Period drama: Old Cao's carefree life

Chapter 268 All talk and no action
Time flew by and it was noon.

Inside the office of Zhang Xiaofeng, the guard of the Security Brigade.

Zhang Xiaofeng's face was gloomy and somewhat worried.

Because Liu Dadan has not returned home yet, and there has been no news of him whatsoever!
He had a vague feeling that something was wrong. Even if Liu Dadan was rampant, he couldn't be this arrogant, could he?
He didn't come all morning, and there wasn't a single notification. This is clearly not normal!
"Little Zhao!"

"exist!"

"Go, send men out and search all the places where Company Commander Liu usually likes to go. Make sure you find him!"

"Yes!"

The search lasted for two hours, and Zhang Xiaofeng grew increasingly anxious.

"Still haven't found it?!"

"Go to Company Commander Liu's house and ask his concubine if anything has been stolen from their home."

"Okay, I'll go right now." Xiao Zhao couldn't help but think to himself, Liu Dadan is really making money. A company commander like him has started keeping concubines.

No matter the era, women always need to be supported by money!
If you don't have a certain amount of money in your pocket, how dare you have a mistress or a second mistress? You can't even support yourself.

When Xiao Zhao arrived at Company Commander Liu's house and inquired about his concubine, he received the following reply from her:
“My sister controls all the family’s money. I have no idea what our assets are, how much money we have, or where they are kept.”

“My father-in-law usually gives me a little money to spend. I can just put it on my tab when I go shopping. I really don’t know anything about all the money in the house.”

Helpless, Xiao Zhao could only ask his concubine to take him to Liu Dadan's bedroom to take a look.

He was Zhang Xiaofeng's confidant and had been following Zhang Xiaofeng for some time. He wasn't stupid, so it was impossible for him not to have noticed that something was wrong.

The concubine seemed to realize something and asked anxiously, "Boss, has something happened?"

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Lead the way." Having found nothing yet, Xiao Zhao naturally didn't dare to speak carelessly.

"Okay, okay," the concubine panicked even more. She hurriedly led the way, but her usually swaying buttocks, usually encased in a cheongsam, had lost all interest in moving, and her steps became more flustered.

After entering Liu Dadan's bedroom, Xiao Zhao carefully inspected it.

The blankets on the bed were laid out flat, without any signs of being messy, just like how a woman usually tidies up after getting up.

There were no signs of a struggle inside; everything was clean and tidy.

As he carefully inspected the house, he asked, "When did you realize your husband wasn't home?"

The concubine hurriedly replied, "This morning, the master's superior called the house, and the phone kept ringing. I didn't see anyone answering, so I got up to answer it."

"General Manager Zhang asked me to check on the master, so I went to the master's room and found out that the master was not at home."

Xiao Zhao kept searching, but couldn't help frowning.

Not only were Aunt Liu's words of advice completely useless to him, but everything here was too normal, and he couldn't see any problems at all, at least not him.

"Okay, I see."

After searching for a while but still unable to find anything, he hurriedly left Liu Dadan's house and returned to the camp.

"Sir, Liu Dadan is perfectly normal, and there is no sign of him running away."

Why say they ran away?

It was because he understood the meaning behind his superior's words.

So much time has passed, and the person has mysteriously disappeared without a trace. It's natural to assume they've absconded with the money.

Zhang Dadan's face was sullen as he lightly tapped his fingers on the table.

The fact that Liu Dadan has not been found to this day has made his heart sink deeper and deeper.

He couldn't help but think of a rumor that a number of Japanese soldiers living in Beiping had mysteriously disappeared some time ago.

The previous search was a massive operation, so it was not easy to keep it a secret. Fortunately, he had a friend at the East Asian Academic Research Association who had mentioned this matter by chance.

It is said that those who disappeared had their necks broken and were found in a garbage dump, in terrible condition.

Combined with the ghost stories circulating about the Japanese regiment stationed in Beiping these days, a chill slowly crept into his heart.

"Could it be because our security brigade has taken over the curfew, and because there are so many of us, that 'thing' can't find an opportunity to strike, so they've set their sights on the officers who aren't involved in the curfew patrols?!"

The mere thought of this possibility sent chills down his spine, a cold rushing from the soles of his feet to his head, making his face turn pale.

"Sir, sir?" Seeing that his superior's face was getting worse and worse, Xiao Zhao called out in a worried whisper.

"Ok?"

"Sir, what's wrong?" "Ah, nothing. Continue sending men to look for Company Commander Liu. Let me know when you find him. Alright, if there's nothing else, you can go now." Zhang Xiaofeng forced a smile and waved his hand.

"it is good."

Xiao Zhao had a vague feeling that his superior was hiding something from him, but as a subordinate, he naturally dared not overstep his bounds.

