The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 152 Everyone's here, let's catch the bad guys (Seeking monthly votes)

It was not advisable to go out on the eve of the Lunar New Year in 1978.

The snowflakes fell silently; the wind was light, so it wasn't too cold.

But it's warmer inside now.

Moreover, on this day, regardless of whether the people of Haibin City are rich or poor, they will steam a soft, sweet, and fragrant rice cake to eat in the evening.

In comparison, going out is quite a ordeal.

Qian Jin had no choice but to go out; he was to meet with Xia Shan Hu and his group that night, and it would be a meeting at sea.

Just thinking about the suggestion he himself made back then makes him feel a sharp, unpleasant ache, like his balls are frozen.

However, the four tigers coming down the mountain will be in even more pain.

After all, he ate a large steamed bun with pure meat filling for lunch and hot rice cakes for dinner.

With hot food in their stomachs, wearing cotton clothes and gloves, and self-heating insoles in their shoes, they were much more resistant to the cold than the four people.

However, he is now in a dangerous situation.

Therefore, he had to bring Zhang Aijun with him.

But he was going to meet the four men wearing a leather hood, and he couldn't let Zhang Aijun know what he looked like.

So, just like when he met Jia Youcheng in the air-raid shelter last time, he issued instructions to Zhang Aijun:
"You hide behind Niangniang Reef in Chengtuo Bay, Houhai. Take this walkie-talkie with you. A bald man will contact you later, and you have to follow his instructions."

Zhang Aijun has extremely strong execution skills, but his mind is not very clever; in short, he doesn't have much critical thinking ability.

So when Qian Jin gave the order, he nodded and agreed: "Okay."

"Take this gun. If necessary, and that bald guy asks you to fire a cover shot or kill the enemy, don't hesitate. Anyway, no one can hold you accountable afterward." Qian Jin tossed him a Colt.

Zhang Aijun remained unchanged, nonchalantly putting away his gun and nodding again: "Okay."

Qian Jin went to Houhai first, found a secluded spot, took out the No. 4 gold box, and bought a large package.

Inflatable raft.

He bought a thickened double-person inflatable raft with an electric accumulator pump for a bargain price of just over 500 yuan.

With the big gold box, purchasing supplies became much easier.

The inflatable rafts weren't expensive, but he couldn't afford them before because the cargo was too big. Now, even his gold chest, which was 1.1 meters on each side, could barely fit the cargo.

The main issue is that the packaging of this item is not a cube, but a cuboid.

After taking out the packaging box and putting away the large gold box, Qian Jin began to inflate the air using the accumulator pump.

With a hissing sound, a raft took shape.

Qian Jin also wanted to buy an electric motor.

This size is too big.

The main unit of the electric motor is less than half a meter in length, width and height, but it needs a auger. He looked at several companies and they all had one and a half meters of augers, so he simply gave up looking for the goods and decided to manually row to propel it later.

Anyway, he used to be a lifeguard in the park lake, where he received training in driving kayaks.

The snowflakes were still falling, the wind was light, and Houhai Lake was relatively calm.

This is the sea area north of Haibin City. It is a large bay, but the catch is small and the waves are very small.

Another place Qian Jin chose was called Chengtuo Bay, a small bay nestled within a large bay.

This area is surrounded by dikes or land on three sides, so the wind can't get in, and the sea is especially calm. Fishermen used to think that there was a "sea weight" underneath suppressing the wind and waves, so they named it Weight Bay.

Behind Chengtuo Bay are large areas of tenement buildings, where there are quite a few residents.

In the windows of countless homes, warm lights shone. Qian Jin sat in his raft watching this scene, feeling as if he were seeing happy families everywhere.

The years are quiet.

To paraphrase a popular internet saying from the next twenty years: There is no such thing as a peaceful life; it's just that someone is bearing the burden.

Qian Jin is now carrying a heavy burden.

The snow fell heavily, and large snowflakes fell onto the sea and melted, making the entire Houhai seem to be shrouded in a thick white fog.

In the distance, fishing boats shone with dim yellow lights, their halos tinged with fluffy fuzz by the snowflakes.

Qian Jin sat in the kayak, gripping the assembled rubber oars with both hands and paddling hard, each stroke creating tiny splashes on the dark sea.

Everyone says that it's not cold when it snows, but it's cold when the snow melts. However, it's cold at any time in December by the sea.

The salty sea breeze carried a biting chill, stinging his face like a knife.

However, rowing is physically demanding, and as he rowed with a groan, his body quickly warmed up.

It's already past 9:50, very close to the agreed time.

"Don't let those bastards stand us up," Qian Jin muttered under his breath, turning up the collar of his army green cotton-padded jacket even higher.

This is a genuine military cotton-padded jacket, which he snatched from Xu Weidong. He doesn't know how many years it has been worn, but the cuffs are all frayed.

