Mysterious radio waves
Beep beep, beep beep beep, beep, beep...
The faint telegraphic syllables struck the listener's eardrums like a sudden hailstorm; it was a decisive technique he had never heard before—a blend of gentleness and firmness.
Based on his years of experience, the man immediately concluded that there was a new telegraph operator on the other side!
The dim, yellowish light shone on the man's excited face, his eyes restraining a surging restlessness. The pen tip quickly swept across the white paper, leaving a long string of small dots on the paper with ink marks.
The man glanced at the frequency band, then continued copying carefully. His expression shifted from joy to seriousness. He moved one earphone aside, dialed the intercom on the first floor with his left hand, and said while still copying, "Xiao Shen, quickly send out the listening vehicle. The Communist Party has sent a telegram, and it's a long one. Go and arrest them!"
The person who answered the phone was stunned for less than a second before realizing there was big news. He casually stated that he was not Chen Jian, but didn't say anything more. Immediately, Chen Jian's voice came through the receiver: "Brother Cao, where would we get a listening vehicle? Shanghai is not our territory."
The flame of enthusiasm was extinguished in an instant. The man was stunned. Oh, he almost forgot that he had changed allegiances and was no longer a member of CC. Chicken and Goose Alley was far less wealthy than CC.
But Chen Jian snorted and said there was no need to worry. He decided to use the old method: when in doubt, contact CC. "We can all listen in. CC is on duty 24 hours a day, so they must have heard in too. We just need to send some brothers to investigate which area CC has suddenly deployed a listening vehicle."
With a solution in hand, the two resumed their respective duties: one sent someone to follow the suspects, while the other deciphered the long article.
With a creak, the iron gates opened wide, and several men in black left the mansion one after another. Their black attire blended into the darkness, and tonight was destined to be an uneasy night.
Soon after, Shen Jian received a reply from his subordinates that they had discovered that CC's listening vehicle was lingering in several alleys along the Suzhou River.
The streets along the Suzhou River are lined with shops, and the G Party does indeed like to meet in inconspicuous little shops. Chen Jian ordered his men to continue monitoring CC's movements.
After hanging up the phone, Chen Jian quickly calculated the gains and losses. If nothing unexpected happened, CC would start sweeping the buildings once they locked onto the fixed area, checking each house one by one. His brothers only needed to intercept them after they caught the suspects.
Whose stop is Suzhou River? Chen Jian stroked his chin, searching his memory. It seems to be Captain Han, the one who plays with walnuts.
Oh dear, this is troublesome. Captain Han is notoriously cunning and harsh, and his subordinates are highly disciplined. He'll definitely swallow any easy prey whole, leaving nothing behind.
He pinched the bridge of his nose to relax, and Chen Jian thought dejectedly, "If I don't give up, the G gang will never be completely caught. Even if I can't catch this G gang member, there will always be another one. My cases will never be resolved. I might as well get back to work."
Back in the conference room, Chen Jian buried himself in a mountain of documents, comparing them with his head down. The shadows of the trees on the window shifted quietly with the movement of the moonlight.
Finally, half of the documents were removed. Shen Jian closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair to rest. He hated investigations the most; they were tedious and boring. Being stuck in one place like a snail, unable to move, he would rather play basketball.
"Yeah, let's go play basketball!" Shen Jian suddenly opened his eyes, clapped his hands, and called his subordinates to go play basketball. Seeing the smile on his face, his subordinates looked at each other, and no one dared to speak up.
“I’m not kidding, Xiao Sa, go to my office and get the basketball, it’s under my desk.” Shen Jian pointed at a young man and laughed, “Everyone’s tired of looking at documents, it’s a good time to take a break.”
"Okay, okay." The subordinates all agreed. Even though it was a suggestion made on a whim, no boy could refuse a basketball game.
Playing basketball is always a happy time. Chen Jian is like a wild horse running through the backyard. He switches from left hand to right hand and from right hand to left hand. He skillfully fakes out his opponent, jumps up, and shoots. The action is smooth and the ball goes in.
Yay!
Under the moonlight, Chen Jian advanced surrounded by his teammates, like a victorious athlete about to receive their golden trophy.
"Say no more!"
The sudden noise interrupted everyone's happy time. Chen Jian saw that the person who came was Station Master Cao, who was working overtime. He was holding a basketball and wanted to invite him to join in.
But the man waved his hand, telling Shen Jian to hurry up and return the call. Team Leader Dai needed to talk to him. He had originally wanted to cover for the hooligans, but they were too noisy. Team Leader Dai knew as soon as he heard that Shen Jian was leading the party again.
In an instant, even the sound of breathing ceased on the field.
It was all over. Chen Jian was sweating profusely, his mind blank. He was pushed by Station Chief Cao, and he ran back to the small villa, rubbing his nose. Then, he shakily dialed Team Leader Dai's number.
