Chapter 67: Even a spy buying vegetables can spot a spy
"What are you thinking about?" He Chengze took the lotus root and started peeling it.
Jiang Xueyi came back to her senses and smiled, "It's okay."
He Chengze picked up her wrist and glanced at his watch: "It's okay, you've been in a daze for so long, your little bun's stomach is growling with hunger."
Jiang Xueyi pushed him out: "You play with the little bun, I'll cook now."
With something on his mind, he quickly prepared two dishes and a soup.
I promised Xiao Baozi to make kelp and pork bone soup, braised pork and a dish of stir-fried lotus root.
The food was served and the aroma was fragrant.
The little bun leaned on the edge of the table and shouted, "Bones!"
"I know." He Chengze used chopsticks to fish out the big pork ribs and put them into the millet bowl.
Xiaomi ate the pork ribs with a slurp, and the delicious food was delicious. Little Baozi smiled and said, "Xiaomi, eat more and grow taller."
He Chengze picked him up and put him on a stool: "Don't just talk about Xiaomi, you also need to eat more and grow taller."
Jiang Xueyi placed a plate of pickled radish on the table and said with a smile, "You will be taller than your father in the future."
The little bun's eyes lit up and he waved his hand: "High!"
Jiang Xueyi and He Chengze looked at each other and burst out laughing.
He Chengze poured a bowl of soup and placed it in front of Jiang Xueyi, who was staring blankly while holding a piece of lotus root.
He shook his head with a laugh, "How can I stare at a lotus root and become dazed?" He leaned closer and said, "Let me see if this lotus root has seven or nine holes. It's so utterly mind-boggling that our Chief Jiang wouldn't even eat."
Jiang Xueyi glared at him, stuffed the lotus root slices into his mouth, and muttered, "It's not seven-hole, nor is it nine-hole."
He Chengze chewed the lotus root slices, which were fragrant and crisp, as if he was standing in a lotus pond in summer. "That's right, I've also seen ones with eight and ten holes."
He picked up a piece of lotus root and said, "Look, this one has ten holes."
Jiang Xueyi glanced at him and suddenly asked, "Do you think the weather is hot?"
He Chengze unbuttoned the first discipline button: "It's hot, of course it's hot. I sweated a lot during training today. I took a shower before coming back, but halfway through, my back was sweaty again. Well, the shower was wasted."
Jiang Xueyi asked casually, "So what do you think the temperature is today?"
He Chengze said without thinking: "Thirty-eight degrees, maybe thirty-nine degrees."
Jiang Xueyi clapped her hands and uttered a crisp sound: "That's right, it's a high temperature of 38 degrees."
Listening carefully to the tone of the words, He Chengze asked: "What's wrong? You are acting weird and mysterious today."
Although she knew the military compound dormitory was absolutely safe, Jiang Xueyi couldn't help but glance outside. She lowered her voice and said, "I took Xiao Baozi to buy groceries today and ran into a female vendor selling lotus roots. I asked her the same question as you."
He Chengze raised his eyebrows: "You also asked her what the temperature is today?"
Jiang Xueyi nodded solemnly: "Yes, guess what she replied to me?"
He Chengze joked, "What else can I say? Thirty-eight degrees? Forty degrees? It can't be twenty degrees, right? Then she's lying."
Jiang Xueyi's face turned serious. "She said it was going to be 98 degrees today." She emphasized again, "Listen carefully, she said it was 98 degrees."
He Chengze was stunned for a moment, then blurted out, "It must have been a slip of the tongue."
"Let's just call it a slip of the tongue." Jiang Xueyi nodded. "I asked her again if the lotus root was from Beitang. Most of the lotus roots in Beitang have nine holes. Beitang is famous for digging lotus roots. In our vegetable market, more than half of the people selling lotus roots are from Beitang."
He Chengze often went to buy vegetables, so he naturally heard something wrong: "The lotus roots in Beitang are obviously mostly those with seven holes."
"That's right," Jiang Xueyi said, "but she actually agreed. Just think about it, how could a lotus root seller not even know where the lotus roots they sell are produced?"
He Chengze's expression turned serious, but out of caution, he said, "It's also possible that the lotus root was dug by her family, or maybe she bought it from someone else. It's not surprising if she doesn't know."
