War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1817 Captain Yan's Grain Collection (Part )

Near noon that day, when Ichiro Hoshino returned to the photo studio, the photos that Wei Ran had developed had already dried and were put into several envelopes.

"Teacher Musashi is back"

Wei Ran said enthusiastically, "The photos have been developed. There are three copies in total. You, Mr. Hirano, and Ms. Hirano each have one copy. The negatives are in this envelope."

After taking the envelope handed over by Wei Ran, opening it, taking out the photos and looking at them, Ichiro Hoshino nodded with satisfaction, "Send the negatives to my office, and this briefcase as well, and just put them on the table.

I'm going to deliver the photos to Ms. Hirano now. I may not be able to come back until the afternoon. I'm sorry to bother you with the photo agency."

"Please rest assured, I will run the business seriously." Wei Ran promised seriously.

"You can now try to run a photo agency on your own"

After saying this, Ichiro Hoshino hurriedly took the photos that Wei Ran had developed and walked out. He got on the rickshaw at the door and disappeared.

"Do I need you to say it?"

Wei Ran sneered silently, then carefully examined the briefcase that the other party had just handed to him.

Soon, a sneer appeared on his face. This ordinary-looking leather bag had a metal zipper made of brass.

The slider is pulled all the way to the bottom, and the chain teeth are extremely clean, without any hair or anything like that.

He could tell by the weight that the bag contained gold without even pinching it.

By applying gentle pressure with his fingers, he could even confirm that there were large yellow croakers in there, probably about seven or eight of them!

There should be something in here. It seems to be an envelope?

Wei Ran looked at the door of the photo studio and thought secretly, but in the end, he did not open it. Instead, he took the briefcase and the film in the envelope into the office and placed them on Ichiro Hoshino's desk.

He smelled a hint of temptation in this backpack, especially the words that Ichiro Hoshino said before he left, "You can try to run a photo agency on your own," which made him more alert.

This is definitely a test, a test of loyalty.

But why did Ichiro Hoshino suddenly test me the day after I came back?

What happened to the deflated body in that bathhouse?

No, that's unlikely. If Ichiro Hoshino already had reason to suspect me because of that incident, then he could just let the military police arrest me.

In other words, neither himself nor Zhang Taichuan and others were exposed.

Since he has not been exposed, does it mean that he needs a loyal helper for the next transaction?

That's probably all.

Wei Ran cut off his thoughts and stopped thinking about it. He warmly entertained the Japanese expatriates who came to take pictures in Japanese.

These were people who had just returned to Shanghai after the holidays. Most of them took a photo and sent it back to their homeland along with a letter to report their safety.

Because of this, the photo agency's business is particularly good today.

Of course, Captain Yan of the grain collection team also had good business today.

Not long after they left the city, they saw several donkey carts waiting for them on the roadside.

He didn't even have to show up. His two confidants instructed the members of the grain collection team to unload all the needles, thread and daily necessities produced by the factories in the concession from the vehicles and delivered them one by one.

These goods are nothing special, but they can still be exchanged for a lot of money.

It's not surprising at all. Nowadays, there are people in the city who even hoard matches and soap to drive up prices. But Old Yan doesn't bother to do such stupid things. What if there is a fire at home with so many matches hoarded? No matter how expensive soap, sewing needles, etc. are, they can't be eaten.

Instead of hoarding fish at home in the hope of having a litter of little ones, it is better to sell them early while everyone else is stockpiling and replace them with small yellow croakers. Not to mention small yellow croakers, even rice is more reliable than those things.

As for what to do in the future? Humph! His grain collection team has more than a hundred people and ten vehicles. Can't they make money by just taking something?

After sending away the daily necessities he brought with him, Old Yan kicked the boxes of weapons and ammunition at his feet, secretly wondering who bought them.

Although Old Yan was not picky about his customers, he still hoped that the buyer of these things would be a rich landlord. After all, he was just helping to transport these things out of the city.

If there's nothing in the goods when they're delivered to the landlord's house, and the ones who take over are those fourth masters, then I'll have to bear the risk together.

Although the risk is a bit high, this business is indeed worth doing. The shipping cost of each box is just half a small yellow croaker.

The few full crates in the car can earn him two or three small yellow croakers, which is much more profitable than those needles and thread.

