Chapter 249: Here Comes Your Bro
Zhao Si’er didn’t dare hide anything at all and told everything exactly as it happened.
The matter sounds complicated, but it’s actually very simple: Zhao Si’er was set up.
As mentioned before, Little Ear is a Jianghu man and knows all about these things.
Cao Weida wanted to laugh a bit. He had Little Ear keep an eye on Kawakami Kyoju, but then found out his brother had been tricked by others.
This damn
“These bastards are too much!”
“They took advantage of me being drunk to set me up, loaned me 150 silver dollars and made me pay back 300!”
“Don’t let me get a chance, or if I do, I’ll definitely kill those two bastards Gouzi and Old Six!”
Zhao Si’er rubbed the places where he was beaten, indignant and tearfully grateful as he said to Cao Weida: “Cao Ye, thank you! My life is yours now. In the future, whenever you give an order, just say the word, and I’ll go through mountain of knives and pot of oil to get it done for you!”
“Enough, why would I want you to go through mountain of knives and pot of oil? Don’t be ridiculous!”
Cao Weida rolled his eyes and said irritably: “Just consider it a case of losing money to avert disaster. You need to know, ten bets nine cheats, not betting is winning!”
“Remember this lesson firmly. If you dare go to the gambling house again, don’t blame me for not showing mercy or caring about you!”
“Here with me, whether gambler or drug ghost, neither deserves sympathy!”
“Yes, Cao Ye, rest assured, I definitely won’t set foot in a gambling house again!” Zhao Si’er quickly promised. This lesson was too profound; he didn’t dare go into a gambling house anymore.
If Cao Ye hadn’t come to redeem him, and his hand got chopped off
Just thinking about the consequences made him shudder.
“Cao Ye, rest assured, I’ll definitely pay you back this money, but I don’t have that much temporarily and can only pay it back slowly. I…”
“Alright, alright, no rush on paying back the money; we’ll talk later.” Cao Weida waved his hand. He had no intention of taking this money back. Three hundred silver dollars—with Zhao Si’er’s salary, after daily expenses for his whole family, when would he ever pay it off?
Having this intention is enough, as long as the other party remains loyal, the money is well spent.
Of course, if the other party is an ungrateful wolf, he wouldn’t mind letting him know that Cao Weida isn’t some pushover!
“This matter ends here. Don’t go to work today; go back and rest well.”
He wasn’t planning to settle this score for now. He couldn’t make enemies today and kill them tomorrow, right?
Too obvious.
Even if he wanted revenge, he had to use overt means.
And for overt means, he really didn’t have a great way to deal with the other side.
Don’t think that as a prominent figure in the Outer Fifth District now, dealing with Guo Dashuai backed by Cui Qi is that easy.
He is Ono Shiota’s man and can be seen as a representative of the little devils.
While Guo Dashuai is Cui Qi’s man, and Cui Qi falls under Wang Kemin’s puppet government.
Even the little devils treat Wang Kemin’s issue with caution.
Although Beiping is overtly the little devils’ world on the surface, it also involves the power struggle between the little devils and Wang Kemin’s puppet government, not as simple as it seems.
But he never expected that soon, he would have a reason to have to deal with Guo Dashuai!
This is set aside for now.
After sending Zhao Si’er to his doorstep and letting him go home, he took a car all the way back to the police station.
Then, without stopping, he went straight to Ono Shiota’s office.
“Ono-kun, I’m back.”
“Cao Sang, you’re finally back. Come, sit. How did it go?”
“Thanks to you, everything went smoothly.” Cao Weida smiled and sat down, asking: “Ono-kun, when I left, you said there was something to discuss. What is it? Just give the order.”
“Cao Sang, how’s the contact with the Communist Party side?”
“Mission accomplished. Through an intermediary’s introduction, we met privately, and they agreed.”
“Yōshi, that’s reassuring. Take a look at this.”
Ono Shiota handed over a map. Cao Weida opened it and saw a road segment from Wanping to Baoding Train Station marked on it.
There was a red circle mark at a spot near Liangxiang.
“Ono-kun, this is…”
“This is the logistics transportation line. The circle you see is the location I marked for you.”
“The day after tomorrow, the transport team will depart from Wanping. We’ve made arrangements for the trucks to break down at that spot. Find a way to notify the Communist Party guerrilla team; they’ll have one hour to unload the goods and blow up the trucks.”
Oh, so it’s just as I guessed!
Cao Weida understood in his heart. When Ono Shiota said there was something to discuss upon his return from the gambling house, he had guessed it might be this.
“Ono-kun, I want to know exactly what goods are in this shipment and how much.”
“Ten tons of rice, twenty cases of sulfonamide, rifles, bullets, light and heavy machine guns, worth about 230,000 silver dollars.”