But it is still very warm on cold nights when the temperature is below minus ten degrees Celsius.

The kayak glided slowly through the shallow waters of the back bay, and a few scattered lights of the harbor appeared in the distance.

Qian Jin pulled out half a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his pocket, lit one in his mouth, and put it in his mouth.

He doesn't smoke.

But what bandit doesn't smoke?

So he just goes through the motions. Surely no one will actually observe closely whether he inhales the smoke, right?

"Splash..." An irregular sound of water came from afar.

Qian Jin immediately took two deep drags on his cigarette, trying to make the cigarette butt as bright as possible.

As a result, the sound of the sea disappeared.

He wondered if it wasn't those four idiots who had arrived.
So he turned on the flashlight, shone it around, and then quickly turned it off.

There was still no movement nearby, but a flashlight beam appeared quite far away.

Three shallow, one deep; three short, one long.

Qian Jin rowed over with renewed vigor, squinting to see carefully, and finally spotted a small sampan wobbling toward him in the dim light.

Four dark figures were crammed onto the sampan, one of whom, a particularly burly man, was rowing vigorously, while the other three huddled on the deck, shivering.

"Brother, you're punctual." A hoarse voice pierced the darkness, and Xia Shanhu suddenly stood up.

He probably wanted to project a powerful and imposing image, so he stood up quickly and in a very fierce posture.

But they are no longer on land; they are on a dilapidated sampan!

What is a sampan?

To put it simply, this thing is three wooden planks glued together: one flat plank is the bottom of the boat, and the two curved planks standing on the side are the gunwales.

Its stability was very poor, especially since all four of them were from the Central Plains and were not good at working on water. When the tiger suddenly stood up, the entire sampan rocked violently.

Terrified screams erupted from the boat, among which Qian Jin recognized the most agonizing scream from the skinny man.

Qian Jin knew that the four men were not good at water combat, so his expression was quite complicated.

These four are counterfeit goods.

This morning's boasting and showing off really intimidated him. If he had known the four were smugglers, he would have simply ordered his men to ambush them at sea and capture them.

The main reason was that Qian Jin didn't expect these four people to be so incompetent.

He breathed a sigh of relief after learning from Cheng Hua that there were four robbers, knowing that he was not facing a large group of people, but just the four opponents, Xia Shan Hu.

But he thought the four of them wouldn't all be at sea tonight. Maybe two or three people would come, but at least one of them would stay behind to keep watch. It's impossible for all four of them to come to sea together.

However, he overestimated the number of people.

They all ran out to sea together!
This gave him the opportunity to wipe them all out, but unfortunately, he was a novice and hadn't prepared a contingency plan, so he couldn't seize the opportunity.

These thoughts flashed through his mind quickly, and he temporarily abandoned his random thoughts to focus on concentrating.

"Brother Tiger, over here!" Qian Jin called out in a low voice, while simultaneously flashing a signal with his flashlight, making three shallow and one deep motions.

The tiger descending the mountain behaved very professionally.

He didn't rush over. He first looked around cautiously, and only after confirming that there was nothing unusual did he wave his hand and direct the short, stocky veteran to row the boat slowly closer.

The short, stocky veteran wasn't very good at rowing either, and he made the small sampan wobble and sway.

Qian Jin went to great lengths to suppress his urge to ram their sampan and capture them underwater.

When the two boats came together, Qian Jin saw the four people on board:
Xia Shanhu was wearing a dirty military overcoat and had a domineering look on his face.

The pole was as thin as a bamboo stick, and he carried a hunting rifle on his back.

The scholar, wearing glasses with one leg missing, was constantly rubbing his hands; the remaining veteran was panting heavily.

"Brother Qian, you certainly know how to pick a spot in this freezing weather." Xia Shanhu's tone was not very friendly.

This is understandable.

As Qian Jin got closer, he noticed that Xia Shan Hu had overdone it, causing seawater to flood into the boat, and their shoes and pants were already wet.

In temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius, this is going to be a nightmare.

Upon seeing this, Qian Jin grinned, a delighted smile.

He couldn't help but be unhappy.

Look at how pathetic the other person looks, and then think about your own situation:
He wore a military overcoat on the outside, cashmere thermal underwear on the inside, self-heating patches on his body, and self-heating insoles in his cotton shoes.

He was wearing a cotton hat and leather gloves.

He doesn't care whether others are cold or not, because he's not cold.

In comparison, he is very happy.

Whether it was because Ganzi had a problem with him or because he was very observant, he immediately shouted when he saw Ganzi smile, "What are you laughing at? Are you deliberately trying to mess with us?"

Qian Jin was displeased: "Who's been bothering you? Did I force you to come here?"

"Brother Tiger, let's be honest, this place is flat on all sides, so there's no way anyone could set up an ambush or trap."

