Period drama: Old Cao's carefree life

Chapter 254 Regret is so bad

"and many more!"

Just as Kawake Seishu was about to leave, he was stopped at the door.

The loan shark's face darkened. "You beastly sir, what do you mean by this? Your disregard for rules is putting us in a very difficult position!"

"Rules? What rules?"

"Of course, you should sign the IOU!" The loan shark was getting impatient. Was he pretending to be stupid or was he really stupid?
I'm handing out real money, do you think it's a gift to you?!

Kawakita Seishu only wanted the money; he never intended to borrow it.

"What do you mean? I need to write an IOU to borrow money? I'm a citizen of the Great Japanese Empire!"

Damn it!
The loan shark was almost amused. "What the hell are you, you little devil? What makes you different from everyone else?"

He figured it out: this bastard was planning to get something for nothing.
He was getting impatient and said directly, "If you don't want to write an IOU, then please take out the money you just paid us back."

Give it back to them?

How can it be!

Kawakami Seishu grabbed the pocket containing the money. If he hadn't gotten the money, that would have been fine, but now that it was in his pocket, he expected him to take it out?

Having experienced so many days before when these Chinese people dared not ask him for money again as long as he put it in his pocket, how could he possibly return it?

That's enough money for him to live a carefree life for many days!

He glanced at the several burly men in the room, then at the blocked doorway, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Sign it!"

He picked up the pen, signed his name with a flourish, and pressed his fingerprint on it, without even carefully reading the terms of the IOU.
Of course, even if he looked at it, he wouldn't understand it. He's already quite good at speaking Chinese characters fluently, let alone recognizing them.

After signing and pressing his fingerprint, he threw the pen aside and said, "Is this alright now?"

He didn't care at all about the bullshit IOU he signed. So what if he signed it?

He never intended to pay back the money from the very beginning!
He is a noble citizen of the Great Japanese Empire. So what if he doesn't pay back the money?
Once that lowly Chinese man leaves this room, he wouldn't dare do anything to me, even if I had a lot of guts!
"Sure, of course!" The loan shark grinned like a Buddha. "Then I wish this beastly lord a wonderful night, and may he wreak havoc on all sides!"

"You two, get out of the way and let that beastly Japanese man out!"

"Humph!"

Kawakami snorted coldly, shoved the two men blocking the door aside, and, clutching the money, prepared to storm back into the casino.

He took out his money, his eyes shining, spat on his fingers, and secretly began counting the bills one by one.

But soon he stopped in his tracks and looked bewildered as he counted again.

"Five hundred, one thousand, four thousand five?!"

Upon discovering the amount was incorrect, Kawakami Kōshū immediately flew into a rage, grabbed the money, and excitedly ran back.

"Baka! How dare you deceive the citizens of the great Japanese Empire!" Kawakita slammed his fist on the table, glaring angrily at the loan sharks.

The loan shark frowned, waved for the restless men to retreat, and put on a smile again, saying, "You beastly sir, what are you talking about? When did I ever lie to you?"

Kawakami slammed the silver notes on the table and roared, "You promised five thousand, but you only gave me four thousand five!"

"Where did the remaining five hundred go?!"

"Tell me, where's my money?!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, and his body couldn't help but stretch forward with all his might.

"Hey, hey, you beastly sir, just keep this distance. Any closer and it might cause misunderstandings." After stopping Kawaie Seishu from getting any closer and maintaining a safe distance, the big-eared loan shark chuckled leisurely, slowly puffing on his cigarette.
"You beastly sir, calm down, let's calm down."

"Every profession has its rules. In our line of work, we follow the principle of 'nine out, thirteen back.' If you borrow five thousand, we keep one-tenth, which is five hundred, and give you four thousand five. That's very reasonable."

"After all, this is what we do. We brothers rely on this line of work to make a living. Please, Mr. Beast, have some sympathy for us."

"Baka, I..." Kawakami Kyosuke didn't want to be considerate at all, but just as he was about to get angry, he saw that the faces of the burly men around him had already turned ugly, so he quickly swallowed the rest of his words.

"Hmph, you cunning Chinese, just you wait!"

Seeing that he couldn't get the five hundred silver notes, Chuanjia Qingshou snorted coldly and left unwillingly.

One of the henchmen said menacingly, "Boss, should we teach him a lesson?"

In their eyes, Chinese and Japanese are all the same. As long as the boss gives the order, anyone who dares to defy them will be taught a lesson!

They've done more than just beat people up; they've even killed people before!

More than once!
"No need, we're in business, harmony brings wealth." The loan shark smiled broadly, showing no sign of anger. They were in the business of smashing houses and destroying buildings, and countless people hated them. Being cursed was commonplace for them. What was a "baka"? As long as they could make money, what did it matter if they were cursed every day?
It's not like I'll lose a single piece of flesh!

