Chapter 244: The Fish Has Taken the Bait

Huaihai Road.

Deep in the alley, Old Liu's Teahouse.

Xie Ruolin ordered a plate of peanuts and edamame, braised chicken feet, and a pot of tea.

Soon, Li Ya walked in.

"Mr. Xie, have you obtained the intelligence I wanted?" he asked as he sat down.

"Fo... foreign intelligence is not easy to get."

Xie Ruolin picked up a chicken foot and looked at him with a beaming smile while chewing.

Li Ya frowned slightly and took out a small gold bar, sliding it over.

"The intelligence was obtained.

"However, I spent a lot of money just on overseas calls and telegrams, and I had to rely on people from the Ministry of National Defense.

"Captain Li, you... you aren't being very generous with this."

Xie Ruolin spat out a mouthful of bone fragments and gave a dry laugh.

Li Ya glanced at him with displeasure, then counted out ten hundred-dollar bills and passed them over.

"Not enough.

"Need, need to add two more.

"Bi... big ones!"

Xie Ruolin stopped pretending, wiped his hands, and laid his cards on the table.

"Brother, you've got the wrong person to fleece; it's a pity Hong Zhiyou still praises you as some kind of industry conscience.

"I think you're the one with the black heart."

With nothing more to say, Li Ya sneered and stood up to leave.

"Don't, don't be in such a hurry to leave."

Xie Ruolin picked up the teapot with a beaming smile.

"If you knew her background, you wouldn't say that.

"You eat as much as your bowl can hold.

"People are different, after all.

"It's no exaggeration to say that if you give me a gold bar, I can tell you what the Generalissimo had for lunch today.

"But this... this woman is not easy to investigate.

"My business has always been: how much money, how much goods.

"Your, your goods are not ordinary.

"Trust me, I guarantee you won't lose out.

"Otherwise, if you walk out that door today, I guarantee that tomorrow... you might not even have the chance to regret it."

Xie Ruolin raised his eyebrows and stared at him, his smile still as gentle as a spring breeze.

"For the sake of that truckload of white sugar last time, I'll trust you once.

"I didn't bring that much today.

"Take this as a deposit.

"Let's be clear: if your intelligence isn't what I want, I won't pay you another cent."

Li Ya turned back, pulled out the gold bars and cash with a pained expression, and slammed them down in front of Xie Ruolin.

"Rest assured.

"If I dare to ask for this price, I dare to guarantee you'll be satisfied."

Xie Ruolin took the materials out of his briefcase and handed them to Li Ya.

Li Ya took them, opened them, and his face gradually turned ashen.

Mei Yingxue was actually an employee of MI6.

Moreover, her private life had been extremely chaotic while in England.

There were rumors of her being involved with school professors and many students.

Looking at the list above, the men she associated with were all foreigners, and she even had a record of an ab... abortion at a hospital.

Her current boyfriend, James, is an intelligence officer for MI6.

Currently... Deputy Head of the International Observation Group.

Mission to Jincheng: Top Secret.

"I got this intelligence by asking people at the Ministry of National Defense to hire the most professional private detectives in England; if you don't believe me, you can find someone to verify it.

"How about it? It didn't disappoint you, did it?

"Marrying an MI6 employee who's been played out by foreigners—only you, Captain Li, would dare to do that.

"This money wasn't spent in vain, right?"

Xie Ruolin shook his head and said with a smug look.

"Not in vain!" Li Ya frowned, feeling very uncomfortable.

He knew about Mei Yingxue going to the hotel to mess around.

But he hadn't expected this woman's past to be so filthy and unbearable.

Even more terrifying was that from the first time they met, Mei Yingxue had been calculating against him.

Love at first sight, my foot.

Damn it, it was clearly using his identity to steal intelligence for the foreigners.

Vicious!

"Don't you want to know what she and James came to Jincheng to do?"

Xie Ruolin tilted his chin, blinked, and asked with a smirk.