Tiger Descending the Mountain laughed and said, "That's the truth."

The scholar comforted Ganzi, "Forget it, safety comes first. Let him suffer. Once we've successfully robbed the city's supply and marketing cooperative's treasury, we can enjoy ourselves however we want."

Qian Jin reached under the seat to feel for something.

Ganzi immediately gripped the shotgun, and the veteran also placed his hand on his waist.

It's a pistol!
Qian Jin sneered, pulled out a military water bottle, and shook it: "What? Do you think I'll pull out a gun and shoot you every time I see you?"

"I'm fucking speechless. Tiger, I'm not trying to cause trouble, but you be the judge. What's wrong with your men?"

The pole was speechless for a moment.

Xia Shanhu turned around and gave him a stern look, then smiled broadly: "Just like you said, it's better to be safe than sorry. My brother is a cautious person."

"Being cautious is a good thing." Qian Jin unscrewed the cap and shook it, letting out a clear liquid. A sea breeze blew, and the smell of alcohol was pungent. "Brother Tiger, want to have a drink to warm up?"

The four looked at each other, and none of them reached out.

Ganzi said in a sinister tone, "Buddy, it's a rule in the underworld that you can't drink with strangers. Don't you understand that?"

"Hahaha!" Qian Jin laughed three times, unscrewed the lid of the pot, tilted his head back and took a big gulp, the spicy wine burning down his throat and into his stomach.

"We're still strangers!" He tossed the water bottle onto the sampan. "Drink it or don't, I'll freeze to death if I want!"

After saying that, he rowed the boat to shore.

The scholar picked up the kettle, smelled it, and then handed it to the tiger descending the mountain.

Seeing that Qian Jin remained unfazed after drinking, Xia Shanhu took the water jug ​​and gulped down a mouthful: "Don't let your brother feel disheartened. This is a good thing he prepared for us to ward off the cold."

The scholar took it and drank a mouthful, then choked and coughed: "Damn! Is this some kind of alcohol?"

"65-proof liquor, specially for men." Qian Jin pulled out a folded map from his pocket. "A topographical map of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. The finance office is on the second floor, west side."

Upon hearing this, Xia Shanhu smiled and said, "Awesome! I knew I hadn't chosen the wrong person!"

"But what about your scout brother from yesterday?"

Qian Jin said, "Whether you believe it or not, I don't know him. I only spoke to him because we were doing business."

"Damn it!" Upon hearing this, the man instinctively smashed the wine jug. "Isn't that one of your men? Damn it!"

"He knows our plan! If he calls the police, we're all finished!"

The tiger descending the mountain was also a little flustered, but he stretched out his hand and shouted, "Don't panic, don't panic!"

Qian Jin said, "First of all, you came up with that plan yourselves; I didn't force you to say it."

"Secondly, that guy was exchanging things for the family of a deceased comrade, so he usually wouldn't cause any trouble."

"Third, what are you afraid of? Have we already started targeting the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives? Are we forced to carry out this plan?"

"Fourth, there's no such thing as a thousand days of guarding against thieves, only a thousand days of thievery. Let's gather information first before making our next plan."

"The key point is not what plans we already have, but what plans we can come up with next. There are other places in Haibin City that we can rob, such as the Supply and Marketing Cooperative!"

The scholar nodded: "That makes sense."

After pondering for a while, Tiger Descending the Mountain said, "Hmm, this brother is right. The key is that our team has grown stronger. As long as we are strong enough, why should we be afraid of not having good things to eat?"

That's what he said, but he was very cautious: "We're changing places. We won't be staying in Kujo Isok anymore!"

Upon hearing this, Qian Jin was secretly delighted.

But his face remained calm: "Most importantly, gentlemen, aren't you curious about where I got this Browning high-powered pistol?"

"And aren't you curious where this kayak I'm using now came from?"

Tiger immediately said, "Of course I'm curious, but we've just started working together, and I think we must all have secrets. So let's find common ground and keep our secrets to ourselves."

Qian Jin said, "Let's get ashore first. I have something to tell you once we're ashore."

"Can't we talk about this here?" Ganzi asked warily.

Qian Jin countered, "Aren't you afraid of the cold?"

Before Ganzi could speak, Xiashanhu waved his hand and said thoughtfully, "Then let's find a place to get ashore."

Qian Jin said, "Okay, I'll go with you."

The small sampans were the first to set sail.

The flashlight in the scholar's hand flashed a few times.

Upon seeing this, Qian Jin's mind immediately went on high alert.

Is this a signal?

So--

Is this criminal gang composed of more than four people?

He looked at the sea and the land, but unfortunately it was dark and the snow was heavy, so he didn't find anything.

The two small boats rocked erratically along the shore until Tiger couldn't take the rocking anymore and found a random spot to dock and disembark.

