There are at least twenty fish piers along the White River. Most of them have been abandoned because of the shallow draft and the narrow channel.
Apart from small fishing boats, only barges appear here occasionally. The crew members go ashore to eat and rest, or go to nearby villages to replenish fresh water and food.
Barges are similar to tugboats in that they are non-powered ships with extremely simple equipment. They have the advantage of shallow draft and large loading capacity, making them most suitable for transporting cargo between ports.
Smuggling boats can pick up goods and people at the fish pier, but small fishing boats have poor sailing capabilities and can't carry much cargo. Modifying barges can do both!
Brother Shui's boat was modified from a barge, and the motorized equipment was hidden below the deck. Marine police were usually deployed. When they boarded the boat to inspect it, they pretended not to have seen it even if they found problems.
At this moment, the barge was parked in the reed marsh of Laobiao Bay. The cabin was dark. In addition to Brother Shui, there were also Li Ang and two plainclothes policemen in the darkness.
It is now eight o'clock in the evening. According to the pre-arranged time, the ship will sail on time at nine o'clock tonight, which means that Zheng Guangyao will board the ship at any time!
With a click, Brother Shui struck a match, and Li Ang immediately asked, "What are you doing?"
Brother Shui took the lantern, lit the wick inside, and said, "The time is coming, use this to signal."
Seeing the doubtful look on Li Ang's eyes, Brother Shui explained, "These guys are very sneaky. They may have been here a long time ago and were hiding nearby to observe the situation. If they don't see a rabbit, they will not fly... However, it won't be him who gets on the boat."
"
"Anyone else?"
"As you have seen, it is impossible to send a ship as big as mine to just one person... Detective Li, we have agreed that you will capture Zheng Guangyao and I will do business without delay!"
"Don't worry, I will never go back on what I promised!"
"Thank you on behalf of Boss Jin!"
"Who will be on board soon?"
"There are two people in total. One of them is called Ma Wu, and he probably has a fake name."
"Hmph, it's either adultery or robbery!"
"It doesn't seem to be..."
“A sneaky person can still be a good person!”
"They mainly deliver goods out of the city. They should be businessmen doing black market business."
"What kind of goods?"
"How did I know this..."
As soon as the cabin door opened, Brother Shui's men walked in and said, "Brother Shui, they are here!"
Brother Shui walked out with the lantern and hung it on the bow of the boat. After a while, someone waved a flashlight three times in the thatch.
"Pull the boat over!" Brother Shui ordered.
In the silent night, the barge slowly approached the shore.
After the springboard was set up, Brother Shui walked along the springboard to the shore. A man wearing a melon cap came forward and greeted him politely.
Bao Changyi was standing not far away. He personally escorted the goods tonight and also returned directly to the detachment. Guapimao's name was Ma Liben, a hired local from Yanjin.
Brother Shui didn't care either. As long as he received the money, he didn't care what the identity of the other party was. He said to Ma Liben, "Let's ship it!"
Ma Liben pushed a cart out of the thatch and lifted the camouflage on it. On it were five bags of flour, five bags of rice, a barrel of kerosene, and two tightly sealed wooden boxes.
Brother Shui turned around and waved, and two people got off the boat to help carry these things onto the barge.
The goods enter the warehouse and people enter the cabin to rest.
The barge returned to the reed marsh. Brother Shui extinguished the lantern, led Ma Wu and Bao Changyi into the cabin, and said, "Take a rest, there is one last one!"
Ma Wu asked, "Brother Shui, what time will the boat sail?"
"Nine o'clock."
"oh……"
There was no sound in the cabin, and everyone sat silently in the darkness.
In fact, just as Brother Shui said, Zheng Guangyao came an hour ago. He was hiding in the nearby grass and secretly observing the surrounding situation.
Zheng Guangyao knew very well how big the crime he had committed was, and he would not dare to show up easily until the last moment.
Seeing nothing unusual, and the time was almost up, Zheng Guangyao walked towards the river.
"Zheng Guangyao, there are police on board!" a voice said in a low voice.
In the quiet night, such a sentence suddenly came, which really frightened Zheng Guangyao. He quickly took out his pistol and looked around for the target.
"Don't be nervous, I'm helping you!" A dark figure stood under a tree.
Zheng Guangyao was shocked and confused. He didn't know what the other party was doing. He put the bullet with a click and shouted in a low voice, "Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter who I am, you should consider your own safety! Brother Shui sold you, and the people from the police station are waiting for you to surrender!"
"Someone from the police station?"
"Yes! They are on the boat. If it weren't for the greed of the leader, you would have no chance to escape!"
"Why should I trust you?"
"Don't get on the boat early. Wait until nine o'clock and you will know that what I said is true!"
Zheng Guangyao is now like a frightened bird. He would rather believe it than believe it, even if it is a reminder from a mysterious stranger!
…………
At exactly nine o'clock, the sound of paddling came from Lao Biwan Bay. The barge relied on human power to move to the shore, and a lantern like a will-o'-the-wisp was hung on the bow!
After waiting for a few minutes, Zheng Guangyao still didn't show up. Li Ang couldn't hold back his anger. He walked out of the cabin and came to the bow of the ship. He looked towards the shore and whispered to Brother Shui, "Why hasn't he come yet?"
Brother Shui hesitated and said, "Maybe...something happened temporarily?"
"Nonsense, nothing is more important than escaping!"
"I do not know then."
"Build a springboard!"
Zheng Guangyao, who was hiding on the shore, saw three people coming off the boat. Through the hazy night, he could vaguely see that they were all carrying pistols!
Zheng Guangyao thought to himself that there was indeed a policeman waiting for him. He quickly turned back to look for the black figure, but there was no trace of him.
That mysterious shadow is actually Jiang Xinyu!
From Liu Deli, he learned Bao Changyi's purpose of coming to Yanjin. Jiang Xinyu originally wanted to escort him secretly, but unexpectedly found that Li Ang had taken people to hide on the ship in advance!
This matter is easy to judge. If they come to arrest Bao Changyi, Li Ang cannot bring only two people. Besides, for any case involving the Communist Party, the police station will definitely notify the Secrecy Bureau!
It wasn't until Zheng Guangyao appeared that Jiang Xinyu suddenly realized it!
Jiang Xinyu knew that Zheng Guangyao was carrying a gun. If there was a firefight between the two sides, the smuggling ship would not be able to leave anyway!
Normally, a firefight is a high probability event. Knowing that the only way to get arrested is death, no one will just surrender!
If Zheng Guangyao is not allowed on board, this kind of thing can be avoided!
"Search!" Li Ang turned on the flashlight and shined it back and forth in the thatch.
A policeman said, "Inspector Li, I heard that Zheng Guangyao has a gun. We are in the dark and he is in the dark... It doesn't matter that we two brothers, the main thing is you..."
Looking at the rustling thatch, Li Ang thought to himself, if Zheng Guangyao was indeed hiding inside and took the opportunity to shoot himself, it would be a bad deal!
But he just went back and felt a little unwilling. Li Ang thought for a moment and deliberately said loudly, "This guy must have heard the news and didn't dare to come... stop the team!"
Watching Li Ang walking away, Brother Shui on the bow of the boat spat and said, "Did you blind him? It will waste time and let me make fifty yuan less...remove the gangplank and sail the boat!"
The draft on the shore is too shallow. In order to prevent the paddles from being damaged by mud, sand and rocks, we can only temporarily rely on human power to move the boat away from the dock and into deep water.
Zheng Guangyao, who was lying in the grass, waited for a while, looked at the shadow of the boat gradually going away, gritted his teeth, took off his coat, took a deep breath, and quietly dived into the water!