Chapter 135: Ah Hai’s Work

“Ah Hai is an editor. He has a relatively close relationship with Fang Muheng. When Fang Muheng failed to come to work this morning, it was Ah Hai who helped request leave for him.”

“Continue...”

“It seemed Fang Muheng told Ah Hai something. Ah Hai’s expression changed immediately.”

The young man said.

“Stop for a moment.”

Wang Kangnian interrupted his subordinate’s report.

“You mean that after Fang Muheng arrived at the editorial office, he went directly to speak with Ah Hai?”

“After arriving on the fourth floor, Fang Muheng first exchanged a few words with Xiao Meng at the front desk. After signing in, he went straight to find Ah Hai.”

“Xiao Meng?”

The young man thought for a moment and then recounted the conversation between Fang Muheng and Xiao Meng.

Wang Kangnian nodded.

Judging from the conversation, there appeared to be nothing suspicious on the surface.

However, it was impossible to completely rule out the possibility that information had been passed through ordinary conversation.

This Xiao Meng would have to be investigated carefully as well.

“What did Fang Muheng and Ah Hai talk about?”

Wang Kangnian asked.

“I couldn’t hear clearly.”

The young man shook his head.

“Ah Hai’s desk is tucked away in the farthest corner, with walls on two sides. If I had moved closer to eavesdrop, I would have been noticed.”

A trace of delight flashed through Wang Kangnian’s eyes.

His intuition told him there was a problem.

“I saw Fang Muheng say something. He seemed quite happy while speaking, but Ah Hai’s expression became extremely serious. Afterward, Fang Muheng and Ah Hai went to the storeroom and remained there for about a quarter of an hour before coming out.”

“How did Fang Muheng look when he came out of the storeroom?”

“Not very happy.”

Wang Kangnian was overjoyed.

I’ve finally caught you!

In his mind, he could already imagine the conversation between Fang Muheng and Ah Hai:

Fang Muheng enthusiastically mentioned what had happened the previous night.

Ah Hai was extremely dissatisfied with Fang Muheng’s casual disclosure of confidential information.

Inside the storeroom, Ah Hai had likely given Fang Muheng a rather severe criticism and lecture.

That was why Fang Muheng looked unhappy when he came out.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Wang Kangnian felt that his painstaking efforts had finally borne fruit.

The bait named Fang Muheng had finally hooked a fish.

As for whether this fish was a small fry or a large black carp, that would depend on luck.

Wang Kangnian lightly tapped the tabletop with his fingers.

He put himself in the other party’s position.

If he were Ah Hai, a Communist, what would he do next?

Whether it was Fang Muheng’s unauthorized disclosure of information, or Fang Muheng’s report regarding He Guan and Liu Bo luring and killing the Japanese man Miyamoto Saburo, both matters were relatively urgent.

There were two possibilities.

First, Ah Hai himself held a relatively high rank among the Communists and possessed the authority and ability to handle the matter personally.

Second, Ah Hai was merely an ordinary Communist and lacked the authority to deal with it.

In that case, he would have to report immediately to his superior.

Wang Kangnian shook his head.

For the moment, he ruled out the first possibility.

The Communists would not likely assign a high-ranking member to make contact with Fang Muheng.

That would be too dangerous.

Then it had to be the second possibility.

Ah Hai would report to his superior.

“Pass down my orders. Summon all the brothers in this group immediately.”

A trace of joy mixed with the seriousness in Wang Kangnian’s voice.

“Once Ah Hai leaves, follow him the entire way. Be extremely careful not to let him notice.”

Wang Kangnian’s heart burned with excitement.

Through Ah Hai, they could identify Ah Hai’s superior.

Through Ah Hai’s superior, they could continue tracing upward.

Do not underestimate Ah Hai just because he might be an ordinary Communist.

Through him, they might even reach the very core of the Communist organization in Shanghai.

“Why hasn’t Ah Hai gotten off work yet?”

Wang Kangnian asked.

The young man explained how Ah Hai had been assigned overtime work by the chief editor.

“The moment quitting time arrived, Ah Hai was preparing to leave, but the chief editor assigned him additional work.”

