Period drama: Old Cao's carefree life

Chapter 247 A Grand Marshal? That's quite an impressive title!

These remarks made Lao Luo nod repeatedly.

The Japanese have no shortage of smart people, and China has even less of them.

Many people saw that the Japanese were already on their last legs, and the enthusiasm for the War of Resistance against Japan was at an all-time high. Many traitors and lackeys had already begun to prepare for their own escape.

Some of them even secretly contacted the Kuomintang and the Red Party, wanting to "set things right" and stage a "heroic uprising" at a critical moment in order to secure their own future and gain greater benefits.

For example, many traitors around Beiping secretly sold strategic materials such as weapons, ammunition, steel, cotton, tung oil, and artillery shells to the Red Party, and then led their soldiers out to "encircle and suppress" them, returning to report these "battle losses".

Although the number is not large, judging from their attitudes alone, many security regiments and defense regiments have begun to drift away from the Japanese.

"I will report this to the organization immediately, and the organization will definitely agree!" Old Luo looked somewhat excited.

It can strengthen ourselves, weaken the enemy, and provide a way for the people of Beiping to make a living. The organization would never refuse such a good thing!
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly that the combined influence of all the underground Communist Party members in Beiping was less than the benefits that a single idea from Cao Weida could bring to the organization and the people!

Cao Wei Da: "We need to hurry. I reckon Ono Oda will send us news within the next day or two."

Seeing that Lao Luo nodded, he continued:
"There's one more thing. Didn't we ambush the Japanese transport convoy last time? There was a lot of gold in those boxes."

"Gold?! No wonder those Japanese had to be so secretive about transporting things." Old Luo suddenly realized that the Japanese were short of resources and were desperately short of money.

Gold, an international hard currency, was the war resource that the Japanese cared about most.

Beiping was never peaceful, or rather, the entire occupied area was never peaceful. The underground party, secret agents, the Anti-Japanese United Army, guerrillas, and so on, were always dedicated to fighting the Japanese.

Therefore, for safety reasons, it is understandable that they would want to transport the gold secretly and discreetly to the rear.

He suddenly smiled and said sarcastically, "Those little devils schemed and plotted, but they never expected to be targeted by you."

"But you have to be careful. The Japanese have gone crazy after losing the gold. Don't be fooled by the fact that the daytime security seems to be relaxed. It's actually tight on the surface. Take Chaoyang Gate for example, there are a lot of unfamiliar faces loitering around here all day."

He didn't ask how much gold there was, because it wasn't really his concern.

Although their guerrilla team did a great job, it was Cao Weida who obtained the intelligence, the guns, and even hid the gold. They only helped a little along the way.

Even if it were a hiring operation, the cost of those firearms and ammunition far exceeded the hiring fee!

But he was particular, and Cao Wei Da was not a stingy person:

“Those gold pieces are too conspicuous, and as you said, Beiping has been cracking down hard, so it’s not easy to get them out.”

"So, I broke it down into smaller parts, changed hands a few times, and then got a batch of penicillin, about a thousand vials. I'll figure out a way to get it out of the city in the next couple of days, and then you can transport it back to your base outside the city."

"A thousand doses of penicillin?!" Old Luo was overjoyed, even somewhat surprised!
Not to mention that penicillin is now as expensive as gold, it's a contraband drug and can't be bought just because you have money!

What's more, there are a thousand of them!
He stood up excitedly, grabbed Cao Weida's hand and shook it vigorously: "Comrade Cao Weida, on behalf of the organization and on behalf of our lovely soldiers, I thank you!"

"No, no, no, you're making me feel really embarrassed," Cao Weida quickly shook his head, his tone sincere.

"If anyone should express gratitude, it should be me thanking you! Thank you to your organization, and thank you to those soldiers who fought for the country and sacrificed their lives for the country!"

"Without your selfless dedication and your fearless struggle, our China would have long since become a subjugated nation!"

"As a member of China, isn't it only right that I make a small contribution for you?"

These words warmed Lao Luo's heart. He thought to himself, "If all of China had people like Comrade Cao Weida, how could those little devils have been so rampant until now?"

He said solemnly, "We are soldiers! The duty of soldiers is to protect our country! When the nation is in peril, if even soldiers are afraid of death, then our China will truly perish!"

"In any case, thank you again for your generosity. We will never forget your contributions to our war of resistance!"

Cao Weida could sense that Luo Yonghao wasn't just saying that for show; he genuinely believed it!

That's exactly what we did!

He couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Although it was undeniable that a very small number of comrades in the Red Party were not so pure in their thinking, the vast majority of comrades were truly fighting for their great beliefs.

They braved hardships and death, all for the sake of giving the Chinese people hope to live and for the people to be masters of their own destiny!
They are the people's soldiers, and they have indeed done just that!
Cao Wei Da admitted that he could not be so selfless; he was a somewhat selfish person!

