Period drama: Old Cao's carefree life

Chapter 84 Wine is a poison that burns through the intestines, lust is a steel knife that scrapes the bones.
Cao Wei Da's face lit up with joy, but he quickly composed himself and coughed lightly.

"Ahem, I think that mysterious person thinks the same way. I have some connections in Beiping. You can give me your list, and I'll try to find the mysterious person. Maybe I can find him."

Zheng Chaoyang's smile deepened. "That's right. Captain Cao's connections in Beiping are beyond question. He might actually be able to contact the mysterious person."

"Alright then, I'll go back and talk to the higher-ups to see if we can get a special list approved."

"If you really find the mysterious person, please convey our greetings to him on behalf of our Red Party. Tell him that our organization has seen all his actions and we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of such a patriotic person. We hope that we can become revolutionary comrades on the same front!"

Is this an olive branch being extended to me?
Cao Weida was very tempted. Before he transmigrated, he had wanted to become a party member. However, he knew his own worth. He was a restless and lecherous guy. He would never hesitate to kill Japanese devils and traitors. He had no problem joining the Red Party to kill Japanese devils and traitors, and later fighting against the Kuomintang.

However, the Hongtang people all practiced monogamy, which was something he found most unacceptable.

He said that he is a selfish person, and that even without considering national sentiment, he is still self-centered.

Before he traveled through time, he had always envied the wealthy men of ancient times who could have many wives and concubines. Now that Old Cao had finally traveled through time, wouldn't it be a waste if he didn't marry ten or eight wives?

So he hesitated and tentatively said:

"Speaking of which, if, and I mean if, I really did find that mysterious person, and that person was very interested in joining your organization, but unfortunately couldn't join due to some... um... special reasons that conflicted with your organization's rules, what would you usually do?"

"Special reason?" Zheng Chaoyang asked curiously. "Then tell me about the mysterious person you found. What exactly is this so-called special reason? Our organization isn't unreasonable. We need to know the reason before we can analyze it objectively."

"For example, I mean, for example."

Zheng Chaoyang was practically bursting with laughter inside. First, he used the "what if" approach, then the "for example" approach. His self-deceptive manner was making it hard for him to keep up and start laughing.
"Ahem, go on." He coughed, barely managing to suppress his laughter, and adopted a serious listening posture. Oh dear, he never imagined that holding back laughter could be such a painful thing.
"For example, that man is all alone in his family now, and he's already taken more than one concubine, and plans to take more in the future. He bears a heavy responsibility; the burden of ensuring the continuation of the family line rests on his shoulders."

“I’ve looked into your organization’s rules; it’s all about monogamy. Based on that alone, his situation doesn’t meet the requirements.”

Zheng Chaoyang was speechless. You might as well just say it's you. This condition is practically being imposed on you.
"First of all, our organization has precedents of men marrying several women before joining the revolution. Secondly, as long as the woman is willing and they were married before joining the Party, we will not force them to separate."

It is still the Republic of China era, and the habits of the old society are still intact.

In 1930, the Kuomintang promulgated the "Civil Code of the Republic of China: Family Law," which clearly stipulated that "marriage should be based on the mutual consent of both parties" and "monogamy" and prohibited bigamy.

From the perspective of legal provisions, the principle of monogamy in marriage was established, which is a certain negation of the feudal marriage system.

The following year, the Chinese Soviet Republic also promulgated articles on monogamy.

However, in reality, this clause has extremely limited binding force on the public.

Influenced by feudal traditions, polygamy was rampant in China, and legal provisions for it were largely ineffective.

Furthermore, many high-ranking Kuomintang officials and local power brokers themselves violated the monogamous system by taking concubines, leaving the regime with virtually no power to restrain its own groups, let alone implement such a system.

Throughout history, the superiors have always followed the example set by their subordinates.

Therefore, polygamy was commonplace in this era, and some members of the Red Party practiced it before joining the revolution.

You can't just demand that someone divorce their extra woman after you've joined the revolution, can you?
That would be unfair to the women who had been divorced.

Cao Wei was overjoyed. So this is how it can be done?
Seeing his happy expression, Zheng Chaoyang quickly added, "Of course, after joining the Party, if you already have a wife, although divorce wasn't mandatory before, you absolutely cannot marry again afterward."

“That won’t do. I only have two concubines now.” Cao Weida immediately shook his head. He was joking. Two concubines weren’t enough. He should add at least four or five more.

Zheng Chaoyang's lips twitched. He really wanted to roll his eyes at him. Listen to yourself, are you even speaking human language?!
Two already, and you're still calling it 'just'?
How are we single guys supposed to feel?!
Two isn't enough? You want to marry another one? Can you handle that?!
Aren't they afraid of dying on a woman's belly?

