A glimpse of the whole picture
A metal telescope peeked out from behind the blinds.
The four-story villa across the street was captured in the small camera lens. Groups of two or three men in black left through the main entrance, and then the second to fourth floors became pitch black, perhaps because the office staff had all gone home.
A moment later, the lights on the first floor went out, and a young man walked out of the small villa. He didn't look like a spy but more like a part-time student. However, appearances can be deceiving; he was Chen Jian, the youngest cadre in Chicken and Goose Lane.
Five men in black followed closely behind. Under Shen Jian's command, they left first. He checked the door lock one last time, but before he could even get out of the gate, a disheveled man angrily pushed open the gate. Due to the force, the gate bounced back after hitting the bottom.
With a slight turn, the focus shifted again, and now it was clear that the man who had barged in had three bloody marks on his face. Wow, he must have been beaten up by some woman!
The two men put their arms around each other's necks and patted each other's shoulders, one seemingly complaining and the other offering comfort. Before leaving, Chen Jian handed the key to the small building to the injured man.
The camera pans upwards to a room on the fourth floor with its curtains drawn, through which a sliver of light faintly shines. It turns out the injured man was from the telegraph room.
Ignore him, Chen Jian needs to act quickly and report back. The phone rang a few times before being answered.
"Young Master is home with his basketball team. There might be some players on the bench, so get ready to welcome him."
At this moment, the man with three bloody marks on his face appeared in the shot. He stayed inside for a few minutes before running to the balcony to smoke, and the angle was just right.
Click! Click!
After a few flashes of white light, the blinds closed, and the room fell silent and dark again.
The dim streetlights flickered a few times and then went out. The dark alleyway made people feel a little depressed. The sound of hurried footsteps came from afar and approached. A long gown swayed in the wind, and a short figure wearing a hat walked quickly through the alleyway.
He held a briefcase tightly to his chest, the cold air of midnight condensing into wisps of white smoke. The man in the long robe seemed to realize that someone was following him, and he ran into the deeper alleyway.
Watching the man in the long robe flee, a pair of sharp eyes deepened. With a wave of his hand, several men dressed in black rushed towards him. However, the man was extremely familiar with the terrain, and the maze of alleyways made people dizzy.
Whether it was a cruel joke or not, the man in the long robe lost his shoes. He ran a few steps in embarrassment, then turned around to pick them up.
stop!
The agent shouted and lunged at the man, about to pin his small body down... Bang! A bullet flew through the agent's thigh, and he groaned as he fell to his knees.
Upon arriving, Chen Jian realized the man had reinforcements and shouted sharply, "Drop your weapons! You are surrounded!"
Whoosh—the bullet sliced through the air, and Chen Jian's expression changed drastically. He quickly dodged, and with a flash of sparks, the bullet struck the wall, leaving a bullet hole.
The fleeing shadows suddenly split into two, darting off in different directions, and the file bag ended up in someone else's hands.
"Damn it, what the hell!" Shen Jian cursed the G Party, calling them neither human nor ghost, but he could only stop in his tracks and regroup to pursue them.
Under the cover of night, with a wave of his hand, Chen Jian personally led the pursuit of the man in the long robe. He decided to pick on the weakest target. He suddenly sprang up, and just as his hand was about to grab the man's clothes, the man used a move called "Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell," causing him to miss his target. All that was left in his hand was the man's vest.
Angrily throwing off his coat, Chen Jian immediately drew his gun and fired back. Bang! The bullet missed; the poor lighting made it difficult to aim. Chen Jian was about to adjust his angle.
With a sizzle, a sparking, dark, oval-shaped lump flew toward his face, instantly causing him to break out in a cold sweat.
"Lie down!"
Chen Jian pressed down on the heads of his two companions, waiting for the explosion. But even as his neck ached, there was no sound.
Strange, a dud? Chen Jian sensed something was wrong and mustered his courage to get up and check. He saw a dirty, rotten apple on the ground with two burnt-out matches stuck in it.
Damn it, I got scammed! Chen Jian kicked the apple away angrily, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and asked, "What does that G Party member look like?"
"He wasn't tall, very thin, around forty years old, and his face wasn't particularly memorable, but he was wearing a pair of tortoiseshell-patterned glasses, which probably weren't cheap," the junior agent described carefully. "Oh, and he just lost a cloth shoe, I think it was a size 41."
"Where's the other one who fired?" Chen Jian picked up the vest that had fallen to the side and shook it. He didn't notice a long, thin strand of hair that had drifted to the ground and disappeared in the wind.