"Speak, how much more money do you want?" Li Ya said.

"This is too important.

"To put it lightly, it concerns your life.

"To put it heavily, it concerns the life of the Party-State.

"Same old rules: buying this will save your life, I definitely won't let you lose out."

Xie Ruolin tilted his head, lit a cigarette, and exhaled a few puffs.

As he spoke, he held up five fingers.

"Five large gold bars?" Li Ya asked in surprise.

"Isn't five large gold bars worth your life?" Xie Ruolin pursed his lips and gave a mercenary, dry laugh while bobbing his head at Li Ya.

"Put it on the tab, seven large gold bars in total." Li Ya hesitated for a moment before deciding on the deal.

"Isn't that settled then?

"Since I started this line of work, except for being tricked by you hiding Yuan Peilin, which caused our Director Sun to lose a fortune, I haven't received a single bad review yet.

"You can rest assured."

As Xie Ruolin spoke, he took another piece of intelligence out of his pocket:

"Take a look, you'll be grateful to me."

Li Ya opened it and was simply shocked.

He never expected that Mei Yingxue and James's intention was actually to sabotage Western military aid.

This was pure treason.

It was even a hundred times more detestable than traitors like Zhou Fuhai and Ding Mocun.

Right now, the Nationalist Army had just gained an advantage on the battlefield.

Hu Zongnan's army had already shouted the slogan of wiping out Yancheng in three months.

The Nationalist Army wasn't like the Reds, who could endure hunger and cold, survive on one steamed bun a day, gnaw on tree bark, eat wild vegetables, and reclaim wasteland.

With these pampered masters, if the Americans' flour and military aid were cut off at this critical juncture, with only the meager resources they had domestically, I'm afraid they would run out of food and start infighting before three months were up.

"How about it? It's saving your life, right?" Xie Ruolin squinted his eyes, lifted his chin with a sense of accomplishment, and asked with a smile.

"Yes.

"You could even hoard such important intelligence to make money; you've simply refreshed my bottom-line perception of the Party Affairs Bureau," Li Ya said, frowning.

"I've said it before, the Party Affairs Bureau is just where I collect my salary.

"To be honest, if you didn't buy it.

"For this piece of intelligence, if I turned around and sold it to the Reds, I'd get at least ten, maybe even twenty large gold bars.

"Being able to sell it to you at a cheap, bundled price is all out of... out of friendship."

Xie Ruolin said while puffing on his cigarette.

"Captain Li, I know you are currently in charge of the Intelligence Division and have a wealth of intelligence resources in your hands.

"Don't, don't you have some to leak?

"For the price we get from that, I'll give you an extra ten percent; you take sixty, I take forty."

Xie Ruolin continued.

Li Ya looked at him with a sneer.

"Then... then you take seventy, I take thirty.

"At least you have a traitor girlfriend and a Western-style house provided by the unit; I, I'm still living in a dilapidated bungalow, and my wife is nowhere in sight."

"Brother, this is already my limit."

Xie Ruo said.

"I have no interest in low-life affairs.

"I just want to wipe out the Reds, unify the world, ensure the old have a place to return to, and the young have an education; as for money, enough to wear, spend, and eat is fine.

"Betraying the interests of the Party and State is absolutely impossible.

"To be honest, I feel ashamed just sitting at the same table as you; I'm afraid I won't be able to resist shooting you dead."

Li Ya had high aspirations, and his words were merciless.

"Don't be like that.

"It's not yet certain whose world this will be in the future.

"Nowadays, throughout the National Government, there are many selling intelligence; the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry—can you shoot them all?

"Who still cares about the damn interests of the Party and State? Those are just principles talked about with the mouth; the heart is full of business.

"If we don't do this business, there are plenty of others who will.

"If you want to argue this point, you're just going against money.

"Believe me, people who go against money won't have a good end."

