Chapter Six Leaving the City

  The grass head snake spoke of the situation on the street with great eloquence, and whenever he came to what he thought was a crucial point, he would deliberately pause like a master storyteller in a teahouse, take a sip of tea or puff on his cigarette, while sneaking glances around him. When he saw that everyone's eyes were wide with anticipation, it gave him a great sense of accomplishment.

  But there are also those who can't wait to satisfy their desires. Liu Cuicui saw Cao Tou'er being arrogant, and snatched his tea bowl, scolding: "Everyone outside is killing people and setting fires, but you're still here telling stories? If you mention sugar again, I'll tear your mouth apart!"

  Others were also anxious in their hearts, so they started scolding the grass-headed snake. The grass-headed snake opened its mouth and couldn't tell which direction to go, so it had to apologize and say: "Everyone, everyone, I won't take the sugar anymore, okay?"

  "So what happened next?"

  "Right! Tell me quickly!"

  "Speak!"

  "Originally, I thought we wouldn't make it out alive. They had knives and guns, while we didn't even have a needle...it seemed like all hope was lost..." He said this much, then habitually reached for his tea cup, only to find it empty. He suddenly remembered that Liu Cuicui had taken the cup away. Looking around at everyone's eyes, which were staring at him like they were on fire, he could only awkwardly smile and continue: "We thought we were done for, but then out of nowhere came a man in a suit, who slapped those few young whippersnappers silly. Those young whippersnappers were actually afraid of him, bowing and scraping...can you guess who this person was? It was none other than Xiao Shan Sanlang, who used to work with us!"

  "Is he? Isn't he a Japanese?" This is what people who knew Oyama Sanro said.

  "Who is Kosuke Yamayama?" This is what people who don't know Kosuke Yamayama say.

  Caodou snake continued: "This Xiaoshan Sanlang used to be a laborer with us, now he has become a doctor and opened his own clinic. He is really righteous, where did he take the big water buffalo?"

  At this point, a guest interrupted and said: "That's where you're wrong. This Xiao Shan Sanlang is still a Japanese after all. How can you entrust the big water buffalo to him?"

  Xiao Shunzi had been waiting for an opportunity to speak up, and now he said: "Niu Ge isn't alone, Sai Gui Fei and Sai Lao Ban are taking care of him over there."

  That house guest said with a hint of obscenity: "This is even more your fault, isn't this like sending sheep meat into the wolf's mouth? Sai Gui Fei is such a delicate and beautiful woman, you put her in the wolf's den, can she still come out intact?"

  Liu Cuicui looked at the guest and said slowly, "That Xia Shan Sanlang was a pretty good person when he lived here before."

  The house guest sneered and said: "You can know a person's face but not their heart. No matter how good Koyama Shirō is, he's still a Japanese."

  This guy has many shortcomings, but he has one good thing going for him - he doesn't like to badmouth others behind their backs. Not only does he not like to do it himself, but he also doesn't like it when others do it. He thinks that's not what a real man should be doing. Originally, he thought putting Sai Gui Fei and Da Shui Niu with Xiao Shan San Lang wasn't very reliable, but after being provoked by this house guest, he put on an unhappy face and said: "I don't like hearing you say that! What's wrong with the Japanese? Are they all bad people or something?! No matter which country it is, aren't there good and bad people everywhere?! Even if there are a million or ten million black-hearted Japanese, can't there be a few good ones in there too?! Our great nation of China is a land of etiquette and propriety, and every month we still have to execute a few murderers. And another thing, you don't even go out and take a look around! What could you have done back then?! Do you have a better plan or something?!

  Everyone was arguing, when suddenly someone outside started banging on the door again.

  Everyone was startled when they heard the sound of someone breaking in, Xiao Shunzi's face turned white with fear. The two men wearing long gowns sitting at the corner table also lost their composure and instinctively reached for their waists.

  Liu Cuicui, although a woman, was calmer than anyone else at this time. She first gave a signal to the servants to open the door, but they were too afraid to move. Liu Cuicui scolded them in a low voice and went to the front door herself, peeking out through the crack before hastily opening it.

  A young boy in a school uniform rushed in from outside, threw himself into Liu Cuicui's arms and shouted "Mom!" It turned out to be Liu Cuicui's son Xiao Dezi.

