An alley in the French Concession. The Shikumen dwellings were divided into many small units to rent out to refugees, cramped and cramped like pigeon cages, and it was extremely depressing to live in them, but they were lucky to have a place to live compared to those who lived on the streets.

Xu Tingge rented a pavilion, and was sitting in a dark room at the moment, combing his hair by the faint light of the candle, he just went out and spent two copper dollars to shave his fashionable head at the intersection, the sideburns on both sides were clean, the hair was parted from the middle, and he looked very energetic.

The face in the mirror seems to be a little unfamiliar, the embarrassed stubble, the short cigarette butt, the confused eyes, the person who is already forty years old, and he has achieved nothing, if he doesn't seize the opportunity in front of him, I'm afraid there will be no day to turn over, Xu Tingge took out the tinplate hair wax jar picked up from the garbage can, wiped the last bit of hair wax from it with his fingers and wiped it on his head, and combed his hair meticulously with a broken comb with a few broken teeth.

Scattered on the table were cigarette cases, matches, and a copy of the Zhongtong Agent's Handbook with the blue sky and white sun on the cover. The bed board is covered with shirts and old suits, and a large enamel jar is filled with hot water for ironing, and it is no longer possible to iron it after ironing a few times and then going to get hot water, Xu Tingge scolded secretly, took out the trousers that had been pressed all night from under the pillow and put them on, the trouser line was straight, but it was also stylish, put on a shirt and tie, scratched his head in the mirror, but he was sad, remembering the time when he was pulling a foreign car in Beijing.

Xu Tingge was not the only one who received the interview notice from the imperial authorities, four or five of the down-and-out colleagues in the Zhaoxian Hall received the same letter, and when Xu Tingge took a rickshaw to pass the Waibaidu Bridge, he saw a friend surnamed Wang standing by the railing smoking in frustration.

"Lao Wang, why don't you go in?" Xu Tingge stopped the rickshaw, paid the fare, and came down to talk.

"If you can't get in, the gate guard won't let you in, and you won't be reported." Old King Road.

"Didn't you say you came to the Imperial Office for an interview?" Xu Tingge was puzzled.

"Having said that, people are still not allowed to enter, and those standing guard are all military police, and they are very arrogant and unreasonable." Lao Wang was very angry and took out a cigarette case: "Get one?" ”

Xu Tingge smoked a cigarette and began to mutter, what tricks do the Japanese do, can it be said that this is also a kind of interview? Yes, agents should be good at improvisation, and if you can't even get into the Broadway building, you don't need to go in for an interview.

Smoking a cigarette and throwing the cigarette butt into the Suzhou River, Xu Tingge put on a top hat, ready to try his luck, came to the door to see, sure enough, all the people who came in and out were well-dressed Japanese, two military policemen with pistols stood at the door, met a familiar commander and stood up and saluted, people who did not know, especially Chinese, would definitely stop and seriously investigate.

It's no wonder that the Broadway Building is a famous high-end apartment in Shanghai, where either the senior generals of the imperial army or the Japanese-funded clubs and secret agencies live in, and it belongs to the military aircraft powerhouse.

Suddenly, a car drove by, Xu Tingge had sharp eyes, and recognized that there was an acquaintance named Luo Junqiang sitting in the car, who used to be a political instructor at the Army Military Academy, and now he was dressed like a person, and he was still sitting in a car, so he must have fallen into the water.

Xu Tingge's mind flashed with electricity, and he quickly came to the door of the Broadway Building, and it happened that the car stopped at this time, and he pulled the car door and was very affectionate: "Lao Luo, hello, hello." ”

Luo Junqiang was stunned for a moment, and then recognized Xu Tingge from Zhongtong, although he was not very familiar with him before, but he had dealt with him once or twice, seeing that his leather shoes were shiny and his trousers were straight, he thought that he was here to greet him, so he quickly shook hands and greeted: "Hello Section Chief Xu, when did you arrive in Shanghai." ”

There was another person in the car, with round-framed glasses on his big back, and he was very imposing, Xu Tingge was shocked, isn't this Zhou Fohai, who once served as a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang and Minister of Propaganda, Zhou is a general of the Wang faction, and it is not strange to appear in Shanghai, it seems that he really made the right move.

"Minister Zhou, welcome, Taijun has been waiting for a long time." Xu Tingge took off his hat enthusiastically and bowed to Zhou Fohai, Zhou Fohai originally thought that he was unhappy to welcome Luo Jun first, but now seeing him bow so deeply, he suddenly felt very faced, and thought that he was sent from above to greet him, and said with a smile: "Hello." ”

They entered the building while greeting each other, the gendarmes really did not interrogate, Xu Tingge got on the elevator and talked and laughed all the way, and when he came down to the eleventh floor, he said to Luo Junqiang: "I work here, I have time to drink tea." ”

"Definitely, definitely." Luo Jun said strongly.

The elevator continued to go up, and Zhou Fohai asked casually, "Who is that?" ”

"In the past, there was a unified agent." Luo Junqiang replied lightly.

……

Xu Tingge was the first interviewer to arrive at the imperial organ, he rushed to knock on the door, but ate a closed door, looked at the time, there were still five minutes away from the interview time, so he had to wait in the corridor, at this time the elevator door opened, and a few people came up, everyone inquired about each other, some came in pretending to send letters, some pretended to be Japanese and mixed in, in short, the eight immortals crossed the sea to show their powers.

