Period drama: Old Cao's carefree life

Chapter 216 Murder?
Yan Zhensheng's Qinfangju is a century-old brand, and even the old witch Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty loved to eat Qinfangju's braised Buddha's Hand.

This is enough to show how famous Qinfangju's pickled vegetables were in Beiping.

Qinfangju monopolized at least 20% of the pickled vegetable business in Beiping!
Especially during times of war and famine, pickled vegetables are always a good thing that sells well!
A car costs only four or five thousand dollars. For the Yan family, it's not a big deal, but it's definitely not a serious financial blow either.

The reason why the Yan family almost went bankrupt due to poor management in the later period was not due to internal problems, but rather external problems, which will not be discussed here.

Upon hearing this, Yan Zhensheng smiled wryly and waved his hand: "Alright, Mr. Cao, please don't make fun of me. I'm just an ordinary citizen, how could I afford a car?"

"Putting everything else aside, just look at cars. They're huge gas consumers. Where am I, an ordinary person, supposed to buy gasoline? Even if I could, I couldn't afford it."

Cao Wei Da suddenly realized, "So that's what you were worried about. But that makes sense."

On the one hand, cars in those days were all imported, but the number was limited. On the other hand, there were so many wealthy people in Beiping that as soon as a car arrived, it was basically taken away by the powerful and influential.

On the other hand, after the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, the supply of gasoline was always tight, and the Japanese puppet regime tightened its control over gasoline.

Many people own cars, but due to a lack of gasoline, a large number of cars are stranded at home.

Previously, when discussing cars, Master Fan had boasted to Cao Weida about the performance of those cars and gasoline, and which brands were the best, but that was in the past!

If it were now, even if Master Fan had the money, he couldn't afford to do those things!
Although Yan Zhensheng's family had some money, they had no power!

In such chaotic times, it's not that you can buy things just because you have money; there are many things that you can't buy even if you have money!

A small amount does leak out on the black market, but the price is really attractive. Who would be willing to keep using black market gasoline if they didn't have a mountain of gold and silver at home?
Changing the subject, he laughed and said, "It's lunchtime, Manager Yan. Come on, let's go inside and have something to eat?"

"No, no, dinner at home is already ready." Yan Zhensheng waved his hand with a smile and declined, then hesitated and said, "Master Cao, I wonder if you have time tonight? I would like to invite you to dinner."

Cao Wei Da raised an eyebrow. Was this someone asking for a favor, planning to ask for his help?
"Even if I don't have time, I'll make time for Manager Yan's invitation," Cao Weida said with a smile, flattering him. After all, they were neighbors, and he was willing to give them this much face since they saw each other all the time.

"Oh, Mr. Cao, you flatter me. Alright then, six o'clock tonight at Dongxinglou on Dong'anmen Street. I'll be waiting for you, Mr. Cao!"

Before entering the courtyard, Cao Weida glanced in a certain direction out of the corner of his eye and saw that the curtains of that house were wide open and the house was empty. A slight smile appeared on his lips.

After finishing his meal, Cao Weida didn't stay at home for long, nor did he ask Xiangzi to take him home. He strolled out by himself.

He walked to a secluded spot, seemingly casually shifted the direction of a brick, turned around, and went to a teahouse not far away. He booked a private room and sat on the second floor, leisurely listening to the storytelling performance inside.

Under the swaying branches, a fair-skinned, thin man in his fifties was playing the clapper.

"Clap the bamboo clappers, and I'll come; I still haven't made a fortune with the storytelling."

"Nowadays, even in the Republic of China era, cutting off the queue still didn't solve the problem."

"Manager Wang, use your brain, improve everything and advocate innovation."

"Using your brain is a waste of effort."

You know what, it has something in common with the jingles of later generations, and it's even more sophisticated than those jingles. It's quite catchy.

The words used here, in particular, are quite humorous and satirical in their criticism of current affairs.

Just as they were enjoying the conversation, Xu Jingge, who was disguised, sat down opposite them.

"Did something happen that you called me here?"

Cao Weida withdrew his gaze and turned to Xu Jingge, smiling as he said, "It's nothing serious, I just want to ask you to help me kill someone."

"Murder? Who should we kill?"

“A Japanese man.” He pulled a folded piece of paper and a photograph from his pocket and handed them over: “This is his information. I hope to be clean and efficient, but I also need to record how you killed him.”

Xu Jingge curiously took the photo and looked at it, then opened the paper and glanced at it, immediately exclaiming angrily, "Damn those Japanese devils! How could they be so cruel!"

"Killing people is bad enough, but to humiliate the Chinese people like this is simply outrageous! They deserve to die!"

"Don't worry, I'll take action tonight. I'll make sure he doesn't see the sun rise again!"

Xu Jingge was a Kuomintang military intelligence agent. He received Confucian education from a young age and had unwavering loyalty to the country and the nation.

When carrying out his mission, he was not a cold-blooded killer, but someone who insisted on fighting for justice!

He deeply hated executioners who cruelly murdered Chinese people.

"Then I'll leave this matter to you." Cao Weida nodded. He knew that once Xu Jingge knew what the Japanese devil had done, he would definitely not refuse.

