Chapter 66: Guaranteed Safety, But Only Try To?
Cao Weida didn’t agree immediately, his fingers lightly tapping the desk, “Brother Xu, she should be a special agent, right?
She’s going to Nanjing on a mission, so she must be from the Special Higher Police. This involves the Special Higher Police, which is quite tricky.”
“That’s right, she is indeed from the Special Higher Police, but don’t worry, we’ll do our best to ensure your safety.” Xu Jin’ge knew it was very dangerous; if he had no other choice, he wouldn’t want to trouble Cao Weida.
Mainly because Zhu Tianxi’s matter had gone too smoothly.
Moreover, this Japanese woman had committed a serious crime; otherwise, a piece of news wouldn’t be worth ten gold bars.
The superior had given a death order: no matter what, there must be an explanation!
Spend money?
Money is a small matter!
Ensure safety?
And only do his best?
Cao Weida was embarrassed to say it himself—he was chased all over by the Japanese special agent agency every day, yet he had the nerve to say he would ensure his safety?
The key was “do his best.”
You might as well not say it.
Seeing that he hadn’t understood the subtext, Cao Weida’s cheek twitched twice. How could he be so stubborn?
He said speechless:
“Brother Xu, don’t worry about the safety issue. As long as you don’t tell my information to anyone besides yourself, that’ll be fine. This involves the Special Higher Police, and the risk is not small. What I mean is, we need to add money!”
Xu Jin’ge’s expression clearly froze for a moment, looking at Cao Weida strangely.
He had thought the other was worried about safety and was already prepared to paint a big pie.
Don’t think he couldn’t paint a big pie; he’d even gained experience from eating them.
But who would have thought, after taking off the trousers, this is what you show me?
But this was fine too; anything that could be solved with money wasn’t a problem!
Anyway, it wasn’t his money!
As long as he could find the person, it was worth it!
“Luckily he’s not a Kuomintang internal official; otherwise, he’d definitely be another corrupt official.”
Xu Jin’ge inwardly felt fortunate and smiled, “No problem. As long as you find the person, the reward will satisfy you!”
“But you need to hurry. I estimate she’s only making a short stop in Beiping. Once her injury heals, she’ll quietly flee back to the Northeast.”
“What, not worried about the little devils’ Special Higher Police anymore?” Xu Jin’ge’s expression was playful, with a hint of teasing.
Cao Weida sneered disdainfully: “The little devils are all grasshoppers in autumn now. How many more days can they hop? I’m not afraid of a damn thing from them!”
Xu Jin’ge was stunned, then his eyes showed some playfulness, “It seems you have your own views on the War of Resistance situation. Since you know the little devils are finished, why not agree to join the Military Statistics Bureau?”
“You’re walking very close to the little devils now. If you don’t join the Military Statistics Bureau, aren’t you afraid we’ll settle accounts with you after the little devils are done?”
“Settle accounts? Settle what with me?” Cao Weida took out a cigarette and tossed one over, then lit one for himself and took a puff—ah, that felt good.
“I’m just Cao Weida, a lowly commoner who by chance came to Beiping to make a living, and thanks to Master Duo’s kindness, I got this errand.”
“Since I became a patrolman, I ask myself I’ve never done anything utterly conscienceless, nor have I ever harmed my fellow countrymen.”
“On the contrary, I’ve helped quite a few countrymen—and you guys, haven’t I helped you twice already?”
“If someone like me is to be settled with, then I can only say your Kuomintang is worse than the little devils. At least they are from an enemy country, while you are our own people in China!”
Hearing this, Xu Jin’ge couldn’t help but laugh. What he said was right; deep down, he was still grateful to Cao Weida.
No matter how conscienceless, someone like Cao Weida couldn’t be labeled a traitor.
“Don’t worry. As long as I don’t die and live to see the victory in the War of Resistance, as long as I’m in Beiping for a day, and as long as you don’t do anything utterly conscienceless or get involved with the Communist Party, I, Xu Jin’ge, can guarantee your safety.”
Although they were now in a stage of full cooperation, anyone with eyes could see that once the War of Resistance was won, the Kuomintang and Communist Party would inevitably fight for supremacy.
Because of this, some hardliners couldn’t help but start showing their sharp fangs, carrying out cruel arrests and killings of the Underground Party despite not having achieved complete victory yet.
If Cao Weida got involved with the Communist Party, even Xu Jin’ge wouldn’t dare protect him.
Hearing this, Cao Weida couldn’t help but smile. After all this busywork, wasn’t it all for this sentence?
He didn’t care about other places, but on this patch of land in Beiping, for the four or five years after the victory in the War of Resistance, he’d have to rely on Xu Jin’ge as his backer.
“Then in the future, I’ll have to rely on you, Master Xu, to cover me. Deal—let’s eat. After eating, I’ll help you find the person. If I can’t find her, don’t say I didn’t try my best. From childhood till now, I’ve never worked this hard.”
