Chapter 421 – Revolutionary Senior
Maybe Xiao Qin was worried that if we idled around downstairs, we would bump into Auntie Ren, who would be ho early. So she reluctantly carried the canned food and supplents into her unit. Before she left, she told to keep in touch with her and to call her whenever I wanted.
I, on the other hand, told her to not make Auntie Ren mad. Xiao Qin was a little surprised that I suddenly cared a lot about her mom, but she didn’t think much of it and thought I was rely trying to impress my future mother-in-law.
I have no idea if she will beco my mother-in-law, but there’s a good chance she would beco my stepmother! I won’t have any good days ahead of if I don’t try to get on the good side of a stepmother who knows martial arts! Snow White’s stepmother at least asked a hunter to kill Snow White, but my stepmother would get the job done herself.
After parting with Xiao Qin, I went back to the shoe repair shop and the main door was still closed. But the cursing had stopped and you could hear the TV playing a program discussing the national team’s loss.
I wanted to knock, but heard the sound of two people speaking. One was obviously the shoemaker uncle, the other was a fairly young man who used a lot of official jargon like a governnt official.
Their voices were about the sa level as the TV, so you would only be able to hear from where I was standing. The nearby fruit seller looked at with disdain as i was eavesdropping, but I pointed to her waterlon indicating I would buy one later, so she happily left alone.
After bribing the fruit seller, I pressed my ears against the door. I couldn’t hold back my curiosity of a conversation between a governnt official and an ex-intelligence officer.
The shoemaker uncle was the one to speak first. I could feel his anger even through the door, but unexpectedly his anger was laced with grief.
“The country has let down. My comrades who died in Yugoslavia still haven’t been avenged in so long.”
“You have calm down, it’s still not the ti...”
“I’ve waited long enough, I’m going to do things my way.”
“Comrade Hu Lai.” the governnt official stamped his feet in anger, “I advise you to not take things too far. The country knows about your behavior and can arrest you any ti. We only let you off in consideration off your contributions to our nation. If you keep doing this, it will have a negative affect towards the country’s general policy.”
The shoemaker uncle whose na was Hu Lai snorted, “If China doesn’t have the guts to ss with the US imperialists, there are still tons of other countries who do have the guts like Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea...”
“Hu Lai, don’t ss around, how much intel were you able to gather from the Arican embassy? Why not give the reports to your own country rather than other anti-Arican countries?”
“Sorry, but I no longer work for the governnt. Gathering information is my hobby and I have the freedom to give it to whoever I want.”
“Fine, keep doing whatever you want, but just rember who gave you that freedom. Anyway, you don’t even have an effective ans to pass of the information to anti-Arican countries. Even if it was out neighbor North Korea, they wouldn’t believe you even if you gave it to them for nothing.”
“That’s not true.” The shoemaker uncle sneered, “I’m close to piecing together all the information around the US-South Korean nuclear deploynt, so as long as they look for , I’ll give them the information.”
“Stop dreaming.” The governnt official slapped the table, “You’re only a shoemaker, why would the North Korean military co looking for you? I advise you to turn in the information to the state, then I could guarantee your frozen pension will be paid on ti and you will also be given a salary adjustnt.”
“No need.” The shoemaker uncle said coldly, “I can live by repairing shoes. I’ll give the information to whoever can avenge my comrades. Director Jiang, please return, I still have to curse at the national team along with the TV program.”
I quickly moved back to make it seem as if I just walked here. And indeed the sliding door opened and Director Jiang walked out while sighing and shaking his head.
He shivered when he saw . Perhaps because he thought I looked evil or maybe I was a spy from North Korea. I wasn’t afraid since I didn’t do anything wrong, so I stared back at him and he soon left.
“Waterlons are two fifty a pound.” The fruit seller quickly called out.
“I’ll but it later.” I waved my hands and stepped into the shoe repair shop, “Don’t worry, I won’t be able to run.”
Buying listening devices was illegal, so I closed and locked the door after I entered.
“I’m not in the mood to do business.” The shoemaker snorted.
I walked quietly towards the shoemaker and lowered my voice and said:
“Uncle... Xiao Qin... Ren XiaoQin, the one who lives above here introduced ... I want to buy a listening device...”
The shoemaker paused, then turned up the volu on the TV to mask our conversation.
“Who’s Xiao Qin’s mother?” The shoemaker wanted to test .
I smiled and said: “Ren HongLi, or Madam Ren. Female MMA world champion who now works as a martial arts director. She’s worked in movies ‘Ba Dao’, ‘Chai Gu Zhen’....”
“That’s enough.” The shoemaker waved his hand and asked another question, “Who’s Ren XiaoQin’s father?”
“Ummm.... I only know his last na is Huo...”
“You don’t know, I guess it’s fine if you don’t know.” The shoemaker stroked his black and white beard, “It looks like you’re Ye Lin, Xiao Qin’s boyfriend.”
“Huh, how did you know?” I was deeply impressed my comrade Hu Lai’s ability to analyze information since he was able to determine who I was from those two questions.
“Uncle, how did you deduce that, can you teach ?” I asked with an open-mind.
The shoemaker shook his head, “I didn’t deduce anything, Xiao Qin showed a picture of you before.”
Why did you test if you already recognized ? Is it fun ssing around with ?
“Umm.... can you sell a good listening device. A short distance one since I would only be one room away.”
The shoemaker interrogated like a customs officer: “Do you have relatives in Cuba?”
“No.” I wondered, “Does buying a listening device have anything to do with having relatives in Cuba?”