The young man said.

Bloody capitalist.

Wang Kangnian cursed inwardly.

He was now completely convinced that Ah Hai intended to meet his superior immediately.

Communist underground members generally performed very well in the jobs they used as cover and rarely showed any lack of diligence.

Moreover, Communist funding was perpetually scarce.

Many members voluntarily worked overtime to earn a little more salary.

Not only did they need to support their families, some even voluntarily contributed part of their earnings to the organization for public use.

Ah Hai had finished his work unusually early today and wanted to leave immediately after work.

In Wang Kangnian’s eyes, this was abnormal behavior.

“Does this Ah Hai normally leave as soon as work ends?”

Wang Kangnian asked.

“No. Ah Hai often works overtime. The newspaper office has a rule that anyone working past 8:15 p.m. receives a bowl of egg-drop soup and a steamed bun.”

Wang Kangnian nodded.

A smug smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

No matter how deeply a person hid himself, once he was placed under surveillance, sooner or later he would reveal a flaw.

Just like this time.

Ah Hai merely wanted to leave work promptly.

One careless action was enough to reveal a great deal.

“He’s coming out!”

The young man pointed toward the main entrance of the Shen Bao Building.

A young man emerged through the main entrance.

Under the glow of the streetlamp, he could be seen wearing a long gown and glasses, looking somewhat exhausted.

Wang Kangnian took out his pocket watch and checked the time.

It was now 8:05 p.m.

There were still ten minutes left before the newspaper office distributed its overtime meal.

If Ah Hai had merely dawdled for ten more minutes, he could have saved himself the cost of a dinner.

Yet he had not done so.

That alone was enough to prove that he was in a hurry to get off work because he had an extremely urgent matter to deal with.

Ah Hai was going to meet his superior!

“Follow him!”

Wang Kangnian said coldly.

“Old Kang, take a look at this report.”

Grief and sorrow flickered in Wang Jun’s eyes as he handed a stack of documents to Kang Erniu.

It was an investigative report on child labor conditions in Shanghai’s major factories.

Comrade Ah Hai of Shen Bao had taken advantage of the convenience provided by his professional identity and spent half a year compiling it.

The use of child labor was extremely common in nearly every factory.

Many child laborers were only five or six years old.

These tiny children of five or six began work at three or four in the morning every day and could not leave until eight or nine at night.

Aside from a thirty-minute lunch break at midday, they had to work continuously without stopping.

They had no rest days whatsoever.

Ah Hai’s report described the tragic experiences of child laborers in silk-reeling factories.

Their work involved throwing silkworm cocoons into basins of boiling water, stirring them, removing them, and brushing away impurities.

Their workday lasted as long as twelve hours.

The scalding water frequently burned these five- and six-year-old children.

“It is common to see fingers swollen and thickened from constant contact with boiling water in the basins.”

In addition, textile mills employed child laborers in even greater numbers.

Many child workers suffered injuries.

Among them, 29 percent became permanently disabled due to workplace injuries, while 3 percent died from their injuries.

The child laborers working in textile factories were physically weak and haggard in appearance.

Most showed symptoms associated with tuberculosis.

At the British-owned Jardine Silk Mill, incidents of female child workers being brutally beaten by foremen were common.

Some suffered head injuries from blows with copper ladles, while others had their ears torn.

In the previous month alone, there had been as many as fifteen to twenty such incidents.

Some child laborers became so frightened that they dared not report to work.

At a shoe and hosiery factory in Shanghai, an eleven-year-old child laborer had already worked continuously for more than ten hours.

Unable to resist drowsiness, the child nodded off.

A supervisor immediately stabbed the child in the face with a pair of scissors, causing blood to flow profusely.

Even so, the eleven-year-old child still had to kneel and beg for forgiveness before continuing to work.

“These beasts are worse than animals!”

Kang Erniu cried out in grief.

He knew that Wang Jun had arranged for comrades to investigate child labor conditions.

They wanted to launch a campaign calling attention to these pitiful children and improve the living conditions of child laborers.

However, he truly had not expected these children to be living lives even more miserable than he had imagined.

They were living lives worse than those of livestock.