He squinted and said, "I didn't say anything about you, why are you so eager to refuse?"

Cao Wei Da's expression stiffened, and he coughed twice tactically, "I accidentally spat it out."

Zheng Chaoyang couldn't hold back any longer, rolling his eyes so hard they were practically white. "You really think just anyone can join the Party? It requires a rigorous vetting process." "If our organization accepted just anyone, things would be in complete chaos."

"Oh, I see. That puts my mind at ease."

"What do you mean you're not worried about?" Zheng Chaoyang was almost laughing in exasperation. He just couldn't understand how a passionate and patriotic young man could be so easily swayed by beauty!
"Cao'er, Master Cao! I must give you a piece of advice: wine is a poison that burns through the intestines, and lust is a steel knife that scrapes the bones. Countless heroes and valiant men have ultimately fallen because of beauty."

"Throughout the history of our China, aren't there countless examples like this?"

"Think about what you're doing right now. If the Japanese devils catch you, what do you think will happen to your concubines?"

"You already have two concubines, that's actually quite a lot."

“Not enough? Of course not! My Cao family is counting on me to have many descendants and to make the Cao family name even stronger. How can two women be enough? Not enough, not enough!” Cao Weida shook his head. “Besides, I’m not some kind of hero. I’m just one of the three cowardly cowards in the police station!”

"I may be average in other skills, but when it comes to survival, I'm number one, and no one dares to claim to be number two!"

Before Zheng Chaoyang could say anything more, Cao Weida interrupted him, "Oh, let's not discuss this anymore. I'm not that mysterious person."

"Alright, I'll head out now. Remember to help me figure something out in the next day or two."

Zheng Chaoyang, standing behind him, shook his head and smiled wryly. What kind of mess was this? He finally understood the meaning of the saying, "Even heroes have trouble resisting the charms of beautiful women."

When Cao Weida arrived, he found that there were more spies on the street than before, which he guessed was related to his shooting of the puppet government's spies.

However, he ignored it. He left no trace, and no one knew that he had an STG44 assault rifle. With Ono Oda and his buddies protecting him, no matter what, they couldn't trace it back to him.

As I was walking, someone blocked my way.

Then, Sang Liuji's sarcastic voice came: "Oh, isn't this our Patrolman Cao? You're here to patrol the streets in person too?"

"So it's Vice Captain Sang." Cao Weida smiled slightly, emphasizing the word "Vice," which immediately darkened Sang Liuji's face.
"Cao Wei Da, don't be so smug. So what if you've latched onto the Japanese? What's there to be arrogant about!"

"Whether I'm arrogant or not is another matter, what are you doing?" Cao Weida's gaze passed over him, and behind him, several people were tied up and pressed down.

"Master Cao, Master Cao, it's me, Zhao Laifu!" one of them called out as soon as he saw Cao Weida.

"Shut up!" The patrolman who was holding him down immediately elbowed Zhao Laifu in the stomach, and Zhao Laifu immediately shut his mouth in pain.

Cao Weida frowned and looked at Sang Liuji. "Captain Sang, aren't you going to explain? What did Manager Zhao and the others do that made you make such a fuss?"

"Of course, it's about arresting anti-Japanese elements." Sang Liuji put his thumb on his hip and smiled sinisterly.

“I suspect that these individuals are colluding with anti-Japanese elements, and there may even be anti-Japanese elements among them. It is only right and reasonable for me to arrest them.”

"Alright, Chief Cao, if you have nothing else to do, go take a stroll. I'm busy here."

He hasn't yet aligned himself with Ono Oda, so it's not wise for him to break ties with Cao Wei Da. He's preparing to leave.

Hmph, once I get in touch with Ono Oda, the first thing I'll do is kill you!
"Nonsense!" Cao Weida's face darkened, and he said in an unfriendly tone, "Deputy Captain Sang, Manager Zhao is known for his honesty and integrity. Where did you get the idea that he has any connection with anti-Japanese elements?"

"Do you have any evidence? Let me see it."

Zhao Laifu is the owner of a grocery store within the jurisdiction of Duomen, which was his previous jurisdiction. He and Zhao Laifu were not very familiar with each other, but they knew each other.

Sang Liuji's rash cross-regional arrest is a blatant slap in the face to Duomen!

Slapping Duomen in the face is the same as slapping him in the face!
"Take him back for questioning, and we'll have evidence. What, is Inspector Cao close to Manager Zhao and trying to protect him?" Sang Liuji smiled, narrowing his eyes, and stepped aside.
"You're the patrol chief, so as long as you say so, I, the deputy patrol chief, will naturally obey. But are you sure you want me to release him?"

(End of this chapter)