Chapter 27: The So-Called Second-Hand Business

  One day after the 29th Military Academy was formally established, Chu Tian Ge returned. He came with Chen Shao Hua and Qiu Jian.

  At more than 9 o'clock in the morning, Tianjin South Suburbs, which is publicly claimed to be the 25th Division's student soldier training class, has actually been renamed as the 29th Army Student Brigade, and Ouyang Yunzheng is leading the students to conduct live ammunition shooting exercises.

  The four student soldiers who went out on leave have all returned, and with the disbandment of the training class, Zeng Che's special training group also lost its reason for existence. Although Zeng Che and Liang Dawei repeatedly tried to persuade them to stay, the student soldiers in the special training group still chose to return to the student army. Under the influence of the "Anti-Japanese Heroes" halo, the student army is definitely more attractive than the "Tianjin Special Task Force". Moreover, between the two options of being a soldier in the light and doing secret service in the dark, the passionate student soldiers naturally did not find it difficult to make the correct choice.

  Due to the agreement between Song Zheyuan and Guan Linzheng, Zeng Che et al lost the support of the Hebei garrison, and they also lost the power to capture Ouyang Yun and Chu Tian Ge. In their view, this kid Ouyang Yun was arrogant enough, declaring the establishment of the Xuebing Tuan in front of them was nothing, and when accepting Chao Hongle et al, he didn't even ask for their opinions - it was as if they regarded the Te Wu Chu as nothing. When they left the Xuebing Tuan barracks dejectedly, they couldn't help but think: everyone is fighting against Japan and killing devils, why is there such a big difference in treatment?

  The rifles used for training the troops were sent by Guo Biao last night, 50 brand new Zhongzhengs plus 5,000 rounds of shiny bullets. When Ouyang Yun checked and signed, he found that the package was marked with the words "51st Army Logistics Department", which was somewhat unexpected. He thought of Qiu Jian's previous remark about using "Zhongzheng" to exchange wine, and his heart couldn't help but wonder: wouldn't it be too coincidental? Did Qiu Jian actually sell the guns to the 29th Army? Thinking about it, he felt absurd - they were all Chinese troops, yet one was starving and the other was stuffed, playing this kind of trick on each other.

  When Chen Shaohua, Qiu Jian and others saw this batch of guns, from their expressions, Ouyang Yun judged that the fact was indeed so. Chen Shaohua was quite surprised, pointing at Qiu Jian with his hand for half a day without saying a word, finally sighing heavily and saying "it's good". What's good? It's nothing more than not selling to the Japanese.

  Qiu Jian was quite embarrassed, but this old fellow had a thick skin and quickly covered it up with a sentence "Little brother, big brother saw you came". Then, he pulled Ouyang Yun to the edge of the campus, let the guards lift up a box, saying: "Knowing that brother has been promoted, there is nothing good to send, the 29th Army is a poor place, these five machine guns are our three hearts, take it."

  It seems that the matter of the student army has long been an open secret among these officers.

  Chen Shaohua also walked over, looking at Qiu Jian's eyes with a bit of disapproval. He turned to Ouyang Yun's face and felt a little embarrassed, saying: "Ouyang, I haven't thanked you for Mark's thing yet. You can take these five machine guns as a gift. By the way, aren't you thinking of doing some second-hand business? Our 51st Army is going to withdraw anyway, and we can't bring many things with us. If you have time, go take a look, and we'll talk about the price."

  Ouyang Yun looked at the five Czech light machine guns, which were shiny and bright, and felt very moved. He thought about what he had said to Chen Shaohua that day and felt that it was excessive. He sincerely said to Chen Shaohua: "Uncle Chen, thank you very much, my words that day were too extreme, please don't take offense."

  Chen Shaohua shook his head and smiled wryly, saying: "We're old, these things will have to be done by you young people from now on." His expression turned serious as he said solemnly: "Ouyang, it's not that Uncle Chen is trying to pull rank, but this temper of yours needs to change when you get to the troops. You know what I mean? China is currently in a difficult situation and everyone is struggling to make ends meet."

  Ouyang Yun nodded solemnly and said, "Thank you, Uncle Chen, for your advice. I will be careful. As for the old goods, I'll go back to Beiping this afternoon to get the money - Uncle Chen, can I borrow a car from you?" After saying this, he silently prayed to Bodhisattva, hoping that the money was still there, otherwise...

