Chapter 300: If You Can Record, Can't I Take Pictures?

He hung up the phone.

Lu Qiao sat on the sofa, biting his lip lightly, feeling troubled in his heart.

Eating someone's food makes your mouth soft; taking someone's money makes your hands soft.

Borrowing money makes one feel three parts lower than others in everything.

Sigh.

He had to set up his operation as soon as possible; otherwise, if Officer Zheng reached out for money later, how would he answer for it?

Being in charge of the dual departments wasn't just for him to come here and play around.

If he couldn't produce money, he could be packed up and kicked out any minute.

"Brother Shan, how should we handle this intelligence?

"After all, this involves the face of the National Government. If we go and leak it, Li Ya will be in trouble, but we will also lose our heads if we are found out.

"Especially since Chief of Staff Gu Anxiu was also in the car."

"Right now, the only ones who can publicize this kind of news are some democratic commercial stations and newspapers that sympathize with the Red tickets, and the propaganda organs on the Red ticket side."

Sheng Xiang said.

"That's right.

"So this intelligence cannot be rushed; we must let the right person handle it."

Lu Qiao tapped his fingers rhythmically on the armrest, pondering.

"Who?" Sheng Xiang asked.

"You've been busy all day, go back and rest." Lu Qiao smiled and did not take the bait.

"Alright."

Sheng Xiang got up and left.

A moment later, Hong Zhiyou arrived by car.

"Old Lu, something up?" As soon as he entered the door, Hong Zhiyou didn't stand on ceremony.

"Little brother.

"It's like this, you know, I'm serving in Jingling.

"With Ke Shufen watching me, and in order to operate these matters, I don't have many pennies left.

"Now that your sister-in-law has come over, food, clothing, and expenses—not to mention playing cards and such—all require money.

"Relying solely on this meager salary..."

Lu Qiao wore a helpless, bitter smile.

"Brother Shan, I understand.

"We are brothers; just speak up if you need anything."

Hong Zhiyou raised a hand to stop him and said readily.

"I need thirty gold bars, plus five thousand US dollars.

"Don't worry, I can write an IOU.

"Within a year, I will definitely pay it back."

Lu Qiao said happily.

"What IOU? Brother Shan, aren't you insulting your brother?

"With your current position in the dual departments, this little bit of money is just a drop in the bucket.

"I'll have someone send the money over right now."

Hong Zhiyou walked to the telephone and dialed the number directly.

A moment later.

Long Er personally carried a suitcase into the residence.

"Director Lu, please verify it."

He placed the leather suitcase on the coffee table and flicked open the suitcase locks.

Click.

The suitcase opened.

Long Er turned the suitcase to face Lu Qiao.

Thirty gold bars.

Five thousand US dollars, stacked neatly.

"Zhiyou, Boss Long, I won't thank you for such great kindness; I, Lu, will keep it in my heart." Lu Qiao closed the suitcase, patted his chest, and said.

"Brother Shan, we're family; if you're always this polite, I won't dare to visit anymore." Hong Zhiyou said.

"Drink tea, drink tea." Lu Qiao said hurriedly.

"I won't drink tea.

"I still have to go back and coax the child to sleep.

"Brother Shan, get some rest early, I'm leaving."

Hong Zhiyou stood up and said.

"It's different once you're a father.

"Take good care of your family, then I won't keep you two any longer, walk slowly."

Lu Qiao personally saw the two of them out to the courtyard.

Returning to the living room, Li Guifen walked out from the room:

"Old Lu, Zhiyou is really decent. You said you wanted to borrow money, look at him, he didn't even blink an eye. Even real brothers might not do better than that."

"Real brothers, my foot.

"If he were truly sensible, according to the old rules, this money should have been a tribute.

"Do you know why he let Long Er bring the money instead of bringing it himself, or letting some other lackey or underling deliver it?"

Lu Qiao's face darkened, and he said with dissatisfaction.

"I don't understand." Li Guifen shook her head.

"Letting Long Er deliver it means this money belongs to Long Er.

"He said not to write an IOU, but do you dare not pay it back?

"He's holding this over me.

"After borrowing his money, won't you have to look at his face in the future?

"That dog, trying to play his little tricks on me."

Lu Qiao snorted coldly.

"Alright, alright.

