Chapter 3, Mitsui Bussan

  The Central Plains have been plagued by warlords fighting each other for years, and the common people are already accustomed to the appearance of troops and do not think it strange.

  The Chinese army of this era can be said to be the most unique in the world, because the army does not belong to national defense construction, but is a private property of those local lords.

  A country without defense, every time he thinks of this, Li Ruofeng will feel heartbroken and head-aching, at the same time, he also feels deeply sad for the soldiers in his own country.

  Judging from the two rows of soldiers standing upright on the platform, equipped with uniform American-made "Thompson" submachine guns, Li Ruofeng thought that these regular troops did not seem to be a field combat unit, but rather a guard unit for some military big shot.

  Judging from this situation, it is likely that some high-ranking and powerful figure was on the same train as Li Ruofeng.

  As expected, the passengers in other carriages were stopped by soldiers on the platform and temporarily could not get off. Only the carriage in front of Li Ruofeng came down with a lieutenant colonel officer, who talked to another major officer walking towards him on the platform for a few words, then observed around and returned to the door of that carriage.

  At this time, a bald old man with a civilized cane, wearing a dark red satin long gown and a horse jacket, slowly got off the bus, expressionless, looking around as if he had made a show of himself. Suddenly his face changed, filled with smiles, as if supporting his mother, he helped a beautifully dressed woman down from the bus, swaggering towards the exit.

  Until those two Ford cars drove out of the station, the soldiers on the platform were in a loud command, forming a neat formation, and quickly leaving the station.

  Li Ruofeng gazed out the window at the disappearing soldiers, shook his head with a bitter smile, picked up his brown leather suitcase from the luggage rack, opened the door and prepared to get off.

  There were already a few passengers on the aisle of the carriage, whispering to each other while slowly moving towards the door.

  What surprised Li Ruofeng but didn't feel strange was that he saw Ma Jun and his companions at the car door.

  "Heh heh, the two of you seem to be waiting for me on purpose?" Li Ruofeng smiled and greeted the two National Government agents in a very friendly manner.

  "We have our orders from above, and we lowly servants dare not disobey. I hope Mr. Li will understand and forgive us." Ma Jun's face was thick-skinned with a flattering smile as he tried to get close to Li Ruofeng, "Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do, just go ahead and take care of it, consider us as air, non-existent."

  Don't hit a smiling face, Ma Jun made this rogue move, and Li Ruofeng was really at a loss for a while.

  "Is Mr. Ma familiar with the city of Beiping?" Li Ruofeng asked after a moment's thought.

  "Not very familiar, but we have a geography expert. Are you looking for someone or somewhere?" Ma Jun stepped aside to let Li Ruofeng get off the train first, then followed closely behind him, asking as they walked on the platform.

  "Four-way business district, do you know how to get there?" Li Ruofeng said calmly while walking.

  "Of course I know, who wouldn't know a place as famous as the Sitong Trading Company?" Ma Jun fell back behind Li Ruofeng by a step, and said with a smile: "The boss of the Sitong Trading Company, Li Chengxiao, is a big shot in Beiping. Mr. Li, you and Boss Li..."

  "That's my fourth uncle." Li Ruofeng smiled calmly: "However, I've never been to Beiping before, and it's been many years since I last saw my fourth uncle. Since your superior asked you to keep an eye on me, would you mind showing me the way?"

  "Not at all, not at all, it's our honor." Ma Jun didn't have the slightest bit of arrogance that was typical of Zhongtong agents, on the contrary, he had a somewhat fawning tone.

  Someone who can work in the Zhongtong organization and has followed an important figure from Japan's intelligence agency all the way from Shanghai to Tianjin, of course, is not a nobody. People like Ma Jun have sharp eyes, they know who can be offended and who cannot be offended. Towards Li Ruofeng, who even the big shots in Japan's Tokko department treat with great respect, Ma Jun may be stupid but he knows this is someone with a lot of backing.

  In this era, Japanese people in mainland China were the masters who walked sideways. The President of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek, showed courtesy to the Japanese, not to mention these small roles in their system.

  Under Ma Jun's enthusiastic invitation, the three of them took three rickshaws, with Ma Jun leading the way in front, Li Ruofeng following in the middle, and Ma Jun's companion bringing up the rear. They soon disappeared into the throngs of people on the station streets.

  Nor did they notice that about thirty meters away from their convoy, another yellow car was following them at a distance.

  Late spring in Beijing still carries a hint of chill, despite the successive wars and changes in ownership, the prosperity of Beijing remains unaffected.

  Situated near Xuanwumen, the Sicheng Commercial Building has a south-facing north-oriented gate, with two stories high and vermilion-painted doors under which there are three-tiered steps flanked by a pair of stone lions on each side, giving off an air of grandeur.

