Chapter 674

Hearing this, Wang Yan froze mid-pick, looking up at Gu Zhang Yongcheng, who was watching him warily, then at Shi Changxing, who was forcing a nervous smile—until both men broke into sweat and their eyes darted away, at which point he used his chopsticks to pluck a slice of lamb from the pot, dipped it in sauce, and ate it.

He said: "You two are also Red Party?"

Finally speaking, Shi Changxing wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead; the silence had been terrifying. The boss's face was expressionless, his eyes calm as a deep well, no threatening words spoken—but that very stillness carried a lethal aura, radiating deadly danger.

He leaned forward cautiously, lowering his voice: "Brother Yan, how would we dare? We're living fine now—why risk death ourselves? It was Li Zhao who came to us. Back then… damn, Gu, I can't explain it, you tell him."

Gu Zhang Yongcheng was just as terrified. Though he helped Wang Yan with business and hadn't handled much dirty work, he still knew. He wasn't outright evil, but he didn't blink at killing. Eight out of ten Shanghai street tales about Wang Yan were true—how terrifying was that?

He exhaled, whispering: "Brother Yan, this morning, when I arrived for the company meeting, I noticed Yan Zhengcai wasn't there. Yan Zhengcai was my most diligent subordinate—we started at 8:30, and he always arrived by 8. In two years, he'd only taken a few personal leaves, never been late—not even in downpours."

So I noticed his absence, and after the meeting, I called his home—no one answered. Then I asked Manager Shi to send someone to check his house. That's when Li Zhao walked straight into my office and confronted us both. He said Yan Zhengcai was Red Party, and so was he. He told us Yan Zhengcai had been arrested, and he needed our help to hide him and smuggle him out of Shanghai.

Manager Shi panicked immediately, pulled his pistol, and pressed it to Li Zhao's head, demanding why he should cooperate. Li Zhao, true to his Red Party roots, didn't flinch even with a gun at his temple. He said he knew some secret dealings between Yonghua Industries and the Red Party—if the Japanese captured him, he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't talk. That would bring us massive trouble. He was certain we wouldn't kill him, because if we couldn't find him in Shanghai and lost contact with the Red Party for a while, they'd come after us.

He also said we had many Red Party members under us—if we killed him, we couldn't cover it up. The situation was urgent, and with this heavy snowfall, we couldn't reach you immediately, nor dare call. So for safety's sake, we did as Li Zhao asked and hid him and his family in our secret warehouse near the suburbs.

That's the whole story, Brother Yan—we're not Red Party. Li Zhao trapped us. We had no choice, and we couldn't just stand by."

Wang Yan nodded, then turned to Shi Changxing: "Tell me, how did he find you?"

Shi Changxing strained to recall: "I think it was around nine. I was playing cards with the boys when Gu's secretary came to get me—he told me Gu's message. I sent my man Xiao Wu to check things out, then went to Gu's office. Before I could even speak, Li Zhao walked in and laid it all out—just as Gu described."

"Clean up all traces? Any loose ends?"

"Brother Yan, I stake my head on it—no problems at all. Especially with this snowstorm still going, all traces are buried. The only risk is the four men who took Li Zhao's family away. They're loyal, but this can't be sloppy—if a whisper leaks, we're all dead. I plan to send them to Yan'an with Li Zhao—I specifically picked men with no families. Once there, assign them jobs, get them wives, and bury them in Yan'an."

Wang Yan turned to Gu Zhang Yongcheng: "The arms and medicine traded secretly with the Red Party—weren't those handled directly by you two? Li Zhao was only an assistant manager at Yonghua Industries—how did he know?"

Here, "Red Party" referred to the guerrillas active in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Medicine could be smuggled through them, but arms were too hard to transport so far. Though there were surface-level deals, obviously, those quantities were insufficient. Yet without them, the arrangement looked suspicious—so this secret trade existed.

He never dealt directly with the guerrillas. Instead, he diverted part of the payment through trade to Yan'an, and Yan'an would dispatch a liaison to contact Shi Changxing. Meanwhile, Shi Changxing would meet Red Party procurement agents to buy arms and medicine, with the cost covered by inflating the next shipment's invoice—selling at barely above cost, cheaper than the black market.

Many people participated in this transaction, but only a handful knew the full truth. Gu Zhang Yongcheng knew because the volume of goods sent to the Soviet Zone was fixed—as general manager of Yonghua Industries, he noticed discrepancies he couldn't ignore. Also, Gu Zhang Yongcheng was a Shanghai native—his entire family of over twenty lived under Wang Yan's control. If he slipped, his whole family died.

