Chapter 449: Stealth Against the Light

Chen Xueru's eyes lit up when she saw He Yushui run into the shop, thinking He Yuzhu had followed her. A smile immediately bloomed on her face as she went up to stroke her little head: "Did your brother come too?"

He Yushui shook her head: "My dad brought us today. Sister Xueru, can we put our clothes on a tab? Let my brother pay for them later."

"That's no problem at all!" Chen Xueru replied readily. "Pick out whatever you like. Your brother still owes me a meal anyway, so I'll settle it with him all at once after the New Year!"

"Sister, then I won't be polite!" He Yushui cheered, turning to call out to her companions, "Xiaomi, Dahua, Xiaoqi, Ding Li, Xiaomaisui, Yu Haitang, pick whatever you want, my brother is paying! Don't be shy!"

Before the words were even out of her mouth, she was already skipping toward the clothing racks. Xiaomi, Dahua, and Xiaoqi followed happily. Xiaomaisui and Yu Haitang, however, stood where they were—they were truly too embarrassed to pick such expensive clothes, let alone have someone else pay for them.

Just then, He Daqing strolled slowly into the shop and nodded at Chen Xueru.

The two had met at Cai Quanwu's wedding, so they were acquaintances.

Chen Xueru walked over and poured a cup of tea for He Daqing: "Uncle He, the New Year is almost here, why don't you pick out a new outfit too?"

He Daqing waved his hand: "The clothes here are too expensive. With the salary I earn, I can't afford many."

"Look at you," Chen Xueru said with a smile, "Zhuzi is so wealthy, just pick what you like and put it on his tab. Let him pay."

He Daqing still shook his head: "Actually, I'm not short on clothes. If I dress too well, others might think I've been embezzling."

"You have a point," Chen Xueru continued, "but how can you not get new clothes for the New Year? How about I pick one out for you, and consider it a gift from me!"

"It's not easy for you to run a business, forget it, forget it," He Daqing declined.

"My relationship with Zhuzi is like family, are you still going to be formal with me?" Chen Xueru said affectionately.

Upon hearing this, He Daqing's heart skipped a beat, though he still kept a smile on his face: "Does Xueru have a partner yet?"

"I suppose I do," Chen Xueru's eyes flickered, "This person is actually quite familiar to you."

He Daqing immediately caught the implication and thought to himself: Does this Chen Xueru know that Zhuzi already has a child? Could this brat be playing both sides? If that's really the case, I'll have to teach him a lesson when I get back.

At the Municipal Bureau, Li Xiangxiu, who was in charge of the Mei Feng prison break case, had a rather unique way of investigating.

She didn't bring people into the interrogation room; instead, she visited everyone who knew Xiao Geng one by one, chatting as if they were just neighbors gossiping.

The first one she found was Xiao Dou. He and Xiao Geng were fellow villagers from Hebei, their villages separated by no more than three miles. The two had served in the army together and then transferred to the Municipal Bureau together.

When Xiao Dou saw that the person asking questions was a young woman with a gentle and honest demeanor, tears immediately welled up: "Comrade Li, you must clear Xiao Geng's name... otherwise his family really won't be able to go on. His father is disabled and still has to support three children and two elderly people... His family has it so hard, Xiao Geng always lived frugally, he couldn't bear to spend a single penny..."

Li Xiangxiu nodded, her tone steady: "Rest assured, we will not let the bad guys go, and we will never wrong a good person. Tell me, what did Xiao Geng do in his spare time?"

"He just loved playing poker with colleagues. He was happy with anything that didn't cost money, and he wouldn't touch anything that did," Xiao Dou said, wiping his tears.

"Did he have any dealings with people outside?"

Xiao Dou shook his head: "Apart from a few comrades-in-arms, he had no friends outside. He wouldn't even leave the gate more than a few times a month. Comrade Li, I can stake my life on it, if Xiao Geng is a spy, you can shoot me!"

"It hasn't come to that," Li Xiangxiu said softly.

"Comrade Li, Xiao Geng's uncle was press-ganged by the Bald Party and died in the Northeast. His father got polio, and one leg doesn't work right. After his uncle left, his aunt ran away too, so his father ended up raising his uncle's son and daughter... If they find out Xiao Geng is gone, the family will collapse..." Xiao Dou said, choking up again.

Listening to this, Li Xiangxiu suddenly remembered that her own family had almost been destroyed during her Childhood, and if it hadn't been for He Yuzhu giving her a job, she probably wouldn't be alive today. She fought back the sting in her nose and continued to ask: "Xiao Dou, do you think it's possible that Xiao Geng... was lured by spies because of money?"