Xie Ruo tapped his fingers on the table, expounding on his business philosophy, trying to persuade Li Ya.

If one were to ask which place in Jinmen has the most and most authoritative intelligence?

It is definitely the Secret Service Bureau.

Yu Zecheng does not sell.

Since they are friends, it is inconvenient for Xie Ruo to pester him.

Hong Zhiyou sells selectively.

Neither of these are stable sources of channels.

In the past, Lu Qiaoshan and Sheng Xiang were the biggest intelligence peddlers in the Secret Service Bureau; now that Lu Qiaoshan is gone, the petty things Sheng Xiang scrapes together are not worth anything at all.

A huge vacuum has appeared in the intelligence market of the Shangquan Society.

If Li Ya could take over Lu Qiaoshan's operation, that would definitely be a joy for everyone.

"You should save this theory of money for someone else.

"Goodbye."

Li Ya put the intelligence into his bag, grabbed a handful of melon seeds and stuffed them into his pocket, then stood up and walked out.

"Mud that can't be plastered onto a wall.

"Deserves to be played by a woman."

Xie Ruo spat, quickly grabbed his things, and left.

After stepping out the door, he drove directly to an old residence in the HQ district.

"Old Shang, are you in?" Xie Ruo knocked on the door.

Soon, a middle-aged man with a flat top, wearing glasses and overalls, opened the door holding a precious sword.

"Old Shang, you've acquired new stock." Xie Ruo walked in, clutching his briefcase and smiling.

Old Shang was his mentor in the intelligence peddling business.

Back when Xie Ruo was still in university, he ran errands for this guy; that he has today is also due to being "washed" by Old Shang.

It's just that Old Xie has made it big now, and the two are not as close as before due to their business relationship.

"Yes, collected in Jibei, a Tang Dynasty battle saber; take a look at this material, this feel..." Old Shang loved collecting swords and sabers and couldn't help but gesture with it.

"Ca... careful now.

"Is there any solid information lately?"

Xie Ruo ducked his head and asked with a smile.

"Where would there be any solid information?

"Whatever there was has all been sold by you, my younger brother." Old Shang pointed the sword at him and sneered.

"Don't be like that.

"You are my Master; not to mention anything else, you are more familiar with the news in Yancheng than I am." Xie Ruo said.

"Heh, in your eyes, I suppose I only have this much use.

"Someone in Jinmen is secretly transporting supplies to Yancheng, taking the Beiping-Fangshan line..."

Before Old Shang could finish, he was interrupted by Xie Ruo:

"What kind of bird-brained intelligence is this? Didn't you already sell it to that father and daughter of the Mei family?

"As a result, Li Ya didn't catch anyone, and you were blackmailed for ten thousand US dollars by Ma Hansan.

"Only that pair of stupid father and daughter would be interested in such diarrhea-tier intelligence."

Old Shang curled his lips and didn't talk back.

"Yancheng is sealed very tightly lately; Hu Zongnan is about to launch a major attack. If you can get intelligence from the Xi'an Pacification Commissioner's Office, I can buy it at a high price.

"The Reds love these things right now."

Xie Ruo said.

"Easy to say, the net has already been cast; in a few days, there should be goods." Old Shang said.

"Hurry it up.

"Once Yancheng is occupied, you'll have to lose money again." Xie Ruo said.

"Do you need to tell me that?" Old Shang said unhappily.

Xie Ruo smiled and said nothing, casually sifting for "gold" in the pile of materials Old Shang had stacked up.

"By the way, do you have any good goods on your end?" Old Shang asked.

"None.

"However, the latest batch of mineral samples from the Ministry of Industry, as well as coal and gold mine exploration and mining reports, have been released; it is said the data is not very ideal.

"If you have the means, you could get a copy of the data.

"Those foreign devils in the International Observation Group want this data right now; it's valuable."

Xie Ruo's eyes rolled, and he turned his head to smile.

