The First Book The Empty Spirit Chapter 2 The Man Who Bought Medicine

  "It's indeed the 8th Master, old Shanghai. The road is just multiple, but if there's a problem with the seamless steel pipe, it can be explained as being of poor quality or having poor craftsmanship, and people in Northeast China might still accept it. But if the medicine has problems, that would be a matter of life and death, and no explanation would work. Many foreigners often bring fake or expired medicines to cheat us Chinese people, and many poor foreigners also know about Shanghai and think of coming here to swindle us!"

  The whole of Shanghai is full of swindlers. Chinese and foreign swindlers are wandering around looking for prey, there are too many people with nothing to lose who come to Shanghai to take risks, and there are also too many local tyrants and small businessmen who bring money from the countryside to Shanghai to make a fortune. Almost every day in Shanghai, someone wants to commit suicide, either by hanging or jumping into the Huangpu River.

  "Hmm, I'll warn that foreigner. None of those foreigners are reliable. I can make one foreigner die in an accident, and also make another foreigner die in an accident. Ah, Yaozu, regarding the machine tools, radio, radio batteries, and that engine, these things aren't something I can get my hands on, you'll have to take care of it."

  Machinery and engines are all imported, radios and batteries are absolutely forbidden, not even the Eighth Route Army has a way to get them. Wang Ya-zu must think of a solution himself. Only when everything is ready will the Northeastern Army be happy, and only then can there be another transaction.

  "This is no problem, I will think of a way. Maybe we can even get it directly from the government's internal department. The situation is changing too fast, Nanjing is trying every means to please General Zhang. It just so happens that we can take advantage of this, Eighth Master, please wait for my good news."

  That's about it, Wang Ya Zu wanted to leave. However, he didn't go back to the investigation room, but instead went to the Orman coffee shop to have a cup of coffee and calm himself down first. That way, Wang Ya Zu wouldn't appear too excited or anxious in front of everyone in the investigation room, and could temporarily relax a bit.

  However, when Wang Ya Zu got up to leave and walked to the door. Wang Ya Zu suddenly thought of something, turned around and immediately stopped in his tracks. This made Ba Ye, who had just stood up from his chair and hadn't straightened his body yet, very curious. Ba Ye sat back down again.

  Wang Ya Zu patted his own head, the temptation of money and emotional troubles made Wang Ya Zu's brain no longer bright, almost missing such an important clue.

  "Old Eighth, you just said that the foreigner bought a lot of medicine used to treat wounded soldiers in war, and someone paid for more than half of the medicine. What is the identity of the person who bought the medicine? Is it from the hospital or the government? Or neither, and their identity is confidential." Wang Ya Zu walked back to his original position and sat down immediately.

  "Yaozu, what's wrong? In my opinion, it's about that foreigner buying medicine. He's not a decent person, there must be some problem with his background. Otherwise, he wouldn't specifically do business with that foreigner, who is usually in charge of supplying medicine to several foreign hospitals. However, Yaozu, shouldn't Shanghai have too many communists? Maybe it's someone from the local warlord faction buying it, or someone bought the goods and wants to sell them to those small warlords." Ba Ye naturally knew Wang Yaozu's identity and what he did, so regarding Wang Yaozu's suspicion, he immediately thought of it.

  "Old Eighth, do you think those small warlords in the local areas would be willing to spend a lot of money to buy expensive Western medicine? For them, having money isn't about spending it on themselves, building big houses, or marrying beautiful concubines. It's about buying arms and expanding their troops. Human life is worthless to them; as long as they're fed, they'll do whatever it takes. Recruiting soldiers is no problem for them. Giving ordinary soldiers expensive Western medicine? That's not as cost-effective as buying arms. At most, they might buy some medicine for themselves and a few important people to stock up. In short, buying so much medicine to treat wounded soldiers would never be for selling to the local small warlords or having them send someone to purchase it."

  "That's what I mean, the one who bought that batch of medicine is likely a southern communist bandit. Although the newspapers have been scolding the communist bandits all along, saying they are even more terrifying than Huang Chao who killed 8 million people, but my Green Gang brothers also investigated and found that the communist bandits seem to be good to their own soldiers, and the places occupied by them are not as miserable as what the newspapers say."

  No matter whether it's a newspaper or radio, the descriptions of ** are all about how frightening and sensational they can make it sound. As for how many people believe it, that's up to each individual reader and listener themselves; if everyone believed it, then how could the Communist Party have won over so many people? And as for the Eighth Route Army, who among them isn't skilled at gathering information from all sides and listening in on every conversation?

  "It's not necessarily the Communist Party, it could be other warlords. The war is being fought so fiercely, for foreigners, the Nanjing government is the legitimate Chinese government, and other factions can't get much medicine, they can only send people to Shanghai to buy the needed medicine. In short, Eighth Master, you have to help me, once this matter is clear, Eighth Master, you can directly report to my superior Shi"

  "Once online, Old Stone said that if he owed Eight Young Master a favor, his was not something to be trifled with, but what he feared most was owing others a favor."