Jiang Xueyi continued, "I thought so too, so I asked her if her family dug the lotus roots together. She told me she dug them alone, but looking at the amount, she definitely couldn't have dug so many by herself."
Jiang Xueyi picked up the bowl and took a sip of the kelp and pork rib soup before saying, "The most important thing is that her dress and temperament really don't look like someone selling lotus roots at all. There's not even a speck of dirt between her fingernails."
In many cases, as soon as you realize something is wrong, many clues will emerge.
For example, the weather has been hot and humid recently, and many people like to eat lotus roots. She went to pick up the small buns and was delayed for a while. Logically, there should be no lotus roots to sell, but the female stall owner still had some to sell... It is very likely that the person who provided the "goods" to the female stall owner delivered it late today.
After all, living in a dormitory in a military compound, the people coming and going are all military wives.
I often heard Liu Lu and others say that a spy had been caught somewhere, and I immediately thought of it.
He Chengze: "Now that you mention it, that person is indeed suspicious."
Jiang Xueyi asked cautiously, "Do you think she could be a spy?"
He Chengze pursed his lips and said, "That's possible."
He stood up: "Wait for me."
After a while, He Chengze took out a book from the bookcase, opened it, and read it line by line: "I got it!"
He looked at Jiang Xueyi, "You said that woman said the temperature today is 98 degrees, right?"
Jiang Xueyi nodded.
He Chengze showed her the book: "I remember it said that the method of calculating temperature abroad is different from that in China. They use Fahrenheit. The method of calculating Fahrenheit is to multiply the Celsius scale we use by 1.8 and then add 32. Therefore, the converted Fahrenheit degree will be very high, even reaching hundreds of degrees."
He Chengze paused and continued, "For example, if the temperature today is 38 degrees, then 38 times 1.8 plus 32 equals 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit."
Jiang Xueyi's eyes lit up. "Yes, that's it." She added, "I just think that woman's description of the temperature measurement standard is weird. In our country, when people say it's hot, they usually say 38 or 40 degrees Celsius, not 98. She even said it was a slip of the tongue. How could she have said 98 degrees by mistake? That's a huge deviation."
He Chengze closed the book and said seriously, "I'm going to the military camp. You don't have to wait for me to come back tonight."
Jiang Xueyi nodded and opened her mouth: "If it turns out that the woman is not guilty, don't wrongly accuse a good person."
He Chengze tucked the book under his arm, picked up the coat hanging on the hanger, and put on his shoes: "That won't happen."
When the troops saw someone suspected of being a spy, the most they would do was arrest him and interrogate him. They would not use the kind of torture that Jiang Xueyi imagined, and it would not be necessary.
However, the woman revealed too many flaws, and He Chengze was 80% sure that the woman was a planted spy.
He continued to comfort her, "Don't worry too much. At most, we'll question her a few times. If she's not wrong, we'll let her go. You might even see her selling lotus roots at her stall tomorrow."
Jiang Xueyi pulled the corner of her mouth, knowing that He Chengze was comforting her: "Okay, you should go to the military camp quickly. This is a big deal and can't be delayed."
He Chengze hooked her nose and said, "Okay, if we catch him, I will definitely tell our political commissar that it was you who discovered him. We have a female Zhuge Liang in our family."
The little bun raised his spoon and said with a smile: "Zhuge!"
He tilted his head and said, "Dad, what is Zhuge? Is it a kind of pig? Can I eat it?"
This made He Chengze laugh uncontrollably: "Zhuge is used to praise people for their intelligence, but it can't be eaten."
Jiang Xueyi glared at him and said, "Go, you smooth talker." Then she urged him, "Hurry up and go."
He Chengze said: "Okay."
After saying that, he pushed the door and left.
Jiang Xueyi looked at his back, her heart in turmoil.
After all, it was the first time in her life that she faced a spy directly. She had only seen it in newspapers and heard about it from others before. He Chengze had been joking with her. He probably saw her nervousness and was comforting her.
Jiang Xueyi picked up the little bun, and the heavy weight of the little bun made her feel more at ease.