"It was too dark to see clearly, but they seemed to be about the same height, except the one who fired the gun was more muscular and agile, and probably younger than the other G Party member," the junior agent reported.
Shen Jian held the abandoned vest close to his nose, but the pungent sour smell almost made him vomit. He cursed under his breath, calling it a "filthy poor bastard," and threw the vest at his subordinate: "Keep all the evidence safe. Go back and draw up a wanted poster of the middle-aged man, then send it to all the stations in the jurisdiction."
"yes."
Several days later, as night deepened, the neon sign of the billiards club emitted a hazy, cold light. The windows were completely covered, and the heavy velvet curtains inside trailed to the floor, exuding luxury.
The mirror-like marble floor reflected the two men. Li Sheng took a drag of his cigarette and handed the check to Commander Zeng across from him. Commander Zeng examined the amount carefully and nodded in satisfaction. Then he picked up a heavy black box from the side of his chair.
With a click, the silver lock opened, and a high-powered radio with peeling paint stood steadily on the table. Commander Zeng pointed to the transmitter and explained, "Don't be fooled by its old appearance; it's actually 70% new."
He deliberately applied some medicine to the casing to make it look almost unusable, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get such an important piece of equipment as the radio out.
Huff~ Li Sheng exhaled a puff of smoke, opened the cover and found that the coil had turned black and burned out. He calmed himself down and waved his hand to tell Commander Zeng that there was no need to explain. They were all old acquaintances and he would definitely trust him. Appearance didn't matter. However, it was not very convenient to have a broken coil. Without a replacement, the radio would be a pile of scrap metal.
With the situation becoming increasingly tense, he really had no choice. Commander Zeng looked troubled, but under Li Sheng's sharp gaze, he awkwardly shifted his position backward.
Commander Zeng's fear was obvious to anyone with eyes. Li Sheng walked around to his side, bent down and pulled out the still-warm check from his pocket, and whispered a warning to him that he was just a middleman, not the buyer.
Commander Zeng froze, his breath catching in his throat, as if he were a stone statue.
With his hands pressing down on Commander Zeng's shoulders to apply slight pressure, Li Sheng pressed his advantage. If the buyer didn't like the machine and complained to the outside world, it would not only damage Li Sheng's reputation, but also potentially cause trouble for Brother Zeng. It's better to preserve the good old days than to miss this deal, at least there will be opportunities for cooperation in the future.
Seeing the check slip away, Commander Zeng gritted his teeth and grabbed Li Sheng's arm. He took a deep breath and said that he could lower the price again, by 20%. As for the coil, he could find a civilian electrical company, buy a few civilian coils and large resistors, and with a little modification, they could be combined into a high-power coil. It wasn't difficult.
“Brother Zeng, I’m a complete novice. I know absolutely nothing about electrical engineering, let alone how to modify it.” Li Sheng squinted and sighed. “When I inspect goods, all I know is that they have to be new. It’s not like the buyer can’t afford it; they just want the goods to be good.”
This thing is a hot potato. Commander Zeng said hurriedly, "How about we make it cheaper? 30% off, no, a fixed price, half off, Brother Li, for the sake of our acquaintance, don't let me take it back. I really can't afford it."
Li Sheng tapped his fingers on his crotch a few times, but still shook his head and refused. No matter how cheap the item was, he couldn't accept it. If he knew how to modify it, he would have been happily making a huge profit from it long ago.
Ring ring!
The phone on the coffee table started ringing like crazy. Li Sheng nodded apologetically to Commander Zeng, turned around to answer the phone, and upon hearing the familiar voice on the other end, he smiled and began to talk to the person on the other end of the line as if no one else was around.
“Mr. Xia is right. I will definitely accept what I can, but the most important coil is broken. I’ve thought about it and decided not to. I’ll find another opportunity.”
"Hey, can you fix it? You know I don't know how, so don't make things difficult for me."
After hearing what was said over there, Li Sheng opened his mouth in surprise and suddenly turned to ask Commander Zeng, "Brother Zeng, I didn't know you worked for an electrical company before you joined the army. Can you help us fix it?"
"No, no, I... I haven't touched that in a long time." Commander Zeng's words almost confirmed his own abilities.
Li Sheng chatted with Mr. Xia for a few more minutes. After hanging up the phone, he sat back down and apologized to Commander Zeng in a very regretful tone, saying that he really couldn't accept the money.
Just as Commander Zeng lowered his head in disappointment, Li Sheng changed the subject and started talking about their friendship. After all, he had enjoyed working with Commander Zeng before and wanted to continue working with him in the future.
