Chapter 37: Captives Can Be Bought with Money

"Wait! You know where I live?"

"Of course! The officer who woke me up gave me all your details!"

"Damn it! That blasted Fatty Liu!" For a split second, Li Haibo even considered silencing him permanently. He eventually dismissed the thought; after all, they were on the same side, and he couldn't just kill his own people as easily as he would the Japanese or traitors.

Li Haibo took a deep breath. "Fine! Get your tailor shop up and running immediately! Then, settle the radio operator. They don't need to be too close to me, but not too far, either. Rent a safe house as well, so we have a place for emergency meetings and coordination."

"Understood!" Zhao Quangui nodded eagerly.

"If anything urgent comes up in these next few days, write a note and tuck it into that wall crack. Use this as our temporary 'dead drop' until the tailor shop is open; then, we'll abandon it," Li Haibo said, gesturing toward a crevice in a nearby wall.

"Understood!"

The two discussed a few more details, such as how to pass signals and how to respond to danger, before parting ways.

Li Haibo rounded up a few of his subordinates to continue their patrol. Lost in thought, he wandered until he found himself at the Zhabei Orphanage.

"Brother Bo! Why'd you bring us here?" Xiong Kui asked, puzzled.

Li Haibo snapped out of his trance. He had walked too far; although it was technically within his patrol zone, he rarely came this way.

"Too many questions! We're patrolling either way, what difference does it make where we go?" After chiding them, Li Haibo turned his gaze toward the orphanage.

The warm winter sun bathed the orphanage grounds, as if pouring all its warmth into this one spot. The once-shabby building was now filled with the laughter and chatter of children. They darted about like untethered colts, chasing one another, their high-pitched giggles echoing through the yard.

The headmistress stood by, her expression serious yet her eyes filled with care as she watched over them. The nanny looked on with a kind, beaming smile, occasionally calling out reminders to play safely.

Then there was the young, beautiful teacher, undoubtedly the most vibrant splash of color in the scene. She moved with grace, her face as delicate as a painting. Her jet-black hair shimmered in the sunlight, swaying gently with her movements, making her appear full of life. Truly beautiful!

She was currently leading the children in a joyful game. Her voice was clear and melodious as she patiently explained the rules, occasionally demonstrating them herself. The children circled her, their eyes wide with adoration and anticipation, all eager to join in.

Li Haibo stood quietly in the distance, gazing at the joyful scene. The corners of his mouth lifted into a faint, comforted smile.

A moment later, he turned and left silently.

The teacher seemed to sense something. She looked up, startled, her gaze lingering on the retreating back. It was a broad, sturdy back clad in a police uniform. Beneath the crisp jacket, his wide shoulders seemed capable of carrying the weight of the world, and he stood as tall and firm as a pine, exuding a sense of reassuring strength.

The teacher paused, a strange, inexplicable feeling rising in her chest. She murmured to herself, "Why does that back look so familiar?"

"Teacher Jiang! Is something wrong?" Sister Lucy, the headmistress, noticed her distraction and walked over to ask softly.

Teacher Jiang shook herself out of her thoughts and smiled, shaking her head. "It's nothing! Headmistress, I was just thinking—we have so many children here now, it's getting hard for one person to teach them all. Have you considered hiring another teacher?"

The headmistress hesitated. "Well..."

Seeing this, Teacher Jiang quickly added, "I have a classmate who graduated from a teachers' college. She's kind-hearted and passionate about charity; she'd love to help out here. Don't worry, she's like me—she just loves the children and won't ask for any pay. She'll go home after class, so it won't add any burden to the orphanage."

The headmistress smiled with relief and nodded. "Very well, let her come and try."

...

By noon, the men, having walked a long distance, had worked up quite an appetite and felt stuffed after their meal. They strolled outside, lighting cigarettes and chatting idly to help digest their food.

Just as they were relaxing, Ma Quanyi hurried toward them, looking panicked and drenched in sweat. His eyes were frantic, and the beads of sweat rolling down his forehead looked jarring in the cold winter air.

Li Haibo met him and pulled him into a quiet alleyway behind the street. "What is it, Xiao Ma? Why are you in such a state in this freezing weather?"

"Brother Bo! It's a disaster! The Nationalist army unit I served with was scattered by the Japanese. Many of my brothers were captured and are being held by the Japanese military police in Shanghai. A Japanese officer named Yamashita or something has put out word: if their families don't raise enough money to ransom them within fifteen days, they'll be sent to the mines beyond the Great Wall. That's a death sentence!"

"How many men are there?"

"The Japanese brought back five hundred this time, all local men from around Shanghai."

"You're putting me in a tough spot! Five hundred people? I don't have the ability to save them all. Even if I had the heart, I couldn't turn the tide."

"Brother Bo, I know it's hard. But twenty of those men are my brothers-in-arms—men I've bled with. I want to borrow a submachine gun from you to go and get them out."

"You want to storm the military police prison?"

"What else can I do? They're my brothers; I owe them too much. I'm a lone wolf anyway; I'm willing to risk my life to try!"

"The prison is heavily guarded. Even with me, two people with two submachine guns won't break in. Don't end up throwing your life away without saving anyone. The only way is to pay the ransom. How much per person?"

"It's one hundred silver dollars each. We can't possibly come up with that kind of money!"

"Hiss... damn it!" *Did you count my wallet before coming here?* Li Haibo felt a phantom ache in his teeth thinking about the two thousand-plus silver dollars in his storage space.

"Brother Bo! Please, lend me the gun! These are my brothers. When we first enlisted, there were over a hundred of us. We went through a hail of bullets and danced with death, and now only these twenty are left. The last time I survived the battlefield, it was because they covered me with their own lives. Even my travel money to get home was collected dime by dime by those brothers. My life belongs to them; I can't just watch them be sent away to die in the mines!" Ma Quanyi’s eyes were red-rimmed, his voice choked with emotion.

Li Haibo frowned, pondering for a moment. "After you finish your shift this afternoon, wait for me under the willow tree behind my house."

"Right! Thank you, Brother Bo!" Hope flickered in Ma Quanyi’s eyes as he thanked him profusely.

After Ma Quanyi left, Li Haibo looked at his retreating figure, feeling conflicted. "Sigh... I'm no good at holding onto wealth! No matter how much I have, it just slips away! Oh well, let's just count it as his share of the spoils from when we took out that traitor, Wu Yi." He comforted himself, "Right, we did the job together; he deserves a cut. That operation netted over two hundred gold bars. Giving him two thousand silver dollars isn't excessive."

Thinking this way, the gloom in Li Haibo’s heart dissipated just a little.