Period drama: Old Cao's carefree life

Chapter 16 It's Unacceptable to Serve Someone Apart

That evening, Cao Weida secretly took Zheng Chaoyang to the warehouse. After personally inspecting the supplies, he secretly contacted Luo Yong that same night.

After confirming that everything was true, Luo Yong immediately reported it to his superiors.

The higher-ups attached great importance to this matter. Since the founding of the Red Party, there had been a shortage of supplies. Now that such a supply trade had suddenly appeared, they naturally could not miss it.

Upon receiving the reply, Zheng Chaoyang dared not delay and immediately contacted Cao Weida.

Cao Wei Da simply said: You decide the location of the transaction, just tell me when you're about to leave, but there's one condition: you must bring the money.

Since they were so sincere, Zheng Chaoyang naturally wouldn't hold them back. In fact, this batch of goods did catch the Red Party off guard, since the amount of money involved was considerable.

At 80% of the black market price, that's a whopping 160,000 silver dollars!
But no matter how difficult it is, the Red Party cannot simply watch it slip away and has already begun to piece together a cobblestone effort.

As mentioned above, even if we have to sell everything we own, we will raise this money!

The next morning, after clocking in, Cao Wei Da carried a bag and went to find Ono Oda.

"Ono-kun, I'm bothering you again."

"Cao Sang, please sit down." Ono Oda smiled so broadly that his eyes almost disappeared when he saw Cao Weida come over.

This guy is his lucky charm, so even if he doesn't worship him, he has to treat him with respect. "We're friends, so don't worry about bothering me. Come visit me more often."

“Then I’ll really have to bother you more often in the future.” Cao Weida handed over the bag. “I used my connections to get you some tea, it’s your local matcha, but there’s only a small amount, just two ounces.”

“I was thinking that you have come all the way across the ocean to build a prosperous Central Asia together. Although you have a heavy responsibility, you must also miss your hometown.”

"I took the liberty of finding some, hoping it might alleviate your longing for me a little."

"What?! It's matcha?!" Ono Oda was overjoyed and hurriedly took it, his eyes filled with undisguised delight.

He took a gentle sniff, a look of enjoyment on his face.
"Yoshi, I haven't smelled the scent of home in so long, it's so nostalgic."

"Cao Sang, thank you so much for your kindness!"

"Not at all, I only did what I could," Cao Weida said with a smile, though he was actually quite disdainful in his heart.

This tea isn't some lousy Japanese matcha at all; it's just ordinary Chinese matcha.

Matcha originated in China and was introduced to Japan during the Tang Dynasty. It was originally called "mocha" or "tuancha".

Powdered tea was very popular during the Tang Dynasty, and perhaps for this reason, the Japanese, who wanted to imitate everything from China, brought powdered tea to Japan.

The backward and barbaric Japanese had never seen such an elegant way of drinking tea.

It is therefore conceivable how popular powdered tea was in Japan, and it was once defined as an elegant tea by the literati class.

Its influence continues to this day.

In fact, powdered tea has long been out of use in China, and the Chinese tea ceremony has undergone many changes.

How should tea powder be consumed?

Grind tea leaves into powder, then brew and drink it. Just imagine the taste – your mouth will be full of tea foam after each sip.

Not to mention that modern Chinese people are not used to drinking it, Chinese people at this time were not used to drinking it either. By this time, tea had long since declined and was completely disregarded by the upper class.

Only people who like to drink tea but don't have much money would buy some loose tea to moisten their mouths.

Because so few people drink it, it's not easy to buy in the market.

Cao Wei Da had Xiao Erduo collect some, and after going through many channels, he finally managed to buy some from a farmer outside the city.

After buying it, Cao Weida had it packaged in a more upscale way and changed the name to matcha.

I could still smell the scent of home, and only when I could detect the sweaty odor of that farmhouse was it almost right.

Wild boars only deserve to eat bran!
Despite his disdain, he flattered her, saying, "Such fine tea is beyond my ability to distinguish between good and bad. It's like a cow chewing on a peony, a complete waste. Only someone of your status and tea appreciation skills is worthy of it."

"In ancient times, a fine sword was paired with a hero; now, fine tea is paired with you—a perfect match!"

Fortunately, Ono Oda's Chinese proficiency is quite good, otherwise he really wouldn't have been able to appreciate the nuances.

This flattery really pleased Ono Oda, who laughed so hard he almost lost all his teeth.

"Alright, alright, Cao Sang, stop praising me. Tell me, you didn't come here just to deliver tea, did you?"

"That's why I say nothing can be hidden from Ono-kun." Cao Weida took out a small yellow croaker from his pocket and stuffed it into his hand: "Well, I didn't explain things clearly before, and a friend of mine was taken to the military police headquarters to cooperate with the investigation, so I'm troubling you again."

"Don't you already know Fujita-kun? Just go directly to him."

"Oh, how can that be? That would be breaking the rules. I got to know Fujita-kun through you. How can I do something like this?" Cao Weida pushed the little yellow fish forward again. "I'll have to trouble you with this. Please call Fujita-kun so I can go pick him up."

Ono Oda laughed heartily, extremely satisfied with Cao Wei Da's attitude.

No one likes someone who kicks you when you've served your purpose, and Ono Oda was no exception. How could he be dissatisfied with Cao Wei Da's good manners?