"Absolutely impossible! If you don't believe me, go look at his home, they've been honest people for generations," Xiao Dou said firmly.

"But this matter with Xiao Geng... we are currently lacking witnesses," Li Xiangxiu mused.

Xiao Dou suddenly burst into tears: "Comrade Li, last night Xiao Geng even came to me in a dream, saying that underground... it's freezing! You must clear his name..."

A chill ran down Li Xiangxiu's back, but she remained calm: "Don't worry, I will get to the bottom of this as soon as possible."

She visited a few more people, and the accounts she received were much the same as Xiao Dou's.

After making the rounds, she had already reached a conclusion: Xiao Geng could not possibly be a spy, and he was a good person—he sent almost his entire monthly salary home while living an extremely meager life himself.

Li Xiangxiu went straight to find Tian Dan and got straight to the point: "Dan, this case is actually very simple, Xiao Geng was murdered. You've been at the Municipal Bureau for a long time, you must know who did it."

Tian Dan nodded: "I am one hundred percent sure that Zhou Hao ordered it, but without hard evidence, I can't touch him."

Li Xiangxiu lowered her voice: "Xiao Dou said that Xiao Geng came to him in a dream... saying it's very cold underground."

Tian Dan was stunned, then shook her head: "Don't give me that mystical stuff, just say what you mean."

Li Xiangxiu suddenly looked up: "If Xiao Geng has already been murdered... could his body still be hidden inside this compound?"

Tian Dan slammed the table: "If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have thought of that! Hurry and check the sewers—it might just match that 'dream'!"

Two hours later, Li Xiangxiu and her team found Xiao Geng's body in the sewer near the kitchen.

The Municipal Bureau was immediately abuzz with discussion, and morale was unsettled: who exactly killed Xiao Geng?

Not long after, the Deputy Bureau Chief received a Secret Letter alleging that Tian Dan was a spy for Taiwan and that she controlled over a hundred latent spies under her command.

Tian Dan was suspended for investigation.

He Yuzhu, who was in the middle of a meal, received a call from Li Xiangxiu.

"He Yuzhu, Dan has been taken into custody!"

"Temporarily activate Nanluoguxiang 91, come over immediately," He Yuzhu said.

"I'm on my way."

Hao Yuan was a stronghold used by Lao Zhou back when he was doing underground work, featuring a soundproof cellar and secret passages.

He Yuzhu arrived first and released Mei Feng from his space.

Mei Feng woke up, still thinking he was in the tunnels near the Great Wall. Seeing He Yuzhu, he was shocked: "How is it you?"

"You know me?" He Yuzhu raised an eyebrow.

"Don't forget I'm in intelligence, how could I not know you?" Mei Feng quickly regained his composure, as expected of a veteran intelligence agent.

"That letter slandering Tian Dan, you wrote it, didn't you? Your writing style is quite good," He Yuzhu said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Tian Dan has been our person since 1943, a core sleeper agent. We didn't want to activate her so early, but our recent losses were too great, so we had no choice. I didn't expect your methods to be so clever that you still dug her out. You won, I concede," Mei Feng was still trying to confuse the situation.

He Yuzhu laughed: "If I hadn't personally dealt with Feng Qingbo, I might have actually been fooled by you. Mei Feng, if you confess honestly today, I won't let you suffer; if you remain stubborn, I will make you wish you were dead."

Mei Feng also laughed: "I know you have rules, you can't do anything to me."

He Yuzhu sneered: "This isn't the Municipal Bureau, and I'm not an official officer. Even if I were to slice your flesh off piece by piece to make hot pot, no one would ever know."

"Then give it a try," Mei Feng provoked.

He Yuzhu said no more. He brought over a large wooden barrel and shoved Mei Feng's head into the water with force. He pulled him out only when he was nearly suffocated, and after repeating this five times, Mei Feng was completely limp, incontinent, and in a pathetic state.

"Do you still want to keep making things up?" He Yuzhu asked indifferently.

At this moment, Li Xiangxiu walked into the cellar and was hit by the smell inside, causing a wave of nausea.

Mei Feng's face was drained of all color, his breath as thin as a gossamer thread: "I... I'll talk."

Li Xiangxiu looked at He Yuzhu: "You caught him, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

He Yuzhu smiled: "This kid knows how to deal with your methods, but he can't deal with mine."