Chapter 47 Back to Rongguo Mansion

  February 12, 1939, was the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, which is also known as "Little New Year" in northern customs.

  From this day on, we enter the rhythm of the Spring Festival, until the 15th day of the first month when we watch the lanterns, the year is considered over.

  So, the Little New Year is also a very important day. People will hold activities to worship the Stove God on this day, and then the clan will arrange for everyone to gather together and have a lively time.

  This afternoon, Ye Tufei and Guo Zhonglin finally returned to the Jiajiazhuang bandit camp, which they had left three months ago.

  This made the brothers extremely happy, and they naturally slaughtered pigs and sheep, brewed wine, and bought flowers. As Guo Zhonglin was a brother who fought side by side with Liu Ye, he was surrounded by his brothers like a superstar, and if he didn't tell a few stories about Liu Ye's legendary adventures, it's estimated that even going to the toilet wouldn't be approved by his brothers.

  Then let's talk! After all, what a poor scholar is best at is eloquence.

  "The most thrilling scene happened on the ship, our boat sailed out of Hong Kong waters and into the open sea." The brothers heard Guo Zhonglin mention the big sea and were very curious, someone interrupted and asked: "Second brother, is that sea big? Is it bigger than the Stone Dog Lake in Xuzhou?" Someone with some knowledge chimed in: "How can you compare the Stone Dog Lake to the open sea? The open sea is huge, even bigger than our entire Xuzhou territory."

  Guo Zhonglin smiled and looked at the brothers who were chattering away, waiting for everyone to react and close their mouths before continuing: "Once we entered the public sea, it meant we were safe, so Sixth Brother returned the Japanese guns to the Japanese. Who knew that damn Japanese took the gun and directly pointed it at Sixth Brother's head, saying he received an order from some bandit general named Tufei or something, wanting to get rid of Sixth Brother."

  Liu Ye has already appeared in front of everyone, so the brothers are not worried about Liu Ye's safety, but are very interested in the name Toshihiko 'Fat' Hara.

  "Is Little Japan's boss also a bandit?"

  "In my opinion, that bandit leader must be a corrupt and dissolute person, otherwise how could he be so fat? He's definitely a stupid fool with a big head, big ears, thick waist and round buttocks."

  "This little Japanese guy's name is weird, I heard that some little Japanese people are also called pig head."

  Guo Zhonglin was selling his tricks, but it backfired and he got angry, puffing out his chest and glaring at the crowd of brothers: "Hey, hey, hey! Do you want to listen to Second Brother continue or not?"

  Everyone, be quiet at once.

  "Our Sixth Grandfather remained fearless in the face of danger and even joked with the little Japanese, but that little Japanese didn't give our Sixth Grandfather any face and directly pulled the trigger."

  When Guo Zhonglin mentioned that the little Japanese had pulled the trigger, all the brothers exclaimed in unison. This was indeed beyond everyone's expectation. Although all the brothers knew that the final result would be that Liu Ye would be safe and sound, they were full of curiosity about how Liu Ye had escaped from the muzzle, and this gun had even fired.

  However, Guo Zhonglin, who had achieved his goal, suddenly closed his mouth, gazed into the distance, and stretched out a pair of scissors with his right hand, waving them back and forth in front of his brothers.

  A brother beside him understood the meaning of the second brother, and quickly took out a cigarette to hand it over to the second brother. The poor scholar lit the cigarette, slowly puffed two mouthfuls, before continuing his story.

  "The little Japanese pulled the trigger, and with a "click" sound, it misfired. The little Japanese thought he had encountered a dud bullet, so he hastily ejected the bullet and reloaded, pulling the trigger again for the second time."

  "Is it still empty?" a brother couldn't help but ask.

  Guo Zhonglin gave that brother a white eye, and said disdainfully: "You pig brain, the little Japanese is busy reloading bullets, so much time has passed, and our Sixth Brother is watching with a smile, not taking action. Do you think the second shot can be fired?"

  He was robbed of his white by Guo Zhonglin, but the brother didn't get angry, instead he touched the back of his head and smiled foolishly. The poor scholar felt pleased with himself, took another drag on his cigarette, and continued to say: "The little Japanese clicked the trigger several times in a row, but they were all empty shots. At this time, our Sixth Brother spoke up, he said to that little Japanese, it seems you have to swim back to shore now, haha, but that little Japanese was not willing to give up, he let out a loud cry and started fighting with our Sixth Brother."

  Ye Tufei's martial arts skills were witnessed by the thirteen Arhats, but many of his brothers had no chance to see Ye Tufei in action, so they were full of curiosity about how he taught this little Japanese guy a lesson. Everyone forgot about poor Xiucai and started discussing it with seven mouths and eight tongues.

  Guo Zhonglin pinched the cigarette butt and took a last drag, then stepped on it to extinguish it. He stood up, patted his buttocks, and was about to leave when his brothers wouldn't let him go. Suddenly, seven or eight hands grabbed hold of poor Guo Xiucai. "Second Brother, how can you leave? Continue the story!"

  Kuo Chung-lin smiled coolly and said, "What else do you want to hear?"

  The brothers said: "Listen to Liu Ye scolding the little Japanese!"

  Guo Zhonglin laughed even more coolly, saying: "Sixth Master is how to teach the little Japanese, this matter, you have to ask Sixth Master, our Mu Xiucai 'refined' and cultured but lacking in martial skills, Sixth Master's moves I won't be able to explain."

