The Courtyard House: The Little Red Devil Returning from the Peninsula

Zhou Shichang stared at the bronze whistle, his brows furrowed into a deep furrow.

"Who would you like to send it?"

Zhao Weiguo closed the wooden box and pressed his palm against the Japanese brand.

"Find someone they trust."

Old Xu turned to look at the spy he had captured on the ground. The man was tied to the wall, his mouth was stuffed with cloth, one eye was swollen, and the other was still turning.

"he?"

Zhao Weiguo shook his head.

"If he goes back, he'll be silenced by his own people first."

He Yuzhu peeked out from behind He Daqing.

"Then who should go? We can't really let you go, can we?"

Several windows in the courtyard suddenly tightened at the same time.

The sound of a table leg hitting the floor came from Jia Zhangshi's room.

"We can't go! If he gets arrested, the Japanese will come looking for him right here in our compound!"

He Daqing glared at her window.

"Shut up, your mouth is louder than a chamber pot."

Zhao Weiguo ignored Jia Zhangshi. He handed the bronze whistle to Zhou Shichang.

"Have your men pretend to be errand boys for the opium den. Make sure they're unfamiliar faces, don't wear military boots, and don't walk with that military smell."

Old Xu touched his boots.

"Then I can't?"

Zhao Weiguo glanced at him.

"The moment you enter the inn, the manager knows you're either there to arrest someone or to rob someone."

Old Xu was not convinced.

"How do I look like a bandit?"

He Yuzhu muttered to himself.

"You're like someone who demolishes houses."

Old Xu's eyes widened.

He Yuzhu immediately shrank back behind He Daqing.

Zhou Shichang twirled the bronze whistle halfway around in his palm.

"We have a communications soldier, skinny, with a Beijing accent, who usually runs errands to buy medicine. The Japanese definitely wouldn't recognize him."

Zhao Weiguo nodded.

"Have him deliver the whistle. Just say one thing: 'The servant boy has moved; change vehicles before dawn.'"

Zhou Shichang repeated it.

"The knife-wielding boy has already moved; he will change vehicles before dawn."

"Say it and leave, don't wait for a reply."

"What if they follow us out?"

Zhao Weiguo picked up the sketch and traced his fingertip across a winding alley outside the front gate.

"Let him go through the meat market alley and into the back door of the mutton soup shop. You two should put two people in the shop beforehand to keep an eye on him."

Old Xu leaned over to look, and the bloodstain on his face was cut into a black line by the lamplight.

"What about the inn?"

Zhao Weiguo turned the drawing over and drew three dots with a pencil.

"Don't touch the main gate. There's a stable in the backyard, the east wall is next to the vegetable market, and the west wall is the manure path. Anyone running will definitely take the manure path."

Zhou Shichang looked at the crooked line and forced a laugh.

"You even consider that a cesspool?"

When people are in a hurry, they don't have time to complain about the smell.

The courtyard fell silent for a moment.

Yan Bugui stood at the door, wearing a cotton-padded coat, his nose red from the cold.

"Commander Zhou, if this gets out of hand outside Qianmen, what will happen with the patrol police...?"

Zhou Shichang looked up.

"If the patrol officers ask, just say you're arresting opium traffickers."

Yan Bugui nodded quickly.

"Yes, yes, opium traffickers should be arrested."

Zhao Weiguo unfolded the oiled paper from the wooden box one by one. The smells of tobacco, blood, and musty wood mingled together, making one's throat bitter. He picked out a piece of paper with black fingerprints on the corner and placed it under the lamp.

The paper depicts the backyard of a carriage inn, with a small cross next to the manger.

There's something here.

Old Xu squinted.

"What is it?"

"The secret compartment used for rendezvous. It either contains money or a list."

Zhou Shichang put the paper away and stuffed it into his pocket.

"We need to get the list."

Zhao Weiguo looked at the hastily repaired, broken knife at his waist.

"Don't go into the backyard yourself. You stay at the street corner and keep watch."

Zhou Shichang raised his eyebrows.

"You've even arranged for me to join you?"

"If you die, no one will dare to take on these prisoners tonight."

After saying that, Zhou Shichang shut his mouth.

Zhou Shichang forced back the anger on his face. He stared at Zhao Weiguo for a few moments, then tossed the bronze whistle to Old Xu.

"Go find Little Bean. Change into cloth shoes, wear a tattered cotton-padded coat, and smear ash on your face."

Old Xu caught the whistle and turned to leave.

Zhao Weiguo called out to him.

"etc."

Old Xu turned around.

Zhao Weiguo picked up the oiled paper with "Knife Boy" written on it from the table, stuffed it into the copper whistle, and then scratched a shallow mark on the mouth of the whistle with his fingernail.

"They check this when inspecting the goods. The mark is on top, and the writing is facing inwards. If it's upside down, they'll know it was switched with someone else's goods."

Old Xu's fingers stiffened.

"Damn it, those Japanese devils are really cunning."

Zhao Weiguo put the bronze whistle back in his palm.

So don't use your head like a brick.

He Yuzhu burst out laughing, but He Daqing slapped him down.

Old Xu glared at Zhao Weiguo, but a grin spread across his face.

"Once we catch those two, I'll get you two pounds of good iron."

"I need gun barrel scraps."

"You're still picky about the meat you eat?"

"Guns barrel steel can be used to make other good things."

Zhou Shichang raised his hand to stop the two.

"Walk."

Old Xu opened the courtyard gate, and a cold wind rushed in. He had just stepped out when Zhao Weiguo spoke again.

"Company Commander Zhou."

Zhou Shichang stopped outside the threshold.

Zhao Weiguo pointed to the vegetable market alley on the east side of the inn on the map.

"Don't let anyone fire. There are many vehicles and horses; if gunfire breaks out, it will cause chaos. Leave someone who can talk."

Zhou Shichang nodded, his face disappearing into the shadows outside the door.

"Is the courtyard under your care?"

Zhao Weiguo held the door bolt in his hand.

"Give them the bolt and the gun."

He Yuzhu looked at the bulge in his cotton-padded jacket at his waist and swallowed hard.

The courtyard gate closed.

The footsteps faded into the distance along the alley, three long and one short, quickly disappearing into the night of Beiping. Zhao Weiguo bolted the door and secured the wooden cabinet door back in place.

A drop of water dripped from the icicles under the eaves and landed on the blue bricks.

Snapped.