Chapter Thirty: Zhao Zhi's Killer Move

  Zhao Zhihe and Yu Dazhi hid in a teahouse on the corner of the street, watching Xiao Cilang from the 2nd floor, who was wandering around in a daze after losing his gold bars. Zhao Zhi saw very clearly that Xiao Cilang was a typical miser. The best way to deal with such a person is not to kidnap his family members, but to rob him of all his money and valuables, which would also thoroughly defeat him.

  "Master Zhao, this is the gold bar from that little Japanese leather bag." Yu Dazhi bowed his head and placed the gold bar he had obtained from Xiao Cilang on the table, then pushed it towards Zhao Zhi. These days of following Zhao Zhi to do things, Zhao Zhi's kindness to Mu Lun's mother, in order for Meng San to be able to sneak out at night to clean up those rascals, and also having dealings with Big Nose Laowai, all these were things that Yu Dazhi had never heard of or seen before, and even dared not think about. In the past, when those big shots found people to do things, it was just a matter of giving them food, at most throwing a few silver dollars after the task was completed, who would have thought Zhao Zhi would treat his subordinates like this?

  Zhao Zhi pushed the gold bars back to Yu Da Zhi, who had placed them on the table. From this action, Zhao Zhi could tell that Yu Da Zhi was genuinely willing to follow him. "I know you're taking care of your brothers' families, and it's expensive to do so. Take these gold bars for now, and after we've finished with this matter, I'll give you another sum of money to settle them down." Zhao Zhi patted Yu Da Zhi's shoulder lightly and picked up his tea cup, sipping his tea leisurely.

  "Master Zhao, from now on my life belongs to you. I'll go through fire and knife without frowning." Yu Dazhi knelt down with a thud, holding those gold bars. His small, narrow eyes were filled with tears, his voice choked as he expressed his sincerity to Zhao Zhi. Before this, Yu Dazhi had led a group of brothers who were all thieves making a living on Tianqiao Bridge. A few years ago, one of Yu's brothers didn't watch himself and stole from a noble person with connections. As a result, except for Yu Dazhi who escaped, the rest of his brothers were caught and thrown into prison, sentenced to severe punishment.

  The brothers were arrested, but their families were still there, all of them old, weak, women and children. Yu Dazhi, who had been hiding in a distant place for over a year, took advantage of the fact that the rumors had died down and secretly returned to Beiping City, only to find a group of rascals bullying those old, weak, women and children. So Yu Dazhi took it upon himself to take care of these brothers' families, in fact, all the money he had made over the years was spent on these people, and he didn't keep anything for himself.

  Actually, Zhao Zhi didn't know that after noticing Yu Dazhi, he had someone investigate Yu Dazhi's affairs, of course including the matter of his heroic act. This was also what caught Zhao Zhi's attention about Yu Dazhi. What Beiping City lacked the least were people like Yu Dazhi who lived a life of loafing around. If it weren't for Yu Dazhi having done this heroic deed, perhaps Zhao Zhi wouldn't have looked up to him either.

  "Get up, from now on you can follow me, as long as I have food to eat, I will share half of it with you, and I won't let you starve." Zhao Zhi smiled slightly and walked out with his hands behind his back, leaving Yu Daqi holding the gold bars and crying tears of joy. Seven or eight households with over 20 people, each person can get a gold bar, this winter will be spent very well, Yu Daqi deeply bowed three times towards Zhao Zhi's departing back, silently making a vow in his heart that he would never betray Zhao Zhi for the rest of his life.

  As Zhao Zhi walked out of the teahouse, he secretly despised himself in his heart. He wasn't some rich master, yet he was being forced by Meng to learn about Liu Xiang's way of buying people's hearts. Damn it, that was 30 glittering gold bars! Thinking back to when he first arrived in this era six months ago, he didn't have a single penny in his pocket, slept on the streets, and drank cold water. Now that he finally had some money, it wasn't even warm yet before it was sent away. He really was cut out for being a prodigal son. But thinking about it, at least he had obtained Yu Dazhi as an assistant. Not to mention his skills, but Yu Dazhi's rich experience in the Jianghu world was exactly what he needed right now.

  In the mansion rented by Zhao Zhi, there were also several maids and a butler who were all poor people. Since it was pretending to be a noble's outer house, of course, they couldn't do without maids and a butler. Every day, delicious food and fine wine, beautiful maids serving him, Zhao Zhi was very satisfied with this life. If he didn't have any more tasks on hand, Zhao Zhi would have been quite content to stay in this state forever. But Hans from Shanghai had already urged him several times, it had been a week since Strou was kidnapped, if Zhao Zhi still hadn't taken action, Hans would declare the mission cancelled.

  Cancel the task, Zhao Zhi would not agree, for this task, Zhao Zhi has invested a lot personally. Just buying intelligence in secret has cost Zhao Zhi a lot of money, and renting houses, maids, butlers, and purchasing materials needed by Meng San and Mo Lun also require spending money. Zhao Zhi's agreement to Han Te's task this time is mainly for Han Te to find suitable weapons for himself, making money is secondary, and he has already gotten 2 million yuan from Xiao Cilang, which is enough for Zhao Zhi to splurge for a while.

  Zhao Zhi planned to wait and see, as he had people watching all the places Xiao Cilang often went to. As soon as Xiao Cilang did anything unusual, Zhao Zhi would know immediately. Moreover, Zhao Zhi had already prepared a potent poison for Xiao Cilang, which would be fatal if everything went according to plan.

  Through three transactions with Xiao Zilang, Morun got back 200,000 yuan. Zhao Zhi decided that he didn't believe that Xiao Zilang's antique shop could take out such a large sum of money at any time. There must be someone behind Xiao Zilang supporting him, it could be an individual or an organization. Zhao Zhi's plan was to drain Xiao Zilang's finances, forcing him to go find his backer, and then follow the trail to find the person behind Xiao Zilang.

  Mullen, who was diligent this time, wanted to play a big game. He had long found his father's brother to imitate a Shang Dynasty bronze tripod with inscriptions. Such bronze tripods with feet and inscriptions are hard to find in the world, and some people only hear rumors and records from history books. Originally, there were several such bronze tripods in the imperial palace, but they were lost due to war, and it is estimated that either the new army or Yuan Shikai took them away.

  Mo Lun is a bronze tripod made according to the records in historical books and his father's stories. It is very large and heavy, and just buying the raw materials cost Zhao Zhi a lot of money. However, he couldn't bear to part with it, so he decided to use it as leverage. Compared to its output, Zhao Zhi can still afford the investment. Everything is ready now, and all that's left is to see how Mo Lun's meeting with Xiao Cilang goes tomorrow. If Xiao Cilang discovers any flaws or refuses to make the deal, Zhao Zhi plans to break into Xiao Cilang's house, steal all his wealth, kill his family members, and leave only Xiao Cilang alive to interrogate him for information.