Openly repairing the plank road

The noise in the darkness was too loud. Chunmei carefully tried to pinpoint the source of the gunshots, and a bad thought flashed through her mind: someone was trying to break the prisoner.

The west side of the village is surrounded by dense forest, and the enemy can easily avoid our sight with simple camouflage. They came prepared, and the gunfire was dense in the west and sparse in the east. Our soldiers were almost being overwhelmed by them.

Battalion Commander Sun, you must hold on! A thin layer of sweat beaded on Chunmei's forehead, and she wished she could shoot down the mountain on her feet.

The farmhouse where Xu Tian and the others were being held was right in front of them when suddenly several figures escaped through the back window. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed Xu Tian and his gang. Chunmei hurriedly called out, "Xu Tian ran away through the back window!"

The comrades finally turned back to pursue the criminals, but the sounds of gunfire from both sides were still clearly distinct. Even at this point, Battalion Commander Sun was still thinking about conserving bullets.

Enemy bullets whizzed overhead as Chunmei continued crawling forward, her ears ringing. She shook her head, rolled to the ground, and barely escaped the enemy's attack by hiding behind a large tree.

Before she could even feel happy, a flash of light appeared before her eyes, and Chunmei was thrown to the ground. Without any time to think, the enemy pounced on her again, covering her mouth with his left hand and raising a sharp blade high in his right.

She instinctively kicked with all her might, instantly reversing the odds. Almost simultaneously, she nimbly snatched the blade and slit Chunmei's throat. By the time Chunmei got up again, the farmhouse was already ablaze.

That bastard set fire again! She could no longer remain calm and shouted, "Battalion Commander Sun, get the new equipment ready! Teacher He said he'll help you report the gun use!"

The good news reached the farmhouse clearly, and Sun Dadan laughed wildly a few times: "Hahaha, comrades, you all heard that, give them something hot, follow me!"

The smell of burning filled the air. Chunmei wanted to go and help, but unexpectedly, her leg cramped and an unbearable pain swept over her body, causing her to fall to the ground.

The man wasn't quite dead yet. In his dying moments, he grabbed Chunmei's leg and reached for his pistol with his right hand. Chunmei gritted her teeth and endured the pain. Using the firelight, she fired one, two, three shots... and with a powerful kick, the body rolled to the side, its neck almost broken, revealing its pinkish-white trachea.

Sweat soaked her forehead, and her bangs clung tightly to her skin. Chunmei, panting heavily, lifted her trouser leg, revealing that all the blisters on her calves had burst, exposing tender red flesh. She trembled with pain at the slightest movement and couldn't stand up at all. The burns were more severe than she had imagined; she needed to rest for now.

On the other side, with the upgrade of their weapons, Battalion Commander Sun and his men quickly went from being at a disadvantage to being at an advantage, and the enemy began to retreat steadily.

Battalion Commander Sun shouted at Xu Tian and his gang, "Surrender now and you won't be killed! Otherwise, we'll capture them whether we're cold or rough, so we'll capture them however we feel comfortable."

Bang bang...

When the other side didn't respond and instead fired a warning shot, and even dared to retaliate, Battalion Commander Sun suddenly leaped up and accurately pinned down prisoner Xu Tian. The other prisoners were stunned. Before they could react, a black long gun was pressed against the back of their heads. Weapons fell to the ground, and the prisoners all raised their hands.

Only Xu Tian was still shouting: "Anyone who dares to touch me, I'll make sure their whole family dies without a burial place."

"The people of Huangbai Village are no longer your slaves! Our Soviet governs by law, and everyone can be their own master." A resounding voice shook the entire audience.

In the distance, Master He led a group of villagers carrying buckets and other items, walking briskly in a grand procession. His blackened face inexplicably gave people a sense of solemnity, but Chunmei always felt that something was missing on his forehead.

"Do you know who's above me? I'd scare you to death if I told you." Xu Tian's eyes were full of defiance as he fiercely surveyed the entire room.

Master He snorted coldly: "I'm all ears! You'd better list out everyone you know, one by one, and no one can escape!"