"Tired of playing?" Team Leader Dai's voice was so cold that a thin layer of frost formed on Shen Jian's hand holding the phone.
His palms were cold, but his face was burning. Suppressing his panic, Shen Jian said in one breath, "I'm sorry, Team Leader Dai. I admit my guilt. I shouldn't have slacked off during work hours. If you have to punish someone, punish me alone. I forced them to do it."
Tap, tap, the sound of tapping came from the opposite side of the table, each tap stimulating Chen Jian's taut nerves. After a long while, Team Leader Dai sighed, indicating that there would be no next time. He was given an urgent task and was to organize personnel to move out as soon as possible.
Suddenly looking up, Shen Jian breathed a sigh of relief and listened attentively to Team Leader Dai's explanation. Station Chief Yu had just cracked the long telegram, but it was a double-encrypted cipher, and the content was somewhat unclear. He then approached Team Leader Dai, hoping to ask the Red expert Zhang Tianhe to help crack the double cipher.
It just so happened that Team Leader Dai and Zhang Tianhe were drinking in Chicken and Goose Alley. Zhang Tianhe, having eaten someone's food, felt obligated to help him, so he patiently deciphered four layers of code before finally understanding its meaning.
The telegram stated that a member of the Communist Party would be leaving Shanghai by ship at 7:45 AM the next morning, taking with him a high-powered radio, and that a courier at the dock would meet him.
Unfortunately, they haven't figured out which dock to use yet. Zhang Tianhe has gone back to his office. He'll call Team Leader Dai once he figures it out.
How can you arrest someone without an address? After a moment's thought, Shen Jian hurriedly reported to Dai Yunong that the CC's listening vehicles were all gathered on the Suzhou River, and the radio operator was likely the G party member who left by boat, since he had both a radio and was close to the water.
“Not necessarily. The telegraph operator might just be a telegraph operator. It’s a feint. I just learned that Section Chief Zhang led a team to Datong Wharf in Shiliupu. Since you have fewer people, don’t split up. Go directly to Datong Wharf and wait for the right opportunity.” Team Leader Dai calmly assigned tasks.
What?! Zhang Chong from CC is personally overseeing the operation! Shen Jian's eyes widened involuntarily. He had a feeling that Zhang Chong had been silent for a long time. However, Zhang Chong didn't discriminate when arresting people. As long as there were enough members of the G Party, he would arrest anyone, whether they were small fry or big fish.
However, Shen Jian vaguely felt that the radio operator on the Suzhou River was more important. If he could capture him, he could also destroy the Communist Party's radio station, killing two birds with one stone. But since Team Leader Dai had already given the order, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and do as he was told.
Besides, with Captain Han keeping an eye on the Suzhou River, I'm unlikely to get anything out of it. I'd rather go and catch the few Zhang Chongs who slipped through the net.
After hanging up the phone, Chen Jian immediately shed his docile facade, his entire being radiating a dangerous aura: "Brothers, we have a job!"
The waning crescent moon lay half-reclined in the dark night sky. A gentle breeze swept by, and the fuzzy seeds on the sycamore trees fell one after another. The air and the ground looked like they were hit by a sandstorm, and the yellow fuzz everywhere was suffocating.
This thing is so itchy it's unbearable! Chen Jian covered his itchy nose and took two deep breaths, trying to expel the fur he had accidentally inhaled. But he didn't dare to actually sneeze, as the noise would alert CC on the other side.
At this moment, the CC agents who had been scattered around moved closer to Zhang Chong, as if he had something to say. Shen Jian beckoned to his subordinates and asked for a reconnaissance telescope to read Zhang Chong's lips.
"It's now confirmed that the G gang will be renting a small boat at this pier to leave. There are expected to be two people on board, carrying a radio. They'll be carefully observing the luggage carried by pedestrians; it looks like very heavy luggage. Immediately contact the officers in police uniforms to check it..."
"Tch, CC mobilized two entire action teams with just two people, not even counting the peripheral agents who set up roadblocks," Shen Jian thought disdainfully. "Besides being rich and powerful, is CC's professional competence really that bad?"
"...Everyone should pay special attention to the short, bespectacled middle-aged man. He may be carrying a codebook, which will be the key to cracking the G Party's list."
A cold wind blew by, and Chen Jian's eyes widened. Then, a huge wave of resentment surged into his heart. He kicked the fluffy creature on the ground, realizing that it wasn't that he had stolen CC's move, but rather that CC had stolen his move!
The yellow hair made his exposed skin extremely itchy. Chen Jian scratched his red face and became angrier the more he thought about it. Why should he, who had gone through wind and rain and worked so hard to investigate the CCP for so long, be taken down by the CC? This was intolerable. Even if he couldn't catch that CCP member today, he would never let Zhang Chong succeed!
