Chapter 672: Unexpected Trouble

"Heard you had lunch with Ming Lou today; what did you chat about?"

In the garden villa at night, Wang Manchun, who had been satisfied, lay lazily on the bed, snuggling in Wang Yan's arms, but the chat was about another man.

Wang Yan leaned against the head of the bed, smoking, habitually playing with the big treasure: "He is the Director of the Economic Division, and I am the richest man in the Shanghai Bund; what do you say we could chat about? Nothing more than some business matters, asking me to spend some money and provide some convenience. Oh, right, there is also the matter of you previously making things difficult for Ming Jing; he also knew about it and said some words of thanks or something; it was just a casual lunch."

"And didn't mention me?"

"He is your old lover, and I am your current lover; I am from a gangster background, so it doesn't matter, but he is a proper cultured person; how could such an awkward thing be put on the table? Looking at your meaning, you still can't forget Ming Lou."

"Who knows..."

Wang Manchun let out a long breath: "What do you think of him? Is there any problem?"

"He is also a person who has read many books and has seen a lot; the chat was not bad, and there will be no lack of dealings in the future; maybe we will have a friendship and become friends. As for whether he has a problem, that's your business; it has nothing to do with me."

"Asking for your opinion, didn't say it has anything to do with you."

Wang Yan shook his head: "Don't know, I just met him; it's just that the chat was not bad, and I don't know other situations; what opinion can I have?"

"He concurrently serves as the Deputy Director of the Special Service Committee; you know this, then do you know what his first thing was after taking office? Focusing on the disposal list of prisoners of war and captured two-party special agents. Liang Zhongchun, the action section chief of No. 76, you are clear about this person; you saw him at Wang Zhaoming's welcome party before. He was a defector from the Military Statistics Bureau's Shanghai station two years ago and has been working for the puppet government. He has a deep understanding of the Military Statistics Bureau and the underground party. He told me he felt Ming Lou had a problem and was very likely a person from the Military Statistics Bureau." 【

"I'll say it again: no matter what Ming Lou's identity is, it has nothing to do with me. Even if he really has a problem, and even if I know it, I can't let it out of my mouth. I sell the Red Party's penicillin and make a lot of money. On the other hand, I believe you have also received the news. Wu Qiren, this high-ranking Kuomintang official, is in charge of work in Shanghai; do you think I have the guts to provoke him? So, stop causing trouble for me. If you think Ming Lou has a problem, then go investigate him. Don't tell me the situation either, lest I inadvertently ruin your big plans."

"Have some decency. You, apart from that business, are of no use at all." Wang Man Chun slapped Wang Yan's chest in annoyance, then turned over and moved to the side, pulling the quilt to cover herself: "Sleep! There are so many things going on lately, I'm busy to death every day, and I still have to be tormented by you. It's truly a bitter life..."

"Isn't that still your own willingness? I certainly didn't force you."

As Wang Yan spoke, he extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray on the bedside table and turned off the light. Another day of infighting and scheming had passed.

Compared to Wang Man Chun, Yu Manli gave Wang Yan more trust. Of course, it was still for the same reason: she knew she couldn't hide anything and couldn't play tricks in front of Wang Yan. Moreover, she didn't have much loyalty to the Military Statistics Bureau itself, so she basically said whatever she had and wouldn't hide anything.

It was also because of this that Wang Yan knew she had already made contact with her new superior. He even asked in detail and confirmed that the person who made contact with Yu Manli was Ming Cheng, who was impersonating the Viper.

This is the benefit of having a trustworthy subordinate whose background you know inside and out. Although Ming Cheng has problems, it is difficult to guarantee that Ming Lou doesn't have problems. But if something really happens, Ming Cheng can take the blame and still protect Ming Lou, and even more so, buy Ming Lou the opportunity and time to run away.

However, Wang Yan didn't envy him; his positioning was different from Ming Lou's.

Ming Lou was a colonel and intelligence section chief of the Military Statistics Bureau's Shanghai station, and also the leader of the Shanghai underground party organization's intelligence group, with his organizational ties in the Shanghai underground party, responsible for infiltrating the enemy's interior to gather intelligence. As for Wang Yan, he was the famous number one assassin of the Red Party wandering in the darkness, with his organizational ties in the Central Committee, responsible for doing business and securing materials, and occasionally eliminating traitors. Gathering intelligence was a side job because his status and position had reached a certain level, and he naturally came into contact with things.

