Chapter 666 - Lai Da Captured
The surprise search of the construction site was conducted jointly by a platoon from Li Yayang's garrison company and the East Gate Market police. Under Li Yayang's command, soldiers silently stretched cordon lines from both ends, blocking traffic and sealing off the entire site.
As the workers labored, shrill police whistles pierced the air from both directions, bayoneted rifles glittering in the sun. Then soldiers in gray uniforms and police in black uniforms squeezed simultaneously from both ends toward the middle.
"Squat down! Squat down!" "You! Put the shovel on the ground!" "Move aside! Move aside!"
Several police bellowed through megaphones. The soldiers' gleaming bayonets added persuasive force to every command. The bewildered workers quickly squatted on the ground one by one. The entire site fell silent.
Directed by a Political Security instructor, Political Security personnel in police black uniforms with blue "Political Security" armbands began checking each person's identification documents.
The supervising engineer for this section was a transmigrator named Zhang Liping. He had been operating a crane—the self-manufactured steam crane. Besides being massive and difficult to move, the lack of electromechanical controls made it a "killer" if you weren't extremely careful. Hastily trained native crane operators kept destroying materials and killing people on the site, so Zhang Liping had to handle it himself, working and training simultaneously.
When he heard the whistles he froze. Within minutes, he found himself surrounded by "black crows."
"What is this?!"
"Surprise inspection, Chief!" The lead instructor saluted. "Please present your identification!"
"Fine." Zhang Liping pulled his ID card from his pocket. The instructor examined it thoroughly before returning it. "Thank you! We need to inspect everyone on site. Please cooperate."
Zhang Liping produced the section's worker roster. Political Security personnel cross-checked each entry.
Workers and staff laboring on this section were cleared once their identities were verified. Natives who weren't assigned to this section but had come on various errands were also cleared after explaining their business—just requiring them to register.
Others weren't treated so courteously. They were questioned one by one. Those with papers fared better; those without were subjected to harsh interrogation, terrifying some nearly to the point of wetting themselves.
Anyone without papers was detained pending further identity verification.
In the midst of the busy search, a Political Security officer doing registrations suddenly noticed someone using the general commotion to slip behind a dirt mound, descend into the dry riverbed, and use the thick reeds growing in the dry river bottom to edge quite a distance away. If not for a small clearing that briefly exposed him, he might have escaped.
"Someone in the riverbed!" he shouted.
Before police could even blow their whistles, a crisp gunshot rang out from the bank—a garrison soldier had fired.
"Don't shoot!" the lead instructor shouted immediately. He waved his arm. "Quickly—take him alive!"
More than a dozen soldiers, police, and Political Security personnel gave a howl and rushed forward.
Minutes later, the would-be escapee was brought before them. Zhang Liping was secretly alarmed—had there really been a spy on his section?
The fugitive wore the locally produced indigo-blue cotton short-sleeved work uniform, trouser legs rolled up, mud caking his calves and arms, a battered straw hat on his head.
In this getup, he was indistinguishable from any other laborer on the site.
Searching his person revealed: some small-denomination circulation vouchers, a few copper coins. Nothing else—and no documents. The site workers said they'd never seen him.
"Name?" the instructor demanded.
"This one is called Chen Da," the captured man said nervously, repeatedly licking his lips.
"Why did you run?"
"..."
"Which work gang are you with? Why no papers?"
"This one is... a day laborer on the dirt crew... papers, lost..."
His speech was evasive, his behavior highly suspicious. The instructor immediately ordered him taken away for interrogation.
The captured man was Lai Da.
Lai Da had returned to Lingao under orders to contact the Huang family. Knowing Lingao was tightly controlled, he avoided main roads, taking only back paths.
Lai Da had calculated: his primary activity would be among the gentry, who generally lived in the countryside. As long as he avoided East Gate Market, the county seat, and Bopu—the bustling centers—he should be safe.
When escorting Gou Chengxuan during the escape, he and his brother Lai Xiao had arranged to meet at a ruined temple outside the city walls on the first and fifteenth of each month, waiting for one hour each time.
Lai Xiao, who had waited anxiously, was overjoyed when his brother finally appeared—and with news that the imperial army was about to launch an expedition. But Lai Xiao strongly opposed actually recruiting local gentry.
"We can only pretend to agree—never really do it!" Lai Xiao quietly warned his brother.
Lai Xiao's caution was well-founded. As a menial at the county school, he moved freely in Lingao and knew many things. He told Lai Da that the bald bandits were fully mobilizing for war, adding many troops.
