Chapter 59: Assassination in the Marketplace

  Three days later, Hankou Shuntian Department Store.

  In the afternoon, the sky was overcast.

  The Spring Festival is approaching, and there are many people coming to buy New Year's goods in front of the department store. Inside the building, it is also crowded with people, and the atmosphere is very lively.

  At this time, a black sedan with a license plate of the Garrison Command drove over from the main street in front and stopped in front of the department store. After the car stopped, the driver and an attendant sitting in the back quickly got out and opened the passenger door. At this time, a young man who was slightly fat came down from the passenger seat, wearing a large military uniform and wearing a pair of shiny long black leather boots. He was of medium height, with a round face, a wide mouth, and a flat nose. The only thing that didn't match his fat body was the small eyes above his nose. This person was none other than Wu Dacheng, the only son of Commander Wu.

  He got off the car with an air of arrogance, looking down on everyone. Under the respectful service of his entourage, he raised his head to glance at the crowded Shuntian Department Store in front of him, turned his face and said to the driver: "You wait here." Then he said to the entourage beside him: "Let's go in."

  "Yes, Advisor Wu." The attendant bowed and replied.

  Wu Dacheng entered the department store with his entourage, today he came to buy clothes for his own wedding. Since Ye Xinyi was brought back from Chongqing by her father to Hankou, one day, Ye Xinyi, who had nothing to do, was holding a book and strolling alone in the garden in front of the headquarters of the First Security Regiment, coincidentally bumping into Wu Dacheng who came to borrow money from Ye Tuanzhang. In fact, Wu Dacheng's family had plenty of money, so why did he still want to borrow money from Ye Tuanzhang? There was a reason for this. Although Wu Dacheng was the only precious son of Commander Wu, he disliked reading books and was lazy. He had only attended junior high school for one year before being expelled due to fighting, causing trouble, and flirting with female classmates, making the school unbearable. The principal couldn't handle him, so he could only find Commander Wu.

  Commander Wu listened to the principal's account and immediately called out Wu Dacheng, who was hiding in the inner room, and gave him a severe beating. If it weren't for Wu Dacheng's mother rushing over and persuading Commander Wu together with the principal, he might have been beaten to death by Commander Wu.

  Later, Commander Wu sent Wu Dacheng to another junior high school. In less than two days, he cut a classmate's arm with a knife. The father of that boy had a friend who was a fellow villager of Hubei warlord Xiao Yaonan. When the matter reached Xiao Yaonan, he summoned Commander Wu and scolded him in person, telling him to discipline his son properly and not cause any more trouble at school.

  Commander Wu was rebuked by the inspector in person. After returning home, he beat Wu Dacheng again, and later sent Wu Dacheng to a middle school in Xinyang, far from Hankou, to study, and asked his sister living in Xinyang to take care of him.

  In Shangyang for two years, due to his aunt's strict discipline, he lost the pampering of his mother. Without a backing, he had no choice but to study diligently in school. However, he was not born with the material to read books. From childhood, he played truant with Wu Dacheng. His mind was not focused on reading, and during class, he often daydreamed. Gradually, he couldn't get into his studies, and every time there were exams, except for art where he could score a few tens of points, Chinese and mathematics never passed. Many times, several subjects' exams were zero points.

  His aunt saw that he was not making progress, scolded him, and trained him, but it was useless. She had to ask someone to speak to the principal on his behalf. The principal took into account that Wu Dacheng's aunt's family was a large household in Xinyang, and also took into account that Wu Dacheng's father was the commander of the Hankou Garrison, so he managed to get him a junior high school graduation certificate just before graduation. Wu Dacheng then returned to Hankou like this.

  After staying in Hankou for a while, Wu Dacheng spent his days idly and secretly associated with a group of rascals and hooligans outside. He gambled, fought, and flirted with women, doing all sorts of evil things. The local police station would visit Commander Wu every now and then, which made him very annoyed amidst his busy military duties.

