Seeking help from a tiger
The bright rows of streetlights gradually disappeared, and outside the car window was a monotonous dark blue. A clear yet melancholic mood sank into the car as Mr. Wu remained silent.
The road conditions worsened, and after several bumps, the car slowed down. With a creaking sound of metal opening and closing, the car turned a corner and came to a steady stop on a flat surface. Finally, Master Wu spoke: "We've arrived."
Smoothing her back, Qingcheng opened the car door, and a refreshing coolness rushed in. Suspended dust particles drifted rhythmically under the garden lights, and the temperature here was much lower than inside the car.
Qingcheng looked around. The two-person-high fence was completely opaque, and a three-story blue brick villa stood in the middle. There were no tall trees around it, making it look like an exquisite cage.
Four young men dressed in dark short-sleeved shirts stood at the entrance. One of them stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and gestured for them to lead the way. He walked with his heels barely touching the ground, so he was probably a martial arts expert from Rongtan.
After calculating the distance in her mind, and considering that the roads she was traveling on were all dirt roads, Qingcheng guessed that the villa was located in a private residence in the suburbs. She wondered why Sister Gui would arrange to meet here.
The young man led them through the courtyard and into the living room, where colorful Manchurian windows lined both sides, adding a touch of modernity to the antique style. A man in a beige long robe sat on a grand chair, gently waving a folding fan, his demeanor completely out of place with the thugs outside.
Xiaomi! Kiyosumi was stunned. No wonder his brothers covered their faces at the Shikoku Flour Mill. It turned out that the triplets were all acquaintances of Mr. Dai.
“I’ve brought her. Mr. Mi, please ask Sister Gui to come out.” Mr. Wu’s face had been tense, but he became even more serious when he saw Xiao Mi.
"Thank you for your trouble, Master Wu." Xiao Mi took out a brocade bag and handed it to Master Wu, saying with a smile, "Sister Gui has been working hard these days and is quite tired, so she won't be able to entertain you brothers. This is just a small token of her appreciation for your travel expenses. Also, after we get back to Shanghai, all your expenses tonight will be on my tab. Make sure you have a great time."
Master Wu nodded in agreement, deftly taking the money bag and weighing it as if hesitating for even a second would be disrespectful to the money. He turned to Qingcheng and said, "Mr. Xia, please sit down. Sister Gui will be here soon."
"Oh. I'm not in a hurry, Mr. Wu, you've worked hard." Qingcheng remained polite. "Also, please don't hold a grudge against Mr. Gao. He's just a smart aleck, he's definitely not targeting you. It's better to release him sooner rather than later, so you don't have to worry about him."
Master Wu's sharp gaze swept over, seemingly not expecting that Qingcheng, despite being in dire straits herself, was still concerned about Gao Junxiao. After probing for a moment, he replied, "If he could behave himself, I naturally wouldn't hold it against him. I'll release him tomorrow."
His words were firm and resolute, and Qingcheng was relieved: "That's good then. Please go back, Mr. Wu. Don't be too late, or Xiao Liu might cause trouble for the nanny again."
"Yes, Mr. Xia, please continue your conversation." Master Wu lowered his head, no longer looking at Qingcheng, and turned to leave the hall.
The moment the door closed with a click, Qingcheng's heart skipped a beat. The main hall was empty, and she felt as if several pairs of eyes were staring at her. She subconsciously looked up and glanced around, but only found Xiaomi's gaze.
A suffocating silence filled the room. Xiao Mi sat in the main seat, neither serving tea nor exchanging pleasantries. Her eyes held a hint of contempt and a touch of barely perceptible resentment. She remained still, neither did Qing Cheng. Qing Cheng also remained silent, simply smiling back at her, her thoughts already far away.
After a long pause, he suddenly scoffed, the sound seeming to come from his nose, filled with disdain: "Mr. Xia looks familiar. Haven't we met somewhere before?"
"Mr. Mi, you flatter me. This is our first meeting. Perhaps I am of average appearance and resemble many others somewhat," Qingcheng replied, feigning composure, but alarm bells were ringing in his mind. Had he already sensed something?
