Inside the basement of the abandoned courtyard residence, Liu Ren watched the man walking about somewhat normally and asked, "Does it really not hurt anymore?"
"Yeah!"
Nodding, the man answered through gritted teeth, though cold sweat beaded across his forehead.
Sensing that he was forcing himself to endure the pain, Liu Ren could not help saying, "There's no need to rush off like this. You could easily rest up for a few more days!"
"No, I can't stay any longer. They need me outside the city!"
Turning toward Liu Ren, the man added somewhat sheepishly, "Um... these medicines, I haven't finished them all. Could I..."
"Take them, take them! I've still got plenty. If you need more, I can give you more!"
Remembering that he had swept an entire Japanese military hospital clean of its pharmaceutical stores, Liu Ren could afford to be generous. Besides, with his own Constitution, if he ever genuinely fell ill, ordinary medicine wouldn't do him any good anyway.
"Really?"
Looking at Liu Ren in pleasant surprise, the man's face lit up with sheer excitement. Their comrades outside the city were in constant shortage of doctors and medicine; to obtain desperately needed pharmaceuticals to save lives, how could he not rejoice?
Seeing the man's reaction, the corner of Liu Ren's mouth twitched. "Look, let me make this clear upfront—I only hauled away the medicines from one Japanese military hospital. I don't have any more than that!"
"How much? How much did you say you hauled away?"
Staring at Liu Ren in utter shock, the man froze in place.
"A hospital's worth. Is there a problem?"
Liu Ren looked back with genuine curiosity. Was that so strange? Back in the day, his shipments were measured by the ten-thousand-ton freighter. Was this supposed to be a lot?
"Well... I don't have any money on me right now, but I can contact the organization. How much would you want for these medicines? Can we buy them from you?"
The man looked at Liu Ren, his face brimming with excitement.
"Buy? Do you think I'm short on cash?"
Liu Ren waved a hand dismissively. "Forget it. You can't eat the stuff, and you can't drink it. Consider it a gift. I'll take you out to get it later! It's hidden right outside Sijiucheng!"
"Truly?"
The man stared at Liu Ren in delight. He had never imagined Liu Ren had actually moved everything outside the city. It was almost too good to be true.
Afterward, inside an underground tunnel beneath Sijiucheng.
Hunched over as he followed behind Liu Ren, the man was full of excitement.
After walking nearly two li, Liu Ren pushed open a coffin and clambered out.
Looking around in astonishment, the man asked in bewilderment, "Where are we?"
"Outside Sijiucheng! What's with the face? Think this tunnel is too filthy?" Liu Ren chuckled, glancing at him with amusement.
"No, that's not what I meant!" The man waved his hands in denial, then asked in amazement, "By the way, how did you find out about this tunnel? Does anyone else know about it?"
Seeing how tense the man was, Liu Ren shook his head. "For now, only I know. The last person who knew was a black-skin puppet cop!"
Looking at Liu Ren's calm expression, the man was smart enough not to ask what had happened to the collaborator. The guy was almost certainly dead.
"Let's go!"
Waving for him to follow, Liu Ren led the man to the entrance of a nearby cave and turned his head. "Wait here! I'll go in first to disarm the booby traps!"
"Booby traps? You planted mines here, too?"
The man stared at Liu Ren in disbelief. If Liu Ren hadn't mentioned it, who would have ever guessed there were mines planted here?
"Isn't that obvious? If I didn't plant mines and someone stole the stuff, who would I hold responsible?"
Liu Ren spread his hands as he spoke.
Of course, he was lying. There were plenty of guerrilla units operating outside Sijiucheng, and Liu Ren actually hoped they would stumble across the stash.
"Come on, come on, everything's right here!"
Liu Ren waved the man inside.
Stepping into the cave, the man stared forward in shock and froze on the spot.
The entire cave was stacked high with various medicines, piled up literally like a mountain...
"Alright, just find some people to haul it away later! Oh, and don't nail my coffin shut, or I won't be able to crawl back out!"
Liu Ren hastily warned him.