He held up three fingers, indicating that his boss, Mr. Xia, was willing to pay 30% of the original price to buy a piece of junk, just to do a favor and prevent Commander Zeng from getting into trouble and losing his job. Commander Zeng could take the check if he wanted, or they wouldn't force him if he didn't.
Suddenly, a glimmer of hope appeared. Commander Zeng immediately agreed: "Mr. Xia is very generous. I don't want an honest person to suffer losses either. Give me paper, pen and ruler, and I will draw out the method for modifying the civilian coil right now. I think Mr. Xia must have someone capable who can understand the diagram."
"I don't know about that. Mr. Xia just wants to do you a favor. We're acquaintances, after all." Li Sheng flicked away the ash that was about to fall from his cigarette.
Commander Zeng nodded solemnly. After he finished drawing the schematic diagram, Li Sheng escorted him to the door as he had come before turning back.
After locking the entrance, Li Sheng yanked open the floor-to-ceiling curtains, revealing a small door behind the heavy curtains. In fact, this room was connected to the next room.
Before he could turn the handle, the door opened from the inside, revealing a smug smile on Qingcheng's face. He had been watching the negotiation process through a small hole in the wall ever since Commander Zeng entered.
Brother Li's negotiation skills are too good. Qingcheng couldn't help but give Li Sheng a thumbs up and praise him for playing the role of a black-hearted comprador to the fullest.
When dealing with cowardly and greedy people, his principle is to take every last feather from a passing goose! Li Sheng took out a new cigarette while complaining to Qingcheng that he hadn't bargained hard enough. That old bastard would never dare to take the radio back. He should have bargained him down to 90% off earlier.
Why does it smell strange?
As soon as the clear female voice rang out, Li Sheng instantly put the cigarette in his mouth, pursed his lips, and gave Chen Caiyun behind Qingcheng a "well-behaved" smile.
“Good sister, look closely. If a married man shows this kind of expression, he has usually done something wrong, and we should give him a warning.” Chen Caiyun pointed at her husband and gave him a live lesson.
Li Sheng covered his mouth and protested, "I didn't."
"Hehe, even a cat will meow when its tail is stepped on." Chen Caiyun raised her eyebrows and looked meaningfully at Li Sheng's cigarette pocket with a smile. "Should I throw it away myself or should I do it?"
Forced by his wife's tyranny, Li Sheng reluctantly took out half a pack of cigarettes and limped half a step to the trash can to throw away the cigarette pack.
However, he seemed to remember that he still had a cigarette in his mouth, and hope rekindled in his eyes. Taking advantage of his wife's momentary lapse in concentration, he spat it into his hand, intending to let it dry before smoking it again.
Suddenly her wrist was grabbed, and Chen Caiyun's smile vanished: "Don't try anything funny in front of me, throw it away."
Wow, that's a good eye. No wonder she's a detective. Nothing can be hidden from Sister Chen. Qingcheng silently gave Sister Chen a thumbs up.
After scratching his head a few times, Li Sheng visibly weakened and finally threw the cigarette into the trash can as his wife had instructed.
"Alright, alright, Sister Chen is just thinking about your health. You need to be healthy to better dedicate yourself to the revolution." Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Qingcheng quickly tried to smooth things over. "I'll treat everyone to some soda. Let's get down to business."
"Forget about the soda, where's Xiangxiang at the meeting today?" Li Sheng glanced around the room.
“Xiangxiang caught a cold a few days ago and was frightened by the spies. She still has a fever and chills today. I told her to rest at home,” Qingcheng replied, picking up the bulky radio.
"I'll do it, I'll do it." Li Sheng hurriedly snatched the machine. "Xiangxiang's parents aren't around, so we have to help take care of her. Caiyun, try to visit her tomorrow and bring her some fruit and supplements."
“Okay, that’s exactly what I was thinking too.” Sister Chen nodded; when she wasn’t being strict, she always exuded gentleness.
The two rooms were almost identically furnished. The three of them took their seats one after another. Qingcheng took the radio from Li Sheng and carefully inspected it again. Apart from the damaged coil, all the other parts were intact. It seemed that Commander Zeng hadn't lied; it really was about 70% new.
Just as Qingcheng finished verifying the plan, she put Commander Zeng's hand-drawn modification diagram on the radio and asked everyone for suggestions. Li Sheng and Sister Chen shook their heads after seeing it, indicating that they didn't understand.