“230,000 silver dollars?!”
Cao Weida was shocked by this number.
No need to mention sulfonamide—it’s strategic military medicine. At its most expensive, one vial cost two gold bars.
But a total value of 230,000…
Oh, got it—the grain price is high!
In occupied territory at this time, the price of rice was a full 7 silver dollars per jin!
That’s right, you didn’t misread: 7 silver dollars per jin of rice!
And even with money, you might not be able to buy it!
Ten tons of rice, 20,000 jin, that’s 140,000 silver dollars!
That accounts for more than half the value of this batch of supplies!
Actually, this amount of grain isn’t much. The standard bag at this time is 50 jin per bag, just 400 bags.
This quantity is only enough for 10,000 people for two or three days.
Compared to the little devils’ transport lines that ship hundreds of tons at a time, it’s nothing special.
To put it bluntly, the high total price is entirely propped up by the rice price.
“So many supplies—obviously too much for a single guerrilla team to take away.”
After pondering for a moment, Cao Weida said: “Ono-kun, blowing up all these trucks would be too wasteful. The supplies aren’t easy to transport either. Can they drive them away?”
The Communist Party lacks not only supplies but also trucks, which are extremely scarce.
The little devils’ trucks generally have low load capacity, around 1.5 to 3 tons.
Averaging 2 tons per truck, this batch would require at least ten trucks.
Blowing up so many trucks would be too wasteful; better to drive them to the anti-Japanese base area.
Ono Shiota thought about it and agreed. With so many supplies, relying on guerrillas to carry and pull by hand wouldn’t be convenient.
The issue isn’t the quantity; it’s the weight.
So he nodded and said: “I’ll arrange a few extra trucks. Then blow up the surplus ones, so I have something to report upstairs.”
“But I have one condition: Arakawa Naoto, the captain transporting this batch, must die!”
As he spoke, he took a photograph from the drawer and handed it to Cao Weida, adding: “Not only that, I also hope you’ll participate personally.”
“No problem. That Arakawa Naoto will definitely die in Liangxiang!” Cao Weida took the photo, looked at it, and agreed readily.
He didn’t bother asking who this Arakawa Naoto was, whether he’d offended Ono Shiota or some little devil officer—it had nothing to do with him.
Anyway, just a little devil. Killing one is all gain no loss. Why dig deeper?
“But, Ono-kun, you’re sending me personally—they’re the Communist Party. Isn’t it inappropriate for me to go?”
“If other Taijun find out, I…”
“Cao Sang, rest assured, no one will blame you for this.” Ono Shiota reassured him: “I guarantee no imperial soldier will trouble you over this.”
“This is our first cooperation with the Communist Party, and without one of our own watching, I’m still a bit worried. Please understand, Cao Sang.”
“…” After a moment of silence, Cao Weida nodded helplessly: “Alright, Ono-kun, rest assured. I’ll do my best to convince them to take me along.”
This works out well. He was planning to find time to go outside the city to place medicine anyway—this was a ready opportunity.
“Yōshi! Perfect!” Ono Shiota nodded satisfied. “Right, there’s also a local Security Regiment truck in the convoy. The higher-ups mean to make it clean.”
“The officers don’t want anyone coming back alive!”
Tsk, what’s the deal with this Security Regiment?
Whatever, let the Communist Party worry about it. I just need to pass the message.
“I’ll convey this exactly as is. Ono-kun, time is tight, so I’ll go make contact.”
“Oh right, Ono-kun, where should the goods be placed after unloading? Need me to find a spot outside the city?”
“Good idea. There’s a saying in China: don’t trouble the second master for one thing. Then I’ll trouble you, Cao Sang. Rest assured, after it’s done, you won’t be shortchanged.”
“Hi, Ono-kun, you’re too polite. Serving you is my honor. Time is tight, so I’ll take my leave.”
After leaving Ono Shiota’s office, Cao Weida went downstairs. Passing the cipher room, he deliberately made some noise.
After confirming Zheng Chaoyang saw him, he didn’t stop and quickly left the police station.
After getting off duty at noon, inside a tea house.
Cao Weida sat at the tea table, leisurely sipping tea while listening to Zhang Chao singing clapper.
That’s right, Zhang Chao, Du Shiniang’s husband from the original story.
When watching the TV series, some cheeky comments said Zhang Chao might be a eunuch or living monk. Cao Weida hadn’t pulled down his trousers, so he wasn’t too sure.
Cao Weida tapped the table with his fingers, occasionally sipping tea, leaning back in the chair listening to the clapper.
You have to say, the clapper from this era is still quite interesting to listen to.
At that moment, a man with a full beard and round top hat sat across from him.
“Here you are, brother.”
Cao Weida showed no surprise and picked up the teapot to pour him a cup.