With Battalion Commander Sun's interception, the last prisoner's cries faded into the air, and Xu Tian and his accomplices were all captured.

The flames gradually died down, and the villagers lingered around the scorched earth without leaving immediately. A silent sense of dejection permeated the crowd; they seemed to have lost their sense of purpose, and countless worried faces overlapped, unsure of what to do next.

"Thank you all for your heroic efforts in putting out the fire. I will take the prisoner back to Ruijin for trial, and I will also find someone to repair the house. Everyone, please go back. We have production to do tomorrow." Master He waved his hand to disperse the crowd, but the surroundings became a silent sea, and no one left.

An old man stepped forward shakily and asked what everyone was thinking: "Sir, you just arrested the people from the village committee and the county committee. Who are we going to pay our grain tax this month? What if the new county magistrate doesn't recognize the grain tax we paid before and we have to pay it all over again? My old bones can't take it."

“You’re too kind, cousin. I’m not some big shot. We don’t have any masters in our Soviet. Just call me Old He.” Master He frowned. “The Agricultural Committee usually keeps records of the grain deliveries. If the records are unclear, don’t worry. I will report it to the higher authorities and try to reduce the burden on your village.”

In an instant, a cacophony of whispers burst forth from the crowd, some joyful, some doubtful. The old man's thin, dark body stood still, his eyes gleaming with sincerity: "Sir, it's not Old He. I know a place where there's a lot of the grain we've handed over, and not just grain, but also a lot of salt."

"I'm sorry, my dad is old and his brain is senile. He was just talking nonsense to show off." A woman rushed up and pulled the old man back. She also had bound feet, and her entire center of gravity was concentrated on her toes, like an inverted cone, which looked very awkward.

This statement is a bit like protesting too much; the old man shook off the woman and said, "Don't pull me, my mind is perfectly clear."

"Father, you're getting senile. That's not public property. My sister has suffered so much; we can't leave her nothing." The woman's voice turned pleading, and she almost knelt down.

“That beast owed her, but no one else owed her anything. She just had bad luck,” the old man said with a strong voice.

The pain in the woman's eyes was instantly swallowed by rage: "But you owe her! You were blind to marry her off to that beast. She was beaten until she miscarried, and you wouldn't let her come back. Now that you're in trouble, you're acting all high and mighty, trying to curry favor with high officials and get your son a position so your grave will be filled with smoke. Should I erect a tombstone for you now, so you can feel the impact?"

The woman's voice suddenly rose, and the old man froze, his whole body trembling involuntarily.

Snap!

A crisp slap landed on the woman's face, immediately turning her cheek red. The woman shrieked, "If you've got the guts to hit me, why don't you go fight that beast? You know he's a county magistrate, you're too busy trying to curry favor with him, but you don't dare to lay a hand on him, are you? You're just a cowardly old codger who only knows how to bully the weak, ptooey!"

The harsh words concealed another disgusting truth: the strong wield their swords against the stronger, and the weak throw punches at the weaker.

"You unfilial daughter, I raised you for nothing!" The old man was so angry that he tried to hit her again, but the woman pushed him to the ground instead.

"What have you ever done for me? Have you let us sisters sleep in your bed even once, or fed us a full meal? You call us a good-for-nothing every day. Has your son fared any better? He deserves to have his leg broken and no descendants." The woman uttered vicious words.

"How could you talk to your brother like that, Dazhuang? Aren't you going to do anything about your wife?" The old man, unable to win the argument with his daughter, started calling for his son-in-law. The son-in-law made a token effort to push away, but his wife pushed him aside. Standing between them, he was slapped by his father-in-law. The son-in-law simply covered his face and ran away.

Without any restraint, the father and daughter started arguing in the street. The surrounding villagers, finding new purpose in life, each tried to separate one side and break up the fight.

Even an upright official finds it difficult to settle family disputes, and Master He couldn't get a word in edgewise. Just then, Chunmei caught a glimpse of the mysterious woman with her head covered in the crowd. She was mingling at the very edge of the crowd, frequently stealing glances at the old man. Her sorrowful eyes were filled with tears. When she wiped away her tears, her exposed skin was covered with horrifying purplish-black bruises.