"It's a favor that he's willing to lend it to you; he's not obligated to. These days, even real brothers might not lend money. Be content."

Li Guifen curled her lips, thinking him too mean-spirited.

"A woman, what do you know!

"Can't you see that the one surnamed Hong is getting cocky now?

"Just wait.

"When I pull off something big, there will be a time when he comes crying to my door begging me.

"At that time, I'll see if he's the one carrying this suitcase, or if Long Er is!"

Lu Qiao slammed the suitcase shut and walked upstairs with a straight face.

"Qiao, you..."

Li Guifen looked at her husband, her eyes full of worry.

Ever since being framed by Li Ya twice, and repeatedly humiliated, blackmailed, and suppressed by Ke Shufen in Jingling, she could clearly feel the resentment and malice in Qiao's heart growing heavier.

Before, although he was calculating, he was still relatively broad-minded toward others.

Now, he is accustomed to thinking the worst and most extreme of everyone.

And he loses his temper whenever someone tries to advise him.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but grit her teeth in hatred:

"Damn Li Ya!

"Old Lu shouldn't have gone to Xi'an to bring this disaster back in the first place.

"It ruined my whole family."

"Zhiyou, thirty gold bars and five thousand US dollars is not a small amount. Can you get this money back once it's scattered?" Long Er asked while driving.

"Second Brother, take off your sunglasses; I'm afraid you'll drive into a ditch in a moment." Hong Zhiyou said with great concern.

"Hehe.

"In Jinhai City, I could drive home with my eyes closed.

"Besides, who in this city doesn't recognize my Long Er's license plate? Anyone who dares to block the way is just asking for death, right?"

Long Er took off his sunglasses and teased.

"When the sky is wild, there is rain; when a person is wild, there is disaster.

"Second Brother, don't get cocky."

Hong Zhiyou was quite casual with him and offered a word of advice.

"Yes, yes."

"Must keep a low profile!"

"Let's talk about the money; I withdrew it from the bank, and I still have to report the accounts to Old Ji later. If I can't get it back, I'll have to pay it out of my own pocket to make up the difference."

"You know, I'm not on my own anymore."

"Your sister-in-law keeps a tight rein on things."

Long Er laughed.

"Don't worry."

"This money won't be lost."

"When the time comes, I can even add some interest for you," Hong Zhiyou said with a smile.

If his guess was correct, Lu Qiaoshan was only taking the money to go find Shang Bo and buy intelligence.

For someone like Shang Bo, no matter how much money he hoarded, it was useless.

Later on, he could just find an excuse to raid his home and recover the money.

In fact, he had let Zhou Yan deliver the money, giving it to Lu Qiaoshan for free to help him deal with Li Ya.

He hadn't expected Long Er to come deliver the money in person.

This was equivalent to putting him on a stove to roast; given Old Lu's prideful nature, having to open his mouth to borrow money would inevitably make him feel extremely lowly and humiliated.

Giving him this money meant the two of them were now "true brothers."

With Long Er pulling a stunt like this, Lu Qiaoshan would have to pay the money back, and he would have to humble himself and owe a favor, losing face in front of Long Er.

After all, he was a dignified high-ranking official of the Jinmen intelligence line, leading two departments.

Being so poor that he had to borrow money from a gang to get by was undoubtedly shameful.

With his petty character, gratitude was impossible; right now, he was probably having a mental breakdown, cursing at home.

"Fine, with your word, I'm relieved," Long Er nodded and said.

"It was your wife who sent you over, right?" Hong Zhiyou asked with a smile.

"That's right."

"Withdrawing money requires going through the accounts; if I didn't come, Old Zhou wouldn't be able to get this money," Long Er was quite frank.

"Then I should thank your wife."

"Second Brother, I'll get off here."

Hong Zhiyou smiled faintly.

"No, it's still a long way," Long Er frowned and said.

"It's fine, I just want to catch some breeze and look at the night view of the Haihe," Hong Zhiyou said.

"Alright then."

Long Er stopped the car.

"Second Brother, take it slow," Hong Zhiyou waved his hand and turned to leave.

Long Er frowned.

He always felt something was a bit off; Zhiyou seemed to have grown distant from him recently.

Sigh, never mind.

Lin Sufang was still at home waiting for him.

