The train driver in the courtyard

Chapter 328 Old Man Xu’s Identity

Linxi is originally a deserted area.

A hundred years ago, the Belgians discovered mineral deposits here, established coal mines, and gradually formed a prosperous town.

But unlike other towns, there is always a thick layer of coal ash on the streets of Linxi.

The autumn wind blew, and smoke and dust filled the streets.

An old man wearing an old Chinese tunic suit and carrying a canvas bag, wearing a white veil and wearing old leather shoes, walked slowly down the street.

This type of clothing worn by small factory leaders is very common on Linxi Street.

Linxi owns coal, which is in short supply these days, and they, people from far away, have to apply for coal stamps.

The old man strolled along, his eyes a little anxious, but his walking speed was very slow.

Stop now and then to lift up your mask and smoke a cigarette.

Taking the opportunity to smoke, I looked around, as if I was admiring Linxi's "beautiful scenery".

Children running in groups on the road just after school;
The miners who got off work walked towards Dahongmen with the object, which is the largest non-staple food store in Linxi;

A few diligent and thrifty ladies were cleaning the smoke and dust on the streets and preparing to go back to cooking with coal.
The carriages for buying cigarettes from the surrounding counties and even the neighboring counties were lined up from the courtyard of Yanzichi to the road. The carriages raised their tails and defecated in the street. Several carriage drivers were being scolded by red sleeve rings.
The noisy streets seemed as peaceful as ever.

The old man felt relieved, adjusted his collar, and walked slowly outside the state-owned guest house on Kuangqian Street, leaning against the big tree not far from the door.

He raised his wrist to look at the plum blossom watch, his eyes fixed on the door of the guest house.

When he saw the on-duty attendant leaving after get off work, he waited for another 2 minutes, then rolled down his sleeves to cover his watch, walked over, opened the cotton curtain and walked in.

The night shift lady who had just taken over couldn't wait to pick up her sewing needle and knit a sweater. When she heard the heavy footsteps, she raised her head.

Seeing the old man coming in, a flash of joy flashed in her eyes: "Director Xu, have you got the approval slip?"

"We've got it. We can load the coal into the car tomorrow and then we can go back." The old man's eyebrows were gray and he looked kind-hearted when he smiled.

He took out a paper bag from the canvas bag and put it on the table: "Sister, I've been living here for a while and I've been bothering you a lot."

The paper package had two layers. It was slightly shaken open, and the inner layer revealed a ball of pastry with a quarter sandwiched in the middle.

The fat woman on duty at the guest house quickly put the paper bag into her pocket with her plump little hands.

The wrinkles on her fat face were almost straightened out, and she smiled passionately.

He stood up and raised his voice and cursed: "Old Xutou, I saw that you are old and it is not easy for you to go to Linxiwei Factory alone to contact coal, so I helped you. I am not just looking for this small advantage."

"I know, sister, you are a kind-hearted person, and your kindness will be rewarded." Old Xu Tou was as clumsy as an old man from a remote village, unable to say a single word.

This made the fat woman feel contempt, because people from small places just couldn't get on the stage.

The fat woman looked around and saw no one, took out a key from the drawer and quickly put it into the old man's hand.

"You must never tell others."

"You know, eldest sister, you are a kind-hearted person, and your kindness will be rewarded."

Old man Xu held the key in his hand in a panic.

He was about to turn around and leave, but the fat lady on duty deliberately sold her off: "When the person on duty in the boiling water room gets off work tonight, I will bring a bottle of boiling water and you can soak your feet to relieve your fatigue."

"Hey, thank you, eldest sister." Old Man Xu said his thanks with cupped hands.

"Get down quickly and be smart, don't let anyone see you."

Old man Xu's honesty also made the fat woman lose interest in chatting. She sat down and continued to pick up the sewing needle and start working.

She didn't notice that Lao Xu turned his head, and the stiffness on his face disappeared instantly, replaced by a sinister look in his eyes that made people dare not look directly.

Old man Xu hunched over and walked along the dark and damp corridor to the end.

Pushing open a broken door, there is a building leading to the underground.

Before liberation, this small building was built by coal mine capitalists specifically for foreign clerks.

Three floors above ground and one basement.

After liberation, it was nationalized and converted into a state-run guest house.

Because people were taboo about going underground, the underground floor was abandoned, and some debris was usually piled up there.

Old Man Xu walked to the second room on his left, stretched out his fist, and found an old-fashioned key in his palm.