"I don't have any acquaintances at the Jinmen Agricultural and Mining Bureau, and this kind of data is definitely highly classified; it's not easy to get." Old Shang said.

"Who says there are no acquaintances?

"Do you know who the newly appointed Inspection Division Chief of the Agricultural and Mining Bureau is?

"Li Ya of the Secret Service Bureau.

"Isn't his stupid fiancée the Mei family woman who bought your intelligence?

"You talk to her.

"If... if you can get it, the foreigners' money is the easiest to earn; at the very least, you'll make three thousand US dollars."

Xie Ruo stammered.

Old Shang listened, but didn't take the bait; he turned and handed him an opium pipe: "Have a few puffs?"

Xie Ruo shook his head and smiled:

"This... this stuff hurts the brain if you smoke too much; only decadent, incompetent people smoke it. It doesn't suit me; I'm afraid if I smoke too much, I won't be able to calculate the accounts and will lose the business."

"Whether you smoke or not is up to you.

"A puff after a meal, live to ninety-nine; this immortal pleasure is something a running dog with a life of toil like you can't enjoy."

Old Shang retorted with dissatisfaction.

"Old brother is right.

"I am just a running dog for money!"

Xie Ruo wasn't annoyed; while chatting with him, he picked up a document.

"Regarding the rescue case of Comrade Li Wanrong at the Jinmen Shuitun Prison...

"Old Shang, this piece of intelligence is related to Jinmen; I'll take it."

Xie Ruo said.

"Take it." Old Shang glanced at the envelope; it was nothing nutritious.

Xie Ruo put down fifty US dollars and prepared to leave.

"By the way, can you still get white sugar on your end?

"I've been collecting less intelligence lately, and the funds are just sitting idle. I know you have the connections to help me flip some; you take three, I take seven; whether it's a loss or a gain is my business.

"You get a clean cut.

"Also, any inside information on US dollar government bonds, let me know if you hear anything."

Old Shang called him back.

"White sugar, that's a bit difficult.

"The Americans are in internal turmoil lately, and with the International Observation Group watching, white sugar is hard to get.

"I can provide some US bonds for you."

Xie Ruo thought for a moment and said.

He is currently, in some respects, a "distributor" for Hong Zhiyou.

People call him by the nickname, Little Jinmen Expert.

Without Hong Zhiyou's nod, he wouldn't dare guarantee the white sugar, but selling some of the government bonds in his hand was no problem.

"Thanks, brother," said Lao Shang.

"Why be so polite? You, you are my Master."

Xie Ruolin offered a polite remark, tucked his briefcase under his arm, and left.

"Little brat!"

Lao Shang cursed, then walked quickly to his room and dialed a number:

"May I ask if this is Miss Mei?"

"This is Shang Bo."

"Is it convenient to come out for a coffee? I have a bit of business I'd like to discuss with you."

"Alright, see you then."

After leaving Lao Shang's house, Xie Ruolin got into his car and picked up the intelligence that looked quite "unnutritious" to read.

The content was very simple.

It was about the rescue of Ms. Li Wanrong.

This must have been a telegram reported to Beiping by the Jinhai Red Party regional committee or an underground transit station.

After Yuan Peilin died.

His residence was thoroughly scrubbed by the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics.

Yet there were still many classified documents left scattered at other transit stations.

This one in Lao Shang's hands must have been missed by the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics.

The report clearly stated that Li Wanrong had been swapped out of prison by someone before her execution, and that this woman had been arrested by the Headquarters Inspection Team.

The Inspection Team, wanting to earn merit and steal the spotlight from the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, had been investigating this matter very strictly.

Furthermore, this Li Wanrong was not a leadership-level figure of the Red Party.

Counting on the Red Party to throw mountains of gold and silver at it, given their current economic turnover, was highly unlikely.

To be able to pull off such a deception, there was only one possibility.

There were Red Party members at key posts in Shuitun Prison.

Xie Ruolin was not stupid.

