After living a new life for my neighbor's grandmother, I traveled through the book again

Although Diao Ren stayed in Jiangcheng, he was alone and could not make a forest.

However, Diao Yongting no longer had any spare money to support Diao Ren's expenses in Jiangcheng.

After discussing this with Yang Jixia, Tong Jia concluded that although Diao Ren was Diao Yongting's man, his intelligence wasn't entirely sound. He appeared shrewd on the surface, but in reality, he wasn't very smart. He was a single-minded person, yet he valued friendship and loyalty. If they treated him well, even if they couldn't win him over directly, they could still make him a valuable asset to their side.

So she asked Tian Ma to come forward and leave a hundred silver dollars for Diao Ren.

Tian Ma said: "Little brother, Tian Ma also had a child when she was young, but unfortunately the child was unlucky and did not survive.

If he had survived, he would have been about your age.

You are a good brother. You know that your brother died unjustly and are willing to sacrifice your own future for him.

You can't be out there alone without money.

These one hundred silver dollars are my retirement savings. It’s not much, but I hope you can have them in Jiangcheng…

Well... I don't expect this money to do anything, as long as you are safe and sound, that's good enough."

Diao Ren was quite uncomfortable with Tian Ma's sudden kindness.

He refused, "Mother Tian, I...we haven't been together for a long time, it's not appropriate to ask you for so much money..."

Although he refused verbally, he also knew that money can make a hero fall.

He has always been a minion following Diao Yongting. He is used to taking advantage of the power of others and has offended many people, but few of them treat him sincerely.

This time, they all came out to make money. He really didn't have much money on him, and Diao Yongting didn't want to leave him any money. If he didn't accept Tian Ma's money, then let alone investigating the cause of Diao Yi's death, even his own survival might become a problem.

As soon as he said the refusal, he regretted it.

Fortunately, Tian's mother gave him another way out.

Tian Ma said, "What's the problem? Take the money first, and this, the key to the courtyard.

The rent for the courtyard was paid at the end of the year, and the husband said he wanted to cancel the lease, but his wife refused, saying that if her husband got angry, she would have a way out.

During this period, you can live in the courtyard and save on rent.

Oh, yes. The one last time was the rickshaw driver you beat up—Lao Qian.

Well, he... I have also made an agreement with him. You are unfamiliar with Jiangcheng, so if you have any problems, you can ask him for help.

He lives in the shantytown. The people there are quite poor. If you are short of manpower, as long as you can pay, the people there will do it.

Lao Qian can act as a middleman for you. When it is inconvenient for you to come forward, you can ask him to solve the problem for you.

You take this money too.

When you return to Shanghai, work hard for a few years and make money, you can pay me back.

When I see you, I think of my son.

If someone had helped my mother and me, he wouldn't have died at such a young age.

Take care of yourself and pay me back when you return to Shanghai.

Okay, no more talk. Madam has a lot of luggage, I have to go look after it. You can wait until we leave, then take the key to the courtyard."

This touched Diao Ren so much that when Tian Ma turned to leave, he knelt on the ground and called her "godmother."

He also said that he would take care of Tian Ma in her old age. Tian Ma patted Diao Ren's head, afraid that he would make mistakes if he said too much, so she left without saying anything.

After the seven rickshaws carrying Tong Jia and the others and a dozen suitcases left the courtyard, Diao Ren used the key left to him by Tian Ma to open the door of the courtyard.

The vegetables and flowers in the courtyard were still there, the grain, pickled meat, pickled vegetables, and pickled eggs in the utility room were still there, the bedding in the room on the second floor was gone, but the bedding in Tian Ma's room was all neatly made on the bed.

In addition, there was a thick quilt and a long cotton jacket in the cabinet in Tian Ma's room.

This is all preparation for Diao Ren to stay here for the winter.

Diao Ren, who was originally skeptical about Tian Ma's sudden kindness to him, was instantly defeated after seeing the quilt and cotton coat.

He felt that after his parents passed away, he and his younger brother could depend on each other, and no one else could treat him as well as Tian's mother.

Immediately, he decided in his heart that as long as he avenged his brother and was still alive, he would treat Tian's mother as his own mother in the future.

Tian Ma and her group didn't know that a quilt and a cotton coat could win Diao Ren's heart more than the hundred silver dollars.

At this time, they had already boarded the ship back to Shanghai.

Because Diao Yongting was injured and needed someone to take care of him personally, and the people around him needed to guard the opium and cigars on the ship, this made Yang Jixia the only person who could take care of him personally.