Their sampan was stolen; they can simply be abandoned.

Qian Jin then had to pack up the raft, deflate it, fold it up, and stuff it into his handbag.

The four men, including Xia Shanhu, looked on with envy: "It's a good thing."

Qian Jin said, "It was obtained from foreigners. There's a ghost market in Jiagang, Haibin City, sometimes. Have you heard of people breaking into ghost markets?"

Tiger Descending the Mountain said vaguely, "We just arrived and don't know much yet. We went to the black market yesterday to learn about the underground situation here."

Qian Jin explained the situation of venturing into the ghost market to them, and then handed a photo to the four of them.

The four men took one look and immediately exclaimed, "Holy crap!"

"My dear mother!"

"Is this...is this for real?!"

The photo shows a pile of weapons!
Pistols, rifles, submachine guns, and even grenades and hand grenades.

The veteran was particularly shocked, pointing to the green box and saying, "This is a military radio, it's definitely a military radio!"

"US military bulletproof helmets and body armor, damn, and they even have mortars!"

Tiger Descending the Mountain stared wide-eyed at Qian Jin: "Brother, what's going on?"

Qian Jin said, "What else could it be? I'm not in Jia Port for the black market, I'm here for these things."

"You can inquire around. Last month, some foreign devils came ashore and organized a ghost market. Someone asked them to smuggle a batch of weapons and hid them in Jia Port. I want to get my hands on them."

"Leaving aside how much stuff we can rob with these guys, just look at their intrinsic value. Getting them would be far better than robbing the supply and marketing cooperative."

The veteran nodded: "It is indeed very valuable."

The secret passage wasn't very big; it contained toys worth less than 500 yuan.

He bought toys from the mall and took pictures.

Just to fool these people.

After their initial shock, the four robbers looked at Qian Jin with awe.

So this is the real eldest brother!
Qian Jin said, "These guys are hiding in the Jiagang general merchandise area. I've been looking for them but haven't found them. Now I've just narrowed it down to one area."

"There are still five warehouses to search, but I'm confident that this group of guys is in one of them!"

The tiger looked up at him and said, "Find these guys first!"

Qian Jin nodded: "Yes, this is more important than money. This is something that no amount of money can buy."

"With this group of guys, we won't be messing around here anymore. We don't have much money and it's easy to provoke the army."

“Let’s go to Hong Kong Island. Do you know Hong Kong Island? It’s a paradise for capitalists and a haven for gangsters. When we get there, we’ll take all this stuff and we can get Hong Kong dollars, gold, mansions, and foreign girls—what can’t we get!”

This time, Ganzi didn't dare to argue with him directly. Instead, he gave him a thumbs-up and exclaimed, "Brother, if you can really do that, then you are the best!"

Qian Jin said, "Man proposes, God disposes!"

"Come on, it's too cold now that it's snowing. Let's go to Jiagang to my old place to avoid the snow and get some food and drink."

"Tonight is the eve of the Lunar New Year, we can't just starve and eat in a blizzard, can we?"

Tiger Descending the Mountain asked cautiously, "Brother, what's your name? Could you tell me the story behind this batch of weapons?"

Qian Jin, now full of energy, began to recite the information he had fabricated during the day: "You can call me Law, that's my code name, or you can call me by my underworld name, Daniel Wu..."

“Daniel Wu?” Xia Shanhu frowned and thought for a moment, then realized he had never heard of the name before.

Qian Jin continued to tell the fabricated story.

He used a group of tomb raiders, the Mountain-Moving Taoists, and the Miami gang of American criminals as the main characters, and Jia Youcheng, a foreign broker, as a supporting character, and used the theme of exchanging antiques and cultural relics for weapons to create a simple but logical story.

The four men, including Xia Shanhu, had no doubts whatsoever.

They hadn't read many novels or watched many movies or TV series. Of course, this wasn't just the case for them; most ordinary people were like that, so they were easy to fool.

In particular, Qian Jin's naiveté and his flawless design of exchanging the Chinese antique for American weapons made the story seem perfect.

Entering Port Ajall is like entering his home stadium.

Qian Jin had already chosen a warehouse to settle in.

He pushed open the iron door of the small warehouse, the rusty hinges groaning shrilly.

The warehouse was filled with junk, and a small open space in the center had been cleared out, where a rickety table and a broken stove were placed.

The four men had been completely fooled by him, and despite their caution, they were willing to enter the warehouse.

The photos of weapons are too deceptive.

No matter how cunning they are, they would never have imagined that there would be such realistic-looking weapons and equipment toys.

Qian Jin entered the warehouse with the skylight and said:
"This place is safe. There are no windows around, and the door is sealed shut. It's safe to light a campfire or a stove inside, as people outside can't see any fire inside."

They lit the broken stove and the four of them hurriedly warmed themselves by the fire.

