Chapter 28: Should I Annoy Him Or Annoy Him?
It’s no wonder Cao Weida only just met them. Logically speaking, they all live near Tianqiao, and he is a patrolman, so he should have run into them before.
But who could help it that Tian Zao was always leading these boys to either steal chickens or touch dogs all day? Whenever they ran into him, this patrolman, they basically always avoided him.
Thinking of the TV series where Tian Zao led those fatherless and motherless orphans struggling to survive, he felt a bit heartbroken.
When poor, take care of oneself; when successful, aid the world. Cao Weida didn’t have that high ability, but he now had no worries about food and drink. Within his means, he was willing to do what he could for his fellow countrymen.
“You’re Tian Zao, right?” Cao Weida walked over and showed what he thought was his kindest smile.
But these little guys were startled, shrinking timidly behind Tian Zao and looking at him with fearful eyes. Cao Weida even started doubting himself—could I really look that fierce?
Tian Zao was even more like an old hen protecting her chicks, shielding the boys behind her and warily watching Cao Weida.
“Officer, do you need something? We haven’t done anything wrong!”
Cao Weida chuckled. Was this admitting guilt without being asked or what?
I haven’t even asked anything yet.
“Don’t be nervous. I’m not here to arrest you. I have a job for you to help with. If you can do it well…”
He pulled three silver dollars from his pocket and tossed them lightly. The crisp clink of the silver dollars colliding was especially clear. “Here, this is your reward.”
Tian Zao’s eyes lit up, but she didn’t reach out. Instead, she became even more vigilant. “Tell us what it is first. But I’m warning you upfront—we don’t do illegal things or anything harmful to heaven and reason.”
“You’ve got a strong sense of vigilance.” Cao Weida smiled, not minding too much. “But don’t worry, it’s nothing difficult. You wander around here often, so you must be very familiar with the area, right?”
“Here’s the deal: go help me inquire if there are any courtyards for sale nearby. Preferably a single-entry courtyard.”
He had plenty of money in hand, but keeping it there only made noise. Better to spend it.
And buying a house became his top choice. He even planned to buy several more as backups.
Now that Du Shiniang had agreed to be his concubine, who knew if he might take a liking to a few more in the future?
Better safe than sorry.
“Just this?” Tian Zao could hardly believe it. She hadn’t expected it to be something so simple!
Because of the little devils’ ravages, Beiping City was in turmoil now. Anyone with any means had basically fled with their families. As a result, while there weren’t many empty houses in Beiping City, careful inquiring would still turn some up.
But such a simple task came with three dollars’ reward. How suspicious was that?
Three silver dollars—many people’s monthly salary might not even reach that. For example, female police officers in Beiping only made about two or three silver dollars a month.
Alright, he was finally doing a good deed, yet he was being doubted again and again. Cao Weida gave a wry smile, but thinking about these half-grown kids who were truly pitiful—they’d tasted plenty of the world’s coldness—he could understand.
“Just this. I can pay the reward upfront. I need it pretty urgently, so you have to find it for me quickly, but don’t let on to the sellers. Got it?”
“Sure, we can do that! You came to the right person!” Thinking it over, it seemed she wouldn’t lose out. Tian Zao’s eyes shone as she reached out her hand.
This bit of small change naturally didn’t matter to the wealthy Cao Weida, who handed it over smoothly.
“But I’m saying this upfront: the courtyard doesn’t need to be big, but it has to be good. Don’t get me some rundown mess to fob me off.”
Tian Zao stared fixedly at the silver dollars. “No way, I’ll definitely find you a good one!”
“Since that’s settled, consider the deal done. Come on, I’ll take you to eat. Even the emperor doesn’t starve his troops.”
Tian Zao looked puzzled. This guy was really strange—such a generous reward for such a simple task was one thing, but now he was treating them to dinner too?
Hadn’t he seen how many mouths they had?
She probed, “You mean treat us?”
Cao Weida wanted to laugh but also felt a pang of sympathy. They were just kids, yet so sensible so young. In later generations, these children should be spoiled in their parents’ arms. What a damned world.
Back at the stewed offal stall: “Boss, give each of them a serving of stewed offal. Put it on my tab.”
“Eat up, as much as you want!”
“Hey, boss, give them extra offal in each serving. Here, are two silver dollars enough?”
