao Weida pulled a gold bar from his pocket and slipped it over: “Well, I didn’t explain clearly before. There’s still a friend taken to the Gendarmerie Headquarters for cooperating with an investigation, so I’m troubling you again.”
“Haven’t you already met Fujita-kun? Just go to him directly.”
“Hey~~ How could that work? That would break the rules. I met Fujita-kun through you; how could I bypass you like jumping over the wall to the kang?” Cao Weida pushed the gold bar forward a bit more, “This still needs your help. Call Captain Fujita for me so I can go pick up the person.”
Ono Shiota laughed heartily, extremely satisfied with Cao Weida’s attitude.
No one likes someone who burns bridges after crossing. Ono Shiota was no exception. Seeing how rule-abiding Cao Weida was, how could he not be satisfied?
He heavily patted his shoulder, “Yōshi, Cao Sang, I was right about you. Sit tight, I’ll call Fujita-kun.”
“Wait a moment, Ono-kun, one more thing. That batch of supplies has found a buyer, but the transaction location isn’t set yet. We’ll notify the night after tomorrow. Mention it to Fujita-kun as well.”
“Yōshi, yōshi, that’s great! Really good news. Fujita-kun will be very pleased to hear it!”
This was a big deal. Though he wouldn’t get much, even a tenth wasn’t a small sum.
Seeing the silver dollars about to pour into his pocket, Ono Shiota’s face nearly cracked into a chrysanthemum smile.
“Moshi moshi, this is Ono Shiota. Connect me to Captain Fujita at the Gendarmerie Headquarters.”
After the call, the cheerful Ono Shiota shouted outside: “Someone come!”
A little devil came in and saluted respectfully, “Hai! What orders from the Major!”
“Go, take my car to Jade Spring Mountain and fetch me a few barrels of spring water. I want to invite Cao Sang to taste tea!”
“Fine tea needs fine water. Ordinary tap water can’t match such good tea.”
“Thank you for your kind intentions, Ono-kun, but I appreciate it. I’m just a rough man; how would I know such elegant things as tea tasting?” Cao Weida hurriedly declined,
“Next time, next time I’ll taste Ono-kun’s tea arts. I need to go visit Major Fujita right away. My ‘friend’s’ family members are waiting for my news.”
What a joke—even if drinking tea, he didn’t want to drink this macha tea. One sip left a mouth full of tea froth; it would make him spit it out!
If he really stayed, he’d suffer drinking it, couldn’t show it, and had to pretend to enjoy it—just thinking about it was miserable enough.
He wouldn’t seek trouble where there was none.
“That’s truly a pity. Alright then, I won’t keep you.”
Time soon reached the appointed evening.
Zheng Chaoyang also confirmed the transaction location and time.
At the time, Fujita Sosuke would personally lead the team to deliver the supplies to the appointed location.
Fujita Sosuke was Captain Fujita’s full name. Once the supplies were transported there, it would be cash on one side, goods on the other.
After notifying Ono Shiota, Cao Weida hurried to find Little Ear without delay.
“Brother, everything I asked you to prepare before—is it all ready?”
Little Ear patted his chest in guarantee: “Don’t worry, Cao Ge. You can trust me with things. I’ve gathered all the reliable brothers, fifty in total, ready for your orders anytime.”
“Good. Now go give the orders. Split these people into two groups. One group just handles unloading and loading the goods, then leaves after finishing.”
“The other group will escort the supplies out of the city at the time. Once outside the city, someone will take over, and after handover, withdraw immediately.”
“Remember, tell the brothers to keep their mouths shut. Don’t ask anything, don’t say anything—just do the job.”
“After it’s done, the reward money won’t be shortchanged. I’ve already booked a feast at Donglaishun, and I’ll arrange Bada Hutong for the brothers too.”
Little Ear didn’t refuse, his smiling face showing respect:
“Everything as per your orders, Cao Ge. I’ll thank you on behalf of the brothers for the treat first.”
“Rest assured, if any of these guys can’t control their mouths, no need for you to say—I’ll handle them myself, then come to you with a whip on my back to apologize!”
Cao Weida satisfiedly patted his shoulder, said nothing, yet said everything—all was understood without words.
One o’clock in the midnight.
A remote, open area south of the city.
A roar of car engines added some sound to the quiet night.
A convoy without markings—but anyone with eyes could tell it was little devils’—slowly drove up. Orange-yellow headlights brought a bit of light to the darkness.
“Japanese Army military people!” Zheng Chaoyang wasn’t nervous at all; instead, he was somewhat excited.
This batch of supplies was all Japanese-made, but he had previously thought it was from something like the Japanese Chamber of Commerce. Who would have thought it was actually the military!
The military and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce were two different things!
If Cao Weida was cooperating with the Japanese Army military, the safety factor would rise several levels!
Cao Weida tilted his head to glance at him and smiled faintly, “Wait a moment.”
With that, he raised his hand and went forward to meet the convoy.
The convoy stopped not far from Cao Weida. Fujita jumped down from the car, pointed to the convoy behind him, and said: “Cao Sang, the things are all here.”
“Fujita-kun, you’ve had a hard journey. The rest is up to them.” Saying so, he beckoned to the back.
Little Ear led people carrying a wooden chest over. It was clear Little Ear and his men were a bit nervous.
They weren’t without experience seeing Japanese people, but they really hadn’t been this close.
Cao Weida patted Little Ear’s shoulder to reassure him, then said to Fujita: “The money is all here. Silver dollars are too heavy, so I exchanged them all for gold and US dollars— all 100-dollar old bills.”
Fujita beckoned without turning his head, and several people immediately came out from the convoy. Then they began inspecting under the headlights.
While they checked the money, Little Ear’s people also began verifying the goods.
Time passed in a flash. The little devils’ inspectors nodded to Fujita.
Little Ear’s people also whispered a few words to Little Ear.