When He Chengze pushed open the office door, Political Commissar Zhang was drawing a circle along the canal with a red pen on the spread-out map.
Political Commissar Zhang heard the door open and looked up: "Hey, Old He, didn't you go home? Why are you back again?"
He winked and said, "Did you have a fight with your wife? She sent you to sleep in the barracks." Then he said, "It's okay, it's okay. I'll squeeze in with you tonight. Don't mind me picking my feet, grinding my teeth, and snoring."
Political Commissar Zhang would not be happy if someone else slept in his bed. It was only because He Chengze was famous for his cleanliness in the entire military camp that he was willing to contribute half of his bed...
He Chengze: "Get out of here! If I'm kicked out by my wife, I can't sleep in the office. Why should I share a bed with you?"
He showed a serious expression: "I am here to talk about serious matters."
Upon hearing this, Political Commissar Zhang's expression turned serious: "You go ahead."
He Chengze showed the book he brought to Political Commissar Zhang and underlined it with a red pen: "First, read the paragraph about the description of Fahrenheit."
After Political Commissar Zhang finished reading, He Chengze told Jiang Xueyi about the lotus root vendor she had met today: "...Isn't it strange that a lotus root vendor would start using foreign temperature units."
He then recounted the suspicious points Jiang Xueyi had found one by one. Political Commissar Zhang nodded repeatedly after listening: "It is indeed very suspicious."
The two looked at each other and thought, well, what else is there to say? Let's go arrest him.
At 5:30 in the morning, just as the sky was getting light, a female stall owner was caught by soldiers who had been lying in ambush as she entered the vegetable market carrying two baskets of lotus roots.
In the interrogation room, the incandescent light was so bright that it made people dizzy. The female stall owner sat on a chair with her hands and feet tightly handcuffed.
Political Commissar Zhang glanced at her. Her skin was fair and there was no mud under her nails. She certainly didn't look like a lotus root seller.
Looking again, the female stall owner looked calm and not panicked at all. She didn't look like she was arrested at all, but rather like a guest.
The female stall owner raised her chin slightly and said, "Why are you arresting me? It's illegal to arrest people randomly."
"Name." He Chengze's voice was not loud, but it was like a stone hitting the water, causing ripples.
A strange look flashed in the female stall owner's eyes: "Su Yan."
"Which commune?"
Su Yan rolled her eyes and said, "Beitang Commune."
"You're lying!" He Chengze raised his voice and said calmly, "My home is in Beitang Commune. How come I have never seen you before?"
Su Yan's shoulders trembled slightly: "I... I just got married."
"Just got married?" Political Commissar Zhang raised an eyebrow. "Then tell me, what kind of tree is planted on the slope east of Beitang Commune? A banyan tree? A locust tree? Or an apricot tree?"
Su Yan's fingers suddenly clenched the corner of her clothes: "...I don't remember."
"Don't remember? Then you should remember these." He Chengze threw a pile of crumpled papers with strange symbols on them on the table, "These were all found in the lotus root.
He snorted and laughed, "They're quite good at hiding it. They roll up each piece of paper, seal it with special material, and stuff it into the hole of the lotus root. Most people really can't find it."
Political Commissar Zhang knocked on the table. "Comrade Su Yan, could you please tell us what's written on it?"
Su Yan's face froze. She didn't expect that they would even discover this.
She stiffened her neck and said, "I don't understand what you are talking about. I am just a lotus root seller."
"Can the lotus root seller tell me 98 degrees?" He Chengze asked, "Our country uses Celsius, and you use Fahrenheit. Did you develop this habit abroad?"
Su Yan suddenly realized: "Oh! You are in the same group as the woman who bought lotus roots from me yesterday. No wonder she refused to leave after buying the lotus roots and kept asking questions."
What about 'that woman'? He Chengze couldn't help but frown when he heard that this was not a very respectful address.
Su Yan thought with gritted teeth, she never expected that even though she hid so well, there was still a loophole and she was exposed here.
Even though he had disguised himself as a vegetable vendor, he was still discovered.
She knew very well that those who confessed would be rewarded with leniency while those who remained in prison would be sentenced to life imprisonment. No matter how He Chengze and Political Commissar Zhang interrogated her, she refused to say a word.