Once I pay back the money I borrowed from that idiot translator to buy a house, I'll find a crime to put Captain Jin in jail! By then, this grain-collecting team will be mine!

Thinking of this, the expression on Old Yan's face became more and more beautiful.

While he was daydreaming, ten mule carts of the grain-collecting team passed through an intersection unimpeded.

The puppet soldiers at the intersection did not dare to stop the grain collection team. Not only did they not stop them, they even warmly invited them to rest and drink a cup of hot water.

The reason is simple. Last time, when they killed the gunman who killed Taijun, Captain Jin of the grain-collecting team gave them a lot of credit.

However, Captain Yan has no time to waste here today. He knows that Captain Jin did not follow him today, so it is just a dream for him to take away 3,000 kilograms of rice from the Ji family.

The most he could do to save face was to take a few car owners and his confidants to the front yard gatehouse to have a sip of hot water, and this was also the reason why he did not dare to break up with Captain Jin.

"Captain, where are we going to collect food?"

One of the drivers came up and sat on Captain Yan's mule cart and asked, "Three thousand kilograms of rice is not a small amount. If a hundred of us want to snatch it from those poor people, it will take at least ten days or half a month to get it together."

"Do you have any idea?" asked Old Yan, who was also worried about this matter.

"I think we should talk to the landlord."

The driver said, "It doesn't have to be much. Each family can donate 300 to 500 kilograms. There are so many landlords and rich people around here. Brothers, each family can donate one car. We can always get enough in one afternoon."

"Wouldn't that make me a beggar?" Old Yan shouted in dissatisfaction.

"My Captain Yan!"

The driver slapped his thigh and said, "What do you think? Aren't we just begging for food for the damn Japanese?"

"Old Yang is right."

Another driver came up and said, "Captain Yan, this time you led everyone out of the city to collect grain, but you didn't bring back a single grain of rice. What will you do next time?"

"That's the truth!"

Old Yan slapped his thigh and said, "Let's do it! When the time comes, we will have two cars as a team, and we will have all the equipment. In addition to food, we will also have to ask each family if they have any antiques or collectibles. Taijun likes this, and we can't let Captain Jin outdo us!"

"All listen to Captain Yan!"

The drivers all responded in unison, and Old Yan couldn't help but show a proud look on his face.

If he could really bring back something valuable this time, he might be able to kick Captain Jin out!

"Uncle Wu, we're here. This is the fork in the road where we met."

Just as he began to think about how to force the Ji family's treasure after kicking Captain Jin away, one of his confidants reminded him in a low voice.

"you go"

Old Yan said to another confidant that the one who just spoke was his own nephew, and the other was his second aunt's cousin. He naturally knew the relationship between them clearly, so he should leave the dangerous task of making the connection to the cousin.

His somewhat straightforward cousin was used to doing such dirty, tiring and dangerous work, so he jumped off the mule cart without saying a word, pulled out the box gun from the gun box, loaded it with bullets, and ran into the woods not far from one of the forks in the road. Not long after, two mule carts followed Captain Yan's confidant back, and the leader took out half a silver dollar and threw it to Captain Yan.

After taking the silver dollar, Captain Yan took out the other half from his pocket and put them together. Seeing that there was no problem, he immediately winked at the drivers around him.

"Unloading"

A few team leaders greeted each other, lifted the straw curtains on the mule carts, and moved several sealed crates onto the other mule carts.

"Is the leader Captain Jin or Captain Yan?" the man asked politely.

"My last name is Yan, the same as King of Hell." Old Yan said. This was the self-introduction he had recently come up with after much thought.

"It turns out to be Captain Yan. I am so sorry for my disrespect."

The leader clasped his fists, enthusiastically took Old Yan's hand and said, "I am the guard of Mr. Su, my surname is Yu, these weapons were bought by the boss and used by us to guard the house and scare the tenants.

Our leader knows that the grain collection team is full of heroes, so he asked me to teach the captain of the grain collection team a lesson and to take good care of him in the future. Don't let the news leak out, lest those poor guerrillas come to steal our equipment again."

After feeling the size and weight of the thing that the other party had just stuffed into his palm, Captain Yan was already sure that it was a small yellow croaker!

"Guardian Yu, don't worry!"

