Chapter 276: Seizing the Radio

He Yuzhu crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the hunchbacked old man with a sidelong glance: "Old thing, your Party and State ran off on a steamship long ago! Even if we opened the door and let you leave now, where could you go? Don't tell me you're going to swim across the sea to find them?"

As he said this, his thoughts stirred, and the Detonator in the old man's embrace entered his space without anyone noticing.

The old man grinned sinisterly: "No need for you to worry about that. If you don't agree to my conditions, we'll all hit the road together today. Having you young people accompany me, it's worth it for an old man like me!"

"In your dreams. Once you've entered this room, don't even think about leaving!" He Yuzhu said loudly.

Tian Dan pulled gently on He Yuzhu's sleeve from behind and stepped forward, saying softly: "Old sir, whatever conditions you have, you can state them; we will do our best to satisfy them."

The old man's cloudy eyes lit up: "This young lady is the only one who understands reason! Prepare a car with a full tank of gas for me, and you accompany me for a stretch. Once we reach a safe place, I will let you return."

"I agree to your conditions!" Tian Dan said.

"Agree to my foot! You make him press it; let's see if he's afraid of dying!" He Yuzhu gave Tian Dan a wink.

Xu Damao was so scared he collapsed to the ground, pleading with a sobbing voice: "Grandpa, please don't press it, I beg you!"

"Shut up!" the old man barked sternly, "This has nothing to do with you, get out of here quickly!"

He Yuzhu thought to himself that the old man was actually not bad to Xu Damao, still wanting to spare his life.

He sneered: "Now, your word is no good; nobody is allowed to leave!"

Luo Jiangtao stamped his feet in anxiety: "Godfather, I've told you so many times, the situation is lost, surrender!"

The old man kicked him: "You spineless coward! I firmly believe that the army of the Party and State will definitely fight their way back!"

"Oh ho~" He Yuzhu drawled, "All thunder and no rain? If you're going to press it, hurry up; if you don't, you're my grandson!"

Provoked to the point where his eyes turned blood-red, the old man slammed the button—

The room fell into a deathly silence.

Xu Damao collapsed directly onto the floor, but after waiting for a good while, there was no movement at all.

What was going on? The old man frantically pressed the button repeatedly; how could this be?

Tian Dan stepped forward in a flash to restrain him, and two members of the Inspection Team deftly put Handcuffs on him.

The others also quickly brought Luo Jiangtao and Xu Damao under control.

"You kid..." Tian Dan wiped away cold sweat and shook her head helplessly at He Yuzhu, "Don't take such risks next time."

He Yuzhu stepped forward with a grin to dismantle the Explosive: "Sister, look, this old man was just playing with us. The Explosive is real, but the Detonator had long since disappeared."

"Heaven has forsaken me!" The old man looked up and sighed, his entire being collapsing.

Later, it was learned that this old man was named Xu Cheng, a veteran of the Military Statistics Bureau.

Back when Luo Jiangtao was making a living in Chongqing with a theater troupe, it was he who took in these starving performers and slowly developed them all into secret agents.

Recently, seeing one secret agent hideout after another being taken down, he knew his time was short, so he carried this set of equipment on him all day long.

Xu Damao cried with snot and tears: "Sister, I don't know anything... I'm only thirteen years old..."

"Don't be afraid," Tian Dan's tone softened, "Cooperate with the investigation and everything will be fine."

At this moment, Xu Xiaoyun returned with her younger sister Xu Xiaoling after buying groceries, and she trembled with fear upon seeing this scene.

Tian Dan gave the order: "Take them all away, the rest of you search the courtyard."

Luo Jiangtao hurriedly warned: "Comrades, there is Explosive buried in the cellar, be very careful!"

Xu Cheng cursed loudly: "Luo Xiaowu, you coward! I really misjudged you!"

Luo Jiangtao retorted: "Old thing! You think just because you gave me a bite to eat I should be grateful? I only love performing, I have no interest in your ideologies! We've reached this point, and you still want to boss me around? Bah!"