I looked like I was going to kill you and not get a single word out of me.
He Chengze was not in a hurry. He raised his eyebrows and said, "If you don't tell me, someone will. You are selling lotus roots, and you didn't dig them yourself. Someone must have brought them to you. Just dig down along this line. I don't believe you won't find it."
Su Yan's face changed, obviously she was hit in a sore spot.
Three days later, Su Yan's accomplice was caught and confessed. Su Yan could not bear it anymore and confessed as well.
These days, He Chengze has been staying in the military camp, busy with this matter day and night.
Su Yan was finally recruited, and he finally put an end to a major issue on his mind. He asked for leave from his commander and would take a day off tomorrow.
I can go home after the meeting in the afternoon.
He Chengze hummed a tune while packing his things, looking like he couldn't wait to go home.
This caused Political Commissar Zhang to point at him and laugh, "Look at him, he can't wait to leave now."
He Chengze: "You don't know, I told my wife that I would only stay away for one night, but now it's good, the interrogation of that female spy took three days, and I haven't been home for three days. My wife and son are at home, they must be worried to death."
"I don't know whether they are anxious or not, but I can see that you are quite anxious," said Political Commissar Zhang.
However, Political Commissar Zhang could also understand him. With such a beautiful and smart wife at home, any man would want to go home.
Speaking of which, it was Jiang Xueyi who first discovered the spy incident.
Political Commissar Zhang said, "Don't forget to praise your wife for me when you go back. It was thanks to her that we were able to successfully catch the spy. Otherwise, we don't know how much information would have been leaked out. Your wife is really like this." He gave a thumbs up.
In front of outsiders, He Chengze was still very humble: "Hey, don't say that. If you praise her, my wife is so humble, she will definitely say that if it were another military wife, she would be able to find the spy as well."
Political Commissar Zhang said, "That's not necessarily true. The vegetable market is right near the barracks and the military compound. So many military wives go there to buy vegetables, and your wife is the only one who noticed it. Isn't that because she's very observant and has a keen eye for identifying treasures?"
He Chengze wanted to say that he used the wrong idiom, but after thinking about it, he decided to forget it and rubbed his hands and said, "Don't talk about those empty words. My wife found a spy. Is there any reward from the higher-ups?"
He sighed and said, "My wife always tells me that she wants to buy a refrigerator. Well, to buy a refrigerator, you need overseas remittance coupons and a lot of money. We are poor, how can we get it?"
Political Commissar Zhang really wanted to kick him.
Don't look at He Chengze's young age. He joined the army at the age of sixteen, so he has quite a long military service. In addition, he is now the deputy brigade commander. If you do the math, his salary is not much different from his.
And there is Jiang Xueyi. I heard that she is now a popular female secretary in the Women's Federation. She is highly valued by her superiors and has received a salary increase.
Both husband and wife work, it's a dual-income family, and they only have one child, Xiao Baozi, and a dog. How much can these two of them eat?
Even with this, you still dare to say your family is poor?
According to Political Commissar Zhang, their family is the richest among all the dormitory in the military compound.
However, Jiang Xueyi did make a contribution.
Political Commissar Zhang pondered, "A refrigerator, right? Overseas Chinese remittance vouchers... I have a fellow villager who is a returned overseas Chinese. It shouldn't be difficult to get them from him." He patted his chest and said, "Okay, I'll take care of your refrigerator."
He Chengze saluted with a beaming smile, "Thank you, Political Commissar." He added, "Then I'll go to the meeting."
Political Commissar Zhang packed up the documents and said, "Go ahead."
He Chengze walked out of the house with a swift pace and happened to run into Captain Kong. He gave him a rare friendly look: "Going to a meeting?"
Captain Kong nodded: "Well, I'll go get something."
"Okay." He Chengze smiled, "Then I'll go first."
"Okay." Captain Kong couldn't help but look puzzled when he saw his smiling face.
In the past, He Chengze rarely chatted with him except about military affairs. Why did he take the initiative to talk to him today?
In fact, He Chengze had no objection to Captain Kong. The fact that Captain Kong was transferred from other military regions to replace Captain Zeng's position was enough to show that his personal ability was up to standard, even outstanding.
