Chapter 87: Enemies On A Narrow Road
The office door opened, and Little Ear led in a young man wearing a hat.
The young man took off his hat, slightly bowed, and said respectfully: “Cao Ye, sorry to bother you. I am Li Zuo, the master of Li’s General Store.
I have come presumptuously this time, entrusted by several shops, hoping you can help mediate with the higher-ups.
They were all arrested by the officers from the police station, accused of colluding with anti-Japanese elements.
Sergeant Cao, they are all honest businessmen. It’s impossible for them, and they don’t have the courage to do such things.
What do you think? Can you help explain it?”
Cao Weida tapped his fingers on the table, making a da-da-da sound, hesitation flashing in his eyes, and said troubledly:
“They are all fellow villagers. I know their characters. They must have been wronged.
As fellow Chinese, I naturally want to help, but this matter”
“I understand. I know the rules.” Li Zuo quickly pulled a heavy cloth bag from his pocket, placed it on the table with a thud, pushed it in front of Cao Weida, and said:
“Cao Ye, this is eight gold bars. Please accept them. This is tea money for you and your officers.
As long as you can get the shopkeepers out, we will surely reward you heavily!”
Cao Weida raised his eyebrows, a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth, and nodded:
“Although this matter is indeed tricky, they are fellow villagers. I can’t just stand by and do nothing.
Alright, I’ll think of a way. You go back first and wait for my news.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you, Cao Ye. You’re busy.”
“No need to be polite. Little Ear, see Li Shopkeeper out.”
Li Zuo cupped his hands, smiled obsequiously, and retreated.
After Li Zuo left, Duomen said worriedly: “Cao’er, this matter is not easy to handle. I inquired, and it’s an order from the Special Higher Police. Would Ono Shiota be willing to help?”
“If it really doesn’t work, let’s return the money. Don’t fail to help and end up causing trouble for ourselves.”
The Special Higher Police are notorious, and no Chinese person doesn’t hate them.
Hate is hate, but once a matter involves the Special Higher Police, the most rational behavior for most people is to stand by and watch.
Because once you’re involved, you might end up dragging yourself in.
Those devils who kill without blinking won’t talk to you about evidence.
Cao Weida grinned, “Don’t worry, Master Duo. Ono Shiota has already agreed to this matter. If the money hadn’t arrived, they would have been released long ago.”
Duomen was stunned, then laughed and cursed: “You little brat, you did this on purpose to make fun of me. I’m really worrying over nothing. You’re right, with how shrewd you are, how could you do something without certainty? You’re really wasting my time.”
“Alright, no more nonsense. I’m leaving first. I’m busy.”
“Busy with what? Just wander around casually. You’re not really planning to investigate the murderer anyway. Sit down, you and I chat.”
“It’s not that matter, it’s another one.” Duomen frowned and said: “You know there’s a small park in Shuimo Hutong, right?”
“I know. What’s up?”
“A murder happened there. The victim’s pose was very eerie, arranged in a kneeling worship position. The killed man was a pawnshop boss with some background. So the bureau chief sent me to investigate the case.
If I hadn’t known you had the funeral stick hand the man over to me, I wouldn’t have rushed back. What a waste of my time.”
Cao Weida chuckled awkwardly, “Alright, alright. Go do your thing. I won’t hold you up anymore.”
“I was planning to have you come with me later to find a shop near the city gate. Looks like Little Ear will have to accompany me.”
After a while, Cao Weida took three gold bars from the cloth bag and threw them into the space, then carried the cloth bag back to Ono Shiota’s office.
“Ono-kun, your humble servant is bothering you again.”
Ono Shiota’s gaze fell on the cloth bag, his eyes flickering slightly. He laughed heartily, stood up, and said: “Cao Sang, our relationship doesn’t require politeness. Just say what it is.”
Cao Weida smiled shyly: “I was preparing to go out to look for a shop, but a ‘friend’ sent some tea money for you, so I brought it over.”
Ono Shiota looked at the cloth bag on the table, visually estimated the amount, greed flashing in his eyes, and chuckled:
“Cao Sang, our relationship doesn’t require such formality.”
Hah, if you’re not formal, then don’t take it!
“No, no, this is what I should do.”
“Cao Sang, you’re too polite. By the way, regarding Sang Liuji’s unauthorized arrest of innocent people, I have already severely reprimanded him and ordered him not to participate in this arrest operation anymore, requiring him to complete the supplies collection within three days.”
“I’ve also verified those people; they are indeed innocent. Trouble Cao Sang to release them.”
“Yes, Ono-kun, please rest assured. I will handle this properly.” Cao Weida smiled and retreated, but did not immediately release those shop bosses. Instead, he took Little Ear directly out of the police station.
Anyway, he had already reported it, and the police station people wouldn’t make things difficult for them. Let them stay locked up a couple more days.
Helping can’t seem too easy; that wouldn’t show how difficult the matter is.