In terms of contacting the organization, he only contacted two people: one was the handsome man who led him, and the other was Lu Boda, the first secretary of the Shanghai underground party organization. He could send telegrams himself and could hide the radio and run around everywhere; he really didn't need subordinates.

Ming Lou was different. He had to contact both the Military Statistics Bureau and the Red Party, and there were superiors and subordinates involved. He couldn't do it himself. Even without Ming Cheng, he would have disguised friends or the like specifically acting as liaisons.

Wang Tianfeng's situation was different again. He was only lurking in Shanghai to command and did not personally go into the enemy's interior to gather intelligence. He belonged to the category of free-roaming players, though of course, he knew many people. So now Wang Tianfeng was still wanted by Japanese intelligence. After the failed assassination of Wang Zhaoming earlier, many arrested people had betrayed Wang Tianfeng. So even if Dai Yunong didn't take him back to be a teacher, he couldn't survive in the Shanghai Bund anymore...

Perhaps because he didn't want to be exposed, although the Wang Tianyue Gongguan and the Ming Tianyue Gongguan were adjacent, Wang Yan had never bumped into Ming Lou. His departure time was fixed, but his return time was not. Ming Lou worked for the Wang-puppet government, and every day was full of messy business, leaving early and returning late, busy to the extreme. It was considered normal not to bump into each other.

In fact, before Ming Lou returned, Wang Yan had lived here for a year and had never met Ming Jing, only occasionally encountering Ming Tai returning late by rickshaw twice.

Wang Yan's days were still as comfortable as ever. On one side, he flattered the French, and on the other, he dealt with the Japanese. His business was also on the right track; he only needed to pay attention to the recent situation occasionally. As for the police station, he didn't need to worry about it at all. The three inspectors under him could all handle things, so he didn't need to go out personally.

The situation this time was different from when he was an inspector before; he didn't need to study the inspectors under him to centralize power. Because now he had greater energy. He Shaohong was his man, and Qu Wanping and He Xing were both from the Youth League. These two might have ideas, but they didn't have the guts to disobey him while pretending to comply. Since that was the case, there was no need to kill another inspector and replace him with his own people.

On the other hand, it was also because of the Japanese. He could say for certain that among Qu Wanping and He Xing, one of them must have ties to the Japanese. This was a problem that could be figured out with one's toes. The Japanese infiltration of the International Settlement and the French Concession had been ongoing. Inspectors were in high positions with heavy responsibilities and were definitely targets to be won over.

If he really took action while both of them were cooperating, that would be him looking for trouble. The Japanese would be unhappy and would definitely come to find trouble with him, which wasn't worth it.

However, life, how can it always be smooth sailing? Wang Yan not looking for trouble himself didn't mean trouble wouldn't come looking for him.

Once again, Shanghai welcomed winter. Perhaps the world was about to change and the celestial phenomena were unstable; this year's winter was much colder than last year's. It was only November, and yet goose-feather snow was already drifting down.

"Brother Yan, the weather this year is truly evil. In previous years it always rained, but this year it's actually snowing, and it's coming down so hard."

Qi Si picked up a pile of mutton slices from the copper pot in front of him, dipped them in the sauce in his bowl, and stuffed his mouth full with an "ah-woo" sound, his speech muffled.

His gaze looked at the goose-feather snow drifting outside the window and at the little beggar disappearing across the street, feeling satisfied in his heart.

Wang Yan drank the warmed yellow wine and also looked at the snow outside the window. He smiled and said: "Maybe it's really because the human world has committed too many sins, and Heaven can't bear to watch anymore."

"Brother Yan, do you say there are really ghosts and gods?"

"That's a good question, but I haven't seen them. It just depends on whether you believe it or not. If you believe, then they exist; if you don't, then they don't." Wang Yan shook his head and sighed: "However, 'misfortune and fortune have no gate, only people call them upon themselves' is certain. Look, trouble is coming."

Following Wang Yan's gaze, Qi Si turned his head to look and saw Wang Man Chun entering the shop entrance, wearing a trench coat and long boots, and patting the snow off her body at the entrance.

"Indeed, and the trouble might not be small."

After saying this, Qi Si took his bowl, chopsticks, and Shanghai soda, ran to an empty table nearby to sit down, and got up to find the boss to bring another pot.

He knew that under normal circumstances, Wang Man Chun wouldn't come to find Wang Yan during the day. And now that she had come, it must be that something had happened involving Wang Yan. It was snowing so hard today, the roads were difficult to travel, and cars were hard to drive; for her to come over under such circumstances, it only explained the problem further...

