The Suzhou Creek in the early hours of the morning is not deserted, and although there are waves in the night wind, it is not enough to stop the boats coming and going. Although it is much less than during the day, it can be regarded as an endless stream. A small white canopy boat sailed over, and it stopped inconspicuously not far away.

The Baipeng boat was transferred from northern Jiangsu under the order of Zhou Chengbin in advance, and the two boat bosses on board were the best fishermen Dai Ru could find. The two men opened the bottom compartment and dived into the water, approaching the fishing boat with the equipment, which had already been tampered with in advance. The two used the second set of fake equipment made by Ye Junyuan to replace the real equipment that Zhai Yanmin had hidden on the fishing boat. This qiē all happened in less than half an hour, and all of it happened below the surface of the water. The white canopy boat sailed away again.

According to Li Shiqun's instructions: Tian Chengxi, who commanded the operation, must report the progress to him at any time. At 8 o'clock in the morning of the 27th, Tian Chengxi returned to No. 76 and came to Li Shiqun's office to report: "The person who was sent to monitor the military commander agent who exchanged equipment with Chen Jinsong reported that the two people returned to their residence and kept working at home and did not come out. Their cover identity is a filigree craftsman in a silver building. ”

Li Shiqun thought for a while and replied, "There's nothing abnormal about this, right?" Is there any movement in the batch of equipment on the fishing boat? ”

"The military commander, disguised as a cleaner, transported the equipment to the fishing boat and left. I set up two observation points there, and I didn't hear anyone on board. Just in case, the people at the observation point before dawn quietly got on the fishing boat and saw the equipment. But he didn't dare to move, for fear that if he moved something, Guo Xuan's people would see the flaws. By the way, the name used by that cleaner is Zhai Yanmin, I don't know if it's his real name, but we have tracked down his residence. ”

Li Shiqun asked again: "Don't move these people for the time being." Who is currently in charge of spying on Chen Jinsong? ”

"It's your new confidential secretary, Hirakawa Shinno. Director, Hirakawa-kun is Japanese, of course he can be trusted. But he is not familiar with No. 76 yet, so why not send Ni Mi...... Director Ni is in charge of that monitoring point? ”

Li Shiqun did not answer Tian Chengxi's question, and said: "I have my considerations. In this way, you send Asano Kazuken over to cooperate in the task of monitoring Chen Jinsong. I suspect that Guo Xuan's plan is this: on the 29th, after he gets the code-breaking technology from Sir George, he will go to northern Jiangsu with the last batch of equipment that has been replaced. The meeting place he and Mr. Chen had agreed to meet was the Tbilisi Café, just over a kilometre from Suzhou Creek. ”

"I hope so, at the moment, it seems that it is only a matter of time before Guo Xuan is captured."

Ni Xin knocked on the door of Li Shiqun's office and said loudly: "Subordinate Ni Xin, please ask for an audience." ”

Li Shiqun replied, "Come in." ”

Tian Chengxi got up and said, "Then you are busy, I'll go first." ”

Li Shiqun said, "You wait a minute. Director Ni, is there something wrong? ”

Tian Chengxi just took the initiative to avoid it according to the unwritten rules of the agent, and Li Shiqun's saying this made him see the unusualness between Ni Xin and Li Shiqun. Ni Xin hesitated for a moment, and decided to express his opinion: "Director, my subordinates feel that Chen Jinsong's initiative to surrender is problematic. ”

"Evidence."

"You did not order me to participate in this operation, and I certainly will not have direct evidence. But it is not logical to speculate on this from common sense. Indeed, some people are very aware of current affairs and feel that they cannot bear the torture, so they simply take the initiative to cooperate. But before he was arrested, he would not have been prepared in advance to cooperate with Toucheng. Don't you think Chen Jinsong's expression seems to have been premeditated? It's so methodical, it seems that everything is expected by him......"

"Logic? Director Ni is talking to me about logic? "Raised single-handedly, cultivated a trusted brother, but separated from himself, and secretly communicated with the Japanese...... Is there anything more illogical in the world? Although it has long been known that the Japanese cannot unconditionally trust and reuse, they will definitely openly and secretly install cronies in No. 76 to manipulate them. I have made countless conjectures, but I never thought that the "dark pile" of the Japanese would be Ni Xin! Li Shiqun smiled coldly and interrupted Ni Xin's words: "Since you know very well that I didn't order you to participate in this operation, why do you want to go beyond the bounds?" Director Ni, are you idle and have nothing to do, or have you forgotten who is the head of No. 76? ”

