After leaving the War Department after discussing with Cai Yi, Yang Shuoming returned to his office in the Ministry of Finance building, sat down and thought for a while, and then picked up the phone.

Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Finance, Underground Shooting Range.

In a spacious shooting room, two 9-mm caliber "Browning" pistols almost simultaneously emitted a deafening gunfire.

The gunfire slammed into the basement walls, then bounced back, reverberating through the room, and finally slowly stopped. Mizui quietly looked at the faint smoke floating in the room. Ceiling-mounted ventilation fans are rotating rapidly to keep the smoke out of the room.

Just now, he drew his gun and shot very quickly, and there was hardly much time between them. He still recalls these two highly coherent movements, proud of his quick reflexes. He couldn't help but think of the scene when he first practiced guns with Yang Shuoming himself.

Mizui removed the magazine of the "Browning" pistol, pointed the muzzle to the ground, and waited for another shooter to walk through the dimly lit range and walk towards him from a distance.

Another shooter, Wang Yaqiaomian, a shooting and martial arts instructor here, came to Shuijing with a smile, and his smile made Shuijing feel a little puzzled: "What are you angry about?" I've hit you in the spot. ”

"It's still a little bit close to the point, 'Ice and Fire'." Wang Yaqiao said as if jokingly, "I was admitted to the hospital for a few months at most, but you died, old friend." ”

In each of his two hands, he holds a halfling target.

Shuijing didn't say anything more, and together with Wang Yaqiao, he moved the two white portraits under the light. I saw a black bullseye in the middle of the portrait target. On the portrait target shot at the well, about half an inch to the right under the bull's-eye, the crack penetrated by the well bullet was clearly visible.

"Your bullet only hit the left wall of my stomach, and the bullet will go through my back, which is not a fatal wound." Wang Yaqiao said with a smile. He pulled out a pencil and scribbled on the edge of the portrait target. "So far, I have won you twenty rings, and you still owe me seven dollars, two corners, and eight points."

Mizui couldn't help but laugh as he listened to his little belly and intestines, and he took out his pocket, counting a few silver coins, and asked, "How about doubling the bet next week?" ”

"I don't care," Wang Yaqiao smiled and put the silver dollar away, "you can't win the machine anyway, man." However, you can work on the special guns. I know they just launched a new product a while ago that can hold twenty rounds, which means you can win at least five thousand seven hundred rings out of the stipulated six thousand rings. Because you have to hit most of the bullseyes. ”

"I don't care what gun I use, the purpose is to win your money." Mizui laughed, poured the unfinished bullets from the pistol magazine into his palm, and placed them on the table with the pistol.

"See you next week. Or the old time, okay? ”

"It's nine or ten o'clock, brother." Wang Yaqiao replied with a smile as he pulled down a handle on the iron door.

Wang Yaqiao smiled and watched the back of the well pass through the corridor and disappear at the top of the stairs. He was satisfied with Mizui's shooting skills, but he couldn't tell Mizui that he was already one of the best marksmen in the Intelligence Bureau.

Only the intelligence chief and the chief of finance, Yang Shuoming, have the right to know these things. Because every time an agent like Shuijing finishes practicing shooting, whether it is day or night, aiming at slow fire or drawing a gun and firing quickly, he must make a record after shooting, send it to the intelligence director and Yang Shuoming himself for reading, and record it in the confidential file about Shuijing.

Mizui followed the stairs to the dark red tweed door in the basement, which he pushed open and headed for the elevator. The headquarters of the Intelligence Bureau of the Ministry of Finance is located in a green building on the edge of Xiangshan Park. An elevator would take him up to the sixth floor of the building.

Mizui was satisfied with his shooting record, but he was not satisfied. His fingers that had pulled the trigger were still in his pocket, and he kept shooting, while he remembered the rapid fire he had just fired and wondered how to seize the moment when he defeated the machine. The machine was very intricate and delicate. As he stands on the ground and shoots in chalk-drawn circles, the ghost machine can eject and retract the target in a matter of seconds, while firing back with a 9mm pistol with an empty magazine and a beam of light at him.

The iron gate of the elevator creaked open, and the well walked in. The staff member who opened the elevator smiled politely at the well and nodded. He was a veteran who had returned from the battlefields of Europe, and he loved the smell of gunpowder emanating from Mizui and others after shooting targets. This made him involuntarily recall the time he spent in the barracks.

"If only the light was a little bit stronger."

Mizui thought silently, but the opinion of the intelligence chief "Descending Dragon", who was born in the special forces like him, was that all shooting training must be carried out in the worst-case scenario. The Director's intention was to train his generals to become all-weather sharpshooters, and the dim light and the machine-mounted fire-and-shoot machine were the most realistic replicas of the actual situation as far as they could. According to his words, "We start everything from actual combat, we don't need any fancy fists and legs, and the excellent results on a piece of cardboard don't explain anything." ”

I don't know how long it took, but the elevator slowly stopped. Mizui stepped out of the elevator and into a soundproofed hallway, into a world bustling with girls coming and going with papers, doors opening and closing, and the faint ringing of telephones.

