Following the man's gaze, Jiang Si also looked over.
The man was sitting upright at the head of the octagonal table, and appeared to be around fifty years old.
Long, narrow face with high cheekbones.
Sparse eyebrows and a slender build.
Jiang Si recognized him at a glance; this was Wu Hongyi, whom Chi Heng had mentioned before.
His real name was Takeda Hiroichi. He was a confidant of Ike's mother, and the two had a close relationship.
Just as Jiang Si was sizing up the other person, Takeda Hiroichi lifted his eyelids and looked over expressionlessly.
Jiang Si was not afraid at all, and even asked Chi Heng in front of him, "And who is this?"
"This is my mother's friend, Mr. Wu." Chi Heng introduced him with a calm expression, and then said to Jiang Si, "Please sit down first, we can talk about it while we eat."
As they were talking, Uncle Da had already set out the bowls and chopsticks.
"Uncle Da, don't bother, I have some things to take care of in a bit, I won't be here for more than a few minutes."
Seeing that she sounded anxious, Chi Heng asked, "What's wrong?"
"Don't even mention it." Jiang Si sighed. "Something came up at work, it's quite troublesome, and I have to rush over there to deal with it in a bit."
After saying that, she turned to look at Chi Heng and said, "By the way, I came here today to tell you that I may not be able to work on projects with the embassy for the foreseeable future."
"You'll have to keep an eye on the progress. If you need anything, contact my assistant, Xiao Qi. I've already spoken to her."
“No problem,” Chi Heng readily agreed. “But you have to tell me what happened, otherwise I won’t be able to explain it to my superiors.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Si hesitated for a moment, then glanced at the man beside her without leaving a trace.
"It's alright, just say what you want to say. Mr. Wu is not an outsider."
Upon seeing this, Jiang Si spoke frankly, "Someone in our unit embezzled funds and replaced some of the steel bars with inferior ones. Fortunately, it was discovered in time. Otherwise, if these steel bars had been used, the building would have had problems in three years at most."
"The higher-ups are furious and have demanded a thorough investigation of all steel rebar batches from the past six months."
At this point, Jiang Si sighed again, "He's already in this position, yet he still risks doing this kind of thing. I really don't know what he's after."
Chi Heng frowned. "You mean the acting director of the Materials Supply Department?"
“If it were him, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
As she spoke, Jiang Si lowered her voice, "He's Deputy Minister Xu from our unit!"
The words "Vice Minister Xu" were uttered.
Hiroichi Takeda, sitting opposite Jiang Si, visibly narrowed his pupils.
Chi Heng also asked, "Is it him?"
Jiang Si took in their expressions. "You're surprised too, aren't you? We all think so, but whether we believe it or not is irrelevant. He's already been taken away by the Ministry of Public Security!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Takeda Hiroichi appeared on the other side.
He was clearly somewhat dazed.
Having achieved her goal, Jiang Si said no more and quickly made an excuse to leave ahead of time.
Huo Tingzhou was waiting for her at the entrance of another alley.
After confirming that no one was following behind, Jiang Si quickly opened the car door and got into the passenger seat.
"How's the situation?" Huo Tingzhou asked in a low voice as he started the car.
"It's going well, now we just have to see if he'll take the bait."
The two didn't linger; the car drove out of the alley and headed straight for the Beijing Telegraph Building.
In this era, international long-distance calls are strictly controlled and only open to specific groups of people.
In the entire city of Beijing, apart from the embassy and some other organizations that had access, only the Telegraph Building was authorized to make international long-distance calls.
Huo Tingzhou found a secluded spot to park the car, then took out two military binoculars, and the two began their wait-and-see mode.
The wait lasted for more than three hours, but thankfully it paid off.
Around four o'clock in the afternoon, a familiar figure appeared in Jiang Si's sight. Although the person had specially changed into an inconspicuous set of work clothes and was wearing a hat.
But for someone who paints all year round, this change has no effect whatsoever.
"That person is Takeda Hiroichi."
"So it was him."
"You know him?" Jiang Si asked, then suddenly realized, "Wasn't that the person you met at the Ministry of Construction last time?"
"Yes." Although it was already dark, Huo Tingzhou remembered the person's figure and walking posture very clearly.
Hiroichi Takeda was unaware that his secret was about to be exposed.
After lunch, he used his undercover contacts to gather information.
Unexpectedly, Xu Bingkun, that idiot, was actually taken away by someone.
After confirming the news, he rushed over.
Making international long-distance calls will take a long time, at least several tens of minutes.
Takeda Hiroichi was lucky; this time, it only took him less than half an hour to get through to Ike's mother in Gaul.
To avoid being overheard, the two spoke entirely in Gaulish.
Furthermore, it involves several coded messages.
“He’s already inside, and his situation is unclear. I’m worried he might give us away under pressure. Should I find an opportunity…”
Compared to his anxiety, Chi's mother on the other end of the phone was noticeably calmer.
She told Takeda to calm down, "His current behavior, at worst, is embezzlement, and at worst, it's just a matter of inadequate supervision and a mistake in his work."
"He's a smart man. He knows what's important and wouldn't be foolish enough to put the label of enemy agent on his own head."
That would do him no good; it would only hasten his death.
"What if?"
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