  Then another person came in that everyone knew, it was Ku Laiqiang. As soon as Ku Laiqiang entered the door, he turned around and locked the door.

  Liu Cuicui looked up and down at Xiao Dezi, making sure he was unharmed before turning to Kuai Liqiang and saying, "Didn't you leave? Why are you back?"

  Kulaiqiang bitterly smiled and said, "The dock has been sealed off by the Japanese devils, it's impossible to leave."

  At this time, Xiao Dezi said: "Mom, it was Uncle Qiang who brought me back."

  Liu Cuicui hastily expressed her gratitude, but Cheng Ziqiang waved his hand and said: "Don't thank me. I should be thanking your little brother instead."

  Liu Cuicui said: "He's just a little kid from a good family, what are you thanking him for?"

  Cheng Ziqiang said: "This Japanese devil is detestable, but he's not without rules. At least he never makes things difficult for those wearing Japanese-style school uniforms, even if they're not Japanese. I owe it to Dezi Fu that people along the way thought I was helping Dezi carry luggage, so nothing happened."

  The grass head snake sighed: "These Japanese devils are really strange."

  Two men in long shirts walked up to Cheng Ziqiang, bowed and said: "Young master, the old master and mistress asked us to wait for you here. You can go with us now."

  Cheng Zi Qiang glanced at the two of them and said: "This is a chaotic situation, it's really troubling you."

  The two of them hurriedly said: "Nonsense, nonsense, it's all settled. We'll take the Japanese embassy car out of the city, very safe, very safe."

  "Alright." Cheng Ziqiang responded with his mouth, and in an instant, one of the men felt a flash before his eyes, a lightness at his waist, and a Browning pistol was already in Cheng Ziqiang's hand. The other man hurriedly reached for his gun, only to feel a pain in his teeth, as Cheng Ziqiang had already stuffed the barrel into his mouth.

  "Draw your gun." Cheng Zi said with a sneer, "Even if you draw it out, you wouldn't dare shoot me. How unfair is that? Only I get to hit you." As he spoke, he casually took his own gun out as well.

  Everyone was stunned by this scene, and the strong laborer who was usually honest and simple, did not know that he had such quick hands. Liu Cuicui even covered her mouth with one hand and held Xiaodezi tightly with the other.

  Cheng Ziqiang pointed his gun at the two men, letting Cao Tou She open the door. One of them was kicked out with a kick on the butt. Then he said to everyone: "Everyone hurry up and pack some important things, we have to leave the city quickly."

  "Get out of the city! It's not that serious, is it?" A lodger said "These Japanese will not make trouble for long, in the end it's still our police who come to clean up the mess."

  Cheng Ziqiang said: "This time is not the same, just after I came back, I saw the police station being surrounded by Japanese devils, Bai Jingchang, everyone knows him, right? He ran a bit slow and was hacked to death, his head was even hung on a bamboo pole."

  "Is it really true?" No wonder everyone doesn't believe it, this is indeed too unbelievable. Wasn't Officer Bai still drinking here yesterday? Can he just disappear like that?

  It turned out that Liu Cuicui was worried about her son's safety, so she said: "I think Qiang Ge is right, this city is not safe, I'll pack up and leave with Qiang Ge." With her taking the lead, everyone began to discuss and argue, dividing into two factions, some in favor of leaving and others in favor of staying.

  Cheng Ziqiang didn't try to persuade him anymore, and Xiao Shunzi asked timidly: "Brother Qiang, are all the things you said true?"

  Cheng Ziqiang said: "Didn't you just come back from the street? Didn't you see what's going on in the streets? I'm doing this for everyone's good anyway."

  Cao Tou She said: "Although I don't know if it's really that serious, but I see Qiang Zi giving up being a young master and coming with us to walk together, he must have his reasons. I trust Qiang Zi."

  Just as they were talking, Liu Cuicui came down, carrying a package containing soft things. Everyone was surprised at how quickly she had packed up, but they didn't know that Liu Cuicui had originally planned to elope with Cheng Ziqiang and had already packed her things beforehand, so it was naturally quick.

  Liu Cuicui handed the key to several tenants who were unwilling to leave, and then reminded them again. The rest of the people, who were strong, took sticks and clubs and went out with Cheng Ziqiang.