Chapter 50: The Professional Bandit

  That night, Ye Tu Fei and Wei Xiang Dong, who was still staying in the camp, met.

  As soon as they met, Wei Dong couldn't wait to ask: "Has Takahashi agreed to help?"

  Ye Tu shook his head and didn't answer.

  Wei Dong's face was like a deflated balloon, he immediately collapsed and sat down on the ground with a thud.

  Ye Tu Fei burst out laughing at this point, saying: "On the surface, he rejected me and didn't leave any room for maneuvering, but behind the scenes, he gave me a suggestion that I think is feasible."

  Wei Dong sprang up from the ground and asked hastily: "What suggestion?"

  Ye Tu Fei was not in a hurry and said calmly: "He first asked me, for Wei Xiang Dong, who is more important, him or Peng You Ming?"

  Wei Dong was confused and said: "What does it mean?"

  Ye Siwang said: "Then he asked me again, for Yamashita Keigo, is he important or Peng Youming important?"

  Wei Dong seemed to understand something and said: "What does Takashi Gao mean by that?"

  Ye Tufei said at the right time: "Use Gao Qiao Xin as a hostage and exchange him for Peng You Ming."

  Wei Dong suddenly shook his head and said, "No way, there are organizational rules, I have to ask for instructions from the higher-ups."

  It's Ye Tuofei's turn to get anxious and say: "What's the point of asking for instructions! By the time you've finished asking, Peng Youming will have met King Yanluo too."

  Wei Dong said with a sense of injustice: "But this is kidnapping after all, only bandits do such things. We are the people's army, we..."

  Before Wei Dong finished speaking, Ye Tu Fei abruptly interrupted him, raising his voice to more than double the volume, almost shouting: "You are the people's army, you only do things that are righteous and aboveboard. I, Ye Tu Fei, am a bandit, our entire bandit camp is made up of sons of bitches, kidnapping for ransom is our specialty. This matter doesn't require Mr. Wei to take charge, our bandit camp will handle it!"

  Ye Tufei flew into a rage, but Wei Xiangdong became even calmer. He seemed to have not seen Ye Tufei's anger and said calmly: "You can't show your faces. If the news leaks out, the Japanese will definitely not let you off. Alright, this matter is still up to us to handle. At worst, I won't report it to the higher-ups."

  Ye Tu Fei finally calmed down and said, "Tomorrow night, Gao Qiao Xin is treating us to dinner. I'll go alone, and you guys tie me up too, so that Gao Qiao Xin will have a witness."

  Wei Dong's mind was now fully open, his thinking extremely quick. At once he saw the inadequacy of Ye Tuofei's suggestion and said: "Since both you and Gao Qixiang are voluntarily being taken hostage, it will actually be very easy to take control of you two. The key is how to withdraw afterwards. My opinion is that you should still bring a few more brothers over there. After the task is accomplished, let your brothers create some noise so the Japanese army can't figure out what's going on. This way we can also retreat more easily. What do you think?"

  Ye Tufei followed Wei Dong's train of thought and added, "Tomorrow night, you also bring some more people, divide the troops into two routes. One route goes to Piaoxiang Building to tie up me and Takahashi Shin, while the other route goes in the opposite direction of Piaoxiang Building and sets a few fires, making a few explosions to distract the attention of the little Japanese devils."

  Then the two men discussed many details until the entire process was set up, and after carefully verifying that there were no omissions, Wei Xiangdong left the camp.

  The next morning, Ye Tufei gathered Zhang Luohui, Feng Zhongliang, Guo Zhonglin and others to discuss the night's action. It was said to be a discussion, but in fact it was Ye Tufei assigning tasks.

  Ye Tu Fei finished speaking, Zhang Luo Hui suddenly had an idea: "Sixth Master, why don't we take advantage of the chaos and make a run for it?"

  Zhang Luo Hui's sudden idea quickly ignited the long-suppressed emotions of everyone, and almost all the brothers agreed with Zhang Luo Hui's opinion, reminding Ye Tu Fei to seize this excellent opportunity.

  But Ye Tufei opposed, saying: "Our focus tonight is to bind Gao Qiao Xin, only by binding him can we rescue Peng Youming. Brothers, the Communist Party has done us a favor, if they hadn't secretly arranged for us, we would have seen King Yan on Mount Wuniu long ago."

  "Old Six, what you said is right, but shouldn't we take advantage of the chaos to rush out and also attack Gaohang Bridge?" More than half of the brothers had such doubts.

  Yè Tú Fēi explained: "In that case, Yamashita Keigo would suspect Takahashi Makoto, and once Takahashi Makoto is suspected by Yamashita Keigo, his position in Yamashita Keigo's heart will be affected. Then, would he still be willing to use Peng Youming as a bargaining chip? Brothers, we can't let our own personal interests affect the lives of our friends!"

  Kuo Chung-lin still had some reluctance, saying: "Even if Shimo Goro suspected Takahashi and didn't want to exchange Peng Yu-ming for him, aren't you, Liu Ye, also being held captive? Would Shimo Goro be unwilling to exchange Liu Ye?"

  Zhang Luohui glared at Guo Zhonglin and shouted, "What do you mean, Guo? We've all escaped, but you're letting Liu Ye go back alone? Are you trying to harm Liu Ye?"

  Guo Zhonglin looked at Zhang Luohui with contemptuous eyes and responded sarcastically, "Calling you a pig brain is an insult to pigs. Don't you think about it? Can we let Sixth Brother take risks? Kidnapping is our specialty. As long as Yamashita Kōji agrees to exchange hostages, we can make him get water in a bamboo basket, right? Brothers?"