Based on her long-term experience in family mediation, Chunmei immediately realized that she had been a victim of domestic violence. The jumbled fragments in her mind were now connected in a single line. Could the mysterious woman be Xie Gaosheng's wife, Yang Shi?

Quietly approaching the mysterious woman, Chunmei wanted to call her by her full name, but she couldn't recall any relevant information. A pang of sadness struck her; the poor woman didn't even have a proper name to be known to the outside world.

"How about we go by age?" Chunmei tried to make her tone gentle: "Sister Yang, my name is Zhang Chunmei. I usually work with women. I can't stand men hitting women. If you need anything, our Women's Federation can help you."

The mysterious woman was visibly startled. The shadow covered most of her body, and she tugged at her headscarf, trying to wrap herself up more tightly.

But Chunmei could still see resentment in her empty eyes. That hatred seemed to have been rooted in her heart for decades and had been festering for decades. Was she hating her father, or this unfair society?

The wind around her gradually subsided. The woman hesitated for a moment, as if she had thought of something, and then she turned and walked away.

Sensing the wavering beneath the woman's mask, Chunmei followed behind her and continued to press the issue: "Running back to your parents' home can only hide you for a while, not forever. If you want to get rid of Xie Gaosheng completely, please help us to convict him so that he can never harm you again. Of course, he deserves his punishment. You just need to tell us what you know."

The two chased each other until they reached a simple farmhouse. When the woman realized she couldn't shake them off, she collapsed to the ground, covered her face, and wailing sobs escaped her lips.

She begged Chunmei to let her go. Xie Gaosheng wanted to marry his mistress, but found her in the way, so he sold Yang Shi to an old bachelor. She refused to comply and escaped back when the old bachelor was off guard at night.

Because she was afraid that her father would tell Xie Gaosheng, she could only stay at her sister and brother-in-law's house now. They were both good people, and she didn't want to cause them any more trouble.

Therefore, she didn't want to get involved in this mess, and she dared not point fingers. Xie Gaosheng's backing was even stronger than they had imagined. All those who had previously exposed him had been framed by them under various pretexts.

Chunmei put her arm around her and gently patted her back. The woman sniffed and said through teary eyes, "Xie Gaosheng, he's really not human. He even used the money from selling opium and smuggling to let Xu Tian build an armed force. You can't fight him, you can't fight him..."

More and more dense clouds appeared on the horizon, one after another, sweeping past and soon completely obscuring the moon.

The sweltering heat of Shanghai finally dissipated in the evening. Green fans whirred and spun, and the melodious singing of a female singer could be faintly heard outside. The large living room was filled with people on both sides, each with a fierce expression, clearly not a kind person.

On the sofa between them sat two men in suits, facing each other. One of them stubbed out his cigarette, seemingly having made up his mind. He looked up and said seriously, "Mr. Xia's offer is fair, and as an individual, I certainly wouldn't refuse, but..."

“The price still isn’t right.” Qingcheng interrupted him bluntly. “Mr. Songhe, just tell me what you want. I really want to join his business in Central China, or is he worried about my abilities? Brother Chang, please put in a good word for me. I’ll definitely remember you when I make my fortune.”

"No, Xia, you're very timely with your refunds and rebates, and you have a great reputation in the industry. I've already embellished your resume, but Mr. Songhe isn't interested. He's used to keeping everything to himself. Why don't you try a different region? There are vacant agency slots in East China and South China." Ah Chang's face scrunched up, and he started shaking his leg anxiously.

"The weapons market in South China is already saturated. My relatives in Guangdong say that it's not just Chinese people making them, foreigners are making them, Japanese are making them, and people from Southeast Asia are making them too. Theirs are more advanced, industrialized products from large factories. Even their outdated junk can still be sold domestically with low profit margins. Our high-quality imitations are neither here nor there, and they have no competitiveness." Qingcheng excitedly slapped the table.

