mtl008 Chapter 1008 We Have Food Now
Chapter 1008 We Have Food Now
Looking down at the disheveled father and daughter, he spoke in deliberately slowed, heavily accented but chillingly cold Chinese, ensuring they could hear him clearly:
“Out of your… love for your daughter.” He paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully, or perhaps emphasizing his “favor”: “The Imperial Army… showed exceptional mercy.” He stressed the words “extraordinary mercy,” treating it as a form of charity and a prerequisite.
"You can take her away." He pointed at Xiao Juan, his tone calm but carrying an unquestionable authority.
Li Shouren suddenly raised his head, his cloudy eyes flashing with disbelief, and tears welled up again. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but could only utter choked sobs.
But Yusuke didn't finish his sentence before his voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a clear threat: "But watch your mouth!"
Yusuke Ichijo's gaze was sharp as a knife, fixed on Li Shouren's eyes: "About everything that happened here, about this girl... if there's even the slightest whisper of something that shouldn't be out there..."
He didn't continue speaking, but the unspoken meaning and the fleeting murderous intent in his eyes were more chilling than any explicit threat.
Otherwise... the consequences are self-evident.
Immediately afterwards, Yusuke Ichijo stopped looking at Li Shouren's reaction, as if he had no interest in Li's gratitude or fear.
He turned his head and quickly whispered an order in Japanese to a sergeant standing beside him. The sergeant immediately bowed and said, "Yes, sir!" before turning and running quickly into the courtyard.
The waiting time wasn't long, but for Li Shouren, every second felt like an eternity.
He held his daughter tightly, feeling her faint breaths and heartbeat—the only real thing.
Yusuke Ichijo has already left.
But Li Shouren still dared not look at the heavily armed and cold-faced Japanese soldiers around him. He could only stare intently at the ground, his heart torn apart by a huge, unreal sense of luck and an even deeper sense of humiliation.
An hour later, the squeaking sound of wheels rolling over gravel could be heard.
The military police sergeant returned, followed by four dejected Japanese soldiers who looked like defeated roosters.
These four men were the same soldiers from the Fourth Division who had tried to force Li Shouren to buy canned goods and rob him of his pocket watch on the street a few days ago!
They were pushing a wooden cart, on which were neatly stacked ten sacks of rice, each weighing about ten pounds, and twenty cans of beef with Japanese labels.
It turned out that the military police patrol had been "enforcing the law" that day, whipping the soldiers and ordering them to prepare the "payment" the next day and wait at the military police station for Li Shouren to come and collect it, as a warning to others and to demonstrate the "fairness of the Imperial Army's trade."
As a result, Li Shouren did not appear on time due to fear, and the soldiers secretly rejoiced, thinking they had escaped a "calamity".
Unexpectedly, the military police dragged them out of the barracks today and ordered them to immediately pay the outstanding "payment," not a penny less! That's why we are seeing this scene now.
The soldiers of the 4th Division at the head of the group had mournful faces, as if their own fathers had died.
He pushed the cart and walked up to Li Shouren, first bowing deeply at a ninety-degree angle to the supervising military police sergeant.
Then he turned to Li Shouren and stammered in broken, strange Chinese with a heavy Osaka accent, "I...I'm sorry!"
Our... we're so wrong!
"This... rice, canned goods... your... I'm so sorry!" He said, bowing repeatedly, cold sweat beading on his forehead, fearing the military police would pursue the matter further.
Li Shouren's gaze was instantly drawn to the things on the cart.
Those cloth bags... Li Shouren could even feel the fragrance of rice grains wafting from them.
The canned goods, their tin shells gleaming enticingly in the dim light of the day.
Grain! Real, tangible grain that could fill their stomachs and save their lives! Widow Sun, and the dozen or so children in the house who were on the verge of starvation... they were saved!
Xiao Juan is back, and we have food too!!
In that instant, Li Shouren's body trembled even more violently due to the intense inner conflict. He bit his lip tightly and even tasted the salty, metallic taste of blood.
Trembling, she stretched out her hands, covered in frostbite and grime, and silently, almost mechanically, took the handrail from the cart.
He didn't look at the military police who were watching the commotion around him, nor at the Japanese soldiers who were apologizing and bowing; it was as if they didn't exist.
His entire attention was focused on his daughter in his arms and the food in front of him.
In a hoarse, almost inaudible voice, he bowed his head and said to Xiaojuan, as if he were saying to himself, "Xiaojuan... it's alright..."
Dad... Dad will take you home...
"We have food now..." His voice choked with emotion as he gripped the handrail of the cart, his other hand tightly and protectively holding Xiao Juan's cold little hand.
Turning around, he staggered and limped, pushing the cart that carried both humiliation and hope towards the depths of the ruins, towards what could barely be called "home."
The wooden wheels of the cart made a monotonous and heavy "gurgling" sound as they pressed down on the uneven gravel road, as if accompanying his heavy mood.
Yusuke Ichijo stood at the second-floor window of the military police station, his hands behind his back, watching expressionlessly as the figures of Li Shouren and his daughter gradually shrank until they disappeared around the corner of a half-collapsed courtyard wall.
His eyes were deep and unreadable, revealing neither joy nor anger.
The thought of "Miss Huizi's maid" was like a carefully planted seed in his calm, even cold, heart.
Having already taken root, how could he possibly give up so easily?
This is not just a matter of a maid; it concerns his future value and status in the eyes of Commander Takasaki Takuto, and even the entire Takasaki family.
Xiao Juan was exactly what he envisioned; letting go temporarily was merely a stopgap measure.
Waiting for the initial chaos in Nanjing to stabilize, waiting for a more suitable and less conspicuous opportunity.
At that time, wouldn't the fate of a helpless little Chinese girl be in his hands?
He didn't even need to use force anymore; just a little bit of trickery, a little bit of "a combination of kindness and severity," was enough to make that humble father "voluntarily" offer up his daughter, or to make him "passively" disappear forever.
Thinking of this, a barely perceptible, cold smile appeared on Yusuke's lips.
He turned his head and whispered in Japanese to the sergeant next to him, "Go and find out where they are staying."
Send someone to keep a close watch without alerting anyone.
I need to know what they did every day and who they met.
"I'll make a decision after I've finished dealing with my military affairs."
"Yes, sir! Understood!" The sergeant understood immediately, bowed his head to accept the order, turned around and hurriedly left to arrange the surveillance.
Yusuke Ichijo took one last look in the direction where Li Shouren had disappeared, then resolutely turned around. There were still many "important matters" waiting for him to handle: dividing up defense zones, clearing out the remaining enemy forces, and restoring order.
Compared to these grand plans, Li Shouren and his daughter were merely a minor episode, a pawn temporarily set aside.
He has plenty of time and means.