Chapter 39: The Hangzhou Training Class
Chapter 39: The Hangzhou Training Class
“Yes, to Hangzhou.”
Song Fuguo nodded.
“To attend a training class.”
“Brother Cheng, do you know that this training class started long ago?”
Boss Tao said quietly.
“It was the Team Leader who specifically petitioned his superiors to allow you to join midway through.”
Hearing a trace of envy in Boss Tao’s voice, Cheng Qianfan’s heart stirred.
“Thank you for your cultivation, Team Leader.”
He glanced at Song Fuguo, his eyes full of gratitude.
“Qianfan, I think highly of you.”
Song Fuguo nodded with a smile.
“The nature of the Special Service Office’s work is different from that of a constable, and the danger cannot be compared. Improving yourself is both a responsibility to your own safety and to the Organization. I hope you can seize this opportunity.”
“I understand.”
Cheng Qianfan nodded seriously.
“If a worker wishes to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools.”
“It’s good that you understand.”
Song Fuguo nodded in satisfaction.
“However, as a constable, going to Hangzhou for training may be difficult...”
Cheng Qianfan frowned slightly.
“Don’t worry about that. We have our own arrangements.”
Song Fuguo said.
“Someone will cooperate with you and create a legitimate reason for you to go to Hangzhou.”
“I understand.”
Cheng Qianfan nodded.
“Officer Cheng, I’m entrusting this matter to you.”
Song Fuguo suddenly raised his voice and cupped his fists.
Cheng Qianfan immediately understood.
Pretending to ponder, he tapped the table with a finger, his gaze flickering.
“Boss Song, I can only say that I’ll do my best. Whether it succeeds or not, I can’t guarantee...”
Song Fuguo glanced at Boss Tao.
Understanding at once, the latter pulled several banknotes from his wallet.
After gritting his teeth, he took out all the legal tender in the wallet and gently placed it on the table.
With practiced speed, Cheng Qianfan brushed his hand over the money and casually slipped it into his waist pocket.
His face broke into a broad smile.
“Boss Song, rest assured. Leave this matter to me.”
“Xiao Tao, go settle the bill.”
Song Fuguo instructed.
After Boss Tao left the private room and went downstairs to pay the bill, Song Fuguo pulled out a slip of paper about four fingers wide.
It was densely covered with writing.
“Qianfan, this contains the plan for your trip to Hangzhou, along with future contact methods and code phrases.”
Song Fuguo said sternly.
“From today onward, you answer directly to me. Aside from me, do not trust anyone who comes to contact you.”
After reading it carefully, Cheng Qianfan took out his cigarette case, removed a cigarette, and used saliva to wrap the paper around it.
He lit it and took a gentle puff.
“You’ve memorized it all already?”
Song Fuguo asked in surprise.
“I have.”
Cheng Qianfan nodded.
“I have a good memory.”
The sounds of Boss Tao chatting and laughing with the restaurant owner drifted up from downstairs.
“Brother Tao?”
A thought struck Cheng Qianfan and he asked.
“Xiao Tao won’t have any further contact with you either. He has another assignment.”
“Can Brother Tao not be trusted either?”
After hesitating repeatedly, Cheng Qianfan finally asked.
“I trust Xiao Tao, and I am willing to trust every comrade.”
Song Fuguo shook his head gently.
“But I do not trust torture instruments.”
A look of surprise appeared on Cheng Qianfan’s face.
Under Song Fuguo’s gaze, he silently nodded and asked no more questions.
Boss Tao returned after settling the bill.
“Uncle.”
“Let’s go.”
Boss Song picked up his hat.
“Officer Cheng, everything depends on you.”
“Boss Song, put your mind at ease. I’ll have this matter handled for you before long.”
“Many thanks.”
Boss Tao followed Song Fuguo toward the exit.
At the doorway, however, he stopped and cupped his fists toward Cheng Qianfan.
“Brother Cheng, my daughter really liked the gift from last time. Thank you.”
“As long as she likes it.”
Cheng Qianfan smiled.
“If my niece likes it, I’ll buy another one next time.”
“Brother Cheng, take care.”
Boss Tao smiled faintly.
He said nothing more, cupped his fists, and turned to leave.
