Chapter 87: They Are All Heroes

“You’ve read the telegram. What are your feelings?” Dai Chunfeng asked, his profound eyes fixed on Cheng Qianfan.

“To sacrifice one’s life for the nation and die a worthy death.”

Cheng Qianfan spoke slowly, his expression solemn and sincere.

“Qianfan is willing to take the martyrs’ heroic deeds as his example!”

Dai Chunfeng nodded and picked up a stack of telegrams from his desk.

“Telegrams like this arrive on average once every two days. Sometimes there are two or three in a single day. Now you understand the cruelty of our line of work, don’t you?”

“This subordinate understands.”

“Once you’ve stepped through the doors of the Special Service Office, your life already belongs in advance to the Party and Nation.”

Dai Chunfeng patted Cheng Qianfan on the shoulder.

“You may go.”

“Yes, sir. This subordinate takes his leave.”

“Oh, right. Lu Weiran once used the alias Tao Weiran,” Dai Chunfeng suddenly said.

Cheng Qianfan stopped in his tracks and turned around, his eyes filled with shock and grief.

“Go on.”

Dai Chunfeng waved his hand.

Cheng Qianfan saluted once more and turned to leave.

His heart was filled with shock.

The fallen Lu Weiran was actually Boss Tao.

The deaths of Lu Weiran and Xu Baihe had saddened him, but after all, they had been strangers he had never met.

When he learned that Lu Weiran was actually the Boss Tao he knew, his grief deepened another layer.

Just one week earlier, the two had parted in Shanghai.

The image of Boss Tao striding away alongside Song Fuguo still seemed to linger before his eyes.

It was Tao Weiran who had introduced him into the Special Service Office.

His career as a Special Service Office agent had only just begun, and Tao Weiran had already died for the nation.

At that moment, Cheng Qianfan thought of Tao Weiran’s daughter, a little girl only five or six years old.

The poor child would never see her loving father again.

He could not help recalling Old Liu and Kuanzi, who had faced death without hesitation during the operation to capture Kawada Eikichi.

Cheng Qianfan wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.

He had never imagined that one day he would shed tears for Nationalist agents.

The images of the Party comrades who had died heroically at Selling Fish Bridge Wharf also flashed through his mind.

They were all heroes.

Inside Dai Chunfeng’s office.

“Qi Wu, tell me your opinion.”

Dai Chunfeng lit a cigarette, took a slow puff, and spoke calmly.

A man emerged from behind the screen.

He had a square face, large eyes, and a stern expression.

“A good talent. Faced with the Director’s questioning, his psychological composure was excellent, and his answers were orderly and well-structured,” Qi Wu said.

“He speaks Japanese.”

“He is skilled at sketching. I’ve seen his work. It is almost indistinguishable from a photograph.”

“Careful-minded, quick to react during operations.”

“His adaptability is also good.”

“I never expected our Jiangshan to produce such an outstanding young man.”

“Hm, what else?” Dai Chunfeng stubbed out the cigarette after only a few puffs.

“Young people have ideas of their own,” Qi Wu said calmly.

“Indeed.”

Dai Chunfeng shook his head and snorted coldly.

“In our profession, obedience to orders always comes first.”

Cheng Qianfan had claimed that his encounter with Kawada Atsuto occurred because he had gone out to retrieve a gun.

For the time being, Dai Chunfeng accepted that explanation.

However, in Yu Ping’an’s report, he had not seen any mention that Cheng Qianfan had brought another firearm to Hangzhou, nor any mention of the plan to test whether Kawada Eikichi was monitoring him.

Although the results had proven that the young man’s actions yielded tremendous gains.

Concealment was still concealment.

Petty cleverness was still petty cleverness.

It was not enough to make Dai Chunfeng suspicious.

Nevertheless, it left an unfavorable impression.

He was a man with an extremely strong desire for control.

If Cheng Qianfan could conceal things from Yu Ping’an, then in the future he might conceal things from Dai Chunfeng as well.

No.

Even now there were matters he had not fully explained.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

“Who’s outside?” Secretary Mao immediately asked.

“Secretary Mao, it’s Cheng Wufang. I have something to report to the Director.”

“Wait a moment.”

Outside the door, Cheng Qianfan stood respectfully and waited.

Inside the room, Qi Wu once again concealed himself behind the screen.

“Come in.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cheng Qianfan pushed open the door and nodded politely to Secretary Mao.

“Director, I was somewhat nervous earlier and forgot to report something.”

“What is it?” Dai Chunfeng asked calmly.

“Kawada Atsuto asked Okada Toshihiko, the military attaché at the Japanese Consulate in Hangzhou, to issue an identity certificate for me.”

Cheng Qianfan respectfully presented the temporary certificate with both hands.

“While carrying this document, I was once stopped and questioned by our military police.”

Dai Chunfeng casually accepted the document and flipped through it.

Then he handed it back to Cheng Qianfan.

“I know about this matter now. Keep it. It is only useful if it remains in your possession.”

“Yes, sir. This subordinate takes his leave.”

“What do you think of Sanben Jiro?” Dai Chunfeng suddenly asked.

“Sanben claims to be a Japanese businessman, but my impression is that his identity is not simple.”

After thinking for a moment, Cheng Qianfan answered.

“My impression of him is that he is extremely gloomy. I even feel that he is more dangerous than Okada.”

“Your intuition is correct. He is the head of Japanese intelligence operations in Hangzhou.”

Dai Chunfeng nodded.

“You may go.”

“Yes, sir. This subordinate takes his leave.”

Watching Cheng Qianfan withdraw respectfully, a smile appeared at the corner of Dai Chunfeng’s mouth.

“A rather clever young fellow.”

The matter of the identity certificate was trivial.

Besides, even if Cheng Qianfan had not mentioned it, Dai Chunfeng already knew about it.

Perhaps he had genuinely forgotten.

But saying it and not saying it were naturally two different things.

“A smart kid.”

Qi Wu stepped out from behind the screen and smiled.

“Let’s continue observing him.”

Dai Chunfeng spoke.

He never accepted anyone easily, even someone he currently rather admired.

Besides, Cheng Qianfan was merely a young man who had only recently begun to show his talents.

Admiration was one thing.

To truly enter Dai Chunfeng’s field of vision and become someone he would heavily rely upon was still a long way off.

After pondering for a moment, Dai Chunfeng said, “Make arrangements to eliminate Imai Futoshi, the Japanese military instructor of the Manchukuo Imperial Guard.”

“Understood.”

Qi Wu nodded.

The Director had merely abandoned, for the moment, the idea of having Cheng Qianfan operate under the identity of Miyazaki Kentaro.

But perhaps he would change his mind tomorrow.

If necessary, and if sacrificing Cheng Qianfan could allow them to infiltrate the enemy and obtain important intelligence, neither Dai Chunfeng nor Qi Wu would hesitate in the slightest.

“Come on. Let’s go meet an old acquaintance.”

Dai Chunfeng smiled.

The Special Service Office had captured the Japanese intelligence chief Kawada Eikichi, and he was in an excellent mood.

After leaving the little red building, Zhao Yansheng was waiting downstairs.

The two exchanged no words.

They went directly to the makeup room.

Amei coldly examined Cheng Qianfan and instructed him to sit down.

Before long, Cheng Qianfan once again became Cheng Wufang.

“You will attend classes this afternoon,” Zhao Yansheng said.

“Because you joined the class midway through the program, your schedule is extremely tight. You must put in much more effort than the others.”

As he spoke, Zhao Yansheng handed over a sheet of paper.

“This is the course schedule.”