In the original novel, when the People's Liberation Army was at the gates of the city, Xu Jingge rejected Fang Jinglin's suggestion to surrender, but he expressed that he did not want the people of Beiping to suffer and that the country to suffer less loss. All of this showed his concern for the people.

The saying goes that a gentleman can be deceived by his principles, and Cao Weida wanted to deceive Xu Jingge.

However, he didn't just bully them; he still had to give them some treats.

"I have something to tell you. I saw Wang Kemin a couple of days ago." "Where is he?!" Upon hearing this name, Xu Jingge immediately stood up excitedly.

His first woman was humiliated because of his assassination attempt on Wang Kemin, and he eventually killed her with great pain. This thorn remained stuck in his heart for a long time, and he could not forget it.

"I don't know." Cao Weida shook his head. He really didn't know. He didn't have any professional tracking personnel under his command, and Wang Kemin had no shortage of counter-surveillance personnel. He had no intention of tracking Wang Kemin, so naturally he didn't know.

Even if he knew, he wouldn't rashly tell Xu Jingge.

Given his eagerness for revenge, if he really found out Wang Kemin's whereabouts, who knows if he might impulsively rush over to seek revenge?
That's not revenge, that's walking into a trap!

"I don't know?!" Xu Jingge's tone was harsh, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.

"I really didn't know; I just saw it by chance." Cao Weida gestured for him to calm down.
"As you know, Wang Kemin is surrounded by highly skilled spies. I don't have any such talent under my command. If I were to follow him rashly, I would easily be exposed."

This explanation was reasonable, and Xu Jingge slumped down like a deflated balloon.

Upon seeing this, Cao Wei Da comforted him, saying:
"However, I discovered that he was secretly meeting with someone. It must be for some mission. My people are watching him, and we might run into him again next time."

"Don't worry too much. I'll have someone keep an eye out for you. I'll let you know when I have any news."

After calming Xu Jingge down and explaining the situation, Cao Weida tossed a silver dollar to Xu Jingge to settle the bill, then slowly walked out.

At 6 PM, at the entrance of Dongxinglou.

Upon seeing Cao Weida alight from the rickshaw, Yan Zhensheng hurriedly stepped forward to greet him: "Master Cao, you've finally arrived! Please come in, please come in! The food and wine are ready, we've been waiting for you! Please come in!"

"Shopkeeper Yan, you're too kind." After replying, Cao Weida said to Xiangzi, who had brought him there, "Go and have a simple meal nearby."

The two entered the private room of Dongxinglou. Cao Weida was already considered a regular customer of Dongxinglou. Not long after he ordered, the dishes were served one by one.

Even the owner of Dongxinglou personally came to offer a toast.

This gave Yan Zhensheng, who had witnessed all of this, a much clearer understanding of the situation.

After several rounds of drinks, Yan Zhensheng finally got to the point: "Master Cao, I would like to ask you for a favor."

"Manager Yan, you're too kind. Please tell me what it is. I'll do my best to help if it's within my power!"

A close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. For a long time to come, they will all have to be neighbors. There is no harm in maintaining good neighborly relations.

Besides, if you don't use your power, it will expire and become worthless, so why not use it?
"Thank you in advance!" Yan Zhensheng paused, then said in a low voice, "What I wanted to ask was, could you possibly procure some supplies for me, such as cotton, sugar, or oil? Not much, around two thousand silver dollars would be enough!"

Upon hearing this, Cao Weida couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and said meaningfully, "Manager Yan, these supplies are all strategic materials that the Imperial Army strictly prohibits. You don't need these normally, so what are you planning to do with so many?"

"Of course it's reselling!" Yan Zhensheng admitted it with unabashed honesty, then began to complain:

"You don't know, ever since the Imperial Army came in, our supplies in Beiping have been under strict control."

“Especially in the last two years, the control of supplies has become even stricter. Our Yan family’s pickled vegetable shop is almost out of pickled vegetables. We dare not sell more each day, for fear that we will sell out and have to close down in a few days.”

"In the past two years, my Qinfangju restaurant has not only failed to make any money, but it's a miracle if we don't lose money! We've been losing money while just making a name for ourselves!"

"We were already running out of money, so we were thinking about whether we could resell some supplies to make some money to keep the shop afloat."

"Furthermore, my son has chosen a marriage partner, and since they're going to marry him, I have to make the arrangements, don't I?"

Listening to Yan Zhensheng's performance of complaining about his poverty, Cao Weida felt a little amused.

You know what, his acting skills are actually quite good.

If I hadn't read the original novel, I would have actually believed it.

When he heard that Yan Kuan was going to get married, he already knew what was going on.

If I remember correctly, Yan Kuan joined the Red Party shortly after his marriage.

This idea was certainly not a spur-of-the-moment decision; it must have been planned beforehand.

As for reselling supplies?

That's just an excuse from the other party.

However, since the intention was to support the resistance against Japan, Cao Wei Da naturally would not refuse.

It can support the war effort without costing us any money, so why not?

After deliberately remaining silent for a while, he nodded and said while Yan Zhensheng was feeling uneasy, "I can arrange the goods. It doesn't matter who I sell them to, but you have to pay in cash. I don't want any paper money."

(End of this chapter)