When the time comes, the interview begins, which is unimaginably simple, and each person is given an envelope with the interview task inside.

Xu Tingge also got an envelope, which contained a piece of paper with words written on it, asking him to kill an inspector named Ye Tianlong in the patrol room of the French Concession, and did not ask for a long time to complete, but the shorter the time, the higher the score.

"Damn, this is a vote." Xu Tingge couldn't help but have a headache for him, he was very clever and clever, killing people was almost meaningless, and Zhongtong's strength was not assassination.

Think about it carefully, the recruiters of the imperial agency must choose the wise and brave people, it is wisdom to enter the door, and killing is brave, what to do, there is only one way to go to the dark!

A group of former Central Military Commanders' last-class spies came out of the Broadway Building, one by one sighing, obviously their task was also very arduous, and some even tore up the envelope and threw it into the Suzhou River: ", Lao Tzu is gone!" ”

"The Japanese are really deceiving people too much, isn't it clear that they want us to die!" Xu Tingge also showed indignation, but said in his heart, it's just right that you don't do it, Lao Tzu will do it!

But killing people is not so simple, it is even more difficult to kill a detective with a gun in the patrol room of the concession, and it is difficult to get out of the whole body after killing, Xu Tingge locked himself in the house and racked his brains, and finally figured out a set of plans.

He first tried to figure out what Ye Tianlong looked like, this is very simple, the inspectors of the patrol room are all celebrities in society, and everyone knows him when he mentions his name, and then he began to follow Ye Tianlong, trying to find out the law of his actions.

Ye Tianlong went to the patrol room every morning to order something, then went to the teahouse to drink tea, found a restaurant to eat at noon, went to the tobacco house in the afternoon to smoke a tube of opium, and by the way collected the fee of a nearby street, and then went to take a bath, dinner was also eaten in the bathhouse, he often had two bodyguards around him, both with guns, and his vigilance was also quite high, it was not easy to get close, and the only way to start was to take advantage of his bath.

Xu Tingge bought a knife, bought a roast chicken and a bottle of liquor with the only few yuan left on his body, had a full meal, sharpened the knife in the moonlight, and suddenly burst into tears, touched the blade and muttered: "Xu Er, it's not easy for you to get to today, if you want to mix up your personal appearance, just fight!" ”

The knife was sharpened, the wine and drank enough, put on clothes and went straight to the bathhouse with a knife, took off his clothes, wrapped the knife in a towel and entered the foggy bathroom, it happened that Ye Tianlong's two bodyguards went to eat, and he was left alone to sit in the small pool in the corner with his eyes closed and recuperated, with the towel on his face, looking comfortable.

The visibility in the bathroom was very poor, Xu Tingge was even more courageous, so he simply didn't use a knife, stepped forward and pressed Ye Tianlong into the pool, and pressed him with his body.

Ye Tianlong smoked opium all year round, his body had already been hollowed out, he was skinny and powerless to resist, and there were clumps of bubbles floating up at the bottom of the water, Xu Tingge gritted his teeth and pressed his head hard, after a while, he finally stopped struggling, let go of his hand, Ye Tianlong floated down and died.

Xu Tingge was panting tiredly, only to find that Ye Tianlong's nails were deeply embedded in his calves.

He took a deep breath, put Ye Tianlong in the sitting position just now, lay on his back to the sky and closed his eyes to recuperate, then returned to the locker room, put on his clothes in an orderly manner, and when he returned to the door to pay the bill, he happened to see two bodyguards coming back.

Walking out of the bathroom, Xu Tingge broke out in a cold sweat, felt out the cigarette, wiped the match a few times without wiping, found a sheltered corner and squatted, felt that his legs and feet were weak, and his heart was uncomfortable, and he smoked two cigarettes before he slowly eased up, rolled up his pants and saw that the clear fingerprints on his calves were as if he had been caught by the devil.

Grass fucking little Japan! Lao Tzu will have to calculate one day, and he will kill you all the same! Xu Tingge scolded fiercely.

……

The next day, when Xu Tingge came to the office of the imperial agency on the eleventh floor of the Broadway Building again, he was greeted by the warm face of the royal king Shaozuo: "Welcome to join, Xu Sang." ”

Xu Tingge, who had experienced the ordeal of life and death, just smiled faintly: "Ariado." ”

King Ryu handed over a stack of banknotes: "Xu Sang, go and order a good suit, and buy a new pair of leather shoes,"

"Ariado paparazzi are dead!" Xu Tingge's tone was a little more excited than just now.

In fact, he bought not only new suits and leather shoes, but also new top hats and trench coats, as well as wallets, belts, silk handkerchiefs, gold cufflinks, and everything else that could show his status, in keeping with his status as the head of the imperial agency.

Sitting in the office of the Broadway Building, basking in the sun, drinking tea, and staring at the news in the newspaper that "the inspector of the law catches the house drowned in the bath", Xu Tingge can be described as proud.

He told the king with great ambition that the eight operatives recruited before were all low-level street gangsters, and they were not able to take on the task at all, and they had to all be dismissed and re-recruited.

King Ryu admired Xu Tingge, but he told the new subordinate that the imperial agency had no money and that everything had to start from scratch.

"In two days, a batch of goods will be shipped from Tianjin, and we will have sufficient funds by then." Oro Road.

"Excuse me, what kind of goods?"

"Hot River Soil."