At this time, he stopped remembering the shooting just now, and prepared to start his regular business in the headquarters.

He walked straight to the last door on the right. This door, like the other doors he passed, was unmarked, not even the house number. The rooms here are all isolated offices, and outsiders are not allowed to visit, even the staff next door are not allowed to trespass.

The well knocked on the door and stood in the doorway waiting. He looked at his watch, and the time was 11 o'clock. Today is Tuesday, which is a relatively quiet day, and he only needs to sort out all the official documents and correspondence that he did not finish yesterday.

The door opened. His female secretary, Ren Xue, stood by the door with a smile. It is only at this time of the day that the well feels a little relieved, albeit briefly.

"Good morning, Cher."

Looking at Shuijing's clothes, the already modest enthusiasm in her welcoming smile dropped by half in an instant.

"Take off your shirt and give it to me," she said, "and the smell of gunpowder on your clothes is so suffocating." Besides, please don't call me Cher, call me so intimate, like what happened to me and you, yes, others will be jealous. ”

Mizui took off her blouse, and she took it and hung it on a wooden hanger in front of the window.

Ren Xue is tall and slender, her skin is white and delicate, her face is elegant, she is a typical oriental traditional beauty, giving people a subtle and complete sense of beauty, her parents died when she was young, after a lot of hardships, she was bought and adopted and sold to the Ji Yuan, and then was redeemed by Yuan Keding and given to Yang Shuoming, the previous closed life experience added a cold shell to her beauty, and this shell did not really melt away until she met Yang Shuoming. She is smart and studious, well-read and memorized, and is the first batch of documents to be trained by Yang Shuoming. Her career in the Governor's Mansion made her a true secretary.

Of course, there are few women who have been trained by Yang Shuoming who can't do a few times.

Mizui knew her very well, and after they had been together, he had repeatedly advised her that unless she got married or found a lover at once, her businesslike style would ruin her beautiful youth.

For her, the well is not only "in words" but also "in deeds". He and four other members of the Secret Service had repeatedly and violently attacked her emotional world. She sent them away with the same awe-inspiring arrogance. In order to save a little face, they privately attributed this to the "surname indifference" mentioned in Dr. Zhang Jingsheng's "shocking" works (Zhang Jingsheng wrote a book "History of Surnames" at that time, promoting some Western views on surnames, and he advocated the "third water", that is, when a female surname appears in the last place, it will release body fluids from the Pap glandular sac. His views were bombarded by various experts and scholars at the time, and he was scolded as a neuropath, but this view was confirmed by the German female scientist Griffin through scientific means in 1958, and later called the "G" point. But on the second day she showed them a little more concern and tenderness, and showed them that it was all her fault, and hoped that they would not be offended.

In fact, they didn't know that there was a warm heart under her seemingly indifferent appearance. Whenever a few of them were in a dangerous situation, she was always worried. She had a crush on several of them, but she had no intention of getting into a relationship with any man who might be given his last name next week. Before she came to the Intelligence Agency, she had worked for some time in the intelligence agencies of the headquarters of Renhe and knew deeply that such work was terrible and unscrupulous. It is precisely because of this that she does not dare to love, and she is afraid to accept the love of others. She is very conflicted, and always spends her days in anxiety.

Her instincts sometimes reminded her that, with her last name, she was not fit for such a job and should quit the Intelligence Service. However, when she thought of Yang Shuoming's kindness to herself, she always felt that resigning and leaving was undoubtedly a betrayal of him. She couldn't tolerate herself doing that.

At this moment, she turned away from the window and faced the well, which said, "a lawsuit with a face." She was wearing a short-sleeved cheongsam with dark red stripes, looking dignified and slender.

Shuijing smiled at her water-cutting eyes, "I can't control myself occasionally, just call you, in other times, I have always called you Miss Ren Xue, in fact, the name the general gave you sounds a little gentle enough, not suitable for you." Is there a letter from me? ”

"Nope." She replied simply. Then, in a slightly gentle tone, he said, "However, you have a lot of official documents on your desk. There is no rush, but there are quite a few of them. Oh, the 'Blue Dress' said that the 'Asura' had returned and was now recuperating in Shanghai. Can't think of it, right? ”

Mizui glanced at her quickly, "When did you hear about it?" ”

"Two hours ago."

The well turned and entered the side door, and inside was a larger office. Inside are four desks, belonging to "Asura", "Cangsong", "Qingyu", and the well himself codenamed "Ice and Fire". Among the four, "Ice and Fire" is the oldest, the most qualified, and the most experienced.

