Chapter 193: An Old Acquaintance

Ding Naifei directly flicked Xiao Ou on the forehead.

The kid was agile and quick-witted, an excellent hand when carrying out missions.

The problem was that he talked too much.

And liked to keep people guessing.

Most importantly, he seemed to particularly enjoy keeping his superiors guessing.

Did he think that made him look more capable than his superiors?

Ding Naifei himself could tolerate this sort of cleverness.

However, he knew that Team Leader Wang Kangnian absolutely hated it.

“Talk.”

“Chief Ding, I found this in Liu Bo’s notebook.”

After receiving the forehead flick, Xiao Ou dared not play games anymore. He pulled out a dozen folded pages and handed them over to Ding Naifei.

A subordinate immediately moved over with an umbrella to shield them from the rain.

“My Thoughts on How to Properly Guide Patriotic Youth into the Red Cause.”

“Revolutionary work requires enthusiasm, but enthusiasm alone is not enough. Under harsh conditions of struggle, enthusiasm without discipline often creates tremendous security risks...”

Ding Naifei flipped through the pages and was delighted.

Based on their experience, a Communist capable of writing such an article was most likely a high-ranking leader within the Communist organization.

Educated, and skilled at political work.

This Liu Bo had truly hidden himself deeply enough.

On the surface he seemed like a crude police officer, yet he possessed considerable learning.

“Excellent. We’re definitely hauling in this big fish today,” Ding Naifei said happily.

For more than a month, the Party Affairs Investigation Department had kept Liu Bo under close surveillance.

However, the man was extremely cautious and cunning.

The people he interacted with most frequently were Fang Muheng and He Guan from the police station.

As for He Guan, Wang Kangnian’s judgment was that he was not a Communist, nor even someone on the Communist periphery.

In addition, they had recently discovered that Liu Bo was frequently in contact with Yingzuo Eiichi of the Shanghai Special Higher Police Section.

Naturally, Wang Kangnian did not believe Liu Bo intended to defect to the Japanese.

Clearly, this was a new assignment from the Communists, directing Liu Bo to use his position as a police officer to contact Japanese personnel and gather intelligence.

The Party Affairs Investigation Department had little interest in Japanese agents.

However, this further confirmed that Liu Bo was the Communist Party’s ace operative planted inside the police station.

After more than a month of surveillance without any other major discoveries, Wang Kangnian decided it was time to close the net.

Once they captured Liu Bo and pried open his mouth, given his status within the Communist organization, they would certainly be able to pull up a whole string of big fish.

“According to our investigation, Liu Bo usually eats dinner outside after work and returns about an hour later,” Ding Naifei instructed. “Keep your eyes on him at all times.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Who’s on street patrol from the police station today?”

“Big-Head Lu is leading the team. Don’t worry, Chief, we’ve been keeping an eye on it.”

“Bai Pang, go inspect the car.”

Ding Naifei did not dare be careless.

He carefully reviewed the plan, considering whether there might be any overlooked flaws.

Capturing Communist leader Liu Bo was his chance to erase past humiliation.

Absolutely nothing could go wrong.

A black automobile slowly came to a stop.

Cheng Qianfan glanced over and saw Li Hao in the driver’s seat.

Li Hao got out of the vehicle.

Cheng Qianfan removed his coat and exchanged it with him.

Li Hao climbed into the back seat, while Cheng Qianfan took the passenger seat and accepted a hat from Li Hao, which he put on.

This Peugeot automobile had previously belonged to Pete.

Claiming that his own vehicle was no longer serviceable and was on the verge of being scrapped, Pete had applied to the Settlement authorities for a new automobile.

The original “junk car” had then been generously donated by Lieutenant Pete for use as an official vehicle by the Third Squad of the police station.

On behalf of the Third Squad, Cheng Qianfan welcomed the gift with both hands raised.

He had even specially applied to his superiors and secured a monthly fuel allowance of five hundred French francs for the Third Squad.

As decided by Cheng Qianfan, Inspector Ma Yishou, being highly respected, received fifty francs per month.

Cheng Qianfan himself received thirty.

Everyone else received twenty francs each.

This measure won unanimous approval.

Everyone praised Deputy Inspector Cheng for his generosity.

Even Qin Detai, upon hearing about it, laughed and called him a sly fox.

No one was stupid.

Although the vehicle was nominally a gift to the Third Squad, everyone understood perfectly well what the situation really was.

Since they were not qualified to enjoy the use of a car anyway, receiving an extra twenty francs each month for nothing was evidence of Deputy Inspector Cheng’s generosity.

Everyone unanimously agreed that the vehicle should, by popular acclaim, become the official transportation of Inspector Ma Yishou and Deputy Inspector Cheng Qianfan.

However, after using it twice, Old Ma claimed he could not stand the smell of gasoline.

As a result, the car became the personal vehicle of Cheng Qianfan, deputy inspector of the Third Squad at the Central Police Station.

