Chapter 8 Chapter VII
"Look! I'm famous!"
Jaidi held up the picture on the flyer to his face and grinned at Kanya.She didn't smile, so he put the flyer back on the shelf with the rest of the pictures.
"Well, you're right, it really doesn't look like me. They must have bribed someone from our archives department to get this." He sighed with feigned melancholy, "I was so young back then."
Kanya still didn't respond, she just looked at the water in the canal with a serious expression.They spent the day chasing boats smuggling Pure Ka and Agro-based grain, patrolling up and down the estuary; even so, Jaidy looked cheerful.
The highlight of the day was a frigate anchored near the pier.On the surface, it appears to be an Indian merchant ship sailing north from Bali, but it is actually filled with pineapples that can resist second-generation tuberculosis.Jaidy's white shirts poured lye into the ship, turning all the pineapples in the crates into something that could neither breed nor eat; while the dockkeeper and the captain stammered out excuses.The profits from smuggling are gone.
Jaidy flipped through the other newspapers taped to the bulletin board and found another picture of himself.This one was taken when he was a professional Muay Thai fighter, laughing after a victory at the Lufini Stadium.This one appeared in the Bangkok Morning Post.
"My boys should love this one."
He opened the newspaper and quickly scanned the reports.Minister of Trade Akarat bit people like crazy.Ministry of Trade insiders declared Jaidi a "villain".Jaidi was surprised they didn't call him a traitor or a terrorist.This unexpected restraint made it clear to him that there was really nothing they could do.
Jaidi couldn't help but smile and showed Kanya the newspaper, "We really hurt them."
Again, there was no response from Kanya.
When he first met Kanya, Jaidi thought she was out of her mind because she always had a deadpan face and never showed any joy.It's as if she's missing some kind of organ -- she can't smell without a nose, she can't see without eyes, for example.As to what organ deprives a man of the ability to feel joy, that is not known.
"It's time for us to go back to the ministry," she said, turning to watch the busy traffic on the canal for a boat that might take them.
Jaidi paid the flyer and took the newspaper.At this moment, a water taxi appeared in sight.
Kanya beckons, and the water taxi taxis up to them and stops.The flywheel on the ship wailed in its accumulated energy, and the track stirred up waves, hitting the revetment embankment of the canal.Huge kink springs take up almost half the space on board.Wealthy Teochew businessmen crowded towards the sheltered prow like a flock of ducks about to be slaughtered.
Kanya and Jaidi jumped onto the boat and stood on the side of the boat without going into the cockpit.The little girl who sold the tickets just let them go with one glance at their white uniforms, and of course neither of them had any intention of buying a ticket.The little girl sold a boat ticket worth 30 baht to another man who boarded the boat with them.As the boat sped away from the dock, Jaidy grabbed a safety line attached to the side of the boat.The boat was speeding along the canal toward the center of the city, gusts of river wind blowing in his face.The boat zigzags around the small paddleboats and longtail boats in the canal.Pieces of dilapidated houses and shops receded quickly, brightly colored square skirts, long skirts and sarongs drying in the sun.Women washed their long black hair in the brown river.The speed of the boat suddenly slowed down.
Kanya looked ahead, "What's that?"
A tree fell in the canal ahead, blocking most of the channel.Ships of all kinds huddled around the tree, trying to find a gap to get through.
"A linden tree," Jaidi said, surveying the nearby landmarks. "We have to tell the monks about this." No one but the monks would touch the tree.Despite the scarcity of wood today, no one uses the wood from this tree.That would bring misfortune.Their boat mingled with other boats, trying to squeeze their way through gaps not yet blocked by the sacred trees.
Jaidi growled impatiently, then yelled forward: "Get out of the way, friends! Ministry of Environment business. Get out of the way!" He waved his badge.
Seeing the badge and the dazzling white uniform on his body, ships of all sizes moved aside one after another.The water taxi driver gave Jaidi a grateful look.The clockwork of their boat started, pushing the other boats aside.Passing by the tree's bare branches, all the passengers on the canal taxi clasped their hands and lightly touched their foreheads, bowing deeply to the fallen tree.
Jaidi himself did a namaste, then held out his hand, his fingers tracing the rough bark as the boat moved.There are many small pits on it.If he peeled back the skin, he could see the fine network of grooves that had killed the tree.This is a sacred bodhi tree, under which the Buddha attained enlightenment.However, there was nothing they could do to save the tree.Despite their best efforts, none of the variant lindens survived.They are completely immune to ivory beetles.After the scientists declared failure, they began to pray to Phra Sevub Nakasa in desperation, but the martyr ultimately failed to save the Bodhi tree.