To be honest, the insults used in this day and age are rather weak and ineffective compared to the Chinese way of insulting people, which is based on a certain part of the body, starts with family members, and extends to ancestors for eighteen generations.

While he was all smiles, Kawaie Seishu, who had just left, was not in such a good mood.

Already seething with anger, he took the 4,500 UnionPay vouchers and went back to the gambling table.

But in less than two hours, he had already lost another two thousand.

"Damn it, what bad luck today! I lost so much! If I had lost this much before, I should have turned my luck around and started winning money long ago!"

Little did he know, it wasn't just good luck; the other party was deliberately letting him win.

If he keeps losing, what will happen if he stops playing altogether?
Wouldn't all that groundwork have been wasted?

No one is deliberately letting him win now, so if he wants to win again, it won't be that easy.

After losing another thousand, he couldn't help but curse loudly, got up, and stormed out.

"Damn it, my luck is too bad today, I can't continue!"

After glancing at the approximately one thousand UnionPay coupons he still had, and rubbing his rumbling stomach, he decided to go to a restaurant first, and then enjoy some cigarettes at the tobacco stall.

As he left, he didn't forget to spit a mouthful of phlegm at the gambling den.

"."

Wanping.

Naoto Arakawa slowly crawled out of the bathroom, looking pained, his legs trembling uncontrollably.

He didn't know why he was having such a bad day.

He's had diarrhea ever since he finished breakfast this morning, and he's almost dehydrated. Now he can barely stand.

That would have been fine, but just as he was suffering from diarrhea, the anti-smuggling team received a tip and raided a printing factory.

Who would have thought that this printing factory actually stored a large number of Red Party anti-Japanese propaganda leaflets!

This was clearly a base for anti-Japanese elements controlled by the Red Party.

The military police quickly dispatched officers to the scene and arrested the anti-Japanese elements.

And the person leading the team was none other than his current boss, Shioko Shuzo, whom he had always disliked and felt was someone who had risen to the position through connections and had no sense of responsibility, only knowing how to occupy the position without doing anything!

He was supposed to lead the team to make the arrest, but he missed the opportunity because he had diarrhea!

What was originally an easy achievement has become the achievement of Shioko Shuzo, whom he has always despised and considered an incompetent superior. How could this not make him feel depressed?
He was filled with regret; if he had known it would turn out like this, he would never have eaten a single bite today!
But it was too late to regret it now. After taking the antidiarrheal medication, Naoto Arakawa lay weakly on the sofa in his office to rest.

But before he could rest for long, a series of urgent knocks sounded at the door.

"Enter."

Naoto Arakawa said weakly.

The logistics lieutenant pushed open the door and said, "Major Arakawa, the logistics department said that a batch of supplies needs to be transported to the front line today, departing from Baoding Railway Station, and someone is needed to assist in the escort."

"Lieutenant Colonel Shioko isn't here. Have the logistics department find someone else," Naoto Arakawa replied weakly, sounding unwell.

The lieutenant did not leave, but said in a deep voice, "Major Arakawa, this is something that Chief Yoshida instructed us to do. Since Lieutenant Colonel Shioko is not here, please do not refuse."

Upon hearing this, Naoto Arakawa, who was already feeling quite frustrated, suddenly became furious.

"Damn it!! What do you mean 'don't refuse'? That Lieutenant Colonel Shioko has gone off with his men to arrest the rebels. Where am I supposed to find someone to escort you?!"

Because of the discord between the two, that damned, incompetent, money-grubbing Shioko used money to win over everyone under him except himself, which once made it impossible for him, a major, to be transferred to any lieutenant!
Including the three lieutenants under his command!

With Shioko Shuzo absent, he couldn't issue orders at all, except for a few sergeants and lower-ranking soldiers under his command!

But the sergeant's rank was simply not high enough to qualify him for escorting goods!
The logistics lieutenant inwardly scoffed. If you can't find anyone, shouldn't you look for the reason yourself?
Everyone else is conforming to the world, but you're the only one who stays pure and upright, looking down on this and that, making yourself seem so noble and superior, huh?
Now let me see you act all high and mighty. Where's your arrogance now?

He said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Major Arakawa, please don't be angry. I was just following orders and relaying messages."

"You should know some of the procedures for logistics escort. Not long ago, the dispatched army headquarters issued a document stating that the handover of supplies by the logistics department requires the involvement of a third-party department, and the three parties must coordinate and sign off."

"The front line is pressing us hard, and the departure time has already been set. Please don't make things difficult for me. How about this?"

“You bring one person with you on this trip, and I’ll have the security team send a vehicle to escort you. It should only take six or seven hours round trip, so there shouldn’t be any problems, right?”

(End of this chapter)