Captain Yan patted his chest and said, "The hundreds of brothers under my command have their mouths sealed tightly as if they were covered with American glue. I guarantee that not a single word will leak out!"

"Thank you very much, Captain Yan," Guardian Yu quickly clasped his fists again.

"Captain, ask him which landlord has more food?" one of the drivers reminded in a low voice.

Old Yan secretly slapped his thigh and asked hurriedly, "Yu Huyuan, we are a grain collection team after all, so let's go down here."

"Ouch!"

Yu Huyuan said quickly, "Captain Yan, I am not kidding you. Our Su family really has no surplus food. You don't know that the guerrillas came here last night. Not to mention the food, they almost killed our boss!"

"Who the hell asked you that?"

Old Yan waved at the other party and asked, "Do you know who has food around here?"

"That must be the Ji family!"

"Tsk! This is not nonsense!"

Captain Yan slapped the other person in the face in annoyance, "Except their family, and your family too."

"Have it!"

Yu Huyuan, who had understood, clapped his hands and said, "Mr. Wu, they have a lot of food. And I tell you."

At this point, Yu Huyuan lowered his voice and whispered in Old Yan's ear, "I heard that the son of Mr. Wu was imprisoned for watching people post big-character posters, and now he is begging for help from everyone! It's a good time for you to go!"

"I can."

"Hi!"

Yu Huyuan quickly reminded him, "You should agree to it first! Once the food is in hand, it is not up to you to decide whether to release it or not! Can he come to you to settle the score later? If the sky falls, won't there be someone taller to hold it up?"

"Is Mr. Wu and your boss not getting along?" Captain Yan asked shrewdly.

"Yes, there is a little bit of incompatibility," Yu Huyuan said half-concealingly.

Captain Yan didn't say anything, but just looked at Guardian Yu with a smile.

"Blame me, blame me for talking too much!"

Yu Huyuan took Captain Yan's hand and apologized quickly, and then stuffed less than ten silver dollars into his pocket, "Captain Yan, please be merciful. These are mine. I still have to wait and see whether the boss will recognize them when I go back."

"Go back and tell your boss, let him take care of it!"

Captain Yan said as he put the silver dollars into his pocket, "Let's go! Let's go to Mr. Wu's house today!"

As the order was given, the grain-collecting team started driving their mule carts again, and Old Yan personally gave a silver dollar to each cart leader and his confidants.

Of course, he didn't know that not long after he left, the guard Yu laughed and said as he walked back on the donkey cart, "This idiot is not as smart as this donkey!"

"How about asking him to be the vice-captain?"

One of the coachmen joked that he was none other than Liuzi who had rushed back last night to inform people to tie their pockets!

"It all depends on Captain Yan's ability now."

Yu Huyuan, the leader, said with a smile, "Three to five thousand kilograms of rice, wouldn't he be dreaming halfway through the journey?"

"Of course," Liuzi said with a smile, "He has wanted to remove the deputy title for a long time."

"Is your wound healed well?" Guardian Yu asked, changing the subject.

"about there"

Liu Zi said quickly, "Even if I can."

"Don't try to be a hero. You have a more important mission today."

Yu Huyuan had already stopped talking and asked Liuzi and others to tear open the seals. He then pulled out a claw hammer from his waist and pried open the ammunition boxes.

There was nothing else in these boxes but box guns of various styles, some new and some old, some even had words engraved on them, and the calibers were not uniform.

Yu Huyuan didn't know, but Liuzi knew that all of this was raised by Lin Qiaoan from various channels during the New Year.

Without any need to be called, a group of people ran out from the woods on the side of the road and divided the weapons in the box with swift movements.

"Captain, I'll leave this young man to you from now on."

Yu Huyuan pointed at Liuzi and said honestly, "This line is not easy, let him be in charge from now on."

"Yu Batou"

The man who rushed out of the woods shook hands with Yu Huyuan sincerely, "Please rest assured, we will take good care of him."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be relieved."

Yu Huyuan had already untied his belt and handed it to the other party as he spoke. "We can talk about the rest later when we have a chance. Tie me up quickly. For the next ambush, Liuzi will tell you who to kill and who to capture."

"excuse me"

As the captain spoke, he took the cloth belt handed to him and tied it to a wild plum tree on the side of the road. The branches of the tree were full of blood-red plum blossoms.