"We can't save everything," Kanya whispered, seeming to know what he was thinking.
"We can't save anything." Zaidi ran his fingers across the grooves where the ivory beetle had gnawed. "Those Farangs have destroyed so many of our things, yet Akarat still wants to make a deal with them."
"We didn't do a deal with Agro-based."
Jaidi showed a bitter smile, and took his hand back, "Yes, we didn't do business with them, but we did with their counterparts. Gene crackers, Calorie's agents, when the famine was at its worst, we did business with pure The card companies did deals. Do you know why we let them occupy Anglet Island? Because we needed them. Because we lost the fight and had to beg them for their rice, wheat and soybeans."
"We now have our own genetic cracker."
"Thanks to His Majesty Rama XII for his vision."
"And Chao Phraya Gi Bu Sen."
"Chao Phraya." Zaidi frowned, "How does that evil person deserve such an honorable title?"
Kanya shrugged and didn't answer him.The Bodhi tree quickly disappeared into the distance behind him.They disembarked at Shinakrin Bridge, and the smell of food from the food stall whetted Jaidi's appetite.He motioned for Kanya to follow, then walked into a narrow alley, "Somchai said there was a very good cold papaya cart in this alley. He said the papaya there was good and clean."
"I'm not hungry," Kanya said.
"That's why you're always in a bad mood."
"Zaidi..." Kanya seemed to want to say something, but didn't say it.
Zaidi glanced back at her, and found a worried expression on her face, "What's the matter? Tell me."
"I'm a little worried about things over there at the takeoff and landing field."
Jaidi shrugged, "Don't worry."
The two walked forward for a while, and saw food stalls and dining tables crowded together in the alley.Small bowls of paprika sauce are neatly placed on a neat wooden table. "See? Somchai is right." He found the stall selling papaya salad, looked carefully at the fruit and ingredients, and ordered two.Kanya came to him, looking somber.
"Two hundred thousand baht is not a small amount, and Akarat will never be willing." She whispered, while Zaidi asked the stall owner to add more red peppers.
Hearing this, Zaidi nodded thoughtfully, watching the female stall owner mix the green papaya with the ingredients, "That's right. I really didn't expect to squeeze out so much oil and water."
That's enough money to build a new gene-cracking laboratory, or to send five hundred white shirts to investigate tilapia farms in Thonburi... He shook his head.And this is just the result of a raid.What a surprise to him.
He sometimes felt that he understood how the world worked; yet every time he opened the lid, he would discover new things in the holy city, and see cockroaches scurrying in places he hadn't thought of.For him, these are new experiences.
He walked to another trolley, piled high with plates of pork marinated in red peppers and bamboo shoots from Red Star.Deep-fried snakehead fish, crispy and crispy, just caught from the Chao Phraya River that day.He bought some more food, enough for the two of them, and rice wine.He sits at a table and waits for the food to be served.
The day's work was done, and Zaidi was rocking back and forth on the bamboo stool.The rice wine warmed his stomach, and he couldn't help smiling at his frowning deputy.
As usual, even with the delicious food in front of him, Kanya remained unmoved. "Mr. Brombercardi complained about you at headquarters," she said. "He said he was going to General Pracha and tear your grinning mouth out."
Zaidi put a spoonful of red pepper into his mouth, "I'm not afraid of him."
"The landing pad is his turf. He's going to protect it, take bribes."
"Before you were worried about the Ministry of Trade, and now you're worried about Bromber Cardy. The old man is frightened when he sees his own shadow. Let his wife try everything to make sure he doesn't get rust. He shook his head, "Don't be so sad. You should smile more, sometimes you have to laugh. Come, drink this." Zaidi poured more rice wine for the deputy, "We used to call us The country of laughter is the land of laughter." Jaidy pushes his point, "And you sit here sullenly, like you've been eating limes all day."
"Maybe we had more things to laugh about then."
"Uh, maybe you're right." Zaidi put the rice wine bottle back on the table and stared at it thoughtfully, "Our previous life must have done something terrible, and this life has come down to this Circumstances. That's the only explanation I can think of."
Kanya sighed. "I sometimes see my grandmother's spirit circling under the pagoda near my house. She told me she couldn't be reincarnated unless we made this place better."
"Another shrunken age ghost? How did she find you? Didn't she too?"
"She found me anyway." Kanya shrugged. "She was unhappy with me."
