Meanwhile, Ning Zhiheng was in his study, practicing calligraphy with undivided attention, completely absorbed in the art of brush and ink.
Yi Hua'an knocked on the door and entered, placing the newspapers he had just bought that day on the coffee table beside him.
Then, he quietly took the tea canister, scooped tea leaves into the gaiwan with a mahogany spoon, and poured hot water from the pot next to him over it. A wisp of steam carrying the aroma of tea rose up. He poured in hot water again, and soon the fragrance filled the study. Seeing Ning Zhiheng focused on practicing calligraphy, he turned and left.
After a while, Ning Zhiheng slowly wrote the last stroke, then put down the brush in his hand, turned around and sat down on the sofa. He picked up a teacup and took a sip, then picked up a newspaper from the coffee table and began to read it.
Wherever he goes, he has a habit of reading the newspaper every day. He usually reads the local newspapers with large circulation and influence. He can analyze a lot of hidden information from the content of the newspapers, which is the quickest and most effective way to understand the local situation and the current situation.
At this time in Nanjing, the Japanese and the Nanjing puppet government strengthened their control over publishing and cultural undertakings. Public opinion and propaganda were under strict control. There were not many newspapers that could be published in Nanjing. They were basically official newspapers, such as the United Times and the China Daily. They were all mouthpieces for the Nanjing government and the Japanese, and prohibited any anti-Japanese or anti-puppet government content. Of course, there were also some commercial news and advertising columns.
Ning Zhiheng reads newspapers quickly, finishing a copy of the "China Daily" in no time. He then picked up a copy of the "New Nanjing Daily" and, after a short while, his gaze suddenly sharpened. In the miscellaneous section of the newspaper, a passage immediately caught his attention.
This is a missing person notice. The person is looking for Wang Yongchang, the cousin. Below are the physical characteristics of the person being looked for, and contact information is left at the end.
What surprised Ning Zhiheng was that he was all too familiar with the contents of this missing person notice!
This was the signal the Shanghai underground party organization had given me in response to the previous communications with the farmer regarding intelligence.
The first time was when Sun Xiangde, a Kuomintang agent, was arrested by the No. 76 Special Agent Headquarters. He informed the farmer himself, asking him to confirm his identity. He even personally drafted the content of the missing person notice.
The second time was when Fan Zhongfu was arrested. He also alerted the organization and asked them to confirm his identity. Later, through this missing person notice, he confirmed that Fan Zhongfu was a member of the underground party organization. He organized a rescue, but unfortunately, it was unsuccessful in the end.
The content of these two missing person notices is exactly the same as what was published in today's newspaper. The difference is that the previous two notices were in Shanghai, but this time they appeared in a newspaper published in Nanjing. What's going on?
Ning Zhiheng's mind raced. First of all, the content of the missing person notices was so similar, almost word for word. This was no coincidence; it must have been the work of the Shanghai underground party organization.
The content of this missing person notice was determined by himself, and only he knew about it. The underground party organization did this in order to summon him.
Ning Zhiheng couldn't help but feel a little strange. His contact with the farmer had always been one-way, unless there was important intelligence, in which case he would take the initiative to contact him. The underground party organization had never issued a summons before. What was the reason this time?
Ning Zhiheng picked up several other newspapers and searched carefully. Sure enough, another newspaper published a missing person notice with the same content.
The organization must have something important to communicate with me urgently, but they couldn't find me for the time being, so they simply used this method to notify me. It seems that my warning to Cheng Xingye in Nanjing alerted the organization, so they knew that I was not in Shanghai and sent people to publish missing person notices in major newspapers in Nanjing in an attempt to contact me.
That must be it!
Ning Zhiheng quickly made a judgment, but what major event had occurred that made the underground party organization so urgent?
Ning Zhiheng had a vague feeling that this was likely a consequence of his direct contact with Cheng Xingye in Nanjing. It seemed that he had indeed acted rashly and needed to contact the farmer as soon as possible; his return to Shanghai could not be delayed any longer.
During his time in Nanjing, he had largely completed his work, and the case of Takasugi Hitoshi had come to an end. He was currently out of danger, and as long as the information from the Chongqing headquarters was timely, the Nanjing station of the Military Intelligence Bureau could also escape unscathed. As for what would happen in the future, they could only pray for their own good fortune.
As for the intelligence personnel remaining in Nanjing, they are currently under the supervision of intelligence team leader Kang Xuezhi. Kang Xuezhi is capable and cautious, and with his own covert arrangements, their safety is not a problem. It is time for them to return to Shanghai.
Thinking of this, he called Yi Hua'an in and instructed, "Book train tickets for tomorrow immediately, we need to get back to Shanghai as soon as possible!"
Ning Zhiheng's words surprised Yi Hua'an. He had thought that Ning Zhiheng would stay in Nanjing for at least a few more days. Why was he in such a hurry to return to Shanghai? However, he didn't ask any more questions. He had followed Ning Zhiheng for so long that he naturally knew that Ning Zhiheng would tell him what he needed to know, and he shouldn't ask any questions about what he didn't need to know.
Ning Zhiheng thought for a moment. He realized that he had to say goodbye to Uehara Junpei before leaving Nanjing. Fortunately, he had already mentioned to Uehara Junpei that he would be returning to Shanghai soon, so it wouldn't be too abrupt to bring it up now.
At noon, Ning Zhiheng went to say goodbye to Uehara Junpei. Uehara Junpei knew that his business was all in Shanghai and that he couldn't stay in Nanjing for too long, so he wasn't surprised.
The next morning, Ning Zhiheng and his group boarded the train heading east. They traveled in silence and arrived in Shanghai smoothly around 4 p.m.
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