  In order to prevent his son from getting into trouble outside, Commander Wu brought his son into his own garrison command and put him by his side as a staff officer.

  So Wu Dacheng put on his military uniform and became an officer.

  Wu Dacheng, now a military officer, although not as unruly as he was outside, has restrained himself in many ways. Firstly, he is now a soldier and an officer who eats military rations, so he naturally cannot be as reckless as before. Secondly, with his father by his side, watching him at all times, he also does not dare to be unruly.

  Although Wu Dacheng changed many of his bad habits, there was one bad habit that he never got rid of, and that was gambling.

  Every day, after finishing his daily chores, Wu Dacheng would always be dragged by his colleagues or subordinates to play mahjong. He learned how to play mahjong from a young age by following his mother. His mother was a mahjong enthusiast and spent every day playing with a group of officials' wives. At that time, Wu Dacheng was still young and followed his mother everywhere, watching her play mahjong and gradually learning the game himself. Sometimes when his mother had something to do or needed to go out, Wu Dacheng would take her place at the mahjong table.

  So, Wu Dacheng learned to gamble at the mahjong table. However, his luck was terrible. Every time he played mahjong, he would lose more and win less. And every time he lost money, he would either think of ways to cheat or borrow money from others to pay off his debts.

  That night, Wu Dacheng, who had lost all his silver dollars after a night of mahjong, thought that almost everyone around him had lent him money before, and he didn't dare to borrow again. Just then, a communication soldier from the First Division came to the headquarters to deliver a report, and Wu Dacheng suddenly remembered the commander of the First Division, Ye, a generous and straightforward Shandong man who was very close to his father. He thought that Ye would not refuse him because of his father's face.

  So Wu Dacheng arrived at the headquarters of the First Guard Regiment. Coincidentally, Commander Ye had something to attend to and was not in the headquarters. He thought that since he had come, he would wait a while longer. So Wu Dacheng walked towards the garden in front of the headquarters, wanting to take a stroll there, look at the blooming flowers, and wait for Commander Ye to return.

  Thus, Wu Dacheng met Ye Xinyi, who had also come to clear her mind, in the garden in front of the headquarters of the First Guard Regiment.

  When Wu Dacheng first met Ye Xinyi, he was immediately captivated by her beautiful appearance and took the initiative to strike up a conversation. He introduced himself as the son of Commander Wu of the Garrison Command, named Wu Dacheng, and is currently a staff officer at the Garrison Command.

  Ye Xinyi heard his name and burst out laughing. "Haha——, your name is really interesting. Wu Dacheng, that means you can't do anything, right?"

  "No, you don't understand. My surname is Wu, and my name is Dacheng. Fortune tellers have all said so. I will achieve great things in the future. Don't underestimate me." Wu Dacheng hastily explained.

  Ye Xinyi didn't love him because she had already set her heart on Ma Fei, a fleeting acquaintance. So she made an excuse to leave Wu Dacheng.

  Later, Wu Dacheng found out that Ye Xinyi was the daughter of Captain Ye. He told his mother to ask his father to go to Captain Ye's house and propose a marriage between him and Ye Xinyi.

  But later, Ye Xinyi went to Shanghai and this matter was put on hold.

  This time, Ye Xinyi returned from Shanghai, and Wu Dacheng immediately brought up the matter with his mother again. Wu Dacheng's mother thought that this trouble-making son had also reached the age of getting married. Moreover, having a wife by his side to keep him in check would be a good thing, so she went to find Commander Wu. Commander Wu listened to his wife's words and also felt that it was a good thing, so he asked his deputy officer to go to Team Leader Ye's house to propose marriage for his son.

  Leaf Commander heard that it was General Wu's son, at first, he hesitated for a moment, after all, General Wu's son had a bad reputation. He had heard some rumors about him. But thinking again, General Wu and himself were also considered to be on good terms. Moreover, he was still serving as the commander of the team under General Wu. His daughter was growing up, and it was only a matter of time before she got married. Marrying into such a family would have great benefits for his future promotion. So, Leaf Commander quickly agreed to General Wu's proposal.

