"What do you think? Rush down now?"
Hearing Fang Wenjian's words, Zhu Shiqing shot him a sidelong glance, his look making it clear: I'm not that stupid.
The two remained pressed against the wall, but the commotion outside soon subsided. According to Lin Hongwen's description before they set out, the train was scheduled to depart at ten o'clock that night, which meant Zhu Shiqing had plenty of time.
After waiting for about half an hour, Fang Wenjian was leaning to one side, looking thoroughly drowsy and yawning repeatedly. Outside the sheet metal, toads seemed to be croaking faintly.
Zhu Shiqing's eyes were sharp and clear. He gently pushed the boxcar door open a crack and narrowed his eyes to scan the surroundings. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
If he wanted to find out what these people were up to, his only option was probably to head over to the neighboring freight car and see what this cargo actually was. But at this moment, he felt a flicker of hesitation. He could leave this turbulent place of Beiping at any second, yet here he was, pausing over this damn business...
And would this matter trigger fresh complications?
Zhu Shiqing sighed, but decided to check it out nonetheless. If worst came to worst, he could head back to Wanping and seek Division Commander Feng's help. He comforted himself with the thought that if the freight car merely held personal belongings being smuggled, he would just pretend he had seen nothing.
After all, during wartime, stationmasters pocketing hefty bribes to help local wealthy merchants transport goods was a business being run all across the country—not just in Beiping, but in Rehe not long ago, and earlier still in Fengtian, without exception.
"Let's go,"
Zhu Shiqing called softly to Fang Wenjian, then cautiously pulled the sliding door open. Although his movement was very gentle, the sheet-metal door still produced a grating scrape.
Fang Wenjian rested his right hand on his waist, ready to draw his gun at any second. After getting down from the car, the two began probing toward the front of the train.
Each freight car had split sliding doors. Where the two door leaves met, there was a double-handled latch and bolt that could be locked from either inside or outside. On each of these cars, an iron rod was wedged through the outside to secure the sliding doors, with no additional locks.
Zhu Shiqing gave Fang Wenjian a nod. With tacit understanding, Fang stood back-to-back with him, facing outward to watch the surroundings. Zhu Shiqing slowly pulled out the iron rod, gripped it in his hand, and began to slide the door open.
A prolonged grating sound echoed.
The door slowly parted. In the faint, dull yellow light, pairs of wide eyes gleamed in the darkness!
"Holy shit!" Zhu Shiqing had clearly not expected the car to be packed with people. His pupils dilated in shock, cold sweat breaking out across his body, and a low curse slipped out involuntarily.
Drawn by the muffled noise, Fang Wenjian looked back as well. "Bloody hell!"
Inside were the elderly, children, university students in school uniforms, and people whose identities could not be discerned. Zhu Shiqing realized that it seemed many in Beiping wanted not just to get their goods out, but to get themselves out.
Yet in this boxcar, there were at least several dozen people, and they had managed to remain completely silent in the stillness of the night!
Pretending nothing had happened, Zhu Shiqing gently pulled the door shut again. By the time the last crack closed, his heart was pounding wildly.
Could the so-called cargo simply be these refugees being smuggled out of the city?
"Still want to look? Maybe they're all people. In the middle of the night, it's creepy as hell," Fang Wenjian turned his head and asked.
Zhu Shiqing caught his breath, glanced toward the cars to the left, and said, "Since we've started, let's check a few more."
Shortly after, the door of the next freight car was also slowly slid open. This time, there were no wide-eyed civilians inside; instead, wooden crates were stacked high.
The crates bore no markings whatsoever. From their appearance, they somewhat resembled ammunition boxes. But this certainly wasn't Western medicine; given the volume of these crates, even if all the Western medicine in North China were gathered, it wouldn't fill an entire freight car...
Nor could they hold rifles, as the crates weren't long enough.
What could it be?
Zhu Shiqing took out the iron rod he had just pulled free, picked a crate at random, wedged the rod into a gap at the corner, and pried hard. The crate popped open.
With a loud clatter, the iron rod struck the sheet metal of the car, making a sharp metallic ring.
Fang Wenjian whipped his head around, only to see that Zhu Shiqing's hand had slipped... But looking closer, he saw Zhu Shiqing standing frozen in place, as if possessed.
"What the hell is it?"
Fang Wenjian also stepped inside. Within the massive wooden crate, one could make out worthless packing materials like cotton, straw, and yellow paper, cradling a translucent, exquisite porcelain cup. "Holy shit, Shiqing, we're rich! This must be from the Song Dynasty! If we take just one, what would we ever have to worry about for the rest of our lives?"
Fang Wenjian had, after all, passed the civil service examination for Jiangning County and was somewhat educated, but as for whether it was really from the Song Dynasty, he was talking out of his ass.
Zhu Shiqing said nothing. He pried open several more crates in succession. There was everything inside—large objects like bowls and baskets, small ones like goblets, cups, and jade pots.
"Take one?" Zhu Shiqing glared at Fang Wenjian. "These are all national treasures from the Forbidden City! Are you tired of living?"
Before the words had even settled, hurried footsteps came from outside the main entrance of West Station. Several piercing flashlight beams cut columns of light through the darkness.
