Shadow of Spies

Propelled headlong into the relentless currents of history, Ji Yu finds himself transplanted to the tumultuous prelude to WWII.

Once an ordinary civil servant in his modern existence, Ji Yu i...

Chapter 168 Revealing Clues

However, as long as people are involved, and people are not inanimate objects, there are too many uncertainties, and there is a possibility that the news will leak out, which goes against Ning Zhiheng's original intention.

He needed to find the person in charge of the underground party organization's pharmaceutical front without alerting anyone; otherwise, wouldn't it have been faster to go directly to Wan Huarong?

He carefully searched through the receipts and records of the past twenty days. Fortunately, Ning Zhiheng was lucky; these ordinary shipping documents were not that important. Ning Zhiheng finally found what he was looking for.

This is a purchase receipt from eight days ago, indicating that Hengfeng Trading Company purchased a batch of cotton cloth from Demao Company.

The time and the goods matched, so it should be the batch of goods that Du Qian mentioned. Ning Zhiheng noted down the contents of the invoice, got what he needed, quickly restored the original state, cleaned up the traces, and left the accounting office with Zuo Gang. They locked the door and returned the way they came.

It was already past midnight. The two returned to the Zuo family home. Ning Zhiheng instructed Zuo Gang, "Find this Demao Company, find out its background and situation, especially the person in charge of the company and the situation of their transportation vehicles, and then report to me as soon as possible."

Zuo Gang nodded in acceptance, promising to investigate and report back as soon as possible. Ning Zhiheng then went home to rest.

Zuo Gang acted quickly, and by the evening of the next day, he had reported the findings of his investigation.

"This Demao Company is located near Hengfeng Trading Company. It's a newly established company with a small storefront and average size. The company's manager is also the boss, named Zhu Hongbo, who is in his early forties," Zuo Gang reported to Ning Zhiheng in detail.

"Just established? How many days has it been?" Ning Zhiheng asked.

"About half a month!" Zuo Gang replied.

Upon hearing this, Ning Zhiheng knew that his target was correct. Wu Quanjiang had been in trouble for more than 20 days. The underground party organization's transportation line needed to go into hiding for a period of time before setting up a new drug transportation line and opening this Demao Company. The timeline was very clear!

"Are there any transport vehicles?" Ning Zhiheng asked.

“Their backyard is a large yard. When I passed by the gate, I saw an old truck parked there. Their company isn’t very big, so they probably can’t afford to keep any more vehicles!” Zuo Gang said.

In this day and age, owning a truck is quite expensive. First, the truck itself is expensive, then gasoline is expensive, and then repair costs are expensive. Most companies hire vehicles from large companies when they need transportation and rarely spend this unnecessary expense themselves!

"Monitor this Zhu Hongbo. Record all the places he's been and all the people he's met throughout the day. Remember, only the locations and people need to be recorded. Other details, like the specific conversations, are unnecessary. Record from a distance! This person is very likely to have counter-surveillance capabilities. You don't have experience in surveillance, so don't get too close, or you might startle him," Ning Zhiheng instructed. He didn't know if the Zuo siblings had the ability to track targets and dared not take the risk.

"Understood. Record from a distance, never get close!" Zuo Gang nodded. To be honest, they had done this kind of surveillance before and had some experience, but since Ning Zhiheng had specifically given the order, they dared not disobey! Ning Zhiheng's meaning was simple: everything should be done without alerting the target.

"Also, keep a close eye on the transport vehicles parked in their backyard. If there are any changes, notify me immediately!" Ning Zhiheng instructed again.

The next two days were uneventful until Du Qian called to report.

"Team leader, the two trucks from Hengfeng Trading Company have returned and are currently undergoing inspection at the Kangyuankou checkpoint. What are your instructions?" Du Qian asked respectfully. Ning Zhiheng had specifically instructed him that the discovery of these trucks must be reported immediately. How could he dare to be negligent in the slightest towards his new master? He had been keeping a close watch on the Kangyuankou checkpoint for the past five days, for fear of missing the target.

Today, he finally made a discovery and immediately reported it to Ning Zhiheng.

"What goods are you carrying on the truck?" Ning Zhiheng asked.

“The receipts only list ordinary local specialties. We’ve checked them carefully, and there’s no problem! Should I keep them?” Du Qian asked cautiously.

"Why would you detain a normal shipment? Release it!" Ning Zhiheng ordered. He didn't want to say much on the phone, so he simply gave the order and hung up!