It was a low, dilapidated thatched house. Inside, the table and bowls were clattering. In the thick smoke, a dozen gamblers were quarreling loudly.
He was wearing a black jacket with the collar open, a white shirt underneath, black pants, black cloth shoes, white socks, a fashionable side-parted hairstyle, and a delicate young face, which was now flushed with sweat.
"Li Youcai, do you know how much you owe? Don't ask for favors from me. If you don't have cash, I won't play this game with you!" The man opposite was yelling in dissatisfaction while arranging the mahjong tiles on the table.
Li Youcai couldn't help but slam the table: "Damn it! I'll bet this and open another round!" As he said this, Li Youcai took off the Mauser pistol on his back and threw it on the table with a clang.
The man opposite looked at the gun on the table and nodded: "Okay, deal the cards!"
…
With four card nines tightly clenched in his hand, a pair of long threes, and a pair of copper hammers, Li Youcai raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and an extremely mismatched and obscene smile hung on his delicate face.
With a snap, the man opposite slapped two cards on the table - clubs.
"Haha, sorry, it looks like this gun is mine." The man didn't wait for Li Youcai to react from his daze, nor did he wait for Li Youcai to play a card. He then played out the other two cards - Supreme!
Li Youcai was dumbfounded. Before he could come to his senses, a man at the door came up behind him and patted him on the shoulder: "Hey, Li Youcai, there are people outside looking for you. They say they are from the Eighth Route Army."
This time even the gun was lost, which made Li Youcai very discouraged: "Eighth Route Army bullshit! If they were the Eighth Route Army, I would still be a plainclothes officer!"
The man opposite took the gun from the table and said with a smile: "Aren't you the plainclothes team?"
Li Youcai finally realized, yes, I am the plainclothes team, right? He turned around and asked in surprise, "Who did you say they were just now?"
…
The sun was about to set, and Hu Yi's figure appeared again on the hill west of Luoye Village. This morning, Class 9 was standing here looking at the Li family in the distance.
Luo Fugui walked up to Hu Yi and said, "Boss Hu, the next step is to send a letter to the Li family. You write the letter, and when it gets dark, I will throw it in front of his door."
Hu Yi looked at the Li family in Luoye Village quietly, and after a while he replied to Luo Fugui: "No need to send a letter, wait until dark, we will bring people directly to the gate of the Li family and kill and sell them immediately!"
Luo Fugui couldn't help scratching his head: "This, isn't it too risky... They have so many people and guns, what if..."
"It's okay." Hu Yi interrupted Luo Fugui's worries. "If we do it in the name of bandits, then you are right. But let's do it as the Eighth Route Army. I don't believe they dare to be careless."
Hu Yi always speaks in a reliable manner, so Luo Fugui believes him, but he still can't figure out the reason.
Seeing that Luo Fugui was still scratching his head, Hu Yi didn't mind explaining it to him: "The bandits have no roots, they are just floating duckweed, if they are destroyed, everything will be over. We are the army, the mountains and rivers, even if he is the chairman of the maintenance association, he doesn't live in the county town. The bigger the family business, the more ties there are. Someone who can run such a big business can't be a fool, right?"
…
"Ouch!" Li Youcai, who was tied up with his hands behind his back, screamed in pain in a fake manner.
"Hey, auntie, I haven't even used my full strength yet, why are you screaming so loudly?" Xiao Hongying asked while lifting her pigtails.
Li Youcai was caught by these Eighth Route Army soldiers in the gambling den of Lushuipu. He almost peed his pants on the spot, but these Eighth Route Army soldiers said nothing. After tying him up, they headed towards Luoye Village and stopped behind the mountain to the west of the village. Li Youcai finally understood that it seemed that they were not targeting the plainclothes team, but the Li family. He finally felt a little relieved.
"Hehehe, I have to cooperate with the Eighth Route Army sister to make you look more invincible!" Li Youcai said to the little girl with a flattering smile.
Hehehe… Xiao Hongying was amused by the name of Eighth Route Army Sister, and she circled around Li Youcai and said, "How did you, a traitor, get by? You don't have a gun, bullets, or money, how can I not kick you? Don't you think so?"
“Yes, yes, I was wrong! I will definitely bring them all with me in the future. If you, the Eighth Route Army sister, come to arrest me at any time, I, Li Youcai, will hand them over at any time. There will be no ambiguity!” The people around him included Liu Jianqiang, who looked at him with a gloomy face, Ma Liang, who acted as if nothing had happened, and Wu Shitou, who was as numb as a sculpture. So Li Youcai could only try his best to get close to this clever little girl, just in case there was a chance of something going wrong.
