Chapter 667: Progressive Young Woman

His surrender, even if it does not hinder the War of Resistance, is enough to make the whole world suspicious of the Chinese and look down on the Chinese. Wang the Traitor is even more hateful than the enemy.

This is the evaluation of Wang the Traitor Zhaoming written by Mr. Lao She in "Four Generations Under One Roof," a million-word work published in 1944 and finished in 1948. It is pertinent, correct, and hits the nail on the head.

The news of Wang Zhaoming's assassination attempt in Hanoi spread, and most people were cheering, hating that Wang the Traitor didn't die. For Dai Yunong, it was different; after all, the ones who assassinated Wang Zhaoming were his people. The assassination failed, which meant he didn't do the job well. Although he had already sent out his elite, heaven did not follow human wishes, but he was the primary person in charge of the Military Statistics Bureau. When the Bald One got angry, didn't he just scold him?

He couldn't go scold Chen Gongshu, who was leading the mission below; after all, the man had indeed tried his best. He could only sulk by himself and constantly send urgent telegrams to Hanoi, telling them to continue looking for opportunities to act and must sanction Wang the Traitor.

But they had no chance. Wang Zhaoming already had precautions and was willing to be a turtle; his internal defensive strength wasn't bad either, so how could he give Chen Gongshu and the others an opportunity?

Moreover, Yingzuo Zhenzhao had already taken people over. Two days after arriving in Hanoi, they left directly by boat. Chen Gongshu and the others could only helplessly withdraw; others went back to their own business, but Chen Gongshu sat on the cold bench in Chongqing for two months. It was still that saying: doing well doesn't necessarily mean a reward, but doing poorly definitely means punishment. Dai Yunong's ruthless and narrow-minded heart didn't deal with Chen Gongshu, which was already out of consideration for his capable work in the past.

These things naturally had nothing to do with Wang Yan; he had been busy selling penicillin recently. Aside from Wang Zhaoming and the war on the front lines, this was the most important major event in China today.

Just like decades later, there were always news stories coming out saying what technology had made a breakthrough, bringing a momentary sense of pride and humiliation at reaching a world-leading level. Penicillin now was just such a thing. On the battered, backward, and impoverished land of China, a world-leading, miraculous antibiotic appeared, and the meaning was different. Although many people didn't know exactly what it was for, it didn't prevent a sense of pride for no reason; that stemmed from the national strength inherited for thousands of years.

After a period of time, the efficacy of penicillin was proven, and its superiority compared to sulfonamide was even more prominent. People from various countries gathered around Wang Yan like pugs, and at the same time, they went through diplomatic channels to contact the Red Party, and even the Nationalist Party.

After all, really speaking, the Red Party's army was still in the Nationalist Army sequence. And the government representing China now was Chongqing. Foreign aid and the like were all given to Chongqing; the Red Party didn't even get to drink soup, let alone get two drops. Before the year, the Nationalist Party was still doing it—dissolving the Communists, preventing the Communists, limiting the Communists, and opposing the Communists; how could they give the Red Party benefits to strengthen the Red Party?

The growth of the Red Party was still something they accumulated by fighting Mobile Corps Commander warfare behind enemy lines, bit by bit. To put it bluntly, it was taken from the hands of the enemy. The War of Resistance was like this, and the War of Liberation was also like this.

So this bunch of foreign devils was quite funny; what was the use of finding the Nationalist Party? The Nationalist Party was still politely studying the price and share of penicillin with the Red Party.

If one had to say who was the toughest, it had to be the little Japanese; this was also something that couldn't be helped. Regarding the territory in the Japanese-occupied areas, according to the saying of China's three geographical steps, they occupied almost the entire third step, which was China's main plain area. They controlled the vast majority of wharves and ports. In Iwai Eiichi's words, the roads were in other people's hands; if the goods couldn't be transported to the Soviet Area, no matter how much money penicillin sold for, it was useless.

However, it wasn't necessary to come from the eastern region. Although transporting from the west was more strenuous, it wasn't that there were no roads. The Japanese couldn't completely control all the outlets, so this became the Red Party's bargaining chip.