It also gave Yang Jixia and Tong Jia a legitimate reason to live in separate rooms.

Although Yang Jixia slept in the same room with Diao Yongting at night, Diao Yongting did not restrict him from meeting Tong Jia during the day.

Not long after getting on the boat, Tong Jia pulled Yang Jixia to the deck, under the pretext of seeing the scenery, but actually to ask questions in her heart.

Although both of them were standing on the deck, Tong Jia was not sure if there was anyone eavesdropping below. Even outdoors, the sound of their conversation was very low. However, due to the sea breeze, the two had to get very close if they wanted to hear each other clearly.

This made Tao Junle, who was waiting for them not far away, feel very sad.

When Tian's mother saw this, she thought the child didn't like others getting close to his sister, so she smiled and patted his head, wanting to take him in another direction so that out of sight, out of mind.

But no matter how Tian Ma turned, Tao Junle turned around and his eyes were fixed on Tong Jia again.

This made Tian's mother very helpless. Seeing that although he was unhappy, he did not interrupt Tong Jia and Yang Jixia's conversation, she knew that he knew the importance of the matter and did not care about him anymore. Instead, she focused her energy on observing the surrounding environment.

Tong Jia didn't notice that Tao Junle's mouth was so tight that it looked like it could be tied up with a bottle of oil.

Now she is more worried about the safety of everyone on this boat. Yes, the safety of everyone on this boat.

She asked angrily in a low voice: "Yang Jixia, why didn't you tell me earlier that we were going back on this ship?

What did you do to the ship? Is there any way to remedy it now?"

Yang Jixia shook his head, and Tong Jia started to beat Yang Jixia.

While beating him, he kept saying, "It doesn't matter to us, but there are other innocent people on this ship. You just don't care about them. Aren't you afraid that they will be in danger?"

Yang Jixia grabbed her fist and whispered in her ear, "There are no innocent people on this ship. They are all related people. If there is an innocent person, it is only Lele."

Tong Jia asked confusedly: "Those crew members..."

"They were sent by the British Empire to monitor the transaction." Yang Jixia replied.

"Those passengers..." Tong Jia asked again.

"He is a running dog of Fuso Country." Yang Jixia answered again.

Then, he held Tong Jia in his arms. Tong Jia struggled, and he whispered, "Diao Yongting is watching us upstairs. Don't move. Listen to me."

Hearing this, Tong Jia stopped struggling and said unhappily, "Hurry up and tell me."

Yang Jixia put his mouth close to Tong Jia's ear and said in a voice that only Tong Jia could hear, "The cabin of this ship is full of opium and cigars. Lao Guo's people have done something under the cabin.

I estimate that the ship will sink tomorrow night, or at the latest the day after tomorrow morning.

There are lifebuoys under the beds in your room, Tian Ma's room, and Le Le's room. If the situation goes wrong, you can put on the lifebuoys and don't need those material possessions anymore.

If you really can't bear to leave, I'll write you an IOU when we get to Shanghai, and I'll give you the money when the environment improves."

Tong Jia turned around, put her mouth close to Yang Jixia's ear, and asked in a low voice: "Where is the password box?"

"It's all about sinking that safe to the bottom. The information Lao Qian sent out is very important. The contents of the safe can be basically confirmed to be materials for human experiments. Those materials are very harmful to people, and we absolutely cannot allow the Japanese to continue researching them.

"This is a good opportunity to not only destroy the things on the ship, but also prevent Diao Yongting's men from salvaging the code box." Yang Jixia replied.

Tong Jia understood, and when she turned around again, she pretended to accidentally see Diao Yongting upstairs, then acted embarrassed, shyly pushed Yang Jixia away, and pulled Tao Junle and Tian Ma away from the deck.

After returning to the three-person cabin, Tong Jia told the two of them the time when the ship might sink.

Tian's mother said worriedly, "We can't be sure of the exact time the boat sank, nor can we be sure where we fell into the water. Can a lifebuoy hold us until we are rescued?"

Tong Jia said, "Mother Tian, here's what I'm thinking: Wrap all our activity funds in oil paper and tie them around your body with a cloth strip. I also have a few large yellow croakers here, and Lele and I will do the same. Let's keep some for our activities in Shanghai first, and then consider other things."

Although Yang Jixia said that they are external things, without them, we will not be able to move forward after going to Shanghai.

Also, we don’t know how many days we will be floating in the water, so we still need basic food and fresh water.