Chaoyang Gate is the main east gate of the Beiping inner city during the Ming and Qing dynasties, mainly used for grain transport and such. It is an important logistics transport channel for supplies and grain in Beiping at this time, connecting Beiping City with the eastern regions. Its location is extremely advantageous and very conducive to supplies transport between inside and outside the city.
During the Japanese Army’s entry into the city parade, one route also passed through Chaoyang Gate, via Dongsi Archway to Dongdan Square.
In addition, commerce near Chaoyang Gate is very developed, with frequent personnel exchanges.
With such advantageous conditions, Cao Weida took a fancy to it at first sight.
So there he was, standing near Chaoyang Gate, inquiring about a shop near the city gate that had a resale notice posted.
This shop had an extremely superior location, but strangely, during business hours, it was closed, with a resale notice posted, making it hard not to be curious.
After some inquiring, it turned out the boss’s home was in the south, with family also in the south. Family suddenly fell ill, and he wanted to rush home to be with them. He probably wouldn’t return, so he posted the resale notice.
That person kindly added: “Cao Ye, you’ve always taken good care of us. Don’t mind me saying one extra thing. You, uh, better not buy this shop. It’s inauspicious!”
“This shop has actually changed hands twice already. The previous two shopkeepers, one ran a tea house, one a restaurant, and both without exception closed down completely.”
“The current shopkeeper bought it and opened this general store. All in all, it’s only been open a little over a year. Not only did he not make money, but his family fell ill too. Clearly, there’s a feng shui problem with this shop!”
Is that really the case?
Cao Weida didn’t believe such a crappy reason. Not that he didn’t believe in feng shui; since rebirth, he really avoided things like feng shui, karma, and such. But his intuition told him this shop wasn’t a metaphysics issue; there must be some unspeakable matter inside.
Sometimes, metaphysics can’t beat man-made disasters!
Of course, he was also afraid it really was a feng shui metaphysics problem, so he instructed Little Ear to inquire more.
He had already made up his mind: if it really was a feng shui problem, he’d run away fast. He didn’t know any real feng shui masters.
Sure enough, after a while, Little Ear came back with the real story, and he knew what was up. This was man-made disaster, not natural calamity!
Even more interesting, this shop was connected to someone else: Fu Decheng!
“Ho, enemies on a narrow road. But this time, I really have to thank him.” Cao Weida couldn’t help laughing. Since it wasn’t some metaphysics natural disaster, what did he have to fear?
With Ono Shiota backing him, and it concerning future smuggling plans, no one could stop him!
He even hoped the other side would come looking for trouble. If Fu Decheng jumped again, he wouldn’t mind slapping him dead on the spot!
“Go, contact the shop boss for me. Say I’m interested in buying his shop.”
Little Ear said worriedly: “Big Brother Cao, that’s Fu Decheng pulling strings behind the scenes. If we stick our nose in, Fu Decheng won’t let it go easily.”
Cao Weida smiled faintly, “Don’t worry. Things are different now. Let him come. I’m not afraid if he comes; I’m afraid if he doesn’t.”
Hearing the implication, Little Ear’s eyes lit up, “Alright, I’ll go now. If Fu Decheng dares come looking for trouble, I can vent some anger for Han Lu too!”
“Wait.” Cao Weida was stunned, “What does this have to do with Han Lu?”
“Sigh, it’s a long story.”
Cao Weida said impatiently: “Then make it short. Answer when I ask. What’s with all the nonsense? Do you still see me as a brother?”
“Alright, I’ll keep it brief.” Little Ear chuckled awkwardly, “Last time you passed the word, Fu Decheng didn’t make a move, but Tong Mazi kept harassing, going to Xiaguang Garden multiple times to find fault.”
“So Han Lu told me about it. It wasn’t a big deal, and I didn’t want to bother you, so I took the brothers and fought Tong Mazi.”
“Did you lose or win?”
“Of course we won. Don’t look at that Tong Mazi with his face full of flesh, looking fierce and evil—that’s all show. When it comes to fighting our brothers, he’s no match!
But that bastard is too shameless, no jianghu code at all. After losing the fight, he still comes to Xiaguang Garden every few days to find fault. We can’t guard Xiaguang Garden every day, right? He’s like a toad on the foot—disgusting no matter what.”
“Winning is good. You didn’t disgrace me.” Cao Weida snorted, “This Fu Decheng was obviously warned and doesn’t dare go all out against me, but he’s not willing to let it go, so he’s trying to disgust me.”
He figured it out in a flash, “Perfect. If Fu Decheng dares jump again this time, slap him dead directly. And that Tong Mazi too—deal with them together.”
“Heh heh, then I’ll thank you on behalf of Han Lu!”
Hearing Little Ear say this, Cao Weida looked at him strangely, “I say, I just felt something was off. You seem a bit too close to Han Lu.
Don’t forget, she’s a procuress! Since ancient times, prostitutes have no feelings and actors no righteousness—let alone a procuress. Don’t fall into a honey trap and let someone use you as a gun!”