Finally, it was set at 60% of the price of sulfonamide, but it wasn't an unbridled purchase; there was only a portion. The price difference in the middle was the toll paid by the Red Party; it could be checked, but not deducted. If they wanted to buy more, it would have to be the market price.

As for how much the market price was, the price sold to other foreigners was the market price. And this price, as expected, was hyped up to be much higher than sulfonamide transported from overseas. Then, when these people transported it back to Europe and America, the price shot straight into the sky. Although with the increase in output, this price was bound to continue to fall, this early quick money was already very huge; the Red Party didn't think about bicycles.

Other things naturally didn't need the big boss Wang Yan to go out personally. But this time, it involved either foreign devils or Japanese; only he could go personally. Another point was that the transaction volume was too large, and various supplies needed to be unloaded at multiple wharves in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and elsewhere, then transferred, processed, and transported again. The ability of managers led by Gu Yongcheng was not enough to handle it comprehensively. This was also why he needed to go out to lay a good foundation for the early stages and let the company adapt to more and larger businesses.

And the industries under his name, following the great expansion in 1938, now in 1939, had another major breakthrough. Basically, he could already be considered the richest man in China now, although in reality, he couldn't even take out much money...

Mainly, the scale of his business was there; it was a proper multinational company. His Qinglian Bank had branches in Britain, France, and the United States, and his beverages and instant noodles were also being resold to Europe and America, quite popular. His partners were also spread all over the world; although he was mostly buying, that didn't delay him from holding huge quantities of supplies, nor did it delay him from making money.

Doing business on such a large scale wasn't what he wanted; it was forced by current events. Before, if he wanted to send things to the Red Party, he had to settle the Nationalist Party. Later, if he wanted to send things to the Red Party and the Nationalist Party, he had to settle the Japanese. If he wanted to settle things, he had to give up benefits, and if he gave up benefits, he couldn't earn less, nor could he let others earn less; naturally, he had to expand the scale.

So strictly speaking, his company was something he couldn't control; it could only keep expanding.

Although there was penicillin, the price of sulfonamide still hadn't dropped. Because after all, they were two different kinds of medicine, and sulfonamide itself was in short supply; how could the price drop...

By the time Wang Yan finished busybodying with these messy things, the time had reached May.

Another midsummer was approaching, and Shanghai was still as sweltering as ever. But heaven was kind; although the cloudy weather was very uncomfortable, it started to rain lightly in the sweltering weather, which always provided some coolness and didn't affect people's work too much, which was the best.

The light rain started in the morning, pattering all day without stopping; by night, it actually became heavier. Some people liked rainy days, some didn't, but Wang Yan liked them. Because the rain washed things away, taking away some filth and covering up some traces.

In the garden villa, Wang Manchun's feet were taut, her back arched, her neck pressed against the soft bed, her mouth slightly open, and as her moans fell, she let out a long breath of satisfaction, and her taut body finally relaxed. Reaching out to brush back her sweat-dampened long hair, she said to the man who had put her legs down once again, "You're only good for this much..."

Just at this moment, muffled gunfire pierced through layers of rain, coming from the north, passing through the open window that was covered in water droplets from the rain, reaching the room and falling into the ears of the two people on the bed.

A single gunshot actually didn't have much sound and couldn't travel that far, but if it rang out densely without end, that was a different matter. However, it was raining heavily now, so the sound wasn't clear at all, almost there and then not. If it were ordinary people, they wouldn't care, but the two people on the bed were different; they were both very sensitive to gunfire.

Wang Manchun frowned, tilted her head, and carefully distinguished: "Is that gunfire?"

Wang Yan nodded: "Yes."

"What do you guess it's because of?"

"Does this still need guessing? Isn't it just Wang Zhaoming? It must be that people from the Military Statistics Bureau's Shanghai station have acted, just don't know what the result is..."

Wang Manchun's brows furrowed even tighter: "How do you know Wang Zhaoming is in Shanghai?"

