Chapter 187: Turning the Tide

He Yuzhu left the grocery store, turned into a quiet alley, and after looking around to confirm no one was there, he slipped into a deserted courtyard.

With a thought, he entered the space.

Holding the photo Liu Rusi had given him, he carefully compared it against the seven unconscious bodyguards.

When he saw the third face, his pupils constricted—it was Bureau Chief Xu!

This old fox was actually playing dress-up, disguised as an ordinary bodyguard, and his clothes were the same as those of the other bodyguards; if one didn't look closely, it was truly hard to tell.

He Yuzhu sneered; this fellow had gone to such great lengths to disguise himself, only to end up in his hands after all.

He organized the documents from the safe, put them into the cloth bag he carried with him, and carefully tied the opening.

When he returned to the grocery store, Lao Zhou and his uncle Shen Wenqing were already waiting there.

Seeing him enter, the two stood up simultaneously, their eyes full of urgency.

"Zhuzi, are you really..." Lao Zhou was so excited he couldn't find the right words to describe it.

"It's all here." He Yuzhu placed the cloth bag on the table.

Lao Zhou and Shen Wenqing couldn't wait to take out the documents and start flipping through them.

Suddenly, Lao Zhou slammed the table, making the teacups clatter: "What a Xia Yuanzhang! So the incident at the Xizhimen Transportation Station was all the work of this Military Statistics Bureau double agent!"

Shen Wenqing also pointed at a photo on one of the documents, his fingers trembling slightly...

The more they read, the more solemn their expressions became, and the only sound left in the room was the rustling of paper being turned.

After about half an hour, Lao Zhou finally looked up, carefully put away the documents, and said: "Although this is only a partial list of the Beiping Secret Service Bureau, it is enough for us to pull out several nails... Zhuzi, thank you so much!"

"Lao Zhou, we have an agreement. I've handed the documents to you; I don't care if they're real or fake, and if anything happens later, I won't be Jiang Gan!" He Yuzhu said.

"You brat, you've been listening to too much storytelling! I'm not senile yet; I can judge what's real and what's fake!" Lao Zhou scolded.

"There is one more thing I want to tell you: that Bureau Chief Xu was indeed captured by me."

"Say that again!" A sharp light flashed in Lao Zhou's eyes, and his voice rose quite a bit.

"The Secret Service Bureau Chief has been captured by me!"

"You, that's great! You, you must hand the person over to us immediately. It's not too late; we need to turn him. Send him back in time!" Lao Zhou said urgently.

"This... can it be done? I heard he's a person who always goes with the wind."

"Rest assured, we have our own ways." Lao Zhou patted his shoulder, "This time, this time I'll record a great merit for you."

Today was the most uncomposed Lao Zhou had ever been; his body was trembling, and he was a bit too excited!

He Yuzhu grinned: "Just recording a great merit for me isn't enough. Liu Rusi, Wang Jiazhi, Li Xiangxiu, and Comrade Shen Wenqing must all be credited with great merits. Otherwise, I..."

"Fine, I promise you! You brat!" Lao Zhou laughed and scolded, "You just love playing these nepotism games."

"I'll put the person in the cellar of 91 Hao Yuan in a moment. By the way, I also captured a few of his subordinates; do you want them?"

"No need." Lao Zhou waved his hand, "Too many people, too many eyes; it will only spoil things."

He Yuzhu understood, drove the truck near Nanluoguxiang, and parked it far away.

He changed into a tattered cotton-padded jacket, smeared some dust on his face, pretended to be a beggar, and quietly snuck into 91 Hao Yuan.

The people responsible for watching the Courtyard were not diligent and didn't even look at He Yuzhu as he walked over from a distance.

In the space, He Yuzhu tied Bureau Chief Xu up tightly and stuffed a cloth ball into his mouth, then placed him in the cellar.

When He Yuzhu arrived at the Genjudi, it was already afternoon. The usually lively village was much quieter, as Hongying's Independent Division had already set out.

Before he even entered the house, he heard He Yushui's wailing.

He Yuzhu walked quickly into the room and saw Shen Guizhi raising a broom handle to hit her bottom.

The little girl was lying on the edge of the kang, crying her heart out.