Hearing this, Xu Jin’ge couldn’t help but laugh.
Cao Weida walked down the street with his hands behind his back, looking at the bustling streets and the Military Police and puppet army constantly patrolling back and forth. He truly felt a sense of urgency.
Finding a woman in the vast Outer Second District wasn’t that simple.
Even if this woman was injured, it was the same.
With little devils providing cover, ordinary people couldn’t even get close.
He walked while pondering countermeasures.
He didn’t know what outrageous thing this woman had done. It must be something big; plenty of people probably wanted her dead. So in Beiping, her movements were all secretive—this was clearly fear of assassination.
“This woman sneaked to Beiping and plans to head to the Northeast afterward, obviously because she can’t hold out with her injury and needs prompt treatment.
Big hospitals have too many eyes; we can basically rule them out. That leaves the little devils’ own military district hospital, black clinics, or house calls by doctors.
Black clinics are manageable, but if it’s the military district hospital or house calls, that’s harder.”
But it wasn’t without opportunity. With some ideas in mind, Cao Weida strolled to the street side at the intersection.
This was where rickshaw pullers liked to hang out most—close to the city gate, with huge foot traffic, one of the best spots for picking up fares.
At this time, quite a few rickshaw pullers were gathered here. When without passengers, they liked to cluster in groups of three or five.
“Third Brother, busy?”
“Yo, Cao’er, newlywed bliss, and you’re not home with your concubine—how’d you end up here?” Perhaps even San’er himself hadn’t noticed that his tone toward Cao Weida wasn’t like that toward a neighbor; instead, it carried some reverence.
He quickly pulled a cigarette from his pocket and handed one over, “Here, smoke a cigarette.”
“Yo, Da Qian Men—this is good stuff.” Cigarettes in this era mostly lacked mouthpieces; only a small portion of high-end or specific types had them.
Da Qian Men counted as good smoke among the poor, but it didn’t quite reach high-end status.
San’er smiled humbly, “Thanks to your blessing, I had the spare cash to buy a pack to try; otherwise, I wouldn’t splurge.”
He was referring to his wife helping introduce Du Shiniang; at the time, Cao Weida hadn’t skimped on the matchmaker’s fee.
“Third Brother, you’re too polite—that was Third Sister-in-law’s due. I should thank her.”
“You’re the polite one. Here, let me light it for you.” San’er took out a match and lit it for Cao Weida, who didn’t stand on ceremony.
Hey, though he’d been here not long and smoked plenty, he still wasn’t quite used to smokes without filters—the kick was too strong!
After chatting and bantering with him over a couple puffs, he asked:
“Has that funeral stick bastard caused you any trouble lately?”
“Sigh, that heartless one—how could he not? Just paid the management fee the other day.” Mentioning the funeral stick, San’er’s face couldn’t hide the ugliness; his wind-and-sun-beaten rough face showed resentment.
In these times, money-making professions were pitifully few. For bottom-level folks, there were only a handful of jobs, all earning hardscrabble money.
Rickshaw puller was one of them: out at dawn, back at dusk, slaving away—a month after the rickshaw company’s cut left just over ten silver dollars.
It was enough to keep a family fed, but with protection fees here and management fees there, it was unbearable!
Rickshaw pullers’ fates were all tragic. Westerners say frequent running exercises the body well, but in traditional Chinese medicine, that’s bullshit!
Traditional Chinese medicine holds that stillness is better than movement without proper training methods, medicinal baths, or tonic meals—running flat out every day only exhausts the body!
Take rickshaw pullers in these times: they rarely lived past forty. In later generations, that’s prime adulthood, but for them, it’s a death knell—often from overexertion leading to chronic illness and final bodily collapse!
But to feed the family, what choice was there? They could only grit their teeth and keep running.
Money earned with their lives, yet half or more extorted away for no reason—who wouldn’t resent it, hearts bleeding?
“Right, Cao’er, I heard he screwed up and got demoted—you’re his boss now?”
Looking at San’er’s hopeful eyes turned toward him, Cao Weida flicked some cigarette ash and nodded:
“Yeah, that’s the case. But I’m new, footing not solid yet—those underlings don’t listen to me at all.”
“Give me a bit more time.”
Wait a little longer, until his position was solid—then it would be time to take the funeral stick offline.
“Got it, I’ll follow your lead!” San’er got the meaning and couldn’t help smiling. If Cao’er controlled this area, given his character, would they be free of management fees in the future?
“Right, San’er, I want to ask about something. Help me inquire around, but don’t be too obvious—make sure no one notices.”
San’er patted his chest: “Tell me, Cao’er. If I know, I’ll tell no lies; if not, if there’s news to be had, I’ll dig it up for you!”
He wasn’t bragging—each trade has its ways. Rickshaw pullers ran the streets and alleys all day, mingling with various social strata nonstop. For gathering info, they had a natural edge.