  Unexpectedly, as soon as the deputy officer left, Captain Ye called over his heart's desire and told her about it. But to his surprise, she immediately opposed it and refused to agree. Infuriated, Captain Ye scolded her severely and made a stern declaration: "Whether you're willing or not, you'll have to be willing! From ancient times to the present day, parents have always been in charge of their children's marriages. This matter is settled!"

  That night, Ye Xinyi buried her head in the quilt and cried all night. The helpless Ye Xinyi suddenly thought of Ma Fei, so she took advantage of her father's meeting at the headquarters the next evening when no one was home to go to the new recruit regiment to find Ma Fei.

  After that appointment with Ma Fei by the lake, Ye Xinyi's heart was only thinking of Ma Fei. Before she knew it, the end of the year had arrived and Commander Wu came to discuss again, saying that he had found an auspicious day and the wedding would be held next week.

  Ye Tuanzhang also agreed immediately. So both sides began to prepare for the marriage of Ye Xinyi and Wu Dacheng.

  Ye Xinyi was anxious, she had already found out that she was pregnant with Ma Fei's child. Looking at her belly getting bigger and bigger every day, she was a little scared. In order not to be seen by others, she used a belt to tightly tie up her bulging stomach, trying her best to make it invisible.

  With the wedding day approaching, Ye Xinyi, who was anxious like a burning fire, finally found someone to send an urgent letter to Ma Fei. They met at that tea house in Junshan Town.

  Wu Dacheng was delighted in his heart. Although he had been to Ye Tuanzhang's house many times, every time he went, Ye Xinyi would leave on the pretext or ignore him. However, Wu Dacheng didn't mind these things. He thought to himself: You don't care about me now, but when we get married and you become my wife, let's see if you'll still ignore me then.

  Today, Wu Dacheng came to Shuntian Department Store to choose a new groom outfit for his wedding day.

  Entering the department store. Wu Dacheng, who looked around, came to a row of places selling new-style Western suits and began selecting them with his entourage.

  There aren't many people over here selling suits. Just a few scattered individuals looking at the beautiful suits hanging on the racks.

  In front of the right-hand side of the row of clothes racks where Wu Dacheng was selecting a suit, there was a fitting room. Just then, a man wearing a bowler hat and a long gown with a queue, sporting a full beard, emerged from the fitting room. He wore a pair of glasses perched on his nose, held a walking stick in his left hand, and had his right hand thrust into his pocket.

  When the man with a full beard walked past the row of clothes racks where Wu Dacheng was selecting suits, he suddenly turned his head. His right hand pulled out a pistol from his pocket and fired two shots at Wu Dacheng's back "Bang Bang". He then raised the gun again and fired two more shots at the ceiling of the department store. Next, he turned around and flashed into a pile of clothes racks beside him.

  People shopping in the department store were startled by the sudden gunfire and let out a scream, "Ah!" The crowd shouted and fled in all directions. The entire department store was thrown into chaos instantly.

  Gunfire rang out. The attendant who followed Wu Dacheng was only helping Wu Dacheng choose clothes and didn't see what the person who shot at Wu Dacheng's back looked like. As soon as the gunshot sounded, Wu Dacheng didn't even hum a sound and dove headfirst into the pile of clothes in front of him. The attendant was stunned by the sudden gunshot. By the time he came to his senses and pulled out his gun to look for the assassin, the assassin's figure had already disappeared.

  He looked down again and saw that Wu Dacheng's back was covered in blood, motionless on the ground, without any breath.

  He was so frightened that he hurriedly went to pull up Wu Dacheng, who had fallen to the ground. As he pulled him, he shouted loudly towards the department store: "Someone come! Come quickly!"