You are ordered to support the War of Resistance against Japan; China enters Level 1 combat readines

"Hey! Thanks, Boss Zhao! Don't worry, I'll definitely do a good job!"

Wu Laosan nodded and bowed repeatedly, his face beaming with a simple and honest smile.

Zhao Tou turned around to take attendance, but Wu Lao Er remained frozen in place, his mind buzzing.

They accepted it?

Zhao Tou... accepted it?

Wu Lao Er stared blankly at Zhao Tou's back, his mind filled with images from the past.

Zhao Tou spat and cursed the traitors, saying, "They're greedy for small gains and forget about the greater good; they're all spineless cowards."

It was Zhao who exposed the traitorous steward who had embezzled grain. He was so angry that his face turned red, and he said, "Anyone who dares to touch a single grain of the people deserves to be shot."

Zhao Tou patted his chest and said to everyone, "The Eighth Route Army has come. Let's be fair and no one is allowed to do anything crooked."

Those words were shouted so loudly, they seem to still echo in my ears.

But now, he's only received half a pound of cured meat.

Only half a pound.

Wu Lao Er's mind was in turmoil, like a tangled mess.

He couldn't understand it.

How come the person who used to be the most vehement critic of traitors is now accepting bribes himself?

Is this...right?

……

Ten miles outside Jiaodong City, an abandoned house has been cleaned up neatly, with its doors and windows tightly covered, and only a dim light from an oil lamp seeping out from the cracks in the window.

Guan Xue stood in front of the unfolded map.

She did not go into the city.

Previously, whether in southeastern Shanxi or Jiaodong City, spies would go in batches and then disappear, leaving no trace, neither alive nor dead, and none of them would come back to report.

The other party's counter-espionage capabilities far exceeded expectations, and Guan Xue did not want to follow in their footsteps.

She came to earn merit, not to contribute to Gangcun's failures.

Besides, the real hunters always work behind the scenes.

Besides her, there were several action team leaders from the Snow Agency in the room. They were all brought from Beiping by her; they were efficient, quiet, and knew the rules.

At this moment, several people are taking turns reporting on the situation they have uncovered over the past two days.

"Your Excellency, the layout of the granaries has been determined. There are twelve large granaries in the main storage area in the south of the city, scattered and guarded day and night. It is simply impossible to force our way in."

A team leader bowed and reported, his tone tinged with a hint of unease.

Guan Xue nodded, her expression unchanged.

Finding out the location of the grain depot and its surroundings was not difficult for her.

The real challenge is figuring out how to destroy that food.

Tens of thousands of tons of grain were scattered and piled up in more than a dozen large warehouses.

Even if one of them is destroyed, what about the rest?

The team leaders stood with their hands at their sides, waiting for Guan Xue to speak.

No one dared to ask, "What does the Chief of Staff intend to do?" but the same question was written in everyone's eyes:

This woman, who looks like she was cut out of a magazine, is actually capable of completing the task personally assigned by Commander Okamura, aside from her ruthless slapping skills?

Guan Xue pushed the map aside and suddenly smiled.

The smile was very gentle, the corners of her mouth just slightly upturned, but her peach blossom eyes held something that made everyone present subconsciously straighten their backs.

is it hard?

It's not difficult at all!

……

Manager Li was a representative in charge of grain in Jiaodong City.

He was in charge of everything: how much grain each work area needed, which warehouse would allocate grain to which direction, and how the daily rations for the migrant workers would be distributed.

The official rank is not high, but the power is not small, and the burden is not light.

He had just finished processing a batch of transfer orders during the day, and when he got home in the evening, before he even had a sip of hot water, there was a knock on the door.

"Hello, Representative Li!"

The newcomer was an unfamiliar face, dressed in a long gown and wearing round-framed glasses. He had a fair complexion and a slight smile on his lips.

Representative Li frowned: "Who are you?"

The man bowed respectfully with both hands clasped: "My name is Bai Ziqi, and I deal in grain."

Representative Li snorted coldly; he had no liking for these businessmen.

When Jiaodong City was short of food, he traveled to grain merchants within a radius of hundreds of miles, and each of them raised the price to the sky, as if he wanted to squeeze every last drop of oil from them.

Now that the war is over and there's enough food, these cats, attracted by the smell of fish, have come back.

However, being a cultured man, he didn't immediately close the door and see his guest out. Instead, he coldly asked, "Mr. Bai, what brings you here from afar?"

Bai Ziqi smiled, ignoring his coldness, and calmly sat down, taking out a folding fan from his sleeve and slowly waving it.

"I have a batch of grain and I'd like to discuss a collaboration with Representative Li."

Representative Li laughed as soon as he heard that, a cold, mocking laugh.

"Cooperation? Mr. Bai, have you forgotten that when we were begging to buy grain, you drove the price higher than the city walls? Now that we have our own grain, you're trying to sell it to us?"

Bai Ziqi calmly closed the folding fan and lowered his voice, saying, "It's not for sale, it's for exchange."

Representative Li was taken aback: "Change? Change what?"

He didn't understand.

Bai Ziqi continued, "Naturally, we'll use your grain to exchange for our grain!"

Representative Li still didn't understand.

It's all grain, what's there to exchange it for?

Bai Ziqi shook his fan: "The grain your army has just received is of good quality, with high moisture content, and has not been stored for long."

Such good grain cannot be consumed in a short time. It will just sit in the warehouse and become stale if left for too long.

I happen to have a batch of last year's stored grain on hand. Although it is not as precious as new grain, it is definitely enough to eat.

Perhaps Representative Li could be accommodating and exchange this batch of new grain for us, and we can make up for it with the old grain.

In this way, your army's grain depot accounts will be perfectly accurate, and we will each get what we need!

Representative Li understood; they wanted to exchange old grain for new grain!

He slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly, pointing a trembling finger at Bai Ziqi's nose: "You...you...how dare you!"

Bai Ziqi wasn't annoyed by the table-pounding remark: "It won't be a free exchange. For every 500 jin exchanged, I'll give Representative Li a silver dollar as a bonus!"

As he spoke, he took a heavy little cloth bag out of his cloth bag and placed it on the table.

The bag was opened, and gold bars rolled out. Under the dim light of the oil lamp, ten small, bright yellow gold bars were neatly stacked on the table, each one so pure that it reflected a person's image.

Representative Li stared blankly at the row of gold bars on the table, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down several times.

"No...no, I absolutely won't allow it!"

"For every 400 jin (200 kg) exchanged, Representative Li will receive a silver dollar as a reward!"

"No, I am..."

"For every 300 jin (150 kg) exchanged, Representative Li will receive a silver dollar as a reward!"

"no……"

"For every two hundred catties exchanged, Representative Li will receive a silver dollar as a reward!"

"No……"

"For every hundred jin (50 kg) exchanged, Representative Li will receive a silver dollar as a reward!"

……

Representative Li was speechless.

One hundred catties of grain, one silver dollar!

There are tens of millions of kilograms of grain in the warehouse. How much money is that?

"Representative Li, please think about it."

Bai Ziqi's voice, seemingly bewitching, slowly crept into my ears.

"Grain will eventually become stale if stored for too long; it's just a matter of a few months sooner or later."

"Not a single pound of grain has been lost from the people's food supply, and the accounts in the warehouse are accurate to the last penny."

"It will not harm the people, and will go unnoticed by gods or ghosts."

"No one will investigate, and no one can find out."

Representative Li remained silent. He stared at the row of gold bars on the table, his lips moving for a long time before he closed his eyes and let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

"Never mind..."