Fourth Brother Is Right!

Along the Grand Canal in August, the reed leaves were a lush emerald, the aroma of ripe rice drifted through the air, and fish and shrimp thrived in abundance. Fang Jibai stood at the prow of the boat. Looking close, he saw an endless expanse of reed marshes; looking up into the distance, he could see a pillar of black smoke thrusting straight into the clouds. That came from the flour mill in Lücheng Town—German steam engines and a forty-meter-high chimney visible from ten li away. Several young men stood waiting on Taiding Pier. Boats docked one after another, splashing river water against their clothes, but they merely laughed and talked, making no effort to dodge the spray. Leading the group was a tall, burly fellow named Dai Chengyuan. "Fourth Brother!" Dai Chengyuan caught sight of Fang Jibai standing at the bow from afar and waved, shouting in delight. Seeing Dai Chengyuan and the others, Fang Jibai broke into a smile and waved back. The awning boat pulled up to the pier. Fang Jibai handed his suitcase to Dai Chengyuan and leaped ashore himself. "Waiting must have worn you out," he said to the group with a smile. With that, he stepped forward and thumped their chests in turn. "Not bad at all. You're all solid and sturdy—proper men now." The young men chuckled bashfully, their eyes filled with excitement and joy. Fang Jibai glanced around. "Fourth Brother." Knowing who he was looking for, Dai Chengyuan lowered his voice. "Xiao Mi went off on an errand." Fang Jibai nodded. "Let's go. Time to head home." "Going home!" "Fourth Brother's home!" The young men let out a cheer and crowded around Fang Jibai, shouting and bantering as they walked. Their clamor drew the attention of passersby, who all offered warm, friendly smiles upon seeing the fourth son of the Fang family back in town. *** "Fourth young master of the Fang family, congratulations!" "Qiming, congratulations!" Fang Jibai kept a smile on his face, politely answering each greeting. "Fourth Brother!" Xiao Mi pedaled up from the distance on a bicycle. Spotting Fang Jibai, he waved and cheered excitedly. "Careful!" Dai Chengyuan shouted. "The brakes on that thing are shot!" Xiao Mi leaped off the moving bicycle as nimble as a cat, landing lightly on his feet. Wang Xiaoya, standing beside Dai Chengyuan, stepped forward with practiced ease, leaped onto the bike in a seamless relay, and pedaled off. Just ahead lay an uphill stretch that could bring the bicycle to a stop. "Fourth Brother!" Xiao Mi hopped over to Fang Jibai's side, calling out with a skip in his step. "You little rascal." Fang Jibai reached out and ruffled Xiao Mi's hair. "Still as much of a troublemaker as ever." He fished a few pieces of candy from his pocket and handed them over. Seeing Xiao Mi tuck the fruit drops carefully into his pocket, Fang Jibai pulled out one more, peeled off the wrapper, and popped it straight into Xiao Mi's mouth. "Don't think only of spoiling your little brothers and sisters," Fang Jibai said with a laugh. "Got it!" Xiao Mi squinted happily. As the sweetness melted across his tongue, he felt it was the most wonderful flavor in the world. He leaned in close to Fang Jibai and whispered, "Fourth Brother, there's trouble." Fang Jibai bent down, and Xiao Mi cupped his hand around his ear, murmuring in a low voice. "Take him to Jiangjun Temple," Fang Jibai murmured in reply. "Tell him Fourth Brother isn't hard up for a few petty coins—anything can be talked out." He offered a faint smile. "Tell him I'll be there shortly. But if I hear any idle gossip before then, I'll have him chopped up to feed the dogs!" "Understood." Xiao Mi answered and darted away. "Xiao Liu, Xiao Qi, take the luggage home," Fang Jibai instructed, then said to Dai Chengyuan, "Datou, come with me to handle some business." "Yes, Fourth Brother." *** Up on Taiding Bridge. Several men dressed in Zhongshan suits watched the group move away from a distance. Standing in the center was a man in his thirties wearing gold-rimmed glasses, observing the scene with keen interest. "Fang Jibai, the fourth son of the Fang family from the tea fields north of the river," Zhao Ding murmured as he stepped forward. "The third daughter of the Fang family is getting married tomorrow." "His elder sister is getting married tomorrow, yet he only rushes back today?" Jiang Guanghan glanced at Zhao Ding. "The team leader might not know," Zhao Ding explained. "Fang Jibai serves in Nanjing as an officer at the Jiangjun Temple Police Station. Taking leave right now probably isn't very easy." Jiang Guanghan nodded. Fierce fighting raged in Songhu, and the city of Nanjing was in the midst of comprehensive war preparations. Aside from maintaining public order and hunting down criminals, police officers frequently had to take part in combat drills to meet the needs of the defense of Nanjing. Securing leave would indeed be no simple matter for Fang Jibai. Glancing into the distance, Jiang Guanghan caught sight of someone trailing Fang Jibai's group and clicked his tongue. "Are the people from the Party Affairs Investigation Department watching Fang Jibai?" Jiang Guanghan asked Zhao Ding. "Probably not." Zhao Ding shook his head. After pondering for a moment, he lowered his voice. "Team Leader, my guess is they're tailing Dai Chengyuan." "That business happened ages ago. The Dai fellow is already one of the Party-State's own men. Why are they still keeping eyes on