Qian Jin tossed the tin box to Xia Shan Hu: "Got it from the black market, brothers. Let's roast it over a fire and see how it is."

The can was opened, and the pink chunks of meat inside glistened in the firelight, their aroma immediately whetting everyone's appetite.

Ganzi swallowed hard: "Brother Falu has some wild ways to get his hands on meat these days. Anyone who can get their hands on meat is a big shot."

Qian Jin then took out other canned goods, including a can of braised pork. He opened the lid and sat on the stove. Soon, the aroma filled the small space.

The four men, including Xia Shanhu, sat around the floor of the old newspaper stall, their eyes fixed on the bubbling meat in the pot.

"Brother Law, which gang are you from?" The scholar pushed up his crooked glasses. "We've been in the underworld for a while, but we haven't heard of you before."

Qian Jin used a dagger to pick up a piece of meat and threw it into his mouth: "I don't work around here, I deal with foreigners."

Ganzi hurriedly grabbed the meat and ate it. After swallowing a piece of fatty pork belly, he smiled with satisfaction: "That's good." "Shh—" Qian Jin suddenly raised a finger, and the sound of a tree branch breaking came from outside.

All five of them reached for their waists at the same time, and the air in the room instantly froze. Xia Shanhu peered out through the crack in the door.

As the veteran stood up, he bent forward in a lunge position, placed his hands on his front leg with his fingers interlaced. The veteran took a step forward, and the veteran's strong arms propelled him up into the air.

The skylights were all quite large, and the poles were very thin; it was like a monkey crawling up them.

He returned quickly, laughing, "Damn it, a stray dog!"

The scholar turned his gaze away from Qian Jin.

Qian Jin felt a cold sweat on his back.

The scholar definitely had a gun; he was staring at me just now, his hand hidden behind his back the whole time!
With the threat removed, the four continued drinking and eating.

Qian Jin took out all the canned meat from his bag and distributed it to the four of them. The group ate the meat, drank the wine, and became happy, starting to call each other brothers and brag.

Feeling the atmosphere was just right, Qian Jin casually asked, "There are only four of you?"

Ganzi said, "Hehe, four people? And..."

"Pass me the wine jug," the scholar called out.

Ganzi handed him the wine jug, wiped his mouth, and said, "Aren't four people enough? How many more do you need?"

Qian Jin laughed and said, "That's enough."

Although the other party had always appeared in groups of four, and although Cheng Hua had also said that the robbery at the Quancheng meat processing plant involved four people, he felt that something was not right.

When they were rowing at sea, the scholar would occasionally turn on his flashlight and flash it.

Qian Jin believed that he was sending a signal to people.

However, no trace of this person has ever appeared.

Now, fueled by alcohol, he tested the pole, and both the pole and the scholar's reactions were a bit off.

He was a little worried; were there more than four of them?

Do your best to eliminate evil.

He has to wipe out these people in one fell swoop, otherwise, with his large family and business empire, he will easily become a target.

Fortunately, he made backup plans.

Now he has to rely on Zhang Aijun.

If these four people had accomplices, then based on the earlier deduction that the scholar was signaling with a flashlight, this person had been following them all along.

Zhang Aijun was also following him.

Qian Jin could only hope that Zhang Aijun could discover this person and control him.

All five of them slept here in the middle of the night.

Qian Jin wasn't cold, but the other four were so cold that they relied entirely on the stove to stay alive.

The next day at dawn, Qian Jin had run out of food, but they still needed to eat.

The four people were frozen overnight; they would have died if they hadn't eaten.

So when Qian Jin said he was going out to get food, the four of them hesitated and didn't want to let him leave, but they couldn't stop him.

Finally, Tiger Descending the Mountain gave the veteran a wink: "You can assist Brother Law."

The veteran nodded: "Okay, Tiger."

Qian Jin started getting ready, putting on a hat, scarf, and sunglasses, while also helping the veterans with their grooming.

"Hide your face well, try not to let anyone see what we look like, and don't let anyone associate us with our existence afterwards."

Tiger Down the Mountain couldn't help but nod: "Learn from Brother Law, that's what professionalism is all about."

After Qian Jin left with the veterans, he headed straight for Taishan Road and intercepted the mobile canteen that had just set off.

"Ten skewers of fish balls, ten skewers of tofu, ten skewers of dried tofu, ten skewers of cabbage, and ten skewers of potato slices. Put them in this lunchbox, and add extra soup. My brother hasn't had much of an appetite lately, so he wants something spicy to whet his appetite." He squeezed to the front and opened the lunchbox.

Upon hearing the voice, Zhu Tao instinctively looked up at him.

That voice sounds so familiar...

Looking at this person again, although sunglasses and a scarf covered their face, their build was all too familiar…

Qian Jin's heart was in his throat, fearing that Zhu Tao would subconsciously reveal his identity.

