Spy Wars: I can get rewards by being a bully!

Chapter 160 Limited Supply of Coal

At the end of December, after the winter solstice, the first snow fell from the sky.

The city of Peking was covered in white. Countless darkness and sins were buried. The whole city and the people in it seemed to have become clean.

Lin Ze got up in the morning, had breakfast and was about to go to work when he saw Wang Xiaoshou standing at the door with his arm hanging. Because of his arm, he could only wear half of his cotton jacket and leave the other half open, and he was shivering with cold.

"Hey, Wang Xiaoshou, it's so cold, why are you standing at my door instead of going to the patrol station to warm yourself by the fire? What's the matter? Are you feeling too hot inside and want to cool off here?"

Wang Xiaoshou said with a bitter face, "Patrolman, please don't make fun of me. I didn't dare to go in because I was afraid of disturbing you. I'm waiting for you to come out here."

Lin Ze understood. Wang Xiaoshou knew that there were women living in the house now, so it was not convenient to enter.

This reminded him that he should move to a bigger house, at least one with two courtyards, otherwise it would be inconvenient to meet guests.

Nowadays, when guests come to a house, the women in the family have to stay in the backyard and not come out. Only when the family is close friends can the women come out to meet the guests.

The alley where Lin Ze lives has houses of different sizes. For example, Miyamoto's house has a two-and-a-half-yard courtyard with a garden half the size of the courtyard at the back. The courtyard where Lin Ze lives now has only one courtyard because it is next to the road.

It was quite spacious when I lived alone before, but now that there are more people living here, I feel like it’s a bit cramped.

Of course, this is also in line with his status and family background. There are many slums in South City, and it is not uncommon for a family of several people, young and old, to squeeze into one room.

Lin Ze asked Wang Xiaoshou to come in. Wang Xiaoshou raised his voice and said, "Hey, Master Lin, I'll come in then."

When the two sisters heard the noise in the house, they naturally went to the side room and stayed there without coming out.

When they arrived at the main room, Lin Ze poured him a cup of hot tea and handed it to him. Wang Xiaoshou hurriedly stood up and took it.

"Look, I said this cool breeze was not in vain. Who would be so lucky as to have you pour tea for them?"

Lin Ze sat on the official hat chair and said, "Stop talking nonsense. Tell me what's going on."

"Uncle Lin, I just came to see if you've bought any coal. It's snowing soon. If you don't stock up on some coal, it will be hard to buy later."

Lin Ze had forgotten about this. Niu Saner had been begging for food for so many years. Although he was smart, he had no experience of living at home.

As soon as winter came, coal carts carrying coal from the Western Hills began to come into the city, and all the houses in Peking began to buy coal by the cart. This was cheap, and they could store enough at a time to burn for the entire winter, which was convenient and saved trouble.

If you miss this period, you have to go to the coal yard in the south city to buy it. Not only do you have to hire a car, but the price is also expensive.

Wang Xiaoshou took a sip of tea and said, "Master Lin, didn't you see the notice posted by the Japanese? This year's coal supply is limited! Grandma! They said it was a strategic material. Let's not talk about whether it is material or not. The people have no coal to burn. Are they going to freeze to death in the middle of winter?"

The Japanese were very brutal in plundering coal. After occupying Tianjin and Beijing, they first seized the coal yard in Xishan and then took over several large coal mines in Hebei Province.

The mined coal is transported along the railway to Qinhuang Bay. Part of it continues northward to the three northeastern provinces to supply industrial production, and the other part is loaded onto ships and shipped back to the mainland.

Of course, they also caused a lot of harm in the three northeastern provinces. They exploited coal resources in Jixi on a large scale and took away more than 16 million tons of coal in just a few years.

"Limited supply? Per person or per account?"

"They say it's based on the household, one household gets 200 kilograms of coal. Tell me, who the hell can burn that?"

Ordinary people in Beijing used small clay stoves for heating. The better ones used small iron stoves with chimneys connected to the outside of the house.

There is a lid on the stove, which is usually covered. You can lift it up to cook and boil water.

A small stove like this would require at least five or six hundred kilograms of coal in a winter, and that's if it's only used for heating at night and burned sparingly.

If it is a wealthy family with many houses, they will have to burn at least several tons of coal in the winter.

Lin Ze picked up the phone and called Gao Shengping, asking him to find a way to get two trucks of coal for him.

Unexpectedly, Gao Shengping laughed and said, "Brother Lin, how long has it been since you last went to the black market? Ask someone to go and get as many as they want!"

Lin Ze thought to himself, you guys are really evil. You limit the supply to the common people and sell them at high prices on the black market, right?

After hanging up the phone, he said, "Go back and make a count. Is there any coal that the institute hasn't bought yet, or is there not enough? Call Niu Saner at night and take everyone to the black market at Dongqianggen to buy some. The people there know Niu Saner, and ask him to give you a cheaper price."

Oh my god, Lin Ze also got a share of the money from selling coal on the black market. It's really laughable.

After sending Wang Xiaoshou away, Lin Ze reminded Xiyue, "It's getting cold. When you light the stove in the house, make sure the chimney doesn't get blocked. Open the door every few hours to ventilate."

Xiyue put a cloak on him and said, "Don't worry, we all remember it."

"Oh, by the way, in the afternoon, go to the Er Hun Shop at the end of the alley and get two pounds of mutton. Have him cut it into slices and we'll eat it in a hot pot. You can also buy something else, and get some chive sauce and pickled garlic."

"Well, I'll go this afternoon."

After giving the instructions, Lin Ze went out to work.

Sure enough, people on the street and in the patrol station were talking about the limited supply of coal. Lin Ze warned the people in the station not to tell anyone that Wang Xiaoshou took them to the black market to buy coal at a cheaper price at night. Whoever leaked the news would be fired.

The patrolmen nodded repeatedly and swore.

Niu Saner went upstairs to make tea for him, lowering his head, "Sir, I'm sorry, I forgot about this."

Lin Ze nodded and said, "Learn more from Wang Xiaoshou in the future. After all, he has been eating for a few more years than you and is very smart."

No matter what, as a long-term attendant, Niu Saner has to take care of everything. Lin Ze can be nice to him and give him generous treatment, but if there are flaws in his work, he cannot comfort him casually. Instead, he must know what to do and who to learn from.

A few more days of leisure passed, and the Gregorian New Year was approaching.

It is said that before the Japanese invaders came, the higher-ups insisted on using the Gregorian calendar for the sake of statistics and forcibly designated January 1st of the Gregorian calendar as the Spring Festival.

But the common people refused to accept this and continued to live according to the old calendar, which caused a lot of trouble. For example, everyone was forced to celebrate on January 1st of the Gregorian calendar, but was not allowed to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Now, with the arrival of the Japanese, no one celebrates New Year's Day except foreigners. Ordinary people care even less about this day and still only celebrate the Lunar New Year.

That morning, Lin Ze suddenly received a call from the Military Police Headquarters, asking him to go over.

Lin Ze thought that there should be some clue about Schaeffer's matter.

He hailed a rickshaw and went straight to the gendarmerie headquarters.