Zhu Shiqing cursed inwardly. He hurriedly slammed the crate lids shut, withdrew from the freight car, and pulled the iron door shut with a loud clang. He jammed the rod back in, grabbed Fang Wenjian, and hissed, "Run!"
"Who's over there?!"
Seven or eight station police officers armed with rifles rushed onto the inner platforms, spotting two figures darting swiftly through the darkness from afar! They immediately split into two groups—one went to inspect the freight cars, while the other began chasing Zhu Shiqing and Fang Wenjian.
But how could a few station police outrun Zhu Shiqing, who had received formal military training? Before long, the two had vanished from sight.
***
Inside the Beiping Municipal Police Bureau, Deputy Director Mi Yonghua was talking with Lin Hongwen, Chief of the Beiping Transportation Department and Stationmaster of Beiping West Station.
"Stationmaster! Deputy Director! Bad news!"
A station police officer suddenly burst in to report.
"What's the panic? Speak calmly," Mi Yonghua said with utter composure. At this moment he looked radiant with success, unfazed as though Mount Tai could collapse before him without making him blink.
Lin Hongwen, however, sprang to his feet in panic, pointing at the officer. "Did the train depart?!"
"No! We heard a noise inside from outside the station and quickly rounded up a few brothers to check it out. We saw two figures running south. We couldn't catch up to them. When we checked the cars, the last car was open, but the others were still closed."
It had to be those two little thieves! Lin Hongwen's fury surged straight to his chest. He quickly pressed, "The cargo! Is the cargo still there?"
"It's there, but the crates were opened!"
"And the men? Did anyone shadow them?!"
"Two brothers were sent after them. They shouldn't have gotten far!"
"Tell them they must keep their eyes on them!"
Having said that, Lin Hongwen's vision went dark, and he collapsed limp into his chair. Beside him, Mi Yonghua noticed something was amiss and asked in disbelief, "Old Lin, you managed to bungle even this?! Let me tell you, this is a matter of losing our heads!"
How could Lin Hongwen not know? But he shifted the blame onto that drunkard: "If Brigade Commander Ruan hadn't insisted on taking a look and spouted nonsense at the station, someone wouldn't have caught on! I couldn't stop him even if I tried!"
Mi Yonghua slammed his hand onto the desk, stood up, glared furiously at Lin Hongwen, and cursed, "Old Lin, without Brigade Commander Ruan, where would we have gotten this batch of goods?! It must be that you took boxcars on the sly again to do side business, otherwise how could anything have gone wrong!"
Lin Hongwen was struck where it hurt; this was indeed primarily his fault. In the trio's original plan, Brigade Commander Ruan would procure this batch of goods, and the police bureau and railway station would coordinate to transport them out under a legal and legitimate pretext. Meanwhile, to keep word from leaking, passenger services had recently been suspended. Once the train reached Baoding, Brigade Commander Ruan would dispatch men to receive the shipment.
However, as stationmaster, seeing the Japanese attacks growing fiercer and Beiping's situation increasingly precarious, Lin Hongwen knew plenty of people were desperate for a train ride. So he had started a smuggling business. For just one boxcar of refugees, he could earn fifty times his usual cut!
When the blade was truly pressed against their necks, Beiping's wealthy were more than willing to bleed money!
Since the fighting began at Lugou Bridge, he had tried it twice, making a fortune each time. But hearing from war reports that the Japanese were drawing ever closer and fearing the rail line would soon be severed, he figured tonight that since the boxcars were empty anyway, he might as well haul another carload.
Man proposes, but heaven disposes. The refugees were indeed docile and kept silent, but tonight two jinxes had suddenly barged in. Zhu Shiqing had been unwilling to go to his superiors, and Lin Hongwen hadn't wanted the higher-ups paying attention to the station, so he had merely treated them as stowaways skipping out on paying...
Thinking of this, Lin Hongwen's anger flared up again. In his mind, all the blame for this slip-up lay entirely with those two bastards!
"Old Lin, can this train still run tonight?" Having finished his tirade, Mi Yonghua noticed the pale-faced young station policeman still standing there. He reined in his fury, waved a hand to dismiss the policeman, and only then turned back to ask Lin Hongwen softly.
"It can't run. Those two are officers from the 37th Division. They'll definitely report this. If we dispatch the train now, the earliest it could reach safe territory would be tomorrow night. If the higher-ups make a single phone call down the line and intercept it, we won't be able to clear ourselves," Lin Hongwen reasoned calmly, his wits returning. "Reseal the cargo first and stack it in the station warehouse. Beiping's military and political dignitaries have all gone to Tianjin tonight for a military conference; I reckon they won't be back until noon tomorrow at the earliest. We must find that window to take those two out. Once safety is guaranteed, we move!"
Mi Yonghua nodded and agreed with a smile, "Brother Lin, you really have thought it through. Since they're officers of the 37th Division, Brigade Commander Ruan counts as their superior in a sense. Let Brigade Commander Ruan keep things suppressed on the 37th Division's end first. As for those two, I'll get Old Lu to take care of them!"
Chapter 63