As for the accountants, they only matched receipts—they knew nothing of the truth. There were no fake ledgers. Wang Yan ensured financial chaos—he himself couldn't understand it, so no one else could find flaws. He only needed to know the actual inventory; the ledger numbers meant nothing to him.

Financial chaos naturally made embezzlement harder to detect—normal enough. A little theft didn't matter; too much, and rumors spread. After all, in these times, stealing public funds was to improve one's own life—few hoarded without spending. Shi Changxing handled this—he heard rumors, investigated, caught culprits, and sent them to hard labor until they dropped dead.

Gu Zhang Yongcheng shook his head: "I don't know. Maybe he's been here too long and noticed some clues. He's Assistant Regional Commander manager—even if he doesn't manage operations, he can't avoid seeing business info."

Wang Yan glanced at him, nodded: "Since he's already hidden, it's too late to argue. Move fast—get him to Yan'an. Also, use the secret radio to contact them, explain everything, and make sure to express our displeasure. It won't help, but we must show our stance."

We're eating off the Red Party now—penicillin sells like wildfire. With war raging in Europe, medicine prices are skyrocketing, and we're making a fortune. But we can't be held hostage by them. This incident proves the money's scalding hot, deadly. Tell the Red Party: we understand they send people, but no more involvement in intelligence. Don't drag us into intelligence work—that's setting me up to fail."

You two too—be more discreet from now on. Don't get caught. No matter what your true feelings are, we're all on the same rope—if anything breaks, none of us escape. When I get desperate, I'll switch sides, join the Japanese to save my skin—do you think working for them will be better? You'll be worse than dogs."

Also, today's incident—Japanese troops surrounded the warehouse by 11 a. m., and I didn't find out until noon—thanks to Wang Manchun telling me. What the hell are your people doing? What good are they? If you two got arrested, the rest just panicked, running headfirst into walls, no plan at all?"

We've lived peacefully for years, but that doesn't mean no danger, no deaths. Peace makes people soft. Go back and clean house—each of your subordinate bosses, I want them shaken. All they do is drink, gamble, chase women—still any use? If you can't, get out now. Plenty want your spot. Disobedient? Family law applies. Understood?"

With that, the matter was closed. Both men exhaled deeply, nodding vigorously, swearing loyalty.

"Eat."

"Brother Yan, I swear—I'm starving. This Sichuan hotpot is great—warms you right through." Shi Changxing groaned, then called back: "Ah Si! Done with business—come quick, come quick!"

Gu Zhang Yongcheng chimed in: "Hotpot's only fun when everyone gathers around—warm, lively, tastes better, eats better."

Qi Si scooped meat from the pot and hurried over, laughing and livening the mood—suddenly the table buzzed with energy.

Wang Yan said nothing, sipping hot liquor, eating the boiled meat. This was what Qi Si wanted—he said he hadn't eaten enough at lunch and wanted another round…

Though uncertain, Wang Yan had formed a basic judgment on Shi Changxing and Gu Zhang Yongcheng: Shi Changxing might be clean, but Gu Zhang Yongcheng was very likely Red Party.

Red Party members aren't that foolish. When trouble hits, their first move isn't to confess and blackmail Gu Zhang Yongcheng—they'd contact others who might be affected, then flee immediately. And Li Zhao wasn't an idiot—he wouldn't sabotage Wang Yan's ties with the Red Party; the damage to the Soviet Zone would be too great.

Even if captured, even if the Japanese interrogated him about Yonghua Industries, he could lie about trivial matters—he didn't need to reveal secrets. If he did, he'd die horribly anyway. Because Pei Min was embedded in Shanghai—this was public knowledge. Exposing Yonghua's secrets would be a major blow to the Soviet Zone. Even a normal person could see that. Especially a Red Party elite, carefully selected and sent behind enemy lines.

Li Zhao wouldn't dare act alone. So in that emergency, instead of fleeing, he waited until nine to confront Gu Zhang Yongcheng—something was off.

That flaw could only lie with Gu Zhang Yongcheng.

At the morning meeting, Li Zhao noticed his subordinate Yan Zhengcai absent—with no prior notice or leave request—he must have been compromised. So during the meeting, he exchanged glances with Gu Zhang Yongcheng. Yonghua's morning meetings were brief—state the issue, then get to work.

Given today's snowstorm, the meeting's agenda was simple: confirm delivery dates to avoid breach penalties. Even a gangster company couldn't ignore that. Business relied on reliability—if you used force to solve problems, what would others think? Future business would vanish. So even Wang Yan, a gang boss, had to follow the rules—he couldn't just bully.