“More than enough. These boys have really hit the jackpot running into you.”
“Hey, what jackpot? These kids are pretty pitiful. If I can help, I will.” After paying, Cao Weida tossed a word to Tian Zao—”Come find me at Yan Dai Xie Jie when you find one”—and left directly.
“This guy’s really weird.” Watching his departing back and touching the silver dollars in her pocket, Tian Zao muttered.
“You bratty girl,” the boss laughed and scolded. “He’s kindly treating you to dinner, and you call him weird? Be careful he hears and comes back for you.”
“Hmph, a black-skinned guy having such a good heart?” Tian Zao huffed defiantly. They were orphans, not fixed in one place, though mostly around Tianqiao. The people around were familiar and would show them a bit of pity.
The boss shook his head and countered, “If you mean other black-skinned guys, I really couldn’t say. But Patrolman Cao is genuinely a rare good man. You got lucky today.”
“You haven’t dealt with him much, so you don’t know. Patrolman Cao is actually pretty good. Ever since he came to our area… Never mind. Why tell you all this? Just know he’s not a bad guy. You just wait and eat your fill.”
Tian Zao nodded thoughtfully, then her eyes darted as she grinned. “Boss Sun, skip the extra serving of stewed offal. Just give me the change from the rest.”
“You sly girl, sharp as a tack. Fine, here you go.” Boss Sun chuckled helplessly but didn’t refuse.
Tian Zao and these kids often wandered nearby, so he naturally knew them and knew how tough they had it.
That extra stewed offal money might keep these little ones from going hungry for a couple meals.
Sometimes he’d have a soft heart and give them leftovers, but he was just an ordinary person. Keeping his own family fed was hard enough; he truly had more heart than means to help.
Now with Cao Weida footing the bill, he didn’t mind doing this easy good deed.
“Add extra sesame oil and cilantro, and some lard too.”
“Fine, adding it. There you go, you little clever clogs.”
“Uncle Sun, me too! Me too!”
“And me!”
“Shoo, shoo, you little rascals. Only Tian girl gets extras. You’re lucky to have food at all, always trying to fleece your Uncle Sun.”
Supplies were expensive these days, especially meaty stuff. Adding for just Tian Zao was the extent of his kindness. If he did it for all, he really couldn’t afford to be that nice.
In the courtyard, Cao Weida, back from a stroll, lay on the lounge chair sunning himself. As the saying goes, sleepy in spring and weary in autumn—lying in the sun was pure bliss.
“Cao’er, lounging?” A sleazy voice sounded by his ear.
Cao Weida cracked his eyes open for a glance, giving a perfunctory “Mm” through his nose. “Eighth Master, what is it?”
Talk about nonsense. If I’m not lounging, am I a corpse lying here?
This dog kept sticking his nose in everywhere every day. For him to sidle up today meant nothing good.
Truth be told, Cao Weida was really annoyed seeing him.
He didn’t care if the guy was a Kuomintang special agent or whatever. That didn’t stop him from being annoyed.
“Hey, what could I want?” Eighth Master rolled his eyes slyly, plastering on a lecherous grin. “This morning I saw you at Tianqiao. Didn’t dare greet you then.”
Oh, this dog was even using polite terms now?
Cao Weida was surprised, opening his narrowed eyes wider. He didn’t reply, just quietly watched him to see what he was getting at.
Seeing Cao Weida not responding, Eighth Master continued, “Cao’er, have you struck it rich lately?”
“Why do you say that?” Cao Weida raised an eyebrow.
“I saw it all. You chartered a rickshaw, treated some boys to dinner today, and I saw you give money to a girl.” Eighth Master grinned obsequiously, trying to edge closer, but Cao Weida shoved him away in disgust.
“Heh heh heh, Eighth Master, stay back. You’re stinking me up.”
This bastard hadn’t brushed his teeth in who knows how long—his teeth were even blackish. One breath and the stench hit hard!
Eighth Master backed off awkwardly. “Look, Cao’er, we’re all neighbors. As they say, close neighbors are better than distant relatives. If you’ve got a way to get rich, don’t forget us old relatives.”
“Stop, stop, stop. My whole family is dead. I’m the last of the line—no old relatives. Don’t try to claim kinship.”
“Uh, that’s not what I meant. I mean, see if you can take me along? Don’t worry, if we make money, I’ll respect you like my own father.”