The key entered the keyhole and made a clicking sound. He turned around and turned off the light in the corridor before entering the house.

Close the door.

Turn on the light.

Old man Xu made an angry face.

The dim light clearly showed the weakness of the lips, the thinness of the cheeks and the protrusion of all the bones.

It seemed extremely terrifying.

Old Man Xu gritted his teeth and silently punched the air more than a dozen times before venting the fear and anger in his heart.

Panting heavily, he rushed to the bed in a panic and pulled out a wooden box from underneath.

He opened the box, took out a pistol and stuffed it into his waist. He also folded a few wads of banknotes and letters of introduction and put them into his underwear pocket.

Old man Xu breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't even take off his shoes, turned off the light and lay down on the bed.

The moist and cold air penetrated his nostrils. Old man Xu lay in the darkness, muttering to himself: "Are we really going to abandon Xu Chaoming and go overseas alone?"

Mentioning Xu Chaoming, old man Xu felt a twinge of pain in his heart.

Old man Xu was originally Tiesuoxu, one of the 36 large cabinet contractors in Kailuan.

He has one leader, eight men, and a foreign gun team of more than 50 people, overseeing more than 3000 miners.

Because he could speak a few words in foreign language and had drank foreign ink for several years, he had a particularly good relationship with the foreign staff in the coal mine, so all the miners under the cabinet could be arranged to work in the coal mine.

You can make a lot of money every year just by relying on those miners.

Unfortunately, this good life changed with the arrival of Jie and Ge.

Those outside workers who were supposed to endure the exploitation silently began to resist.

Old man Xu's ability to become a contractor depends on more than just connections.

So they joined forces with other contractors, the mine police security team, and the mining area detective team to launch a bloody operation.

The result was unexpected.

Those guys were supposed to be cows and horses, but they weren't afraid of death.

At that time, the environment outside the mine had changed dramatically, and the soldiers had repeatedly won.

At that time, old man Xu felt something was wrong.

He immediately became low-key.

At the same time, he transferred the family property and left Lin Xi.

Things developed just as Mr. Xu expected.

After the liberation, the big contractors were arrested one after another, and the leaders even ate peanuts.

Old man Xu originally planned to live a peaceful life.

But the news is getting closer and closer, and the street officials have investigated the residents' background several times, and some neighbors are already talking about his dark history behind his back.

There was really no other way, so Old Man Xu could only contact his old friends from before liberation and expressed his willingness to pay ten small yellow croakers in order to go to sea.

It's just that after those people collected the small yellow croaker, they also attached an additional condition, which was to destroy the Linxi Mine.

The louder the noise, the better, and the more severe the damage, the better.

Old man Xu agreed at that time.

Even if those people didn't assign tasks, Old Man Xu had a plan to sabotage before leaving.

Old man Xu had already laid a secret trap in Linxi Mine - 'son' Xu Chaoming.

Xu Chaoming's mother was originally Xu Chaoming's aunt.

Because the contractor has too many enemies.

In order to avoid being sought for revenge, Mr. Xu arranged the outer room in a shantytown and helped her find a fake husband.

On weekdays, old man Xu rarely went to their mother and son.

They are always sent to Dayang on time every month so that Xu Chaoming can read and write.

This kid is quite up to par.

Later, I went to junior high school, studied mechanics, and became a technician in the factory.

Old man Xu has been silently paying attention to Xu Chaoming's situation.

After receiving the mission, he packed up Xinruan, sneaked back to Linxi, and contacted Xu Chaoming.

It didn't take a lot of effort to convince Xu Chaoming.

After all, in Xu Chaoming's view, the liberation of coal mines, which benefited countless people, did not do him any good.

If the Linxi mine is not liberated, he can become the successor of the contractor and live a capitalist life.

He especially hated the self-help cooperative members who rebelled against the cabinet.

If it weren't for the help of the big cabinet to help them contact people, they would not be able to find a way out even if they were working hard.

They are just a bunch of white-eyed wolves!

In addition, old man Xu also promised Xu Chaoming.

As long as the mission is completed, take him out to sea together.

Xu Chaoming no longer wanted to work hard in the mine, so he agreed in one breath.

In the following time, Xu Chaoming launched actions according to Old Man Xu's plan.

He successfully hid it from everyone and went to Datong to learn technology.

After returning to the coal mine, he became Combine's boss and took advantage of the workers' ignorance of technology to destroy the first Combine.

Today was supposed to be the day to destroy the second Combine.

For this reason, Old Man Xu specially obtained poison from those people and gave it to Xu Chaoming.