  In front of the gate, a parking lot covering an area of about one mu was filled with all sorts of goods and vehicles coming in and out through the side door. The spacious and open corridor under the gate was bustling with people coming and going, showing a thriving business.

  After arriving at the end of the street, Ma Jun and his companions didn't entangle with Li Ruofeng much anymore. Apparently, neither of them planned to leave just yet. Instead, they bid farewell to Li Ruofeng and went to a teahouse at the entrance of an alley opposite the business firm, where they ordered a pot of tea and some snacks, sat down to eat while chatting and looking around.

  Li Ruofeng apparently didn't care about the two men's movements, carrying his luggage and stopping briefly in front of the commercial building, looking around before walking inside.

  Inside the porch, in front of the counter, two sturdy men with short hair and dressed in black clothes and pants sat beside an octagonal table. They were drinking wine and eating melon seeds while chatting idly, but their bright eyes kept scanning the guests coming and going inside the guild from time to time.

  Li Ruofeng's sudden appearance made the two burly men jump up in unison, their eyes filled with an inner excitement, as they rushed out and shouted:

  Young Master!

  Li Ruofeng sized up the two burly men in front of him, smiling and nodding in approval. "Biaozi, Situ Hu, you two seem to be living a pretty good life!"

  The bald-headed man on the left rushed to Li Ruofeng's side, just as he was about to take the luggage from Li Ruofeng's hand, but unexpectedly his companion took a step ahead and grabbed the suitcase with both hands. However, he clearly didn't want to fall behind, so his two large hands also grasped the suitcase firmly at the same time.

  "Fourth Tiger, you damn well better not compete with me!" The bald-headed big man roared at his companion with a pair of furious eyes.

  "Haha, Biaozi, I'm going to compete with you, what's up?" said the big guy with a shaved head and a dark face, not willing to show weakness.

  Looking at these two childhood friends who had trained together and finally survived, Li Ruofeng felt a warmth in his heart.

  "Alright, alright, you two are still the same as before. You're both over twenty years old and yet you're still like those two foolish kids who refuse to give in to each other. Biaozi, is my fourth uncle around?" Li Ruofeng smiled and gestured for Biaozi to step aside.

  Biaozi glared at Situ Hu fiercely, then handed the suitcase to him and hastily replied: "The boss is not here right now, he has a dinner engagement at the municipal government today. I'll have someone notify the boss immediately."

  "Now that I'm back, there's no rush for the time being." Li Ruofeng shook his head and smiled, "What are you still standing there like a fool for? You're affecting people's business. Hurry up and take me to get a room, I've been on boats and trains all along the way, I need to have a good soak in the bath."

  "Alright! Young master, I'll go find someone for you right away." Biaozi said as he hastily walked towards the inner quarters.

  Si Hu glanced unintentionally outside and suddenly frowned, lowering his voice: "Young Master, it seems like there's a tail outside. Do you want to..."

  "It's not necessary for now, just find someone to keep an eye on it." Li Ruofeng waved his hand, "There are those from the National Government and also those from Little Japan, I don't want to turn against them yet."

  Although many people in the business saw this scene, it was clear that except for Biaozi and Sihou, including the partners inside the counter, no one knew what Li Ruofeng's background was. However, the partners obviously all saw the kind of heartfelt respect that usually fearless and reckless Biaozi and Sihou had for Li Ruofeng, they were naturally not willing to be slow.

  This is not the case. All the way here, the guys followed Biaozi and Sihutoumen to greet Li Ruofeng, one by one nodding their heads and bowing to show respect.

  The Sichuan Business Firm has a considerable scale of storefronts along the street, and the entire area is also very large. The four-entry courtyard, together with the garden behind it, covers an area of over 10 mu (about 6.67 hectares).

  On the left side of the Three Advances Institute, there is a martial arts arena paved with bluestone slabs. Alongside it are various equipment such as swords, spears, clubs, stone weights and stone locks. More than ten muscular men with bare arms were practicing intensely together.

  Biaozi was standing at the side of the court, and he didn't know if the arrangement he had made earlier was in place.

  The big Han in the field seemed to ignore Li Ruofeng, who was walking with a majestic gait, and instead addressed the four tigers following behind him as "Tiger Brothers" with great respect.

  "A bunch of fools!" Biaozi cursed at the crowd: "Don't you all come over to pay respects to Young Master?"

  "Have met the young master, the young master is good!" Although everyone didn't know what this never-before-seen third young master was about, since Biaozi had spoken, who dared not obey.

  Li Ruofeng expressionlessly waved his hand and carefully sized up the sixteen men, all of whom were over 1.8 meters tall and weighed at least 170 kilograms.