"Yeah, I think we're all going to be pretty unhappy." Jaidy had seen the ghosts himself.Sometimes, they will walk on the avenue, or sit in the trees.Today, ghosts are everywhere, beyond count.He saw them leaning on the trunk of the decayed lime tree in the cemetery, and they all looked at him with anger.
All the psychics were talking about these ghosts, driven mad by disappointment, how they couldn't reincarnate and stayed in the present, like a crowd of people at Hua Lamphong station waiting for the train to the beach.All ghosts expect to be reincarnated, but they can't.Judging from their behavior during their lifetime, they should not continue to suffer in this world.
Some monks, represented by Ajaan Suthapu, declared this claim to be groundless.He sells amulets that drive away ghosts, saying that those ghosts just died from eating rust-infected vegetables and became ordinary hungry ghosts.Anyone can go to his altar to make a donation, or go to the Erawan Shrine to make an offering to Brahma - maybe even watch the temple dancers perform for a while - to wish the ghosts rest in peace, and go to the place where they will be reincarnated .
Still, ghosts are everywhere.Everyone thinks so.They are all victims of agro-based companies, pure-calorie companies, and other calorie giants.
Jaidi said: "I am not in a position to comment on your grandmother. During the full moon, I myself can see ghosts gathering in the streets around the Ministry of Environment building. There are a lot of them." He gave a sad smile. "I Feeling like this problem is probably unsolvable. Every time I think about Niwo and Surat growing up in this environment..." He took a breath, trying to suppress his emotions, he didn't want to show it in front of Kanya express these emotions.He took another sip of his drink, "Fighting is useful anyway. I'm just hoping to catch the Agri or PureCard execs and hang them. Maybe give them a taste of AG134.s type rust The smell of it. Then my life would be complete and I could die happily."
"You probably won't be able to reincarnate either," Kanya said. "A good person like you shouldn't be reincarnated in this hell."
"If I'm lucky, I might reincarnate in Des Moines and blow up their genetic cracking lab."
"You said it too, it's only if."
Hearing Kanya's tone was wrong, Jaidi looked up at her, "What are you worried about? Why are you so depressed? We will definitely be reincarnated somewhere beautiful. The two of us. Think about it, just yesterday, we accumulated I have done so much good deeds. When we burned the goods, I felt that the waste at the customs was almost scared out of shit."
Kanya is still frowning, "It's likely that they've never encountered a white shirt that they can't buy with money."
This simple sentence instantly destroyed the humorous atmosphere he worked so hard to create.That was why she was not liked by the rest of the ministry. "Yes, that's true. No one is immune to bribes these days. It's not the same as before. The worst times, people have forgotten. They don't care about repeating the same mistakes."
"You're like the Department of Trade snake by the throat right now," Kanya said. "Since the riots on Dec. 12, General Praca and Secretary Akarat have been circling each other, looking for new pretexts for war. .The feud between them was never resolved, and what you did further angered Akarat. Things became unstable."
"Well, I'm always too impatient. Chaya said that too. That's why I kept you. But I'm not worried about Akarat. He can get angry, but he will calm down quickly Of course it doesn't make him happy, but General Pracha has many allies in the army, and Akarat's desire to start another riot is obviously not going to work. Prime Minister Surawong is dead, and Akarat has almost nothing on his hands He's been left alone. Without the backing of mammoths and tanks, all Akara has to offer is money, and he's a paper tiger. That's the lesson for him."
"He's dangerous."
Jaidi stared at her seriously, "Cobras are dangerous, giant elephants are dangerous, second-generation tuberculosis is dangerous, everything around us is dangerous. As for Akarat..." He shrugged, "Anyway , this matter is over, no matter how you say it is impossible to change it, why worry about this? Mai pen rai. Don't worry."
"Even so, you have to be careful."
"You mean the man at the landing pad, the one Somchai saw? Did he scare you?"
Kanya shrugged, "No."
"Surprised me. He scared the hell out of me." Jaidy stared at Kanya, wondering what to say, how much he should tell her about the world, "He gave me a bad feeling. "
"Really?" Kanya looked disappointed. "Are you scared? Can a fool like that scare you?"
Jaidi shook his head, "Of course, it's not too scared to run and hide behind Chaya's square skirt. However, I've seen that person before."
"You didn't tell me."
"At first I wasn't sure, now I'm sure. I think he's from the Ministry of Trade." He paused, watching the other side's reaction, "I think they're stalking me again, maybe thinking about another assassination. You Any ideas?"
"They dare not touch you. Her Majesty has praised you."
