I used the Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) to fight the Japanese.

On the way here, the group was discussing how they would forcibly seize the goods or use coercion and bribery if the other party disagreed. Unexpectedly, after just a brief suggestion, the guy not only agreed but also offered to send another truckload of supplies. Where can you find such a law-abiding citizen? You have to understand how many people in this era have to sell their children for a bite to eat!

What an honest citizen!

Wang Shuanzhu instructed the servants to busily prepare food. Only the three of them remained at the table. With no outsiders present, there was no need for formalities. The three exchanged glances and began to devour the food with gusto. These were rare delicacies, each holding a chicken in one hand and a duck in the other, their mouths greasy as they wolfed it down! It was as if they were vicious dogs fighting over food!

When Wang Shuanzhu came back in after preparing the things and loading the car, the dozen or so plates on the table were already clean and tidy. The three guys were full of alcohol and had big bellies, showing no trace of the majesty of the Imperial Army!

"Yo-shi!... Manager Wang,... Your Daughter Red wine is really good!... From now on, Deputy Team Leader Wang, you can do whatever you want in the county town... If you need anything, just come find me... uh..." Zhao Mancang saw the old man come in, stood up unsteadily, and pulled the old man over to say.

"Uh?...Okay, okay, we're relieved to have you looking after us! Everything's packed, would you like to rest for a while or..." Wang Shuanzhu was overjoyed to hear this. With another Japanese soldier taking care of things, the meal was worthwhile, and sending all those gifts was worth it!

"No! ...Catching miners...I'll come another day...and drink Daughter's Red wine!..." Having already obtained the goods, there was no need to linger; the important thing was to hurry back as soon as possible.

Don't be fooled by his swaying gait and reeking of alcohol; it's all an act! If he couldn't even resist this little temptation, he might as well hang himself instead of fighting the Japanese! His guiding principle has always been that he can drink but not let it interfere with his work; even when drunk, he can talk a good game.

"Yes, yes, we're already slacking off by coming here. Fujita-sama is very strict about military affairs, so we should go back as soon as possible!" Da Zhao quickly chimed in, even though he hadn't been drinking.

"Alright, the carriage is all ready. Shall I have my servants take you two back?" Having received this promise, Wang Shuanzhu didn't linger and was eager to get rid of this plague as soon as possible.

"No need, a few of us brothers are fine. We'll invite the Japanese officer over next time." With that, he picked up Hu Zi and beckoned the others to leave.

Upon exiting the courtyard, they saw Third Master already waiting at the gate with a donkey cart, followed closely by another horse-drawn carriage. Both carts were crammed full of food: rice, flour, whole slabs of pork and mutton, and even several baskets of fresh tofu. The sight made everyone grin involuntarily; the landlord's family was indeed quite wealthy!

The group hurriedly helped the two old ladies onto the carriage and settled them on the rice sacks. Third Master and Gou Mao each drove a carriage and left Xiaowang Village satisfied. Wang Shuanzhu and his steward escorted everyone out of the village and watched them until they were far away before turning to leave. Their attentive service was so good that everyone burst into laughter after leaving the village.

"Hahaha, this old man is so generous! He's treating me to food and gifts like I'm his own father! Do you think he's usually this filial to his own parents?"

"How could that be! This guy has been a notorious miser since he was young. When his mother got old and wanted to eat rice porridge with sesame seed cakes, he insisted on using the family's baked flatbreads to save the money for the two sesame seed cakes. When the old lady tasted it, she gave him a good scolding, and the whole village knew about it."

"This guy is only generous to his son. He'll sell everything he owns to satisfy his son's every whim. As a result, he's developed all sorts of spoiled brat habits—drinking, gambling, whoring, and smoking. And now that the Japanese have come, he's hooked up with them and become a traitor. That deputy captain was also bought by the old man. Isn't he only being so generous because he heard that Fujita could help his son?"

"I really don't know what he's after. His son is a complete spendthrift. Sooner or later, his son will squander all of his family's wealth!"

"I heard his son, Wang Daben, runs an opium den in the county town with the backing of the Japanese, and has harmed a lot of people! When are we going to go to town and rob him?"

"Let's do this! With so many of us fighting the Japanese, we can't do it without money. These traitors should be the first to be dealt with. We can't let them squander the hard-earned money of so many ordinary people!"

"Damn it! These traitors are the most despicable; they're even more ruthless than the Japanese devils when they bully ordinary people!"

"Get rid of him! It would be truly satisfying to use the traitors' money to fight the Japanese!"

"Young Master Cang, say something! Everyone's waiting for you to make a decision!"

"Yeah, Uncle Cang, could it be that he really got drunk on Daughter Red wine like Tiger did?"

"Who's drunk?... I'll have another jar... I call this 'Three jars before Jingyang Ridge'..."

"Hahaha, you can't do that! Wu Song drank eighteen bowls of wine and still killed a tiger!"

……

"I'm not really drunk, but I'm extremely dizzy. And let me tell you, this landlord's daughter's red wine is really strong, and the taste is pretty good, even better than Erguotou!"

"You just said you were going to the county town to set up an opium den, right? That's a good idea! Opium is a terrible disease, and setting up an opium den will make fighting the Japanese much easier! But before that, we need to make some preparations. Otherwise, we'll be invited for tea by the Japanese before we even reach the county town!"

"Huh? Really? It was going so smoothly, wasn't it?"

"Yeah! This skin works really well! We've already done it twice already, haven't we?"

"That's because we haven't encountered real Japanese devils yet. Putting everything else aside, look at our appearance! We don't stand or sit properly at all. Where is the bearing of soldiers? If we encountered the Japanese, we would definitely be trapped and wiped out without a chance to escape! Not to mention, who among us can speak Japanese? Who can understand Japanese? We can only fool the puppet troops and traitors with 'Baka! Yoshi!', but if we open our mouths in front of the Japanese, we will definitely be exposed!"

"Huh? What should we do then? We can't learn this thing in a short time! You just said we should prepare, what should we prepare?"

"Of course we're preparing equipment! We might not be able to imitate the Japanese, but we can at least pretend to be civilians, right?"

"No problem, we're just ordinary people, there's no need to pretend."

"Wait a minute! Pretending to be civilians is one thing, but what about our weapons? We still have grenades. How are we going to fight the Japanese and traitors without these things?"

The question stunned everyone. If they couldn't pretend to be Japanese soldiers, they couldn't openly carry guns and weapons. Fighting Japanese soldiers with just their fists without weapons was practically suicide!

"This is what we need to prepare. Everyone, inquire over the next couple of days about where there are carpenters and blacksmiths nearby. We need to get some carpenter and blacksmith tools to make suitable weapons ourselves. With weapons, it will be much easier to fight the Japanese devils and traitors!"

"Huh? Make it yourself? It's not going to be big swords and spears, is it? Will those things even work?"

"What? What era are we living in? Can our ancestors' methods still fight the Japanese?"

……