Xiaomi stared intently at Qingcheng, her tone icy: "But I feel like we've met before!"
Hehe, Qingcheng chuckled a few times, and sweat broke out on his back. He probably knew something and wanted to avenge his brother. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and go with the flow: "If Master Mi insists on having seen me, then let's have seen me. Shanghai is not too big or too small. We will have a chance to drink in the same place sometime."
Xiaomi raised an eyebrow noncommittally and changed the subject: "I heard that Mr. Xia has recently taken on an arms deal for five provinces in Jiangnan, and the underground river on the Anhui border is almost finished."
Why single out the Anhui border? Qingcheng's heart skipped a beat, but she nodded without changing her expression: "Thanks to Sister Gui, the project is progressing very quickly. I think it will be profitable by the end of the year. At that time, I will definitely give Sister Gui a big bonus."
"You've made quite a bold claim, no wonder your foster mother favors you so much." Xiao Mi's eyes narrowed, flashing a dangerous signal. "It's just a pity... your foster mother doesn't want to do it anymore."
Is "Ji Niang" referring to Sister Gui? Judging from his arrogant appearance, it's probably true. Qingcheng rubbed her temples, the unhealed wound on her head throbbing with pain, but she calmly asked, "I don't understand what Master Mi means."
“What I mean is that we will not cooperate with the G Party.” Xiaomi’s voice was low, and his leaning forward was aggressive.
"I don't understand what you're saying, Master Mi. Who's the G Party? Me?" Qingcheng slammed her hand on the side table and launched the first attack. "How did our respectable martial arts sect get infected with the stinking habits of the Eagle Claws, labeling anyone they don't like as a member of the G Party? Please just say what I did to offend you, Master Mi, instead of beating around the bush."
Xiaomi stared intently at Qingcheng, gritting her teeth as she said, "Mr. Xia, you have quite the nerve. Whether you admit it or not, this isn't your White Tiger Hall's territory. Show some manners."
"You're talking to me about rules! Whose rules are they? The rules of the Nanjing Eagle Claws, or our rules?" Qingcheng mocked. "Or maybe they're your Mi Ye's rules. When you're stirring up trouble, you force Nanjing's rules on, but when you're settling for territory, you use the rules of the underworld. You're such a clean and proper person. The gang is probably getting too murky to tolerate you."
"You!" Xiao Mi stood up abruptly, her finger trembling as she pointed at Qing Cheng.
"Am I wrong? We're a bunch of shady characters, how clean can we be?" Qingcheng retorted to Xiao Mi without fear. "I don't know who you've been bribed by, but if you want to ruin my collaboration with Sister Gui, at least come up with a legitimate reason. It's not like you're cheating someone or maliciously stealing orders. Why do you have to use some 'G Party' as a pretext? People will laugh their heads off if word gets out. How am I supposed to maintain my reputation in this business world after this?"
Hahaha, Xiao Mi suddenly burst into wild laughter, laughing until his voice was hoarse. He said "good" three times in a row. His tone gradually calmed down, but a fierce aura emanated from his whole body: "Mr. Xia, you are a person of high status and have a bad memory. I would like to help you remember."
Despite losing face, Qingcheng felt uneasy at his laughter, but she retorted without backing down: "If you have evidence, then present it, one, two, three, four, and let's have a chat. If you're just trying to scare me, then stop putting on airs here and go ask Sister Gui to come out. You have no say in the business of Rongtan."
"Bring him in," Xiaomi shouted to the door.
As if waiting for this command, the door immediately opened, and the man in black led a middle-aged man into the room. "Who is this?" Qingcheng wondered, full of questions.
In contrast, Xiaomi unfolded his fan and asked meaningfully, "Tell me, who are you?"
The man remained silent, his eyes red and his back hunched; he was clearly terrified.
*Slap!* A resounding slap landed on the middle-aged man's face. Xiao Mi's eyes flashed with malice: "Speak, are you mute?"
The middle-aged man was stunned by the beating. He raised his head blankly and replied in a tearful voice, "I am a rickshaw driver from Laifu Car Company."
