Chapter 50: Tailor-Made Preparation
Chapter 50: Tailor-Made Preparation
The detention center’s original guard constables had already been reassigned by Qin Detai in advance under legitimate pretexts.
Only a single constable remained at the detention center entrance, one of Qin Detai’s trusted confidants.
“The conditions are quite good.”
Wang Kangnian surveyed the cell environment and nodded.
Zhuang Ze opened his mouth.
He knew he ought to say something flattering, but no matter what, the words would not come out.
Wang Kangnian had been observing Zhuang Ze the entire time.
He caught every expression and movement from Zhuang Ze, and a hint of amusement appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He enjoyed studying people’s hearts and human nature.
In Wang Kangnian’s view, traitors were the most special kind of people.
After defecting, many people underwent changes in temperament and behavior, sometimes becoming completely different people, as though they had become the opposite extreme.
Deep down, Wang Kangnian despised these Communist traitors.
He did not trust them.
In Wang Kangnian’s opinion, if a person could betray once, they could betray a second time.
Such things were like a prostitute hanging up her curtain to receive customers. Once she opened her door to welcome a client, there would be a second time, and then many more.
Yet in practice, he welcomed such people immensely.
The more Communist traitors there were, the brighter the prospects for the Party-State’s great campaign of suppressing bandits and purging Communists.
As for those stubborn Communists who refused to yield, Wang Kangnian both hated and admired them.
His way of showing admiration was to grant them the highest honors.
By applying every kind of torture to them once.
If once was not enough, then again.
And again.
Until they were tortured to death!
Wang Kangnian had brought food and wine.
Zhuang Ze stared at the fragrant dishes of fish and meat and swallowed repeatedly.
Yet he did not dare speak.
He was truly terrified of Wang Kangnian.
“Eat.”
After Zhuang Ze had eaten and drunk his fill, even letting out several loud burps, Wang Kangnian revealed a faint smile.
“There are a few questions.”
“You need only answer truthfully.”
“Do not embellish anything, and absolutely do not conceal anything.”
Zhuang Ze was somewhat stunned.
He had already confessed everything he knew and had concealed nothing.
He did not understand what Wang Kangnian meant.
“Do you recognize this person?”
Wang Kangnian produced a photograph.
It was not the side-profile photograph secretly taken by the Party Affairs Investigation Department on Avenue Joffre.
Rather, it was a photograph Wang Kangnian had obtained of Cheng Qianfan in his police uniform.
“I recognize him.”
Zhuang Ze nodded.
“He was the constable who arrested me.”
“He personally arrested you?”
“Yes. This constable was the first one to rush in, and he even kicked me.”
Wang Kangnian was greatly surprised.
His purpose in questioning Zhuang Ze had been to see whether Cheng Qianfan had revealed any flaws during the arrest carried out by the police station.
For example, secretly making small gestures, signaling to Zhuang Ze, warning him, or something similar.
Yet he had not expected that Cheng Qianfan had been the first to rush in and make the arrest, and had even laid hands on Zhuang Ze.
“Based on your instincts, could Cheng Qianfan possibly be a Communist?”
Wang Kangnian asked directly, his eyes fixed on Zhuang Ze’s.
Zhuang Ze was utterly astonished.
Cheng Qianfan was a Communist?
How could that be possible!
“Impossible!” he said decisively.
“Why are you so certain?”
“That fellow is a black-skinned police dog who absolutely hates the Red cause.”
Zhuang Ze said angrily.
Seeing Wang Kangnian’s expression darken, he suddenly realized he had insulted him as well.
“Team Leader Wang, I wasn’t cursing you, I...”
“Enough. I don’t mind.”
Wang Kangnian waved a hand.
“Why do you evaluate Cheng Qianfan that way?”
“When they arrested me, I didn’t resist.”
“The other constables were all right, but this fellow beat me over and over again, and he hit hard.”