  Shi An Guo's reputation as a powerful figure was well-known, and it was said that he had recently received news about Zhu Shi Yin's bank being in trouble with the police. Apparently, Zhu Shi Yin had offended someone at the police station, but this also led to him owing Shi An Guo a favor. As a result, Shi An Guo personally intervened and saved Zhu Shi Yin's bank from trouble, leaving the police unable to do anything about it.

  "Alright, Yaozu, you can rest assured. I'll help you with this matter. Your Shi Guolong is also a well-known figure in Shanghai, and I've always understood the benefits of cooperation between officials and merchants." It's precisely because of such cooperation that many cases involving Baye have been quietly settled.

  "Old Eight, you mustn't use force, some things need to be done gently. If we alarm the target, they might leave Shanghai immediately. With so many foreign medicines, it's impossible to get them in without a way. The people at each checkpoint are like wolves, they won't just pull out your hair, they'll skin you alive! Because of Shanghai's special status, every entrance and exit on the beach is guarded by soldiers and police. For ordinary pedestrians, the soldiers and police aren't very interested, but if goods want to enter or leave without special permits, they will be subject to strict inspection, and anything suspicious will be confiscated immediately."

  "This is indeed a trouble, I will be careful. I'll go personally to talk to that foreigner, foreigners like money, as long as you give them money, there's nothing they can't sell. Yào Zǔ, just wait for my good news. No matter if it's the Communist Party or other factions, for you Yào Zǔ, it's a great achievement, right?!"

  "That's right, and it's a big deal. So I'll leave it to Eighth Master then." Everything that needed to be said had been said, and if Wang Ya Zu continued to nag, Eighth Master would get angry. Eighth Master was Eighth Master, someone who had crawled out of a pile of dead bodies and made a living as a hitman.

  —

  Wang Ya-zu sat in the coffee shop for an hour and a half, sipping his coffee and eating two sandwiches. Although the weather was no longer as hot as before, the rickshaw pullers on the street were still sweating profusely, and pedestrians were constantly wiping away their sweat. Wang Ya-zu, sitting inside, also had to keep wiping away his own sweat. Everyone was working hard and feeling tired, but because of the daytime hustle and bustle, many people didn't think about going out to have fun until evening. After being exhausted like a dog all day, they wanted to spend money to enjoy some luxury in the evening.

  Time is almost up, there's still an hour before the end of work, Wang Yaowu has to go back and sign one last thing, only then can a day's work come to an end. Actually just now Wang Yaowu was thinking about something, that is how many more Communist Party internal traitors Shi Anguo had in his hands, last time one was finished off, but Shi Anguo didn't care much, that means the one who died wasn't the most important one, Shi Anguo still has a line.

  "Cigarettes for sale, cigarettes for sale!" Wang Yaowu's car had driven halfway when he saw a little boy selling cigarettes by the side of the road. He immediately stopped his car.

  "Xiao Shan, how is it you?! Starting to sell cigarettes?" The one selling cigarettes was indeed Xiao Shan. Wang Ya Zu was somewhat surprised by this. In just a few days, Xiao Shan had transformed from a small beggar into a cigarette-selling urchin.

  "Mr. Wang, hello. Thank you, Mr. Wang, I used the money you gave me to find a job selling cigarettes." Xiaoshan seemed surprised to see Wang Yaowu and quickly put away some things while speaking.

  "Hey, Xiaoyan, you're not just selling ordinary cigarettes, are you? On the one hand, you're selling cigarettes, and on the other hand, you're selling opium. This kind of petty trick is really too common in Shanghai. Do you really want to continue like this?" Selling cigarettes as a cover for selling opium on the streets was something that lower-level members of the Green Gang often did. Without their own opium den, they could only let some small-time hoodlums sell on the street corners.

  "Mr. Wang, I'm just a small beggar with a sister and a group of brothers to support. I don't know how to do anything, so I couldn't become an apprentice who only eats two meals a day, or my sister and brothers would go hungry. I also can't borrow money from people on the street every day, I need a way to make a steady income, that's why I used the money Mr. Wang gave me to buy this position."

  Xiao Shan was a little scared, Wang Yaozu said that he was an official, and some officials hated those who sold opium. The big brother who let him sell opium also warned him to be careful of the police and some officials.

  "This is the path you've chosen, I don't want to say anything, just be careful. You have a sister and a group of brothers to take care of, if there's any trouble or news, come find me. Give me an American cigarette." Since they ran into each other, Wang Ya Zu decided to buy an American cigarette to bring back for the people in the stockroom to smoke. Everyone has their own path to choose from, if Little Shan is forced to walk the straight and narrow, his sister and group of brothers will all go hungry.

  "I'll be careful, Mr. Wang, this is the cigarette you wanted." Seeing that Wang Ya-zu not only didn't catch him but also asked him to buy foreign cigarettes, Xiao Shan was delighted. Gunsmoke Silently Volume 2 Chapter 2 ?? The Person Buying Medicine