Chapter 17: The Three Men of the Uncle and Nephew

  Ma Qianan was about to greet him, but his mouth opened and closed again, pretending to be calm on the surface, but muttering in his heart, how could this be? This Liu Qingyuan is quite different from what he had imagined. He wanted to make an excuse, but after thinking twice, he endured it. Yang Jingyu and others would not assign an unqualified person to him, so let's take a look and listen first.

  How could Yang Jingyu not understand what Ma Qian was thinking? Liu Qingyuan had been acting strangely many times before, so he joked with Liu Qingyuan: "Old Liu, don't be too weird, our comrade Little Ma doesn't know your style yet, can't you give people a good impression?"

  Ma Qian saw Yang Jingyu's attitude towards this guy was kind and casual, so he knew that this person was not simple. As expected, Cao Guanjie took back his own cigarette case, patted it twice, carefully tucked it away, and said: "Little Ma, this is our special agent chief, don't look at him as being a bit awkward, but he's an old agent, when Commander and Secretary were working in Harbin, this old fellow saved them several times."

  Liu Qingyuan rolled his eyes, expressing dissatisfaction with the words. Then he stood up straight, with a very serious attitude, and changed his face so quickly that Ma Qianan was caught off guard. He said to Ma Qianan: "Little Ma, Commander has told me everything, don't worry, I will definitely protect you well."

  Ma Qian'an felt that this was a respected old comrade who had much more seniority than himself, so why was he being asked to assist him instead of the other way around? He was still somewhat perplexed.

  "Old Liu is a steadfast fighter, you can completely trust him. He's skilled in tracking, blasting, poisoning, assassination, and forging documents. Old Cao was right, if it weren't for him in Harbin, we might have been caught long ago. So I believe he can protect you well."

  How perfect is that? That's even more wrong, he absolutely doesn't have as much experience as him, how can he lead him? This leader is not doing a solid job!

  "Commander, Director Liu is an old comrade, so how about this time, let Old Liu take the lead in delivering the message?" Ma Qian'an asked tentatively, unsure of himself.

  Wei Baoguo looked at Ma Qian with some surprise and said, "Little Ma, it's good for young people to be humble, but they also need to know what's going on. This time, let you take the lead, we've fully discussed it, in revolutionary work, we can't prioritize based on seniority, it should be the capable one who takes charge, don't worry about it, this old Liu, huh, later you'll understand."

  Ma Qianan now understood that Old Liu had these strengths, but also some shortcomings that could not be made up for, so he couldn't entrust him with some important tasks. This is like some old Red Army soldiers who participated in the Long March, loyal and brave, diligent and dedicated. After liberation, they were rewarded for their merits, and although their treatment was good, they held low administrative positions. There are two reasons: one is that younger talents emerged one after another, surpassing them as soon as they appeared; second, they themselves had a sense of propriety and didn't go to fight. When a group of people gather together, the high and low abilities are divided, if you insist on ignoring this and promoting based on seniority, it will harm not just one person, but the entire team. People like Chang Jingyu and Wei Baoguo couldn't possibly be unaware of the consequences of doing so.

  So that's what you're saying, I'm more capable than this old guy? Now I can rest assured, Ma Qian's mental abacus is clattering wildly.

  Liu Qingyuan became anxious and shouted, "Hey, Secretary, you can't set me up like this! I'm not the one who's said to have a low theoretical level, am I? I can still recite poetry, listen to this: 'Dreams return to blowing horns in succession, autumn points on the sandy battlefield...' What comes next?" Liu Qingyuan was stuck for half a day and couldn't get it out, so he turned to Cao Guanjie for help, but Cao Guanjie turned his face away and ignored him.

  These few lines of poetry and theoretical level are two different things, old comrade, don't get them mixed up, okay? thought Ma Qian'an.

  "Never mind, I'll show you another trick, Commander forgot to say." Liu Qingyuan said as he fell into Ma Qian's arms, Ma Qian subconsciously stretched out his hand to support him, but saw that Liu Qingyuan had already scrambled up, holding a pistol in his hand, with his finger on the trigger, spinning like a windmill. His mouth was still muttering, "Isn't this the Commander's gun? I recognize it."

