Chapter 40 The spy is him
Yesterday was New Year's Day, but there were still quite a few customers in the supply and marketing cooperative today. Jiang Suining saw that the sales clerks were so busy that they barely had time to breathe, and there were people in front of the counter. She was standing by the door, hesitating whether to go in or not, when she heard someone call her.
Jiang Suining looked in the direction of the sound and saw Su Donglai waving at him from the doorway leading to the back office.
Didn't this person say he was going to be transferred back to his hometown? Why is he still here? But why is he calling her? The two of them have only met two or three times in total. They're not even acquaintances, let alone friends. Jiang Suining didn't want to pay attention, but Su Donglai kept calling her, and she couldn't keep pretending not to hear him. Seeing that he was coming over, she had no choice but to go over.
"Comrade Jiang, it's been a long time." Su Donglai greeted him with a smile.
As the saying goes, you can't hit a smiling face. Since he was so enthusiastic, even if they weren't close, Jiang Suining greeted him with a smile out of politeness, "Yes, I've been quite busy lately and haven't come often. Comrade Su, weren't you supposed to be transferred? Why haven't you left yet?"
Su Donglai's expression turned slightly awkward for a moment: "This isn't a one-person-one-job situation. We haven't found a suitable person to take over my work yet, so it's not convenient for me to transfer."
"Can't find anyone? How is that possible? It's a purchasing position at the supply and marketing cooperative, such a good job. She doesn't believe they can't find anyone." Jiang Suining saw through her but didn't say anything, revealing a meaningful smile, and changed the subject: "It's almost time to leave work, is Comrade Su about to go home?"
“I was going back to the dormitory, but then I saw you,” Su Donglai said, lifting half of the curtain on the door. “I happen to have something to discuss with Comrade Jiang. Let’s go to the office to talk.”
What could she possibly want from him? Jiang Suining's mind raced. The two had absolutely no connection. The only person he could be considered to have any connection with was Liu Hong, but hadn't Liu Hong already severed ties with him? Could it be that this person had changed his mind?
As Jiang Suining pondered, she followed Su Donglai into the office. The office wasn't large; the purchasing department's office had four desks, but it was clean and tidy.
Su Donglai took a teacup to pour water for Jiang Suining. The thermos was empty, so he took the thermos to fetch water. Jiang Suining looked around. There were some documents and file bags on the table, but she didn't touch them. There was a stack of books of different sizes on the table near the window.
Unexpectedly, there was a book-loving buyer among the shoppers. Jiang Suining casually flipped through the books; they were all very new. She wondered if they hadn't read them much after buying them, or if the person reading them simply loved books, as they were handled with extreme care, not even a single crease on the pages. However, the book at the very bottom was quite old, with worn edges, a faded cover, and yellowed pages, clearly having been frequently handled. Intrigued, she picked it up.
"Charging into the Storm," Jiang Suining read the title aloud as she looked at the cover. She had never heard of it before, and with some curiosity, she opened the book to browse.
Jiang Suining was surprised to find it was a Soviet opera. She wanted to continue reading, but the book was suddenly snatched from her hands.
Jiang Suining looked up and met a pair of cold eyes—it was Su Donglai. The coldness in his eyes vanished instantly when she looked at him, replaced by a smile: "Comrade Jiang, please sit down."
It is indeed impolite to rummage through someone's things without permission, but it's just a book. Why is Su Donglai reacting so strongly? Jiang Suining had a feeling something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out what was wrong. As she walked towards the sofa, she asked him, "Comrade Su likes to watch opera, huh? It's a pity that we don't have an opera house in our small town."
"It's not that I like it, it's just to pass the time. I'm not picky about books, I just read for fun." Su Donglai quickly put the book away, and Jiang Suining glanced at it imperceptibly. Then he put that book at the very bottom of the stack of books.
Noticing Jiang Suining's gaze, Su Donglai smiled awkwardly and explained, "These are books I borrowed from someone. I was afraid they would get wrinkled and difficult to return, so I pressed them down to make them flatter."
Su Donglai let out a slow sigh, poured her a cup of tea, and then said, "I heard that the labor protection factory recently released a new face cream that can protect against the sun. It's even the formula you developed."
Jiang Suining frowned. She hadn't intended to keep the sunscreen a secret. She had found test subjects in the fishing village, so it was normal for word to get out. It was quite difficult for people to know that she was the one who made it. She went to the lab with Zhou Chunlan every day after work to conduct research. The number of people who knew about it could be counted on one hand. How did Su Donglai find out?