"I knew two months ago." Wang Yan smiled: "At that time, penicillin had just reached my hands, and that day I went to find Iwai Eiichi. It just so happened that the day before, Wang Zhaoming had been assassinated by Chen Gongshu and others in Hanoi, and Mr. Iwai revealed to me that Wang Zhaoming might come to Shanghai first. That night, didn't you come to find me, asking about the Red Party's letter? You aren't suspecting me with this, are you?"

Wang Yan flipped her over and slapped her butt: "I've been busy to death these two months; aside from you, I haven't seen any Japanese people. Whether Wang Zhaoming dies or not has nothing to do with me."

Wang Manchun hissed and weakly retorted: "I wouldn't suspect you even if I suspected anyone, just don't know how you knew the news; you didn't tell me these things that day."

"You were only busy looking at the Red Party's letter and didn't ask me about other things. Alright, go wash up; aren't you going back to take a look?"

"The one responsible for Wang Zhaoming's security work isn't the Special High Police, but the Gendarmerie Headquarters." Wang Manchun sat up: "But you're right, I have to go back, take advantage of the fact that the Military Statistics Bureau's Shanghai station has sent out all its elite, catch their tail, and wipe them all out."

Undoubtedly, Wang Manchun was a person of action. So after finishing her words, she dragged her sore body up, first called someone to pick her up, and then took a bath with Wang Yan again.

When she left, she showed no signs of fatigue, full of spirit and murderous intent.

Wang Yan, wearing a loose white bathrobe, opened the door leading to the balcony, letting the wind and rain in, and sprawled on the lounge chair by the balcony, watching the dark night outside...

Undoubtedly, the operation to assassinate Wang Zhaoming was bound to fail. Wang Yan didn't care about the result, so there was no talk of caring about the process, so he didn't bother to ask about those useless things at all.

But when a person reaches a certain status and comes into contact with certain people, there are many things one can't help but know, even if one doesn't want to.

"The Red Party won't have penicillin?" Wang Yan frowned, seemingly thinking for a moment, then his brows relaxed and he shook his head with a smile: "Also, I've been doing business with the Red Party for so many years and dealing with them for so many years; I'm clear on how poor they are. Penicillin just came out, and they only use so much themselves; aside from what's given to the Nationalist Party, the rest is all here with me. I suppose the Shanghai underground party doesn't have much of a share either, tsk..."

This was at dinner time in a restaurant; sitting opposite him was Yu Manli, who brought news from two days ago.

The Military Statistics Bureau's Shanghai station operation failed and was captured alive by the Japanese. Because this assassination of Wang the Traitor involved the elite of the Shanghai station, they generally knew a bit more. Then, naturally, someone opened their mouth, and once they opened their mouth, it made the Japanese special agents chase the Military Statistics Bureau's butt like crazy. In just two days, the Military Statistics Bureau lost at least one-third, many strongholds were discovered, and numerous personnel were captured.

The reason for such heavy losses was the key factor of time; some key figures were captured that night, opened their mouths that night, and people were captured that night, leaving no chance for reaction.

It wasn't that the Military Statistics Bureau didn't have tough bones, but the ones captured just happened not to be tough. After all, when they robbed the prison before, it wasn't like there weren't Military Statistics Bureau people among those who refused to surrender to the death.

No matter how meticulous the operation plan was, it couldn't resist human factors. Moreover, the Military Statistics Bureau's assassination of Wang Zhaoming didn't have a very meticulous plan. Because the precautions were very strict, it was good enough that they knew the news; there was no way to infiltrate Wang Zhaoming's side, and there wasn't that much time to allow them to arrange it in detail. The order from above was pressed down, and the people below had to execute it; this was also the main reason for the losses.

There was no other way; Wang Zhaoming was simply too important. This was the last chance; if Wang Zhaoming went to Japan and came back, the effect of the assassination would be greatly reduced.

So perhaps before the operation, these people knew it would definitely fail, but they still went, without looking back. But after being captured, they discovered they didn't have such tough bones...

