Chapter Twenty-Four The Second Person

  Young Zhao Zhi, according to the intelligence provided by Betty, that unlucky Sterling was locked up, and the whole thing has something to do with the Japanese. However, in such a big city as Beiping, it's really hard to find someone hidden away, especially since Zhao Zhi and his friends are not very familiar with Beiping. If they rashly seek help or try to gather information, they will definitely attract the attention of the Japanese. So Zhao Zhi set his sights on local people, and Yu Dazhi is Zhao Zhi's target, or rather, Zhao Zhi's wallet is a fishhook, and Yu Dazhi is the fish he wants to catch, a sly fish.

  "No way, I'm not doing it," Yu Dazhi shook his head like a rattle drum, the fat on his chin shaking back and forth, looking extremely comical. Just by looking at Zhao Zhi's movements, you could tell that what he was going to do wouldn't be simple, and might even cost him his life. Yu Dazhi wasn't stupid, he wouldn't risk his own life for a few bucks.

  "Fine, I'll just have to kill you then." Zhao Zhi's face revealed a sly smile, and the force in his legs increased. "Ahh..." Yu Dazhi hadn't caught his breath yet, his small face was pale from being choked, and the few hoodlums who had wanted to help earlier immediately ran away with their tails between their legs. Choking back a mouthful of air, Yu Dazhi turned his head to look around, saw that everyone who was supposed to be helping him had run off, and simply rolled up his eyes and played dead.

  "If you don't open your eyes, I'll pee in your mouth!" Zhao Zhi stretched out his hand and pinched Yudazhi's cheek, forcing him to open his mouth. A soldier can be killed but not humiliated, Yudazhi heard that someone wanted to pee in his own mouth, so he quickly opened his eyes, staring widely.

  "I'll give you 20 yuan a day, how about that? If it's okay with you, just blink your eyes." Zhao Zhi said with a smile, squatting down and whispering in Yu Dazhi's ear. Twenty yuan a day was not a small amount, after all, even on good days, Yu Dazhi could only make around 30 yuan or so, and such days were not common.

  Yu Dazhi made a "ta-da" sound with his mouth, using his hands to gesture the numbers, "30 yuan a day". Zhao Zhi was amused by Yu Dazhi's appearance and pulled him up, "Alright, 30 it is, let's do it your way". Yu Dazhi thought Zhao Zhi would haggle over the price, but didn't expect him to agree directly without even raising an eyebrow. So he puffed out his chest and leaned in close to Zhao Zhi, "I'm injured today and can't work, does that still count as a day?"

  Zhao Zhi nodded, and Yu Dazhi stretched out his hand. "Pay first, work later. What if you finish the job but don't pay?" Zhao Zhi's hand was slapped by Yu Dazhi with a loud crack. "I won't cheat you out of your money. Tomorrow at 8 am, wait for me here. If you're not here at 8 am, I'll find someone else." Zhao Zhi chuckled and turned to leave, leaving Yu Dazhi standing in the same spot, rubbing his sore head.

  Originally, according to Betty's intention, Hunter was going to send more people to Beiping, but Zhao Zhi stopped him. Since Sterling was caught by the Japanese, it means that the Japanese had at least grasped the CIA's intelligence network in Beiping. Since they were already noticed by the Japanese, sending more people would be useless anyway. The big-nosed foreigners are too conspicuous, so it's better to find some local help instead.

  Yu Dazhi was the first person Zhao Zhi found, this thief, he had been paying attention to for 2 days. Zhao Zhi really needed someone like him, even if not for this task. Zhao Zhi had his own plans, last time at Huang Hanlin's house robbery gave him a taste of sweetness, just do it a few times a year and his comfortable life would arrive early.

  River and lake people, river and lake affairs. How can they be grasped by a great ambition? Zhao Zhi thought of many ways, but finally decided to use himself as bait to lure out Yu Da Zhi's true nature. For this reason, Zhao Zhi disguised himself as a rich man and appeared around Yu Da Zhi for two days before letting him notice his presence today. Fortunately, this Yu Da Zhi is just like what he thought in his heart - a bully who takes advantage of the weak but fears the strong, which saves him a lot of trouble.

  Zhao Zhi's second target was a blind fortune teller, Meng Xiangzi, who had been doing business on Tianqiao for years. Zhao Zhi noticed him by chance when he was still following Da Zhi. At that time, several patrolmen were chasing Meng Xiangzi, saying that his eyes were white and bigger than the pupils, making him look like a blind man at first glance.

  Zhao Zhi was not impressed by Meng Xiangzi's ability to pretend to be blind, but rather his other skill - disguise. That day, when the police were chasing him and he was in a hurry, Meng Xiangzi escaped into a dead-end alley. The police blocked the entrance of the alley and searched door-to-door. After a chaotic afternoon, they caught a dozen or so local residents and a student who came to visit relatives, but not one person resembled Meng Xiangzi.

  The police officers left in disappointment, but Zhao Zhi followed the student who was nodding and agreeing with everything. Only Zhao Zhi had noticed this student because he also had eyes with more white than black. When Meng Xiangzi was telling fortunes, he looked old and frail, with skin like orange peel. But now that he was dressed in a school uniform, he looked like a bright and sunny student, with rosy cheeks full of vitality, and the addition of a pair of black-framed glasses perched on his nose gave off an air of bookishness.

  Zhao Zhi followed Meng Mangzi for an entire afternoon, watching as he changed disguises several times: student, worker, businessman, and most impressively, a beggar. It was unclear how Meng Mangzi managed it, but even the dirt behind his ears and the festering sores on his legs seemed authentic, paired with his messy grey hair that looked like a sheep's fleece. He perfectly embodied a seasoned old beggar. After successfully begging for a pig's hind leg from a butcher, Zhao Zhi followed the old beggar to his hideout.

  "What the hell, isn't this just bullying?!" Zhao Zhi looked at the courtyard in front of him and felt extremely depressed. This damned guy's place was even better than his own, yet he still went around scamming people everywhere, Zhao Zhi rolled his eyes in disgust as he gazed at Meng Mangzi's residence, filled with envy, admiration, hatred, and contempt. Meng Mangzi indeed lived much better than Zhao Zhi, occupying a traditional old Beijing courtyard all by himself, with only one family living there, and that was just him alone.

  The yard was a bit dilapidated, obviously due to lack of cleaning and maintenance. However, judging from the size of the yard, it should have been a large mansion in the past. Zhao Zhi curiously climbed over the wall and entered, ignoring Meng Mangzi's terror, and directly gave him a good beating first. Meng Mangzi was different from Yu Dazhi, who had been wandering on the streets since he was young. The latter was a Jianghu figure, while Meng Mangzi was just a lone swindler who only knew how to see the wind and look at people's faces, but his courage was extremely small.

  As expected, after Zhao Zhi's severe beating and with the temptation of several tens of thousands of yuan in cash every day, Meng Xiangzi fell and immediately agreed to Zhao Zhi's employment without even asking what he wanted him to do. This is the difference between Meng Xiangzi and Yu Dazhi.