Wang Man Chun, with her face flushed red, sat down with the cold wind from outside. After the waiter brought a bowl, chopsticks, and dipping sauce, she first buried her head and ate two mouthfuls of meat to ease the chill on her body. Although cars now had heating systems, there was no doubt that the heating effect wouldn't be too good, and it would still be chilly.

After easing up a bit, Wang Man Chun looked at Wang Yan, who was leisurely drinking warmed wine opposite her, and smiled: "Drinking warmed wine, eating hot pot, and admiring the heavy snow, you really have a good mood."

Matching her slightly sharp tone, it wasn't hard to hear the sarcasm in her words.

Wang Yan didn't care; he just raised his head and spoke while picking meat from the pot: "Coming all this way through the snow just to mock me? If you have something to say, say it."

Wang Man Chun sneered: "Two days ago, we caught a Red Party member lurking in the confidential section of No. 76. According to his confession, we caught the liaison personnel who made contact with him, and this liaison personnel responsible for the contact, named Zheng Chong, is a rickshaw puller at your rickshaw company."

Wang Yan didn't even stop his action of eating meat. He picked up some sugar garlic and crunched it in his mouth: "Finished? What does it have to do with me? You come to find me for such a small matter?"

"Don't be in a hurry, there's more." Wang Man Chun stared closely at Wang Yan and said: "According to Zheng Chong's confession, we caught another person named Yan Zhengcai. You shouldn't be unfamiliar with this person, right? He is the logistics manager of Yonghua Industrial."

"Anything else?"

"Isn't this enough? Wang Yan, the manager under you is a Red Party member. Doesn't it have anything to do with you? Don't you know anything about it?"

"I have some impression of this Yan Zhengcai; he is an honest and dutiful person. I didn't expect him to be a Red Party member. It's a pity..."

Wang Yan shook his head and sighed, then the conversation changed: "But why should it have anything to do with me whether he is a Red Party member or not? Why should I know about it? Although his rank is a bit higher, he is just a logistics manager after all. I have dozens of people under me at his level; it's already good that I have an impression of him. You aren't running over here to bluff me, are you? Could it be that you don't know my situation?

I have been doing business with the Red Party for so many years, and I have spent a lot of money to open up trade routes in the Japanese-occupied areas and the Nationalist-controlled areas. Now I am even helping the Red Party sell penicillin and helping them unify the purchase of materials. In my company and on my trade routes, could there be no Red Party people? Not just the Red Party, could there be no Military Statistics Bureau or Central Statistics Bureau people? Could there be no people from the Special Higher Police or the Iwai Tianyue Gongguan? And you, haven't you planted people under me? They got into trouble, and you come to me to hold me accountable?"

Wang Man Chun snorted coldly: "Yan Zhengcai was caught last night. He started confessing after ten o'clock. His superior is Li Zhaonian, the Assistant Regional Commander manager of Yonghua Industrial. Our people went to Yonghua Industrial and missed him, then went to his residence and couldn't find anyone either. His wife and children are all gone. You wouldn't just have some impression of this Li Zhaonian too, would you? Are you still saying it has nothing to do with you?"

Wang Yan shook his head and sighed: "I know the Red Party has people under me, but I didn't expect it to be Li Zhaonian. Of course I know him; he is steady and diligent in his work, and he has assisted Gu Zhang Yongcheng well. He has been under me for two years. I really didn't see that he was a Red Party member. It's a pity. But if you say it has something to do with me, it's still too far-fetched. If you say he embezzled my money, then it has something to do with me, but he is a Red Party member—is that something I can decide?"

"That Fang Yuantu from before, I forgot what his Japanese name was, I joined the police station at about the same time as him. But for so many years, I didn't discover he was Japanese. If it weren't for him blocking my path, I wouldn't have discovered this in my whole life. He spoke Shanghai dialect, married a Shanghai wife, and even had children. How deep was he hiding? What about the Red Party? They can make the Japanese have a headache; isn't that hiding even deeper? You can't just put the hat on me because there are Red Party members under me."

"Don't think I don't know how many times you and the Japanese have investigated me inside and out. If there were really a problem, I would have died eight hundred times over. Could I still be here drinking warmed wine, eating hot pot, and admiring the snow scene? You go find Gu Zhang Yongcheng for this matter; he knows more about Li Zhaonian. I still don't know that much. Besides, help me make an appointment with Nantian Yangzi; I will express my apologies to her for everything being my subordinate's business. As for Iwai Eiichi, I will also go to explain it later."