"The bald bandits are watching the gentry closely! Spies are everywhere! They've added many checkpoint inspectors on the roads," Lai Xiao said. "Around the county school, there's been a lot of activity lately. You can't possibly see Huang Bingkun."
"What about Huang Family Stockade?"
"Probably under secret surveillance too." Lai Xiao hadn't been to Huang Family Stockade recently, but he had run errands for other wealthy families' sons—nearly every major household in the county had strange people lingering around their gates.
"The bald bandits are watching the big families very closely. Carrots and sticks. The most the big families dare do now is hedge their bets—never openly support the army. If you go to them, even if they don't betray you on the spot, the moment you step outside, the bald bandits' spies will grab you." Lai Xiao pleaded with him.
Lai Da pondered: "Can we invite one of the Huang family out to a secret location to talk? Surely the Huang family isn't just going to accept this? The killing of son and brother—such blood vengeance..."
"Let me find a way." Lai Xiao felt that doing nothing would be impossible to explain to the young master. Whether the Gou family could rise again, whether they could restore their swaggering days in Lingao, depended on earning merit for the young master this time.
"We must make contact with the big families!" Lai Da said fiercely. "This time we have to teach the bald bandits a lesson!"
Of course, Lai Da's deep hatred for the Australians had a deeper, more personal reason: Chu Qing.
The maid Chu Qing had originally been promised to him by Gou Er.
Ming-era Lingao had a severely imbalanced sex ratio; it was extremely difficult for young men to find wives. Let alone a young and reasonably pretty maid like Chu Qing. Normally, such a maid would be given to a servant only after the master had tired of her and used her up—and even that was considered an enormous favor. Many commoners simply couldn't afford to marry at all.
But Chu Qing was a pristine treasure the master had never touched. This alone was enough to make Lai Da weep with gratitude and swear eternal loyalty. Yet before he could enjoy the supreme pleasure of his wedding night, the Gou family had fallen.
Then came flight, hiding, wandering. The two brothers went from comfortable lives lording it over others to scratching out survival through odd jobs and begging. They were sometimes beaten and humiliated by county residents the Gou family had once wronged. From swaggering servants of a great house to dogs everyone kicked—and then word came that Chu Qing had been taken by an Australian as a concubine.
The Lai brothers' steadfast loyalty to Gou Chengxuan even in the Gou family's bleakest, most hopeless times owed much to this private grudge. It was precisely this bone-deep hatred that had sustained Lai Da and Lai Xiao through the worst adversity.
Lai Xiao procured a set of old worker's clothes for Lai Da. Wearing this outfit, he could move in and out of Bairren City and Bopu more easily. He also drew less attention on the roads.
"Brother, you don't have papers. Don't go to those places casually. The bald bandits are checking closely lately."
"I know," Lai Da said. "I'll work at the Wenlan River site."
The Wenlan River site employed many workers, including numerous day laborers on the dirt crews who were paid daily by work chit. People came and went freely—a highly fluid population in modern terms. Generally no one checked workers' papers there, making it an easy place to survive and blend in.
As for lodging: Lai Da had brought silver, but he didn't dare stay at local inns or guesthouses. The Police Headquarters had established a guest registration and reporting system at every inn, lodging house, hotel, and bathhouse in Lingao—anywhere that could house travelers. Every night after eight o'clock, police checked each establishment's guest register and questioned any suspicious persons.
For safety, Lai Da didn't dare walk into such a trap. He simply built a shelter in a grove far from the main road outside the county seat—the weather was hot; he certainly wouldn't freeze. He just needed shelter from rain.
Even so, the summer's persistent rains made him suffer greatly.
Lai Xiao spent several days trying to make contact, finally reaching one of the Huang family's personal servants. But the man was evasive, refusing to give a clear answer about whether he could arrange an introduction to the Huang family masters—even for money.
Lai Xiao grew anxious, fearing the Huang family might refuse to act—or worse, betray them. He suggested Lai Da hide immediately, or that the brothers flee to Qiongshan together.
Lai Da reassured him: "The Huang family is only hesitating because the situation is unclear. Once the imperial army reaches Ma'ao, they won't need us to find them—they'll come looking for us."
"But that means we can't rally local forces to welcome the army!" Lai Xiao said anxiously.
"With the bald bandits this powerful, the gentry will never act until the imperial army actually reaches Lingao," Lai Da said confidently.