Chapter 696: Leaders Are the Ones Who Solve Problems

At the government office building of the Wang puppet government, Ming Cheng raised his wrist to check the time, stood up, straightened his clothes, pushed open the door of the office next to him, and walked in.

"Big Brother, it's about time; let's go."

Ming Lou, behind the desk, shook his head: "Wang Yan just called me, saying he has something temporary to do and rescheduled."

"Perhaps the most idle person in the Shanghai Bund is him; why does he suddenly have something to do?" Ming Cheng frowned, stepped forward a few steps to be closer to Ming Lou, and whispered, "Big Brother, he went to the Iwai Tianyue Gongguan to drink tea this morning; could it be that he knows something and is afraid of trouble, which is why he won't see us?"

Ming Lou didn't speak, stood up and left the office, got into the car with Ming Cheng, and only then said in a deep voice: "What you just said is about the same as what I thought. Having known him for more than two years, nearly three, no matter who it is, as long as they are qualified to ask him to eat, he basically hasn't declined. How about this, after you drop me off at the restaurant in a while, go and find out quickly who Wang Yan drank tea with this morning, and where and with whom Wang Yan had lunch."

"Yes, I'll go right now."

Wang Yan's whereabouts were probably the easiest to find out in the whole Shanghai Bund. Who went to the Iwai Tianyue Gongguan in the morning was even less difficult. And Ming Cheng wasn't a fool; although Ming Lou said to find out who drank tea with Wang Yan at the Iwai Tianyue Gongguan, the people who needed attention were just those few. The ones who could affect them were either the Special High Police or No. 76...

After Ming Lou had lunch, Ming Cheng returned in a hurry, carrying Ming Lou back to work, speaking while driving: "Big Brother, this morning, Kitagawa Kosuke went to the Iwai Tianyue Gongguan to find Iwai Eiichi for some work matters; it just so happened that Wang Yan had an appointment with Iwai Eiichi to drink tea in the morning, so the three of them should have drunk tea together. Afterward, Wang Yan left the Iwai Tianyue Gongguan and called Gu Yongcheng and Shi Changxing to have lunch at Guangdelou in the French Concession. He didn't have something temporary to do, but didn't want to see us. Big Brother, something must have gone wrong somewhere, making Kitagawa Kosuke focus his attention on us."

"I think so too." Ming Lou nodded, frowning, "But what we don't know is where exactly the problem lies. You also think carefully about whether there were any flaws in our actions recently."

For a time, the car was quiet, and both of them were thinking hard about where the problem lay.

After a long time, Ming Cheng let out a long breath: "Big Brother, I've thought about it over and over; the previous intelligence delivery and secret rescues were all fine; our superiors and subordinates were all very safe, and we haven't exposed our tracks in two years; the problem shouldn't be with us; could it be that Ming Tai in Beijing was exposed?"

"What about Big Sister? Has she had any actions recently?"

"You know this best, Big Brother; Big Sister just does business, sending some supplies to the Soviet area and other base areas, helping the organization with capital turnover; apart from that, there's nothing else. Now Big Sister also knows our identities; if there were really any problems or accidents, she would definitely tell us the first time."

Ming Lou was silent for a moment, shook his head and said: "Wait until we go back tonight and ask. In addition, Wang Yan, we also have to ask. On the surface, he definitely won't see us, and he won't say too much to us on the phone. But there is also Yu Manli by his side; you go and contact her, let her go back and ask Wang Yan. This time the Special High Police didn't use No. 76; they must have been prepared and must have sent people to watch us secretly; you must be careful, don't show any flaws; you cannot be exposed, and Yu Manli cannot be exposed either."

"Yes, Big Brother, I will arrange it in a while."

"Don't forget to eat. Now that they haven't moved against us, and no one has told us anything, it means they haven't mastered the actual evidence regarding us. As long as we two are fine, Big Sister is safe. So we must be calm and composed, and every step must be steady and good."

"Yes, Big Brother, calm and composed." Ming Cheng smiled, then said, "I thought about it carefully; do you think this is Wang Yan intentionally reminding us?"

"Perhaps there is that aspect; after all, we are his God of Wealth, but the key is that he doesn't want to attract trouble. If he really knew something, he wouldn't even want to deal with it; he is afraid that if something happens, he won't be able to explain it clearly. Speaking of which, it can be considered that he is quite particular. Otherwise, by the time the Japanese guns were pointed at our heads, we wouldn't even know where the problem lay."

"Big Brother, do you think Yu Manli can ask any news from Wang Yan's mouth?"

"She should be able to reveal some; we are both Military Statistics and the Shanghai underground party; how could he not give this face..."

Ming Lou was right; even if Wang Yan wasn't a Communist Party member, even if Wang Yan was a player who defected to the Japanese to live, he would definitely have to reveal some news to give face. In this aspect, he belonged to the same situation as Zhou Fuhai.

So at dinner time, when Yu Manli asked about this, Wang Yan shook his head and smiled: "Found you so soon?"

