Chapter 228: A Belly Full Of Evil Schemes Churning
Speaking of this, Xu Jin’ge gritted his teeth, eyes flashing with murderous intent as he said: “A traitor has appeared in our team!”
“Someone in the team passed on secret intelligence, saying they obtained the little devil’s strategic deployment for attacking Henan. I went to make contact and pick up the intelligence today.”
“After the time arrived, just as I was about to make contact, I discovered it was a trap—this contact was purely a lure to make us fall into it!”
“But the news came a step too late. Seeing the contact time arrive with no one showing up, they suspected we’d seen through the trap, so they sealed off the entire area. Those special agents are checking every shop inside one by one.”
“If you hadn’t happened to pass by and recognized me from the crowd, I might have been done for today!”
“Your team must have been infiltrated like a sieve by now.” Cao Weida was speechless. Good grief, these traitors were popping up one after another.
Previously, because of a traitor, the entire Military Statistics Bureau intelligence station in Beiping had suffered heavy losses, and now another one.
Xu Jin’ge felt a wave of embarrassment, followed by a wave of fury.
In his heart, he wished he could tear these vermin limb from limb!
“Don’t worry, after I get back, I will definitely find this traitor!”
“If I don’t grind his bones to dust and scatter his ashes, I’ll write my name Xu Hancheng backwards!”
It was clear that Xu Jin’ge was burning with rage.
But it was no wonder—if he hadn’t been alert, if he hadn’t run into me just in time, Xu Jin’ge might have heroically sacrificed himself today.
This was a life-and-death grudge; it would be strange if he didn’t hate them.
Cao Weida gave him a sympathetic look. Risking his life working in the Military Statistics Bureau, which was practically a sieve, was truly grueling.
“Alright then, be more careful next time. I don’t want you to get caught and give me up too.”
Xu Jin’ge said resolutely: “Don’t worry, even if I die, I, Xu Jin’ge, will absolutely never betray any hero resisting Japan!”
Hearing this, Cao Weida couldn’t help but roll his eyes inwardly, thinking to himself:
Give me a break!
Most of those Communist Party revolutionary comrades have much stronger willpower than you!
Even so, those who can withstand torture are few and far between!
“Old Xu, I don’t doubt your determination to resist Japan, but never mind, let’s not talk about that. I just hope you’ll be cautious—extra cautious. After all, only by preserving your useful body can you better contribute to the War of Resistance, right?”
He added inwardly: Whether you live or die is secondary; just don’t drag me down.
Xu Jin’ge nodded silently. He could tell Cao Weida didn’t believe his oath, but he couldn’t exactly get himself captured to prove it.
But Cao Weida was right—only by preserving your useful body could you better contribute to the War of Resistance.
“From now on, for a while, I’ll be called Old Liu the Fourth, in charge of buying vegetables for your residence.”
When putting on an act, you had to do it thoroughly. That patrol officer already knew he was buying vegetables for Cao Weida’s residence, so if he didn’t put on a show, it would easily raise suspicions.
Cao Weida naturally understood this reason and nodded: “Alright, then I’ll trouble you.”
“Okay, I’ll head back first. You can coordinate directly with the butler at my residence.”
The next day, right after Cao Wei arrived at the police station for roll call, he was told that Officer Ono wanted to see him.
“Hm? Ono-kun is out of the hospital?”
Cao Weida put on a happy expression and hurried toward Ono Shiota’s office.
“Ono-kun, congratulations on being discharged! Why didn’t you give me a heads-up so I could pick you up!”
As soon as he entered the office, Cao Weida started flattering away.
“Yōshi, Cao Sang, you’re here. Sit, sit.”
Seeing it was Cao Weida, Ono Shiota familiarly poured him a cup of tea, smiling broadly:
“I don’t think I dare let you pick me up again. Last time you got me in real trouble~~”
Though he said that, the lecherous grin on his face spoke of utter satisfaction, as if he were still savoring that night’s pleasures.
“But you know, thanks to this waist issue of mine, or else I’d have been eating melons too.”
Eleven days had passed, and there was still no news of that batch of gold. Little devil headquarters knew it was probably gone for good.
Though they hadn’t given up the strict checks in Beiping, it had shifted from a must-do to mere routine.
What else could they do? They’d checked everywhere they could, and aside from finding the truck that had been driven into Shashahai based on the tire tracks from that convoy, they hadn’t found a hair.
Because of this, big and small little devil officers throughout Beiping had all been scolded to some extent.
And Ono Shiota, having been injured and hospitalized, was one of the few officers who escaped the scolding.