the Dai family?" Jiang Guanghan scoffed. Dai Tingfu of the Dai family had joined the Red Party back in the twenty-fourth year of the Republic and had even served a stint as the party secretary of Danyang County. However, in the twenty-sixth year of the Republic, Dai Tingfu had abandoned the dark to come over to the light, winning great merit in Shanghai by identifying the eldest son of Mr. Zhongfu from the Red Party. Moreover, word had it that Dai Tingfu had hitched himself to Pan Chengmo of the Central Club faction a couple of years ago. The Dai family was not a hornet's nest that the Lücheng team of the Danyang sub-station could casually poke. "Something's off." Jiang Guanghan frowned. "Arrange for someone to keep an eye on Dai Chengyuan. There's definitely something brewing here." "Understood." Zhao Ding nodded. Though he did not fully understand, an order was an order. "Hold on, don't go just yet," Jiang Guanghan called Zhao Ding back. "Find the right opportunity this afternoon to slip in close." "Understood." *** "What's that sneaky fellow behind us up to?" Fang Jibai flicked out a cigarette, held it between his lips, and tossed another to Dai Chengyuan. Dai Chengyuan struck a match to light Fourth Brother's cigarette, then said in a hushed tone, "A man from the Party Affairs Investigation Department. He's been tailing me for days." "What did you do?" Fang Jibai frowned, looking Dai Chengyuan up and down. "Your sixth clan uncle is an influential official in the Jiangsu Provincial Party Headquarters. Where do those few mongrels from the Investigation Department get the nerve?" "They caught me reading a newspaper," Dai Chengyuan said. "What newspaper?" Fang Jibai asked. As they spoke, their casual strides carried them inside Jiangjun Temple. Jiangjun Temple had once enjoyed flourishing incense and bustling crowds. However, after taking a hit from Japanese bombs, it had been reduced to broken walls and rubble. The strike had happened right during a temple fair when many locals had gathered to burn incense and stroll the grounds, leaving over a dozen villagers dead on the spot. By now, the grounds resembled a haunted wasteland; people went out of their way to avoid it even in broad daylight. "*The Guide Weekly*," Dai Chengyuan replied, then gave Fourth Brother an anxious, tentative glance. "The name sounds somewhat familiar, but I can't place it off the top of my head," Fang Jibai said, feigning deep thought with a knitted brow. He glanced at Dai Chengyuan, clicking his tongue in silent astonishment. Who would have guessed? Dai Chengyuan's sixth clan uncle, Dai Tingfu, was a major traitor who had caused the death of Comrade Chen Xiayan, yet Dai Chengyuan was secretly reading the most strictly forbidden publication of all. *The Guide* had been the official organ of the Red Party back then. Moreover, Fang Jibai had already guessed which article Dai Chengyuan had been reading. In October of the twenty-fifth year of the Republic, Issue 179 of the Red Party's official weekly, *The Guide*, had published an important article titled *The Sufferings and Resistance Movement of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Peasants*. That article had documented an investigation into two incidents involving the peasants of Lücheng Town: one was their resistance against pawnshops exploiting and defrauding the peasantry, and the other was their resistance against corrupt gentry and wealthy farmers forcing peasants to pay for bailing irrigation water. *** "It's an article from the twenty-fifth year of the Republic," Dai Chengyuan said in a low voice. "I only found out later that it was a Red Party newspaper." "The Red Party?" Fang Jibai's brow furrowed, his expression growing increasingly stern as he dropped his voice to a whisper. "What are you doing reading that kind of banned publication?" Dai Chengyuan nodded. "I just stumbled across the magazine by accident. When I saw it was written about what happened right here in Lücheng, I couldn't stop reading..." "Are you courting death?" Fang Jibai scolded in a sharp, harsh whisper. "That's..." He glanced around. "That—that's the Red Party! Red bandits!" Right at that moment, two figures emerged from behind the ruined walls of Jiangjun Temple. One was Xiao Mi, and the other was a sharp-chinned young man with features like a monkey. "Fourth Brother." Seeing Fang Jibai, the newcomer flashed a self-satisfied grin. "Brother Ermao," Fang Jibai greeted with a smile. "Xiao Mi said you were going to bring me in on making a fortune, Fourth Brother," Ermao said eagerly. "Xiao Mi told you no lie." Fang Jibai nodded slightly. He took two steps forward and slung an arm around the man's shoulders. "After all, as townsfolk from the same soil, if there's money to be made, naturally we bring our own people along." "Right you are, fellow townsfolk, our own people!" Ermao beamed, overjoyed. Then sheer terror twisted his face. Fang Jibai twisted his arm and slammed him against the crumbling wall. A dagger slid from his sleeve into his swift right grip. His left hand clamped over Ermao's mouth while the dagger in his right flashed across the man's throat. "Don't panic, don't panic. It'll be over in a moment. It won't hurt," Fang Jibai murmured in a calm, flat voice. Xiao Mi stepped forward without a sound and pressed down on Ermao's thrashing legs, smoothing them straight. "Fourth Brother is right, Brother Ermao. You're in luck. Dead men don't feel pain."