Whenever he thought about his life of drifting, and how his first love, from whom he had been separated for many years, could miraculously meet him again and return to his side, Long Er sometimes felt like he was dreaming.

He had envied Hong Zhiyou for having a family.

Now he had one too.

Thinking of this, the leader of the Long Gang felt a trace of happy laughter rise to the corners of his mouth, and he stepped on the gas, accelerating past Hong Zhiyou and speeding away.

Hong Zhiyou stood where he was, watching the car drive away.

Click.

He took out a lighter and lit a cigarette.

Perhaps it was because things had been too smooth all along.

Recently, he would occasionally feel a wave of inexplicable panic and unease, as if an invisible hand were manipulating him from behind the scenes.

This feeling was becoming more and more obvious.

His intuition had always been sharp.

Ever since the trip to Shanghu, when someone offered one hundred taels of gold to hire Du Yuesheng to kill him, this dark cloud had begun to linger in his heart.

Hong Zhiyou had secretly mobilized quite a few forces, including the North American ambassador, trying to find this person.

However, there had been no clues whatsoever.

This was very unusual.

Clearly, his opponent was someone extremely skilled at plotting.

He was in the light.

The opponent was lurking in the dark.

Waiting at any moment to deliver a fatal blow.

This won't do.

He had to find a way to drag this person out; perhaps he could start with the second sister-in-law.

Long Er had mentioned Lin Sufang to him more than once.

They were childhood sweethearts and had once reached the point of discussing marriage.

It was just a pity that the Japanese invaders had entered Jinmen City.

After Lin Sufang fled with her family, the two lost contact.

This wait had lasted for several years.

Long Er was not interested in other women; he had been waiting for Lin Sufang.

Now that they had reunited, he naturally treasured her like a precious jewel; not only did he want to marry her, but he also began trying to let Lin Sufang manage the accounts and money.

Hong Zhiyou didn't believe in such melodramatic stories.

The reason he hadn't delved deeply into this matter was, firstly, that it was Long Er's family business.

Furthermore, he felt that with Long Er's boldness, he wouldn't be so easily manipulated by a woman.

Therefore, he had been observing from the shadows.

If this woman had come to live a life with Long Er and his money, then he would naturally be happy to see a beautiful story unfold.

Now it seemed his thoughts had been a bit naive.

The other party had already begun to participate in the Long Gang's finances, and even many of their business dealings.

Long Er was his "glove."

There were many black accounts inside that could not see the light of day.

Furthermore, the shipyard in Xiangdao needed manpower; without Long Er's assistance, his commercial empire would be difficult to complete.

Even a cunning person as strong as Li Ya had almost fallen into the trap.

Someone with a true nature like Long Er would likely find it even harder to pull himself out of the mire.

If this woman only wanted to show her presence, or was afraid of the money being split and wanted to persuade Long Er to consolidate assets, that would still be easy to talk about.

What he feared was that she had other motives.

That she had come to deliberately divide and destroy the alliance between him and Long Er.

That was the truly fatal danger.

If she was a move played by the mastermind behind the scenes.

Then the opponent didn't just want his life—it wasn't that simple.

They wanted to cut off his hands and feet bit by bit, letting him watch helplessly as everything he had slipped away, tasting all the suffering in the world.

No.

He had to take action!

Returning to Number One Changde Road.

Hong Zhiyou picked up the phone and dialed a number:

"Help me keep an eye on someone."

"Lin Sufang, Long Er's sweetheart."

"See what hobbies she has—playing cards, tennis, etc. and when you have time, get closer to her."

"That's right."

"There might be an expert behind this woman; you must be careful about your safety."

The next day.

Lu Qiaoshan got into the car.

After driving for a short while, a car on the side of the road honked at him.

Shang Bo was waving at him.

Lu Qiaoshan stopped the car, and Shang Bo walked over:

"Section Chief Lu, I have intelligence on Deep Sea."

"I know."

"However, shouldn't you wait for a better price? Offering it up yourself isn't a good way to sell," Lu Qiaoshan sneered.

"I know."

"But I think no matter how much I ask, you will buy it," Shang Bo said.

"Not necessarily."

"There are many people who want to catch Deep Sea; the Dangtong Bureau and the Sanqing Corps can also buy it," Lu Qiaoshan said.