The well casually closed the door, walked to the window and stood down, staring out the window at the green shade in Xiangshan Park. In this way, the operation of "Asura" in Sichuan was successful after all, and he returned safely. The phrase "recuperating in Shanghai" doesn't sound good, and I guess I must have been injured.

However, we can only wait for news to come out of the building's only leak channel, the female secretary's lounge. Officials in charge of secrecy were so angry at the leaks in the women's secretary's lounge that they indignantly called the place "Blue Dress" (hence the name given to the girls there who love to wear blue dresses).

Mizui sighed and sat down at his desk, his fingers tapping on the mahogany board on the tabletop, and he kept speculating in his heart, thinking: What about "Qingyu"? Two months ago, he broke into the "remote place" of Xikang alone, and he has never heard back, and there is no news. And himself, the agent well codenamed "Ice and Fire", the gold medal field worker in the intelligence bureau, is sitting in the comfort of his office at this time, dealing with official documents and teasing the female secretary. He couldn't help but feel an inexplicable irritation in his heart.

As for why Yang Shuoming, who is codenamed "Poplar", wants to make such an arrangement, he has always wondered.

He shrugged his shoulders and settled down to open the top folder, which contained a detailed map of southern Tibetan Province and northeastern Yunnan, as well as some related documentation, which was actually a reference material for carrying out tasks there.

Suii pulled out his black-brown copper cigarette case and silver lighter and placed them on the table. This cigarette case is a weapon of self-defense. The exterior is indistinguishable from a normal cigarette case, and the internal structure is the same as that of a pistol except for the cigarette, but it can only fire one bullet and has an effective range of two meters. He lit a cigarette with a lighter. This is a handmade "Golden Wire" brand cigarette for him from a famous tobacco shop in Yanjing, and each cigarette has two gold threads around the tail. He sat down in the cushioned swivel chair and began to bury his head in the study of the papers.

For wells, this is the "real" start of the day's work. The beginning of the typical "banality". Over the course of the year, there are quite a few tasks that require the use of his special abilities to complete. In fact, since successfully completing many difficult tasks, the work of the well has also become easier. In the absence of tasks, the daily routine is only about six hours, and the rest of the time is in his own hands.

When they were still "human", for "special workers" like the wells, they had no statutory holidays. This is determined by the special surname of intelligence work. However, in addition to necessary sick leave, two weeks of vacation are often required after each mission. His regular income is the salary of a middle-level official in the administrative apparatus of China's political axe. In addition, he has a living allowance of 2,000 silver dollars per year. When on a mission, he can spend the public's money as he pleases. In this way, with his income, even if he does not go out of work, he can live comfortably on his own salary.

Not far from Yanjing Qianmen Street South Road, he has a set of comfortable and elegant courtyards. The courtyard is usually guarded by an elderly butler. He had an imitation American "Ford" sedan produced by Renhe. At the same time he had a well-appointed carriage and several horses, which were the home of the well and all his possessions. He spent all his money on these family properties, so he planned to leave all the property to the old man who had saved his life if he unfortunately died in the line of duty, and if he was lucky enough to be alive, he would live on the pension given by the political axe in his yard.

According to the latest regulations of China's political axe, people like them will retire at the age of 45. From time to time, however, the well always had the self-deprecating thought: maybe he would give up his surname before he reached the age of forty-five.

It's no wonder that this is the case. Since he joined the Kuomintang Socialist Party, entered the "Renhe" Intelligence Department, and is now arranged by Yang Shuoming to be on the list of the "Special Service" of the Intelligence Bureau of the Ministry of Finance, so far, he has escaped death countless times. Because of this, Yang Shuoming asked him to do this semi-vacation work as a last resort to show his gratitude.

By the time Shuijing finished writing down the details of the memorandum on Tibetan Province and Yunnan, there were already six cigarette butts in the huge blue and white porcelain ashtray. He closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and then put the map back in the folder. He picked up a red pencil and skimmed through the list on the cover of the document. The list is represented by some words and numbers, first the director, then Yang Shuoming. He wrote the words "Ice and Fire" on the cover, and then put the document in the official compartment marked "Read, Sent Out".

It's almost noon. The well pulled out a second document from the pile of papers. When I opened it, it was sent by the Overseas Surveillance Bureau, marked with the words "for reference only", and the title was "Recent Situation in Europe of the International Intelligence Agency".

Mizui grabbed the rest of the documents and quickly glanced at the title on the first page of each document. The wells have long been familiar with the contents of these documents. His secret service was concerned only with the background. This information includes the latest foreign invention of poisons or the situation of advanced weapons.

Just then, the phone rang. There are three telephones on the desk of the well. The black ones are external telephones, the green ones are official telephones to the departments of the headquarters, and the red ones are dedicated lines to the offices of the Director of Intelligence and the Attorney General of the Ministry of Finance.

It was the red phone ringing in the silent room.

(To be continued)