So when he spoke, he used his back to block the veteran's view, raised his hand to reveal the watch on his left wrist, shook his right hand vigorously, pointed behind him, and nodded to Zhu Tao.

Fortunately, Zhu Tao was quick-witted and immediately understood what he meant.

It's me, don't make a sound.

He said "okay" without responding, and quickly put the spicy hot pot into the lunchbox and ladled out the soup.

Business as usual.

Qian Jin handed the lunchbox to the veteran.

The veteran took it without thinking much.

but……

The broth in the hot pot is boiling, and the aluminum lunchbox is very thin, so in an instant the aluminum lunchbox becomes the same temperature as the boiling water.

Qian Jin was wearing gloves, while the veteran was empty-handed.

He took the aluminum lunchbox from Qian Jin and threw it away with a yell.

The aluminum lunchbox fell into the snow and scattered all over the ground.

Qian Jin got anxious upon seeing this: "You son of a bitch, hey!"

"How could you be so careless? Never mind, just pick it up quickly, it's all snow, it won't get dirty."

He then said to Zhu Tao, "Comrade, could you please add some more soup for us?"

Zhu Tao said, "Okay."

The veteran awkwardly bent down to pick up the fish balls and other dishes, while Qian Jin took the opportunity to put a handful of pills into the large iron ladle used for ladling soup.

The iron spoon was already full of boiling soup, and the pills slowly melted as they went in.

After the veterans collected all the dishes, Qian Jin took the aluminum lunchbox, filled it with soup mixed with pills, and finally handed over the money and tickets.

Zhu Tao noticed the writing on it and put it away separately.

Qian Jin took the veterans to the newly opened grain store and bought dried noodles, saying in a low voice:
"I'll make do with this during the day. This stuff is great for cooking noodles. I've had it a few times. It's spicy and appetizing."

The veteran nodded and agreed.

The two returned to Port A and quietly made their way back to the warehouse, avoiding the workers.

Qian Jin opened the lunchbox.

Ganzi sniffed: "What's this smell? It's quite unique."

Xia Shanhu and Xiucai were watching the demobilized soldiers.

The veteran nodded confidently to the two men and mouthed to them: No problem, everything is normal.

Qian Jin put the pot on to cook the noodles: "This is called Mala Tang. It's something a restaurant in Haibin City just came up with. You guys should try it. It's delicious in winter."

"I've heard of it," Xia Shanhu nodded. "We heard people mention it while we were eating, but their stall seems to be mobile? It must be hard to find, right?"

The scholar looked at Qian Jin.

Qian Jin explained, "Their restaurant is called a mobile canteen. They can move around at any intersection, so we have to block them when they leave early in the morning."

“I do this every time I want to eat it, so I can always get it.”

The veteran rushed down the mountain, and the tiger nodded.

That's how it is.

Tiger Descending the Mountain laughed, "Brother Law knows how to enjoy life."

Qian Jin said, "Brother Hu, you see, I'm younger than you this year, but I've come to realize that life is actually quite short. Sometimes I think it's just like sleeping."

"If you close your eyes and open them again, a day has passed. If you close your eyes and don't open them again, your life has passed."

"So live life to the fullest while you're alive. What is money? Money is a bastard. Life is the most important thing."

He took off his hat and scarf and went outside to dig in the snow.

The warehouse doors were tightly closed, and the light was very poor. It was still early, and the sun had just risen, so the sunlight couldn't shine directly down through the skylight.

So the warehouse was lit entirely by the fire in the stove, and the four men couldn't see the problem with the leather case.

After all, he only buys good products. For 27 years, male live streamers have been wearing these to impersonate beautiful women and trick top spenders into paying.

Qian Jin kept pouring snow into the iron pot to melt it into water.

Once the water boiled, he poured the hot pot, vegetables and broth, into it, then took out a can and opened it: "This is the last one, chicken soup can, also from foreigners."

The chicken broth was poured into the pot, and its rich aroma was mouthwatering.

The scholar picked up the discarded canned food box and examined it closely.

It was all in English, which he couldn't understand, but he nodded seriously: "So it's something from the British."

The fire in the stove was blazing, and the noodles were cooked quickly.

Qian Jin put the lid on the pot and said, "Let it simmer for a while to let the broth soak in. You can eat it later, it will be absolutely delicious."

The four of them perked up and prepared to eat.

The aroma of chicken soup and the spiciness of mala tang were incredibly tempting, especially since the four of them were starving.

Qian Jin was the only one with lunchboxes, so he picked out some noodles for himself and made room for the four of them to eat directly around the pot: "You're all brothers, you don't have to look down on each other, do you?"

Tiger Descending the Mountain laughed heartily: "Why would we complain about our own brothers?"

Ganzi said anxiously, "Brother Hu, I'll eat first. I'm starving."