Although she knew that this guy was a plainclothes trooper and a traitor, Li Youcai, who was in his twenties, had a pretty face and was not offensive in his traitor costume. He also spoke in a very tactful way, so Xiao Hongying had no interest in abusing him. After not eating for a day, her stomach suddenly growled, so Xiao Hongying asked, "Your Li family is so big, there must be a lot of food, right?"
"Yes! There are three granaries and two granaries. I don't know the exact number." After answering, Li Youcai suddenly asked tentatively: "Um, Eighth Route Army sisters, you... want food?"
"Yeah! Otherwise why would I arrest a piece of trash like you?"
Oh—now Li Youcai understood everything. They had captured him as a hostage in order to exchange him for food. He felt relieved. He lowered his head and was silent for a while, then raised his head and said to Xiao Hongying with a smile: "Sister Eighth Route Army, hey, hey, I want to... ask you a favor."
Xiao Hongying tilted her head and looked at the smiling Li Youcai without saying a word, but her expression revealed: Tell me what you think.
Li Youcai understood the little girl's expression and continued quickly, "Look, can you talk to your leader and ask for some money when you ask for food? As for me, I promise to cooperate with you, cry when I need to cry, shout when I need to shout, and when the job is done, give me some of the money... as a reward, is that okay?"
Quiet, the surroundings suddenly became unusually quiet!
Because Xiao Hongying, Ma Liang and Liu Jianqiang all became Wu Shitou, four Wu Shitou...
It was late at night, so late that people began to fall asleep.
A torch gradually lit up, held in the solemn hand of Liu Jianqiang, fluttering in the night wind. The flickering flame pushed away the darkness and shone on the two tall, wide and heavy doors more than ten meters away, with the copper nails shining brightly in the flames.
Beside the torch, Li Youcai was kneeling on the ground with his hands tied behind his back, hunched over and head lowered, looking extremely tortured.
On the other side, a heroic soldier stood proudly with his legs apart, holding a Type 38 rifle horizontally, with a gleaming bayonet hanging under the muzzle. In the light of the torch, a pair of narrow hands could be vaguely seen under the brim of his hat.
Luo Fugui was holding a machine gun, taking cover at the dark alley entrance at the back; Ma Liang was hiding in a nearby corner, with bullets already loaded; Wu Shitou followed Xiao Hongying, watching from afar in the darkness.
Soon, a row of gun muzzles appeared on the walls on both sides of the gate.
It was almost time to speak. Hu Yi raised his head slightly and said, "Listen, everyone in the sect. Your Li Youcai is kneeling here. If you want to spare the life of this traitor, then let your leader come out and discuss it with me, an Eighth Route Army soldier!"
"Eighth Route Army?" There was a commotion inside the gate, and someone on the wall was also shouting, "Oh my god, isn't that Second Master? Quick, go tell First Master!"
After a cup of tea, a figure hurriedly climbed up the wall: "Second Master, is that you? Second Master."
Li Youcai raised his head upon hearing the voice and cried, "That's me! Butler Li, where's my brother? Why doesn't he come out? Please save me!"
Steward Li, who was standing on the wall, looked at Li Youcai, who was under the bayonet outside the gate, and couldn't help but sigh: "Alas, the master... he said... Second Master, don't blame me, I really asked the master for you, but..."
Steward Li paused for a moment, not knowing what to say. He spoke again and shouted at Hu Yi, "Our master said that Li Youcai is no longer a member of the Li family. His life or death has nothing to do with the Li family. You can kill him as you please! I advise your army to leave Luoye Village as soon as possible, otherwise you will be in trouble!"
Hu Yi was stunned. He could not help but look down at Li Youcai who was kneeling beside him. He called this kid "Second Master", which meant that he had not arrested the wrong person. However, this plot was not right, right? What was going on? He would not cry until he saw the coffin? How about... he should poke him twice first, to show the Li family
Li Youcai was also stunned. He inadvertently found that Hu Yi was staring at him expressionlessly. From the first moment he was caught, Li Youcai could tell that Hu Yi was not a good person, but a man who was truly cold to the bone. At this moment, those narrow eyes were revealing very complicated things, which made Li Youcai think of many things and his hair stood on end.
Li Youcai could not kneel any longer and he collapsed completely to the ground, his heart filled with fear, unwillingness and resentment. He did not hate Hu Yi, but the heartless head of the Li family at the gate, his brother Li Youde.
When Hu Yi put the sharp bayonet against Li Youcai's chest, the trembling Li Youcai used up the last bit of his strength to squeeze out a smile that was uglier than crying, and stammered to Hu Yi: "I haven't had dinner yet. I can arrange it, I'll arrange it, please."
…