Visiting Zhoupu Village 059

  The next day, Luo Yi got up very early and went downstairs to practice his fist. Since following Qin Feng to learn martial arts, Luo Yi's habit of sleeping in had changed a lot, and he would get up every morning to exercise, otherwise he would feel uncomfortable all over. It was strange to say that although he slept less, his spirit was much better than before.

  The hotel was built in the city, without a courtyard, and Luo Yi could only exercise in the small open space in front of the building. The hotel manager saw Luo Yi practicing boxing and came out to watch with great interest. When Luo Yi finished his routine, the manager clapped his hands and said: "Great! Mr. Luo is indeed a man of both literary and martial arts skills, really admirable!"

  Luo Yi walked over with a smile: "You're overpraising me, boss. This road boxing of mine is actually just for fitness, can't be considered as anything heroic."

  The manager said, "Although I am a scholar with no martial arts skills, having followed Old Du for so many years, I have seen some real kung fu. Mr. Luo's boxing technique, if used against an enemy, would be quite powerful."

  The two of them laughed for a while, and Luo Yi asked: "Boss, I want to go to Zhabei today to visit a friend. Do you know what the security situation is like there? Is it dangerous?"

  The manager thought for a moment and said: "This period of time, Zhabei is indeed not very peaceful. If you want to go, it's best to be more careful."

  "What's going on?"

  "The Japanese are making a ruckus there. Alas, after the 128 incident, the government doesn't dare to intervene either and can only let them do as they please. However, if you don't provoke them, it should be fine."

  Luo Yi said: "Alright, I understand. I'll be careful."

  Luo Yi went to Zhabei with the intention of taking Zhou Xiying back to his hometown. Zhou Xiying's family members were all killed by Japanese bombs during the January 28 Incident, and Luo Yi took him there also to pay his respects. Luo Yi brought Zhou Xiying out from the landlady's place, and also let Zhou Xiying's neighbors know, in case his relatives came looking for him later, at least they would know where he went. Zeng Shan heard that Luo Yi was going to Zhabei and wanted to follow along, but was stopped by Luo Yi. Luo Yi remembered what the manager had said about Zhabei being a place where Japanese soldiers were rampant, and was afraid it wouldn't be convenient to bring Zeng Shan along.

  After breakfast, Luo Yi drove with Zhou Xiying, Su Xiaofeng, Tu Jiu and a soldier named Cao Xianjin to Zhabei. Le Jialin took Yuan Jing, Zeng Shan and two other soldiers out to find a house for their future intelligence station.

  Zhou Xi only knew that his home was in a small village called Zhoupu, but he wasn't clear about the specific route. Luo Yi asked the hotel manager and roughly figured out the location of Zhoupu. The Zhabei area back then was not as prosperous as it is today, with many places still being vast farmlands, villages and other residential areas scattered among the fields, so the road wasn't hard to find. Luo Yi drove while asking for directions, after a while, Zhou Xi pointed at a cluster of houses in the distance and said: "I remember now, my home is that one, I recognize the big tree at the entrance of the village."

  Luo Yi drove in the direction that Zhou Xi pointed to, and when he was about to reach the outskirts of the village, a policeman wearing a big hat and riding a bicycle came towards him. He looked like he was over 40 years old. Due to the narrow road, he got off his bike and leaned against the side of the road to let Luo Yi's car pass. Just as the car and the policeman passed each other, Zhou Xi, who was sitting in the passenger seat, stuck her head out of the window and shouted: "Uncle He!"

  The policeman was stunned, looked up at the young man in the car, and couldn't recognize who it was for a moment. Luo Yi heard Zhou Xi's shout and knew he had seen an acquaintance, so he quickly stepped on the brakes. Zhou Xi opened the door and jumped out, grabbing the policeman's hand and shouting: "Uncle He, you don't recognize me? I'm Xi'ao!"

  "Xì yā?" The police officer rubbed his eyes in disbelief, carefully shining a light on Zhou Xìyā, and exclaimed with joy: "Xìyā, you're not dead! How did you grow so tall?"

  The policeman, He Qi-han, was in charge of this area and was also a local. He had been good friends with Zhou Xi-yao's father. When Zhou Xi-yao escaped from Shanghai during the war, he was only 10 years old. Three years had passed since then, and Zhou Xi-yao had grown from a naive child into a clever young man, so it was no wonder that He Qi-han couldn't recognize him at first.

  Luo Yi also got off the car and came to He Qi Han's face, waving at him: "Hello, may I ask if you are a friend of Zhou Xi... family? My name is Luo Jiu, from Jiangxi, Shanghai for business." He didn't know much about his opponent, so he didn't want to reveal his real name. Seeing Tu Jiu following behind him, he quickly came up with a fake name, Luo Jiu.

  "Oh, Mr. Luo is good. My name is He Qihuan, and I am the police officer in charge of this area. When Xiao's father was around, we had a very good relationship." He Qihuan also didn't know Luo Yi's background, so he simply introduced himself.

  "Uncle He, Mr. Luo is my boss, he wants to take me to Jiangxi to study," said Zhou Xiying.

