Chapter 167: Damage
The next day, Ma Shiqi came to report.
Last night, they had already found this group of people. The main force was hiding in an empty house in the countryside, and a few who were probably the leaders had mixed into the concession, spending money to inquire with foreigners in the concession about where to buy Western medicine.
“They just want to find the druggist based on clues. Now my men are pretending to be druggists, telling them that they do know a batch of medicine has arrived in Shanghai and know where it was unloaded. They are very eager and proactively spent money to have my men take them to the warehouse.
My men took them to see it. Last night, I deliberately had people move the medicine around so they could see it clearly.”
“Has all the medicine been transported there?”
“It’s been transported there. Last night, only a portion was shown to them. Now the eight tons of diluted quinine are all there. The warehouse is not far from the riverside. If they run desperately, it would take at most fifteen minutes for the trucks to reach the shore.”
“Good.”
Gu Yansheng picked up the phone and called Sato Kenji of Mitsui.
“Haha, President Sato, great news. Right now, eight tons of quinine has been transported to West Shanghai, right in my warehouse.”
“Is that true?” The surprise came too suddenly, Sato Kenji’s volume rose, not hiding his joy at all. “These smuggling businessmen actually managed to get eight tons of quinine?”
“It’s true.” Gu Yansheng explained how they had struggled to get the medicine, then used the tactic of heavy rewards leading to brave men. “When they heard there was money to be made, these black merchants really pulled out all the stops. Their ferocity was astonishing, but the effect was really good.”
“Good! The abilities they showed under Mr. Gu’s training are indeed formidable. Mr. Gu deserves great credit!”
Mitsui’s people didn’t care about grabbing or not; as long as they got the goods, it was fine.
“Mr. Sato, no need to be polite. I can make money too. Now the goods are in my warehouse. Night brings many dreams. Recently, the Military Statistics Bureau assassinations in West Shanghai have been very serious. How about we do it the old way? I’ll send someone to deliver the goods to you first. For the auction, we can just go through the motions?”
“Alright. Um, like this: I’ll send some people over to transport the goods together. The Military Statistics Bureau assassinations are indeed frequent; we still need to be careful.”
The hint in Gu Yansheng’s words took effect. If they came, kill a few Japanese; if not, it didn’t matter.
“Good. One more thing, Mr. Sato. Since the goods greatly exceed expectations, can we get partial payment in advance for the money? Otherwise, it’s hard for me to balance the accounts.”
“Mr. Gu, rest assured. Where there are goods, there is money. I won’t short you.”
“Good, then we’ll wait for your people to arrive. This is the address.”
After hanging up, Gu Yansheng and Ma Shiqi set off, arriving at the warehouse area first. They looked around but there was no tea house nearby, so they found the second floor of a residential building and used the balcony with drying clothes as a viewing platform.
The view here was decent; they could even see the situation at the warehouse from afar. Now the warehouse was heavily guarded, with about thirty guards, and patrol squads occasionally patrolling outside the warehouse.
“That position, Division Chief.” Ma Shiqi pointed to the alley ahead on the left. “See it? The black ghost is squatting there watching.”
Gu Yansheng looked; sure enough, two black ghosts seemed to have numb legs from squatting, stood up and walked a few steps, lit a cigarette.
Watching this scene, Gu Yansheng suddenly laughed.
“Division Chief, what’s so funny?” Ma Shiqi didn’t know why Gu Yansheng was laughing, but seeing him laugh, he laughed along first.
Gu Yansheng laughed. “I just find it funny. Black ghosts learning to tail people in broad daylight in Shanghai, hahahaha.”
An hour later, the Japanese convoy arrived: small gendarme motorcycles with the Rising Sun flag at the front, plus three sedans. Twelve men who looked like Japanese ronin got out of the cars.
They had already greeted the warehouse side, so the ronin entered the warehouse smoothly.
After a while, the warehouse started loading goods, moving the medicine onto trucks.
Seeing this, the black ghosts in the alley clearly got nervous. After watching for a minute, they felt this matched the informant’s description of the Japanese pulling the goods away.
They immediately ran out to make a phone call, then returned to the alley to watch.
The warehouse loading was still ongoing. The warehouse workers had been told not to move too fast, so even when the black ghosts gathered, the warehouse goods weren’t fully loaded yet.
Gu Yansheng and Ma Shiqi were greatly shocked; judging by the black ghosts’ appearance, there were fifty or sixty of them.
The black ghosts had good patience, knowing a strong assault would cause too much loss, so they waited until the transport trucks drove out before making their move.
