Chapter 45: A Single Spark

Chapter 45: A Single Spark

Cheng Qianfan knew that, according to organizational discipline, he should not have followed Wang Jun and the other man.

However, he had learned from He Guan that because shooting incidents had occurred repeatedly in the French Concession, especially the ambush against him, a policeman, right outside his own home, the accumulated incidents had already provoked the fury of the upper ranks of the French Concession authorities.

Ferguson, the Police Commissioner of the French Concession, was extremely dissatisfied with the state of public security in the concession.

He had ordered policemen to strengthen inspections of key locations within their respective jurisdictions.

In particular, the intensity of nighttime inspections had been temporarily increased.

Cheng Qianfan was worried that Wang Jun and his companion might encounter policemen conducting night inspections, so he protected them along the route.

As Flame, an undercover operative, following his own comrades was a violation.

However, as Chenzhou of the Special Operations Section Red Team, protecting the safety of important leading comrades was itself part of the duties of Special Operations Section personnel.

Cheng Qianfan had previously been ordered to secretly protect important comrades of the Municipal Committee and Provincial Committee, as well as important figures and democrats passing through Shanghai.

In a broad sense, his “escort” of comrades from the Municipal Committee this time did not really violate discipline.

Compared to ordinary undercover operatives, his identity as a Special Operations Section member granted him the maximum degree of freedom.

It was precisely because of the special nature of Special Operations Section work that its comrades possessed exceptionally firm revolutionary resolve. Nationalist secret agents rarely managed to capture Special Operations Section comrades alive.

Besides that, the most important reason was that he was currently out of contact with the organization. Under such circumstances, having joined the Nationalist Special Service Office and being about to leave for Hangzhou for training, he needed to express his position to the organization in advance.

That was right. He had joined the Special Service Office according to the arrangements made before Comrade Zhulin’s death.

However, in the increasingly complex circumstances of the struggle, especially after Comrade Zhulin’s sacrifice, some matters were difficult to explain clearly.

He did not want the organization to misunderstand or suspect him.

Joining the Special Service Office had been an assignment from the Special Operations Section. He could only wait for the Special Operations Section to re-establish contact with him and could only report the matter to Special Operations Section leadership.

This concerned the secrecy of his hidden identity. Cheng Qianfan had to strictly observe discipline and could not reveal any information regarding this matter to the Shanghai Municipal Committee.

However, his warning to the organization this time and his proactive provision of intelligence were basic principles of a Red soldier and reflected his enduring loyalty to the revolution and the organization.

This was a matter of principle involving loyalty and political attitude.

Any intelligence and information that could be disclosed, he had done everything possible to contact the organization and report in a timely manner.

Anything that could not be disclosed, he kept secret in strict accordance with organizational discipline.

Just as he had not reported his elimination of the traitor Old Mo.

Nor had he reported that Hundred Herbs Medicine Shop on Avenue Joffre and Huichang Teahouse at the City God Temple were Japanese spy strongholds.

The reason was simple. That intelligence was connected to Old Mo’s death and belonged to a Special Operations Section mission.

He could consider reporting it, but not today. There was a certain chance that doing so would link Flame and Chenzhou together.

Even when reporting intelligence, there was an art to how it was reported.

“What do you think about Comrade Xinghuo’s claim that the policeman Liu Bo is suspected of being a Japanese spy?” Wang Jun asked.

Comrade Xinghuo?

Peng Yu’ou smiled.

At the end of the letter, the signature read Xinghuo.

Xinghuo?

Was that the codename of the inside comrade?

Peng Yu’ou was not certain.

For deeply concealed inside agents, their codenames were top-level secrets as well.

Apart from their direct superiors, they would never reveal their codenames to anyone else.

Therefore, it was highly likely that this was a temporary codename the inside comrade had chosen for himself.

Xinghuo.

A single spark.

A single spark can start a prairie fire. Peng Yu’ou liked the codename.

“I’ll arrange for someone to investigate this policeman’s background,” Peng Yu’ou said gravely. He did not believe anyone could hide without leaving the slightest trace. There would always be clues that revealed something.

The reason spies remained hidden so well was that no one suspected them. Once suspicion arose, every blind spot in their lives would be magnified endlessly.

“What happened with Comrade Kang Erniu?” Peng Yu’ou asked angrily. “He’s a veteran comrade who’s stood many tests. How could he make such a low-level mistake?”

“Comrade Kang Erniu has already made a sincere self-criticism. He guarantees that he will reflect on himself rigorously and never make a similar mistake again.” Wang Jun quickly replied.

“For the short term, Kang Erniu must go into hiding and avoid appearing in public.” Peng Yu’ou instructed.

“I’ll inform him.” Wang Jun agreed with the arrangement. Since Comrade Xinghuo had noticed the detail, there was no guarantee that others with ulterior motives would not notice it as well. Reducing Kang Erniu’s public appearances was a cautious and correct decision.

“Comrade Wang Jun.” Peng Yu’ou asked with a serious expression, “Do you think Comrade Old Liao’s sacrifice has anything to do with Zhuang Ze?”

Wang Jun froze.