"Mom, what's going on?"

Shen Guizhi put down the broom and glared at him irritably: "I hid the candy in the cabinet, but this girl, she took a few other children from the village and dug it out to share!"

He Yuzhu hurriedly picked up his sister. The little girl immediately hugged his neck aggrievedly and sobbed: "The candy Brother gave... Mom insisted on hiding it..."

"It's okay, it's okay, Brother will save some more for you, you can share it however you want." He Yuzhu rubbed his sister's little head and said to his mother, "She's still young, don't be so hard on her; if she shared it, she shared it!"

Shen Guizhi sighed and pointed to the steamed buns and pickles on the table: "Look, this girl doesn't even want to eat steamed buns anymore."

He Yuzhu noticed the food and couldn't help but frown: "Didn't I leave rice for the family? Why are you eating this again?"

He Yushui pouted and complained: "It was Dad who took the rice away!"

"Don't listen to her nonsense." Shen Guizhi hurriedly explained, "It was lent to the wounded soldiers' canteen; several severely wounded soldiers need nutrition."

He Yuzhu shook his head and took out some frozen, rock-hard meat buns from his backpack.

He Yushui's eyes lit up immediately; she took a bun and tried to bite it, but couldn't.

He Yuzhu found a few chopsticks, propped the buns up, and roasted them over the fire. Before long, the aroma began to permeate the air.

He Yushui was drooling with hunger and kept asking, "Brother, is it ready? Is it ready?"

He Yuzhu handed her one that was roasted.

She chewed until her mouth was full of oil and said vaguely: "Brother is good... Dad is not good... Mom is not good either..."

"Look at how spoiled she is, even Mom isn't good anymore..." Shen Guizhi laughed and scolded.

He Yuzhu moved more than forty pounds of frozen, rock-hard buns from the truck, placed them on the kang, and said: "I originally intended to have Dad share them with the leaders of the regiment, but this time I won't share them; I'll leave them at home to eat. When Dad isn't around, you can roast a few to improve the meals."

"You brat, are you guarding against your own father like this?" Shen Guizhi made a gesture to hit him.

"I'm just afraid Dad will take them to give away to others again." He Yuzhu dodged with a smile, "His awareness is too high now; he even snatches his daughter's rations!"

In the evening, He Daqing returned with a weary body, his brows tightly locked.

Seeing the buns on the kang, his eyes lit up: "Zhuzi, these buns... can you share twenty with the Regimental Commander? He's been exhausted and ill these days, and the food is poor..."

"Take them." He Yuzhu said helplessly, "But Dad, relying on these few things from home to support the troops is not a long-term solution. If you have real gold or silver on hand, I know a way. I can get you some meat!"

He Daqing immediately became spirited: "Where can we get it? How do we get it? Tell me quickly!"

"My Siqiang still has over a hundred pigs and sheep at that farm in Qin Family Village," He Yuzhu said.

"What about the restaurant?"

"The restaurant has been sealed off!"

"Why was it sealed?" He Daqing asked.

"It's a long story, let's not talk about it today, but my Siqiang is currently hiding in that village too," He Yuzhu said.

"Let's go, we're leaving right now!" He Daqing stood up immediately.

"Leaving right now?"

"Yes! Long delays mean more trouble, and there are too many Bald Party patrols during the day," He Daqing said.

The moonlight was like water; He Yuzhu drove the truck in front to light the way, followed by over a dozen horse-drawn carriages, heading straight for Qin Family Village.

At ten o'clock in the morning, He Yuzhu and his party finally arrived at Qin Family Village.

As soon as they reached the village entrance, they heard someone shouting for help.

He Yuzhu took a look and saw someone had fallen into an ice hole in a large river in front of the village.

Several girls were shouting and screaming on the side, but none of them dared to go down to attempt a rescue.

He Yuzhu did not hesitate; he jumped off the truck and, while running, took a bundle of Rope out from his space.

He arrived nearby and threw the Rope to the man bobbing up and down in the ice hole.

Unfortunately, the man who had fallen into the water no longer had the strength to even grab the Rope; his lips were frozen purple, and his eyes were already beginning to lose focus.