After a slight synthesis of his knowledge.

He could roughly guess Yu's identity.

Both Yu and Hong had dealings with the Red Party.

Hong Zhiyou was his "supplier" and "god of wealth"; he did big business with the Red Party, otherwise, it would be impossible to be so successful in Xiangdao.

The Bureau of Investigation and Statistics was not currently strong in Xiangdao.

As for Yu Zecheng.

Judging by how he and Ma Kui were at each other's throats and countering each other's moves, there was a high probability he was a genuine Red Party member.

And the high-ranking official close to Shuitun Prison.

Liao Sanmin!

Xie Ruolin had already guessed Liao Sanmin's identity through this piece of intelligence.

Of course.

It was only because he was deeply involved with Yu Zecheng that he could catch the scent.

In Lao Shang's hands, it was practically scrap paper.

Because there was no direct evidence.

Moreover, some time ago, Shuitun Prison had dealt with a batch of prison guards, and even the warden, Song Mingjie, had been replaced.

Therefore, someone had swapped Li Wanrong out.

Even if they traced it to Liao Sanmin, he could push the blame onto some prison guard who had already been executed.

The prison authorities would never admit that Li Wanrong had been swapped.

Because that would be a serious dereliction of duty.

Of course, if this intelligence were to fall into the hands of a professional like Li Ya, who specialized in the Red Party—especially since he had a grudge against Yu Zecheng—he would certainly be able to dig something up.

Even if Liao Sanmin wasn't exposed, he would be bitten quite hard.

"Secretary Hong, let's meet at the usual place."

Xie Ruolin thought for a moment, got out of the car, hailed a rickshaw, and headed toward his old residence.

Three streets away from the house.

He paid the fare, switched to walking, wandered around to ensure no one was following, then opened an ownerless house, passed through its back door, and turned into his own old residence.

An hour later, Hong Zhiyou walked into the alley.

As usual, Lin Tian went over the wall first to scout the path.

Only after confirming there were no outsiders or traps in Old Xie's house did he walk in.

"Old... brother, I have already followed your instructions and leaked the news to Lao Shang."

"If my guess is correct, Mei Yingxue already knows about the Industrial Department's data distribution to the Agricultural and Mining Bureau, and she will definitely try every means to get that intelligence from Li Ya."

Xie Ruolin said.

"Old Xie, thank you for your hard work." Hong Zhiyou handed him a small gold bar.

Although it was just passing on a message.

Dealing with Old Xie was all about not talking about feelings, only money.

"What hard work?"

"Without your help, brother, I couldn't have made my business reach this point, and I wouldn't have been able to afford the mansion on Guilin Road," Xie Ruolin said gratefully.

"Why be so polite? We are true brothers."

"Clear accounts make for good friends, after all."

"Transparent and solid!"

Hong Zhiyou laughed.

"This is for you." Xie Ruolin smiled and took the intelligence envelope out of his pocket.

"Some useless bird-brained intelligence."

Hong Zhiyou took a look and tossed it back.

"Don't pretend."

"You, me, and Yu are not outsiders, otherwise I wouldn't have bought this alone," Xie Ruolin said.

"Shuitun Prison."

"The last gate before the King of Hell."

"If the one guarding the gate falls."

"I'm afraid Deputy Station Chief Yu would cry himself to death."

He paused and continued.

"Thanks."

"How much?"

Hong Zhiyou laughed.

"I bought it for fifty dollars; since you have plenty of money and are my brother and benefactor, I'll just charge you two hundred dollars," Xie Ruolin said.

"Fair."

"You're a good brother."

Hong Zhiyou didn't say another word and counted out two hundred dollars.

Don't look at it as a several-fold markup.

If it were someone with ulterior motives using this intelligence to threaten Yu Zecheng or Liao Sanmin, ten gold bars would be the minimum, and tens of thousands of dollars wouldn't be impossible.

Old Xie was indeed giving him a conscience price.