As long as Xu Chaoming puts poison into Wang Qi Qi's enamel jar, Wang Qi Qi will immediately become ill, thereby gaining the opportunity to serve as No. 2 Combine.

According to the plan, after Xu Chaoming completed his mission and left Shaft No. [-], he needed to find an opportunity to leave the coal mine and meet him at 'Yaopo'.

(Before liberation, there were many shacks where workers lived near the Linxi Mine Hill. Most prostitutes worked here, and the people were mixed, so it became a kiln slope.)
Old man Xu waited at Yaopo for a whole day, but did not wait for Xu Chaoming.

Years of experience told him that something was definitely wrong.

Thinking of this, old man Xu couldn't lie down anymore.

stab
hiss.
call.
Light the cigarette with a match and take a few deep puffs.

The flickering light of the fire made Old Man Xu's terrifying face look uncertain.

The cigarette butt turned into flames and fell to the ground, with a pair of big shoes stepping on it.

Old man Xu made up his mind.

36 counting is the best plan!

He relied on this method to escape disaster back then.

The weeds on the graves of those big contractors who had laughed at him for being timid were now more than half a meter high.

Old man Xu put on his clothes and hat in the dark.

I took out a weird gadget from the canvas bag and squatted in the corner to tinker with it for a while.

After making sure that the thing was installed, he hit the corner of the wall a few times with a hammer.

The bricks are perfectly embedded in the corner of the wall. Even if someone searches carefully, they can't find any clues.

After doing all this, Old Man Xu straightened up, with a cruel smile on his lips: "Son, these hundreds of people in the guest house will be buried with you. You will not be lonely when you get to the underworld."

at this time.

There was a sound of footsteps outside the door.

The footsteps were trivial and frivolous, but they were like a heavy hammer hitting Old Man Xu's heart.

Old man Xu felt a chill in his heart, drew out his pistol, and hid behind the door with light steps.

He didn't make a sound.

"Old Xutou, I've brought you hot water. Open the door quickly."

The voice of the fat woman on duty came from outside the door.

Old man Xu bit his sleeve and pretended to have an unclear voice: "Sister-in-law, I just went to bed, just leave the hot water bottle at the door."

"Then remember, the hot water in our guest house will be cut off later."

Following a long-winded warning, the footsteps gradually faded away.

Old man Xu leaned his ear against the door and listened carefully. After making sure there was no other sound, he breathed a sigh of relief.He inserted the pistol into his waist and gently opened the door.

"do not move."

Several black gun barrels were pressed against his forehead.

A chill ran from the soles of my feet to the back of my head.

The dim corridor seemed to have turned dark. Old Xu's heart was beating wildly. He quickly raised his hands and shouted at the top of his voice: "Comrade, comrade, I know I was wrong. I shouldn't live in the utility room for petty gains."

This matter is my fault alone and has nothing to do with the fat lady. "

"Xu Zongtang, when you ordered the gangsters to kill twelve workers, do you really think that no one will remember you?"

Deputy Section Chief Wu stepped forward quickly, reached into his waistband, and pulled out a pistol.

Deputy Section Chief Wu looked at Old Man Xu up and down, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

The old comrade in front of him bore no resemblance to the majestic Xu Zongtang, either in his expression or in his clothing.

If Driver Li hadn't reminded him in time, even if he found out the details of Xu Technique, this old thing stained with workers' blood would still have escaped.

When he heard the name Xu Zongtang, Old Man Xu's face turned pale and bloodless, his body swayed, and he almost fainted.

"take away!"

Several security officers rushed forward and tied Xu Zongtang tightly.

On one side, someone held his arm and was about to walk out.

Xu Zongtang didn't struggle, he was just like a puddle of mud, being dragged by a few people.

At this time, the young man who had been leaning at the door smoking waved his hand at Deputy Section Chief Wu: "Take him back to the house."

"plum"

Deputy Section Chief Wu seemed a little confused, but without hesitation, he picked up Xu Zongtang's collar and threw him back into the utility room.

Xu Zongtang, who was just a ball of mud, immediately jumped up from the ground and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Quick, take me away, quick!"

The security officers were all confused, and Deputy Section Chief Wu was confused and froze on the spot.

The young man walked over with a cigarette in his mouth and asked with a smile: "Where did you hide that thing?"

"You, how do you know?" As soon as Xu Zongtang finished speaking, a chill suddenly rose in his heart.

