Chapter 160: Shen Dacheng Pastry Shop

Cheng Qianfan already had a preliminary plan in mind for how to lure Fang Muheng into the trap without anyone noticing, though the details still required further refinement.

Fang Muheng had always been under surveillance by agents of the Party Affairs Investigation Department. If Fang Muheng was to be “used” to help Yang Ximei, then extreme caution would be required.

Before getting off work, Cheng Qianfan first went to the Identification Section and collected the identity documents he had arranged for Haozai.

To avoid suspicion, Cheng Qianfan had “returned to his old trade” and helped more than a dozen people from outside Shanghai obtain identity documents. In this way, Haozai’s identity papers hidden among them would not attract attention.

In the worst-case scenario, even if Haozai were exposed in the future, Cheng Qianfan would not come under suspicion or be implicated because of those identity documents.

Taking money and helping people get things done was perfectly reasonable.

The torrential rain continued without the slightest sign of stopping.

Cheng Qianfan changed into civilian clothes, put on a raincoat, borrowed a bicycle from a Chinese constable on night duty, and plunged into the pouring rain.

The location he had arranged to meet Song Fuguo was not Prosperity Restaurant.

Prosperity Restaurant was a stronghold of the French Concession Intelligence Unit of the Special Service Office. It was no longer appropriate for Cheng Qianfan to appear there.

Lightning.

Thunder.

Torrential rain.

None of it could stop the people who had to go out and toil for a living.

Work for one day, eat for one day.

Miss one day of work, go hungry.

A rickshaw puller running through the rain slipped and fell. His passenger was thrown from the rickshaw as well.

Furious, the passenger repeatedly kicked the puller with his pointed leather shoes. The bruised and battered puller knelt on the ground with his head covered, begging for mercy.

Several Annamese policemen sheltered from the rain beneath the eaves, pointing and laughing loudly.

Cheng Qianfan rode closer, dismounted, launched a sudden attack, and sent the man who was beating the puller crashing to the ground with a vicious kick. Then he swiftly mounted his bicycle again and disappeared into the rain.

He recognized the assailant as an employee of Aoki Tailoring on Sandalwood Road. The shop owner was Japanese, and although this employee was Chinese, after eating Japanese rice, his heart had become Japanese as well.

Baliqiao Road, Shen Dacheng Pastry Shop.

The clerks behind the counter chatted idly, occasionally glancing at the downpour outside and praying for clear weather so more customers would come.

Ding-a-ling.

The curtain moved.

The wind chime rang.

The two female clerks looked up and saw a man in a raincoat entering, leaving a trail of water behind him.

One plump clerk frowned and was about to say something.

“Hello, I’d like one and a half kilograms (~3.3 lb) of tiaotou cake,” the man said with a smile as he raised his head.

Sharp brows and bright eyes, dignified bearing, handsome and elegant...

Words from the novels of Huanzhu Louzhu surfaced in the minds of the two moderately educated female clerks.

The plump clerk’s face bloomed into a flower-like smile.

“Certainly, sir. Please wait a moment.”

“Please wrap it in several extra layers of oil paper,” Cheng Qianfan said.

It was for Boss Xiao Tao’s daughter.

After receiving Song Fuguo’s phone call, Cheng Qianfan had kept this matter on his mind, and it reminded him of Xiao Tao’s daughter.

The last time he parted from Xiao Tao, Cheng Qianfan had noticed the oil-paper package in Xiao Tao’s hand. He had recognized the scent of tiaotou cake from Shen Dacheng Pastry Shop.

As Xiao Tao strode away, the package of tiaotou cake swung back and forth in his hand. It was a father’s indulgence and love for his daughter.

The pastries at Shen Dacheng were expensive. Cheng Qianfan could guess that the little girl had pestered Xiao Tao for a long time before he finally brought himself to buy them for her.

Boss Xiao Tao’s daughter would never again have the chance to pester her father to buy her tiaotou cake.

“Sir, it’s wrapped and ready for you.” The plump clerk handed the pastries to Cheng Qianfan. Seeing the handsome young man pull out a thick stack of banknotes, the smile on her face grew even brighter. “Sir, would you like some mung bean cakes as well?”

Cheng Qianfan was slightly taken aback.

He had not eaten Shen Dacheng’s mung bean cakes in years.

Elder Sister Shaoyao loved mung bean cakes.