  Ye Tufei interrupted the two men's argument, saying: "Do you think Mountain Down Jingwu will exchange Peng Youming for your Sixth Master? Poor scholar, your Sixth Master is just a figure in front of our brothers, but I'm afraid that at Mountain Down Jingwu's place, he won't even be worth as much as an ordinary Japanese soldier! You can take a look at the Han traitors around this Japanese person. When they have value, the Japanese will lift them up to the sky, and when they don't, haha, they're not even worth as much as pigs and dogs!"

  Zhang Luohui hastily said: "That's right! Isn't Liu Yuqie a typical example?"

  Feng Zhongliang spoke up at this time and said: "Alright, let's calm down and listen to Liu Ye's arrangement."

  After discussing the evening's action plan, Ye Tufei ordered everyone to rest as much as possible during the day and prepare enough physical strength for the evening's ticket binding action. It is necessary to ensure that Wei Xiangdong and others can safely withdraw from Jiajiawang after being bound by Gao Qiao and Ye Tufei.

  The whole day passed quietly like this.

  It was late in the day, just as Ye Tufei and his brothers were preparing to leave for a banquet, when Wei Xiangdong arrived. He briefly told Ye Tufei: "My men have all entered, with over thirty people in total. I've arranged for twenty of them to be responsible for setting fires and carrying out explosions, while the remaining ten or so will follow me to Huixiang Tower."

  Ye Tu Fei first nodded in agreement with Wei Xiang Dong's arrangement, but then suddenly thought of something and said: "Make an adjustment, you go lead the team to handle the arson and explosion, and arrange a new face for the Fragrant Pavilion side. I'm worried that when you face Gao Qiang Xin, you'll reveal your true identity."

  Wei Dong shook his head and said, "I've thought about this matter. What I'm mainly worried about is that if others lead the team to carry out the task, it's possible that you and Takashi Goto will get hurt. Those soldiers, I can't tell them all the inside information!"

  Ye Tu Fei was not convinced by Wei Dong, he said: "You're right not to tell them the truth, only this way can we make this play real and fool the little Japanese. Brother Wei Dong, when Gao Qiao Xin invites us, he won't be alone, I'm sure there will be a Japanese accompanying him. What if that Japanese recognizes you? Then our play would be ruined."

  Wei Dong listened to Ye Tu Fei's opinion and bid farewell with sparkling eyes, saying: "We will take action at 7 o'clock sharp. Sixth Master, you must pay attention to safety and take care!"

  Ye Tu Fei got impatient, waved his hand and said: "What's wrong with you, Northeast big boss? How did you suddenly become so girly? Get out of here quickly."

  Wei Dong squeezed out a faint smile and then left.

  Ye Tu Fei led Zhang Luo Hui, Feng Zhong Liang and seven or eight other brothers to the Fragrant Pavilion with a swagger.

  Piao Xiang Lou was the largest and most upscale restaurant of the Jia family. In the past, when Jia Chunfeng was still alive, Piao Xiang Lou was big and upscale, but it could only be ranked after Chunfeng Mutton Restaurant. Whether it was officials, nobles or merchants and scholars, if they were to invite guests for dinner, their first choice would definitely be Chunfeng Mutton Restaurant. Only when the private rooms of Chunfeng Mutton Restaurant were fully booked could Piao Xiang Lou get a turn.

  Now, Chunfeng Mutton Restaurant is no longer there, and the whole Jiajia Bay is dominated by Fragrant Pavilion.

  As they turned a corner, the Fragrant Pavilion was just in front of them. Ye Tufei suddenly whispered urgently: "Not good! What's going on?" Everyone looked over and found that at the entrance of the Fragrant Pavilion stood two groups of Japanese soldiers, one group with five people.

  "Wasn't it Gaoqiao Xin playing a small trick?" Ye Tufei felt very uneasy in his heart, and he quickly calculated all sorts of possibilities.

  The street corner was close to the Fragrant Pavilion, and before Ye Tuofei could think of a question, he had already arrived at the entrance of the Fragrant Pavilion. A Japanese military officer with the rank of junior lieutenant came up in big strides, saluted Ye Tuofei and others, saying: "Captain Zhang, Captain Ye, Mr. Takahashi ordered me to welcome you all here, my name is Inoue Masao, please take care of me!"

  Ye Tufei pretended to be calm and returned a military salute with Zhang Luohui to Iemasa, Ye Tufei asked: "Mr. Takahashi? Hasn't he arrived yet?"

  Takao Inoue replied: "Takahashi has already arrived, he is waiting for your esteemed presence upstairs!"

  Ye Tu Fei pointed at the two teams of soldiers and asked: "What's going on? Is it just about eating a meal? Do you need to make such a big fuss?"

  Inoue Masao replied, "Yesan doesn't know, Takahashi's military rank is Taisha, according to the regulations of the Great Japanese Imperial Army, for Taisha-level officers, first-class protection must be implemented. If only Inoue invites everyone, then there won't be so many soldiers coming to protect us. My level can only arrange two soldiers."

  Yè Tú Fēi came with interest and teased: "What if it's a Zhōng Zuǒ?"

  Takao Inoue replied seriously: "Lieutenant Commander, six soldiers."

  At this time, Takashi Kobayashi appeared in front of a window on the second floor and called out: "Little Ye! Aren't you hungry? What are you doing lingering downstairs? Oh, Lieutenant Inoue, please accompany Captain Ye and the others to come up, those soldiers can go back first, I'm not used to eating surrounded by armed soldiers.

  Takao Inoue bowed respectfully to Nobutsuna Takahashi on the upper floor, then ordered the two squads of soldiers to withdraw and instructed the sergeant in charge not to leave the Fragrant Pavilion unattended, ensuring that no suspicious individuals appeared around it, arresting them immediately and reporting back to him at once.