The noodles are topped with golden chicken fat, and the white noodles are covered with bits of red chili pepper skin. Fish balls and tofu are mixed in, along with vegetables such as cabbage and potatoes.

Tiger was initially wary of the pot of food, but after taking a bite, he couldn't resist and pushed past the scholar to join the army scrambling for it.

Qian Jin laughed and said, "How is it? Delicious, isn't it?"

"It's really delicious!" Ganzi raised his hand and gave a thumbs up without turning his head.

A pot of noodles, with vegetables and soup.

The four of them cleaned it up thoroughly.

Finally, they wiped their mouths, their faces full of satisfaction.

Ganzi lay on the burlap sack and sighed, "Brother Hu, from now on we have to eat this spicy hot pot every meal."

The scholar belatedly realized, "Why does this thing taste a bit bitter?"

Qian Jin said, "It probably contains poppy shells, and I also feel that it tastes a bit bitter after eating it."

"Here, have a sip of wine to calm your taste buds."

Ganzi got angry upon hearing this: "What? They added poppy seeds to it, that stuff isn't..."

"Don't be so alarmed." Xia Shanhu rolled his eyes at him. "This stuff is used as a seasoning all the time. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Ganzi chuckled, "That's true, hehe, Tiger's family used to run a spicy soup restaurant."

Tiger Descending the Mountain clasped his hands in greeting to Qian Jin: "Brother, please excuse my earlier behavior. We brothers were really hungry and ate quite a lot, so we didn't leave you any."

Qian Jin waved his hand: "That one box is enough for me. I don't have any work during the day, so it's okay to eat a little less."

"I need to eat a good dinner. Starting tonight, the five of us will split into five groups and search five warehouses simultaneously, trying our best to find those guys!"

All four agreed.

Qian Jin closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, glancing at his watch every now and then.

This noodle soup is really delicious.

When Qian Jin bought the mala tang (a type of spicy hot pot), he added a handful of senna leaf powder tablets to it.

As is well known, senna leaves are a famous laxative, and are usually used by steeping them in water.

Qian Jin bought senna leaf powder, compressed it into tablets, and threw it into the soup, which the four of them then finished.

In addition, he bought veterinary-grade senna leaf powder tablets...

It doesn't stop there.

To speed up the drug's effect, Qian Jin also added sodium sulfate.

Anyone who has had a colonoscopy knows that sodium sulfate is a powerful laxative.

Logically, with the four of them watching him the whole time, there was no chance for the sodium sulfate to be added.

But as anyone who has studied chemistry knows, sodium sulfate is a white, opaque crystal. What does it resemble?

snow!
Qian Jin had prepared all his plans yesterday; the snowfall yesterday gave him the inspiration to use sodium sulfate.

This tactic proved to be virtually impossible to defend against.

He didn't eat any of the noodles in his lunchbox. He was afraid he would have diarrhea, so while the four of them were fighting over food and not paying attention, he pretended to eat while the warehouse was dark. In reality, he secretly poured the noodles into a plastic bag and put it into his satchel.

He had been behaving perfectly, and the four of them had no suspicion of him anymore.

Qian Jin checked the time while observing the four people's reactions.

More than half an hour later, he saw Ganzi start rubbing his stomach.

The medication is about to take effect.

Once it takes effect, it will be a cataclysmic event, with towering waves and devastating chaos!
Qian Jin immediately clutched his stomach and said, "Ouch, my stomach hurts a little."

He confronted the veteran, saying, "You threw the vegetables on the ground, they're probably dirty now. I should have known better than to make you pick them up and eat them."

The tiger descending the mountain became wary again, and asked the veteran with a gloomy face, "Old Nian, what's going on?"

Lao Nian chuckled awkwardly, "It's nothing, Brother Hu. I... I spilled it because I didn't hold the hot pot properly when I got it."

"Actually, it's nothing. The vegetables just fell on the snow. I checked, and they're not dirty at all..."

Qian Jin grumbled, "Why does my stomach feel uncomfortable if it's not dirty? I need to go out and take a dump."

Ganzi hesitated: "I think I'm feeling a little unwell too. Old Nian, really, you can't even do something as simple as this efficiently."

Old Nian, not wanting to take responsibility, yelled at him: "You're the one who gets upset when someone else poops, you can eat boogers and be fine, but you feel uncomfortable eating vegetables that have fallen in the snow?"

The two started arguing, and Qian Jin took the opportunity to leave.

The warehouse has a large iron door for security.

Qian Jin locked the door immediately after closing it.

It was secured with two padlocks!

Then, finding a secluded spot, he removed the hood, threw it into his bag, hid it, and ran madly towards the brigade office.

The brigade office is not far from this warehouse.

He had already written the instructions clearly on the money and tickets to Zhu Tao. As long as Zhu Tao wasn't stupid, the main force should be ready by now.

really.

