Period drama: Old Cao's carefree life

Chapter 87 Enemies meet on a narrow road
The office door opened, and Little Ears walked in with a young man wearing a hat.

The young man took off his hat, bowed slightly, and said respectfully, "Master Cao, I apologize for disturbing you. I am Li Zuo, the owner of Li's General Store."

I have come here on behalf of several shops, hoping you can speak with the higher-ups to mediate a dispute.

They were all arrested by the police, who accused them of colluding with anti-Japanese elements.
Chief Cao, they are all honest businessmen, there is no way they would do such a thing.

Could you please help explain this?

Cao Wei Da tapped his fingers on the table, making a clicking sound, his eyes flickering with hesitation and difficulty:

“We’re all from the same village, and I know each other’s character. They must have been wronged.”

As a fellow Chinese, I am naturally willing to help with this, but this matter…

"Understood, I know the rules." Li Zuo quickly pulled a heavy cloth bag from his pocket, placed it on the table with a dull thud, and pushed it in front of Cao Weida, saying:

"Master Cao, here are eight small yellow croakers. Please accept them. This is a deduction for your superiors' tea."

If you can rescue the shopkeepers, our families will reward you handsomely!

Cao Wei Da raised an eyebrow, a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth, and nodded, saying:

"Although this matter is indeed a bit tricky, they are all fellow villagers, and I can't just stand by and watch them die."

Okay, I'll think of something. You go back first and wait for my news.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Mr. Cao. You're busy."

"You're welcome, Little Ears. See Manager Li out."

Li Zuo bowed and left with a forced smile.

After Li Zuo left, Duomen said worriedly, "Cao'er, this is not a good matter. I've inquired and found out that this is an order from the Special Higher Police. Would Ono Oda be willing to help?"

"If it really doesn't work, let's return the money. We don't want to end up getting ourselves into trouble instead of helping."

The Special Higher Police (THT) is notorious, and every Chinese person hates it.

Despite the hatred, once something gets involved with the Special Higher Police, the most rational thing for most people to do is to stand by and watch.

Because once you get involved in something, you might end up getting yourself involved too.

Those ruthless killers won't talk to you about evidence.

Cao Weida grinned, "Don't worry, Master Duo. Ono Oda has already agreed to this. If the money hadn't been delayed, they would have been released long ago."

Duomen was stunned for a moment, then laughed and scolded, "You little brat, are you trying to make a fool of me? I'm really worrying about things that don't concern me. You're right, you're so clever, how could you do something you're not sure of? You're really wasting my time."

"Alright, I'm done arguing with you. I'm heading out now, I'm busy."

"What are you busy with? Just wander around and be done with it. It's not like you're really planning to find the murderer. Sit down and let's have a chat."

"It's not that, it's something else." Duomen frowned and said, "You know there's a small park in Shuimo Hutong, right?"

"I know, so what?"

"There was a murder case there. The victim's posture was very strange, as if he had been placed in a kneeling position. The murdered person was a pawnshop owner with some connections. So, the chief asked me to investigate the case."

"If I hadn't known you had sent the mourner to deliver the person to me, I wouldn't have rushed back in such a hurry. You've really wasted my time."

Cao Wei Da chuckled, "Alright, alright, you go ahead and do your thing, I won't bother you anymore, okay?"

"I was planning to have you come with me to find a shop near the city gate later, but it seems I'll have to let Little Ears accompany me."

After a while, Cao Weida took three small yellow croakers out of the cloth bag and threw them into his spatial storage. Then, carrying the bag, he returned to Ono Oda's office.
"Ono-kun, I'm bothering you again."

Ono Oda's gaze fell on the cloth bag, his eyes flickered slightly, and he stood up with a hearty laugh, saying, "Cao-san, there's no need for formalities between us, just say what's on your mind."

Cao Wei Da smiled shyly and said, "I was originally planning to go out and look for a shop, but a 'friend' gave you some money as a tip, so I brought it to you here."

Ono Oda glanced at the cloth bags on the table, estimated the number of bags, and then, a greedy glint in his eyes, he chuckled and said:
"Cao Sang, there's no need to be so formal with us."

Ha, if you're not going to be so formal, then don't accept it!
"No, no, it's all what I should do."

"Cao Sang, you're too kind. By the way, I've already given Sang Liuji a good scolding for arresting innocent civilians without cause, and ordered him to stop participating in this arrest operation. He's also required to complete the collection of supplies within three days." "I've also verified that those civilians are indeed innocent and law-abiding citizens. I'll trouble you to release them, Cao Sang."

"Okay, Ono-kun, please rest assured, I will handle this matter properly." Cao Weida smiled and withdrew, but did not immediately release the shop owners. Instead, he took Xiao Erduo and left the police station.

Since he has already confessed, the police won't make things difficult for him, so let's just detain him for a couple more days.

Helping others shouldn't seem too simple, otherwise it won't show how difficult the situation is.