As the saying goes, "every profession is like a mountain," and Qingcheng herself didn't really understand it either, so she could only give it a try. Sister Chen was the first to realize that the extra 20% she asked for during the negotiation was to buy the after-sales service from Team Leader Zeng. In the future, we'll have an extra engineer on the side.
"No way, that old man's cunning. If he had the guts, he would have fixed it and brought it back already. Why would he need a discount?" Li Sheng habitually reached into his pocket, but when his wife's warning gaze met his, he awkwardly hummed a little tune.
Qingcheng, suppressing a laugh, patiently explained to his comrades, "He's obligated to help us. If we encounter any electrical problems in the future, we can go to him. Judging from his tone, he's clearly hiding something about radio. Maybe he's secretly playing with handmade radios outside."
Unfortunately, Commander Zeng is timid and would definitely not dare to take on the task of repairing the entire radio. However, Brother Li can bring just one part to ask him for advice, as a way for radio enthusiasts to exchange ideas. He would definitely be willing to answer, since civilian radio is not prohibited.
Everyone smiled knowingly, and Li Sheng clapped his hands in affirmation: "Qingcheng is right, anyway, the radio station doesn't need anything good. Let's keep the relationship with Commander Zeng for now."
"Are you crazy? You have to send another message before it can be scrapped," Chen Caiyun reminded her.
"Oh dear, I almost forgot." Li Sheng slapped his forehead in admission of error, then licked his lips. "I always feel like my head is empty when I don't smoke. Honey, look..."
"Then you can stay silly. I'll just consider it as having another godson. Little Sheng, be good." Chen Caiyun's words ignited a small flame in Li Sheng's heart.
"Chen Caiyun, you're so...unreasonable." Li Sheng narrowed his eyes and raised his voice suddenly, but his wife's cold glare made him immediately deflate. He then slowly said, "Comrade Caiyun, since our revolutionary friendship has been approved for sublimation, it can't be downgraded. Qingcheng, you agree, right?"
"Yes, yes, so this is what it means for a man to be flexible and adaptable." Qingcheng quickly pinched the back of her hand to stop laughing. Besides nodding frantically, she also had to steer the conversation back on track. Qingcheng pulled out a stack of photos from her pocket, mostly taken from candid angles.
The photos were all the results of Sister Chen's investigation, but unfortunately, Mr. Gao and Ms. Xia had no recollection of the people in the photos.
Li Sheng took the photos and explained that the intelligence system is generally divided into "wet work" and "dry work." These people who sit in the office are the ones who do the "dry work," while the field agents who do the "wet work" such as assassinations almost never go to the office unless there is an important meeting that requires all members to be present.
"Huh? All that filming for nothing." Chen Caiyun's lips twitched, but she couldn't continue.
The room fell silent, and a cold mist settled over everyone's faces. Li Sheng patiently examined each photo in his hand, then suddenly slapped his thigh and picked out a picture of a man leaning against a balcony railing smoking, with three bloody marks on his face.
Pointing to the man in the photo, Li Sheng said he recognized him. This man was originally the deputy director of the CC Communications Station. At the beginning of last year, Xu Qiao received orders from his superiors to help Dai Yunong establish a communications station in Nanjing.
It was supposed to be a good thing, but Dai Yunong was really shameless. The head of the special agent group would visit the CC communications station all the time, and before long, he got involved with the station chief. He promised the station chief a large sum of money to bring the entire technical team to Chicken and Goose Lane. The amount was very attractive, and Dai Yunong was very sincere, so the station chief was tempted.
I spent money and effort to help you, and you actually tried to poach my staff. Xu Qiao, with his petty nature, certainly couldn't tolerate this. If he couldn't have it, no one else could either. He directly issued an order to eliminate the traitor and assassinate the station chief who wanted to switch sides.
Even though Dai Yunong sent several of his men to protect him, the station chief couldn't be saved; he was killed on his way home. Surprisingly, that deputy station chief actually survived and moved to another mountain stronghold.
"What, is it so difficult to switch allegiances within the Nationalist government? They're all spies; it's just an internal transfer, isn't it?" Chen Caiyun asked疑惑地.
Qingcheng retorted, "No, CC and Chicken Goose Lane are two different systems. CC nominally serves the entire National Government, and any commissioner there has a formal position. Chicken Goose Lane, on the other hand, only serves the principal. To put it bluntly, apart from a few cadres who have formal positions, the rest are all temporary workers, and they don't even receive formal compensation if they die."
