Chapter 53: Why Did I Say “again”?
Cao Weida couldn’t help but want to laugh. Tada Naoyoshi, oh Tada Naoyoshi, that chief consultant title of yours is quite impressive. Even Little Ear looks down on you.
“What’s this, getting cocky? How much is little, how much is a lot? You don’t want it? Then don’t give it to me.”
“No, I want it, of course I want it. Mosquito meat is still meat.” Little Ear hurriedly stuffed the note into his pocket and grinned, “Although there isn’t much stuff, it’s still rare goods.”
Cao Weida amusingly tapped him, “Keep ten pounds of pork for me, then deliver ten pounds of pork, fifty pounds of rice, and fifty pounds of flour to 97 Nanluoguxiang. Give the rest to the brothers as welfare.”
Little Ear’s eyes darted around, “Big Brother Cao, although Tian Zao is a bit young, her looks are quite good. If she grows up, she’ll be a fine beauty.”
“Get lost, what do you take this old man for, a beast?” Cao Weida irritably slapped him, “I’m telling you, you can spout this nonsense as a joke around me, but if I hear you’ve been talking rubbish to Tian Zao, I’ll beat you to death.”
Little Ear rubbed the back of his head and chuckled foolishly. Cao Weida glared at him fiercely, and only then did he hurriedly nod in agreement.
This bit of supplies was just a minor episode.
Cao Weida had just prepared to head home when he was stopped by someone on the road.
“Captain Cao, not busy, right? Let’s grab a meal together?”
“Sure, I’m just getting hungry anyway.” Seeing it was Wang Fugui, Cao Weida smiled. Whether he was really hungry or not, he had to say he was.
In the restaurant private room, Cao Weida sat across from Wang Fugui. Cao Weida joked, “It wouldn’t be that I didn’t handle things well, and Mr. Wang is here to call me out on it, right?”
“Captain Cao really loves to joke. Everything went very smoothly. Wang is deeply grateful. This time, I’ve come with sincerity money.”
Five gold bars were placed one by one on the table, then pushed in front of Cao Weida. “Our boss is very satisfied with this cooperation, so our boss wants to engage in further cooperation with Mr. Cao.”
Further cooperation?
Boss?
Cao Weida’s heart skipped a beat. Damn, it couldn’t be Boss Dai, could it?
I’ve caught Boss Dai’s attention?!
That shouldn’t be. I’m just an insignificant nobody. Do I have that much face?
Almost every spy TV series revolves around the Military Statistics Bureau’s real decision-maker, Boss Dai. This guy is ruthless, cold-blooded, and merciless. The patriots who died by his hand are as numerous as the fish in the river!
Deep down, Cao Weida didn’t want to have anything to do with him.
“Mr. Wang, I think we should forget it. I think our current cooperative relationship is quite good.”
“Don’t rush to refuse. Don’t you want to hear the conditions offered to you?”
“No, I don’t, not at all. I’m lowly skilled, cowardly and afraid of death. I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint your boss’s kind intentions.” Cao Weida stood up directly, not wanting to stay a moment longer:
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going. We’re all pretty busy.”
Cao Weida absolutely did not want to be an agent in this lifetime. Admittedly, special agents played an undeniable role in the War of Resistance, but it had to be acknowledged that after national liberation, agents faced much unfair treatment in their work.
Even the Underground Party was like that, let alone Kuomintang special agents.
If he really agreed to join the Military Statistics Bureau, after liberation, wouldn’t he be screwed?
Cao Weida knew he couldn’t be selfless, so better to forget it.
“Looks like with Captain Cao’s intelligence, you’ve already guessed who we are.” Wang Fugui chuckled and stood up. “Then let’s speak openly. Your position is very important to us.”
“Mr. Wang, some things are better left unsaid so clearly, or it’ll be hard for both sides.” Cao Weida’s face turned stern as he interrupted directly: “I greatly admire certain organizations, but I’m just a small fry with no ambitions, cowardly and afraid of death. I’m afraid I can’t do certain work, so thanks for the kind offer.”
Wang Fugui opened his mouth, clearly not expecting Cao Weida to be so firm.
Seeing the second firm refusal, he gave a bitter smile and nodded. “Alright, to each their own aspirations. I naturally won’t force you.”
“But Captain Cao, with your intelligence, you should know the land we’re now standing on will return in the future. This is the perfect time to make achievements. Why”
“That just proves I’m not up to the task, Mr. Wang. Anything else? If not, I’ll be going.”
“Yes, of course there is.” Wang Fugui sighed. “Since your ambitions don’t lie there, I won’t push it. But I wonder if Captain Cao has any interest in cooperating?”
“Oh? What kind of cooperation?” Cao Weida asked with interest. As long as it wasn’t joining the Military Statistics Bureau, anything was fine.
Under the premise of not harming himself, he was happy to help the patriots.