Because, what immediately came to his mind were the following possibilities:

First, all his actions are under the surveillance of young people, but this seems impossible.

Although he has no professional training.

But the experience of living on the edge of a knife for many years is enough to ensure that if someone is following you, they will definitely be found.

Second, this matter was inferred by young people.

If it's the latter, it's terrible.

"Don't tell me? I should go back to bed." The young man seemed to be a lazy man and was not prepared to continue questioning.

As he spoke, he yawned lazily, turned around and said to Deputy Section Chief Wu: "Let's go, evacuate all the guests in the guest house and leave this guy here alone."

When Deputy Section Chief Wu heard this, he seemed to understand something and his expression changed.

He wanted to rush forward and use severe torture to make Xu Zongtang confess.

But if you think about it carefully, this guy had kneeled on the iron rope before, and his bones were as hard as steel bars.

Ordinary physical torture would probably not make him succumb in a short time.

Li Aiguo's approach may be the most effective.

Deputy Section Chief Wu waved his hand, followed Li Aiguo out of the house, and asked someone to lock the door from the outside.

inside the house.

Xu Zongtang squatted on the ground and was horrified to find that he started to panic.

He knew that he would definitely eat peanuts when he was taken to the security department, and he was already prepared to die.

But when he thought that the thing was around, he fell into fear.

In this world, the only thing more terrifying than death is the fear before death.

Death is just a matter of closing your eyes, but fear can put you in a hell where time stands still.

This is biological instinct and has gone beyond the scope of rational control.

Even Xu Zongtang couldn't bear it.

Hearing the footsteps getting further and further away, Xu Zongtang crawled to the corner of the wall with all his strength, pressed his cheek to the ground, opened his mouth and gnawed on a brick with his teeth.

The ordinary brick was so tightly embedded in the wall that no gap could be seen from the outside.

It turned out that after one of Xu Zongtang's teeth chipped, it became loose.

call.
Xu Zongtang breathed a sigh of relief, spit out the brick residue, suppressed his nausea, and sucked out the bricks with his toothless mouth.

Seeing the tawny package inside, his eyes flashed with joy.

*
*
*
The door creaked open.

The light from outside the door spilled in, and the young man just walked in lazily, with his hands behind his back, and casually took out a bomb with an alarm clock tied to it from the hole in the brick.

The alarm clock is an old-fashioned iron-cased alarm clock, intricately connected with a round detonator using wires.

The wire extends into the iron shell alarm clock through the bell above.

Seeing the bomb, Deputy Section Chief Wu's expression suddenly changed, and he couldn't help but exclaimed: "Driver Li, you really guessed it."

"You guys are really careless. You don't use red and blue wires. What's wrong?" The young man lowered his head and studied the wires on the bomb.

He also seemed to feel troubled, and his fingers scratched his hair a little messy.

"Hahaha, if you agree to let me go, I can tell you how to disarm the bomb. Otherwise, you will just wait for it to explode."

Xu Zongtang laughed wildly and was about to say a few cruel words.

blah blah
But he saw that the young man suddenly turned back the timing device of the alarm clock, and the timing hand turned a full half circle counterclockwise.

"Hey, if you do this, will the explosion time be postponed?" Li Aiguo chuckled.

Xu Zongtang: "."

Can this thing be done like this?
Li Aiguo fiddled with it a few times.

Definitely this is an original timing device.

The principle is very simple, which is to physically connect the wires through the timer hand in the iron case alarm clock.

Once the timer reaches the corresponding time, the line can be connected and the bomb can be activated.

When Lao Hei was under surveillance, he made this thing as a toy to relieve his boredom.

Although very reliable, it is extremely easy to disable and can only be used for timing.

Only the ignorant enemies like Lin Xi would regard it as a precious pimple.

Li Aiguo adjusted the time to five hours and handed it to Deputy Section Chief Wu who had just come in.

"Lao Wu, this stuff can't be wasted. There are about ten kilograms of explosives. Send them to the mine for the gunners to use."

Deputy Section Chief Wu looked at the bomb fearfully, then at the alarm clock. After hesitating for a long time, he finally took it and handed it to the security officer to quickly throw it into the trench outside.

He felt that Li Aiguo was a little too courageous.

Li Aiguo shook his head helplessly.

An earthen time bomb like this may seem dangerous, but it is actually quite reliable.

Alas, Linxi Mine wasted about ten kilograms of explosives.

Anyway, it was not an explosive from the locomotive depot, so Li Aiguo didn't pay much attention.