Hmph, he thought Zhang Chong, who was so fond of collecting heads, wouldn't go to such lengths to search for just two people. Turns out it was for the list behind it all.
Another gust of river wind blew by, and Chen Jian irritably unbuttoned the first button to relieve the stuffiness, while Zhang Chong was still explaining the details.
"Prioritize arresting the short man. Mr. Zhang has confirmed that this man is Yu Xiangyang, the secretary of the Communist Party. He has a large amount of top-secret information. Even if we don't find the codebook, we must capture him alive."
This news hit Shen Jian like a bombshell, making his head buzz. Good, the short man is a high-ranking official in the Communist Party. CC must have extracted the information from the telegram. Damn, it seems Zhang Tianhe is not honest and gave CC the complete version of the information.
No, Zhang Tianhe alone has already made them even more powerful, and they've already made a name for themselves in front of the principal. We absolutely cannot let CC get another big treasure.
He realized that his previous attempt to sabotage the operation was merely acting on impulse. Now that he had a plausible excuse, he was determined to teach CC a lesson. Chen Jian plotted in his mind that as long as the G Party backed down and abandoned their escape plan, he would be stuck in Shanghai waiting for news.
He was carrying a heavy radio, making it harder to hide than before. He had two options: either leave the radio in one place and escape first, since the area was small enough to find a radio somewhere, or carry it with him and stay in a remote little hotel.
In either case, it would provide the secret investigation team with time to intervene. After quickly glancing at the opposing agents' movements, Chen Jian's eyes darted around, and he hooked his arm around his subordinate's neck to give him instructions…
The night before dawn is the darkest, and the streets are eerily quiet. A thin, dark figure tiptoes out of the stairwell, the surrounding darkness seeming to swallow everything.
Car headlights suddenly lit up in the narrow alley. One, two, three, three long flashes meant it was safe. Without hesitation, the dark figure quickly sat in the back seat of the car with his bag on his back and closed the door behind him.
The rustling sound of leaves flowing is as smooth as the sound of waves crashing on the Huangpu River.
Before dawn, the docks were already filled with CC's plainclothes agents. Chen Jian didn't wander around after leaving the small hotel. Instead, he found a teahouse near the docks and calmly sat in a private room on the second floor, drinking tea and eating breakfast. He could also keep an eye on everything happening on the docks from the window.
Passengers and sailors taking the early morning ferry arrived at the dock one after another; some raised the flag, some sprinkled water, and some waited for their ferry.
There were also some strong porters who gnawed on blackened steamed buns and squatted in a row by the dock, waiting for the cargo ships to arrive. They all needed to rush to the boss as soon as possible to show off their muscles in order to get food for their whole family for a day.
The plainclothes officers from the CC were extremely restrained this time, without resorting to violence. Even when they saw passengers with heavy luggage, the fake black-clad officers simply approached them for questioning and then "politely" pulled them aside for inspection, just like any other morning.
A dozen minutes later, the dock gradually became lively. Shen Jian had a habit of getting up early to practice boxing, and after resting for a few hours, he didn't feel tired. However, he got up early for health, while others got up early to make a living, which made him quite emotional.
Only after the CCP is destroyed and the foreign powers are expelled can the country have any hope of revival. What he admired most about Team Leader Dai was that a true man should stand tall and upright between heaven and earth, but Team Leader Dai chose to endure humiliation and hardship, doing the dirtiest work and being the most loyal subject for the sake of the overall situation of securing the country before resisting foreign aggression.
Suddenly a commotion broke out on the dock. Chen Jian leaned out of the window and saw two police officers with batons arguing with the fake police officers from the CC, shouting that the other party was impersonating a civil servant and that they had to go back to the station with them.
The other CC officer was not to be outdone, emphasizing that he was the real civil servant. Seeing that things were not going well, several of the other CC officers went into a hotel, probably to find Zhang Chong to resolve the dispute. Chen Jian curled the corners of his mouth and silently thought, "The show is about to begin."
Before long, the Indians from the International Settlement were also brought in to mediate. CC's documents were all genuine, and they were not afraid of being checked at all. The red-haired Indian shook his head, seemingly puzzled, and could only send someone to bring the foreigner to uphold justice.
Hearing that there was something to see, almost everyone in the teahouse rushed out, except for one private room on the second floor, whose door remained unmoved and no one peeked out of the window. He clearly remembered that the waiter had brought tea and snacks before.
With a bad feeling in his heart, Chen Jian forced a smile and beckoned the waiter over, then paid out of his own pocket to order a plate of sesame balls for that private room.
The aisle was packed with onlookers, and Chen Jian could barely squeeze through by turning sideways. He tried to get a better look at the owner of the private room by using the crowd as cover.
"Be careful, it's hot, sir, here comes the sesame ball."