"Who told you that I developed this formula?" Jiang Suining asked warily. "I've been on secondment to the island aquaculture project team lately. Even if I weren't on secondment, you know I work at the Women's Federation and don't know anything about technology."
Su Donglai was clearly not expected Jiang Suining to say that, and his smile faded a bit: "Oh, I guess I was mistaken. I originally thought it was developed by you, and that we could cooperate. I have a relative in Hong Kong who is very interested in our sunscreen."
So it was because they valued her formula. Jiang Suining immediately realized this, but pretended not to know and said, "I didn't expect you to have relatives in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is great! The sunscreen in our factory is about to be mass-produced and will soon be on the market. Your relative in Hong Kong can ship it from the labor protection factory. Our product is really excellent. I use it myself."
“I see,” Su Donglai said with a bright smile, as if he was very interested in what Jiang Suining had said. “Your suggestion is good. I’ll have them contact the labor protection factory later.”
The two chatted for a while longer. Jiang Suining saw that it was getting late, so she said goodbye to Su Donglai and left, buying drawing paper and paints before going home.
Jiang Suining completed the packaging design for the sunscreen and handed it to Factory Director Song. The factory held a meeting and voted to approve Jiang Suining's design. Factory Director Song then sent someone to contact the manufacturer for the outer packaging.
When Lu Ye returned home that evening, he had dark circles under his eyes and looked exhausted. Jiang Suining prepared a bath for him, and Lu Ye felt refreshed after taking a bath.
"Did you go steal chickens last night? You're so tired." Jiang Suining wasn't teasing him on purpose, but Lu Ye was usually busy with work and had stayed up all night before, but she had never seen him so exhausted.
“If I had gone out to steal chickens, I wouldn’t be this tired.” Lu Ye yawned. “I read books all night last night.”
"Reading a book?" Jiang Suining immediately realized, "You found the master code?"
“Found it,” Lu Ye said, sitting on the sofa. He took the water glass from Jiang Suining, drank it all in one gulp, and then continued, “Thanks to your reminder, we searched the luggage of everyone in the art troupe overnight yesterday and found quite a few books.”
"And then?" Jiang Suining pressed.
"Based on the tampered piano, we determined the code. As is customary, we went through all the books to identify which one was the master copy of the code," Lu Ye explained.
"Have the spy been found?" This was the most important question, Jiang Suining asked hurriedly.
Lu Ye sighed and shook his head: "The person who has that book said he doesn't know anything about this. He also said that the sound engineer recommended that he buy the book. After he bought it, the sound engineer borrowed the book from him more than once. Someone in the art troupe can vouch for him. The matter is still under investigation."
Jiang Suining sighed, "This sound engineer is really cunning. But how could someone so calculating commit suicide? He didn't even buy the codebook himself, but persuaded someone else to buy it so he could borrow it. Isn't he afraid of being exposed and trying to shift the blame? Would someone like that commit suicide? I don't really believe it."
“Yes, we have the same question,” Lu Ye said, having eaten half an apple. When talking about work, he couldn’t eat anymore. “But according to the investigation results, the possibility of suicide is very high.”
"Any leads on the contact person?" Jiang Suining asked again.
Lu Ye had said enough tonight. He pulled Jiang Suining into his arms and said, "Don't worry about these things."
Jiang Suining knew he was unwilling to talk about it, so she didn't press him further.
The next day, Su Donglai actually came to the labor protection factory and found the supply and marketing department. He provided information such as the qualifications of Gangcheng Company and proposed to order a batch of goods to be shipped to Gangcheng.
The head of the supply and marketing department took it very seriously and took him to see Director Song. The three of them held a small meeting and determined the price, quantity, and delivery time of this batch of goods.
After New Year's Day, the Spring Festival is not far away. Su Donglai needs this batch of goods urgently, but fortunately the factory has already produced a batch, so it can be made in time.
The deal was finalized, and Su Donglai, as the entrusted party, signed a contract with the factory. News of the sunscreen order from Gangcheng quickly spread throughout the factory.
That day after get off work, Jiang Suining ran into Liu Hong at the factory gate. The two chatted about sunscreen, and Jiang Suining learned that the batch of goods that Gangcheng wanted had been prepared and would be shipped the next day.
“I didn’t expect he had relatives in Hong Kong, and they’re in business. They must be very rich,” Liu Hong said with some emotion after learning that Su Donglai was the one who negotiated the sale of the sunscreen in Hong Kong. “No wonder he looked down on me.”
