Chapter 227: A Favor That Costs Nothing, He Doesn’t Mind Doing It
“Cao Ye, calm down, calm down. There’s no other way. The Taijuns have blocked the city gate. It’s not this vegetable delivery brother’s fault.”
Lu Ju gave Xu Jin’ge a look, signaling him to leave quickly.
Before, he had some respect for Cao Weida.
For no other reason, he dared to shoot Patrol Officer Dong Xiaozhen dead right in the police station courtyard, and afterward, nothing happened to him at all. That alone showed how indulgent and tolerant Ono Taijun was toward Cao Weida.
Now, he was taken from the police station office in the morning and out by noon, and when he spoke, his breath reeked of alcohol. Clearly, he had been well fed and wined.
With that kind of relationship, just thinking about it made it feel solid!
Now that there was a chance to do a favor without effort, he naturally didn’t mind doing it.
Just a small vegetable vendor. With so many people in the blockade area, they wouldn’t miss one!
But he didn’t know that this effortless favor let the one anti-Japanese element he was supposed to catch escape—and it was a big fish!
The disguised Xu Jin’ge hurriedly smiled obsequiously. “I’m leaving now, leaving now.”
Carrying his load, he let out a huge sigh of relief inside.
Good thing, good thing. My life wasn’t meant to end yet!
He had just been planning to resist at the checkpoint—either escape or get shot dead on the spot.
He never expected to luckily run into Cao Weida!
He looked back once. This was a life-saving grace.
After Lu Ju’s good persuasion, Cao Weida seemed to calm down. He took out a pack of cigarettes, lit one and put it in his mouth, then stuffed the rest directly into Lu Ju’s hand.
“This, this…”
“Hey, what’s with all that? We’re all colleagues and brothers. No need to be polite with me.”
“Then thank you, Cao Ye!” Lu Ju grinned from ear to ear, took out one and lit it too. A pack of cigarettes wasn’t worth much, but it showed attitude!
He lit up and took a drag, looking at the chaotic blockade area, raising an eyebrow as he asked: “What’s going on? How did you know the anti-Japanese element was inside?”
“Hey, I heard they’re catching some Kuomintang special agent. Seems like he has some kind of secret on him, hiding in this blockade area.” Lu Ju puffed contentedly on his cigarette.
“We don’t understand the rest. We just follow orders from above.”
“By the way, Cao Ye, you’re well-informed. Do you know what the ten-day citywide search was about before?”
“To be honest, the brothers below complain to me every day. They search all the time but don’t even know what they’re searching for. They’ve grumbled a ton.”
“How would I know? But today at the Bamboo Agency, I heard it seems like they lost some treasure. I didn’t dare ask for details.” At this point, Cao Weida paused and earnestly patted his shoulder:
“I advise you: we’re all just drawing a salary to feed our families. It’s best to know less. Just mind your own patch of land.”
“Too much curiosity isn’t always a good thing.”
“Yes, yes, yes. You’re right, Cao Ye.” Lu Ju gave an awkward laugh. “I was just curious for a moment. I’ll definitely keep my mouth shut from now on.”
Cao Weida smiled. “Don’t be nervous. I didn’t say anything. Just chatting between brothers.”
Lu Ju nodded with a dry laugh. In his mind, Cao Weida was even more untouchable than Bureau Chief Xu Hancheng.
With Cao Weida’s relationship with Officer Ono and the others, even a couple of bad words in private could cost lives!
Plus, that morning at the police station, Little Ear and the others dared to draw guns and confront the little devils from the Bamboo Agency. That showed Cao Weida had no shortage of bold, fighting brothers!
Protected by connections above and backed by brothers below, how could he dare offend someone like that?
So his strategy was: befriend if possible, but never offend!
Finishing his cigarette, Cao Weida dropped the cigarette butt on the ground and stamped it out. “Alright, you guys carry on. But I have to remind you: Beiping is getting more and more unstable these days. The anti-Japanese elements are getting more active.”
“If you don’t want them targeting you, don’t go overboard. We’re all Chinese people, right?”
Lu Ju nodded eagerly. He understood the meaning in his words. “Yes, yes, yes. You’re right, Cao Ye. We’re all Chinese people. I get it.”
Then he turned and yelled at the patrolmen barking orders at the people: “All of you, attitude a bit milder! Think being patrolmen makes you so cocky!”
The patrolmen: “？？？？？？”
What did we do?
Wasn’t it always like this before?
We’ve even held back a lot more than before.
Cao Weida chuckled inwardly but had no intention of staying. “Alright, Patrol Officer Lu, carry on. I’ll head out.”
“Sure thing, you go ahead.”
Just as Cao Weida was about to leave, an excited shout came: “Cao Ye, Cao Ye!!”
Cao Weida turned and instantly felt awful.
Damn it, him again!
Lu Ju probed: “Cao Ye, you know him?”