  "No problem, I'll drive my car first."

  "Thanks, Uncle Chen."

  Three people were chatting when Chu Tiange rushed over, he was just called "squad leader" by several school soldiers and couldn't adapt for a while, asking Ouyang Yun: "Brother, why do they call me squad leader?"

  Ouyang Yun smiled and told him about the appointment, he rubbed his head and smiled somewhat embarrassedly, saying: "This soldier hasn't been in office for two days and has already become a squad leader, isn't this a bit too much?"

  "What's wrong with it? Just a temporary replacement, if you're not up to par, I'll withdraw you at any time."

  Chu Tian Ge heard this and straightened his waist, speaking in a louder tone: "Big brother, don't worry about it, it's just a small platoon leader! I have the confidence to do a good job!"

  Qiu Jian burst out laughing and said, "You stinky little kid, thinking you're so noble, but it turns out you're also an official's lackey. Alright, we just came to take a look and bring some gifts. Ouyang, do your job well, big brother is watching over you, when there's a chance, we'll all go to the battlefield together to kill those little Japanese devils."

  ……

  The return of Chu Tian Ge and Zhao Hong Le, etc. has settled the candidates sent by Ouyang Yun to Bay Ping for reconnaissance. After training with Liang Da Wei, everyone can skillfully use handguns. Ouyang Yun distributed the handguns seized from Feng Shanping, etc. to Zhao Hongle, Pang Wenhui, and let them go to Bay Ping with Chu Tian Ge, especially asking them to pay attention to the movements of Shi You San and other Han traitors, and report back immediately if there is any news, then hand over the training affairs to Chen Shichang, etc., and drive Chen Shaohua's Ford car back to Beiping to get money.

  That afternoon, he carried two sacks of gold from Beiping back to Tianjin and went directly to the 51st Army's logistics department to find Chen Shaohua.

  The negotiations between China and Japan have been going on for several days, and some of the agreed terms have leaked to some high-ranking officials in the Chinese garrison in Hebei through various channels. Upon learning that the 51st Army must withdraw from Hebei, Yu Xuezong was furious but had no choice but to order his subordinates to prepare for withdrawal. When Ouyang Yun rushed to the logistics department of the 51st Army, Chen Shaohua was leading a team in taking stock of the inventory in the warehouse.

  Since the words were already clear, neither of them wasted any more words. Chen Shaohua directly handed him a few lists and said: "Take a look yourself, what do you want?"

  Ouyang Yun looked carefully and saw that there were actually eight military trucks on top, asking: "Can these trucks be taken too?"

  "Okay."

  "How about the mortar?"

  "Alright, alright, you little brat, why so much nonsense? Didn't I say that whatever you like is fine?"

  "Ah!" Ou Yang Yun involuntarily took a deep breath, looking at the list of "75mm" mountain guns, "105mm" howitzers, Maxim heavy machine guns, trucks... and couldn't help but drool, "I want them all!"

  Chen Shaohua gave him a white eye and said: "You want everything, do you have that much money?"

  Ouyang Yun pulled him to the side of the sedan and then opened two sacks, looking at him and asking: "Uncle Chen, give me a straightforward answer, is it enough to buy something?"

  As soon as he saw so many glittering things, even Chen Shaohua, who was used to seeing big scenes, couldn't help but stare blankly. After a long time, he asked: "Good kid, where did you get so much gold from? No way, I can't make the decision on this matter, I have to ask Junzuo." Xiao Zong could make decisions on small trades, but these two sacks of gold added up to no less than 200 kilograms, which was equivalent to about 20 million silver dollars. If they were all used to buy formal rifles, they could almost buy 10,000 guns - this was not something he dared to decide on his own. (Note: At that time, the price of things was such that 1,000 yuan could buy a decent car, and 10,000 yuan could set up a printing and dyeing factory.)

  Ouyang Yun was completely unaware of the current gold exchange rate, he only feared it wouldn't be enough, so he brought two sacks of gold like a novice. Now seeing Chen Shaohua's expression, he realized he had struck gold, and it seemed that the prize money would not stop at 50 million, but could possibly be 500 million or even more. Thinking about how setting up a factory required a large sum of money, he was reluctant to spend all of it on "second-hand goods". He scratched his head and said: "Uncle Chen, let's do this, I'll report the items I want to buy to you, and you give me a price, how about that?"