Go to the restaurant on this ship and see if there is any dry food that is easy to carry. Take back a small amount so as not to arouse Diao Yongting's suspicion. Then find a few clean bottles and fill them with fresh water.

Lele and I rummaged through the suitcase, found some cloth, and sewed a larger backpack. When the time came, we put all these things in the bag and let Lele carry it.

If we really have to drift for several days, we can hold on for a few more days with these things.

Also, see if there is a longer rope on the boat. When the boat sinks, we can use the rope to tie the lifebuoys together, so that the three of us will not be separated.

As for Yang Jixia, he's with Diao Yongting and should be more fully prepared, so we don't need to worry about him."

Mother Tian nodded, thinking that Tong Jia had thought it through very carefully, and hurried to the restaurant to find some food and drinks that were suitable to bring with her.

After she left the cabin, Tong Jia stuffed a few pieces of chocolate and plum candies that could make the mouth produce saliva into Tao Junle's pockets, then pulled Tao Junle to open the suitcase and put all the important things in the suitcase into the RV.

Naturally, all the gorgeous jewelry and fashionable clothes she bought in Jiangcheng had to be put into the RV.

But the boxes cannot be empty, otherwise when the ship sinks, these empty boxes will float up, which will make Diao Yongting suspicious.

So, Tong Jia found some cotton cloth that she had collected from the Tao family's warehouse in the RV, put it in the suitcase, and then asked Tao Junle to unlock all the suitcases.

After the box floats in the water for a few days, the lock will be opened and the things inside the box will sink to the bottom. Then no one will notice that the things in her box are not the same as the ones described.

After dealing with the dozen or so boxes in her cabin, she thought of the three boxes on Yang Jixia's side, one of which contained the password box.

Tong Jia was still very curious about the things in the password box, so she thought of going to Yang Jixia and looking for an opportunity to replace the things in his three boxes without anyone noticing.

This is what she thought in her mind and what she did in her actions.

Tao Junle was left in the cabin with a finished backpack with the label removed waiting for Tian's mother to come back, while she went to the restaurant to bring two bowls of chicken soup and went to Yang Jixia and Diao Yongting's cabin.

Originally, she just wanted to exchange Yang Jixia's suitcases. After all, in addition to the password box, there was also a suit she bought for show when she was in Jiangcheng.

Yang Jixia had never worn those suits, so it was such a waste to just sink them into the river.

But when she arrived at their cabin, she found that Yang Jixia and Diao Yongting were not there.

Tong Jia naturally would not miss such a great opportunity.

He put the chicken soup into the RV and quickly exchanged it for Yang Jixia's boxes of luggage.

When she was about to leave the cabin, her eyes fell on Diao Yongting's suitcase again.

It wasn't that she was greedy, but she knew that there was a whole box of gold in Diao Yongting's luggage, and it would be a waste to just sink it into the river.

Now that no one is around, it's definitely a great opportunity to take those things away.

Because the weight difference between cloth and gold was so great, Tong Jia simply took back the cotton cloth in Yang Jixia's suitcase.

She didn't have the key to Diao Yongting's suitcase and had no way to open the lock on the suitcase. In order to create the illusion that everything in the suitcase had fallen into the river, she might as well make people think that the things in Diao Yongting's suitcase had been stolen long ago.

Since Diao Yongting's suitcase was stolen, Yang Jixia, who was in the same room with him, was naturally not spared.

Tong Jia quietly left the cabin only after she had emptied both of their suitcases.

In order not to arouse other people's suspicion, she took out chicken soup from the RV when she left and shouted loudly outside the cabin: "There's a thief! Come and catch the thief quickly!"

Afterwards, many passengers appeared beside Tong Jia and asked what happened.

The noise was so loud that Diao Yongting and Yang Jixia naturally heard it.

Yang Jixia walked faster than Diao Yongting. He quickly walked over to Tong Jia and asked, "What's wrong?"

Tong Jia said, "I got two bowls of chicken soup from the restaurant and wanted to give it to you and your brother-in-law, but when I got to the door of your cabin, I saw two people in black clothes coming out of your cabin, one of them holding a large box. I quickly called for help, but they didn't see anything.

You two should go back to the house and see if anything is missing.

Were the two people I saw thieves or passengers who had walked into the wrong house?

Upon hearing this, Yang Jixia and Diao Yongting's faces turned extremely ugly.

Yang Jixia was worried that the safe would be taken away by the people from Fuso, while Diao Yongting was worried about the box of gold bars that he had left behind with great difficulty.

After the two opened the box, their faces turned pale. All the things they valued most were gone.