Every time she bought them, she bought three portions.

One for herself, one for Cheng Qianfan, and one for Xiaoye.

Later she bought four portions.

The extra one was for her husband.

At first, Cheng Qianfan had been resistant to his brother-in-law. Not because someone had stolen the woman he loved, but because the sister who doted on him had gotten married, and he could not bear it.

Elder Sister Shaoyao was five years older than him.

His brother-in-law was six years older.

In 1931, Shanghai was swept by bloody storms. The Communist organization in Shanghai suffered an almost devastating blow, and countless people vanished virtually overnight.

From that point on, there was never any news of them again.

Neither alive nor dead.

Elder Sister Shaoyao and her husband were among those people.

The disappearance without a trace of Elder Sister Shaoyao, who had loved him dearly, and of his brother-in-law, whom he had not known for long but had gradually come to admire and from whom he had felt the affection of an elder brother, was something Cheng Qianfan had never been able to let go of over the years.

“No, thank you. I don’t like mung bean cakes.” Cheng Qianfan smiled and shook his head.

As he stepped out of the shop, another thunderclap exploded across the sky.

Cheng Qianfan frowned slightly.

Ruolan was terrified of thunder.

She must be very frightened right now.

No. 31 Avenue Albert.

This was Song Fuguo’s temporary residence, or rather, the residence Song Fuguo was willing to let Cheng Qianfan know about. The two had arranged through coded signals to meet here.

Cheng Qianfan knocked on the door while still seated on his bicycle. The sound of knocking was unremarkable amid the roar of the rain, but the door opened almost immediately. Clearly, Song Fuguo had been waiting.

Cheng Qianfan lifted the bicycle over the threshold and entered.

Song Fuguo cautiously scanned the surroundings and quickly shut the door.

After more than a month apart, Song Fuguo seemed noticeably more weary and aged.

“Qianfan, look over these documents first. Then I’ll relay the orders from Nanjing headquarters,” Song Fuguo said, tossing a stack of papers directly to him.

“Zhou Huaigu.” Cheng Qianfan had only opened the first page when he was greatly startled. “It’s actually him.”

After finishing the first page, Cheng Qianfan turned to the next while cautiously asking Song Fuguo, “Section Chief, I’ve heard this man has become very close to the Japanese recently. Is that true?”

“That’s right,” Song Fuguo said gravely. “Director Dai wants us to eliminate him.”

Then Song Fuguo lowered his voice.

“The Chairman also thinks this fellow has crossed the line. The Old Man has issued a kill order.”

“What outrageous thing has this old fellow done now?” Cheng Qianfan asked.

Zhou Huaigu had once served under the Zhili clique warlord Sun Chuanfang. Later he had become a commander in the Anguojun Army. After the September 18 Incident, he repeatedly spoke on behalf of the Japanese, claiming they were not invaders and that people should not panic.

“Recently Zhou Huaigu has been very active. He’s attacking the National Government and claiming it should recognize Manchukuo,” Song Fuguo said.

“That traitorous scum has forgotten his roots!” Cheng Qianfan cursed.

“That’s nothing. The old bastard has also been advocating that the National Revolutionary Army withdraw from Beiping and Tianjin and allow Japanese troops to station there. He claims doing so would ease tensions between China and Japan.”

Cheng Qianfan was stunned.

Despite having heard of many shameful acts committed by collaborators, hearing this still struck him as unbelievable.

Only someone utterly shameless could openly make such traitorous statements.

“Zhou Huaigu is coming to Shanghai?” Cheng Qianfan asked in astonishment as he turned to the third page, which was a telegram. Instead of staying in the north, where Japanese influence was strongest and most arrogant, this man was coming to Shanghai?

Baliqiao Road, Shen Dacheng Pastry Shop.

The wind chime rang.

A woman carrying a black umbrella entered.

“Hello, I’d like one kilogram (~2.2 lb) of mung bean cakes.”

The woman folded her umbrella as she spoke.

The plump clerk looked at her in surprise and secretly marveled.

What a beautiful woman.

This was truly strange.

On such a stormy day, first there had come an exceptionally handsome young man, and now there was this beautiful and alluring woman, a mature beauty in full bloom.

“Thank you.”

The woman paid, nodded slightly, walked to the doorway, opened her umbrella, and slowly crossed toward the black sedan parked on the opposite side of the street.