The transport team of over a hundred people had already lined up. Qiu Dayong was looking out when he saw someone behind him and exclaimed with delight, "Captain Qian?"

Qian Jin strode over and asked, "Have all eight teams arrived yet?"

Qiu Dayong said, "I've counted. There should be 106 porters, and 101 are actually here. Everyone except those who asked for leave today is here."

Qian Jin asked, "Where is Zhu Tao?"

Qiu Dayong said, "He left after handing me the money you wrote down. Do you still want to find him?"

Qian Jin shook his head: "No need. All foremen, listen to my orders. Bring your men and your weapons, everyone. Follow me!"

Eight foremen led eight teams, which ran in a grand procession toward the small warehouse.

Hu Shunzi caught up and asked, "What exactly is it? Qiu Dayong said you're leading us to catch a robber to earn merit, but ask him anything else..."

Qian Jin said, "There's no need to ask anything else. What Qiu Dayong said is exactly what I wanted to say."

"I've received information that several robbers are hiding in our warehouse, planning to rob our company's finance department. We have to catch them!"

There was nothing urgent to it.

The small warehouse was made of granite and cement, making it indestructible. The iron door had two iron locks on it, which could not be kicked open from the inside by manpower.

But the pole can be squeezed out of the skylight, so what he's worried about now is blocking it.

Of course, he knew that Ganzi had a gun, so he didn't expect the porters to be able to capture Ganzi, but rather to form an encirclement and perform a meritorious act.

However, he felt that capturing the poles was not a big problem at the moment.

This guy is gluttonous and skinny, so he takes the most laxatives.

As the old saying goes, even a hero can't withstand three bouts of diarrhea.

He felt that the pole needed to be pulled more than three times!
Upon seeing the small warehouse from afar, Qian Jin instructed eight foremen to lead the porters to take cover using the surrounding terrain:

"Just hide and surround Warehouse 125. Don't show yourselves, just keep talking. And don't be stupid and rush forward..."

"Captain Qian," Qiu Dayong suddenly called out to him, "There are people on the roof of the warehouse! There are people!"

Qian Jin rushed to the front to take a look.

There was indeed a small dark shape visible on the roof of the warehouse.

Upon closer inspection, it appears to be a person squatting on top.

Qian Jin immediately recognized it as a pole; only a pole could allow someone to climb out of the skylight.

The pole perched on top of the warehouse is probably having diarrhea.

The porters all craned their necks to look, and Qian Jin shouted, "They have guns! Everyone hide and don't show yourselves!"

Wei Xiongtu went back to his office. There were indeed people in the warehouse. He called the local police station and told them to come and see what was going on!

Hu Shunzi, who was standing next to him, asked in confusion, "Captain Qian, don't you know there are people in this warehouse?"

Qian Jin said in a serious tone, "I received a message saying that there is a group of robbers in here."

“But I had important work to do at the time, so I arranged for Qiu Dayong to have you line up first.”

"I didn't know if the information was true or false, so I didn't call the police immediately. Otherwise, if the security officer came and found out it was fake news, wouldn't he criticize us?"

Standing on the roof of the warehouse, Ganzi saw a large number of people all around him.

He had no idea these were porters; all he saw were that they were all tall, strong, and muscular.

Some were carrying crowbars, some were holding ropes, and some—well, pushing carts?

He got it.

They knocked down their group, tied them up with ropes, and then pushed them to the police station in a cart!

That's it.

His heart was desolate.

There's no escape.

There's no way to escape!
Our side has fallen into a trap!

Everything is a scheme of the laws!

He was the one who put laxatives in the food, he was the one who locked the door, it was him, he brought all these people!
Filled with grief, anger, and resentment, he stood up and roared, "Law! Law! I'll curse your whole family!"

"Law! I won't let you go! Law, listen to me, we still have... Oh!"

He suddenly squatted down again.

Qiu Dayong squinted at him, then turned around and said in confusion, "What's this guy yelling about? He looks like he's naked."

Qian Jin chuckled to himself, then shook his head: "I don't know."

Several more minutes passed, and Ganzi pulled up his pants, seemingly ready to make a final push.

He jumped down from the warehouse, but as he landed and was about to roll, his legs gave way and he slipped and fell to the ground. He quickly got up, took off his pants, and squatted down again...

He shouted defiantly, "Law! Law! Ahhh—you just wait, ahhh, damn it, ahhh...the law!"

Wei Xiongtu, who had just called the police, ran over.

Someone asked him, "Teacher Wei, you're educated, what's wrong with that person? What was he shouting about?"

Wei Xiongtu said in confusion, "It sounds like he's speaking English, calling for his father."

Then he looked closer and became even more confused: "What does it mean to call someone 'Dad' when you poop?"

(End of this chapter)