Although Ning Zhiheng already knew the target of the Japanese surveillance, he had previously made judgments based on information provided by He Siming. In the end, he still needed to confirm Takasugi Hitoshi's true identity, and the sooner the better.
Since the Japanese have already begun monitoring Takasugi Jinki, and Takasugi Jinki could come into contact with his comrades at any time, if the Japanese really find something around him and identify members of the underground party organization, the problem will be serious.
But how to confirm Takasugi Jinki's true identity? If it were in Shanghai, naturally everything would be fine. He would just need to contact the farmer and have the farmer verify Takasugi Jinki's identity through organizational procedures and formulate countermeasures in a timely manner.
But this is Nanjing, and there is no contact person between me and the underground party organization. I can't possibly travel all the way back to Shanghai to contact the farmer, can I? Even by train, it would take two days to go there and back, and I can't afford to waste any more time.
Moreover, his own profile was too prominent, and once he set off to return to Shanghai, it would inevitably attract the attention of those with ulterior motives, making this method simply not feasible.
Therefore, the only option is to find the underground party organization in Nanjing and warn them directly. However, the whereabouts of the Nanjing underground party organization are hard to find. At present, all I know is the transportation channel of the Nanjing underground party organization, which is the Tongfuman Trading Company at the corner of Donghua Street in Dongcheng District. I can go there and see if I can have a chance to make contact.
Moreover, time was of the essence. Intelligence work was ever-changing and unpredictable. The sooner he issued the warning signal, the less damage the Nanjing underground party organization would suffer. With this in mind, Ning Zhiheng no longer hesitated. He changed into a coat, put on a top hat, and left the villa alone through the back door without a car or Yi Hua'an and bodyguards. He walked to the street, hailed a rickshaw, got in, and headed to the East District.
The rickshaw driver was fast, and after half an hour, he entered the East District. Ning Zhiheng sat in the rickshaw and looked around. Although the debris and garbage on the street had been cleaned up, the shops on both sides were still quite badly damaged. Some shops were not open yet, with broken windows and closed doors, obviously not yet restored.
However, many shops are still under repair, and those that are quick have already had their doors and windows reinstalled and have resumed business.
The streets were less crowded than before, indicating that people had not yet recovered from the unrest.
Upon arriving near Donghua Street, Ning Zhiheng signaled the rickshaw driver to stop. He got out of the rickshaw, took out some money, and sent the rickshaw driver away.
Looking around, I walked along Donghua Street for a while. The shops on this street were in relatively worse condition, with almost half of them closed and not open for business, making the street look very deserted.
Arriving at the street corner, I looked up and saw a small shop with a signboard above the door that read "Tongfuman Trading Company". The shop's doors and windows had obviously been replaced, as they must have been smashed by Japanese soldiers during the unrest.
However, Tongfuman Trading Company was also closed with its doors and windows shut and the doors boarded up, and it had not started business yet. Ning Zhiheng frowned, looked around, walked to a nearby newsstand, took out a banknote and handed it over, saying in Shanghainese, "Give me a copy of the New Nanjing Daily."
"Alright, take it yourself, I'll give you change!" the stall owner quickly agreed, but was immediately dumbfounded as he took the banknote. It was a ten-yen note, and he couldn't afford to give change. "Sir, I just opened for business, I can't make change for this!"
Ning Zhiheng casually picked up a copy of the "New Nanjing Daily" from the stall and said indifferently, "Then you don't need to look anymore. Let me ask around for you. I'm from Shanghai doing business. I've been here before, and it wasn't like this. What's going on now?"
Upon hearing this, the stall owner was overjoyed. He'd stumbled upon such a VIP customer right on his first day of business, and received this money for nothing! He quickly clutched the banknote tightly, tucking it into his pocket, and said respectfully, "Thank you, sir, may your business prosper! Well, you've just arrived in Nanjing, haven't you? You don't know, just a few days ago, a group of Japanese soldiers looted and vandalized this place. The entire Dongcheng District was ransacked; shops were smashed to pieces, and dozens of people were shot dead. Donghua Street was the worst hit, with over ten lives lost. How could anyone be in the mood to open for business? Look at that shop over there…"
At this point, the stall owner pointed to the Tongfuman Trading Company diagonally across the street and continued in a low voice, "Two of my employees were protecting the goods when they were killed by Japanese soldiers. They were also the ones who suffered the most damage. They've been busy with funeral arrangements these past few days. I must say, this shopkeeper is really good. His employees risked their lives, so he invested his resources to send them off in full. He's really doing them a favor..."
Listening to the stall owner's incessant chatter, Ning Zhiheng quickly learned some of the details. Tongfuman Trading Company had suffered severe damage to its personnel and goods in the turmoil and had not been open for business for the past few days.
He didn't linger any longer, nodded to the stall owner, then turned and walked away quickly. Soon he flagged down a rickshaw and ordered, "To the south of the city!"
With time running out, Ning Zhiheng decided to abandon the Tongfuman Trading Company line and try his luck in the south of the city.
Before the outbreak of the war, during his time at the Nanjing Military Intelligence Bureau, he learned the hidden identities of two leaders of the underground Communist Party organization.
One is Professor Fang Boyi of Jinling University, and the other is Dr. Cheng Xingye, a doctor at the Chengnan Puan Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic.
Fang Boyi is currently in Chongqing, so he can't be relied upon. However, the traditional Chinese medicine doctor Cheng Xingye is very likely still in Nanjing, so I need to go and check on him.
Moreover, Cheng Xingye was already in charge of the underground party organization's drug supply before the full-scale war began, which shows his status in the party organization. Notifying him directly saved many reporting steps and allowed the organization to be alerted as early as possible.
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