Meanwhile, the monthly gasoline expenses reimbursed by Lieutenant Pete of the Political Department’s Investigation Unit rose noticeably.

At the entrance to an alley on Avenue Joffre, the car slowly came to a stop.

Li Hao in the back seat quietly opened the door, quickly got out, and disappeared into the alley.

Song Fuguo carefully surveyed the surroundings and swiftly climbed into the vehicle.

Then he lowered the window curtain.

“How are your injuries?” Cheng Qianfan asked without turning around as he drove.

“Much better. The fact that I managed to keep my life this time is all thanks to that box of sulfanilamide you provided.”

Song Fuguo’s voice was hoarse.

A month earlier, the Shanghai District of the Special Service Office had failed in its attempt to assassinate the collaborator Zhou Huaigu.

The incident infuriated both the Japanese authorities and the International Settlement authorities, who were hosting the Sino-Japanese Friendship Symposium.

Half a month ago, an office employee from the Shanghai District Intelligence Group got into a dispute over a woman at the Great World entertainment complex and became involved in a fight.

He was arrested by police.

During the search, officers unexpectedly found an important Special Service Office document on him.

His identity was exposed.

He quickly defected and revealed the International Settlement residence of Song Fuguo, chief of the Shanghai Intelligence Section.

Soon afterward, large numbers of police surrounded the Shanghai Intelligence Section of the Special Service Office.

Protected desperately by his subordinates, Song Fuguo successfully broke out of the encirclement, though many Special Service Office agents were captured.

Shot during the escape, Song Fuguo had been sent to the Longhua Garrison Headquarters in Shanghai to recover.

Unfortunately, his gunshot wound became infected.

Only because Cheng Qianfan secretly arranged for a box of sulfanilamide to be delivered did he escape death and recover.

Although the Nationalist government had negotiated on his behalf and the International Settlement authorities had not issued a public wanted notice for Song Fuguo, privately both the International Settlement and the French Concession had already placed him on their watch lists.

If he appeared publicly, he would be arrested.

More importantly, the Shanghai Special Higher Police Section was furious over the assassination attempt on Zhou Huaigu.

Yingzuo Teiaki had personally issued an order that Song Fuguo must be killed.

“Regarding the safe house of Yingzuo Eiichi that you provided earlier, we monitored it for more than ten days and finally found something,” Song Fuguo said, shaking his head with a bitter smile.

The Shanghai Intelligence Section had expended tremendous effort merely to confirm that Yingzuo Eiichi was a senior operative of the Shanghai Special Higher Police Section.

Beyond that, they had gained nothing.

Yet Cheng Qianfan’s side had somehow discovered a hidden stronghold of Yingzuo Eiichi on Route Père Robert.

After receiving the intelligence, Song Fuguo arranged surveillance and finally obtained results.

He handed a photograph to Cheng Qianfan.

With a cigarette hanging from his lips, Cheng Qianfan lit it with his lighter and carefully examined the photograph.

The picture showed a fair-skinned, somewhat plump man in his thirties wearing a National Revolutionary Army uniform.

“Who is this?” Cheng Qianfan asked.

“Xiao Zhenzhong, director of the Quartermaster Department of the National Revolutionary Army Security Regiment stationed in Shanghai.”

Song Fuguo gritted his teeth.

“It has now been confirmed that he was the person who met with Yingzuo Eiichi several months ago at the Shuanglong Lane Residence on Route Père Robert.”

Cheng Qianfan was also quite surprised.

This man was actually an old acquaintance.

He now understood that Yingzuo Eiichi had previously arranged for White Russians to impersonate Soviets and attempt to assassinate him because he had encountered Yingzuo Eiichi at the Shuanglong Lane Residence.

Yingzuo suspected that Cheng Qianfan had recognized him.

At that time, Yingzuo had still been operating under a covert identity and had immediately decided to eliminate him.

As for Xiao Zhenzhong, Cheng Qianfan remembered him as well.

Once, Jin Kemu had treated his subordinates to a banquet, and his colleagues had enthusiastically discussed an incident involving the man:

The third concubine of this quartermaster officer stationed in Shanghai and a White Russian had been caught in bed together at a private residence on Avenue Massenet when the cuckolded officer burst in.

“How does headquarters want me to cooperate with you?” Cheng Qianfan asked.

A trace of confusion flashed through his eyes.

A rickshaw had just stopped by the roadside.

A woman in a qipao stepped out holding an umbrella.

Something about her back seemed strangely familiar. A qipao.

“This time it isn’t you cooperating with us. It’s us cooperating with you.”

Song Fuguo’s expression was not particularly pleasant as he spoke.

Liu Bo walked with light steps.

After more than a month of tireless instruction and patient guidance, Fang Muheng had made tremendous progress and increasingly resembled a true revolutionary.

The sight gave Liu Bo a feeling akin to an old man taking comfort in a younger generation’s achievements.