Since the establishment of No. 76, the Japanese have gradually handed over most of the work of dealing with the Blue Shirts Society and the underground party to No. 76. They are only responsible for internal investigations and supervise and restrain No. 76.

In order to collect intelligence, not only the Blue Shirts Society and the underground party were constantly infiltrating No. 76, but the Special High Technology Bureau was also not idle. They also secretly placed people inside No. 76 or directly bribed existing No. 76 spies. Their main purpose was to monitor No. 76.

The Japanese were also afraid that they would lose control of the increasingly powerful spy agency No. 76, so they knew its every move by planting and bribing people inside No. 76. Whenever there was any disturbance inside No. 76, the Special High Technology Department knew it clearly.

Zhang Yunhe didn't even need to think about it, he knew that those who were monitoring Cui Ji Grocery Store were definitely from No. 76.

"Yesterday evening, I contacted Lao Cui using a public phone instead of the Iron Blood computer virtual dial-up number. It's very likely that someone from Unit 76 has monitored my call. It seems that my appointment with Lao Cui at the Old Longevity Star Teahouse at 3:00 PM this afternoon has to be canceled!"

Zhang Yunhe was thinking about finding a way to contact Lao Cui again to cancel the appointment and make another appointment to meet in person. Of course, he couldn't make a phone call, so he had to find someone to go to the grocery store.

After arriving at the International Settlement Police Department, Zhang Yunhe sent all the bodyguards and secretaries out of the office. He sat in his office chair with a cup of tea and pondered for a moment. Then he put down the cup, picked up the phone and dialed a number.

After the call was connected, Fan Biao's voice came from the receiver: "Hello?"

Zhang Yunhe asked, "It's me! Can you still control the people from the gang?"

After hearing this, Fan Biao said, "I have been secretly controlling the gang and have not let go!"

"Okay, write a note saying the grocery store is under surveillance, the phone is tapped, and I'm waiting for an opportunity to escape. The meeting time is moved up to 11 a.m. today, and the location is changed to Ziyunxuan Teahouse on Nanjing Road. Sign it Charlie Cao."

"Then find a reliable brother who's both loyal and unfamiliar. Have him take a few thugs to Cui's Grocery Store on Huanghe Road and ask for protection money. Then, when no one's paying attention, slip the note to Cui. Be discreet, as the Japanese are watching the store. Do you understand?"

Fan Biao's voice came from the phone: "I understand. I'll arrange it right away!"

Yellow River Road, 9:00 AM.

Although it was past breakfast time, the aroma of meat buns still wafted through the streets from time to time.

In the grocery store, Old Cui, wearing glasses, stood at the counter, flipping through the account book with one hand and counting on the abacus with the other. The abacus made a crackling sound as his nimble fingers ticked it.

He only looked at the account book and knew how to count without looking at the abacus. His fingers moved so fast that they left afterimages. With this ability, he could make a living no matter where he was.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells"

After the bell rang, the rickshaw driver's somewhat angry voice came from the street outside: "Please make way for the person in front, please make way for me."

"Ding-ding-ding" the crisp sound of metal knocking was heard again, and a vicissitudes of life voice sounded: "Sharpening scissors, sharpening kitchen knives..."

"Trading chicken feathers for sugar——"

At that moment, several burly men appeared on the street. Each one of them was burly and strong, walking with a crab-like gait, collecting protection money from every household. Some shop owners swallowed their anger and paid obediently, but others thought that they had to pay protection money every month, and they didn't know where these people came from and wanted to collect protection money. Did they pay their respects? So they refused to pay.

The consequence of doing this is of course that you will get yourself a beating.

Count on the police to enforce justice? Forget it, big brother. Go to bed early. The patrolmen are either in cahoots with the gangs and have been bribed long ago, or they simply don't dare to mess with the gangs. Even if gang members openly bully the people in broad daylight, they will stay away and not dare to get into trouble.

Agent No. 76 was monitoring the windows of a grocery store when one of them saw a few gang members causing chaos on the street. He immediately turned to his team leader, Huang Zongwei, and said, "Captain, come over and take a look. A few gang members are going from store to store collecting protection money and threatening to beat people up if they don't pay. I'm worried their actions will affect our operations."

Huang Zongwei immediately stood up and walked to the window, took the binoculars and looked towards the location of the gangsters. After a while, he put the binoculars down and said, "Don't worry about them. If we show up now, it will probably arouse the target's suspicion. Everything will continue as usual!"

"Besides, how can you run a business without being charged protection fees? It would be abnormal if you weren't charged protection fees!"

When the spy heard Huang Zongwei say this, he quickly said, "Captain, you're right. I was worrying too much!"

The thugs sent by Fan Biao caused chaos on the street and soon arrived at Cui Ji Grocery Store.

Several people stepped over the threshold, walked into the grocery store, and stood in front of the counter, looking at Lao Cui. Lao Cui stopped his fingers on the abacus, looked up at the gangsters, and asked, "What can I do for you, gentlemen?"

"We are from the Yellow River Gang. From today on, your shop will have to pay us a down payment of 6 yuan (protection fee) every month. You don't have to pay, but we will make sure your shop can't run. If you don't believe me, you can try it!" Zeng Zicheng, the gang leader on the other side, said to Lao Cui in a tough tone.

Lao Cui said calmly, "This area seems to be the territory of Zhang Yaolin of the Qing Gang. We pay him every month. If you want to collect the down payment from us merchants, shouldn't you ask him first? Or maybe you should discuss who will collect the down payment from now on?"

"Bang!" The gang leader Zeng Zicheng slammed a pistol on the counter, glared at Lao Cui and cursed, "Damn you, old bastard! We'll naturally talk to that old bastard Zhang Yaolin, but you have to pay me today if you don't!"

After a silent confrontation of more than ten seconds, a middle-aged woman lifted the curtain from behind and walked out. She was obviously frightened by the scene.

Seeing his wife coming out, Lao Cui decided to get through this first to avoid escalating the situation. He looked at Zeng Zicheng, opened a drawer, took out two ten-yuan French currency notes, placed them on the table, and said, "This is a small shop, a small business, and we only have French currency!"

Zeng Zicheng took a look and looked up and said, "France currency is also fine, but these are not enough, we need another one!"

Lao Cui had no choice but to swallow his anger and took out another ten-yuan French coin and put it on the table.

Zeng Zicheng then put the money away, glanced around, pointed at the cigarette cabinet behind Lao Cui and said, "Take five packs of three cannons!"

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like