"Mr. Xia, before you took on the agency, it seems you were handling goods for those 'eagle claws' in the military. Ordinary kilns and foreign goods were fine, but some things were deadly." Xiao Mi unfolded her folding fan with a whoosh, her words carrying a hidden meaning.
She was now certain that the person in front of her was bluffing. If there were solid evidence, it wouldn't be that Xiaomi had set up a private brothel, but rather that he had been handed over to the secret agents.
The more Xiao Mi put on her act, the calmer Qing Cheng remained: "You have to risk your life to make big money. I've already risked my life. But what are you trying to prove by kidnapping a law-abiding citizen? Are you going to accuse me of smuggling?"
"Hmph, I know you're fearless because you have the backing of the Eagle Claws, but they definitely won't dare to protect you if they find out about this." Xiao Mi pointed at the coachman and asked him to tell him about a customer from out of town they had previously received.
The driver knelt on the ground and recalled word by word that it was early summer when he picked up a passenger from out of town at the train station one evening. The passenger had a steady gait and a straight posture, and was obviously a soldier. Moreover, he had a slightly raised chin and was dressed in expensive clothes, so he must be an officer.
The out-of-town guest was carrying a particularly heavy black suitcase. He went straight to a billiards room after leaving the train station. Half a day later, he met the officer again at the entrance of the billiards club. The suitcase in his hand was gone, and he returned to the train station almost without stopping.
“Mr. Xia, you should be familiar with Regiment Commander Zeng of the 47th Army, right?” A sly glint flashed in Xiao Mi’s sharp eyes. “Their regiment just scrapped three radios, and Regiment Commander Zeng made a small fortune. What a coincidence.”
Xiaomi's smug attitude was like hundreds of invisible tiny insects crawling onto his skin; he had actually found the radio station, he had some tricks up his sleeve.
Whether she admits it or not, she will fall into their trap. Qingcheng did not answer directly: "What kind of evidence is this? My client is a military officer. If you like to do investigations so much, why don't you take the CC's special agent training course? You can be recruited and have a formal position, and you can also make use of your expertise."
Xiaomi's lips twitched slightly: "Mr. Xia, you flatter me. I do not have your ambition. You even dare to resell such important supplies as radios, taking such a big risk, and you can't make much money from it. It's hard not to suspect your background."
"Then give the evidence to CC. Maybe they'll be happy and reward you with a piece of meat." Qingcheng teased with a grin.
"You think I wouldn't dare! Your Communist Party killed two of my relatives, and I haven't even settled that score with you yet! Now you want to murder my foster mother!" Xiao Mi suddenly grabbed Qing Cheng's neck and shouted hoarsely.
How did it become that we murdered them? It was clearly Zhang Renjiu on the other side who acted inhumanely.
Qingcheng neither dodged nor avoided the pain, enduring the stinging sensation on her neck like ants gnawing at her, and continued to mock: "You don't understand politics at all. Calling you a dog is too kind. At best, you're just a chamber pot. Once it's full of filth and stench, people will find it too troublesome to clean it and will just replace it with a new one."
"You won't shed a tear until you see the coffin. Men, take him to the nearest CC station. Go tell the spies what you want to say." Xiao Mi was blinded by hatred and didn't understand Qing Cheng's meaning at all, taking it only as an insult.
No sooner had he finished speaking than the door was kicked open, and a tall, strong man rushed in. It was none other than Master Wu, who was carrying a tray of bandages and medicine.
Arriving at just the right time, Qingcheng's lips curled into a strange smile. After a long pause, Master Wu said, "Mr. Xia was attacked by assassins from Rentan before he came. We must be good hosts and treat Brother Xia first."
"Treatment my ass! He's a member of the Communist Party who infiltrated our family. He can't use chopsticks to drink soup or a spoon to eat noodles. I can't be brothers with him." Xiaomi glared at Qingcheng, her eyes full of contempt.
"Mr. Xia, are you a member of the Communist Party?" Master Wu asked seriously.