Yu Manli blinked, leaned her body toward the table: "They found me after 2:00 PM; can you say it? If you can't say it, how should I reply?"

Look, this is what happens when affection grows over time. What Yu Manli said was completely from Wang Yan's perspective, not Military Statistics. Of course, she was now a Communist Party member; although she didn't know if she was a real party member or an activist, she didn't care much about Military Statistics; she had no sense of belonging to Military Statistics, and Wang Tianfeng, the person she feared most, was already dead, so she had no feelings for Military Statistics.

"Of course I can say it; Military Statistics' face must be given." Wang Yan laughed and said, "However, I can't say much; after all, I can't be sure how many people Kitagawa Kosuke told; according to my understanding of them, probing is everywhere; it's very likely he only told me. So once the matter leaks out, I probably won't be able to run. What I can tell Ming Lou is that the matter lies with Ming Jing; let them check it themselves; whether they live or die depends on how hard their lives are."

"Then what you said is the same as not saying anything?" Yu Manli rolled her eyes, "Just saying it has to do with Ming Jing, what can they find out? At least say a few more words."

"I can't say any more, otherwise the one who dies will be me. Don't look at me like that; if it's really exposed, none of us will be able to run."

Wang Yan really couldn't say any more, because there was no way to determine how much intelligence the Japanese had mastered. If he poured out all the news he heard from Kitagawa Kosuke in the morning, and Ming Lou went back to arrange for the screening of the people on Ming Jing's line, one mistake would be startling the snake. Because no matter how much the Japanese mastered, they had control over the situation. So there was only one result: Ming Lou acted on the front foot, and he, Wang Mou, would be surrounded on the back foot.

This kind of risk was absolutely something he couldn't bear; the loss was too great. But the matter couldn't not be done; on one hand, it was to avoid the loss of the Shanghai underground party organization, and on the other hand, more importantly, although he didn't have much contact with Ming Jing, she was an ancestor and had to be worshipped. In a desperate situation, he would have to save her even if he was exposed.

And the key to this matter was that Ming Lou had to have no problems. Because now it seemed that the Japanese had already determined Ming Jing's problem and couldn't argue anymore. Only if Ming Lou had no problems could he protect Ming Jing and not require him, Wang Mou, to spend too much energy.

Ming Lou had to prove he had no problems; he had to understand the problems Ming Jing faced and determine whether it would eventually implicate him and endanger his safety. He had to find out the truth, break the current situation where the enemy was in the dark and they were in the light, and break the Japanese rhythm of action.

Ming Lou had to save himself; Wang Yan couldn't help him. Unless the development of the situation required the dispatch of a killer, this was Ming Lou's struggle, and the heavy responsibility rested on Ming Lou's shoulders.

That night, after a fierce collision, he arranged for Yu Manli, pressed her acupoints to make her sleep more deeply, and Wang Yan dressed neatly, sneaked out of the Wang Tianyue Gongguan, and rushed toward the safe house.

After four years, almost none of the safe houses he had set up before existed; only a few houses he had paid to buy were still there, but they weren't that safe either. After all, many people in this era wanted to live but had no place; empty houses with clothes covered in cloth inside were as conspicuous as could be in the eyes of those checking houses.

However, this clearly had no problem; otherwise, what safe house would he go to? It was because he had sent another sum of money to Lu Boda, asking the Shanghai underground party organization to help rent houses all over Shanghai one after another; he regularly went to take the directory of houses, still maintaining his "cunning rabbit has many burrows."

The safe house he went to this time was located in the French Concession. After all, the French Concession had now become an isolated island; in the surrounding Japanese-occupied areas, 24 hours a day, cars from the No. 76 and Special High Police telecommunications departments were driving around, monitoring radio waves and destroying underground activities of all parties. This led to the fact that most of the radio stations of various forces were now placed in the French Concession; the control here was not that strict, which could ensure safety.

Similarly, it was still a top floor; Wang Yan skillfully opened the lock and entered the room, gently closed the door, and then didn't stop his actions, immediately starting to set up the radio station, arrange the antenna, and perform debugging.

Not long after, he started contacting Chongqing; the intelligence, following his *da-da-da* operations, broke through the complex radio waves over the French Concession and reached Chongqing directly.

"Learned today that the Japanese army will carry out a large-scale sweep in North China, high frequency, large troop strength, intending to destroy our base area; prepare early. In addition, the Japanese army occupied Luzon yesterday..."

Wang Yan sent all the information he had seen on the second page regarding the Japanese army's combat situation in Southeast Asia and troop deployment; the previous Japanese telegram had already been refined, and he sent it all without missing a word.

"Again, the Special High Police discovered that Ming Lou's sister is communicating with the Communist Party... Please secretly investigate the matter of the Southern Jiangsu base and confirm whether any of our comrades have defected to the enemy. I cannot confirm how many people know about this situation; the Shanghai action must be extremely cautious. Cut off after copying; do not reply."