The waiter knocked on the door enthusiastically. The person who opened the door was a young man of medium to tall stature, wearing an ordinary light blue shirt. He had a wheat-colored complexion and looked very strong. However, there was an unusual bulge on his side. Chen Jian recognized it all too well: the man was carrying a gun!
“We haven’t ordered this dessert.” The man refused while cautiously observing his surroundings.
"A customer said he's a friend of mine. He ordered this for you and has already paid. Please accept it; the boss will scold me if I take it back," the waiter explained patiently.
There seemed to be another person inside. The man turned around, asked the person's opinion, and decided to accept the gift.
The feeling of palpitations grew stronger, and Shen Jian bent down and strained to look into the doorway. Because the man was blocking the way, he could only see half an arm and half a trouser leg. From this, Shen Jian judged that the man was short and thin.
Unfortunately, I didn't look closely, and they closed the door tightly.
Could it be the CCP? Chen Jian swallowed hard. He wanted to order his men to make the arrest, but almost all of them had been assigned to other missions, and he was all alone.
It doesn't matter. What I've been searching for has come to me without any effort. My heart palpitations turned into excitement, and Chen Jian decided to take this big bite of meat. However, the man with the gun seemed to be a skilled fighter as well, and he might not be able to gain the upper hand.
Instead of rashly rushing forward to arrest the person, he quietly waited across the private room, hoping to catch them in the act.
The commotion outside could almost be heard throughout the entire teahouse. The area around the center of the argument was packed with onlookers, but the G Party remained as steady as a mountain.
It's not that we're afraid of things getting big, it's that we're afraid of things not getting serious enough. By stirring up trouble ourselves, we're giving the CCP a heads-up; it's time for them to come out.
Glancing at his watch, Chen Jian realized it was almost 3:45 AM. If they didn't get to the dock soon, they'd probably miss the first ferry. Once it was light, they'd have even less chance of escaping.
With a whoosh, the door opened, and Chen Jian could clearly see that the short man was wearing tortoiseshell glasses, with a large beard hanging down his chest, obscuring most of his face, and carrying an extremely heavy leather suitcase in both hands. It was exactly what he had imagined; such a lousy disguise could fool anyone.
The burly man casually took the suitcase and stood protectively in front of the shorter man as the two quickly squeezed through the aisle. Shen Jian calmly followed them out of the teahouse.
Unaware that they were being followed, they moved quickly toward the end of the pier, but the pier was packed with people, like a thick, sticky mass, and anyone who went in would have to exert a lot of effort to break free.
The pressure from the surroundings was so intense that Chen Jian was almost suffocating. His face was contorted in a grimace. In no time, Chen Jian, who had finally locked onto his target, lost his bearings. Damn it, where is he?
Suddenly, the strong G Party member flashed past among the coolies, and Chen Jian was about to give chase.
Waaah—
As soon as the ship's horn sounded, the dockworkers rushed towards the finish line like madmen. Shen Jian had never seen anything like it before. He was hit by them one after another with such force that it felt like being hit by heavy stones. He barely managed to steady himself and, in pain, stepped aside.
Having completely lost sight of their target, Shen Jian had just squeezed out of the crowd when he saw two of his men disguised as laborers. He waved his hand, and his men nodded slightly, understanding that the mission had changed. After the three of them reunited, Shen Jian used minimal language to inform his men of the target's physical characteristics, and the three of them immediately dispersed to search again.
Several dark shadows rose on the horizon; those were the early morning cargo ships. The porters waiting on the dock all wore expressions of delight. Shen Jian speculated that the G Party dared not directly board passenger ships; it was more likely that they would disguise themselves and infiltrate the merchant ships.
Concentrating his mind, Chen Jian stared at the dockworkers' waists. As long as the Communists still carried guns, they wouldn't easily discard them. However, he was still too hasty; there was more than one person on the dock carrying a gun.
Oh dear, I almost forgot about the CC agents. But Shen Jian felt that he had been active in Nanjing for a long time and was relatively new to Shanghai. He was like a newborn calf that was not afraid of tigers, so he boldly wandered around the dock.
Shen Jian didn't notice a pair of gloomy eyes scrutinizing him in the dispatch room. The owner of those eyes stood up, smoothed the creases on his gray Zhongshan suit, and said to the young man in a customs uniform beside him, "It's quite lively today. Even Young Master Shen from the secret investigation team is here. What do you think he's up to?"
"Your subordinate is unaware. Your subordinate only knows that unauthorized personnel should not appear at the dock, otherwise they will be treated as members of the Communist Party," the customs officer replied respectfully with his legs together.
“No need for that, they’re all people of the Party and the State.” The man in the Zhongshan suit changed the subject. “Don’t bully the kids too much, at least leave them alive.”
"Yes." The customs officer in uniform turned and left the dispatch room after receiving the order.
The dark waves crashed against the rocks, breaking into droplets that fell back into the river, but this could not stop their relentless assault.
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