  Chen Shaohua stared at the two sacks of rice, looking a bit distracted, and said, "Alright, alright."

  Ouyang Yun saw him like this and couldn't help but feel a sense of vigilance. After all, this was his territory, and if he were to see an opportunity for gain, he might end up losing both himself and his wealth. Thinking this way, he quickly tied up the two sacks and then pulled Chen Shaohua in, referring to the list on paper, writing down these items: 15 Czech light machine guns, 10 mortars, 30 shotguns, 1000 standard rifles, 5 Maxim heavy machine guns, 5 trucks, 15000 rounds of light machine gun ammunition, 500 mortar shells, 3000 shotgun shells, 50,000 rifle bullets, 100 heavy machine gun belts, 2 lathes, 3 bundles of telephone wire, 3 telegraph machines, and a set of wired telephones. Then, he hid the steel needle in his palm and quietly watched Chen Shaohua - it's not possible to have malicious intentions towards others, but it's still necessary to be on guard against them.

  Chen Shaohua carefully looked at the items he needed, and sighed with a bitter smile: "You really are generous, five trucks - huh, what do you want a lathe for?"

  "Just in case we need to repair something in the future, it's better to be convenient."

  Chen Shaohua furrowed his brow, thought for a moment, and told him to wait. Then he made a phone call. The call lasted over ten minutes. Later, his brow relaxed, and he smiled, saying: "Ouyang, the boss has agreed, but let me remind you not to spread it around everywhere - eh, this money was brought back from America by you, right?"

  When he made the call, although he deliberately suppressed his voice, Ouyang Yun still heard a rough idea. Seeing that there was no mention of "Military Seat" or "Military Long" in the phone call, it was somewhat strange. As for Yu Xuezhong, he knew something about him through historical books, and he was a famous general who was very determined to resist Japan. He couldn't believe that he would also do this kind of business. However, now he just wanted to spend money to buy equipment and didn't want to get involved in other things. Upon hearing this, he nodded and said: "En, they are all donated by overseas Chinese - Uncle Chen can rest assured, I know what to say and what not to say."

  Chen Shaohua nodded and said with emotion: "It's rare, being abroad but still thinking of one's hometown. Alright, for the sake of these overseas Chinese, I can satisfy all your requests, but the price might be a bit higher. You know, to take out so many goods at once, everyone involved has to get a cut."

  Ouyang Yun said with understanding, "Uncle Chen, don't worry about this. I also know that I've gained a bit too much, but what can be done? As Qiu Shu said, the 29th Army is from a poor place, and I have to think about the future. Now being able to accumulate more is better, so when we really go into battle in the future, we'll have some confidence."

  "Alright, this is what I had in mind," Chen Shaohua said, taking out an abacus and sitting down. As he clicked away at the beads, he said: "The light machine guns are 300 yuan each, a total of 4,500...altogether it's 74,400 yuan. Ouyang, why don't you just throw in some more bullets to make it 800,000? How about that?"

  "Action." The more bullets, the better.

  "Then add another 100 rounds of heavy machine gun bullets... converted into gold, it's exactly 100 catties."

  Ouyang Yun calculated it roughly and said, "Okay!" He went to the car and brought down a sack of hemp, put it on the scale in the corner of the office, weighed it, and said, "Uncle Chen, 120 pounds, you check."

  Chen Shaohua untied the sack and took out a few pieces of gold, looked at them and said: "What's there to check? I still don't trust you. Hey, this is twenty catties more."

  Ouyang Yun despised him in her heart, thinking: Didn't the previous test count? With a sincere smile on her face, she said: "No, no, I'll just consider it as showing respect to my three uncles. These days in Tianjin, I haven't caused you much trouble, hehe, just a small token of my appreciation."

  Chen Shaohua's eyes lit up, and he didn't expect this young man to be so sensible. He smiled and said: "Well, in that case, I'll thank you on behalf of Dai Kuai and Jiu Gui. But how are you going to transport all these things? Why don't I find a few drivers to help you move them over?"

  "That's great, thank you Uncle Chen."

  ……