“As they say, misfortune hides fortune, and fortune hides misfortune. You’re blessed by heaven itself—even the gods are on your side!” Cao Weida lobbed another perfectly pitched flattery.
You wouldn’t believe it, but Ono Shiota loved that kind of flattery. Hearing it, he cackled gleefully.
“You’re good with words, Cao Sang. By the way, I heard Bamboo Agency summoned you yesterday. Nothing serious, right?”
“Nah, nothing. Just a routine questioning. And about that Kawashima Yoshiko I mentioned before—last time it got postponed because you were injured. This time she came to me again, but I couldn’t let it drag you, Ono-kun, or Fujita-kun into it, so I firmly refused.”
No need to hide this sort of thing—being open about it was best. It didn’t involve anything secretive anyway.
Being upfront like that would actually increase Ono Shiota’s trust.
Sure enough, Ono Shiota was very satisfied with Cao Weida’s tell-all approach and chuckled:
“You did the right thing. This matter involves too much; we shouldn’t get mixed up in it. Better to stay out of trouble.”
“That’s what I thought too. By the way, Ono-kun, can you think of a way to get another batch of grain in? Beiping’s been short on grain like crazy due to the blockade lately—perfect chance to make a killing!”
Hearing there was money to be made, Ono Shiota’s heart stirred.
But he hesitated, saying: “It’s not that I don’t want to make money, but almost all grain is being shipped to the front lines now. It’s tricky…”
“Got it!” Cao Weida’s mind bubbled with mischief. After pretending to ponder, he spoke.
At these words, Ono Shiota’s eyes lit up: “Oh? Cao Sang, you’ve got an idea?”
“I do have one idea, but I don’t know if you’ll go for it.”
Cao Weida’s hesitant act had Ono Shiota on edge. He urged: “Whether I’ll go for it, you have to say it first! Quick, out with it!”
Seeing his eager look, Cao Weida chuckled inwardly. This little devil Ono Shiota was totally obsessed with money now.
But wasn’t that exactly what he wanted?
If Ono Shiota were some desireless fanatic yelling “Long live the Emperor,” he’d have taken him out long ago and let another little devil take the seat.
He glanced around stealthily and whispered conspiratorially: “Ono-kun, didn’t I tell you before? Get on good terms with those Communist Party guerrilla teams. Now we’ve got the perfect excuse.”
Ono Shiota asked in surprise: “How so?”
He remembered Cao Weida had indeed said that before, but what did it have to do with this?
“Think about it, Ono-kun—what do those guerrilla teams do?”
“Resist Japan, duh!” Ono Shiota replied without hesitation.
“.”
Spot on!
“Cough cough~~ What I mean is, how do they resist Japan?”
“Of course—oh~~~ I get it. You mean we deliberately cooperate with the Communist Party, let them ‘rob’ the supplies we’re sending to the front?”
Ono Shiota was a half-China expert, having read some Chinese history and the Thirty-Six Stratagems.
Half-baked as it was, he vaguely recalled something like that, though he couldn’t remember the name.
But it didn’t matter; he got the gist.
“Ono-kun, you’re brilliant—gets it right away!” Cao Weida couldn’t help giving a thumbs-up, showering him with praise.
“Of course, we can’t let them help for free. Out of the robbed supplies, we pay them one-tenth as labor fee, and they return the remaining nine-tenths intact.”
“Once we have the supplies, we resell them for pure silver dollars and crisp greenbacks! Zero-cost business!”
“Plus, we don’t have to worry about any risk—all the blame points to the Communist Party.”
“The Communist Party is already against us. Attacking transports to stop us from supplying the front is totally normal. Even the higher-ups couldn’t complain!”
Flattered, Ono Shiota beamed. The idea thrilled him, but he had concerns:
“Your method sounds good, but how can you guarantee those guerrilla teams will return the supplies after ‘robbing’ them?”
“If they don’t, wouldn’t it be like throwing meat buns to the dog—gone for good?”
“Didn’t expect Ono-kun to know our Chinese idioms. Your subordinate admires you!” Cao Weida gave Ono Shiota a big thumbs-up. When praise was due, he was never stingy.
“But rest assured. First, the Communist Party values integrity above all and won’t go back on their word.”
Ono Shiota nodded—that was true. Though enemies, and though he hated the Communist Party deep down for forcing the little devils to stick to occupied territory cities, he had to admit they were rock-solid on credit and always kept their word.
“Second is even stronger interest binding.” Cao Weida said confidently and assuredly:
“.”
“
