Chapter 90: Acting All Innocent
“Brother-in-law, this really isn’t my fault, it’s that bastard Fu Decheng. Yes, yes, brother-in-law, rest assured, I will definitely compensate in full!”
Wu Dalaizi, who had hung up the phone, slumped in the chair like a boneless maggot, staring blankly at the rooftop with lifeless eyes, lost in thought.
“Ca-Captain?” The trusted subordinate who entered called out cautiously. Seeing no response, he reached out tremblingly to check his breathing.
“You damn it! So eager for this old man to die?!” Wu Dalaizi, who had been lying like a corpse, shot up as if a spring was under his butt, slapped away the subordinate’s hand, and then slapped him across the face.
Slap~~
The trusted subordinate covered his face, looking at him aggrievedly. Can this be blamed on me? You really looked like you were dead just now. I’m just concerned about you.
To become a trusted subordinate, he naturally had to be reliable. After slapping him, Wu Dalaizi felt a bit better and grumbled, “Damn it, what is it? Speak!”
Though aggrieved in his heart, thinking of the small sum he was about to get, he immediately beamed with joy and happily said:
“Captain, that batch of goods is all sold, for a full four hundred and fifty silver dollars.”
“Wait, what supplies?”
“The batch of stuff we got from Ruixin General Store.”
“What?!” Wu Dalaizi’s scalp tingled, his face full of fury as he kicked out: “Who the hell told you to sell it?!”
The trusted subordinate fell flat on his butt, the pain in his rear far less than the confusion in his heart, and he said aggrievedly:
“Ca-Captain, isn’t this the practice? We sell the looted stuff on the black market. This was your instruction.”
“But this old man didn’t tell you to sell it so quickly! Why couldn’t you keep your hands off it?!” Wu Dalaizi’s heart ached terribly. This was indeed the practice, and he had done this more than once or twice.
Take the previous master of Ruixin General Store; they had seized it twice on grounds of contraband, and handled it the same way each time.
But who could have thought this time it would alarm the Gendarmerie Headquarters!
“Wha-what do you mean?”
The trusted subordinate looked at his boss eagerly, wondering what was wrong with him. Could it be that he found out about pocketing over a dozen silver dollars?
But that shouldn’t be; if he knew, the reaction wouldn’t be like this, right?
“Go, bring all the money from selling the goods to me!” Wu Dalaizi scratched his head fiercely, cursing with a pained face:
“Damn it, this time I was really screwed by that bastard Fu Decheng! Fuck!”
“That damn guy said Cao Weida only cozied up to Ono Taijun and wasn’t really valued, so as long as we didn’t go too far, there wouldn’t be trouble.”
“This is what you call no trouble?! Good thing this old man has backing, or I’d be screwed this time!”
“Damn it, could that bastard be deliberately trying to harm this old man?!”
Over two thousand silver dollars, not a small sum!
Though he had skimmed plenty of oil in daily life, money came easy and spending had no restraint. Plus, he had to share some with the brothers below, leaving only about two thousand silver dollars in total.
With this payout, he was back to square one!
Thinking of becoming penniless soon, his face darkened involuntarily.
As for not compensating, he didn’t have the courage.
He could be arrogant in front of his compatriots, but he couldn’t tough it out in front of the little devils.
His suspicions weren’t baseless; if it really was as he guessed,
No, he had to be on guard. Tonight, he’d go to his brother-in-law’s house to bond properly.
The next day, Cao Weida stood in Ruixin General Store. The store was still in chaos, with smashed wooden shelves and such scattered everywhere, utterly miserable.
Cao Weida ignored it all, sitting leisurely on the stool Little Ear had brought, smoking.
He knew those Chinese collaborators would come soon.
Sure enough, noise came from afar. Several Chinese collaborators in security team uniforms carried a box and walked in with fawning smiles.
Behind them followed a large group of porters carrying various tables, chairs, and stools, counters, and cabinets.
In different periods, the security team was under different departments.
In the early occupation, security teams were mostly reorganized from local armed forces or surrendered old troops, nominally under police stations and such of the puppet regime, but actually under strict control by the Japanese Army.
However, as Japanese puppet rule strengthened, to push the public order reinforcement campaign, Beiping’s security teams gradually merged into the puppet army system.
Thus, the current security team had fully detached from the police station’s control, even nominally, and was under puppet army military control.
