Espionage: I became sworn brothers with Zheng Yaoxian at the beginning, and became the Seventh Broth

Chapter Seventy-One: The Dock Thief

Zhongshan Wharf.

Originally named the Jinpu Railway Ferry Terminal, it was started in December 1933 and completed in March 1935.

As the most advanced port during the Republic of China era, Zhongshan Wharf boasts a 90-meter-long "Pulong" pontoon, three steel-structured piers, a castle-style waiting room, and a spacious parking plaza in front of the wharf.

After Zhongshan Port opened to traffic, it quickly became the largest and most prosperous inland river port in China.

According to the telegram sent by their father, they had completed the relocation and had now settled down in the mountain town.

They chose to settle down in Shapingba District, a place Ye Shaohong had specifically instructed them to visit. This place is quite magical.

According to incomplete statistics, from November 1938, when Japanese bombers first raided the mountain city, to November 1944, the city was bombed a total of 468 times by Japanese enemy aircraft.

A total of 9513 aircraft sorties were launched, dropping more than 3000 tons of high-explosive incendiary bombs.

A total of more than 20,000.

During this period, more than 30,000 of our officers, soldiers, and civilians were killed or wounded, and more than 20,000 houses and courtyards were destroyed.

Even so, the Shapingba area did not suffer much damage.

Later, there were even rumors circulating online that during the eight years of the War of Resistance against Japan, six of which were bombed, the Shapingba area was not bombed by enemy aircraft.

Ye Shaohong was unable to make an accurate judgment about the true situation.

The only thing he could do was to protect his parents and relatives to the greatest extent possible. That's why, before leaving home, he repeatedly told them to choose the Shapingba area as their place of residence.

The family relocation is now complete. My parents have not only purchased property in the mountain town, but also opened dozens of shops.

It's enough to cover the family's daily expenses.

Ye Shaohong was finally relieved.

This time, the father specially sent someone to Jinling, firstly to explain the current situation of the family to Ye Shaohong in detail, and secondly to bring him a lot of money and local specialties.

They wanted to settle down and, at the same time, help their beloved son advance further in his career.

Ye Shaohong understood his parents' good intentions.

He couldn't bear to refuse.

Having just finished dealing with the Takeuchi Yunko case a couple of days ago, and feeling somewhat exhausted from the continuous travel, Ye Shaohong specifically requested a leave of absence.

Hearing that his old servant would be arriving in Jinling, Ye Shaohong got up early, ate breakfast, and then took a rickshaw to Zhongshan Wharf. Standing on the reinforced concrete pier, looking at the Yangtze River flowing endlessly before him and the ferries passing by from time to time, Ye Shaohong was in a very good mood.

He asked around about the ferry schedule from Chongqing to Nanjing and learned that it would arrive around noon. Instead of rushing back, he sat down at a teahouse near the ferry terminal.

While sipping tea and eating dried fruit, one can listen to the conversations of tea drinkers passing by in the teahouse.

Some people say that doing business is difficult nowadays, and money is becoming less and less valuable.

Some people say that there are many checkpoints along the way, and when you make a business trip, you don't earn much money; it all goes to those roadblocks.

When these events were recounted, several passing merchants shook their heads and sighed.

The group then started talking about the situation in Northeast and North China.

When they talked about the various crimes committed by the Japanese devils there, how many people they killed, how many villages they massacred, they couldn't help but curse loudly.

One of them, who had a short temper, tried to hold back, but in the end he couldn't help it and started complaining about the Republic of China government.

They say that warlords are now ruling over various regions, busy seizing territory, and those people don't even care about national interests.

Can't they see the suffering people?

Finally, he started grumbling about the bald-headed chairman, saying that he only knew how to fight internally and not how to confront external enemies.

The teahouse owner was so frightened that his face turned pale instantly. He hurriedly ran over, bowed and begged, and then ordered the shop assistant to bring over two plates of dried fruit, which finally stopped the passing merchants from complaining.

Although Ye Shaohong heard these words and was responsible for the duties of the Special Service Department, he had no intention of intervening.

It was just a few complaints from ordinary people in private.

There's really no need to make a big deal out of it. Stopped by the teahouse owner, the passing merchants lost interest in continuing their lamentations about people's livelihoods and instead started talking about the film star Hu Die.

And then there's the myriad charms of Shanghai.

Inevitably, Du Asheng and the three tycoons were also mentioned.

There's also the now-vanished Axe Gang, and Wang Yaqiao, known as "the number one assassin of the Republic of China."

It must be said that although these traveling merchants did not have much wealth and their clothes were not fancy, they were still very knowledgeable and experienced. Even though Ye Shaohong had lived through the era of the internet information explosion in the future, he listened with great interest to the stories of the martial arts world that they occasionally mentioned.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was noon.

With a whistle, the ferry from the mountain city to Jinling docked. Ye Shaohong paid for the dried fruit and tea, and followed the crowd to the pier, where he immediately saw Uncle Ma disembarking.

Mr. Ma is in his fifties and has served the Ye family for over thirty years.

It is said that when he was young, he followed his grandfather around and took care of his daily life. He also had seven or eight lives on his hands.

Although he was a servant of the Ye family, in the eyes of his father, mother, and the three siblings of the Ye family, Uncle Ma had long been their family.

Ma Bo's three sons and one daughter also make a living in the Ye family.

It was precisely for this reason that his father dared to let him carry a large sum of money across the river to Nanjing.

They came to contact Ye Shaohong.

Seeing Uncle Ma's slightly aged and hunched figure, Ye Shaohong's face also showed a sincere smile. When Uncle Ma came down from the diving board with his eldest son, Ye Shaohong hurriedly ran over to him. "Uncle Ma, thank you for your hard work."

"Young master, you are mistaken. This is what this old servant should do. There is no question of hardship."

Uncle Ma's temperament is very similar to that of the old man of the Ye family. He rarely speaks and often has a cold face when he is at the Ye family mansion.

On the contrary, he could only laugh a few times when he was facing Ye Shaohong and his two siblings.

The doting look in his eyes and brows was impossible to hide.

"It's hard work, so what's wrong with talking about it?"

“Uncle Ma, you must be tired after traveling around for days. Let’s go home together, put our luggage away, and then we’ll go out for dinner. You can tell me about Grandpa, Father, Mother, and my older and younger sisters at the dinner table.”

As he spoke, Ye Shaohong took the initiative to step forward and snatch the suitcase that Ma Bo was carrying.

As the group chatted and laughed, they were about to make their way through the crowded streets to leave Zhongshan Wharf and find a few rickshaws to go home when a young man wearing an old-fashioned baseball cap suddenly ran out from the crowd.

The young man bumped headfirst into Ma Bo's arms.

This turn of events came so suddenly that neither Ye Shaohong nor Ma Bo were able to react.

By the time Ye Shaohong came to his senses and was about to reprimand the young man wearing the old-fashioned melon-shaped hat, the man had already disappeared back into the crowd.

Just then, Ma Bo also realized what was happening.

He pressed one hand to his chest, and his expression changed drastically at the same time.

"Having spent all day hunting geese, I've ended up getting pecked in the eye by one."

"Young master, grab that person."

"He's a thief."

"The moment you jumped into my arms, you stole the things that Master asked me to bring for you. There were even letters written to you by Master and Madam inside..."