“Old Peng, why do you suspect that?”

“You don’t know much about Comrade Old Liao, so let me put it this way. Old Liao was a veteran comrade from the Anti-Japanese United Army. After arriving in Shanghai from beyond the passes, he was assigned a special task and had very little contact with the local Party organization.”

“I understand now.” After a moment’s thought, Wang Jun understood what Peng Yu’ou meant.

A comrade who had little contact with the local Shanghai Party organization and who had come from beyond the passes was highly unlikely to have been exposed because of connections within the local organization. The most likely cause lay in events beyond the passes.

And Zhuang Ze had served in the Anti-Japanese United Army.

He had recently been captured.

He had betrayed the cause.

Old Liao had also recently been exposed and sacrificed.

The coincidence was almost too great.

Underground work did not believe in coincidences.

“If that’s really the case, then this Zhuang Ze is truly shameless, truly despicable. He deserves to die!” Wang Jun said hatefully.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this matter.” Peng Yu’ou’s expression was sorrowful. Old Liao’s entire family had sacrificed themselves for the revolution. It was deeply heartbreaking.

At the same time, a trace of confusion arose in Peng Yu’ou’s heart.

If his judgment was correct and Comrade Xinghuo was indeed hidden within the Nationalist Party Affairs Investigation Department, then there should have been a reasonable chance that he would know whether there was any connection between Zhuang Ze’s betrayal and Old Liao’s sacrifice.

Why had the intelligence not mentioned it?

Then again, the Party Affairs Investigation Department was divided into separate sections, each operating independently. It was entirely possible that Comrade Xinghuo simply did not know more of the inside story.

What a pity.

This comrade was not on the same operational line as the Shanghai Municipal Committee. Bound by strict organizational discipline, even as a senior municipal committee leader, Peng Yu’ou had no authority to learn more.

Still, faced with such an outstanding comrade, even Peng Yu’ou could not help but feel a desire to recruit and cultivate talent.

Cheng Qianfan’s craving for a cigarette had flared up.

He did not smoke.

He merely played with a cigarette in his hand.

This was not the Triple Turret cigarette he usually smoked at the police station, but a Golden Yellow brand cigarette, another common Shanghai cigarette.

During operations, Cheng Qianfan was exceptionally careful and did everything possible to separate himself from the identity of Policeman Cheng Qianfan.

He was thinking.

Thinking about whether Old Liao’s sacrifice was connected to the traitor Zhu Yuan.

Ever since confirming that Zhu Yuan was a traitor, the thought had refused to leave his mind.

The two events were simply too close together for him not to be suspicious.

He knew it would be difficult to uncover the truth through his own efforts, so in the letter to Wang Jun, he had deliberately written about Zhu Yuan’s betrayal and Old Liao’s sacrifice one after the other.

He believed that, with the wisdom of the Municipal Committee leadership, they would also make the connection.

The organization’s strength was immense. What he could not uncover alone, the organization would certainly be able to uncover.

He had not written his suspicions regarding the connection between the two events into the letter.

This was also to avoid exposing the fact that the letter’s sender was Flame, the Party’s senior intelligence operative.

Only Flame knew the background and identity of his courier, Old Liao.

Only Flame was most likely to connect the two events.

Trust your comrades.

Suspect everything.

Be cautious in all things.

This was the ultimate creed that allowed an inside agent to remain hidden and survive.

The door opened.

Wang Jun and his companion quietly left and disappeared into the rainy night.

Cheng Qianfan shoved the cigarette he had been playing with directly into his mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed it.

He would not leave behind any traces.

Only after the sound of their footsteps had faded into the distance did he quietly follow after them.

He escorted the two men all the way back to their residence.

Only then did Cheng Qianfan finally relax.

The trip both ways had gone smoothly. They had not encountered any night inspections. Apparently the rain had made the patrolling policemen lazy.

On his way back after leaving Wang Jun’s residence, Cheng Qianfan spotted a drunken Annamese policeman staggering through the rainy night in the distance, acting wildly in a drunken stupor.

More accurately, he heard the man first, wailing and shouting in Vietnamese. In the rainy darkness, only a shadow could be seen.

He immediately avoided him, taking a different route and making no contact whatsoever.

That night, Cheng Qianfan slept more soundly than ever before.

The next morning, Cheng Qianfan rose early.

Pulling open the curtains, he saw long-awaited sunshine.

He bought wontons from Liu Ada and ate until he was half full.

Then he washed his face once more.

Standing before the mirror on the large wardrobe, the young and handsome man began dressing himself.

A blue cloth gown.

Cloth shoes with felt soles.

A pair of plain spectacles.

Once, dressed exactly like this, he had attended a dance at National Tongji University. A female student had written the following in the school’s journal:

[At today’s dance, I encountered an unfamiliar male student. The ordinary blue cloth gown seemed transformed when worn by him. There was an elegance and depth between his brows... Sadly, I did not become his dance partner...]

He took down the black-and-white checkered scarf hanging in the corner and casually draped it around his neck.

Opening the door, the bustle and noise of the street rushed toward him.

Today was a special day.

He had something extremely important to do.