“Help us find Wang Kemin’s whereabouts and routes! As long as you can get his whereabouts and routes, whatever price I can afford, you name it!” When mentioning Wang Kemin, Wang Fugui’s eyes flashed with crazy killing intent.
Cao Weida raised an eyebrow. Wang Kemin was originally a Qing Dynasty diplomat who was on good terms with the Japanese.
After the Japanese Army invaded China, he became one of the earliest traitors, serving under the Japanese and earning their deep trust.
《Wolf Smoke Beiping》 In the TV series, Xu Jin’ge was arranged to assassinate Wang Kemin, and his apparent wife Yang Qiuping also participated in the assassination.
Unfortunately, Wang Kemin wasn’t successfully assassinated. Instead, during the retreat, a traitor who hadn’t died completely shot Yang Qiuping in the leg. After failing to commit suicide, she was arrested on the spot by the little devils, tortured mercilessly.
In the end, while Yang Qiuping was tied up and paraded through the streets, Xu Jin’ge sadly shot her dead to spare her further inhuman torment.
It could be said that Yang Qiuping died because of Wang Kemin. He held a vendetta for his wife’s death against Wang Kemin!
Deep down, Cao Weida deeply sympathized with Xu Jin’ge and despised Wang Kemin. If possible, he also wanted Wang Kemin dead.
But this was just an illusion. Cao Weida shook his head: “It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but I’m powerless. Anyone trying to scout or approach Wang Kemin will be caught by those special agents of the puppet government. I simply can’t scout it.”
Ever since the assassination attempt, Wang Kemin had been very vigilant about his safety, with erratic movements daily. Even when appearing, the guards around him were very strong. Relying on the Military Statistics Bureau assassination team that had been scattered after sneaking into the city was no different from suicide.
He didn’t want the other party to be blinded by hatred and do something foolish.
Wang Fugui was silent for a while before exhaling heavily and smiling bitterly: “I’m the one forcing you. It’s fine, just do your best. What if you stumble upon it by chance?”
“No matter when, as long as you give me intelligence, the reward will absolutely satisfy you.”
“We’ll talk later.” Seeing he still had some reason, Cao Weida breathed a sigh of relief for him. Just as he prepared to stand and take his leave again, Wang Fugui made another request:
“Put Wang Kemin aside for now. Mr. Cao, I want you to help me find a person named Zhu Tianxi, male, thirty-six years old, about 178 cm tall, somewhat thin, with a black mole beside his nose. If you can find his whereabouts, we can pay you another ten gold bars.”
“.” Cao Weida was speechless. Good thing I didn’t agree to join your organization. Just for cooperation, you’re already asking me to move around so much. If I really joined, who knows what it’d be like.
“Beiping has around 1.7 million people. Finding one person in such a big city is like finding a needle in a haystack. Aren’t you forcing me?” Cao Weida rolled his eyes. He wasn’t a professional; where was he supposed to find the person?
“Don’t worry, I know that. We have his general range, in the Outer Second District.” Wang Fugui added: “He just defected to the Japanese Army and is probably hidden somewhere secretive now. We really lack manpower and can’t scout it. Please help, Captain Cao.”
“Oh? Then there’s actually some hope.” Cao Weida’s heart stirred. This Zhu Tianxi wouldn’t be a traitor, would he?
It wasn’t a random guess, but deduction.
He just defected to the little devils, not surrendered, meaning he already had ties to them before.
Plus, Yu Feng had just returned, and immediately a traitor appeared. No matter how you think about it, it’s abnormal—too coincidental.
So, could this traitor be the mastermind behind Yu Feng’s capture?
Tsk, there’s actually a real possibility.
Wang Fugui smiled. “If we had no confidence, we wouldn’t have you doing useless work.”
Cao Weida rolled his eyes inwardly. Sounds nice, but who just asked me to find Wang Kemin’s traces?
“I can’t guarantee I can find him, only that I’ll try.”
Things were often so coincidental. As soon as Cao Weida returned to the police station, Duomen informed him that all police officers, puppet army, puppet government agencies, Military Police, etc., in Beiping were conducting a blanket search of all suspicious personnel in Beiping.
“What happened? Why such a big operation this time?” Cao Weida asked curiously.
Duomen whispered: “Heard there’s a hero in our Beiping targeting lone Japanese. Over these days, apparently twenty or thirty have gone missing.”
“So, the little devil officers are furious, setting up checkpoints at every intersection, three steps one post, five steps one sentry. They vow to turn Beiping upside down to find the person.”
“Ono Shiota just looked for you and couldn’t find you. He told me to pass on that we have to join the search team this time, but they gave favorable terms: we pick a street to check ourselves.”
Hey, the little devils are getting serious this time!
Huh?
Why did I say “again”?
But speaking of it, how did the little devils know these people were missing?
He clearly screened targets by area when picking them.