After sending Xiao Zhao away, Zhang Xiaofeng leaned heavily back in his chair, took a few rapid breaths, suppressed the inexplicable chill and unease in his heart, took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag.

The strong nicotine rushed through his throat and lungs, warming up his mind, which seemed to have been frozen by the cold. He couldn't help but start thinking about whether he should report to Commander Zhang if he still hadn't found Liu Dadan before curfew.

He didn't know how much time had passed when the burning pain roused him from his reverie. He reflexively threw away the cigarette butt, and although his fingers were burning, it also made his mind clearer.

"Let's put it on hold for now. If Liu Dadan runs away for some reason, or leaves temporarily for some special reason, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to report it now."

"What if Liu Dadan comes back? Wouldn't that make Commander Zhang think I lack the ability to manage my subordinates?"

"If it's not found before curfew, then we'll talk about it tomorrow."

He had another reason he didn't mention: if Liu Dadan was really being targeted by something unclean, even if it was reported, what could the higher-ups do?
We can't exactly have Commander Zhang dressed as a Taoist priest or a Buddhist monk to perform rituals and exorcise ghosts, can we?

That's ridiculous!
"However, I have to stay in the pavilion with my brothers at night. It is said that places with many people, especially places with many men, have a lot of yang energy, and unclean things are most afraid of places with a lot of yang energy."

In his view, if there really was something unclean, the reason why the patrol team didn't have any problems last night was because there were more men gathered together, and their yang energy was strong.

The creature dared not approach, so it shifted its target to Liu Dadan.

He said it, and he did it. After dark, he still couldn't find Liu Dadan, so he decisively ordered everyone to retreat. Then he stayed in the pavilion with his brothers.

The security team was quite surprised that a battalion commander would come to patrol the pavilion.

The security team leader was even more apprehensive: "Battalion Commander, with your status, how can you patrol with us ordinary soldiers?"

"What kind of talk is this? What do you mean by 'big soldier' ​​or 'small soldier'? We're all brothers, why are you distinguishing between high and low, noble and lowly?"

He spoke with great conviction, but in reality, he was very disgusted.

The weather is getting warmer now, and few of these soldiers are clean; they all reek of a nauseating sour smell.

But he endured it anyway, because his life was more important than the discomfort in his taste buds.

He had already endured so much humiliation and fallen so low as to be crammed together with the soldiers, so Zhang Xiaofeng naturally didn't mind taking the opportunity to win people over.

“I know my brothers work hard every day, but as a soldier, obeying orders is my duty. As the battalion commander, I can’t refuse. But it’s always right to share the joys and sorrows with my brothers.”

These words had a good effect, and many simple-minded soldiers genuinely developed a sense of respect for them.

These days, people willing to share weal and woe with ordinary soldiers are truly a rare breed.

However, most shrewd and intelligent people scoff at this idea.

If you're really this good to your brothers, then don't take our military pay.

You talk a good game, but you're ruthless when it comes to actually doing it, right?
Don't think we don't know where the money for those two concubines in your family comes from. It's all from drinking the blood of our soldiers!

In addition, given that they had spent the whole day searching for Company Commander Liu, and considering the previous ghost story, it was hard not to make some connections between them.

There's a saying that goes something like this: Don't think you're so smart, and don't treat others like clueless fools who can be easily fooled!
Anyone who actually thinks that way is the biggest fool!

However, they were just ordinary soldiers after all, while the other was a battalion commander, so they could only mutter a few words to themselves.

Time passed quietly, and before we knew it, it was late at night.

The security patrols continued their pretense as they had the day before; the curfew in Beiping appeared strict but was ineffective in practice.

This also made it much easier for people who wanted to cause trouble at night, such as Cao Weida, who wore black clothes.

Those pavilions were all built on both sides of major traffic routes. As long as you avoided those pavilions, you could travel freely throughout the entire city of Beiping.

Under the pitch-black night, Cao Weida headed towards an address on the note.

Upon arriving at the location, the cat carefully observed the rooftop for a while, and after confirming it was safe, it quietly rolled down.

Feng Ergou, the company commander of the 2nd Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment of the Security Brigade, was lying naked on the bed, fast asleep.

Beside her, a very attractive woman was also fast asleep, completely naked.

Feng Ergou used to be a petty scoundrel in Beiping, hated by everyone and even dogs. He did a lot of despicable things, but he never did anything humane.

Later, when the Japanese invaded, the security regiment, led by Cui Qi, defected to the Japanese and became traitors. Cui Qi was overjoyed and, after some maneuvering, expanded the security regiment, intending to establish a security brigade.

So, Feng Ergou seized the opportunity and joined the security brigade during the expansion of the army. He spent all his savings to curry favor with his superiors and got the title of squad leader.

(End of this chapter)