  Ma Qian's hand brushed against his waist, and his gun was gone. Two buttons on his overcoat were twisted open, and the holster was wide open.

  It turned out to be a master, Ma Qianan smiled.

  Yang Jingyu sent Ma Qian'an and Liu Qingyuan out of the cave, and the silver-white snow light made everyone squint their eyes slightly. As they were about to part ways, Ma Qian'an was waiting to say some farewell words when he saw Yang Jingyu take out a package from his coat and hand it to him, saying: "Take this, it's what I owe to the cooking class, the last one, Old Liu has been weighing on my mind for a long time, bring it with you."

  "What's that?"

  Liu Qingyuan sniffed, somewhat surprised, and said: "Rabbit meat? Commander, you really are generous. Alright, I've got it." Before Ma Qian could react, he grabbed it and hid it in his bosom.

  "Don't eat Japanese meat anymore, it's not good for you if you eat too much of that stuff, it'll make you nauseous." Yang Jingyu said with a smile.

  "Hey, why bring this up? Who didn't have some wild times when they were young? It's not good for others to hear. Ma Qian gave Liu Qingyuan a nervous glance."

  Liu Qingyuan's ears perked up, and he immediately took a big step back, looking at Ma Qian'an in surprise.

  Ma Qianan was helpless and made a gesture of baring his teeth at him, knowing that he had to explain clearly that it was an extraordinary situation, and normally he didn't eat people.

  Two people went on their way, Ma Qian followed behind, carefully treading in Liu Qingyuan's footprints, and Liu Qingyuan occasionally turned back to glance at him, exchanging a knowing smile.

  Ma Qian'an had exchanged all his ghost skins with a warrior of similar build before departure, and that warrior was overjoyed, almost to the point of giving him his underwear as well. Now Ma Qian'an felt uncomfortable on his body, some strange itches distracted him, sometimes on his back, sometimes in his armpits, sometimes in his crotch, definitely those damn little crawling creatures were playing tricks.

  Oh my god, the more I think about it, the itchier I get.

  Watching Ma Qian'an constantly picking and touching his clothes, Liu Qingyuan shook his head and said: "A calm mind is naturally cool, don't think about it, when we get to the other side, I'll treat you to a bath and buy you a clean set of clothes."

  I didn't want to, but I couldn't help it. This bunch of things has moved again and won't calm down for a moment. Alas, why did I choose this set when changing clothes back then? Ma Qianan regretted it extremely.

  "Watch out for ambush!" Liu Qingyuan fell to the ground with a thud. Ma Qian was startled and quickly got down, waited for a while, didn't see anything suspicious happening, then realized he had been fooled by Liu Qingyuan, and wanted to teach him a lesson on the spot.

  Liu Qingyuan struggled to free himself from Ma Qian's grasp, panting and saying: "Not itchy anymore? Still, my method is effective. Hey, little Ma, you're quite strong, if I were twenty years younger, I'd be about the same as you."

  This guy is too thick-skinned and can also brag. Now Ma Qian'an looks at him with a more favorable eye, birds of a feather flock together, people gather in groups, he himself is not a thrifty lamp, the two men start bragging like they're competing.

  After a while, Liu Qingyuan was defeated and decided not to compete with this kid in boasting anymore. What's the point of bragging about eating chili peppers bigger than watermelons, taking trains faster than airplanes, touching ships that can sail to the moon, or having a small fingernail-sized amount of white sugar that can sweeten a large pot of water? This kid's imagination is too rich. Compared to his own boasts of running twenty miles with one breath and sneaking into Stone Widow's bed at night without being detected, it seems more high-end and not worth the effort.

  Liu Qingyuan shut his mouth tightly and walked ahead with a huff, while Ma Qian smiled complacently to himself, thinking: "You think you can compare to me in bragging? You're still too inexperienced. But even if you lost, it's not right for you to wrong me - everything I said is true."

  "Lao Liu, why are you walking so fast? A real man can't have such a small heart." Ma Qian was enjoying himself.

