cicada

Chapter 1443 Backhand
In Yancheng, a cold wind howled through the ancient city, and the streets were deserted, with only a small number of city defense troops occasionally passing by with their heads tucked in.

In a room in Shiming Courtyard, an oil lamp cast a faint glow as Zheng Tingbing, Song Minghao, and Wu Jingzhong sat around it, conversing quietly.

"Old Song, do you mean Shi Ming's death occurred at the entrance of the X Division's supply depot?"

Zheng Tingbing looked up at the fingernail fragments in the handkerchief and asked, his face filled with shock and anger. These people are too audacious!

Song Minghao nodded: "That's right. Before we came back, we went to see Shi Ming's body again. There was a piece missing from the nail of his right index finger. The shape and size of the missing piece matched the nail.

Silence fell over the room. X-Master's staged death scene meant that there was definitely something wrong with Shi Ming's cause of death.

Now they face only one challenge: to find out the truth and evidence of Shi Ming's murder.

After pondering for a long time, Zheng Tingbing asked again, "Can we find someone to ask about the situation? There are tens of thousands of officers and soldiers in the X Division, surely someone knows the truth."

Wu Jingzhong gave a bitter smile: "It's no use. Those people avoid us like the plague. As for the officers and soldiers who were on good terms with Shi Ming, alas, they've all been killed in action."

"They've all been killed in action?" Zheng Tingbing exclaimed in shock.

“That’s right.” Wu Jingzhong said in a low voice, “And it’s the first time I’ve encountered such a coincidence since Shi Ming’s death.”

Zheng Tingbing tapped his fingers on the table, then stopped abruptly and muttered something to himself.

"They've been incredibly meticulous; it seems we've met our match this time. But, what's the evidence?"

He chuckled softly, got up and walked around the room twice, then looked at Song Minghao and Wu Jingzhong and said indifferently.

“Dai Chunfeng has a good relationship with Commander Tang, so you two should give Division X some face and not take direct action, but I, Zheng, don’t need to.”

"Although Lan Hongchang is my good friend, when it comes to the interests of the Party and the country, I can only handle the matter impartially."

After making a sarcastic remark to Lao Dai, Zheng Tingbing's eyes sharpened, and he clenched his fists tightly.

"Dare to murder the director of political training; this is no longer just ordinary corruption and bribery, and we must take strong measures."

"Tomorrow morning, notify the Los Angeles station to move into the X Division, seal off the financial accounts, and screen all members of the division headquarters, from the division commander down to the soldiers, leave no one out."

Song Minghao and Wu Jingzhong frowned deeply. What was Old Zheng doing? This was the front line. Wasn't the other side afraid of causing unrest in the army?

If anyone takes a risk, Los Angeles Station alone will be unable to control the situation, and the three of them will also be in danger of losing their lives.

After thinking for a moment, Song Minghao advised, "Deputy Director Zheng, in my humble opinion, it would be better to investigate first, and then report to headquarters for assistance after we have found solid evidence."

“Yes, yes,” Wu Jingzhong chimed in.

In most cases, the Military Intelligence Bureau doesn't need evidence; the suspect will confess after being subjected to torture. But this case is different.

Yancheng is an important station on the Beijing-Hankou Railway. The X Division is responsible for protecting Luoyang and safeguarding the logistics line. If the Military Intelligence Bureau were to mutiny, they would be more than enough to lose a hundred heads.

After listening to Song Minghao and the other man's advice, Zheng Tingbing pondered for a moment and sat back down. He had just acted impulsively, but now that he had calmed down, he realized the seriousness of the matter.

Suddenly, Song Minghao asked a question: "Deputy Director Zheng, Lao Wu, why does Shi Ming live in the city? It's not close to the X Division headquarters, and it takes a lot of time to travel back and forth every day. Even if he wants to hide evidence, he doesn't need to go this far. He can hide things near the X Division as well."

"Is it for a woman? But as far as I know, Shi Ming is not interested in women, and there are no traces of women living in the courtyard. What is it about this place that would make him go to such lengths to move it here?"

Song Minghao's words made Zheng Tingbing and Wu Jingzhong fall into deep thought. A professional intelligence officer would not do something meaningless, and Shi Ming must have a reason for doing so.

A few minutes later, the sound of a clapper rang out outside. Zheng Tingbing glanced at his watch and yawned.

"Let's call it a day for now. Tomorrow morning, let's take a walk around the area and see if we can find any clues."

"In addition, every time you come back, you should check the house again like you did today to prevent anyone from installing eavesdropping devices."

Song Minghao and the other man nodded and replied, "Yes." In this line of work, as long as you're not in your own bed, you have to be aware that you're in enemy-occupied territory, no matter where you are.

The wind was still howling outside, and more than ten kilometers away, Lai Chuan, the deputy commander of the X Division, and Fu Han, the quartermaster, were whispering to each other in their office.

"Have the guard battalion send men to keep an eye on those three men. If they discover anything, you know what to do, right?"

"Understood. No trace of him, neither alive nor dead!"

The lamplight cast the shadows of two conspirators on the wall. Just then, a patrol passed by, and the officer leading the patrol, who had spoken with Shi Ming before his death, was filled with rage.
-
The next morning, Zheng Tingbing led Song Minghao and Wu Jingzhong out of the courtyard. The three of them stood by the roadside and looked around.

Although it was during wartime and the famine had not completely passed, Yancheng was still very lively, with vendors calling out their wares in the streets and alleys.

Long queues formed in front of the breakfast stalls, where the aroma of steaming noodles and steamed buns filled the air.