Also: snow removal, warehouse inspections to prevent roof collapses, losses. And because Boss Wang was kind-hearted, he ensured good treatment for workers—so they had to arrange a quick survey: who was in dire straits, freezing at home? Also check employee health to prevent mass flu outbreaks halting operations.

These few items took little time. Gu Zhang Yongcheng's call to Yan Zhengcai's home took minutes. Yet his secretary didn't approach Shi Changxing until nine. There was a gap—during that time, Gu Zhang Yongcheng and Li Zhao must have discussed the situation and decided to reveal their identities, using Wang Yan's power to escape Shanghai.

All because the snow was too heavy for Li Zhao to flee with his family.

Also, Li Zhao was originally interviewed by Gu Zhang Yongcheng—Wang Yan sat in on the interview—and later promoted on Gu Zhang Yongcheng's recommendation. This man was tied to Gu Zhang Yongcheng.

Altogether, Gu Zhang Yongcheng was very likely Red Party—tasked with aiding Red Party operations while spying on Wang Yan.

Judging from Li Zhao's case, Gu Zhang Yongcheng was probably part of the Shanghai underground cell, not directly under central command. But central agents must exist—perhaps not yet promoted, or hidden among dozens of other managers.

Another clue: last year's prison break, several Red Party members disguised as workers, slipped out of Shanghai with cargo to Yan'an. In the office that day, Gu Zhang Yongcheng masked it well—but for an instant, his eyes betrayed complex emotion.

The Red Party's infiltration is impressive. Even someone like Gu Zhang Yongcheng—half a confidant—is Red Party, and this is Shanghai, where Wang Yan watches closely. What about his other branches?

He's surrounded by Red Party. But luckily—he himself is Red Party too, the deepest one of all…

In fact, the more openly he acts, the less he's suspected. The Japanese and Wang Jingwei's regime all say he has no secrets—his only secret is how much money he has.

That sounds like flattery—but it's the truth. His wealth is his real secret. If anyone traced his business lines, inside and out, they'd find Yonghua's funds ultimately flowed to Yan'an.

But that's the hardest task. His business lines are chaotic, with too many intermediaries. Without massive manpower and widespread visits, external investigation is nearly impossible. Internal investigation requires high rank—but frankly, enemy intelligence operatives are far inferior to either party's agents.

Because both parties' personnel include many highly educated intellectuals—especially the Red Party, far ahead. This stems from different circumstances: the Red Party has long been weak, constantly suppressed by the Kuomintang. Their vision most attracts idealistic intellectuals—those who reject base pleasures and fight for ideals. Behind-enemy-lines infiltration, especially technical roles, demands literacy—otherwise, one can only serve as an operative, mostly silent.

Enemy agents are different. Their ranks are mixed: some elite from both parties, mostly petty opportunists who shift with the wind—working only for themselves, for a better life. The capable are busy fighting for power and glory; the incompetent just follow orders.

Could a capable enemy agent be planted under Wang Yan? Hell no—wearing the traitor's label, joining the Japanese, just to work as a wage slave under Wang Yan? Cut off from power centers, no achievements mean no return; with achievements, Wang Yan would kill them anyway. And Wang Yan himself is a gang boss—if discovered, the only outcome is feeding the Huangpu River.

As for the incompetent, they can't rise under Wang Yan—no education, no skills, useless anywhere. Can they fight? How did Wang Yan start? His men are all brutal, fearless killers—he feeds their families, and they just loaf around, bullying the common folk—who the hell do they think they are?

But now the Red Party's structure has a problem: Gu Zhang Yongcheng is general manager of Yonghua Industries—he shouldn't risk involvement in intelligence. Yet Li Zhao participated in intelligence—this shouldn't have happened.

The only explanation: they're two separate systems, different responsibilities, but aware of each other's identities, using Yonghua Industries as cover. Now, due to this incident, their paths crossed.

Regardless, the problem is resolved—it's no longer his direct issue. But he must still make a statement. Because no matter the process, as a "Red Party partner," the outcome he knows is: Li Zhao recklessly exposed himself, blackmailed him, dragged Yonghua Industries into danger, and damaged his friendship with the Red Party—he must file this complaint.

That night, the Wang Mansion's radio, silent for so long, sent a signal across a thousand miles—to Chongqing.

Wang Yan summarized the events concisely, emphasizing Li Zhao's actions—their terrible impact, the grave danger to him.

Soon, the radio signal returned; amid the muffled beeping beeping beeping beeping, the message was translated using the codebook in Wang Yan's mind.

"Acknowledged. Once the facts are verified, action will be taken. The situation in Shanghai is grave; remain cautious."

……