“Why don’t you go to East China? There are lots of rich people there, and you don’t have to go too far. Plus, you have an official background. Just the five provinces in Jiangnan alone are enough for you to make money easily.” Ah Chang held up five fingers to show his intention.

“Brother Chang, you don’t understand. It’s because of the official background that you can’t manage the five provinces in Jiangnan. You might accidentally end up in ‘over there’.” Qingcheng lowered his voice, feigning concern.

"Xia, making money? It doesn't matter whose money you make!" A-Chang spread his hands, his face full of indifference. "I'm only telling you the truth because I consider you a brother. Our goods have already been sold 'over there' a long time ago. I don't have any official connections. I sell to whoever pays me. If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility. What are you afraid of, kid?"

"Really? Maybe I'll try Northwest." Qingcheng turned her face away, unmoved.

"No, no, no, the Northwest is right next to Yan Xishan. He has his own arsenal, and he has long monopolized the supply channels there. You can't even get supplies there. Don't even think about North China. The arms business involves dealing with the governors of all levels in North China. If you don't have an iron stomach for drinking and strong connections, don't do it." A-Chang analyzed everything Qingcheng wanted to say and then denied it one by one.

Qingcheng stroked her chin and murmured, "Hmm~ It's only East China now, but you already have supply channels, which means you don't need agents and can get orders directly."

"It's a small order, I don't care about the volume at all. As long as you're willing to sign with East China and help me increase the volume, I'm willing to give you the existing small, scattered orders as a good start. How about it, brother, am I sincere enough?" Ah Chang said earnestly.

He genuinely wanted to secure this collaboration. Qingcheng readily acknowledged Achang's sincerity but didn't answer whether he would sign with East China, appearing hesitant and conflicted, as if he were being forced into the situation.

"Bring me all the orders from the five provinces south of the Yangtze River." Ah Chang turned to his subordinate standing beside him, his tone carrying an unquestionable authority. He then lit a cigarette and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

Upon hearing this, his subordinate nodded and quickly found the orders. Ah Chang pushed a stack of orders in front of Qingcheng and asked her to take a look.

The thing she wanted had finally arrived. Kiyosumi suppressed the excitement that was bursting out of her head and calmly took the order. She sharply scanned each page, checking the product names, quantities, and amounts, as well as the recipient and delivery location, which were of utmost concern to her.

Finally, an order from Jiangxi caught her eye. The delivery address was Huangbai Village, and the recipient was Chen Laicai. She didn't recognize him. Qingcheng secretly noted down the order information and continued to search.

The next one is still from Jiangxi, but the delivery address has changed to Wuyapo, and the recipient is called Jin San. Hmph, what Jin San? It's probably the female spy Tao Sanjin.

After a while, Qingcheng nodded in satisfaction. She sorted out the stack of orders and handed them back to Achang, saying with a sigh, "The quantity is indeed a bit small. With such a good geographical location in Jiangnan, if I were to become an agent, the price would be at least ten times higher."

"So you agree?" Ah Chang leaned forward, his eyes full of anticipation.

“Yes, I’ll bring my lawyer over next Sunday to sign the contract, and we’ll finalize the details together.” Qingcheng said, taking out her gift from her pocket. “Also, my master heard that you like South American cigars, so he specially asked someone to bring them back from overseas. Please try them.”

Ah Chang accepted the gift with both hands and smiled, "Uncle, you're too kind. Please thank him properly for me. Bring me a case of Cabernet Sauvignon. I'm a rough man and don't have much to give in return, so I'll just have a case of French red wine. It tastes quite good. Please accept it, Mr. Xia."

"Brother Chang, you're too kind." Qingcheng instructed his subordinates to put away the gifts, then extended his hand and said, "See you next week."

"See you next week." Ah Chang also reached out and shook hands with Kiyosumi.

As she left the dance hall, Qingcheng keenly sensed a familiar gaze. Without turning around, she calmly got into the car, asked the driver to drop her off at the second intersection, and told him to speed up and continue driving.

