Pain

"Team leader, the action team says a new rice shop has opened on Zhongzheng Road, and the prices are extremely low, almost the same as before the war."

As soon as Lu Chen and Matsumoto Kiyoko returned to the intelligence section, a spy came to report.

The task force is basically responsible for monitoring a specific area, and will report any unusual situations to its superiors.

It's obviously very strange for a rice shop to suddenly appear with low prices during a period of skyrocketing grain prices.

"Okay, I understand."

Kiyoko Matsumoto frowned. After the man left, she remained seated in her chair without saying a word.

Lu Chen stood next to her, feeling a little uneasy. He knew that the Japanese army would find out about his low-price grain sale, but he didn't expect it to happen so soon.

The news was released yesterday, and the Japanese army found out this morning.

The Japanese army just lost a batch of grain, and now a place is selling grain at low prices. It's hard not to suspect them.

"Mr. Lu, do you think these two things are related?"

Kiyoko Matsumoto looked up at Lu Chen and slowly asked.

Lu Chen was speechless for a moment. How should he answer this? If he said it was related, he was afraid that Matsumoto Kiyoko would investigate further. If he said it wasn't related, he was afraid that she would think he was stupid as a pig.

"There should be a connection, after all, these two things are very close together."

After thinking it over, Lu Chen decided to choose the safest option.

"Team leader, why don't I investigate and see who the owner behind this rice shop is?"

"it is good."

Lu Chen volunteered to avoid being discovered too early and to give himself some time to deal with the situation.

Seeing that Matsumoto Kiyoko agreed, Lu Chen visibly breathed a sigh of relief. If Matsumoto Kiyoko hadn't agreed, then the fact that he was the owner of the rice shop would have been impossible to hide.

After saying goodbye, Lu Chen left the Japanese concession and returned to the Chinese territory.

He did not return to the military police headquarters, but went to the rice shop immediately.

"Brother Chen."

Liu Jie was keeping a close watch on things. When Lu Chen arrived, he stood up and offered Lu Chen a cigarette.

After lighting a cigarette, Lu Chen turned to Liu Jie and asked, "Xiao Jie, how's it going?"

"Business is very good; we've sold almost half of our stock in just half a day."

Liu Jie grinned foolishly, but Lu Chen had already anticipated what would happen when such low-priced grain appeared at this time, so he didn't care.

"Xiao Jie, punch me."

Lu Chen took a deep drag of his cigarette and stared at Liu Jie before speaking earnestly.

"Huh? What did you say, Brother Chen?"

Liu Jie picked at his ear, thinking he had misheard. Had Lu Chen just told him to hit him?

"Hit me, hit me here, hit me hard."

Lu Chen pointed to his eye sockets, his expression very serious.

Liu Jie didn't know why Lu Chen wanted him to hit him, but seeing how serious Lu Chen's expression was, he took a deep breath, mustered all his strength, and punched Lu Chen in the eye socket.

"Hiss~"

Lu Chen took two steps back, gasped twice, and reflexively covered his eyes with one hand.

"Brother Chen, are you alright? Are you alright?"

Seeing Lu Chen's strong reaction, Liu Jie quickly stepped forward to support him.

Lu Chen didn't agree, and kept groaning while covering his eyes.

He truly hadn't expected Liu Jie to be so strong; he felt as if that blow was about to blast his eyeballs out—it was too ruthless.

"It's okay, I'm fine."

After a while, Lu Chen finally stood up, his eyelids blinking uncontrollably.

Ignoring Liu Jie, she immediately ran to the mirror and started looking at herself.

My left eye is already red, and it will probably turn bruised soon. The blood vessels in my eyeball are terrifying; it's obvious that the injury is quite serious.

"Brother Chen, what's wrong with you? Why would I hit you?"

Liu Jie looked at Lu Chen with a worried expression. He thought Lu Chen had lost his mind and suddenly wanted him to hit him.

"It's okay, let me catch my breath."

Lu Chen waved his hand, found a chair, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest.

It hurt, but Lu Chen had already begun to think about his next plan.

If I want to bring down Zhang Rongshan, I certainly can't do it on my own, so I have to rely on the Japanese army.

As long as we let the rats keep taking food from the Japanese army and then frame Zhang Rongshan for it, we can get rid of him effortlessly.

However, Zhang Rongshan was on good terms with the Japanese army, so Lu Chen had to come up with a foolproof plan to catch a big fish with a long line.

"Xiao Jie, you keep an eye on things for now. Call me when it gets dark."

Lu Chen lay on the chair, the sounds of Grandpa Wang working on his needle and thread and the clamor of the people around him.

"Okay, Brother Chen, you should get some sleep."

Liu Jie glanced at Lu Chen lying down, then turned away to attend to his own business.

It took Lu Chen a long time to fall asleep in this environment, but he was always woken up by noise.

"Brother Chen, Brother Chen."

Lu Chen felt a swaying motion, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that it was already dark outside, and Liu Jie was shaking him beside him.

"Xiao Jie, how much grain did you sell today? How much money did you make?"

Lu Chen rubbed his temples, a sharp pain shooting through his left eye. Looking in the mirror, he saw it was already bruised.

"We sold about 3000 jin (1,500 catties) of rice, about 1000 jin (500 catties) of rice and about the same amount of flour, for a total of 4922.4 yuan."

After saying that, Liu Jie took out a wad of cash and handed it to Lu Chen. Lu Chen took it, counted out twenty yuan, and gave it to Liu Jie.

"This is your reward for today's hard work. So many people have come here, thank you for your hard work."

"Brother Chen, why would I need money to help you? I'm one of your people."

Liu Jie waved his hand, refusing to accept the money. Seeing this, Lu Chen had no choice but to give up and then took out eighty-one coins and handed them to Grandpa Wang.

"Old Wang, how about we consider this 100 yuan as our rent for one month?"

Grandpa Wang was tidying up his needlework when he heard Lu Chen say this. He looked at the bruises on Lu Chen's face and waved his hand.

"No need for so many, fifty is enough. People come to buy grain and also have their clothes mended here. I can earn in one day what I used to earn in several days."

"Pfft pfft."

Grandpa Wang's grandson was also beside him. Seeing the bruises on Lu Chen's face, he covered his mouth and suppressed a laugh.

Lu Chen glanced at the kid, shook his head helplessly, and still insisted on giving him 100.

"Uncle Wang, we've taken up quite a bit of space selling our grain. How about this, I'll give you fifty yuan, plus twenty jin of rice and flour. What do you think?"

Twenty catties of rice and twenty catties of flour should be enough for the grandfather and grandson to eat for a while. Seeing that Grandpa Wang refused to accept the hundred yuan, Lu Chen simply changed the method.

"Well... alright then, thank you for your expense."

Grandpa Wang hesitated for a moment, looking at his grandson. The little money he earned now was only enough for the two of them to eat and drink. His grandson would have to get married in the future. If he had this fifty yuan and twenty catties of rice and noodles, he could save a lot of money every month.

Thinking of this, Grandpa Wang accepted the gift, grabbed the arm of the child next to him, and was about to kneel down before Lu Chen.

"Oh, Uncle Wang, please don't do this, I can't accept it. You should take good care of your grandson. I'll come to see you again when I have time."

Lu Chen and Liu Jie quickly helped the two up. To be honest, this scene was too painful for Lu Chen to bear. What would be worthless in later generations was something that could save a family at this time.

With tears in his eyes, Grandpa Wang watched the two leave, thinking to himself that he had lived a mediocre life and never expected to meet such kind people at his age.