Wang Yan had thought about this kind of thing long ago, after all, his subordinates were packed with Red Party members. They were in different positions and divided into different small groups. Maybe everyone was a Red Party member, but no one knew who anyone else was.

This incident, from No. 76 to the rickshaw company, and finally to the two managers of Yonghua Industrial, involved four people, three of whom worked under him. There was no doubt that this was one of the intelligence lines. And the vanished Li Zhaonian, who reached him after two transfers and was himself a Assistant Regional Commander manager, must be of high rank, leading multiple intelligence lines within Yonghua Industrial. Above him, it might even be Ming Lou.

As for why they were lurking in the confidential section and still had to take information out, of course, it was because this person didn't know Ming Lou's identity. Another point was that Ming Lou, this deputy director, had much less power compared to Li Shiqun, who held real power. There was a lot of confidential information that he couldn't get either. Especially since he had only returned to Shanghai for two months, and had neither mixed with Wang Zhaoming before nor had any intersection with Ding Mocun, he was still not that highly valued. Otherwise, how could Nantian Yangzi and Wang Man Chun have been suspicious of Ming Lou all along...

Hearing Wang Yan's words, Wang Man Chun burst into laughter: "I thought you would be scared when you heard this news."

"That's looking down on me too much. If this little thing could scare me, how could I have lived until today? If you brought more people, maybe I would really be afraid."

Wang Man Chun turned to say: "Your North Station warehouse has already been sealed off by the military police, and we are screening the people inside. Gu Zhang Yongcheng and Shi Changxing have both been brought to No. 76, but neither of them is cooperating, saying they must see you before they can talk. Out of respect for you, we didn't want to go too far, which is why I came to find you."

"Don't look so ugly. Both of them are being provided with good food and drink, and I didn't intend to use them to make a case against you; it's just normal questioning. It's just that they are too sensitive and too cautious, refusing to say anything, insisting that you must go over. I didn't want to disturb you originally, and I was going to tell you tonight."

Wang Yan raised his head and took a sip of wine, let out a long breath, and sighed: "Truly, when one is under the eaves, one cannot help oneself..."

That Yan Zhengcai persisted until after ten o'clock before speaking, just to give Li Zhaonian a reminder. When he didn't see anyone at work, he naturally understood what was going on. And No. 76 asking Nantian Yangzi for instructions, then gathering personnel to take action, surrounding the North Station warehouse, cutting off telephone lines, and a series of other things—it would take at least an hour. Then arresting Gu Zhang Yongcheng and Shi Changxing, his two great generals, and finally Wang Man Chun appearing before him—the time now was after twelve o'clock.

The people who made the decisions were all in the warehouse, and the leaders were arrested, which was why Wang Yan hadn't received the news yet. However, he thought it would be soon, because the Japanese action was too big, and he had his people elsewhere who must have long since found ways to contact him. It was just because of the heavy snow today that his whereabouts hadn't been found for a moment.

"Otherwise, what do you want to do? Resist Japan? Do you have that kind of guts?" Wang Man Chun rolled her eyes: "Are you going or not? Your subordinates are waiting for you to save them."

"Anyway, the people have been arrested, and you have sealed the warehouse, so what's the hurry? Let's talk after finishing the meal." Wang Yan shook his head and asked curiously: "How was that Red Party member in the confidential section exposed? Did he take documents out?"

Wang Man Chun giggled: "It's interesting to say, it's just that he was too unlucky. People in the confidential room can go to the archives to file documents, but when he went to file documents, he sent the archives people away and flipped through documents he shouldn't have been looking at. It just so happened that someone walked in at this time and caught him red-handed. That Red Party member's skills were also a bit poor, and he was captured alive directly. This is 'getting it without any effort'; just two months ago I caught more than half of the telecommunications department, and one hidden mole jumped out by himself. It really is..."

Wang Yan also couldn't help but shake his head. In underground work, luck is also a very important part. It couldn't be said that this comrade wasn't cautious; at that time, he chose to send the archives people away, must have felt that there were few people going at that time, and happened to catch a loophole in the archives, so he took the risk. After all, it was impossible for the archives to have only one person, but he sent them away and got a gap. There are really not many people who can resist not taking action when they get such an opportunity; he was indeed unlucky.

Just at this moment, a person wearing a trench coat and a fedora entered from outside. He didn't even stop his footsteps at the entrance and headed straight for Wang Yan. However, seeing Wang Man Chun sitting opposite Wang Yan, and Wang Yan's impatient waving of his hand, he had to turn around and leave in disappointment. His news delivery wasn't timely, and his big brother had an opinion...