He patted him hard on the shoulder. "Yoshi, Cao-san, I knew I hadn't misjudged you. Please have a seat. I'll make a call to Fujita-kun."

"Wait a moment, Ono-kun. There's something else. We've found a market for those supplies, but the transaction location hasn't been finalized yet. We'll let you know the day after tomorrow. Please tell Fujita-kun about it as well."

"Yoshi yoshi, that's wonderful! This is really good news. Fujita-kun will be very happy to hear this!"

This was a big deal. Although he wouldn't get a huge share, even just a tenth would be a considerable sum. Seeing the money about to flow into his pocket, Ono Oda's face beamed with joy.

"Moshi moshi, this is Ono Oda. Get me Captain Fujita from the Military Police Headquarters."

After finishing the call, Ono Oda, in a cheerful mood, shouted outside, "Someone come here!"

A Japanese soldier entered, bowed respectfully, and said, "Hai! What are your orders, Major?"

"Go, drive my car to Yuquan Mountain and fetch me a few buckets of spring water. I want to invite Cao Sang to have tea!"

"Good tea deserves good water; ordinary tap water is not good enough for such good tea."

"Thank you for your kind offer, Ono-kun, but I am just a rough man; how could I possibly understand such an elegant matter as tea tasting?" Cao Weida hurriedly declined.

"Next time, the next time I can taste Ono-kun's tea ceremony, I must go and visit Major Fujita immediately. My 'friend's' family is waiting for my reply."

What a joke! Even if he drinks tea, he doesn't want to drink this kind of tea dust. After drinking it, his mouth would be full of tea dregs, enough to make him throw up!

If I really stay, I'll be drinking myself into a miserable state, and I won't be able to show it. I'll have to pretend to be enjoying it. Just thinking about it is painful enough.

He won't do anything that invites trouble where he hasn't committed a crime.

"That's a real shame. Alright, then I won't keep you any longer."

Time quickly came to the agreed-upon evening.

Zheng Chaoyang also confirmed the transaction location and time.

At that time, the Japanese soldier Fujita Sōsuke will personally lead a team to deliver the supplies to the agreed location.

Fujita Sōsuke is Captain Fujita's full name. After the supplies are delivered, the money will be exchanged for the goods.

After informing Ono Oda, Cao Wei Da immediately went to find Xiao Erduo.

"Brother, have you prepared everything I asked you to prepare before?"

Little Ears patted his chest and assured him, "Brother Cao, don't worry. You can trust me to handle things. I've gathered all the brothers I trust, a total of fifty, ready to serve you at any time."

"Alright, start giving the orders now. Divide these people into two groups. One group will only be responsible for unloading and loading the goods, and they will leave once they are done."

"Another group of people will be responsible for escorting the supplies out of the city. Once they reach the outside of the city, someone will take over, and they will leave immediately after the handover is completed."

"Remember, tell the brothers to keep their mouths shut. Don't ask anything, don't say anything, just do your job."

"After this is over, they will definitely get their share of the reward money. The banquet at Donglaishun has already been booked in advance, and I will also make arrangements for the brothers at the Eight Great Hutongs."

Little Ears didn't refuse; her smiling face showed respect.

"Everything was done as you instructed, Brother Cao. I'll thank you for your hospitality on behalf of my brothers."

"Don't worry, if any of these kids dare to talk nonsense, you don't need to tell me, I'll personally deal with them and then come to your door with a bundle of thorns to apologize!"

Cao Wei Da patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction, saying nothing, yet saying everything, everything was understood without words.

One o'clock in the morning.

A secluded, open area in the south of the city.

The roar of a car engine added a touch of sound to the quiet night.

A convoy of cars, unmarked but clearly belonging to a well-to-do family, slowly drove by, its orange headlights bringing a touch of light to the darkness.

"People from the Japanese military!" Zheng Chaoyang was not nervous at all; on the contrary, he was somewhat excited.

These supplies were all from Japanese companies, but he had previously assumed they were from a Japanese business association or something similar. Who would have thought they were actually from the military!

The military and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce are two different things!

If Cao Wei Da had cooperated with the Japanese military, the safety level would have increased by several levels!
Cao Weida tilted his head and glanced at him, then smiled faintly, "Wait a moment."

Having said that, he carried the instructor to greet the convoy.

The convoy stopped not far from Cao Weida. Fujita jumped out of the car and pointed to the convoy behind him, saying, "Cao-san, everything is here."

"Fujita-kun, you must be tired from your journey. Leave the rest to them." With that, he waved to the back.

Little Ears and his men carried over a wooden box. It was clear that Little Ears and his men were a little nervous.

They've seen Japanese people before, but they've never had this kind of contact with them.

Cao Weida patted Xiao Erduo on the shoulder to reassure him, and said to Fujita, "The money is all here. The silver dollars were too heavy, so I exchanged them all for gold and US dollars, all in old 100-dollar bills."

Fujita waved without turning his head, and several people immediately came out of the convoy, and then the headlights were inspected.

While they were checking the banknotes, the people with small ears also began to inspect the goods.

Time flew by, and the Japanese inspectors nodded to Fujita.

The person with the small ears also went up to the small ears and whispered a few words.

(End of this chapter)