  He Qi Han nodded at Luo Yi: "Is that so? Then thank you, Mr. Luo, for taking care of Xiao Xia's family. They're all gone... Where are you guys going?"

  "I'll take Xiao Xi back home for a visit, say hello to the old neighbors, and also go pay respects at his parents' graves."

  He Qihuan turned around and looked at Zhoupu Village, saying: "You'd better not go there, something might happen in Zhoupu Village. I'm on my way to the police station to report it now."

  "What's wrong?" asked Luo Yi and Zhou Xiying in unison.

  "Alas, don't mention it. The Japanese... ah, no, the Japanese want to requisition Zhoupu Village's land and have all the villagers move away. The villagers are unwilling to move, and now both sides are confronting each other. If things go wrong, there might be loss of life." He Huihan said. When he mentioned "Japanese devils", he subconsciously changed his words, apparently because he was unclear about Luo Yi's background. Now in Shanghai, some people have already defected to the Japanese side, and if one carelessly utters the two characters for "Japanese devils" in front of these people, it will stir up trouble.

  "Ah?" Luo Yi exclaimed, "They dare to be so rampant now? Then Officer He, you hurry back to the police station to report the news, we'll go take a look first."

  Luo Yi stopped the car outside Zhoupu Village and heard the commotion in the village from a distance. He instructed Su Xiaofeng and others to prepare for battle, and then circled around to enter the village from another side. He took Zhou Xi directly to where the noise was loudest.

  In the empty space of a village, two groups of people were confronting each other, with one man at the head of each group. On one side was a 50-year-old worker-looking man who was obviously a resident of the village, with about 100 villagers standing behind him. The other person was in his 30s, wearing a black velvet jacket and carrying a shotgun on his back, presumably a local thug. About ten or so steps behind the velvet-clad man stood seven or eight people wearing khaki uniforms, one of whom appeared to be an officer with a handgun on his back, while the others held rifles in their hands. Luo Yi immediately recognized that the guns they were holding were Type 38 Arisakas.

  "Opposite us are Japanese people." Luo Yi said to Zhou Xi'ao, "Do you know this person?"

  "This person over here is Lin Bo Bo, his name is Lin Xiangxin, he works in the factory. In the village, everyone respects him."

  Luo Yi pulled Zhou Xi to the middle of the villagers, listening to Lin Xiangxin's conversation with the man in front of him. He opened the breech of his shotgun and hid it in his arms, ready to react quickly in case of an emergency.

  "We have lived here for decades, why should we move out just because the Japanese came? There are so many of us, where do you want us to go?" Lin Xiangxin said loudly.

  The Fu uniformed man said: "Where you move to, I don't care. The Great Japanese Imperial Army has decided that this place will be used to build a military base and the village will be demolished. Two silver dollars are given to each household as moving expenses, aren't you satisfied?"

  Lin Xiangxin said: "What kind of king's law is this? Two hundred yuan, can't even rent a small attic room, how dare you say such things."

  A man in a mandarin gown said viciously: "What imperial law? In this territory, the first is what the Great Japanese Imperial Army says, and the second is what our Boss Ma says. If you want to talk about imperial law, from now on, the words of the Japanese are the imperial law."

  Lin Xiangxin sternly said to the official-looking man: "You want us to move, it's not that easy. We're not moving today, see what you can do about it."

  The villagers all shouted in unison: "Right, we won't move!"

  The man in the Chinese tunic turned around and glanced at the Japanese soldiers behind him, and the leading Japanese officer waved his hand at him before walking forward to speak to Lin Xiangxin in Japanese. The man in the Chinese tunic first bowed to the Japanese officer, then turned around and shouted to the villagers: "Mr. Matsumoto said that they are building a military base here to build the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and protect everyone's safety, please cooperate."

  Lin Xiangxin cursed and said: "You're talking nonsense, are you still Chinese? Helping the Japanese do things, aren't you afraid of your ancestors being ridiculed?"

  The young man in the official uniform cursed: "You old thing, don't give face and don't want face."

  Matsumoto heard the two men scolding each other, saw Lin Xiangxin's expression, and frowned. He pulled out a pistol from his holster, fired a shot at Lin Xiangxin's feet with a "bang", then cursed and glared at Lin Xiangxin with a threatening gaze.

  The villagers were frightened by the gunfire, and no one dared to speak again. Lin Xiangxin was also startled at first, he lowered his head to take a look, only to see that his calf had been grazed by a bullet and was bleeding profusely. He looked up at Song Ben, with anger burning in his eyes.

  Matsumoto said something to the official with a dark face, and the official puffed out his chest and said to the crowd: "Lord Matsumoto has spoken. You have ten minutes to gather your belongings and leave this place. Otherwise, you will be killed without mercy."

  Lin Xiangxin was a stubborn man, hearing this naked threat, he patted his chest and said: "Want to scare people? Come on, let him hit me."

  Matsumoto guessed Lin Xiangxin's meaning and scolded "Bah", raised his pistol and aimed at Lin Xiangxin's chest.