  Liu Qingyuan stopped and turned his eyes around before saying: "Comrade Xiao Ma, we need to disguise our identities a bit. We can't keep calling each other 'Little Horse' and 'Old Liu'."

  "Oh? Then how should I disguise myself?"

  "I'm older than you, so I'll be your uncle. You're my nephew, running a small business. Let's just settle it that way."

  What's this? Is it settled then? Ma Qian'an was dissatisfied in his heart, but also didn't care.

  "Lao Liu, are there any other people at your home?" Ma Qianan wasn't a quiet person and found it hard to bear not speaking, so after just a while, he couldn't help but ask about Lao Liu's family affairs.

  "Alas! They're all dead. You think I joined the Anti-Japanese League for what reason? My awareness isn't that high, I just want revenge."

  Ma Qian felt that Liu Qingyuan's tone had dropped a lot, and he must have thought of something sad. Can't ask anymore.

  He walked for a while with his head down, and arrived at Li Fengshan's old haunt. Ma Qianan looked in that direction, but didn't see anything. He took another step forward, and just as he was about to take the next one, he heard a voice calling out from the mountain slope, "Captain Ma, where are you going?"

  Ma Qian'an turned his face and saw Li Fengshan rolling down, shouting and running down, "Wait a minute, wait a minute."

  "What's the point of going?"

  "It's a secret!" Liu Qingyuan said.

  "Shut up! You old man, no one asked you, what business do you have, always going to Widow Bai's house every day?" Li Fengshan gave Liu Qingyuan a white eye and said disdainfully.

  "Hey, you little rabbit, no respect for your elders. I'll teach you a lesson with this broken mouth." Liu Qingyuan was fed up. He could flirt with Widow Bai himself, but when the others did it, it wasn't okay. It had spread to her ears and made things difficult for her. She was an underground traffic worker and had nothing to do with him, although he had a crush on Widow Bai, she hadn't agreed yet.

  Ma Qianan naturally couldn't tell him, so he said, "Nothing, just go out and scout around, hit a big household, we're almost out of grain."

  "I'm going too."

  "No way!"

  "What's wrong with that? We're also running out of food soon, do you want us to starve to death? I'm going to stick with you."

  Ma Qian'an said it was no use, Li Fengshan refused to leave. Ma Qian'an didn't want to waste ink, so he thought quickly and said: "I'll give you a question, if you answer correctly, you can follow me, if not, you go back."

  "Going, I won't be able to answer."

  "A underground traffic officer was caught, the enemy knew he had to pass on a very important message, and tried every means to get him to confess, no matter how much torture was used, that traffic officer only said one sentence, 'Beat me to death, I won't say.' I ask you, did that traffic officer speak or not?"

  Li Fengshan was about to come, but suddenly smiled and turned his head to run back to the old nest. As he ran, he looked back and said, "Don't go, don't go, I'll get something and be right back."

  Ma Qian would not be so obedient, pulled Liu Qingyuan and ran, after running for a while, seeing Li Fengshan did not catch up, the two slowed down.

  Liu Qingyuan was still thinking about the question just now. He said with admiration, "That traffic police officer is really a good man, well done."

  "Bullshit! He betrayed long ago, because the important words were 'I'd rather die than say'. " Ma Qian'an said with a smile, this game is really fun and can bluff people.

  Liu Qingyuan was taken aback and suddenly enlightened.

  After running two miles, Li Fengshan panted and caught up, running to the front and scolding Ma Qian'an for not keeping his word and leaving on his own. He proudly said: "I thought of an answer to that question, he said."

  Ma Qian'an was stunned, asking who told him. Li Fengshan just patted his chest and said he thought of it himself. Ma Qian'an had no choice but to swallow the bitter wine he brewed himself and agreed to bring him along.

  "You're so clever, did you really think of it yourself?" Ma Qian continued to be skeptical.

  "What's the big deal? Can your brother be a fool? How can a fool run a shop? Hey, old man, what's that bulge in your chest?" Li Fengshan's eyes darted around unsteadily.

  Liu Qingyuan glared at him, then pressed the package of meat on his chest and muttered: "Great, another big-bellied nephew is coming."