Chapter 153: A Flawless Coordination

Withdrawing his right hand and passing out cigarettes to Bai Zeshao and the others, Qin Shuai asked, "Brothers, see if there is anything else you need. If not, let's pull back."

Hearing Qin Shuai's words, Gao Fei couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. In fact, he wished these grandfathers, Bai Zeshao and his associates, would leave sooner rather than later.

"Wait a minute," Bai Zeshao suddenly spoke up.

"What is it?" Qin Shuai asked with a puzzled look.

Meanwhile, Gao Fei felt his heart tighten, and his right hand involuntarily drifted into his pants pocket, where a loaded handgun was clutched.

"Old Qin, we are military men, not bandits. We can't just take people's things without paying for them," Bai Zeshao said with a smile.

Everyone was stunned, caught completely off guard. They never expected that Bai Zeshao, who had been so smoothly taking advantage of freebies yesterday, would utter such words.

Besides, when had anyone from their Special Service Office ever paid for meals or cigarettes when going out?

Thinking Bai Zeshao was merely joking, Qin Shuai didn't get annoyed. He looked at Gao Fei and asked, "Boss, how much?"

"No money needed, no money needed. As I just said, this is my tribute to you sirs, and besides, it's not much money anyway," Gao Fei said hurriedly, tumbling over his words.

"Xiao Bai, you see that? The boss says no money," Qin Shuai said with a feigned helpless expression.

"Pay him," Bai Zeshao insisted unyielding and completely disregarding Qin Shuai's face.

"Xiao Bai, you are completely ignoring my face here," Qin Shuai's expression turned gloomy as he spoke rather bluntly.

"Gentlemen, really, no money needed, no money needed," Gao Fei chimed in nervously as he watched the tense atmosphere building among them.

"Shut up."

Just as Gao Fei finished speaking, Bai Zeshao and Qin Shuai barked simultaneously.

Gao Fei offered an awkward, sheepish smile and stopped talking, standing aside with his head bowed in silence.

However, a flurry of speculations arose in his mind. He was quite familiar with Bai Zeshao's background—he was known as a social, tactful person. Why would he act so "overbearing" now?

Similarly, Liu Xiaobing, who knew Bai Zeshao very well, couldn't quite figure out his underlying intention upon seeing his persistence, but still spoke up, "Old Qin, just pay the man."

"Ren Qiang, what do you think?" Hearing Liu Xiaobing's words, Qin Shuai's face grew even uglier, and he shifted his gaze to Ren Qiang.

"It's just a little pocket change, what are you guys doing? There's no need to make things so tense. Don't forget, we are in the middle of a mission," Ren Qiang glanced around and said with a helpless sigh.

"Looks like you all want me to pay then," Qin Shuai laughed coldly, then suddenly whipped out his pistol, pressing the barrel directly against Gao Fei's head, "Boss, how much is it?"

"No money, really no money," Gao Fei said with a tortured expression, while feigning extreme fear.

"Really no money?" Qin Shuai pressed the muzzle forward a bit more as he spoke.

"Old Qin, do you really think you're a bandit now? Pulling out your gun like that, just look at yourself," Bai Zeshao scolded.

Yet, far from serving as a deterrent, Bai Zeshao's words only provoked Qin Shuai further, who raised his arm and fired a shot directly into the air.

The crisp sound of the gunshot echoed with startling clarity inside the sundry shop.

Inside the secret room.

Tian Yaopeng had been talking with the clerk, but the moment the gunshot rang out, he froze. Frowning, he said, "Something's gone wrong."

"What should we do now?" the clerk asked.

"You go out and take a look first. Remember, do not expose your identity under any circumstances, or you know very well what the consequences will be," Tian Yaopeng warned.

"I know, you don't need to remind a stray dog like me," the clerk retorted rudely before quickly slipping out.

When the clerk reached the front area, he saw Qin Shuai holding a gun to Gao Fei's head, but he breathed a sigh of relief upon noticing Gao Fei appeared unharmed.

Hurrying forward a few steps, he said, "Sirs, please calm your anger. Do not shoot, I beg of you."

Hmph!

Qin Shuai completely ignored the clerk, keeping his weapon firmly pressed against Gao Fei's temple.

Panic began to rise in the clerk. Though he didn't understand the exact cause of the confrontation, Gao Fei hadn't fought back yet, meaning their cover hadn't been blown.

Therefore, he decided to pull out the card of Qi Zhengyi: "Gentlemen, please show mercy. It's not worth drawing guns over such a small matter. Besides, our proprietor has connections with the Wen family."

At the end of his sentence, a hint of a threat crept into his tone. After all, in the clerk's view, the colossal Wen family was not someone Bai Zeshao and his crew could afford to offend.

And indeed, upon hearing the clerk's words, Qin Shuai finally lowered his firearm.

At this moment, Bai Zeshao burst into laughter—a genuine, radiant laugh—and said, "See, isn't this all just a misunderstanding? Boss, you should have mentioned these connections earlier instead of leaving your brothers in such an awkward spot."

"It's no big deal, just a misunderstanding. Once cleared up, it's fine," Gao Fei forced out a magnanimous facade, though inside he wished he could tear these bastards to pieces.

Right now, he wanted nothing to do with complications; his only desire was to send these men away as quickly as possible.

"Boss, you clearly have a magnanimous character, but we can't be lacking in manners," Bai Zeshao said, drawing a stack of bills from his pocket and pressing them into Gao Fei's hand.

"Little brother, you're too polite. As the saying goes, friends are made through fights, so let these cigarettes be my treat," Gao Fei said as he tried to return the money.

"Boss, if you don't accept this money today, it means you haven't forgiven us, and then we truly can't leave. If the people from the Wen family found out about this, wouldn't we catch hell for it?" Bai Zeshao said with a displeased look.

"Very well, then I will accept it," Gao Fei took the banknotes with feigned reluctance.

"Alright, then we'll pull back. Sorry for the disturbance, Boss," Bai Zeshao said, turning as if to leave.

Gao Fei finally let out a true breath of relief.

However, Bai Zeshao suddenly turned back around: "By the way, I still don't know which esteemed member of the Wen family the boss is connected to. Speaking of which, I'm actually quite well-acquainted with Miss Wen Xiaowan, the eldest young lady of the Wen family."

Neither Gao Fei nor the clerk suspected anything untoward, assuming Bai Zeshao simply doubted their connection to the Wen family. After all, if a mere mention of the Wen family was enough to scare off the Special Service Office, those agents would be utterly incompetent.

"Our proprietor is related to Qi Zhengyi, the steward of the Wen family. He's the steward's cousin," the clerk stated proudly.

"I see. How terribly impolite of me. I never imagined the boss had such backing," Bai Zeshao murmured, the smile on his face growing even richer.

He was thoroughly familiar with Qi Zhengyi's background, and there were certainly no cousins of his sort anywhere to be found.

At this point, Bai Zeshao was virtually certain that this sundry shop served as a Japanese stronghold—a truly unexpected discovery.

As he spoke, he exchanged an imperceptible wink with Liu Xiaobing, who understood the signal and nodded.

Moments later, the search reinforcement team arrived at the sundry shop.