"No wonder Dai Yunong tried to poach their employees; it turns out Chicken and Goose Alley is in such a sorry state." Chen Caiyun frowned, her face filled with disbelief.
"Changing your position isn't difficult; the challenge is how to rebuild it afterward. The simplest way is to find a big tree to rest under, or to sit under a tree where you already are," Li Sheng kindly explained.
"Brother Li, you mean this deputy stationmaster has a very powerful backer, the old employer doesn't dare to touch him, and the new employer has to treat him like an honored guest?" Qingcheng understood immediately, and a plan was forming in her mind. "How about we use him as a pawn?"
"Okay," Li Sheng and Chen Caiyun said in unison.
After receiving unanimous approval, Kiyosumi was overjoyed, but at the same time felt a heavy burden on her shoulders. They had discussed the plan of "two peaches to kill three warriors" for a long time before finally finalizing it.
The first phase has achieved initial success, and the first prize has been secured. However, the second and third phases are the two most crucial stages, and we must not let our guard down lest all our efforts be in vain.
After explaining the details of the mission to the Li couple, she rushed to the hospital. The elderly man had gone to the restroom while waiting for the car, but he was drugged and woke up in a hospital bed. Unfortunately, the driver had disappeared, and things had gotten tense with her father-in-law. She didn't know how to comfort the old man.
Based on the photos provided by the traffic police, Qingcheng discovered several suspicious points. First, the killer did not notice the change in passengers, and the driver's decision to change vehicles was impromptu, and coincidentally, the number of passengers was one woman and two men.
He also didn't realize that while the cars were the same model, they were different. The master's car had been converted to right-hand drive a long time ago for easier driving within the concession area. The deceased's car, on the other hand, was a left-hand drive vehicle, recently imported from the United States. It's very likely that the killer hadn't seen the master's photo and killed the wrong person based on the license plate number.
Secondly, I heard that the deceased also lived in the French Concession. Theoretically, he and his father-in-law were going in the same direction home. However, his father-in-law's driving direction was strange. If he was coming out of the venue, he should have been driving parallel to the vehicle that was hit, instead of intersecting at the intersection.
Unfortunately, there were too many cars on the day of the banquet, and no one remembered when the father-in-law left, let alone how many people were in his car.
Third, no traces of the father-in-law's vehicle turning were found at the scene. Even if someone is drunk, their most instinctive reaction to a car accident would be to swerve sharply to the right, but the father-in-law's car crashed straight into it.
After the violent collision, the car traveled a distance before changing direction, and was then forced to stop by the impact of a roadside tree, which is illogical.
Fourth, the father-in-law was thrown out through the broken windshield. Judging from the glass shards scattered on the ground, the windshield damage was concentrated on the left side. His car was a right-hand drive vehicle, and the left windshield was broken. He was thrown onto the flower bed on the left side of the car.
This wasn't the direction the driver would fall out of. Kiyosumi was certain that her father-in-law was sitting in the passenger seat at the time. After the assassin shifted the car into second gear, he hurriedly jumped out and left.
After calculating the dates, Qingcheng decided to pick up her father-in-law's blood test report today. She went to the laboratory first instead of going upstairs.
The hospital corridors are painted white, with white floor tiles, everything is stark white, and when there are no patients, the corridors are so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Sparse moonlight streamed through the glass window onto the stairs. Qingcheng, preoccupied with her report, headed upstairs without a thought. She accidentally bumped into a wall, touched her forehead, and instinctively closed her eyes to apologize, "I'm sorry."
Suddenly, she was hugged tightly, and warm breath sprayed on her head. Qingcheng was stunned for a moment, and then quickly planted a kiss on the other person's face.
A familiar male voice, tinged with displeasure, said, "Hey, did you even see who it was before you dared to kiss me?"
"Hehe, it's okay. I could tell from his breathing that he's a very handsome young man. And he is indeed brilliant and capable." Qingcheng pressed her nose against Gao Junxiao's and said seriously.
Their eyes met, and Gao Junxiao narrowed his eyes: "You've done something wrong, huh? Such a sweet tongue."
"I'm being honest, I also know you're going to make a fortune. Did you have a good time on this publicly funded trip?" Kiyosumi's eyes widened, her heart pounding with anticipation.
“I’m not happy. Accompanying the boss on a trip isn’t called having fun, it’s called being a straight man.” Gao Junxiao shook his head helplessly. “I’ll talk about that later. I’ve read Dad’s report, and it’s just as you guessed.”
Qingcheng immediately became interested, and the two walked hand in hand towards the ward.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com