Watching the car disappear, Qingcheng slipped into a dark alley and turned to head towards the dance hall. This wasn't the first or second time she'd been watched like this; the man was extremely difficult to deal with. Last time, if she hadn't been alert, she would have almost fallen into his trap.

I'll see who's been following me tonight!

Bright neon lights shone from the alley entrance. As Qingcheng passed a closed two-story shop, an idea struck her. She pulled out her hatpin and unlocked the door with ease. The second-floor window faced the dance hall, and she could see the crowds coming and going outside.

After careful observation, finding nothing unusual, Kiyosumi thought the monitor might have gone to track the vehicle. Just as she was about to leave, a furtive figure flashed past under the neon lights.

How could it be him? Kiyosumi closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down, and then opened them again. The man had already crossed the road and darted straight into the phone booth below the store.

At this moment, he was only five meters away from her, his dark skin and nonchalant posture clearly visible. She could no longer allow Qingcheng to deceive her. Smiling and welcoming at the banquet while strategizing behind the scenes was always someone's commanding style.

There was a telephone next to the cash register. Kiyosumi's heart pounded. She gripped the receiver tightly and quickly dialed with her other hand: "Hello, I want to connect to Paris Apartment, Room 202."

Soon, a professional female voice came from the other end of the phone: "I'm sorry, sir, the number you dialed is busy. Please try again later."

In an instant, confusion, anger, fear, and grievances intertwined, making Qingcheng feel uneasy and restless. She hurriedly hung up the phone.

The glass reflected her numb face. Perhaps she wasn't ready to cry, or perhaps she had long expected this day to come. She couldn't cry; she only felt a layer of dense frost clinging to her body, gradually solidifying.

After a moment of stunned silence, Qingcheng rubbed her stiff face, composed herself, and urged herself: business comes first, personal matters can wait.

After confirming that Xiaoshan Hai had left, she forced herself to push open the door she had come from, and put the lock back on, as if she had never been there. The dark alley in front of her seemed to have no end, but she had to walk through it all, even if she was the only one left in the end.

The Xu Residence.

Wang Renyong put down the information Qingcheng gave him. He was completely certain that Xie Gaosheng's smuggling route and the route through which the guns entered the country were basically the same.

“Not only that, Huangbai Village alone purchased 200 rifles, enough to arm a security regiment. Huangbai Village is also located near the front line of fire. I have reason to suspect that they want to collude with the Nationalist government to stage a mutiny.” Qingcheng continued seriously.

"This is very likely. One Zero is enough to give us trouble, and now so many speculators and counter-revolutionaries have been caught. Just thinking about it makes me shudder." Old Wang patted his chest.

"So we need to seize the time to counterattack. Now that we know the enemy's special agents' route, shouldn't we activate Team Two?" Kiyosumi asked, propping herself up on her arm.

Wang Renyong shook his head: "Hmm~ It's still a little short of perfect. Have you cracked the password yet?"

"It can't be that fast. That's just gibberish from a communication error. I've tried all the commonly used models, but it's always just a little short," Kiyosumi said discouragedly.

“Is the method wrong? I remember there’s a type of problem in math called ‘blind spot problem.’ On the surface, it’s a linear algebra calculation problem, but it can actually be easily solved by drawing it out using geometry.” Wang Renyong offered Qingcheng a new idea.

"Oh, I'll try again when I get back." Kiyosumi said somewhat absentmindedly.

"What's wrong? Who bullied you? Was it Gao Junxiao?" Wang Renyong said, patting the cast on his leg. "Although I can't beat him up right now, I can scold him for you. I can even do the 'villain' ritual, so you can scold him while you're doing it."

Old Wang is a really nice guy, Qingcheng said with a smile, "Thank you."

"Why don't you find an opportunity to confront him? Some things you can't avoid." Wang Renyong noticed something and his expression became serious.

"Okay, I'll handle it." Qingcheng didn't want to dodge. He had already put the bait on her head, so it was time to chat with him about "family matters".

Before leaving, Qingcheng took the strongest liquor from Xu Xi's liquor cabinet. There's no time like the present, so let's do it today.