“Way too familiar!” Cao Weida forced a smile, slapping his forehead. “He was caught before. Last time at the police station, he was one of the people that idiot Dong Xiaozhen grabbed.”
Lu Ju thought carefully, vaguely recalling the scene that day. He suddenly realized: “Oh~~ I remember. Named Jia—”
“Boss, I’m Jia Guangzheng!” Jia Guangzheng ran over panting, smiling humbly.
“Right, right, you.” Lu Ju finally remembered and said speechlessly: “What are you doing here?”
Jia Guangzheng wailed: “Boss, I don’t want to be here either. But my home has run out of food. My son is swollen from hunger. I heard cheap mixed grain was for sale nearby, so I came to buy some.”
“But I couldn’t buy any grain and now I’m stuck here unable to leave.”
Lu Ju: “.”
That was really unlucky. He asked Cao Weida: “Cao Ye, what do you think?”
“…Let him out. Him? You think he’s an anti-Japanese element?” Cao Weida sighed. He now truly suspected Jia Guangzheng was possessed by a jinx—why was he always involved?
Could there really be some heavenly will?
“Fine, go out that way.”
One sheep or two, might as well let them go. With Jia Guangzheng’s cowardly look, he really didn’t seem like an anti-Japanese element. This favor was easy to grant.
“Thank you, Cao Ye! Thank you, Boss!” Jia Guangzheng was overjoyed and hurriedly came out, bowing nonstop to them.
But then he hesitantly looked at Cao Weida: “Um, Cao Ye, could I ask you for a favor?”
“What favor?”
Cao Weida rolled his eyes and asked listlessly.
He really didn’t want to deal with this guy. He was afraid of catching his bad luck.
But since they’d met, especially seeing his pitiful state, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse.
Fine, he’d helped so many times already. Plus, he’d made a good amount of money off him. It wouldn’t do not to help.
“Um… Cao Ye, could you help me get some grain?” Jia Guangzheng’s face was full of pleading.
“The kids at home are so hungry they can’t walk. If I can’t buy food again, I’m afraid… I’m…”
As he spoke, tears streamed down.
Because of him, the family owed a pile of debt.
Now Beiping’s grain prices were changing daily, especially with the blockade of the past ten days or so—prices had more than doubled.
Even if you had money, you might not be able to buy grain.
The family was already skipping meals, and now two full days without food. If he couldn’t get grain, he really feared someone would starve to death.
Among the capable people he knew, there was no one but Cao Weida.
But to boldly ask Cao Weida for help? He really didn’t have the courage.
If he hadn’t run into Cao Weida today, he really wouldn’t have dared approach.
They say a man doesn’t shed tears lightly, but if there were any other way, he wouldn’t be like this.
“Alright, alright. Big man, who are you crying for?” Cao Weida impatiently interrupted his tearful display. He hated most when grown men whimpered.
Though he knew the guy was helpless and desperate, with the energy for crying, he could think of solutions instead.
Crying all day—would solutions fall from the sky?
Or was it just to cry for me, to gain my sympathy?
Chastised like this, Jia Guangzheng immediately stopped crying subserviently, though misery still covered his face.
“Fine, fine. Go to the police station and find Little Ear. Tell him I said to sell you a few pounds of mixed grain.”
As time passed, Beiping’s grain was becoming more and more precious, with prices steadily rising.
Even without these ten days of blockade, grain prices wouldn’t stop climbing.
Getting some mixed grain now was already good. Pure grain was out of the question.
He, Cao Weida, was kind-hearted, but he wasn’t a saint.
“Thank you, Cao Ye! Thank you, Cao Ye! You’re like our Jia family’s reborn parents. I…”
“Stop!” Cao Weida irritably waved to interrupt. Reborn parents? I don’t have sons and grandsons as big as you. Don’t try to get chummy.
He turned to Lu Ju: “Patrol Officer Lu, I’m off. Carry on.”
After leaving the scene, Cao Weida didn’t head to the police station but turned toward Sesame Hutong instead.
Just near home, a figure carrying vegetables appeared before Cao Weida.
“Cough cough.”
Cao Weida coughed. Seeing the man notice, he turned into a small alley.
Soon, Xu Jin’ge, disguised as a vegetable delivery man, slipped over.
“Cao Ye, thank you for today. I owe you another favor.” Even now, Xu Jin’ge still felt a lingering fear. Without Cao Weida, he definitely would’ve been exposed today.
“Enough, we’re all on the same side. Saying that makes it awkward.” Cao Weida chuckled and waved it off. After the victory against Japan, Xu Jin’ge was no small figure anyway, and he was one who repaid favors. Cao Weida was very happy to accept it.
“But what exactly happened today? How did you end up safely blocked there?”
According to Lu Ju, they had purposefully blockaded the area, a full blockade at that. Even if they didn’t know there were anti-Japanese elements, they at least had strong suspicions.
This absolutely couldn’t be a coincidence.