  The brother who just gave Guo Zhonglin a cigarette suddenly came to his senses and hastily offered another one to Second Brother. Guo Zhonglin lit it with relish, struck a pose, and sat back down.

  "That little Japanese guy rushed up, and I don't know what move our Sixth Master used, but all of a sudden there was a crisp 'slap' sound. That little Japanese guy covered his face and retreated two steps. He rushed up again, and Sixth Master gave him another slap. That little Japanese guy came at him more than ten times, and our Sixth Master also gave him more than ten slaps. Ah, to be honest, I have some complaints about our Sixth Master."

  "Brothers all asked in unison: 'What does Second Brother think of Sixth Master?'"

  Kuo Chung-lin's eyes were deep and his expression was serious. He took a deep drag on his cigarette, then exhaled forcefully, saying: "As the saying goes, 'don't hit someone in the face when you're fighting, don't expose their shortcomings when you're scolding them.' How could Sixth Brother hit someone in the face? He not only hit him once, but more than ten times, and that little Japanese guy's face was beaten to a pulp. Just think about it, if he goes home and his mother sees him like that, how heartbreaking would that be!"

  Guo Zhonglin couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing first.

  The brothers came back to their senses and burst out laughing, rolling about on the ground.

  The poor scholar smiled and said, "In the end, the little Japanese was defeated by Liu Ye and knelt down in front of him to beg for mercy. Liu Ye smiled and said, 'I won't kill you, but you can't stay on this boat either.' That little Japanese really listened and quietly walked to the side of the boat, gritted his teeth, and jumped off."

  The story of Guo Zhonglin has ended, but the brothers are not satisfied yet. A clever brother asked a question to Qiong Xiuciai: "How did Liu Ye do it?"

  Guo Zhonglin didn't understand and asked back: "What does that mean? What did Liu Ye do?"

  "Let the little Japanese guns be silenced?"

  Kuo Chung-lin smiled strangely and said to his brother: "Sixth Master said this is a secret!"

  Just then, Zhang Luohui walked over and asked everyone: "Brothers, who knows where Sixth Master is?"

  Among the brothers, one was from the old 258 regiment. He had heard Deng Lianzhang mention that Liu Ye had once used a handgun to "play" with Zhang Luohui's matter. He quickly jumped in and said: "Commander, we all know where Liu Ye is, but, we have to ask Commander to answer our question first."

  Zhang Luohui stopped in his tracks and stared blankly at the brother, saying: "What's wrong? Don't be wishy-washy, if you have something to say, spit it out!"

  That brother smiled and asked: "Was it when Sixth Master fired at you with a gun that time, how did Sixth Master make your gun 'tamper' into a misfire?"

  Zhang Luohui subconsciously scratched the back of his head and replied, "How would I know? At that time, Sixth Master was holding a gun to my forehead, I almost... Ah, hurry up, where is Sixth Master?"

  That brother didn't hear what he wanted to hear and looked very disappointed, plopping himself down on the ground with a thud, muttering: "Sixth Master is right in the Jia family compound!"

  Zhang Luo Hui was about to scold his brother, but was stopped by Guo Zhong Lin who burst out laughing. "Sixth Master has left, High Bridge Xin sent someone over to invite him away, saying that there were important matters to discuss with Sixth Master."

  Zhang Luo Hui let out an "oh" and walked away with a huff, but after taking a few steps, he turned back around and glared at his brother with hatred, causing everyone to burst into laughter again.

  Ye Tufei felt something was off as soon as he returned to the Jia family's house, and this feeling stemmed from several things.

  The first thing is that the brother who was taken as a hostage by Yamashita Kengo and left in Xuzhou City has returned to Jiajiazhuang, saying that he hopes Ye Tufei's bandit camp can take on the heavy responsibility of defending Jiajiazhuang.

  The second thing is that Takahashi Nobuyuki actually came to Jiajia Wang, and it seems that he is also preparing for a long-term stay in Jiajia Wang.

  The third thing is that the Japanese suddenly attached great importance to Jiajiazhuang's defense, not only transferring over half of his troops but also adding at least one battalion of regular Japanese army.

  The fourth thing was that Takeo Yukiko and Tanabe Keiko, who had been clinging to him and refused to let go, suddenly disappeared. When asked about it, the brothers also couldn't explain what happened, saying only that they vanished one day without warning.

  These unusual events blocked the 'chest' and made Ye Tu Fei very uncomfortable. He decided to go find Gao Qiao Xin to ask for an explanation. Just as he was about to leave, Gao Qiao Xin's man arrived, saying that Sixth Master was requested to move, and Mr. Gao had important matters to discuss with him.

  At Gaoqiao Xin's residence, Ye Tufei got the answer.

  "Oh, Mr. Ye has arrived! First of all, congratulations on making great contributions to Japanese imperialism!" Seeing Ye Tufei, Takahashi Nobuyuki was delighted and started teasing him.

  Yatou Fei responded with a joke, seriously saluting Gaoqiao Xing with a military salute, then said: "Serving the Great Japanese Empire is an honor for all Han traitors!"

  Gao Qiao Xinxiao burst out laughing, inviting Ye Tufei to sit down. Then, with a somewhat mysterious tone, he said to Ye Tufei: "The ancient Han Dynasty tomb has been found and opened. Later, I'll take you to see some treasures."

  Ye Tu Fei was startled and thought to himself, "No wonder this Gao Qiao Xin is trusted by the Jia family and has not left. He has even increased his troops." He pretended to be very curious and asked Gao Qiao Xin, "Then why don't you take me to see the ancient tomb?"