The battle was about to erupt!
The Japanese saw a group of black ghosts coming out and were still laughing.
It was definitely funny; even Gu Yansheng laughed.
But.
Da-da-da, the black ghosts had brought a light machine gun. At the first encounter, the Japanese were stunned!
The Japanese watched the trucks drive out of the warehouse gate, then walked to board their sedans, receiving a baptism of machine gun bullets from the black ghosts with their mortal flesh.
They quickly reacted and began counterattacking, retreating into the warehouse while fighting back.
Chen Mo, hiding in a nearby corner, was dumbfounded. If the black ghosts drove all the Japanese away, what were they here for? How to explain to the team why they came here?
No choice; they had to help the black brothers fight the Japanese.
Seeing help arrive, the black brothers didn’t think twice and went straight to grab the trucks, driving off without caring where these allied troops came from.
Chen Mo cursed these black-skinned guys for lacking morality while starting to withdraw. The goods were taken; no need to show off. Preserving combat strength came first.
“Call for support!” The Japanese in the warehouse roared loudly, running out to board their cars and chase after them.
Chen Mo’s people followed closely behind.
“Ah, can’t see anymore.” Gu Yansheng and Ma Shiqi sighed in unison.
Then they went back to wait for news.
On the other side.
The black ghosts excitedly fled with the goods. In just ten minutes, the trucks reached the shore, where the ships were already docked.
Loading eight tons of medicine onto the ships was a bit strenuous, but the black ghosts knew they were on someone else’s turf. With their strength, they set up wooden ramps connecting the shore to the ship, and the forty-kilogram suitcases were quickly carried aboard one by one.
Dozens of people working together: those on the trucks unloading, those below receiving and carrying the suitcases to the ship. Three hundred or so suitcases meant just a few trips per person.
Even though they moved so fast, the Japanese still caught up, trying to strike them.
But Chen Mo’s people followed closely, forcing the Japanese to launch defensive attacks on the tailgaters behind.
The black ghosts loaded energetically; except for a few with machine guns providing cover, the rest acted as if they didn’t see the gunfight, not even turning their heads as they carried things to the ship. They really wanted money more than life.
“Set sail, set sail!”
The black ghosts finished loading and waved to the captain’s cabin without reluctance, while to these unknown friends who helped, they could only say, brother, bye-bye.
But after waving for a while, they realized the people in the captain’s cabin seemed to be gone.
“Where are the people?”
“Don’t know.”
“Did they go out to eat?”
“No way?”
“What do we do?”
This was no time to wait; not even time for extra thinking. The leader looked at the battle outside and quickly decided.
“No waiting, set sail!”
Better one dies than all here.
Da-da-da, the ships set sail, the black ghosts pushing the speed to the max, riding the waves at sea.
They knew that in this area, Japanese patrol boats could appear anytime.
They weren’t afraid of small boats; the ship had plenty of machine guns. Shooting from above to below, who killed whom was uncertain.
But if a big Japanese ship came, escaping would be hard!
Speak of the devil; an hour later, Japanese patrol boats rapidly closed in, and the sea battle began.
A single patrol boat really wasn’t a match for the black ghosts; at least it couldn’t force their ship to stop.
But the warships approaching from the sea gave the black ghosts immense pressure.
“Go faster!”
Seeing the ship still not stopping, the warship aimed at one side of the black ghosts’ ship and fired a warning shot.
Huge water splashes exploded on the sea surface!
Still not stopping.
Another shot!
Boom!
This shot seemed to trigger some mechanism.
The gunner on the Japanese warship felt he had hit accurately, aiming at the ship’s left side, but damn it, the ship exploded!
Was this accurate or not?
The tea house next to Shanghai West Police Station.
Upon learning of the warehouse robbery, Sato Kenji rushed over first to accompany Gu Yansheng for tea.
To comfort Gu Yansheng.
“No problem, Director Gu can rest assured. I’ve already called in navy warships and army patrol boats. The robbed supplies will definitely be recovered.”
“I hope so.” Gu Yansheng’s expression wasn’t good; so many supplies robbed, he couldn’t be happy, and he had some worry that Sato Kenji might renege on payment.
Clatter clatter, an assistant suddenly ran in from the door, panicked, and said: “President, the navy’s patrol ship fired and bombed the smuggling ship! There might have been explosive items on board; even an army patrol boat was blown up.”
“How did it explode?” Gu Yansheng stood up instantly.
The tea cup in Sato Kenji’s hand slammed heavily on the table with a bang, his face changing with anger. “Does the navy have brains?”
