Chapter 121: Fury On The Streets
“What?” Zhang Xiaolin instantly lost all interest and pushed away the little maid who was crying like a pear blossom in the rain.
“What exactly happened?”
Song Zushan said in a deep voice: “Boss, ever since Brother Rong had that incident last time, to prevent those people from coming to cause trouble again, we arranged secret sentries around the venue as per your command.”
“Everything has been peaceful during this time, but starting yesterday, quite a few strangers have appeared.”
“Their movements were highly suspicious, so I arranged for people to follow them all the way.”
“They went to 625 Daxi Road.”
Zhang Xiaolin knew exactly what was at that place.
With a “bang,” Zhang Xiaolin raised his hand and smashed the tea bowl on the tea table onto the ground: “Damn it, Zuo Mingquan, you fucking bully people too much.”
“They say one or two times is okay, but not three; do they really think I’m a paper tiger that they can pinch however they want?”
“A Shan, call people; today I’m going to flatten the Special Affairs Office.”
Song Zushan’s face immediately fell; having his men chop ordinary people was fine, and even gang shootouts didn’t scare them.
But that was the Nanjing Special Affairs Committee; not to mention everyone there was armed, most agents had professional training.
Even their official positions on the surface weren’t something he could mess with; it was a formal organization established by the Nanjing side, backed by the Japanese.
If it really came to open guns and blades, the Japanese would definitely come after Zhang Xiaolin.
His men were all operating in Shanghai; if it came to investigation, they’d be caught one by one.
Attacking a government organization was tantamount to rebellion; wouldn’t that lead to rivers of blood?
The boss must have drunk too much old wine and hasn’t sobered up yet.
Song Zushan quickly gave a look to the butler beside him; the boss was speaking under the influence of alcohol, and he might not mean it once sober.
The butler slightly bowed and said: “Master, last time Mr. Qi reminded you that you are an official now and cannot act on whims. You have to follow the rules with people.”
Zhang Xiaolin frowned; indeed, Qi Shiyi had reminded him before that the most important thing in officialdom was four words.
“Just cause.”
You can disregard personal feelings, but you cannot break the rules.
Song Zushan chimed in at this point: “Boss, I’ve heard that this Special Affairs Office has been abducting and extorting people under the pretext of arresting the Communist Party, killing innocents indiscriminately, and has already stirred up public anger.”
You are now on Elder Wen’s line; how about thinking of a method to move against them under the name of the Inspection Department.
The original Blue Camp Government had five yuan: Judicial Yuan, Legislative Yuan, Control Yuan, Executive Yuan, and Examination Yuan.
The Nanjing Restoration Government has only three yuan: Prosecutor’s Office, Legislative Yuan, and Executive Yuan.
Wen Zongyao is the dean of the Prosecutor’s Office, and the New Government’s inspection department is also under his management.
The one Zhang Xiaolin has climbed onto is Chen Jintao of the Ministry of Finance, who is also in Wen Zongyao’s faction.
Zhang Xiaolin lowered his head and pondered for a moment before saying: “This method is good, but we can’t let ourselves be slaughtered either.”
“A Shan, find a few new faces to guard the edges of the venue; if they dare to act rashly, have people take them out.”
“If something happens, give them some money to leave.”
“Yes, Boss, I’ll go arrange it right now…”
Shanghai, 625 Daxi Road, Special Affairs Office.
It was already eight o’clock at night, but the lights in the Special Affairs Office were still bright as usual.
Zuo Mingquan had been in Shanghai for so long, but it was rare for him not to appear at Jin Yu Lou for a day, instead staying obediently in the office.
Faintly from the distance came the bell from the church tower; Zuo Mingquan wiped his face, turned and walked to the window, looking at the pitch-black night outside, his brows tightly furrowed.
“Knock knock knock,” a knock on the door sounded.
Zuo Mingquan instantly perked up: “Come in.”
Zhang Zixian pushed open the door and hurried to Zuo Mingquan’s side: “Fourth Uncle, it’s done.”
“The newsboy’s family has all been sent away, and the previous confession and evidence have all been made up; guaranteed no issues.”
“Phew.” Zuo Mingquan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, nodding repeatedly: “That’s good, that’s good.”
Zhang Zixian asked puzzledly: “Fourth Uncle, what exactly are you having us do all this for?”
“That Officer Chen didn’t say we did anything wrong either.”
“Confused,” Zuo Mingquan said deeply: “Do you think Officer Chen came to find fault for no reason?”
“He’s preparing to move against Zhang Xiaolin, and before that, he’s plugging the oversights we have in our hands; we’re useful to him now.”
Zhang Zixian scratched his head: “But why couldn’t he just say it straight?”
“Say it straight? Do you think we’re somewhere you can say certain things directly?” Zuo Mingquan sneered: “If he said it straight, wouldn’t that be the superior instructing and the subordinate taking responsibility?”
“Do you really think he’s stupid…”
“Which of these officials isn’t cloaked in mist and fog; do you think he flew off the handle for no reason out of a burst of justice, seeking justice for those people?”
“He was putting on a show for others to see, with the aim of pressuring me; if these things aren’t cleaned up properly, it’s easy to be caught by the handle.”
“If I’m not mistaken, it won’t be long before the Inspection Department sends people over.”
“Nanjing Inspection Department?” Zhang Zixian said in surprise: “What are they coming to Shanghai for?”