The shoemaker continued to ask: “Then do you know anybody from Venezuela, Iran, or North Korea?”
I shook my head.
“What a sha.” The shoemaker sighed, “Why is there no one who can help deliver information even with all these people coming and going?”
So you wanted a way to give away the information on your hands? But even if you ask everyone you et, the chance of eting the right person is low since people only co here to get their shoes fixed!
“Who are you eavesdropping on? I won’t sell it to you if you’re trying to eavesdrop on Xiao Qin.”
Huh, so you would sell it if she’s trying to eavesdropping on ? That pisses off.
But I could only smile along and say shalessly:
“I actually have a noble purpose. I’m using it to eavesdrop on a spy sent by the Arican imperialists.”
Ai ShuQiao held Arican citizenship, so it’s not far fetched to call Su Qiao and Arican spy.
The shoemaker quickly beca excited, “Really, I thought your generation had already fallen to their sugar coated words, but I never thought there would still be a patriotic young man like you. In that case, I’ll give you the listening device at no charge.”
He said as he pulled out a small black rectangular item that was 2cm in width and 1cm in height that seed like it was used to hold matches. Snapping open the back cover revealed a slot to hold lithium batteries.
“In your case, this model is sufficient. Using anything more complicated will actually make it easier to give yourself away. Right, it also cos with this receiver, if you plug in headphones it works in the sa way as a radio. Since it only works in short distances, you only need to replace the batteries once every half a month...”
Since Su Qiao would only be living at my ho for half a month, I won’t even need to change the batteries.
I put the listening device carefully in my bag and asked: “How much do I have to pay?”
The shoemaker looked displeased: “Didn’t I say I wouldn’t charge you? Anyone who fights against Aricans are my friends, just make sure to embarrass them.”
My face darkened. I might not be aligned with the Aricans, but my own sister is an Arican, so in his eyes I would be connecting with a foreign country. So I feel guilty for accepting a listening device for free.
Thus I went to the fruit seller to buy a waterlon and gifted it to the shoemaker uncle. He was trying to reject, but I told him it would be inconvenient to carry it ho on the subway so he accepted.
As I left the market with the listening device in my bag, I rembered I might not be able to take the subway ho.
If you want to know why, it’s because you have to pass inspections to ride the subway! Since listening devices are illegal, it would be a problem if they found it.
That’s why I went to ride the bus ho.
It was a bit troubleso taking the bus ho from Xiao Qin’s place since I had to transfer buses in between. Fortunately, there weren’t a lot of people on the buses, I was even able to find a seat on the second bus. I saw at the last row and would reach ho in about five more stops.
My phone suddenly began to vibrate in my pockets.
I thought it was from Xiao Qin, but when I took a look it was from a number I didn’t recognize.
“Hello.”
“Do you know who I am?”
It was the voice of a female student who spoke impolitely.
“I don’t know, who are you? An insurance salesman?”
“First, apologize to .”
“Huh, I don’t even know you, why would I apologize?”
“Anyway, you have to apologize. And you have to treat to a al, a Western-style restaurant.”
“Hey, at least tell who you are.”
“I’m He Ling.” She finally announced her na.
“Ah... I was wondering who it was, so it was Uncle He’s daughter, He Ling...”
“How rude, call sister He Ling.” She seed unhappy.
“Okay, well for Uncle He’s sake, sister... He Ling, why do I have to treat you to a al?”
“Why?” He Ling began to laugh, “The woman who ca to the dojo last ti called Ren HongLi, didn’t she refer to herself as your mother-in-law?”
Auntie Ren did indeed say I was her son-in-law, it was pretty embarrassing.
“Hmph, Ye Lin, so did your mother-in-law tell you that she lost her silver necklace?”
I was imdiately alerted, “Do you an you were the one who picked up Auntie Ren’s necklace after she dropped it at the dojo?”
He Ling didn’t really confirm or deny it and stayed silent.
I was a bit upset, “That necklace might not be worth a lot of money, but it’s sothing Auntie Ren’s mother left behind. If you picked it up, when didn’t you tell us sooner?”
He Ling was slightly annoyed, “It’s not like I was the one who found it. One of the male students found it and thought I was the one who dropped it and he brought it to . Silver prices are now less than ¥4 a gram and it doesn’t look like an antique, so how would I know it was worth a lot to you guys.”
I thought about it and I had no reason to be mad at her, so I switched to a gentler tone:
“Sister... He Ling, Auntie Ren really does treasure that necklace. Can you take care it for now, I’ll definitely treat you to a al at a Western-0style restaurant. Which day are you free?”
He Ling scoffed proudly after reaching her goal, “Friday night at eight, lets et at Traktir Pushkin. You have to make reservations, if I have to wait in line, then don’t bla if I don’t return the necklace.”
“Russian restaurant? Are you sure you could get used to their flavors? I hear the food there is a bit rough, although the portions are filling, so I would like it...”
“Don’t worry about if I could eat it or not, is there sothing wrong with trying sothings new?” it sounded like He Ling was playing with keys and I could hear it clanging, “A lot of foreigners go to Traktir Pushkin and I heard the owner is also a foreigner, doesn’t that set a good mood? Oh right, don’t forget to apologize to during dinner.”
“Why would I apologize.” I feigned innocence.
“Of course... it’s because you embarrassed on stage.” she said spitefully, “Not only did you made lose miserably, you also... ripped open my uniform and took advantage of . If it wasn’t because of Uncle Ye, there’s no way I would let you off this easily.”
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