He stood up furiously, grabbed the phone, and started yelling.
A stream of Japanese cursing that even Gu Yansheng, who didn’t understand, found harsh.
Slam, Sato Kenji slammed the phone down, chest heaving as he cursed. After cursing, he picked up the phone again to call the army, another stream of Japanese cursing, slam, slammed the phone again.
“What did they say?” Gu Yansheng asked anxiously.
“The navy says it’s not their fault; an army patrol boat rammed it, causing the smuggling ship’s course to deviate, and that’s why it was hit!”
“The army says their other patrol boat saw it; it was the navy that bombed it!”
“Shirking responsibility, always shirking responsibility. These two groups of useless idiots, each stupider than the last!”
“I’m the biggest idiot; I shouldn’t have let these two groups go together!”
Eight tons of quinine!
How much could it sell to the Military Department!
Sato Kenji’s heart was bleeding.
But looking at Gu Yansheng’s terrifying expression opposite, Sato felt lucky. Good thing the money wasn’t paid yet; good thing it was robbed from Gu Yansheng’s warehouse. If it had reached his hands, he’d be the one suffering.
But saying anything now was awkward; he couldn’t pay.
After thinking, he comforted: “Director Gu, this is an accident. The current plan is to minimize losses. Anyway, those businessmen didn’t spend much; we won’t give them their money, at most cost price.
If money was given, take it back.
As for the dividend promised to you, you know the goods are gone now; I have losses too. We can only chalk it up to bad luck.
Who could predict things would develop like this.”
“The money can be taken back, but does that mean no more quinine? Will those businessmen still be willing to work for us after getting it back?”
“Handle this yourself. My terms remain the same: as long as you have quinine, you can exchange it with me. My contract is always valid, Director Gu. There will be brighter days ahead. Wait for the next opportunity; I’ll take my leave.”
Sato Kenji didn’t want to stay here. To keep the businessmen working for them, money had to be paid, but now the businessmen spent capital and they didn’t get the goods; this loss had to be borne by someone—either Gu Yansheng or the businessmen, not him.
Had to go; staying longer and Gu Yansheng would ask him for money.
But he really wanted the quinine.
He paused and added: “Director Gu, I hope you don’t make things too tense with the businessmen. Five tons of quinine—as long as you get me five tons, I can cover this loss for the businessmen. I’ll still give you the dividend at the original rate. Wait for your good news.”
Stingy as a miser, doesn’t spend until seeing the rabbit, just empty promises.
Gu Yansheng picked up the coffee cup, stood by the window watching Sato Kenji’s convoy leave, and took a sip of coffee.
Ma Shiqi stood respectfully beside. Whether someone has ability is known after one incident.
From Director Gu’s arrangement to now, he participated throughout. Though there was the variable of the black people in the middle, Director Gu adjusted, and with just letting the black people rob, turned the Japanese who could only get inferior drugs into getting not a single pill.
Though unclear if the Military Statistics Bureau’s appearance was accidental or Director Gu deliberately leaked info to them.
But Director Gu fulfilled his promise to Fourth Master Gu: didn’t help the Japanese, not a pure traitor.
Working by his side was reassuring.
Watching the convoy’s shadow disappear completely, Gu Yansheng said:
“Go find Qi Wuzhou. Tell him the medicine was robbed and the ships destroyed. Have him tell all participants to collect half the money back.
Reason: the black people chased here; the drugs were robbed because of them. Pay up, share the loss, and future business can continue.
If there are still those who don’t know their place, grab them and lock them up for a few days, then tell me.”
Ma Shiqi nodded with a light laugh: “There shouldn’t be such people. Collecting half back still leaves them plenty. If still unyielding, just telling them the black ghosts might come again would scare them half to death. Then no one to protect them.”
“That would be best.”
Gu Yansheng also had to put on a show for others. For long-term business, he could give some welfare to the businessmen, accept some loss, but if someone disobeyed or was too greedy.
Then to the Japanese, this traitor Gu Yansheng would seem too incompetent.
“How to handle the remaining seven tons of quinine?” Ma Shiqi asked.
Gu Yansheng thought and said: “Cold treatment. This batch can’t be sold for now, but don’t leave it in West Shanghai. Three tons into the concession, stored in three warehouses. Three tons to the Nationalist controlled area, seal in a local warehouse for a while. The remaining one ton, dilute as before.
Dilute this time to two tons; later, disperse based on situation.”
“Understood. I’ll go handle it now.”