This was why Wu Dalaizi dared to cause trouble for Cao Weida at Fu Decheng’s instigation.
“Cao Ye, greetings!” Wu Dalaizi forced a smile uglier than crying, clasped his hands in apology, and said:
“Yesterday, my brothers were ignorant and caused some misunderstanding with you. Please don’t take it to heart.”
“When you make a mistake, own up to it. Though my men erred without my consent and I punished them severely, I’m still their boss, so compensation must be made.”
“Here are two thousand five hundred silver dollars. The extra hundred is to calm your nerves, Cao Ye.”
Wow, look at that mouth, so glib, making himself sound so innocent.
Cao Weida sneered inwardly but didn’t tear into him; no need.
The guy had lowered his stance and paid up; if he kept pressing, others would see him as petty.
A city gate security team captain without connections couldn’t snag such a lucrative errand!
Even if he wanted revenge, he couldn’t show it, or he’d be feared.
“We’re all Beiping men; just speak openly.”
Seeing Cao Weida smilingly accept the money, Wu Dalaizi breathed a sigh of relief, politely cupped his hands: “Cao Ye is generous. My men really didn’t recognize Mount Tai. I’ll have to discipline them properly when we get back!”
Whether he disciplined them or not, Cao Weida didn’t care if it was just talk. He slyly sowed discord:
“Maybe Captain Wu’s men listened to some slander and messed up, but that’s understandable. Your errand is enviable to many; someone might be working against you in the dark… Oh, look at my mouth, I’m just babbling. Don’t mind me, Captain Wu.”
Don’t mind?
How could Wu Dalaizi not mind?
In the past, such crude sowing of discord wouldn’t faze him.
But things were different now!
He already had some suspicions, and Cao Weida spelling it out only deepened them.
He was originally just cannon fodder with no skills or connections; he could die in some nook and cranny any day.
If not for sending his flower-like beautiful sister as a concubine to Regiment Commander Zhang, cozying up to that relation, how could he get the security team captain position?
Things were fine before; his sister was in her prime and favored by Regiment Commander Zhang.
But people tire of the old and crave the new. As his sister’s age grew and the novelty faded, she was increasingly out of favor in the Zhang residence.
Still, with that bond and his loyal and devoted service, his brother-in-law hadn’t moved him.
But he’d heard from his sister that bastard Fu Decheng seemed to be gathering beauties for Regiment Commander Zhang, to send as the seventh concubine!
If that succeeded, would he have to step aside?!
It was easy to go from frugality to luxury, hard from luxury to frugality.
He was now penniless with many enemies; without that hat on his head, forget living lavishly again—those he’d offended might come for revenge!
Wu Dalaizi’s face flickered between expressions, murderous glints flashing in his eyes.
Seeing this, Cao Weida smiled inwardly. Fu Decheng was already his old enemy; since beating Kui Biao, they’d been at odds.
He hadn’t dared kill him before purely because the conflict was fresh; his suspicion would be too great.
Plus, Fu Decheng knew he wasn’t good and many wanted him dead.
He wasn’t short on money, always had plenty of guards— a tough nut for Cao Weida, and failure would mean trouble.
But that didn’t mean he’d let Fu Decheng off; wouldn’t it be great to eliminate such a scourge?
“Captain Wu, Captain Wu?” Cao Weida waved a hand in front of his eyes.
“Huh? What?” Wu Dalaizi snapped back. “Sorry, I zoned out.”
“Well, Cao Ye, let me tell you something, don’t get worked up.”
“What is it?”
Wu Dalaizi mysteriously pulled Cao Weida aside and whispered, “Cao Ye, actually, my men didn’t mean to target you.
After it happened, I immediately arranged to investigate clearly. It was Master Fu, the Western Hegemon of Tianqiao, who spread the word.
Cao Ye, did you have a misunderstanding with Master Fu before, so he’s deliberately messing with you?”
Cao Weida: “.”
Good grief, the boomerang hit this old man on the forehead?
He planned to sow discord between them, but Wu Dalaizi, that sly bastard, wanted him to quarrel with Fu Decheng!
He immediately feigned anger. “No wonder the security team brothers came at me out of nowhere when I hadn’t offended them. So it’s that bastard Fu Decheng causing trouble!”
“All I did was beat Kui Biao last time, take his brothel, snatch his shop—this damn guy’s so petty! Totally over the line!!”