Tian Chengxi lowered his head and pretended to fiddle with the tangled telephone lines. Ni Xin was very embarrassed, so he could only answer: "My subordinates don't dare." So...... The subordinates retired. ”

"Wait a minute." Li Shiqun opened the drawer, took out a copy of the text, and threw it on the table: "What are these?" Director Ni, you are also a person who has read books, write a handover report, and the preface does not match the afterword! Don't rely on nepotism and do whatever you want, as long as I'm still on any day, No. 76 is the place to eat with real skills. Take it back and rewrite it. ”

Li Shiqun intended to humiliate, and Ni Xin replied with a smile: "What the director blames is that after his subordinates redraft the report, they will send it to the director for your review." If you have no other instructions, your subordinates will retire. ”

Ni Xin left Li Shiqun's office unhappy. Li Shiqun said: "Captain Tian, you should also be busy." By the way, call Liu Zezhi in. ”

Seeing that Ni Xin's expression was wrong, Liu Zezhi grabbed him and wanted to ask about the situation: "Old Ni, what's wrong?" Pulling a face......"

Tian Chengxi walked out and said that Li Shiqun had summoned him, and Liu Zezhi hurriedly said: "I'll go in first, you wait for me." ”

Ni Xin made up his mind: immediately find a hand to arrange an emergency plan. Li Shiqun must not be allowed to be calculated by Chen Jinsong in an unguarded situation. It would rather be turned out later that it was groundless, because he acted without following orders, and Li Shiqun did not understand, and he could not help but make arrangements in advance.

Li Shiqun instructed Liu Zezhi: "I just received a notice from the city government: Sir George will attend a dinner at the British Consulate tonight to celebrate the birthday of the British Queen. There will also be interviews with reporters at the dinner. You first go to St. Mary's Church to inform Ryuzo Yamaki of the news, redeploy, and take out some people to go to the British Consulate to guard first. I will go to St. Mary's Church in the afternoon and personally accompany Sir George to the dinner. ”

Liu Zezhi promised to walk out of the office, but Ni Xin was gone.

Also at eight o'clock in the morning, Guo Xuan sent Ye Junyuan away and came to Puji Temple to meet Zhou Chengbin: "Chengbin, all the equipment has been loaded on the warship Prince of Wales and left Shanghai safely, and the fire theft plan has finally succeeded." But the price is too great! Cheng Bin, we must now talk about the next step: No. 76 will soon find out that the equipment on the fishing boat is fake, and Chen Jinsong, Zhai Yanmin, and the people involved in the exchange of equipment are all under the control of No. 76. Have you thought of a way to get out? ”

There were some things that Guo Xuan didn't say thoroughly, and Zhou Chengbin said it for him: "Your worry is that these people were arrested, tortured, and the workshop that confessed the forged equipment was actually set up in the warehouse of Yicheng Trading Company. Especially Chen Jinsong, he and No. 86 performed "Bitter Meat Meter" together, and called up the last batch of equipment. If he confesses, Eighty-Six, along with his assistants, will definitely not be spared. Actually, it's not that I'm most worried about this problem......"

Guo Xuan interrupted Zhou Chengbin's words: "You don't have to worry about me, and you don't have to go to the trouble of persuading me in vain." Sir George gave us what we needed, and it was my duty to cover the safe exit of their father and son from Shanghai. Otherwise I'm a vile and shameless villain. Cheng Bin, let me say one more thing: I know that the workshop for counterfeiting equipment requires high conditions, and the time is tight, and the Shanghai station has just been rebuilt, so you have to set up the workshop there. But in the future, such things must be absolutely forbidden. The safety of the Eighty-Six is paramount. I'm not for him as a person, but ......"

Zhou Chengbin smiled bitterly: "Why do you have to explain it to me? Now that you've made up your mind that you're going to cover George and his son out of danger, go for it. Don't worry, I've thought of your concerns and made a plan. I ordered Meng Xiaojie to sneak into Shanghai with his people, and he should be there tonight. ”

Guo Xuan didn't ask for details, and replied: "Since you are prepared, then I am relieved." ”

Looking at Guo Xuan's departing back, unspeakable exhaustion hit, and Zhou Chengbin, who was physically and mentally exhausted, sighed deeply: Maybe dying at the hands of the Japanese is a relief. But he didn't even have the power to die...... Over the years, it's so tiring...... This damn war! When will it end? When can I have a quiet meal and a good night's sleep? In this life, do you still have the blessing of returning to the field, farming and eating by yourself, and enjoying peace?

This book was first published on Kanshu.com