Watching Boss Tao stride away behind Song Fuguo, carrying an oil-paper-wrapped package in one hand, Cheng Qianfan suddenly had an inexplicable intuition.
Perhaps after this parting, it would be difficult for him and Boss Tao to ever meet again.
Cheng Qianfan first went to a pastry shop on the street and bought two boxes of pastries.
Then he went to a paper-offerings shop and bought paper ingots.
When he returned home and saw willow branches already inserted beneath the eaves, he smiled knowingly.
Song Fuguo’s arrangement for him to attend training in Hangzhou prompted careful consideration.
Cheng Qianfan had always acted cautiously and saw no possibility that his cover had been exposed to the Special Service Office.
The trip to Hangzhou was likely genuinely for training and not a trap.
Still, the matter had come too suddenly and disrupted his plans.
Although Zhu Yuan’s identity had not yet been completely determined, all signs indicated that the man had serious problems.
The matter remained a hidden danger.
According to Old Mo’s account, the Hundred Herbs Medicine Shop on Avenue Joffre and Huichang Teahouse near the City God Temple were both Japanese intelligence cover locations.
Because he had lost contact with the Organization, he had been unable to report this intelligence in time.
Furthermore, he had successfully infiltrated the Special Service Office and was about to travel to Hangzhou for training.
This situation should also be reported and recorded with the Organization.
Cheng Qianfan rubbed his temples.
He felt exceptionally weary and lonely.
Now he was a lone soldier fighting within the enemy’s nest.
It was not merely the hostile environment that made him feel as though he were walking on thin ice.
More importantly, the sense of loneliness tormented him every moment of every day.
Comrade Zhulin had once said that the hardest part of underground work was remaining in endless darkness while continuing to dream of light.
Cheng Qianfan now understood those words more deeply than ever.
Rue Vallon, the duty room of the Central Police Station.
The constables were still discussing the Yande Lane shooting.
Everyone was marveling at how lucky Xiao Cheng had been to survive such an ambush.
“Xiao Cheng is really blessed by fate.”
“Yeah, I saw the scene myself. Shell casings were all over the ground.”
“Do you think the Soviet Russians have gone crazy?”
Old Huang suddenly rushed in, looking panic-stricken.
“Old Huang, drunk again?”
Liu Bo asked with a laugh.
“Old Mo, Old Mo...”
Old Huang bent over, panting heavily.
“Old Huang, didn’t I tell you to go check on Old Mo?”
Ma Yishou frowned.
“You still haven’t gone?”
“Old Mo...”
Old Huang’s face turned red.
Finally catching his breath, he shouted in alarm,
“Old Mo is dead!”
Everyone froze.
“What?”
Liu Bo cried out directly in shock.
“Old Huang, have you drunk yourself senseless before noon?”
Ma Yishou frowned and slapped the table.
“Chief Ma.”
Old Huang waved his hands repeatedly.
“I’m not talking nonsense. Old Mo is really dead. I went to his house. The door was locked from the inside. I shouted, ‘Old Mo! Old Mo!’ but nobody answered.”
“No answer doesn’t mean he’s dead.”
Big-Head Lu said.
“Let me finish.”
Old Huang became anxious.
“I pressed myself against the crack in the door and looked inside. I saw someone hanging from a beam. It looked like Old Mo.”
Everyone was shocked.
At last they realized Old Huang was not speaking drunken nonsense.
There was an eighty or ninety percent chance that something had truly happened to Old Mo.
But Old Mo hanging himself?
Everyone shook their heads.
That bastard committing suicide?
Impossible.
A scourge lives a thousand years.
In times like these, a fellow as rotten as Old Mo was exactly the sort who lived most comfortably.
Would he willingly hang himself?
No one believed it.
Cheng Qianfan went out once more.
He hired a rickshaw, took a roundabout route, and arrived at a pastry shop.
The shop’s qingtuan were a time-honored specialty renowned far and wide.
Many devoted gourmands were willing to make their feet suffer and travel a great distance every year around Qingming just to buy a portion and satisfy a craving that had built up over an entire year.
Carrying a food box, Cheng Qianfan strolled leisurely down the street.
Suddenly, a flash of surprise appeared in his eyes.