“Don’t say that,” Jiang Suining retorted. “How do we know if he has money or not? Even if he does, he’s still his relative. Besides, so what if he has money? Does that make him great? Have you forgotten what I told you? You’re not good enough for anyone.”
"Besides, Comrade Su is transferring away, which is why she doesn't want to find a partner on the island. Don't misunderstand her." Jiang Suining was afraid that she would get stuck on the wrong idea again.
"I understand, I've already let it go. I'm just sighing, that's all." Liu Hong was both annoyed and touched to see Jiang Suining so nervous.
Speaking of Su Donglai, Jiang Suining couldn't help but think of the stack of books on his desk: "Speaking of which, Comrade Su actually likes to watch operas."
“Opera? What’s that? Singing? You must be mistaken,” Liu Hong said, puzzled. “Su Donglai told me that he was tone-deaf and was often laughed at for singing when he was a child, so he especially hated music.”
"Hates music?" Jiang Suining paused for a moment, then laughed, "Then he probably just likes reading."
"Reading books?" Liu Hong laughed again. "He said he likes sports, but reading gives him a headache. He was forced to go to school by his family when he was a child, and he barely finished junior high school."
“I don’t like reading,” Jiang Suining murmured, thinking to herself, no wonder so many books are brand new, could it be that she bought them to make a good impression? Something flashed through her mind, but she couldn’t quite grasp it.
"Sui Sui, what's wrong?" Liu Hong asked when she saw her lost in thought.
"It's nothing, I just suddenly thought of something else." Jiang Suining shook her head and walked out of the factory gate with Liu Hong.
The two walked for a while before parting ways; Jiang Suining went to the military canteen.
In order to investigate the spies, Lu Ye stayed in his office for several days in a row. Jiang Suining was afraid that he would not eat properly when he was busy, so she would go to the military canteen to eat with him at noon and evening.
When Jiang Suining arrived at the cafeteria, she didn't see Lu Ye. She got her food first and found a seat near the door to wait. She went in and out for a long time but didn't see Lu Ye.
Jiang Suining checked her watch; more than forty minutes had passed. Usually, they would have finished eating by this time. It seemed something had delayed them again. She sighed, put the lunchbox in a net bag, and went straight to the military district office.
The office was empty, but the door was open, so it seemed that no one had left. She stopped a soldier in the corridor to ask him what was going on, and learned that Lu Ye was holding an emergency meeting. Jiang Suining then waited in the office.
The office floor was clean and tidy, obviously cleaned every day, but the desk was in a terrible state, with various documents piled up haphazardly. Jiang Suining couldn't stand it and wanted to tidy it up, but she stopped when she got to the desk.
Firstly, she was worried that if she tidied up, it would be inconvenient for Lu Ye to find things later. Secondly, there might be confidential documents on the table, so she decided not to touch them.
Just as she was about to leave, she saw a copy of a book peeking out from the pile of papers. The colors and illustrations looked somewhat familiar. She reached out and pulled out the book, and was taken aback. It was this book! She immediately fell into deep thought.
When Lu Ye came in, he saw Jiang Suining holding a book and staring blankly. He gently closed the door behind him, tiptoed up behind her, and hugged her tightly.
Jiang Suining turned around and scolded, "You scared me to death! Let go of me, this is the office."
“I’ve already closed the door,” Lu Ye gestured toward the office door with his chin. “I had an emergency meeting just before I was about to leave work, so I didn’t have time to call you. Are you getting impatient?”
"No, not really, I'm just hungry." Jiang Suining's stomach rumbled as soon as she finished speaking.
The two of them glanced at Jiang Suining's abdomen simultaneously, then smiled at each other. Lu Ye then took Jiang Suining's hand and led her to the sofa, where he took out a lunchbox from a mesh bag and opened it; the food was already cold.
Lu Ye took a small basin out of the cabinet, thanked him for the hot water, and put the lunchbox in to heat it up.
Jiang Suining waited until he finished and sat down next to her before handing him the book: "Okay, you're slacking off during work hours."
Lu Ye picked up the book and placed it on the coffee table, then playfully pinched her nose: "Am I that kind of person, your man?"
Jiang Suining pretended to think: "Of course not, then why do you have this book on your desk?"
Jiang Suining didn't make things difficult for him. She leaned closer, revealing a mysterious expression, and asked in a low voice, "Could this be the original codebook?"