“When he beat you, was he deliberately creating chaos to give you a chance to escape?”
Wang Kangnian’s speech quickened as he pressed the question.
“Impossible.”
Zhuang Ze shook his head.
“He kicked me down beside the bed frame, which actually put me farther from the door.”
“On the truck, it was also him. He reminded the other constables to place me deeper inside the compartment to prevent me from escaping.”
“Inside the truck, I lost my footing and bumped into him, and he immediately started beating me again.”
“The kind where he pinned me down and beat me for dear life.”
“In that situation, I couldn’t move at all. I could only take the beating.”
“Forget escaping.”
“So you mean Cheng Qianfan cannot possibly be a Communist...”
“Yes.”
Zhuang Ze nodded.
“When they searched my suitcase and found the Red evidence that you people had prepared for me, the look in his eyes was vicious.”
“It was a look of hatred.”
“I am certain that this man harbors extreme hatred toward the Red cause.”
Wang Kangnian was astonished beyond measure.
Previously, neither the testimony of the rickshaw pullers nor the information gathered from Su Zhikang had been enough to completely eliminate his suspicions toward Cheng Qianfan.
What he valued most was the testimony of Zhuang Ze, the Communist traitor and the person directly involved.
Unexpectedly, in Zhuang Ze’s eyes, not only was Cheng Qianfan incapable of being a Communist, he was actually someone with an extremely hostile attitude toward Communists.
Zhuang Ze even asserted that the man deeply hated Communists.
Wang Kangnian pondered for a long time.
In the end, he chose to trust Zhuang Ze’s judgment.
Zhuang Ze himself was a Communist.
Cheng Qianfan’s attitude toward Zhuang Ze, the man he arrested, was the most direct reflection of his political stance.
That could not be faked.
At this moment, Wang Kangnian felt both a trace of relief and a trace of discomfort.
The relief came from finally obtaining an answer to the question he had been pursuing.
The discomfort came from the fact that his long-held judgment had been wrong.
That inevitably affected the emotions of the always self-confident Wang Kangnian.
Yet this discomfort did not discourage him.
To him, a definite result was a good result.
Having eliminated Cheng Qianfan as a false answer, perhaps he had moved one step closer to the real answer.
He had neither grievances nor enmity with Cheng Qianfan.
There was no need to forcibly place the label of Communist upon him.
Cheng Qianfan was the orphaned son of martyrs.
He was from Zhejiang.
The Chairman had even sent a memorial couplet for the memorial service of Cheng Wenzao and Su Zhifu.
When it came to major questions of political loyalty, such background was made of paper and could not protect Cheng Qianfan in the slightest.
However, when no problems existed, such a background was enough that even Wang Kangnian had to show some restraint.
Not only that, Cheng Qianfan was also the student of Xiu Gongshen, the translator of the police station’s Political Department.
Now that the suspicions surrounding Cheng Qianfan had been cleared away, Wang Kangnian saw him as a clean and upright descendant of martyrs, an outstanding constable who hated the Red cause so intensely.
This brought Wang Kangnian considerable satisfaction.
He even began to feel some appreciation for talent.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that, from every angle, this Cheng Qianfan was talent tailor-made for the Party Affairs Investigation Department.
The next day, in the morning.
Fudan Public School.
Ding-ling-ling.
The class bell rang.
Professor Peng Yu’ou of the Department of Chinese Literature carried a stack of lecture notes and conversed with several students who had come to seek his advice as he walked.
Suddenly, Peng Yu’ou caught sight of Zhou Hongsu carrying a bundle of books and seemingly passing not far from his path by chance.
The rope binding the books was black.
“Something has happened.”
Peng Yu’ou’s heart sank.
This was a prearranged signal.
Zhou Hongsu was a bookstore owner, and students would occasionally place orders for books at his shop.
Zhou Hongsu would then carry the books to Fudan Public School and deliver them in person.
If the rope binding the books was black, it meant that something had gone wrong.