In the narrow alley, vendors carrying water, delivering firewood, and pushing wheelbarrows weaved through the crowds, creating a lively and bustling atmosphere.

Across from Shi Ming's house, a small shop with a sign for spicy soup was bustling with customers, and business seemed to be good.

"Let's go take a look." Zheng Tingbing walked towards the shop with his hands behind his back. Song Minghao and Wu Jingzhong followed closely behind. The Luocheng Station agent responsible for protecting the three of them quickly chased away the other customers.

After a period of chaos, the customers in the shop were dispersed, and an elderly woman in her sixties or seventies asked Zheng Tingbing timidly what he wanted to order.

"Grandpa, don't be afraid, just give us some spicy soup." Zheng Tingbing was very kind and approachable.

However, his Cantonese accent was difficult to understand, and the old woman couldn't understand him at all. It was only after the Los Angeles agent repeated it that the other party nodded and went to serve the soup.

Song Minghao chuckled inwardly. If Lao Zheng wanted to play the role of a people-friendly official, he first had to straighten his tongue, otherwise heaven would know what he was saying.

Before long, three bowls of steaming hot and spicy soup were served, and just the smell was enough to make one's mouth water.

Zheng Tingbing invited, "Come and try this. It's a specialty of Yancheng. It's said that Yu Shaobao of the Ming Dynasty contracted typhoid fever and recovered after drinking this soup."

Hearing his incredible description, Song Minghao and Wu Jingzhong took a sip with some skepticism, and the taste was indeed excellent—fragrant, spicy, and smooth, with an unforgettable aftertaste.

After finishing a bowl of soup, all three of them had fine beads of sweat on their foreheads. Zheng Tingbing took out a handkerchief to wipe them and asked the old woman to bring three more bowls.

Seeing that the guests were enjoying their meal, the old woman smiled warmly and quickly brought over three more bowls and placed them on the table.

As she put down the bowl, she asked cautiously, "Officers, you just came out of Mr. Shi's house. Are you someone he knows? Why hasn't he come over these past few days?"

Zheng Tingbing and the other two paused in their soup-drinking. Song Minghao glanced at the junior agent at Luocheng Station, then nodded slightly to the old woman.

"Shi Ming recently went out of town on official business. Do you know him, sir?"

The old woman nodded and then shook her head: "Commander Shi is such an important figure, how could we ordinary people dare to presume to know him? It's all thanks to him for opening this shop, otherwise our family of five would have starved to death long ago."

As she spoke, the old woman wiped her eyes and said, “Mr. Shi used to come to my place every day for a bowl of spicy soup, but I haven’t seen him lately, and I feel uneasy about it.”

Just as Wu Jingzhong was about to ask about the specifics, Song Minghao gave him a wink, and Wu Jingzhong lowered his head and stopped talking.

Meanwhile, the old woman continued her story: "Commander Shi said that there's a place in Jinling called Jiujia, and there's a Henan restaurant there with delicious food."

Song Minghao was startled. There was only one place around Jinling with the name "Jiujia" in its name—Jiujiawei.

The Military Intelligence Bureau once carried out a mission there, and Shi Ming was one of the members, but Jiujiawei was a dock and there were no restaurants.

Wu Jingzhong and Zheng Tingbing also knew about this, but they pretended nothing had happened and listened to the old woman express her gratitude while drinking their soup.

As the sun rose in the east, the morning market gradually dispersed. Zheng Tingbing and his entourage strolled around the city before heading to the headquarters of the X Division.

This time, they stopped investigating Shi Ming's cause of death, simply asked a few routine questions to several X Division officers, and ended the conversation, making it seem as if they were closing the case.

That evening, after entertaining the high-ranking members of the X Division, the three returned to Shi Ming's residence by car. Song Minghao casually dismissed the junior agent from the Luocheng Station.

"Alright, you all stay outside and keep watch. Don't come in without orders."

After the spy left, the three returned to their rooms to rest. At 3 a.m., there was some noise in the courtyard.

Song Minghao pushed open the door and walked into the yard. With his short legs, he sprinted up the yard wall with great agility.

Outside the wall was a pitch-black alley, where the conversation of the spies at the main gate could be faintly heard. Song Minghao slowly descended from the top of the wall to the ground and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

He circled around the courtyard for a while, finally stopping at the back door of the spicy soup shop. After confirming that no one was around, Song Minghao raised his hand and gently knocked on the door.

Surprisingly, the door opened from the inside after only two or three knocks, as if the person opening the door had been waiting for a long time.

During the day, the old woman peeked around and then led Song Minghao inside. Before Song Minghao could speak, she asked him a question.

"Sir, do you know what character comes after 'Jiujia'?"

Song Minghao answered in a low voice, "Jiujiawei, did Shi Ming leave something here with you?"

The old woman's eyes instantly reddened. She took out a metal cigarette case from her bosom and handed it to Song Minghao, her voice slightly choked.

"Mr. Shi said that if he didn't show up for three days, something must have happened, and a high-ranking official would definitely come to Yancheng. He told me to give the things to someone who knows Jiujiawei."

“I saw the three of you yesterday. I was planning to visit you, but I didn’t expect you to come here this morning.”

After giving a brief overview of the situation, the old woman asked Song Minghao with anticipation if Shi Ming was still alive.

Without Shi Ming's help, his family would have perished during last year's famine, and they wouldn't have the good life they have now.

Song Minghao remained silent, put away the cigarette box, and turned to leave. The old woman leaned against the door, silently shedding tears, already knowing the answer in her heart.

① Yu Qian