Lu Ye's eyes lit up: "Sui Sui, you're really amazing! I've discovered you have a talent for criminal investigation and solving cases."
Jiang Suining had only made a wild guess, but she never expected it to be true. Suddenly, she was filled with thoughts. She grabbed Lu Ye's wrist and asked seriously, "Then, did you catch the spy?"
“Not yet,” Lu Ye shook his head. “Although we have cracked the information transmitted by the spies, we still haven’t found the contact. We have interrogated everyone who attended the party that night and conducted searches, but we still have no clue.”
Could the contact person not be at the party that night? Jiang Suining dismissed the thought as soon as it crossed her mind. What a silly question! If the contact person wasn't at the party, why would the piano tuner break the piano and try to transmit information through the notes? Could it be that it was all a mistake from the beginning, and there were no spies or any information transmission at all?
If the idea that Jiang Suining had when she saw the book on Lu Ye's desk at the party that night was not valid, should she still tell him?
Jiang Suining was somewhat conflicted. This was no small matter; it was unethical to suspect someone so easily, especially since she had no evidence. Was she really going to rely on just two identical books? Wasn't that too frivolous?
With something on her mind, Jiang Suining ate without any appetite, dawdling through her meal. She only made up her mind after Lu Ye washed the lunchbox and returned.
"Lu Ye, come here, I have something to tell you." He pulled Lu Ye's hand and sat him down.
"What's wrong? Tell me." Lu Ye had already sensed that Jiang Suining had something on her mind, but he hadn't asked earlier because he wanted her to finish her meal first.
Lu Ye immediately understood what Jiang Suining meant and became serious. He habitually looked around, only relaxing slightly when he realized it was an office: "Where is it?"
“Su Donglai, the purchasing agent of the supply and marketing cooperative,” Jiang Suining said, her voice easing. “He probably didn’t come to the party that night. I saw the book in his office, on his desk by the window. It was the exact same book, but much older, lying under several brand-new books. I’m not sure if it was his.”
"I'll go investigate right away." Lu Ye stood up to leave, but Jiang Suining grabbed him again. "There are still some things to discuss. Let me finish."
“Okay, go ahead.” Lu Ye sat down again. “Su Donglai isn’t a local. He was transferred from another place. According to him, he will be transferred away soon. He has relatives in Gangcheng who are in business. A few days ago, he signed a sales contract for sunscreen with our factory on behalf of his relatives. The goods have been packed and will be shipped tomorrow.”
"This is what I know. Apart from the shipment tomorrow, I'm not sure about the truth of the rest," Jiang Suining added.
Lu Ye understood what she meant and squeezed her hand: "Don't worry, go home first. I'll arrange for someone to investigate right away. If he really has a problem, we will never let him go. If he is innocent, we will never wrong him."
Lu Ye left in a hurry, and Jiang Suining packed her lunchbox and left the military region. That night, Lu Ye did not go home.
The next day, rumors circulated in the factory that the goods destined for the port city had been seized by the military region. The goods were taken from the dock and detained for unknown reasons.
Factory Director Song remembers it vividly. Half of the deposit was paid in Hong Kong, and the other half was to be transferred only after the goods arrived. Since the goods were held up and could not be delivered on time, the factory would have to pay a penalty for breach of contract.
He received the news early in the morning and called the military region, but was told that they had no comment. He also couldn't reach Su Donglai. He called the supply and marketing cooperative, but Su Donglai didn't go to work.
Jiang Suining also heard about this and guessed that Su Donglai probably really had a problem, so she couldn't help but feel glad that Liu Hong hadn't dated him.
That afternoon, Lu Ye led a number of soldiers in military trucks to the factory and went directly to the factory director.
The two stayed in the office for a while, then went out together to the warehouse. The soldiers that Lu Ye brought carried a batch of sunscreen out of the warehouse, loaded it onto a truck, and drove away.
Lu Ye hadn't returned for several days in a row, so he asked Xiao Zhao to tell Jiang Suining not to wait for him at the cafeteria.
Early that morning, Jiang Suining went to work. Before she even left the residential compound, she saw a military jeep whizzing past her, followed by a military truck. A few people nearby were talking about it.
What happened? Jiang Suining noticed that her sister-in-law was also in the crowd, so she went over to ask.
It turned out that a battalion commander from the anti-aircraft artillery unit had been arrested, along with his family. Their home was searched, many belongings were taken away, and the house was sealed off. But no one knew exactly what had happened.
