Chapter 42: Warning Message

Chapter 42: Warning Message

After dinner, Cheng Qianfan took Li Hao upstairs.

He pushed open the window. The rain, which had stopped for half the day, had begun falling again in a gentle drizzle.

Placing an enamel bowl filled with rice mixed with the leftover broth and scraps from dinner on the windowsill outside, Cheng Qianfan softly called out. Soon, a cat appeared soundlessly, let out two Meow, meows at him, and began enjoying its dinner.

Cheng Qianfan then closed the window.

This was a stray cat he had taken in. If the enamel bowl was not removed, the cat would guard the bowl and spend the night on the windowsill. The cat was very alert.

“Adai did a good job.” Cheng Qianfan said happily.

Hearing Cheng Qianfan praise Adai, Li Hao also smiled happily.

Adai was the young boy whom Li Hao had arranged to work odd jobs at Sanweiheng.

Adai had once been a little beggar. On a rainy winter night, the little beggar developed a fever and collapsed by the roadside. Seeing him, Li Hao was reminded of his former self. He carried the little beggar on his back and knocked on the door of a medical clinic in the middle of the night.

The little beggar’s life had been saved.

Because he looked somewhat slow-witted and foolish, he was called Adai, but in reality he was quite a clever child.

Adai worked diligently, took the initiative to help Limping Luo with tasks, and had a sweet tongue. Before long, he had become familiar with Limping Luo.

According to the information Adai had gathered, Limping Luo remembered very clearly the incident of delivering food to Shuanglong Lane Residence that day.

Limping Luo had a slight limp, so naturally he walked more slowly than ordinary people. As a result, he had delivered the meal late.

There had been two people inside the room. One was a young man who looked like a student, while the other had a fierce appearance.

The student-looking young man wore a worried expression and said nothing.

The fierce-looking man had cursed Limping Luo.

That was why Limping Luo remembered the incident.

The student-looking young man should have been Zhu Yuan.

As for the fierce-looking fellow, according to Cheng Qianfan’s speculation, there was a ninety percent chance he was an agent assigned to guard Zhu Yuan.

If that was the case, Zhu Yuan’s identity was completely obvious.

A shameless traitor!

“Tell Adai not to ask Limping Luo about this matter anymore. He should forget about it.” Cheng Qianfan instructed. “Adai should also withdraw as soon as possible.”

“Don’t worry, Brother Fan. Adai’s sharper than a monkey. He practically squeezed every word out of Limping Luo’s mouth. Adai didn’t even need to ask questions. Limping Luo just blabbed everything himself. There’s no way he’ll become suspicious of Adai.” Li Hao said.

Cheng Qianfan nodded and said nothing further. Li Hao handled matters steadily, and he trusted him.

He had originally intended to tell Li Hao that he would be leaving Shanghai in a couple of days, but after some thought, he decided to wait until just before his departure.

He should not somehow know in advance that he would be assigned to official business in Hangzhou two days later.

Any seemingly insignificant detail could result in disaster. Cheng Qianfan constantly reminded himself of this.

The two men returned downstairs. Li Hao picked up the food container and left. The food inside was intended for Adai.

“When are Sister-in-law and my nephew coming over?” Kang Erniu painfully pulled out a somewhat flattened cigarette pack from his pocket. “Only two left. I was counting on these lasting until tomorrow.”

“Look at how stingy you are.” The middle-aged man pulled out a crumpled cigarette, removed the lamp chimney, lit it from the flame, and took a satisfied drag. “I sent a telegram. They’ll come to Shanghai next month.”

As he spoke, he discreetly nudged the cigarette pack, now containing only one cigarette, behind his backside. “So, what did the higher-ups say at the municipal committee meeting you attended this time?”

“The information we reported last time completely matched the information received by the municipal committee.” Kang Erniu said. “The young comrade arrested at Shuanglong Lane Residence, you’ve read the newspaper. He’s Comrade Zhu Yuan mentioned by your journalist friend at Shen Bao.”

“And what about the other comrade who was carried away on a stretcher?” the middle-aged man asked.

“That wasn’t one of our comrades. He was a policeman, a counterrevolutionary policeman involved in the arrest of our comrade. According to the police station, he was the first to rush in during the arrest and was wounded in the line of duty.” Kang Erniu sighed. “Who would have thought that Comrade Zhu Yuan was such a versatile talent, skilled both with the pen and in combat. No wonder he was a comrade who fought the Japanese invaders on the Northeastern battlefield.”