After all, this was his only secret path out of the city. If it was compromised, he would have to find another way.
As for walking through the city gates, Liu Ren considered that far too dangerous.
Not dangerous for him, of course, but dangerous for the Japanese and their puppet troops. With his vengeful temper and his less-than-stellar heart, if they ever made his blood pressure spike, he would have no choice but to teach them the true meaning of "benevolence and righteousness."
Watching Liu Ren pull the coffin lid back into place, the man's mouth twitched, and he fell silent.
This young lad was truly absurd beyond belief.
Back in the basement, Liu Ren looked around and rubbed his chin. "Maybe I should just treat this place as a storage room. Staying holed up down here won't help me complete my mission, anyway!"
Thinking of his task—"Harmonious Neighborhood: Blend In with the Neighbors"—Liu Ren felt a bit of a headache.
After all, the neighbors in this era were supposed to be honest, simple folk. How could he just beat them to a pulp?
"Could 'blend in' not mean beating them down like I thought?"
Rubbing his chin, Liu Ren began to harbor doubts.
Two days later, at Nanluoguxiang.
A housing broker was leading Liu Ren inside.
"Young brother, let me tell you, if the owner hadn't found the place too cramped to live in herself, she'd never dream of selling it!"
With that, the broker knocked on a door in the back courtyard and called out, "Old Lady, I've brought you a buyer!"
"Come in!"
A muffled voice of an elderly woman sounded from within the room.
Yet the moment Liu Ren saw the old woman sitting on the rosewood chair, he was instantly taken aback.
Wasn't this that damn "sharp-eared, keen-eyed Deaf Old Lady"?
"This half-grown kid is buying my house? Can he even afford the price?"
The Deaf Old Lady eyed Liu Ren with utter disdain and deep suspicion.
"Oh, my dear Old Lady, you can't say that! He might be young, but he definitely has the money to buy a house!"
After smoothing things over, the broker added, "A hundred silver dollars per room, if I recall correctly?"
"That's the price. But how many rooms can he actually afford?"
The Deaf Old Lady frowned, looking at Liu Ren skeptically.
"I want the entire East Cross Courtyard! Two hundred silver dollars, plus four small yellow croaker gold bars! That's not a low price, is it?"
Addressing the Deaf Old Lady, Liu Ren could barely conceal the excitement in his eyes.
If this really was that courtyard full of hypocrites and schemers, then his mission to "blend in" could proceed without a hitch!
After all, among the people living here, none of them would be wronged if they took a beating!
Squinting her eyes, the Deaf Old Lady said, "Deal!"
In those days, one small yellow croaker gold bar was worth about thirty-five silver dollars, which meant Liu Ren bought the entire East Cross Courtyard for three hundred and forty silver dollars.
Inspecting the East Cross Courtyard, Liu Ren finally understood why the Deaf Old Lady had agreed so readily. The place was hopelessly dilapidated.
Looking at the single room that was barely habitable, Liu Ren narrowed his eyes. He had no intention of renovating the place right now anyway.
Leaving the courtyard, the broker took Liu Ren to process the property deed.
Using the broker's connections, Liu Ren quickly obtained legal ownership of his "house."
Turning to Liu Ren, the broker beamed. "Young brother, whenever you want to buy property in the future, just come find me. Guaranteed no hiccups!"
Watching the broker depart with fifteen silver dollars tucked securely into his robe, Liu Ren narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
Late that night, the shivering broker woke up from unconsciousness.
When he saw that even his clothes had been stripped clean, he let out a shrill, miserable wail. "You beast! What kind of monster did this to me?! Waaah..."
And while the broker was weeping over his misfortune, the Deaf Old Lady was also staring in wide-eyed horror.
The small gold bars and silver dollars she had placed into her lockbox that very afternoon were gone—and so were her personal savings! That had been five or six small yellow croaker gold bars and over a hundred silver dollars!
"Thief! Thief! There's a thief in our courtyard!"
Screaming at the top of her lungs, the Deaf Old Lady roared into the night.
Chapter 90