But that doesn’t stop him from admiring such great and lovable people who have such lofty ideals and beliefs, and who can give up everything, even their own lives, for their ideals and beliefs!

Conversely, how can such a great and selfless person not inspire reverence?! He forced back the tears that were about to spill from his eyes, and smiled slightly:

"Alright, Lao Luo, we're already so familiar with each other, let's not get any more sentimental."

"This is just the first batch; I will continue to find ways to raise more later."

Luo didn't say any more polite words, firstly because he knew that Cao Wei Da genuinely wanted to help them, and secondly because their base was desperately short of medicine. More medicine could save the lives of more soldiers, so he couldn't bring himself to refuse.

"Oh, right, there's also some weapons. It's a waste for me to keep them here. You can take them back with you."

"Okay." There was no need for formalities. He only knew that when the time came, even if it meant his own death, he absolutely could not let Comrade Cao Weida die!
However, he added, "Try to stay home as much as possible at night. I've heard that the infantry regiment stationed in Beiping has begun to take over the curfew in Beiping. Not only are they numerous, but their weaponry is far superior to that of the military police."

Cao Weida raised an eyebrow. It seemed that Lao Luo had already guessed that he was the one who had been firing at the Japanese heavy machine guns these past few nights.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. He knew some of my secrets and even funded the Japanese with weapons. With Lao Luo's intelligence, it's not surprising that he guessed it.

He neither admitted nor denied it, saying, "Let me check the ledgers. We should at least go through with the whole process."

After the two sides reached an agreement, Cao Wei Da pretended to check the account books and then left.

That night, Cao Weida didn't dare go out and stayed home obediently.

However, he was naturally very annoyed at losing ten "slacking off" points.

This was a real hardship for Ru Qiulan. As an ordinary person, how could she withstand the beating from Cao Weida, who possessed top-notch physical abilities?

Just when she was about to faint, Liu Rusi arrived in time and rescued her from her predicament.

Before falling into a deep sleep, seeing Liu Rusi silently enduring the relentless torment of the still energetic Cao Weida, she had only one thought: Thank goodness, thank goodness the master has more than just me as a woman.
The next day, Cao Weida, who was not woken up by the special wake-up service, was a little unaccustomed to it. But looking at the two women beside him who were still sleepy, he awkwardly touched his nose and carefully got out of bed to get dressed.

While eating breakfast, he was met with a barrage of eye-rolls from several other women, who kept complaining:
The noise is so loud, it keeps people awake.

Don't you even have a shred of pity? Don't you know how strong you are?

The two poor sisters must have been exhausted last night.
Unable to bear the nagging, Cao Weida promptly finished his meal in a few bites and immediately ran away.

However, he was secretly quite pleased with himself. A man isn't afraid of women complaining that he's too strong; he's afraid of them finding him too soft and short.
He was in a good mood, but after reporting for duty at the police station, a piece of news immediately ruined his mood.

"Master Cao, something terrible has happened! Zhao Si'er has been captured by the Baolilai Gambling House!"

Upon seeing his subordinate rushing over to report the situation, Cao Weida frowned instantly upon hearing the news.

This underling is called Sun Dahu, and he is Xiao Erduo's confidant.

The Zhao Si'er he mentioned was Xiao Erduo's subordinate.

Upon hearing that someone had been arrested by the casino, he immediately asked:

"What exactly happened? Why were they arrested by the gambling den? What is the background of this Baolai gambling den?"

"Baolilai Casino is a casino in the Inner Seventh District, located in Huazhi Hutong, not far from Chongwenmen. The casino owner is called Guo Dashuai, who is said to be a fellow villager of Cui Qi, the brigade commander of the Security Brigade."

As for why he was arrested... well...

He glanced furtively at Cao Weida's expression, unsure whether he should tell the truth.

Seeing him stammering, Cao Wei Da's face darkened, and he shouted, "Hurry up and tell me! If you dare to hide even a single word, I'll beat you to death!"

Sun Dahu trembled with fright and dared not hide anything anymore. He quickly told the truth: "I heard that he lost a lot of money gambling at the casino and even borrowed money from the gambling den."

"When Zhao Si couldn't pay back the money, Commander Guo ordered his men to arrest him and make Zhao Si call us to bring money to ransom him."

"Damn it, when did another General Guo appear!" Cao Weida laughed in anger. "General? What kind of era is this?!"

"Even his fellow townsman Cui Qi doesn't dare call himself a commander-in-chief, but he certainly acts all high and mighty!"

"By the way, where's Little Ears? I haven't seen him anywhere."

A subordinate quickly replied, "Master Lian was on night shift last night, keeping an eye on the Chuan family's chieftain, so he hasn't come yet."

(End of this chapter)