“Wow.” The middle-aged man was astonished. “A comrade like that is extremely rare. He must be rescued.”

“Exactly.” Kang Erniu nodded. “The municipal committee’s preliminary investigation results are also out. Comrade Zhu Yuan should actually be Comrade Zhuang Ze, who came to Shanghai from the Northeast. He is a probationary Party member scheduled to become a full member next month. The investigation confirmed that Comrade Zhuang Ze did indeed serve in the Anti-Japanese United Army and was a young comrade full of passion and fighting spirit.”

“How was this comrade captured by the enemy?” the middle-aged man immediately asked.

“The Party branch of Northeastern refugee students at National Tongji University believes that Comrade Zhuang Ze’s revolutionary enthusiasm and activity were simply too conspicuous. He openly promoted resistance against Japan among the students at Tongji University and attracted the attention of secret agents, which led to his covert arrest.”

“The refugee student Party branch wasn’t compromised, was it?”

“No. This temporary Party branch of refugee students had only just been established and hadn’t yet had the chance to make contact with Comrade Zhuang Ze.” Kang Erniu said. “I understand what you’re getting at. Comrade Zhuang Ze had never established any contact with the local Party organization in Shanghai, so his arrest won’t threaten or affect the organization...”

“I didn’t mean anything else by it. I also believe that a young and energetic hot-blooded youth like Comrade Zhuang Ze is loyal to the revolution and loyal to the Red cause.” The middle-aged man waved his hand. Becoming emotional, he inhaled some smoke and began coughing repeatedly. “Judging from the information obtained through Shen Bao, Comrade Zhuang Ze used the alias Zhu Yuan. This young comrade has considerable experience in struggle.”

Kang Erniu nodded in agreement.

Communist Zhu Yuan and Communist Zhuang Ze were two entirely different concepts.

To put it most directly, Communist Zhu Yuan meant that the enemy had not even figured out Zhuang Ze’s real name. The signal conveyed by this was that Comrade Zhuang Ze had withstood the enemy’s torture, protected the secrets, and had not betrayed the revolution.

“What else did the organization say?” the middle-aged man asked.

“The organization learned that during the arrest of Comrade Zhuang Ze, Policeman Cheng Qianfan repeatedly beat him.” Kang Erniu’s face was filled with anger. “The organization believes this Cheng Qianfan is probably hostile to the Red cause and hostile to the revolution...”

“Are they going to take action against him? Teach him a lesson?”

“They told us to be careful.” Kang Erniu sighed.

Last year’s massive roundup had inflicted tremendous losses on the organization.

The organization’s current policy was extremely clear: maintain concealment, preserve our strength, avoid acting on impulse, and absolutely do not take rash action.

Just then, a muffled Thump suddenly came from the courtyard.

Although the sound was not loud, for two underground workers who maintained constant vigilance, it was more than enough to arouse suspicion.

Thump!

Kang Erniu immediately blew out the oil lamp, grabbed a wooden club, while the middle-aged man picked up a kitchen cleaver from the table and hid behind the door.

The middle-aged man suddenly pulled the door open, and Kang Erniu rushed outside swinging the wooden club.

The middle-aged man followed, charging out with the cleaver.

Both men had already prepared themselves to fight the enemy to the death.

Yet the pitch-black courtyard was very quiet. There was no encirclement waiting for them as they had expected.

Holding the wooden club and cleaver, the two men stood back-to-back, not daring to relax their guard in the slightest.

Several minutes passed.

It remained quiet.

Kang Erniu took a flashlight from his pocket and pressed the switch.

It did not light up.

He smacked it hard, and the flashlight finally emitted a faint glow.

The two men bent low and carefully searched the somewhat slippery courtyard of blue bricks. The wooden club and cleaver also served as supports to keep them from slipping.

They found it.

Near a wall in one corner of the courtyard lay an object wrapped in kraft paper.

Both men were startled.

The middle-aged man picked up the paper-wrapped object and quickly returned indoors.

Kang Erniu used the flashlight to inspect the door latch once more. After confirming that it was intact, he hurried back inside as well.

The two men relit the oil lamp.

The middle-aged man carefully peeled away the layers of kraft paper one by one and found an envelope at the center.

Written on the envelope were the words:

To Be Opened Personally by Mr. Wang Jun.

The middle-aged man’s expression changed. He exchanged a glance with Kang Erniu, and both men looked grave.

Wang Jun was precisely the alias currently used by the middle-aged man.

Pulling a sheet of letter paper from the envelope, Wang Jun merely glanced at the first line, and his face changed dramatically...