Identity mystery
Previously, in order to find those messy documents, You Jiale had turned the entire office upside down, but he didn't find anything important. The only thing that bothered him was the locked wooden box in the corner, which kept popping up in his mind like a thorn, scratching at him every now and then. He figured there must be some secret hidden inside, otherwise the original owner of this body wouldn't have locked it so securely.
To be honest, You Jiale was a little apprehensive. What if the box contained some hot potato? After all, his current identity was quite precarious. However, the allure of the unknown, and the possibility of finding some information that could help him understand more about the original owner of this body, was like a cat's claws scratching at his heart, and in the end, it prevailed.
"There's no use thinking about it, just do it." You Jiale muttered to herself, finally making up her mind to pry open that annoying lock first.
However, this had to be done secretly. If Qin Zheng found out, he'd immediately gossip to Zhang Xiande. The contents of this box might be related to Yuan Youjiale's death, or some other deadly matter. He didn't want that old fox Zhang Xiande to know before he figured it out. His intuition told him that he had to be extremely careful.
The next morning, You Jiale arrived at the "Leji Delivery" yard earlier than usual. The yard was already bustling with activity, delivery guys rushing in and out, working non-stop. You Jiale's eyes darted around, and he casually approached a guy who was organizing boxes, asking in a friendly tone, "Hey bro, can you tell me something? Are there any good locksmiths around here? The kind who really keeps their mouths shut."
The young man scratched his head, thought for a moment, and then said, "Over on Chang'an Street, in the alley behind the tailor shop, there's an old man who repairs umbrellas and also does odd jobs like unlocking locks. He's mute, so he definitely won't talk nonsense."
Not far away, Qin Zheng strolled over as if nothing had happened, but his ears were perked up, and he heard everything clearly. A slight twitch appeared at the corner of his mouth.
“Chang’an Avenue…” You Jiale smiled casually, but she had already memorized the information.
Perfect! An inconspicuous little place, plus a mute old man who can't speak—it couldn't be more fitting.
That evening, as the city lights began to twinkle, You Jiale quietly slipped out of "Leji Delivery" under the cover of darkness. He was both excited and a little nervous as he made his way along the dimly lit alley behind the tailor shop. The air was filled with the aroma of street food. He hadn't gone far when he saw a small stall with a swaying lantern hanging above it. An elderly man with calloused hands was meticulously repairing a worn-out umbrella.
"Sir, please help me out!" You Jiale changed to a more earnest tone, with a hint of pleading. "That box is a bit too much for me to carry by myself. Could you come with me to take a look? I'll give you a good price, I promise."
The old man thought about it carefully again, remained silent for a while, and finally nodded slowly. He picked up a small cloth bag with various tools on his back, and moved quite nimbly.
You Jiale led the old man through a winding path back to his office. He knew Zhang Xiande had a business dinner tonight and definitely wouldn't be coming to the company to work overtime, which saved him a lot of trouble. Even if he happened to run into other people on the way, he could just make up an excuse, like that an important locker locker was broken and needed urgent repair.
Time passed second by second, and finally, the old lock clicked open.
You Jiale held his breath, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it would leap out of his throat; he could barely bear the anticipation. He truly hoped that after taking such a huge risk, he would eventually find something useful, some clues that could uncover the secrets of his own past, so that he wouldn't be as clueless and precarious as he was now.
He didn't want to open the box in front of anyone, no matter what was inside.
“
"Thank you, sir." You Jiale counted out a wad of banknotes and stuffed them into the old man's hand, then personally escorted him to the street corner.
Back in his office, You Jiale quietly closed the door and placed the opened wooden box back under the light. He hesitated for a few seconds before reaching out and slowly lifting the heavy lid.
Under the dim light, stacks of neatly arranged envelopes lay quietly in the box, each letter still bearing clean, crisp creases.
He picked up the top envelope, which had a name written on it—not "You Jiale".
Instead, it was a name he had never seen in the book: "Yu Shanhe".
The handwriting on the letter was very neat, clearly not the original owner's, but rather the kind of calligraphy style where each stroke was carefully written. He carefully tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter inside.
The first line of text sent a chill down his spine.
"Operation code D-073, contact point 'Li Ji Sauce Shop' at Caishikou, South District has been confirmed. The next batch of supplies is expected to arrive at Zhangyun Wharf in early June. Please prepare for distribution as soon as possible. The key number has been updated to '99437'."
You Jiale frowned at the numbers and codes on the envelope. What did all this mean? He had watched a lot of dramas set in the Republican era and knew that mysterious things were popular these days, but when it actually happened to him, the feeling was completely different.
The message conveyed by these words is very clear.
This is not a love letter, nor is it personal property. It is a report, an order, and a record of communications.
It's an underground operation.
You Jiale deftly unfolded the first letter, then quickly opened the second and third. Sure enough, each letter confirmed her previous suspicions: personnel transfers, updates to secret transportation lines, and several even mentioned the list of "sacrificed" personnel and subsequent replacement arrangements.
A chill ran down You Jiale's spine, his throat felt constricted and incredibly dry, and his palms were sweating profusely. This wasn't the cunning and deceitful game of the business world he was familiar with; it was a real, live-fire battle lurking in the shadows, ready to erupt at any moment.
His first instinct was to close the box, stuff all the envelopes back in, and pretend nothing had happened. But reason held him back—the original owner's death was too swift, too unexpected, and too suspicious.
Wasn't the original owner of this body killed because of Zhang Xiande and Pei Zhiyuan?
His first thought was to quickly close the box, stuff all these hot potatoes back in, and pretend nothing had happened. But another voice in his head screamed: Something's not right! There's definitely something fishy about the original owner's death.
How could the contents of such an unremarkable little wooden box possibly be related to a lowly assistant like the original owner of this body? You Jiale had always thought that the "You Jiale" was only kept by Zhang Xiande because of her reasonably good-looking face and a little bit of cleverness. Now it seemed that this "You Jiale" probably had another unknown identity, and perhaps even the name "You Jiale" might not be real. Thinking of this, You Jiale couldn't help but shudder; it was truly terrifying to think about.
He suddenly felt as if there was an invisible membrane separating him from this body, creating a strange sense of disconnect. He was himself, You Jiale, who had inexplicably transmigrated from modern society, but the person who had used the name "You Jiale" might have already been involved in that bloody underground struggle long before he arrived. Now he had entered this body; the outside world seemed calm, but the silent papers in the box were like eyes lurking in the darkness, slowly opening and watching him.
Yu Jiale composed herself and carefully refolded the letters, not daring to leave a single one out. She meticulously put them back into the wooden box, as if this would seal away those secrets once more.
The light shone on the old wooden box, casting a long, silent shadow, as if recording his complex emotions at that moment. You Jiale slumped back into his chair, staring at the box in the corner, motionless for a long time.
A sudden gust of wind blew in from outside the window, making a loud clanging sound. You Jiale's mind instantly went blank, like a jumbled mess, completely frozen, as if its CPU was about to burn out.
He snapped back to reality, as if startled awake. He abruptly stood up, walked to the corner, and carefully stuffed the heavy wooden box back into the deepest part of the box, covering it with miscellaneous items. At this moment, You Jiale's heart was pounding like a rabbit's, and he only wanted to keep this shocking secret hidden for the time being and digest it slowly.
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