Before long, Zhao Jiang brought Ji Anmin, the owner of Yuanze Trading Company, to Ning Zhiheng's office.
Ning Zhiheng carefully examined Ji Anmin in front of him. The man was in his early forties, of medium build, with an ordinary appearance, but his eyes revealed a hint of shrewdness. His clothes were made of relatively fine material, and although his face was haggard, it was still quite clean.
His appearance was truly unexpected for Ning Zhiheng. He thought that Ji Anmin would be unable to escape Yu Cheng's interrogation and should have been in a sorry state long ago. However, he did not expect the situation to be much better than he had anticipated. But this was good, as it was more in line with the requirements of the operation plan.
In fact, after Ji Anmin was arrested by Yu Cheng, he was not subjected to any severe torture. He was only threatened and intimidated, and Ji Anmin confessed completely. Therefore, there were no signs of injury on his body, but he was somewhat depressed.
Ji Anmin looked nervously at Ning Zhiheng, who was sitting upright in the center, and stammered, not knowing what to say.
Ning Zhiheng smiled slightly and said in a friendly tone, "Ji Anmin, don't be nervous. Our Military Intelligence Bureau is targeting Japanese spies. For a Chinese like you, as long as you are willing to repent and work for us, and even make meritorious contributions, we can give you a way out and let you start your life anew."
Upon hearing Ning Zhiheng's words, Ji Anmin quickly nodded and said, "Thank you, sir, for giving me a way out. I am willing to accept my punishment and perform meritorious service, and I will follow your arrangements."
Ji Anmin was so obedient and compliant, no wonder he came from a business background and had a first-rate ability to read people. Ning Zhiheng didn't explain any further and directly said, "Good, it's good that you have this awareness. Let me ask you, what's the situation every time you see Zhang Fangwen come to see Hou Xiangchen?"
Ji Anmin thought for a moment and said, "Hou Xiangchen's finance office is not far from the back door of the company. I usually tell employees not to use this back door. Every time, that woman enters through the back door and goes directly to Hou Xiangchen's finance office to meet him."
Has anyone else in the trading company seen Zhang Fangwen?
“Several employees have seen her, but they all thought she was Hou Xiangchen’s lover. She always came very discreetly. It was only because I knew Hou Xiangchen’s background that I realized this woman was not simple.”
"When did you see her appear on each of these occasions?"
"It was around noon, around 11 a.m., so I think it must have been a time they arranged in advance."
This coincides with the timeframe Hou Xiangchen gave, so it seems Hou Xiangchen wasn't lying, which put Ning Zhiheng at ease a little.
“Ji Anmin, go to work as usual as soon as it gets light today. If anyone asks about Hou Xiangchen’s whereabouts, make up an excuse to cover it up. I will send someone to follow you. In short, everything should be as usual. Don’t let your company’s employees hinder our arrest. If we catch Zhang Fangwen, I will consider it a meritorious deed and release you immediately. Do you understand?”
Ning Zhiheng needed to minimize the impact of Hou Xiangchen's disappearance and prevent those around him from feeling anything unusual. However, with Boss Ji Anmin covering for them for just one morning, even if Hou Xiangchen didn't show up, it wouldn't cause any other trouble.
When Ji Anmin heard that Ning Zhiheng was willing to release him, he was overjoyed. Ever since he was captured and taken to the Military Intelligence Bureau, he had been filled with despair. In the legends outside, the Military Intelligence Bureau was like the Hall of Hell, a place that ordinary people avoided like the plague. Once captured there, even ordinary people would hardly get out alive, let alone a traitor like him. Now that he had a chance to keep his life, it was like grasping at a straw. How could he dare to say no?
Ji Anmin knelt down with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly in gratitude, saying, "Thank you so much, sir, for showing leniency. I will cooperate fully, I only beg to be spared!"
Ning Zhiheng was too lazy to look at his ugly state anymore, and said to Zhao Jiang, "Take him to take a bath and tidy him up a bit. He looks too disheveled. Also, his clothes smell a bit. Change him into clean clothes. In short, no one can tell that he just came out of jail."
The air in the cell of the Second Operations Division was damp and dark, stained with blood. Even though he had only been there for less than a day, Ji Anmin inevitably developed a certain odor. Someone with a keen sense of smell like Ning Zhiheng could easily detect that something was wrong.
Zhao Jiang nodded and accepted the order, then led Ji Anmin down to make preparations.
By this time, it was already dawn, and everything was ready. Wei Yong reported to Ning Zhiheng and led all the personnel to their respective targets and set off.
It wasn't until Yu Cheng called to report that everything was going smoothly at the Shudu Daily newspaper office, and the advertisement had been published on the third page as Hou Xiangchen had instructed, that the newspaper would be ready for distribution in half an hour and would soon be available for sale on the streets.
Ning Zhiheng ordered Yu Cheng to detain all the personnel in the printing workshop and not let any of them go until Silver Fox was successfully captured.
At eight o'clock in the morning, Ji Anmin walked into the gate of Yuanze Trading Company as usual. The difference was that this time he was followed by two ordinary-looking young men, Zhao Jiang and one of his skilled team members.
Ning Zhiheng had people monitoring both the front and back entrances of the trading company, while he himself led a team to guard the back entrance, setting up a tight net and waiting for the silver fox to appear.
In a two-story attic in Yuzhong District, Chongqing, a young woman walked out of the door. She was wearing a light-colored suit and a white scarf around her neck, which covered the lower half of her face. She slowly walked down the stairs of the attic.
It was around 8:30 in the morning. The not-so-wide street was bustling with people starting their day, and the noisy shouts of vendors filled the air. The young woman weaved through the crowd and soon arrived at the entrance of a coffee shop. She glanced around out of the corner of her eye before stepping inside. She went straight to a relatively quiet private room further inside, ordered a coffee, took off the scarf wrapped around her, and placed it aside, quietly gazing out the window.
A short while later, a middle-aged man in a sharp suit walked in, sat down opposite the woman, placed several newspapers on the table, and said in a very low voice, "I just went to the Huaqing Hotel and saw that all the guests have been evicted and the hotel doors are locked. Your house in the residential area across the street has also been sealed off. They acted really fast. I heard that they came to your door the very next day and have been investigating your information everywhere in the neighborhood."
Upon hearing this, the young woman frowned and scolded in a low voice, "How dare you go back? What if someone recognizes you? You're being incredibly reckless!"
This young woman was none other than Chiemi Tanikawa, a high-ranking Japanese agent codenamed Silver Fox, whom Ning Zhiheng had been searching for everywhere.
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