And Wang Tianfeng was the section chief of the operations department; naturally, such an operation had to be presided over by Wang Tianfeng. Moreover, Wang Tianfeng himself was also an assassin with a combat record, so naturally, he led the team personally.

So Wang Tianfeng suffered a gunshot wound, two shots, and was saved by the Red Party.

This matched the plot; in the drama, Cheng Jinyun was captured, and Uncle Li went to the stronghold of the photo studio where Ming Tai and the others were to ask for help. Guo Qiyun said that the Red Party had saved their people before and agreed without hesitation. Now it seems it was Wang Tianfeng.

Of course, regardless of whether it was originally, it had to be now.

And the wounded Wang Tianfeng needed penicillin for emergency treatment, which the Red Party didn't have. Wang Tianfeng now didn't dare to contact others; only Yu Manli, a secret subordinate with a single-line contact, was still reliable, her status was also easy to use, and she was intimate with Wang Yan, who sold penicillin. Didn't it just go around in a circle and end up here at Wang Yan's?

Yu Manli nodded, leaned forward, and whispered: "Wang Tianfeng also said he wanted you to do a favor and sell a batch of sulfonamide to the Red Party. He said you are clear about grievances and grudges, have great righteousness in your heart, and are not a stingy person."

"Fallen into trouble, and now you know Wang Mou has great righteousness? Not like before when you put your hand in your bosom, preparing to take my life?"

"That was also Dai Yunong's order; how could he have the guts to refuse? It was just shouting at me. How about it, sell or not?"

"No matter what, he sent you to my side; I have to remember his kindness. Come to my place tonight; I'll give you two bottles of penicillin first, and then tell you the method of picking up the goods. You can't leave today; go tomorrow. See if Wang Tianfeng's life is tough or not; if it's not tough, then let him die. I am clear about grievances and grudges, but I also hold grudges."

Yu Manli smiled: "No need for you to say, Wang Tianfeng told me exactly that; he was even afraid I would be exposed."

"Aren't you already exposed? The Red Party side knows your status; you'll be in danger from now on."

Looking at Yu Manli's smugly raised eyebrows, Wang Yan understood and said "Oh": "Forgot, you're still a progressive young woman; are you considered an activist now?"

"Don't you worry about that, eat, eat."

Wang Yan shook his head and smiled, drinking and eating on his own. This little woman had brains; she knew she couldn't hide it from him, and plus they had slept together for so long, she felt she had grasped his character, so she didn't hide anything at all.

Actually, this was the most correct choice, because as far as the current situation was concerned, regardless of which side Yu Manli was on, it was the same here at his place—they were all anti-Japanese, so saying or not saying it was the same thing. If she said it, she could get trust here; anyway, she couldn't hide it, so it was better to be straightforward...

Wang Zhaoming still walked on the path he was to walk. At the end of May, he took a plane from Shanghai to Japan, had various talks with the little Japanese in Japan, established the establishment of a central government, and wrote treasonous treaties.

At the end of June, he returned to the country. He pulled together various traitors of the puppet government to support him, negotiated with the Japanese time and time again, and prepared to establish a puppet government...

And when Wang Zhaoming went to Japan to negotiate with those little Japanese, at the beginning of June, the Chongqing government, having learned the news, issued a wanted order.

Wang Zhaoming violated national policy, disregarded great righteousness, and at the time of the whole country's united resistance, sneaked away from his post, recklessly advocated peace talks, and echoed the enemy's fallacies, hoping to confuse people's hearts and hinder the great plan. After being sanctioned by the central government, he still did not wake up, acted perversely, and even secretly went to Shanghai last month, not hesitating to attach himself to the ranks of traitors, interacting with the enemy, and plotting misconduct... All military and political organs across the country should immediately issue a strict wanted order to capture him and punish him according to the law, to maintain discipline...

But this was of no use, and couldn't even make Wang Zhaoming famous again, because he had already stunk up China; he didn't care either, he still walked on his path... ===== CHAPTER 668 =====