Shang Bo looked around:

"No."

"None of them need this intelligence as much as you do."

"I cannot reveal the content to you now; I can only tell you that Deep Sea is right there in your Jinhai Station."

"And it is someone you dream of killing!"

"Li Ya?" Lu Qiaoshan's eyes widened, and he asked in surprise.

"I didn't say anything," Shang Bo smiled knowingly.

"How much?" Lu Qiaoshan stopped pretending.

If he could prove Li Ya was Deep Sea, that would be perfect; even if Jiang Jianfeng protected his own, he couldn't protect a Red Ticket.

"Twenty bars, the big ones," Shang Bo said.

"We'll see."

Lu Qiaoshan's face darkened; he rolled up the car window, stepped on the gas, and drove off.

If this intelligence was about Li Ya.

Then there was no need to rush.

Li Ya had offended quite a few people.

Not to mention, back when he hid Yuan Peilin at the Xiuchun Pavilion to set a trap, he not only caused the death of one of Sun Chuanzhi's lovers but also had to pay a large ransom fee.

Leaking this news to the Dangtong Bureau might also be a good choice.

Moreover, he could leak the matter regarding Okamura first.

Perhaps this move could checkmate Li Ya.

In that case, whether Li Ya was Deep Sea or not wouldn't matter, and he could save twenty gold bars.

Lu Qiaoshan had always been extremely calculating.

He had plenty of patience to play with Shang Bo.

Arriving at the station.

Lu Qiaoshan brewed coffee first.

Once it was brewed.

He carried the coffee, crossed his legs, and flipped through the Okamura files again.

He turned a page.

Tucked between two documents was a photo, a photo of Li Ya and Okamura in the same frame.

This was a gift he had carefully prepared for Li Ya.

The walls of his secret room at home were covered with photos of Li Ya.

Okamura's was easy to find, too.

A Class-A war criminal, a regular in the newspapers.

He cut the photos out, pieced them together, and then took a picture and developed it.

A photo with a news headline about Li Ya secretly visiting Okamura to shamelessly seek advice—wasn't that ready now?

"Heh."

"You can record audio, but can't I take photos?" Lu Qiaoshan sneered.

To safely leak this document without it being traced back to him was actually quite simple.

There was someone who would be very happy to do this.

Thinking of this, he placed the document and coffee cup on the table, stood up, and dialed a number:

"Zhiyou, is Old Yu there?"

"Tell him to come over; the coffee I brewed today is extra fragrant, come have a cup while it's hot."

He hung up the phone.

A cold sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Yu Zecheng was the messenger he had chosen.

Regardless of what his identity was.

Lu Qiaoshan could be certain of one thing: this person definitely had a connection to the Red Tickets.

Because the Jingling side had been secretly monitoring Autumn.

Not arresting him was one thing.

This person was very dishonest and was highly likely a secret agent for the Red Tickets.

If Autumn was a secret agent.

Then Ma Kui's original line of investigation hadn't been wrong; Autumn was in close contact with Yu Zecheng, and Yu was very likely Emei Peak.

His wife could also be a Red Ticket from the Taihang Mountains.

Ma Kui, of course, was not Emei Peak.

His mistake was investigating the Station Chief.

His mistake was blocking his own path.

Lu Qiaoshan had personally sent Ma Kui "on his way," so he naturally knew he had been wrongly killed.

He even regretted joining forces with Yu Zecheng to kill Ma Kui at one point.

Ma Kui wasn't likable.

But he was straightforward, stupid, and impulsive; he wasn't calculating and was very easy to deal with.

Ma Kui was gone, and Li Ya had come.

This person was a hundred times more sinister than Ma Kui and had Jiang Jianfeng as a massive backer.

If Ma Kui hadn't died, and without this sinister ghost Li Ya, he would have already been the Deputy Station Chief of Jinhai Station by now.

Sigh!

It's a pity there is no regret medicine in this world.

Just as he was lamenting, Yu Zecheng and Hong Zhiyou walked in.

"Old Yu, Zhiyou, come quickly, try this, coffee beans freshly shipped from South Asia," Lu Qiaoshan said, his face full of smiles as he greeted them.

He stood up to pour coffee for the two of them, accompanied by some cookies and snacks.