Jaidy touched the old scar on his neck where he had been hit by the clockwork pistol.Against his dark skin, the scar was dazzlingly white. "Even if I did something like that at the landing pad, they still wouldn't dare touch me?"
Kanya raised his head, "I will assign you a personal bodyguard."
Seeing her violent reaction, Jaidy laughed, feeling a wave of warmth and comfort in his heart, "You are a good girl, but I would be a fool if I brought bodyguards with me. If I did, everyone would know I was It can be intimidating. That's not the way a tiger works. Here, try this." He scooped the snakehead fish onto Kanya's plate.
"I'm stuffed."
"You're welcome, let's eat."
"You need bodyguards. Please."
"I believe you can protect me. You are enough."
Kanya shuddered.Seeing this situation, Zaidi put away his smile.Ah, Kanya, he thought, we all have choices that we have to face in our lives.I have made my choice, but you have your own karma.He said softly: "Eat more, you are so skinny. How can you find a special friend when you are so thin?"
Kanya pushed away the plate in front of him, "I don't seem to be able to eat much recently."
"People are starving everywhere, and you can't eat."
With a bitter face, Kanya slowly picked up some fish with a spoon.
Jaidi shook his head and put down his spoon and fork, "What's the matter with you? You're in a worse mood than usual. I feel like I just put one of our brothers into the urn. What's bothering you?"
"Nothing. Really. Just not hungry."
"Speak up, Lieutenant. I want to have a good talk with you. It's an order. You're a good officer, but I can't stand your frown. I don't want anyone on my staff to frown, even if she's from Yishan." Same,"
Kanya was still frowning.She was trying to figure out what to say, and Jaidy just looked at her.He wondered if he had ever thought through his words and spoken his words as well as the young woman in front of him.The answer is likely no.He was always indiscreet and easily angered.Unlike Kanya, who never smiles, can always remain calm.She was never joyful, but there was no question that she was always calm.
He waits.He felt he would finally hear her full story, everything that had caused her pain.But when Kanya finally spoke, she surprised him.Her voice was almost inaudible, giving the impression that she was extremely embarrassed to say this.
"There are people down there complaining that you often don't accept well-intentioned gifts."
"What?" Jaidy leaned back, staring at her intently. "We don't get involved in that kind of thing. We're different from everyone else, and we're proud of it."
Kanya nodded immediately. "That's why newspapers and leaflets like you. That's why ordinary people like you."
"but?"
The distressed expression returned to her face, "But your position will never be promoted again. Your loyal subordinates can't get enough benefits from you, and you will lose their support."
"But look what we've done!" Zaidi patted a bag of money that had just been confiscated from the Clipper. "Everyone knows that as long as they need it, there will be enough benefits. The money we get can Catering to everyone's needs."
Kanya stared down at the table and whispered, "Some say you'd rather keep the money in your own hands."
"What?" Jaidy stared at her, almost speechless in shock, "Do you think so too?"
Kanya shrugged pitifully, "Of course not."
Jaidi shook his head and apologized to her: "Yes, of course you don't think so. You are a good girl and do a good job." He smiled at his deputy, and he remembered the young woman who arrived hungry. The scene around him, since then, she has always regarded him as an idol and acted according to his example.Sympathy almost overwhelmed him.
"I've tried my best to dispel the rumors, but..." Kanya shrugged helplessly again, "the cadets say that working under Captain Jaidi is like starving to death from an aka bug. You keep working, working, People are getting thinner. Our lads are great, but they can't help but feel ashamed when they see other team members wearing new white uniforms when they have old uniforms .Everyone else rides kink-spring-powered scooters, and they can only ride one bike."
Jaidi sighed, "I remember a time when our white shirts were loved."
"Everyone has to eat as long as they live."
Jaidi sighed again.He took out the wallet between his legs and threw it to Kanya across the table, "split the money equally, and say it is to reward them for their bravery and hard work yesterday."
She looked at him in surprise, "Are you sure?"
Jaidy smiled and shrugged, hiding his disappointment.He knew that giving money was the best way to go, but despite this, he felt unspeakably sad. "Why not? You're right, they're good lads. They've done a very good job of getting Farang and the Ministry of Trade out of their heads."
Kanya gave a respectful namaste, her head bowed deeply, her palms raised to forehead height.
"Oh, don't mess with those useless things." Jaidi poured the rest of the rice wine in the bottle into Kanya's glass, "Mai pen rai. Don't take it to heart. It's just a small thing. We have a new battle tomorrow , we need loyal lads. How are we going to conquer a world dominated by agro-based and pure-play card companies if we can’t even feed our own friends?”
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