He Chengze mainly had a grievance against Xue Jun, and as a result, he also began to dislike Captain Kong.
Xue Jun even went to listen to Jiang Xueyi's popular science lectures on menstruation knowledge.
With a daughter-in-law who loves to compare herself with others in everything, there are actually many people in the army who have opinions about Captain Kong, but he just doesn't know it.
Commander Kong entered the office, bewildered, and asked Political Commissar Zhang, "Political Commissar, did something good happen to Deputy Brigade Commander He's family? Or is he getting a promotion? Why is he smiling so happily?"
Confidentiality must be maintained when catching a spy, so apart from He Chengze and Political Commissar Zhang himself, there are a few soldiers in charge of the operation who know about it, and everyone else knows about it. It is not surprising that Captain Kong does not know about it.
Political Commissar Zhang looked up at him and said, "Oh, he's smiling so happily. It's not that he's getting a promotion. This guy was promoted to deputy brigade commander less than two years ago. How could he get promoted again? It's not like he's riding a rocket."
But when you think about it, He Chengze's speed of advancement in the military is really no different from riding a rocket.
Political Commissar Zhang amended his tone, "All in all...it can be considered a good thing that happened to his family."
Captain Kong's eyes widened: "What? His wife is pregnant again?"
This was the only good thing he could think of.
Thinking of this, Captain Kong began to feel sour in his mouth.
He Chengze and Jiang Xueyi have only been married for a few years, and they already have two children in three years.
He and Xue Jun have been married for eight years, but they haven't laid an egg.
He sees the little bun every day. Not only is he cute, but he is also smart and well-behaved. He is extremely envious of him.
Now tell him that they are planning to have another child...
The word "frustrated" could not describe the feeling in Captain Kong's heart.
Seeing that Captain Kong's face turned pale and blue, I didn't know what he was thinking.
Political Commissar Zhang quickly said, "What are you thinking? Old He's wife isn't pregnant."
"Oh, I'm not pregnant." Captain Kong breathed a sigh of relief and patted his chest. "Political Commissar, could you please stop breathing so hard when you talk? It scared me to death."
"She's not pregnant, but the wife discovered a spy while buying groceries," Political Commissar Zhang said. "I verbally agreed to reward Old He's wife with the refrigerator she wanted. I'll find someone to get the overseas remittance coupons, and the money for the refrigerator... since we caught the spy, there should be a bonus from the higher-ups. I can use the bonus to buy her the refrigerator. Isn't that a good thing?"
Captain Kong recalled that when he came to the military camp, he happened to see someone escorting a woman wearing a hood onto a bus. He thought she was the so-called spy. His eyes widened: "Buying groceries? A spy?"
I can't associate these two words together.
Political Commissar Zhang: "Yes."
He briefly described Jiang Xueyi's discovery of the spy to Captain Kong, and said with a hint of pride, "Don't you think Old He's wife is capable? There are so many military wives shopping in our military compound dormitory, and she was the only one who discovered it. Wow, she's incredible."
Captain Kong's heart was filled with bitterness. Buying groceries, spies... Buying groceries, spies...
What would happen if Xue Jun knew about this?
Political Commissar Zhang pushed him aside: "Hey, are you going to have a meeting yet? Get out of the way."
At 6:30 in the afternoon, He Chengze finished his meeting and rushed home without stopping.
When I got home, it was already seven o'clock.
Jiang Xueyi had just finished bathing the little boy when he opened the door and came in, looking exhausted. "Oh my God, you're finally back."
She breathed a sigh of relief: "If you hadn't come back, I would have gone to the military camp to look for you, but I didn't even know to ask someone to deliver a message."
He Chengze chuckled and hugged her tightly: "I was busy catching spies and forgot for a moment."
Jiang Xueyi rolled her eyes, then her eyes lit up and she asked, "Did the spy get caught?"
He Chengze nodded heavily: "Yes, they caught us. Based on your information, Political Commissar Zhang and I caught the female spy and her accomplices."
Jiang Xueyi's eyes lit up, and she asked with great interest, "Tell me quickly, how did you catch her? Also, where was that female spy sent from?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she said, "Oh, this is confidential and can't be told. Forget it, just pretend I didn't ask."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