"Of course not, but Master Mi insists that I am, and I can't explain it to him." Qingcheng touched her neck, looking helpless.
"It's alright, I trust you." As he spoke, Master Wu took out a blood-stained handkerchief from his pocket. "Brother Gao left his handkerchief in my car. Wash it and return it to him later. He's a very considerate person."
"You betrayed me right in front of me! What kind of spell did he cast on you?" Xiao Mi said angrily, shoving Master Wu.
Master Wu put down the wooden tray and scolded, "Shut up! Mr. Xia is a guest of Rongtan and the young master of the White Tiger Hall. You can't be negligent, or you won't be able to bear the consequences. Xingzhong Society is different from us..."
Before he could finish speaking, Qingcheng waved his hand and laughed, "We're all men in the gang, how can we be so particular? The Xingzhonghui just has a few more retired officials, which has taught us a bit more political skills. Actually, all the brothers in the gang should learn a little politics, so that we don't end up being used as chamber pots while always thinking that we can one day sit on the table ourselves."
"Mr. Xia, you must be thirsty after talking so much. I'll have someone pour you some tea. Please drink it slowly." Master Wu meant that Qingcheng should say less.
However, even if Qingcheng didn't say anything, someone else would. Xiao Mi angrily shook his folding fan, making a loud banging sound: "I hate rich kids like you the most. You talk about politics and ideology all the time, but if you don't make money, it's all bullshit."
“Mr. Mi, why are you always joking around today? You can’t see the big picture if you don’t understand politics.” Qingcheng glanced at the Manchu window and raised his voice. “In this era of great strife, the strong are strong, and the weak perish. It’s all about risking your life. Of course, just fighting isn’t enough; you also have to use your brain. Neither Nanjing nor Jiangxi can defeat the other right now. The current balance is the best state for us.”
“Our business is so profitable, everyone is envious. Do you think those hawks in Nanjing can tolerate us for long? If Nanjing unifies the country, the first thing they'll do is steal our business! How Chiang Kai-shek deals with the Communist Party now is how he'll deal with us in the future.”
These words were a wake-up call, leaving Xiaomi and Master Wu stunned and frozen in place. Qingcheng's outrageous remarks might have been too ahead of their time, but they weren't meant for them; it was enough that the other person understood them.
Qingcheng ignored their continued efforts and bluntly stated that her first pot of gold came from reselling military supplies, including not only kilns, gasoline, and engines, but also everything else. She exploited loopholes in the Nationalist government's system; if they dared to steal, she dared to sell.
She used to like to follow market rules, with the highest bidder winning, and she didn't care who bought it or what they did with it.
However, she just discovered that Master Mi was using the Nationalist government's standards to confine himself and others. Qingcheng deeply felt the profound influence of the Nationalist government and that it was necessary to strongly correct it. Starting from Liangshan, none of the chivalrous heroes who were granted amnesty had a good ending.
Whoever wants to be recruited, whoever wants to go and die alone, in her eyes, the rules of the court don't matter! If the Nationalist government dares to complain, she'll sell all the supplies to the Soviet areas at rock-bottom prices. She'll beat them senseless, leaving them routed and begging her to help them move their goods.
Master Wu was the first to come to his senses. He looked the person up and down, but before he could ask anything, a woman's voice came from the doorway. Her voice was weak, like the buzzing of a mosquito.
No one heard clearly, and the room fell silent for a moment, waiting for her to speak again. The maid nodded and said, "Greetings, gentlemen. Madam is getting ready. We'll have dinner together in the dining room later. Also, she asked me to bring Mr. Xia a set of clean clothes so he won't feel uncomfortable wearing dirty clothes."
"Thank you, Sister Gui. May I ask where I can change?" Qingcheng stepped forward and took the clothes, letting out a long sigh of relief. She had managed to circumvent Sister Gui's probing.
“Just change here. We’re all men, what’s there to be afraid of? Stop dawdling like a little girl,” Xiaomi said fiercely.
"A scholar can be killed but not humiliated. Master Mi, watch your attitude." Qingcheng did not back down.
