Bai Mingcheng shook his head and replied, "The target was just himself. He didn't contact anyone. I followed him up to the second floor of the teahouse. He chose a tea seat facing the street, ordered some snacks and tea, and sat there for almost three hours before leaving."
"No contact with anyone? What's this guy up to?" Ning Zhiheng asked curiously, looking at the two men's actions. They were clearly setting up guards and observing the surroundings, but in the end they did nothing and just came back after taking such a long walk. What was Takasaki Shigeo doing?
Bai Mingcheng continued, "I noticed that the target kept glancing across the street, and it seemed like he was spying on someone."
Upon hearing this, Ning Zhiheng's mind raced. After a quick recollection, he said, "There's a bookstore across the street from the teahouse. The person he's monitoring is in the bookstore. Yes, that must be it!"
Bai Mingcheng nodded and said, "Later, I found an opportunity to go to the window and take a look. From his position, he could clearly see some of the activities in the library, but I'm not sure."
"Let's go back and take another look!"
Ning Zhiheng didn't hesitate any longer and immediately turned back, with Bai Mingcheng following closely behind. Half an hour later, they arrived at the restaurant where Gao Qishisheng had stayed. After dismissing the waiter who came to greet them, the two went to the spot where Gao Qishisheng had been. Ning Zhiheng sat down and looked down. Sure enough, the view was excellent, with a clear view of the street's activity, especially the bookstore across the street. Through the doors and windows, they could clearly see people walking back and forth inside.
“It should be here!” Ning Zhiheng nodded, turned around and went downstairs with Bai Mingcheng. They crossed the street and arrived at the entrance of the bookstore. He looked up at the signboard before stepping inside.
This was a very ordinary little bookstore, not very big, with five or six rows of books inside. There weren't many customers, only two or three people were looking down and flipping through the books. There was a small counter at the entrance, and behind the counter sat a thin old man wearing glasses, calmly resting with his eyes closed, obviously unaware that Ning Zhiheng and his companion had entered.
Ning Zhiheng and Bai Mingcheng pretended to be selecting books in the bookstore. They walked around inside but didn't find anything unusual. Finally, Bai Mingcheng chose a book, paid for it at the counter, and then the two of them came out.
After walking for a while, Bai Mingcheng asked in a low voice, "Chief, is there a problem with this bookstore?"
"I can't see any problem. The furnishings in this bookstore are very old, the bookshelves are almost falling apart, and the shop owner is quite old. This bookstore must have been open for many years, while the Japanese have only been setting up their intelligence network in Chongqing for a little over a year. The timeline doesn't match up, but we can't be careless. Find out more about the situation later."
Ning Zhiheng always pays attention to details. Even if he can't see any problems, he will still investigate to make sure that there are no issues with the library.
Bai Mingcheng nodded in acceptance, then continued his analysis: "If there's nothing wrong with the bookstore, then there's something wrong with the people inside, most likely the customers. That would make it harder to investigate, since customers come and go, and we didn't know who he was monitoring at the time."
Ning Zhiheng hesitated. He couldn't be completely sure that there was no problem with the bookstore, so he couldn't rashly ask the bookstore owner directly. If the situation was unclear, it would be better to alert the owner than to do something wrong.
"Investigate this library first, and we'll talk about it later. But we must be careful in monitoring their hideout. Pick a few people as soon as possible, disguise them as refugees, and infiltrate them. This guy is a big fish."
"Yes! I'll arrange for people to keep watch immediately!" Bai Mingcheng replied.
After arranging the work, Ning Zhiheng returned to the Second Operations Division. At 5 PM, the phone on his desk rang. Ning Zhiheng picked up the phone, and to his surprise, it was Tanikawa Chiemi's voice on the other end.
"Director, I have something to report. Can we meet tonight?"
When Chiemi Tanikawa left a few days ago, Ning Zhiheng instructed them not to contact each other unless there was an important reason. However, Chiemi Tanikawa actually called, so Ning Zhiheng naturally did not dare to neglect her and immediately replied, "Wait for me in the safe house at 10 p.m. tonight!"
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