Tian Dan gave He Yuzhu a wink.

He Yuzhu walked to the cellar and used Scanning to discover that the lid was connected to an explosive device; it would detonate the moment it was pulled open.

It seemed Xu Cheng was indeed an expert at playing with Explosive.

He secretly used the system to clear the Explosive inside the cellar before slowly opening the lid.

The Inspection Team members quickly went down to search and discovered two radios, over a dozen Submachine Guns, and quite a lot of Big Ocean and gold.

Tian Dan looked at the seized supplies, her eyes shining, and she patted He Yuzhu on the shoulder hard.

"Thank you!"

"Sister, you need to interrogate him properly; this old man is not simple!"

"I know."

He Yuzhu nodded: "Then I'll head back first."

When he returned to the Siheyuan, the guests had already dispersed.

He Daqing was dead drunk on the bed, snoring away, while He Yushui came up to him holding a Cloth Tiger: "Brother, where did you go? Sister Liu was looking for you just now."

"Brother went out to take care of some business." He Yuzhu ruffled her hair, "Dad is back, is Yushui happy?"

"Happy! Before, the kids in the courtyard all said Yushui's dad was dead, no matter how I explained it, they wouldn't believe me!"

"From now on, if anyone says that again, you tell Brother, and I'll deal with them."

Half a month later, Cui Xiu moved back into the Siheyuan with her two daughters, no particular emotion visible on her face.

Yan Bugui asked curiously: "Cui Xiu, why did you suddenly move back?"

"Mr. Luo and I have separated," Cui Xiu said.

A stone stirred up a thousand waves, and rumors about Cui Xiu soon spread throughout the courtyard.

Some said she had been dumped by Luo Jiangtao, others said Luo Jiangtao was a secret agent and had already fled.

He Yuzhu learned from Tian Dan that after Luo Jiangtao was arrested, he was very cooperative and gave up many of his colleagues.

In the end, the unyielding old man Xu Cheng was sentenced to death, while the actively cooperative Luo Jiangtao, due to his meritorious service, had his theater and house confiscated but saved his life and was sentenced to twenty years in prison.

During this time, He Yuzhu was exceptionally busy, mainly because Wang Xia had set her sights on him.

After months of investigation, Wang Xia discovered six ownerless courtyards in Nanluoguxiang, but most of these houses were in a state of extreme disrepair.

Wang Xia was determined to renovate these courtyards, but her repeated applications for funding were never approved, so she set her sights on He Yuzhu.

"Sister, my money didn't come from a strong wind either," He Yuzhu said with difficulty, "Even though the Boss is generous and I earn over a million People's Currency a month (the first set of People's Currency, ten thousand is roughly one yuan later), I still have a whole family to support!"

"Cut the act!" Wang Xia said, hands on her hips. "Who doesn't know you have plenty of ways? Just tell me, are you going to help or not?"

"Unless you allocate the west courtyard of Compound 95 to a few of my subordinates, I won't help!"

Wang Xia calculated for a moment: "That courtyard has two mu of land; how many rooms are you planning to build?"

"Four families, at least twelve rooms."

"Deal."

"All nine courtyards are so dilapidated; repairs will cost at least tens of millions. I can only go ask my sister for sponsorship." He Yuzhu feigned a troubled look.

Wang Xia scolded him with a laugh: "Don't cry poor to me! I see the money in your pockets is endless."

He Yuzhu groaned inwardly; ever since this woman arrived in Beiping, not only had she not helped him with anything, but she made him do all the work at every turn and even thought it was only natural.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was September; the founding ceremony of the nation was drawing near.

That day, Tian Dan suddenly visited: "Zhuzi, we received intelligence that Military Statistics Bureau latent agents are planning to cause sabotage on the day of the founding ceremony; it is said that several thousand people are involved."

"Several thousand people? Where are they hiding?"

Tian Dan pondered and said: "I suspect they are in the mountains. Beiping is surrounded by mountains on all sides; I'm afraid there isn't enough time to search them one by one."