“For what? Of course to grab our handles.” Zuo Mingquan said deeply: “What kind of brain does Zhang Xiaolin have; the most he can think of is going to the Nanjing side to complain.”
“Officer Chen has long calculated that he doesn’t dare to clash with us head-on and can only use that set from officialdom against us.”
“As long as we turn the things at hand into ironclad proof, not to mention the Inspection Department, even if Mr. Liang personally inquires, he won’t find any flaws.”
“Right, you didn’t do anything to that newsboy’s family, did you?”
Zhang Zixian waved his hands repeatedly: “Rest assured, Fourth Uncle; you explained it, and for things that can be solved with money, don’t make a big fuss; how would we dare mess around.”
“I checked their background; that newsboy started selling newspapers to subsidize the family since he was six or seven, with no connections at home; we spent thirty silver dollars to have them leave at night.”
“Thirty?” Zuo Mingquan frowned: “Didn’t I say to give a hundred silver dollars; did you mess up, even robbing money from the dead?”
Zhang Zixian quickly waved his hands: “Fourth Uncle, how would we dare rob money from the dead; it was purely for that family’s sake.”
“They have just an elderly couple in their fifties or sixties now, skinny as skin and bones, with no ability to resist; don’t you know that in a place like that, the more money you give, the worse it is.”
“If we gave them a hundred silver dollars, I’m afraid they wouldn’t even have their lives by nightfall.”
“Thirty silver dollars is enough for them to go back to the countryside and buy two pigs to live on.”
Zuo Mingquan couldn’t help but sigh upon hearing this.
He had to admit that Zhang Zixian, who grew up in the slums since childhood, had a deep understanding of that place.
There were no secrets there; if they stuffed a hundred silver dollars to them, as soon as they walked out the front door, someone would rob them from behind.
A hundred silver dollars was more than Shanghai workers could earn in a whole year.
Moreover, in this chaotic world, there were always a few unidentified corpses on the Huangpu River every day.
With their family’s situation, if they really had a hundred silver dollars, within two hours, this elderly couple would surely be floating on the Huangpu River.
This was the darkness of this era.
“Alright, it’s not early anymore; go back.” Zuo Mingquan gave an instruction.
“Fourth Uncle, I have nothing to do either; might as well walk with you.” Zhang Zixian said with a smile.
Zuo Mingquan didn’t refuse, nodded, turned off the office lights, and the two went downstairs one after the other.
Daxi Road was within the French Concession, and eight o’clock was an extremely lively time.
Normally at this time, Zuo Mingquan would be soaking at Jin Yu Lou, but because of the Chen Yang matter, he didn’t dare go, afraid of being caught by the handle.
After all, the public service code explicitly prohibited public servants from patronizing prostitutes.
Such regulations were ignored at ordinary times, but now it was different.
This thing, to put it bluntly, doesn’t weigh four taels if not on the scale, but once on the scale, it’s a thousand jin that can’t be held down.
People could use this excuse to deal with you at any time.
The uncle and nephew were chatting and laughing as they exited the gate and walked less than a hundred meters when suddenly, a black Austin car came straight at them as if out of control.
This kind of sedan was quite popular in the Republic of China era, taller than normal sedans; described from a modern perspective, it was like the Republic of China version of an SUV.
Zuo Mingquan was a professional agent after all; as soon as the car approached, he sensed something wrong, pushed Zhang Zixian away, drew his gun from behind, and fired three shots at the driver’s position.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!” Most bullets hit the car’s thick steel plate, making dull piercing “clang clang” sounds with sparks flying.
A few stray bullets whistled past the car roof, hitting the exquisite plaster decoration on the wall of 625 Daxi Road, with gravel and powder falling rustlingly…
The car driver was experienced, quickly ducking to avoid the bullets; the passenger-side gunman stuck his gun out the window and fired three shots at them…
“Pop pop pop.” Two shots aimed at Zuo Mingquan, the other at Zhang Zixian.
The opponent’s intent was clearly to prevent Zhang Zixian from interfering, little knowing that Zhang Zixian had never seen such a scene and was now trembling behind cover.
Zuo Mingquan had evidently been through gunfights more than once; he calmly fired continuously at the car, soon emptying his ammunition.
The opponent originally wanted to kill, but the gunfight location was just over a hundred meters from the Special Affairs Office, and the noise had already alerted the on-duty personnel inside.
The car did a sharp tail flick; the passenger gunman poked his head out and fired several shots at Zuo Mingquan’s hiding spot.
Accompanied by the receding roar of the car engine, the black Austin sedan soon disappeared into the darkness.
“Fourth Uncle, Fourth Uncle, are you okay?” Once the gunfire stopped, Zhang Zixian hurriedly came forward to check if Zuo Mingquan was injured.
“Pah. Just a scrape, nothing serious.” Zuo Mingquan spat, raising his right hand.
His right arm was soaked in a large patch of blood, but it wasn’t a through wound, just a skin graze from a bullet.
Still, even a skin wound made Zuo Mingquan grimace in pain.
“Fourth Uncle, who was it trying to take your life?”
Clutching his arm, Zuo Mingquan looked in the direction the car disappeared and sneered: “Do I even need to guess? Who in Shanghai wants me dead the most right now?”
Zhang Zixian’s face darkened as three words came out: “Zhang Xiaolin…”
