The First Volume The Empty Spirit Chapter Fifty-Seven Climbing Trees and Picking Fruits

  The door was wide open, and the crowd rushed into the yard and then into the house. The first thing they saw was Wang Yaoyu and Le Yuxin, followed by a corpse lying on the ground. And there were hand grenades next to the corpse!

  "Is he the one we're looking for?" The last to enter the room was Shi Ankou, and the other two rooms had already been searched by others. Whether it was due to the explosion's smoke or his bad temper, Shi Ankou's face was very dark.

  "It's the person we're looking for, Wang Yaozu and I have the same judgment." Before Wang Yaozu spoke, Le Yunxin spoke first. Stone An'guo only believed 50% of Wang Yaozu's testimony, but since Le Yunxin and Wang Yaozu had the same judgment, Stone An'guo would fully believe it.

  "Why don't you catch them alive! Don't the two deputy squad leaders know that a live Communist leader is a hundred times more important than a dead one?!" Shi An'guo finally couldn't bear it and shouted out loud.

  Facing Shi An Guo's roar, Tie Tou and Mao Zi didn't show any expression. The two were not in a good mood either, they had just risked their lives to fight at the front, almost getting blown up, with blood on their bodies, here a little black, there a little red. Although it was only a minor injury, they had fought hard but only achieved small merit, while Wang Yao Zu and Le Yun Xin were profiting from the situation in the back, the two just stood at the side without speaking.

  "I'm telling you, Old Stone, can't you see? This place is filled with guns and grenades. The Communist Party leaders are a bunch of die-hards. If we're slow to act, the result will be mutual destruction. In the end, Le Da Ge and I will be dead, and this room will be reduced to ashes. What will you gain then?"

  Facing Shi An Guo's anger, Wang Yao Zu's tone was also very cold. Wang Yao Zu had never had a strong sense of right and wrong. Judgments of good and evil were made based on his own feelings. When Wang Yao Zu and Wu Ma first set foot in Shanghai, it was Le Yun Xin who helped him with enthusiasm, and usually only Le Yun Xin cared about him in the stock market. So Wang Yao Zu wanted to repay Le Yun Xin's kindness, and he also hid Le Yun Xin's previous abnormal behavior in his heart.

  Shi An'guo was furious, and Wang Ya'zu's tone was also off. Just then, a sharp siren sounded outside, followed by two different sounds. Everyone knew at once that the police bureau and the public security command had arrived. The smell of gunpowder wafted over, as people rushed to take credit.

  "Lao Shi, let's talk about this later when we get back. Don't let outsiders laugh at us." Le Yu Xin was also conflicted in his heart at this moment. Wang Yao Zu had too many uncertain factors. He and Shi An Guo had always been unclear about what Wang Yao Zu was pursuing, what he wanted to achieve. There were also too many contradictions on Wang Yao Zu's body. However, Le Yu Xin could only do so for now.

  "Tie Tou, Mao Zi. You two go outside and block the way. Everyone else search, don't let any corner get away. I'm going outside to smoke a cigarette." Shi An Guo walked out of the courtyard like this. Shi An Guo would occasionally smoke, but usually didn't smoke much, only when he was extremely anxious would he smoke.

  Shi Ankou arrived under the mulberry tree in the courtyard and started smoking, Wang Yaowu followed closely behind him, and Le Yuxin also went over. Shi Ankou smoked his cigarette, Le Yuxin played with the Buddhist beads in his hand, and Wang Yaowu leaned against the mulberry tree, resting, none of them spoke a word. The surrounding area was filled with the sound of people rummaging through things, and the sound of quarrels kept coming from the direction of the grocery store. People outside wanted to come in, but Tie Tou and Mao Zi ordered their subordinates to search everywhere in the store while using British-style rifles to gesture, preventing outsiders from entering.

  A gust of wind blew by, and something fell from above. Wang Yaoyu shook his head, then turned on the flashlight to take a look. A small cluster of purple fruit was right at his feet. Wang Yaoyu suddenly became interested, shining the light upwards towards the top of his head. The mulberry tree had many mulberries, some of which were already ripe. It was also time to pick them.

  Wang Yaoyu arrived with enthusiasm, ignoring the quarrels and busyness outside, as well as Shi Anguo and Le Yuxin's inner turmoil. Wang Yaoyu took off his shoes and climbed up the mulberry tree, using a flashlight to pick the ripe mulberries. Mulberries are delicious, but they're not sold outside, so if you want to eat them, you have to pick them yourself. There were many mulberry trees in Wang Yaoyu's hometown too.

