Chapter 197: Elder Sister and Younger Brother

The appointed contact time had arrived.

Cheng Min was in a state of extreme vigilance.

She glanced out the window once more.

The window was open.

Behind the curtain, a rope was tied and extended directly down to the first floor.

Inside her handbag was a compact revolver.

These were the preparations Cheng Min had made for this meeting.

This room was a corner room, relatively concealed and unlikely to attract attention.

No one could guarantee that this comrade who had lost contact with the organization was still trustworthy.

However, these preparations were not enough to ensure her safe escape if something was wrong with the contact.

If the enemy had set a trap, the place would very likely be surrounded completely.

For underground workers, every contact meeting carried the possibility of never returning.

Just then, a one-three-one-two knocking pattern sounded on the door.

Cheng Min slipped her right hand into her handbag and gripped the revolver.

The safety was already off.

“Who is it?” Cheng Min asked softly.

“Miss Kang, it’s me. Aunt Luo introduced me.”

A young man’s deliberately lowered, hoarse voice came from outside.

“Which Aunt Luo?”

“Aunt Luo from Nanshi, the one whose house has the crooked-neck locust tree at the entrance. I’m her distant nephew.”

The first code phrase was correct.

Cheng Min gently opened the door.

Her finger rested on the revolver’s trigger.

She watched the person outside with vigilance.

Then she saw that handsome young man.

She froze completely.

Cheng Qianfan was equally vigilant.

Although the possibility of the enemy impersonating the Central authorities to contact him was extremely small, he had to be cautious.

The door slowly opened.

The first thing he saw was a blue qipao.

A graceful figure, enough to tell that she was a beautiful woman.

The door opened completely.

He saw the contact person’s face clearly.

His eyes widened.

He froze.

Subconsciously stepping forward into the room and closing the door with his foot, his gaze never left the woman before him throughout the entire process.

“Are you Miss Kang Lihua?” Cheng Qianfan asked softly, struggling to control his emotions, his voice trembling.

“I am,” Cheng Min replied, biting her lip lightly. “Are you Mr. Huo Miao?”

“I am!”

The two stared directly at each other, as though afraid the other would disappear if they blinked.

Cheng Qianfan examined her.

A blue qipao, with an orchid embroidered on the collar.

Her beautiful hair was pinned up, adorned with a butterfly hairpin.

Cheng Min looked at him.

She watched as he removed the rose and handed it over, revealing the peony flower embroidered on his cuff.

White trousers highlighted his tall figure.

The hidden stitching on the white trousers was black.

A badge bearing the portrait of Dr. Sun was pinned to his collar.

Every detail was exactly correct.

Her breathing quickened.

Tears glimmered in her eyes.

Cheng Qianfan’s eyes were red as well.

He smiled.

“Do you have a cigarette?”

Cheng Min smiled too, tears mingling with her smile.

She took a pack of Gold Flake cigarettes from her handbag and removed three cigarettes.

Then she pushed two back and handed him one.

Cheng Qianfan accepted the cigarette.

Every code signal matched.

Cheng Min simply looked at him.

This was the younger brother she had thought about day and night, the younger brother she had always worried about.

Click.

Click!

Click!

Three consecutive attempts.

Only then did Cheng Qianfan’s trembling hand finally manage to ignite the lighter.

The cigarette was lit.

He took a long drag, consuming nearly a third of it in one breath.

He exhaled.

Then choked on the smoke.

He coughed violently.

As he coughed, tears came out.

With the cigarette clenched between his teeth, his head tilted slightly to one side, looking every bit like a troublesome younger brother.

Looking at the woman before him, he smiled and said,

“Big Sister.”

Cheng Min rushed forward and hugged him tightly.

“Younger Brother.”

After returning to Shanghai, she had inquired about her brother’s situation.

She learned that he had become a police detective and had even personally arrested Communists.

How heartbroken she had been.

How miserable.

She felt that she had failed her parents’ last wishes and had not taken care of her younger brother.

The thought that they might someday become mortal enemies had made her heart bleed.

This was the younger brother she cherished and loved most.

Now everything was clear.

Everything had been set aside.

Her brother had never changed.

He was still her kind, brave, upright, and handsome younger brother.

Her brother was the comrade hidden within the enemy’s ranks, the one Comrade Nongfu had assigned her to bring back into the organization!

“Big Sister.” Cheng Qianfan sniffled. “Where did you go? I was so worried about you.”

“I know, I know.” Cheng Min patted Cheng Qianfan’s back as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Your sister missed you terribly too.”

The warmth of a reunion between long-separated siblings was itself a luxury.

Both were experienced underground workers.

Very quickly, they regained control of their emotions.

Cheng Min took out a handkerchief and wiped away her brother’s tears.

“Allow me to introduce myself. Cheng Min. By order of Comrade Nongfu, I have come to bring back a Central Special Branch operative. Please report your codename.”

“Central Special Branch, codename Flame, requesting permission to return to duty.”

“Comrade Flame, on behalf of the organization, I hereby announce that you are permitted to return.”

The siblings clasped each other’s hands tightly.

When Cheng Qianfan heard that Sister Shaoyao was using the alias Cheng Min, he was not surprised.

Cheng Min was Sister Shaoyao’s real name.

Only very few people knew it.

Sister Shaoyao was Cheng Qianfan’s biological elder sister, born to the same father and mother.

When she was born, their father Cheng Wenzao and mother Su Zhifu were engaged in secret work.

The circumstances were complex and dangerous, so they entrusted her to their friend Fang Guohua’s family.

Thus, Sister Shaoyao became the Fang family’s eldest daughter, Fang Shaoyao.

Cheng Qianfan had never known this.

Their parents had never managed to tell him before their deaths.

It was his grandfather Cheng Guzhi who had grasped his hand before passing away and told him.

He had instructed Cheng Qianfan to find his sister at all costs.

She was Cheng Qianfan’s only remaining relative in this world.

“Big Sister.” Cheng Qianfan looked at Cheng Min and called out affectionately. “Did you go visit Father and Mother?”

“Yes, I did.” Cheng Min nodded and asked softly, “You know now?”

“Yes. Grandfather told me before he died.” Cheng Qianfan nodded as tears welled up once again. “Big Sister, you’re my real sister. I still have family. I’m so happy.”

Cheng Min could no longer hold back her tears.

She embraced her brother.

“Yes. You still have family. You still have your sister.”

Deep inside, she felt guilty.

After their parents’ sacrifice, the requirements of her work had prevented her from acknowledging her brother.

Comrade Xiangwu had arranged for the young Cheng Qianfan to be sent to an orphanage.

Back then, how helpless her little brother must have been.

Then came the great Shanghai roundup in 1931.

Blood and terror filled the city.

She and her husband evacuated overnight.

Even before leaving, she had not seen her brother.

When their grandfather died, she and her husband were working in the Soviet-controlled base areas.

She knew nothing about it.

Her brother had borne all of it alone.

Moreover, she had no idea when or where her brother had joined the organization and begun revolutionary work.

As Comrade Flame had become an ace operative of the Special Branch, even earning recognition from Comrade Nongfu himself, she could imagine how dangerous his work must have been.

Thinking of these things, Cheng Min felt both incomparably proud and incomparably heartbroken.

“Comrade Flame, I am now speaking with you on behalf of the organization.”

Cheng Min sat upright and looked at Cheng Qianfan.

“Please provide a detailed and truthful report of your work after losing contact with the organization. Conceal nothing. Avoid nothing. Remain forever loyal to the Red cause.”

“Understood. Flame will truthfully and thoroughly report all work to the organization. Forever loyal to the Red cause, forever loyal to the people.”