Could it be that they caught a spy? Jiang Suining wondered, but didn't ask.
Today's incident has caused widespread anxiety in the family compound. Although the military wives have gathered together to discuss it, none of them can explain the situation clearly.
Lu Ye went home that evening and cooked dinner himself: braised fish, pork rib soup, and two vegetarian dishes.
"The spy has been caught?" Jiang Suining asked, looking at the dishes on the table and Lu Ye's upturned lips.
"Thanks to my wife, we caught them." Lu Ye served Jiang Suining a bowl of pork rib soup. "If it weren't for my wife providing the information, the spies would have really succeeded this time."
"So, Su Donglai really has a problem?" Jiang Suining asked.
"Hmm," Lu Ye said with a serious expression. He had almost been sent out by the military region's secrets. "I didn't expect that even with our strict precautions, he still managed to slip through the cracks. This guy is too cunning."
"What exactly happened? Can you tell me? If you can, tell me quickly, don't keep me in suspense. If you can't tell me, then don't say anything at all. It's really frustrating to keep people in suspense without saying anything." Jiang Suining picked up a piece of meat from the belly of the fish, which was sweet and tender.
"Do you know how they plan to pass on intelligence?" Lu Ye asked instead of saying whether he could tell her.
Hearing his question, Jiang Suining replied that she could answer. She put down her chopsticks, thought for a moment, and boldly guessed, "Could it be that he wants to send a message through our factory's batch of sunscreen?"
“You seized the goods, and Su Donglai has disappeared again,” Jiang Suining deduced. “Later, the military region came to the factory and took away another batch of goods. Everyone in the factory thought that it was for the military region, but I guess that batch of goods was actually sent to the port city.”
"Is there a problem with the company in Gangcheng?" Jiang Suining asked.
“It’s impossible to confirm at the moment,” Lu Ye said, seemingly unconcerned. “There are people investigating over there. It doesn’t matter whether there are problems or not, as long as the goods we sent over are clean.”
"How exactly did Su Donglai get the intelligence?" Jiang Suining asked the question that had been on her mind. "The piano that was tampered with that night wasn't played. Logically, the contact person shouldn't have passed on the information. Even if Su Donglai went to the New Year's Eve party, he shouldn't have received the intelligence."
“We were all fooled,” Lu Ye said with a wry smile. “The New Year’s Eve party was just a smokescreen to distract us.”
"You mean, Su Donglai never intended to obtain intelligence from the New Year's Eve party?" Jiang Suining immediately realized.
“Yes,” Lu Ye nodded. “We originally thought that the spies wanted to use the piano at the New Year’s Eve party to send messages to the spies hidden in the military region, so we focused on investigating everyone who attended the New Year’s Eve party that night, including their relatives and friends. But in fact, Su Donglai had already obtained the intelligence, but he was just unable to send it out.”
"I see." This person was indeed cunning. Jiang Suining sighed, "It's fate. No matter how much they schemed, they ultimately failed."
“You’re right! Actually, we’ve always known there are enemy spies on the island, and we’ve been tracking them down. So we’ve been monitoring all correspondence and telegrams on the island, including the sending of telegrams. Su Donglai hasn’t been able to go out to purchase anything recently, so he can’t leave the island. He couldn’t send out the intelligence he received, so he thought of sending it out by freight.” Lu Ye urged Jiang Suining to eat while listening. “This really is just as you said, it’s fate. He wanted to use your factory’s sunscreen to send intelligence, but he was exposed because of the sunscreen.”
"The spy has been caught, so you won't be so busy every day that you don't have time to go home anymore?" Jiang Suining said with concern when she saw that Lu Ye had lost weight.
"Well, I can relax for a while now." Lu Ye breathed a sigh of relief. "We were able to catch Su Donglai this time thanks to you. I reported it to the leadership, but for your safety, we can't publicly commend you. However, the bonus will be approved in a while."
"There's a reward for me too? That's great!" Jiang Suining was genuinely surprised. "How much?"
“I don’t know how much,” Lu Ye said, taking an envelope out of his pocket. “This is last month’s allowance.”
Jiang Suining took it and saw that it was a thick stack of papers, quite a lot: "Why is there so much?"
“There’s some bonus money from the mission we went on a while ago in there,” Lu Ye explained. “It’s almost Chinese New Year, let’s go to the supply and marketing cooperative this weekend and buy you some new clothes and shoes.”
“Okay,” Jiang Suining readily agreed.
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