The donkey cart was tied to a wooden stake in the courtyard of the village office. Cui Li took a flat-headed crowbar and pried open the wooden boards inside the cart. There was a mezzanine in the middle.
The mezzanine was only ten centimeters thick, and there were stacks of medical gauze, refined salt, soap, matches, kerosene, etc. in very small quantities, all of which were in short supply in the border area.
Cui Li looked around and asked Wang Baozhang, "Where did Shunzi go?"
Before he finished speaking, the door to the west wing opened, and a stocky young man walked out quickly.
"Shunzi, why did you come out?" Cui Li said while his hands were not idle. He bent down and took out a bag of salt and placed it on the shaft of the car.
"When I heard you came, I packed up the inside first." The young man picked up the salt and walked into the side room.
The side room was full of sundries. There was a one-foot-square hole in the corner. The surrounding area was simply treated to prevent moisture. The young man put refined salt into the hole.
Cui Li didn't bring many things, and it only took three to five minutes to empty them all. Wang Baozhang, who had been standing guard at the door, suddenly said, "Old Cui, hurry up, someone is coming!"
Cui Li hurriedly restored the board to its original shape, throwing the crowbar aside and said, "How did it come so fast?"
In the past, there was always a time lag when collecting medicinal materials. It would take at least ten minutes for the villagers to get to the village office.
Baochang Wang was also puzzled and said, "Yes, he came so quickly... Huh? It seems that he is not from Guoshantun..."
While he was talking, Li Kai swaggered over with a dozen spies. They had all been disguised, wearing coarse cloth clothes and worn-out felt hats, and looked like ordinary villagers.
The purpose of doing this was naturally to prevent Cui Li from noticing that someone was spying on him. The agents changed groups every once in a while, and finally they found the right place!
Li Kai looked around and said, "It's such a cold day, why are you two talking in the yard?"
Baozhang Wang said in a deep voice, "Who are you?"
Li Kai waved his hand, and the agent behind him took out his ID and waved it in front of Wang Baochang's eyes, saying, "He's from the detective team!"
Wang Baochang knew that the situation was not good, so he said with a smile, "It turns out that you are the commander of the detective team. I wonder what your business is in Paoshantun?"
Li Kai looked up and down and said, "Are you Bao Zhang Wang?"
Wang Baochang bowed and said, "That's right."
"What does this person do?" Li Kai pointed at Cui Li who was standing aside.
"He is Shopkeeper Cui who came to the village to collect medicinal materials."
"Why do you need to come to the village hall to collect medicinal materials?"
"I did it for the convenience of the villagers, otherwise they would have to carry medicinal materials everywhere to find Shopkeeper Cui..."
Li Kai sneered and said, "You are really kind-hearted! Come here, search for me!"
More than a dozen spies broke into each room and searched through boxes and cabinets.
An agent jumped on the donkey cart, knocked it with a stone, and said, "Team leader, there is a mezzanine in the cart!"
Li Kai walked up to Cui Li and said, "Where are the things in the mezzanine?"
Cui Li: "Sir, you misunderstood. I added an extra layer because I didn't want the car to be too bumpy."
Li Kai nodded and said, "You can't even cry without seeing the coffin. You really can handle it!"
A truck drove over, and a dozen agents from the detective team got out of the car. They were here to pick up Li Kai. After all, this was outside the city, and any unexpected situation could happen.
Since it was certain that Cui Li had brought contraband out of the city, he naturally investigated it very carefully. The agents were all experts in this field, and they found the hole under the water tank in the west wing without much effort.
Li Kai ordered, "Load the things into the car and take all three of them back!"
Outside the village office, a group of villagers who came to deliver medicinal materials were chatting about each other, not knowing what was going on.
…………
When Jiang Xinyu learned about this, Cui Li, Wang Baochang, and Shunzi were all caught by the detective team, and the contraband was also seized.
Looking at these scattered materials in the evidence room, Jiang Xinyu could almost conclude that this was the work of the Yanjin underground party.
Materials are scarce in the border areas of central Hebei. It is not only difficult to smuggle goods on a large scale from the occupied areas, but it is often impossible to have such an opportunity.
Although the smuggling method like this ant moving method seems to be a drop in the bucket and cannot solve much of the problem, it is still a solution as long as it can be sustained.
The most important thing is that because the quantity of smuggled materials is small, the risk is relatively reduced, and the enemy is unlikely to notice such things.
Zhao Yuhu walked in and said, "Captain, Major Hattori is here."
"Where are the people?"
"At the team headquarters."
Jiang Xinyu walked out of the evidence room, and Zhao Yuhu followed behind, saying, "Major Zuo ordered Ma Peiqu to come over as well."
"Then what are you waiting for? Go and call Ma Peiqu!"
"yes!"
Hattori Hikoo was standing in front of the window with his hands behind his back. When he heard the door, he turned around and said, "Captain Jiang, the detective team has done a great job this time. I came here to bring you a bounty!"
Jiang Xinyu: "Thank you, Major. Actually, it's all my own business."
"Some people can do their job well, and some people can't do it well. Those who can do their job well must be rewarded, and they can't chill people's hearts!"
"Tuk-tuk!" There was a knock on the door.
Jiang Xinyu "Come in."
Ma Peiqu walked in, bowed and said, "Major, Captain."
Hattori Hikoo sat behind the table and said, "Team Leader Ma, you did a great job in arresting communists this time and you deserve praise!"
Ma Peiqu said humbly, "Thank you for the compliment, Major. It's just a coincidence that I'm in this humble position."
Hattori Hikoo picked up the tea bowl handed over by Jiang Xinyu and said, "Before these communist elements are brought back to the military police, I want to hear your opinions."
Just as Ma Peiqu was about to speak, he remembered that there was his immediate boss Jiang Xinyu next to him, so he quickly swallowed his words back, looking like he was hesitating to speak.
Jiang Xinyu saw what he was thinking and said, "Team Leader Ma, you are responsible for investigating this case. I just came back from Dagu and I haven't quite figured out the ins and outs yet, so I'll let you tell me!"
"Okay..." Ma Peiqu cleared his throat and said, "According to my analysis, these three Communists are more like a material transportation team!"
"Oh? Material transportation team?" Hattori Hikoo heard this statement for the first time.
Seeing that Hattori Hikoo was very interested, Ma Peiqu cheered up and said, "Cui Li uses selling herbal medicine as a cover to collect scarce supplies everywhere. He wants almost everything, and the quantity is not large, so as not to attract our attention!"
Hattori Hikoo “Where were these supplies finally shipped?”
Ma Peiqu: "I guess it must be the Eighth Route Army station!"
"Could it be guerrillas in the mountains? After all, the amount of supplies is very small."
"Although the supplies are very small, they cannot be gathered together to make more. Once a certain amount is reached, they will definitely be shipped to Jizhong!"
Jiang Xinyu interjected, "Team Leader Ma, how did you discover the suspicion?"
Ma Peiqu, “The Communist Party is most in short supply of medicines, so I set up spies in major pharmacies, and found an unexpected situation. The medicines Cui Li sold to pharmacies were priced at a low price, and it didn’t seem to be for profit. Only then did I
Made me notice him!"
Hattori Hikoo nodded slightly and said, "Start from the subtle points and observe all unreasonable situations. That's good!"
Jiang Xinyu thought for a while and said, "I heard from Team Leader Li that Cui Li has two other accomplices. Why didn't Team Leader Ma arrest them?"