"How is it?" He looked at the two.

"Fragrant."

"Refreshing!"

"It's much better than the coffee at the Luomen Coffee House."

"Old Lu, if you retire in the future, opening a coffee shop would definitely be a hit."

Yu Zecheng took a sip and praised it endlessly.

"I like hearing that."

"Don't mention it, I actually do have that plan; I won't make the shop big, just specifically to entertain you old friends."

Lu Qiaoshan was very pleased, and the smile on his face grew even wider.

After chatting for a while.

Lu Qiaoshan deliberately let his hand shake, spilling coffee onto the intelligence on the coffee table.

He hurriedly wiped it up in a flurry.

"Good thing, good thing."

"If this had been ruined, I would have died of regret."

Lu Qiaoshan spread it out while wiping it, shaking it to air-dry.

"Okamura?"

"Intelligence on the Japs?"

"Top-secret label? Old Lu, this is where you're wrong; how can you just leave top-secret intelligence lying around?"

Yu Zecheng pretended to be very interested, his eyes constantly darting toward it.

"Bah."

"What top-secret intelligence."

"Nowadays, any piece of intelligence is labeled top-secret; what kind of big deal could the Japs have!"

"It's all stuff everyone in the world already knows."

"It's just the Defense Force treating it like a treasure, hiding it away as if they're afraid others will find out."

"Take a look."

Lu Qiaoshan gave a dismissive, mocking laugh and handed the intelligence over.

"This isn't according to the rules," Hong Zhiyou said.

"Rules are for outsiders."

"Who are we three? We are brothers."

"Feel free to look, and there's a big surprise too."

Lu Qiao leaned in and whispered.

"Alright, since I'm idle anyway, I'll take advantage of old Lu and watch the show." Yu Zecheng took them and began flipping through them one by one.

"Isn't this?

"Last June, Okamura was already leading prisoners of war to fight in the Northeast?"

Yu Zecheng said in surprise.

"Tsk.

"Why are you looking at that? You're missing the point," Lu Qiao rolled his eyes and said.

Yu Zecheng flipped to another page, opened his mouth, and said with an exaggerated expression:

"Captain Li went to the car to pay respects to the devils?

"No way, he crawled out of a pile of corpses at the Battle of Jinshanwei; he has an irreconcilable hatred for the devils."

Lu Qiao laughed scornfully: "Brother, you're overthinking it.

"People nowadays only have their own selfish interests in their eyes.

"Okamura is now the favorite of the Generalissimo; even a Chief of Staff like Gu Anxiu serves him like a grandson. Li Ya is probably wishing for it.

"Some people get promoted and rich by selling their wives.

"Some people get promoted and rich by bootlicking.

"Li Ya is the latter."

Speaking of this, Lu Qiao whispered: "My people say that Li Ya keeps Okamura's counter-insurgency guide in his drawer, and whenever he's free, he takes it out to read it through several times. He treats it as a classic handed down through generations, almost like a book of sages."

"Sigh.

"I didn't expect Captain Li to be this kind of person," Yu Zecheng said.

"If this gets out, the students will start protesting and causing trouble again, adding to the Generalissimo's headaches," Hong Zhiyou said.

"Whether the Generalissimo gets a headache is hard to say.

"Someone is definitely going to be in trouble.

"The incidents involving Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang, and Lu Zongyu might repeat themselves; the students would surely burn down Li Ya's house."

Yu Zecheng said.

"Indeed.

"The students now are fiercer than before.

"In the past, it was always about opening fire, resulting in bloody cases.

"Now, with the Americans pressing a 'democracy' hat on the Generalissimo, the army, the security brigades, and the police only dare to fire their guns into the sky.

"If this kicks off, it won't be as simple as burning down a house; I'm afraid people will be beaten to death."

Lu Qiao nodded and said.

"Sigh, what a pity.

"For a shameless, traitorous villain like Li Ya, we still have to cover for him for the sake of the Generalissimo and the Nationalist Government's face.

"If it weren't for wearing this uniform and bearing the heavy responsibility of protecting the leader, I would have leaked this intelligence to the Reds directly.

"Let's see how he dies!"

As he spoke, he cast a subtle glance at Yu Zecheng.

(End of chapter)