"Alright, alright, I'll take you to the side room on the second floor, we can apply the medicine together. When Sister Gui comes and sees you still dressed so dirty, she'll probably scold us again." Master Wu shook his head and sighed, acting as a peacemaker to separate the two.
"Wait a minute, our Sister Gui looks beautiful and kind-hearted. The coachman didn't do anything to us, so why don't you send someone to take him back, Master Wu?"
“No problem.” Master Wu nodded in agreement and then led Qingcheng upstairs.
The moonlight outside the window grew stronger, and a dark horizon appeared on the horizon. Qingcheng raised her wrist to check the time. It was 7:30, and Guijie still hadn't come out. She had almost finished eating the melon seeds before the meal.
"Sorry I'm late."
Speak of the devil, and he appears; Sister Gui's exquisitely made-up face carries a faint smile that is as refreshing as a spring breeze.
"Grandma, you've arrived." Xiao Mi stood respectfully by the door, her eyes showing none of the sharpness and arrogance from before, but instead gentle as water.
"Sister Gui." Master Wu also stood up to greet her.
"Please sit down, gentlemen. Are you hungry? Let the kitchen serve some hot dishes first, and we can chat after you've eaten your fill." Sister Gui was extremely polite, just like an older sister inviting her younger brothers to her home for dinner.
After eating most of the food, Sister Gui wiped her mouth to indicate that she was full. She glanced at Qingcheng, who immediately put down her chopsticks and said the same thing.
"You all eat slowly. I need to renegotiate the business with Xia. I was too hasty before," Sister Gui said casually, brushing aside her suspicions.
When the two arrived at the study, Sister Gui lifted Qingcheng's chin and looked at the bruise on her neck, sighing, "That kid Xiaomi really doesn't know how to cherish a woman."
Something about that was strange. Qingcheng felt a chill run down her spine from being stared at, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead: "This wasn't done by Master Mi, it was assassins sent by Zhang Renjiu. If Master Wu hadn't arrived in time, you wouldn't be seeing me now."
"Heh, that piece of trash Zhang Renjiu." A hint of murderous intent flashed in Sister Gui's eyes. "The Communist Party wants to ruin my reputation, and he's joining in the fun. I'll get rid of him sooner or later."
"Sister Gui, let me be fair. Zhang Renjiu wanted to kill you to seize territory, but the Communist Party has no reason to target you. Offending you would affect their activities in Shanghai and would do them no good at all," Qingcheng asked in confusion.
"To be honest, I've had some disagreements with Mr. Da these past few years. The G Party chose Mr. Da as their agent to trade at the Four Nations Flour Mill, but unfortunately, I ruined it. Only Mr. Da, me, and the G Party know about this. I heard that someone on the G Party's side died, so they'll probably retaliate." Sister Gui propped herself up on her arm, judging others by her own standards.
"From what I understand, the G Party is a highly disciplined organization that doesn't value brotherhood but only the overall interests. It's impossible for them to jeopardize their future development for the sake of a few lowly soldiers," Qingcheng said objectively.
"Do you know them very well?" Sister Gui asked with a smile.
"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated." Qingcheng immediately admitted, then changed the subject, "This matter is quite strange. I hope Sister Gui will investigate it carefully, otherwise we will lose a way out in the future. Zhang Renjiu will be laughing in his sleep tonight. Moreover, the huge pit he dug in the stock market can be plugged just like that. It is hard to guarantee that there is a master helping him behind the scenes."
"Okay, thanks for reminding me. Let's put that aside for now and talk about tomorrow's conference with a thousand people." Sister Gui finally got to the point.
"I have always followed Sister Gui's lead. Whoever you tell me to support, I will support." Qingcheng bowed respectfully.
Sister Gui didn't speak, but stared straight at her, as if trying to see through her skin to her bones.
Qingcheng turned her head away uncomfortably, goosebumps rising on her arms. She thought to herself, "It's all Gao Junxiao's fault for being so cheeky. Could Sister Gui really have taken a liking to me? But I don't want to be someone else's dog. How can I refuse?"
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