Chaoyangmen was the main eastern gate of the inner city of Beiping during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was mainly used for grain transportation and was an important transportation channel for materials and grain in Beiping at that time. It connected Beiping with the eastern region and had a very advantageous location, which was also very conducive to the transportation of materials between the city and the outside world.

During the Japanese army's entry into the city, there was a route that passed through Chaoyangmen, Dongsi Archway, and Dongdan Square.

In addition, the area around Chaoyangmen is a very developed commercial area with frequent people coming and going.

With such favorable conditions, Cao Wei Da immediately took a liking to it.

So he stood near Chaoyang Gate, inquiring about a shop near the city gate that had a sign for sale.

This shop has an extremely advantageous location, but strangely, it was closed during business hours and even had a "For Sale" sign posted, which makes it impossible not to be curious.

After some inquiries, I learned that the owner's home is in the south, and his family is also in the south. His family member suddenly fell ill, and he wanted to go home to be with his family as soon as possible. He probably wouldn't be coming back, so he posted the resale information.

The man even said considerately, "Master Cao, you've always been very kind to us. Please don't mind me saying something, but you'd better not buy from this shop; it's unlucky!"

"This shop has actually changed hands twice. One of the previous owners ran a teahouse and the other a restaurant, and without exception, they both closed down in the end."

"The current owner bought the shop and opened it. It's only been open for a little over a year. Not only did he not make any money, but his family members also fell ill. Clearly, there's something wrong with the feng shui of this shop!"

Is it true?
Cao Wei Da didn't believe such a ridiculous reason. It wasn't that he didn't believe in feng shui; ever since his rebirth, he had avoided feng shui and retribution like the plague. But he had a gut feeling that this shop wasn't some kind of mystical problem; there must be something shady going on inside.

Sometimes, metaphysics can't beat man-made disasters!

Of course, he was also afraid that it might really be a matter of feng shui or metaphysics, so he instructed Xiao Erduo to inquire further.

He had already made up his mind that if it really was a feng shui problem, he would make a quick getaway, since he didn't know any truly skilled feng shui masters.

Sure enough, after a while, Xiao Erduo found out what had happened and returned. He understood that it was a man-made disaster, not a natural one!
What's even more interesting is that this shop has become associated with another person, namely Fu Decheng!

"Wow, what a small world! But this time, I really have to thank him." Cao Weida couldn't help but laugh. Since it wasn't some kind of mystical natural disaster, what did he have to fear?
With Ono Oda backing him up, and with future smuggling plans at stake, no one can stop him!

He even hoped that the other party would cause trouble. If Fu Decheng jumped again, he wouldn't mind taking the opportunity to slap him to death!
"Go, contact the shop owner for me and tell him I'm interested in buying his shop."

Little Ears said worriedly, "Brother Cao, that's Fu Decheng doing something underhanded. If we interfere, Fu Decheng won't let it go."

Cao Wei Da smiled slightly, "Don't worry, things are different now. Let him come if he wants. I'm not afraid of him coming; I'm just afraid he won't come."

Listening closely, Xiao Erduo's eyes lit up. "Okay, I'll go right now. If Fu Decheng dares to come looking for trouble, I'll take the opportunity to vent my anger for Han Lu!"

"Wait a minute." Cao Weida asked in surprise, "What does this have to do with Han Lu now?"

"Hey, it's a long story."

Cao Wei Da said impatiently, "Then just get to the point. I'm asking you, so why all the nonsense? Do you even consider me your brother anymore?"

"Alright, I'll get straight to the point." Little Ear chuckled. "Didn't you give me a message last time? Fu Decheng hasn't made any moves, but Tong Mazi has been relentless, going to Xiaguangyuan to cause trouble time and time again."

"So, Han Lu told me about it. It wasn't a big deal, and I didn't want to tell you, but I led my brothers to fight with Tong Mazi."

"Did we win or lose?"

"Of course we won! Don't be fooled by Tong Mazi's fierce-looking face and menacing appearance. He's all show. When it comes to fighting with us brothers, he's no match for us!"
But that bastard is a real piece of work, he has absolutely no sense of chivalry. He loses a fight, and yet he keeps coming to Xiaguangyuan to cause trouble every few days. We can't just hang around Xiaguangyuan all the time, can we? He's like a toad on our feet, annoying us no matter what."

"Winning is good enough, he didn't embarrass me." Cao Weida snorted. "This Fudecheng was obviously warned and didn't dare to fight me too much, but he was unwilling to give up, so he was trying to annoy me."

He quickly figured out the key point: "Perfect. If Fu Decheng dares to jump again this time, I'll slap him to death. And that Tong Mazi too, I'll take care of him as well."

"Hehe, then I'll thank you on Han Lu's behalf!"

Hearing Xiao Erduo's words, Cao Weida looked at Xiao Erduo strangely, "I said, I just felt something was off. You seem to be getting a little too close to Han Lu."

Don't forget, she's a brothel madam! Since ancient times, prostitutes have been known for their heartlessness and actors for their lack of loyalty, let alone a prostitute's mother. Don't fall into her trap and become her tool!

(End of this chapter)