Wang Yan signed the name "Pei Min," and the long message was finally sent. Unsurprisingly, the comrade who copied the telegram on the other side must have had his hands cramped. It was also because it was too long, and translating the telegram was not an easy task, requiring a period of time, so he didn't wait for a reply and directly packed up the radio station and retreated.

Actually, there was no need to wait for a reply; it was still that sentence: he couldn't participate in this matter; it was mostly a reply of "understood," and then exhorting his safety. His leaders would arrange things clearly.

Within the party, he was just a front-line fighter, having the power of immediate decision-making, but ultimately obeying orders and listening to commands. He used his brain to find problems, but his leaders were the ones who solved them; he didn't need to use his brain for this.

Of course, there was no way; if he could solve it, he would just do it directly and report it later. But the current situation didn't have that condition; wanting to break the situation, Ming Lou's current situation of being in the dark was very difficult to achieve; only by starting from the outside could it be done.

If there was a problem in Southern Jiangsu, then investigate Southern Jiangsu; if there was a problem with Ming Jing's superiors and subordinates, then investigate the superiors and subordinates. Investigate secretly, find out the truth, and then naturally there would be a response.

But the final result could be predicted, which was that the Japanese army's action, which they thought was very certain, was accidentally broken by the Communist Party's operation, making the Japanese army respond in a hurry. And in this process, people would definitely die, more or less. This was to protect Wang Yan and protect his "innocence" on the Japanese side.

Otherwise, why would it be so laborious, why would it have to suffer such losses? Just plan a counter-strategy, use preparation to fight unpreparedness, and give the Japanese army a counter-kill.

Those comrades who died "more or less" were the ones who died for him...

Standing on the wall, Wang Yan looked at the unextinguished lamp in the Ming family's study, sighed silently, nimbly flipped into the Wang Tianyue Gongguan, and went to sleep...

Ming Lou was very tormented; after returning home from work, he and Ming Jing reviewed all the recent events, but the result was that everything was normal, and there were no accidents.

But this was clearly wrong; he had no problems here, and Ming Jing had no problems here, so why didn't Wang Yan see him? Using the excuse of having something temporary to do, but ended up eating and drinking with his subordinates; how could there be no problems?

That night, Ming Jing, Ming Lou, and Ming Cheng didn't rest well; they were all studying where the problem lay and couldn't sleep at all. But they all looked very energetic and went out to do things.

The busy morning passed, and Ming Lou, who had gone out, returned to the government office building before lunch, then picked up Ming Lou, and went to have lunch together.

Ming Lou nodded with a smile to the people passing by outside the window, and only after Ming Cheng drove the car onto the road and increased the speed did he ask: "How is it? What did Yu Manli say?"

"Wang Yan refused to say much, just saying the problem lies with Big Sister." Ming Cheng sighed helplessly, "But yesterday we already asked Big Sister; everything is as usual recently, and there is no problem at all."

"No! It's not that there is no problem, but that there has already been a problem, and we don't know..."

"Big Brother, do you mean that there is a traitor around Big Sister?"

"Besides this point, is there any other reasonable explanation? What was Wang Yan's original words?"

"What I can tell Ming Lou is that the matter lies with Ming Jing; let them check it themselves; whether they live or die depends on how hard their lives are."

Ming Lou nodded and pondered: "As early as our first meal, Wang Yan said Big Sister had problems; later, I helped her hide it again. And then we exposed our identities to Wang Yan; Wang Yan clearly knows that our Ming family are all Communist Party members. So his meaning is that Big Sister has already been exposed, and the Japanese have already mastered that Big Sister is a Communist Party member, or at the very least have mastered evidence of communicating with the Communist Party."

"What? Mastered evidence? In that case, isn't Big Sister in danger?" Ming Cheng braked, turned his head, and spoke anxiously.

Ming Lou, caught off guard, leaned forward due to inertia; fortunately, his reaction was still fast, and he used his waist and abdomen to reach out and support the passenger seat, stabilizing his figure.

He glared at Ming Cheng unhappily: "What are you panicking about? Drive your car well and watch your road. It's not like something has happened yet. Today is different from the past; Big Sister is not Ming Tai; as long as we are fine, Big Sister will be fine."

After Ming Cheng drove back onto the road, he continued: "I think it must be that someone around Big Sister was caught and turned by the Japanese, and then released back; step by step, they figured out some of Big Sister's situation, which is why there is the current crisis."

"Li Shu has dealings with Big Sister; will he be watched? And who is this traitor? Should we report to the organization immediately and carry out a screening operation?"

"Regarding Li Shu, you go and see in the afternoon; be careful. As for reporting to the organization to carry out a screening operation, it's not necessary for the time being; otherwise, wouldn't that harm Wang Yan and ruin the organization's major affairs? However, we need to know the situation of those people around Big Sister; let's investigate secretly first. We must also pay attention to the Japanese side; you go find Liang Zhongchun and see if he knows any situation."

"Yes, Big Brother, I will make an appointment with him to drink tonight."

Ming Lou let out a long breath, smoothed his hair back with both hands, and leaned back on the seat, exhausted... ===== CHAPTER 697 =====