The man in the short-sleeved shirt was a trusted subordinate of Luo Zidong, the leader of the Green Gang, and also one of the most reliable Green Gang disciples specially assigned by Yan Xing to set up the bait. His name was Cao Hong.
The man opposite was Jiang Hui, a former member of the Kuomintang's Shanghai intelligence station and now an agent of the No. 76 Special Agent Headquarters.
In the past few days, following Luo Zidong's instructions, Yan Xing listed some suitable hiding places on various real estate agencies, began to cast a wide net, and distributed his trusted subordinates and traitors from the Shanghai intelligence station, waiting for the bait to be caught.
However, housing was always in short supply in the concession. These houses had only been listed for a few days when many potential tenants came to rent them, but none of them were the people they were looking for. So they found various excuses to drive these tenants away. Today alone, Cao Hong had already sent away two groups of people.
Jiang Hui was also helpless. He said, "This person is definitely not from Tianjin. His Tianjin accent is very authentic, so he is undoubtedly from Tianjin. But I have met several people in charge at the Shanghai station, and none of them are from Tianjin. Let's wait and see. This is like finding a needle in a haystack, it's a matter of luck, we can't rush it!"
Upon hearing this, Cao Hong had no choice but to be patient. He got up, left the room, and went into the courtyard. Just as he was about to reach out and close the gate, a hand reached in and blocked the gate.
Cao Hong was taken aback. He saw two men standing outside the door. Judging from their similar attire to the two men who had just left, he knew that it was the tenants who had come to visit again.
Many people have come these past few days, but none of them are right. He has sent them all away with various excuses. Because of this, they all leave in a bad mood and no one is in a good mood. So Cao Hong asked impatiently, "Are you here to look at houses too?"
"Yes, yes!" The real estate agent quickly nodded and said, "My surname is Wu, and I am an agent from Yongkang Real Estate Agency. Didn't you list the house for rent with our company? This Mr. Chen is interested in renting it out, so he came to take a look at the house. I wonder if it's convenient for him to come now?"
Cao Hong glanced at Guan Han behind him, hesitated for a moment, then opened the door and said indifferently, "Come in. Let's make this clear first: this courtyard can only be rented for short periods, no longer than six months. Also, it can't be used to set up any random small factories, otherwise you'll end up making the place smell terrible, and I won't allow that."
Upon hearing this, Agent Wu said in surprise, "These things weren't explained at the beginning, were they?"
After saying that, he turned to look at Guan Han with a questioning gaze. If the conditions were so harsh, then it would be troublesome, and most people would probably find it difficult to accept.
However, Guan Han was secretly pleased. The colder the other party's attitude, the more at ease he felt. Anyway, he didn't plan to rent it for a long time. The Shanghai intelligence station was moving around frequently, so he definitely wouldn't stay in this place for long. It was originally just a temporary place to stay. If the other party asked for a year's rent all at once, he really wouldn't want to pay it. It would be troublesome to negotiate the price in the end.
As for setting up a factory, that was out of the question. He nodded immediately. Knowing that these conditions were not a problem, Wu, the broker, quickly turned to Cao Hong and said, "No problem. As long as our boss likes the house, everything is negotiable."
Cao Hong then stepped aside to let them in. Guan Han and Cao Hong walked into the courtyard. Guan Han looked around and saw that the courtyard was spacious with no clutter. There was a row of bungalows on the north side. Guan Han walked around the courtyard, nodded, and said, "Let's go inside and take a look!"
Cao Hong didn't say much, but pushed open the door and let them into the house. There were seven rooms in total, all of which were empty and had a musty smell, indicating that no one had lived there for a long time.
Guan Han asked with a smile, "Young man, what's your surname?"
"No need for formalities, my surname is Huang!" Cao Hong replied casually.
He didn't continue with pleasantries, but said, "This yard used to be used for storing odds and ends, but I'm short on money right now, so I sold everything to make some rent!"
Seeing that Cao Hong was unwilling to talk, Guan Han thought that this person was difficult to deal with and did not care. He looked around and was very satisfied. The living space here was very large, and each room could accommodate at least four or five people. In this way, this place alone could accommodate half of the action team. If it were an intelligence station, this courtyard would be enough.
Guan Han inspected the house while asking Cao Hong questions, but Cao Hong was in a low mood. He said a few words to Guan Han indifferently and then stopped talking. In the end, he simply let them see for themselves and turned to leave.
Seeing the homeowner's indifference, Wu was worried that Guan Han would be unhappy, but seeing that Guan Han didn't care at all, he didn't say anything and accompanied Guan Han to look around.
Cao Hong returned shortly afterward, and Guan Han asked with a smile, "Brother Huang, I'm very satisfied with this house. How about we talk about it? But I seemed to notice earlier that you weren't too keen on renting it to outsiders. Is that alright?"
Cao Hong was taken aback, realizing that they had seen him kicking out the other tenants. He could only make up an excuse and explain, "I just don't really like northerners. They're hard to deal with. If you want to rent, there's no problem."
Guan Han knew that the locals in Shanghai were somewhat xenophobic, but he didn't mind. The two of them discussed it and Cao Hong was very straightforward this time. They quickly agreed on the price in just a few words and agreed to hand over the house the next day. Guan Han and the agent Wu then got up to say goodbye and left.
Watching them leave, Cao Hong immediately closed the courtyard gate and hurried back to his house. He said to Jiang Hui, who had been secretly observing, "They've left. It's all been arranged. We'll go to the agency tomorrow to sign the contract. He'll come back again. You won't mistake him this time, will you?"
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