"I'm off."

"I... I have a mahjong date with Xu Baofeng, contact me by phone if anything comes up."

Xie Ruolin stood up and said.

With your three-second performance, aren't you just asking for eye-rolls from that woman? You really never learn... Hong Zhiyou muttered to himself and walked toward the door.

When he reached the door, he suddenly turned his head and said:

"Someone from the Party Affairs Bureau has put up a thousand taels of gold to buy my head through Du Yuesheng; see if you can look into that?"

"Who the hell is so... so generous?"

"Even foreigners or the Japanese couldn't afford this price."

"They are truly out to get you."

Xie Ruolin asked in great surprise.

"Ye Xiufeng?"

"That old miser? Not very likely."

"Not to mention you, even Wu Jingzhong's head isn't worth that price."

"Who else could it be?"

He shook his head and clicked his tongue in disbelief.

"I won't say much more.

"As long as you can dig it out, I'll give you fifteen large yellow croakers.

"Whether you can earn this money depends on your own ability."

Hong Zhiyou straightened his round hat and walked away quickly with his head lowered.

"Who is that?

"What can't you do with a thousand taels of gold? To buy a head with it—are they out of their minds?"

Xie Ruo stood where he was, still unable to fathom it no matter how hard he tried.

Hong Zhiyou returned to the station.

Yu Zecheng was busy doing accounts.

He was truly busy now.

Before, he only managed the Confidentiality Office, but now that he had become the Deputy Station Chief, Hong Zhiyou had simply handed over all the miscellaneous accounts of the General Affairs Section to him as well.

There were also various reimbursements and procurements for the Equipment Room, Intelligence Division, and Dispatch Office.

A pile of messy accounts.

Yu Zecheng was still very serious about his work.

He did the accounts by the book.

He knew very well that this position was hard-won; at the very least, Li Ya still hadn't given up and would occasionally make sarcastic remarks or cause some trouble.

Out of caution and prudence, Yu Zecheng did not allow himself to have any problems in his work that would give others a handle on him.

No matter how tedious, he insisted on doing everything himself.

"Old Yu, busy?" Hong Zhiyou walked in, carrying the fried tofu and sugar-oil rice cakes he had bought on the way.

"Busy with accounts, is there something?" Yu Zecheng asked.

"This is for you.

"I got it from Old Xie for three hundred dollars."

Hong Zhiyou took out an envelope and handed it over.

Yu Zecheng opened it, glanced at it, burned it on the spot, and readily took three hundred dollars from his drawer to hand to him.

"Thanks," he said.

"What are you thanking me for? Did Liao Sanmin report this matter to you?" Hong Zhiyou asked.

"I don't know about Li Wanrong.

"Back when Yuan Peilin was receiving double pay, someone from the underground transit station might have contacted Liao Sanmin.

"They didn't involve me in what they did privately."

Yu Zecheng said in a low voice.

"That's good.

"What I'm worried about now is that Old Xie isn't the only one who has seen this document.

"If someone leaks it to Li Ya, or the Headquarters Inspection Team, and someone with ulterior motives gets hold of it, Liao Sanmin will be in big trouble."

Hong Zhiyou reminded him.

"I will find time to meet with Sanmin under the guise of official business," Yu Zecheng said.

"Hmm.

"By the way, didn't the brother-in-law of Bank Manager Li get locked up a while ago?

"He's planning to find someone to pull some strings to see if he can get a better prison cell.

"You can take this matter and talk to the Station Chief about it.

"With his endorsement, it will be more secure when you go to the prison to deal with Liao Sanmin.

"The price Manager Li is offering is..."

Hong Zhiyou said very thoroughly.

"Zhiyou, thanks," Yu Zecheng said.

"I still have to go to Captain Li's office.

"Forgot to mention, the fish has taken the bait!"

Hong Zhiyou raised the pastries in his hand, smiled, and walked out.

(End of this chapter)