He leaned down and smiled at Xu Zongtang: "Old sir, thank you for traveling thousands of miles to deliver explosives."

That smile looked harmless, but it made Xu Zongtang's blood run cold.

He felt like he was seeing the devil.

That's not a problem.

In order to curry favor with foreign clerks, Xu Zongtang was baptized in the church and believed in Catholicism, so he could naturally accept the existence of the devil.

In short, Xu Zongtang felt that he should stay as far away from this young man as possible.

But the young man didn't seem ready to let him go.

He squatted in front of him and said with a wide grin: "I'm afraid you didn't design such a professional thing yourself. Tell the people behind you so that we can save ourselves the trouble."

Thinking of those people, Xu Zongtang pretended to be confused: "Who are they? I came to Linxi by myself, and I didn't have any helpers at all."

"Really?" Li Aiguo stood up slowly and waved to the security officer who was about to leave with the explosives: "Bring it back, I still have some use for it."

The little security officer looked at Deputy Section Chief Wu hesitantly.

Seeing Deputy Section Chief Wu nodding slightly, he carefully handed the explosives to Li Aiguo's hand.

"Driver Li, be careful, this thing is..."

Li Aiguo picked up the explosives and weighed them in his hands. He suddenly reached out and tore off Xu Zongtang's clothes and stuffed the explosives into his arms.

Then he helped him fasten the buttons very thoughtfully.

Xu Zongtang was so frightened that he would have been able to jump to the roof if he had not been tied up with a rope.

"You, what are you doing? Quick, get out of here!"

"You made the bomb yourself. You should know whether it will explode. Why panic?" Li Aiguo lit a cigarette and said coldly: "Now I will give you one last chance."

The voice did not fall.

Xu Zongtang knelt down on the ground with a thud, and big drops of sweat broke out on his forehead: "I confess that the explosives were given to me by that group of people. There were five of them in total, and they had a radio station. The leader of them lived in a foreign-style house. The chief steward here is named."

Xu Zongtang's psychological defense had completely collapsed. He knelt on the ground and kept begging for the explosives to be taken away quickly.

A person like this still wants to cause destruction?

Deputy Section Chief Wu shook his head disdainfully, took out a pen and paper, and wrote down the clues.

Xu Zongtang explained the enemy's name, residence, appearance, and preferences clearly.

He even said that he could help the task force arrest people, as long as the explosives could be taken away quickly.

He was afraid that the young man's approach of turning the alarm clock backward would detonate the bomb prematurely.

After all, he couldn't figure out who made that thing.

Deputy Section Chief Wu was filled with admiration at this time.

After figuring out Xu Zongtang's hiding place, the task force was still worried about whether to arrest Xu Zongtang.

After all, once Xu Zongtang is captured, if the enemy's clues cannot be interrogated in time, the gang may take the opportunity to escape.

If we don't catch it, the prosperity of Linxi cannot be compared with that of a small town in a remote area.

There are so many new faces here that it’s impossible to fully monitor them.

Once Xu Zongtang escapes, it will be like a chicken flying over an egg.

Xu Zongtang has committed a heinous crime and is one of the people on the list who must not be let go.

Finally, under Li Aiguo's suggestion, Deputy Section Chief Wu made up his mind to arrest the person.

Xu Zongtang is just as Li Aiguo expected, a coward.

Li Aiguo caught Deputy Section Chief Wu's gaze and smiled.

In fact, think about it and understand.

Even though Xu Zongtang was a big contractor, he was able to show off his power and bully the miners before liberation.

In fact, he has not received professional training and cannot withstand interrogation at all.

In addition, Xu Zongtang abandoned his family property and ran away before liberation and before the soldiers arrived, which shows that he was a man who was greedy for life and afraid of death.

Li Aiguo has at least a hundred ways to deal with such people.

Considering that an arrest operation was to be launched, Li Aiguo and Deputy Section Chief Wu wasted no time and prepared Xu Zongtang to leave the guest house.

Before going out, Li Aiguo seemed to remember something, picked up the tattered quilt on the bed, and wrapped it around Xu Zongtang's head.

"Driver Li, what are you doing?" Deputy Section Chief Wu looked at the tightly wrapped Xu Zongtang and felt a little strange.

Li Aiguo said: "You will understand later."

Deputy Section Chief Wu waved his hand, and several security officers escorted Xu Zongtang out.

At this time, Xu Zongtang had turned into a puddle of mud and could only be dragged by people.

From a distance, it looked like a few people dragging a bed sheet.

(End of this chapter)