  Watching Wang Yaoyu start making a fuss like a child, Le Yuxin stopped the Buddhist beads in his hand, Shi Anguo threw away the second half of the cigarette and extinguished it, and also turned on the flashlight to help Wang Yaoyu shine the tree, saying: "Pick more, I want to eat too." Le Yuxin, who was beside him, also turned on the flashlight and helped Wang Yaoyu shine the fruit on the tree.

  All the mulberries picked were put into the pocket, and Wang Yaowu jumped down from the tree. Carefully took out the mulberries in the pocket, first gave them to Shi Ankou and Le Yuxin, and then put the remaining mulberries in his hand, without washing or wiping, directly put them in his mouth, and lightly sucked a slightly sweet juice into his throat. The quarrel outside was getting louder and louder.

  "Yaozu, what do you think we should do now? The Iron Heads outside are about to collapse, and the big shots will be arriving soon." Shi Anguo didn't mention his tantrum from earlier at all, temporarily pretending it never happened.

  "With such a big fanfare, it's possible that even Commander Xiong will show up. It's about time to let them in, if there are any clues, I'll owe them one favor. But I think people who have reached the end of their rope won't likely carry important information on them. This matter can't be publicized too much either, if it gets out, others will start investigating what happened. Old Stone, did our brothers suffer any casualties this time?"

  Wang Yaoyu was a bit tired and after eating the mulberries he continued to lean against the mulberry tree, outside there were sounds of cars coming again.

  "This time, everyone was being very careful because they knew each other had guns and grenades, and it was just a matter of small injuries. Ya Zu, what else do you want to do? If you hadn't killed that person but captured him alive, you would have gotten even more benefits." Shi An Guo, who was familiar with Wang Ya Zu, immediately sensed from Wang Ya Zu's last question that he still had one or two small requests that he hadn't mentioned.

  "I almost died. That guy was going to take me and Le Dage down with him, besides, it wasn't me who fired the shot, it was Le Dage. At that time, I thought I was a goner for sure?! Old Stone, you're being a bit too greedy, this isn't a good thing. After all the commotion tonight, everyone's exhausted, but at least one thing is settled, now everyone must be starving, so how about you take out some money, of course, it's on the company dime to treat everyone, let's have a good meal to celebrate taking down the Communist Party leader."

  Wang Yaoyu complained about his own affairs again, but soon shifted Shi Ankui's attention and played his own role, also letting everyone in the stock get benefits. The Buddhist beads in Le Yunxin's hand started rotating again.

  "Alright, the people in the stockade have been tired for days, it's really time to celebrate properly. After all, we've killed a Communist leader. Everyone gather!" Shi An'guo didn't want to see Commander Xiong at this moment, that kind of quarrel and sarcasm had no practical effect. After all, Commander Xiong of the Garrison Command was superior to Shi An'guo in rank.

  The police and the garrison command's people all came in, but the valuable things had already been found by the investigation team, so it was almost done. After putting the police and the garrison command's people inside, Shi An-guo handed over a sentence: "In the process of capturing suspected Communist Party members, we encountered resistance, three Communist Party members were killed, and there are still three corpses here to hand over to you."

  After finishing, Shi An Guo took away all the people in the investigation team, leaving behind the deputy officer of the Garrison Command and the police chief who didn't know what to do. Shi An Guo also took away the seized guns and useless hand grenades, it's hard to get hand grenades from the Garrison Command, since they were given for free, he had to take them back, not a single one could be wasted.

  Everyone got on their respective bicycles, each looking very tired. Their faces did not show the joy of victory, but rather a relaxed expression after throwing off the heavy burden on their shoulders. Shi Ankang was very helpless, he wished that at least half of the people in the team would take the party's cause as their top priority, abandon all other vanity and selfishness, and serve the party wholeheartedly. But as a result, even Wang Yaoyu, whom he valued more, was only slightly better than others.

  "Everyone first returns to their posts, and puts away all the guns. Lock up the important items in my safe, then everyone finds a place to have a good meal together. There's plenty of wine, dishes, and meat. Tomorrow is a half-day off, and everyone will return to report at 2 pm. These days have been hard for everyone, and I will also report today's events to the Nanjing authorities, this achievement belongs to everyone."

  Shi An Guo said, looking at Wang Yaozu, the credit is everyone's, not just Wang Yaozu's. Wang Yaozu didn't show any reaction to this, such achievements are dispensable, and can't be used as an excuse to offend others in the company.

  Gunsmoke Silent Volume 1 Empty Spirit Chapter 57 Picking Fruits from Trees