The train driver in the courtyard

"Old Liu, we'll probably be heading back in a few days. If you ever come to Beijing, be sure to visit our place."

"Definitely, definitely. Aiguo, haven't you always been interested in this Chicken Street Station? The train hasn't started running yet, so I'll show you around."

Liu Ping'an inquired with the station staff and learned that the train they needed to take wouldn't depart for another half hour. He then enthusiastically showed Li Aiguo and Zhou Ke around the Jijie Railway Station.

"Don't let its remote location fool you; before liberation, it was one of the top freight transit stations in the southeast region."

"Don't you think the building's style is a bit strange? It was designed with the help of the French."

"Here you'll find station buildings, offices, locomotive depots, machine repair workshops, hangars, sand rooms, operations rooms, train inspection stations, baggage rooms, and warehouses. Oh, and there are also watchtowers."

Upon hearing the mention of the watchtower, Liu Ping'an's steps quickened. He led the two around to the northwest corner of the station and pointed to the more than ten-meter-high blue brick building.

"Back when the Japanese invaded, we held this position and fought back, taking down several of them in real combat!"

Li Aiguo also curiously looked around. The watchtower was similar to a pillbox, built of blue bricks, with firing ports on it, and faint traces of smoke could still be seen, suggesting that it must have gone through a fierce battle.

“Although our Jijie Station is now a second-class station, the waiting area is comparable to that of major stations, almost the same size as Kunming Station!” Liu Ping’an said, leading the two towards the waiting area.

The so-called waiting hall was actually an open-air plaza about the size of a basketball court, with several long wooden benches casually placed around it.

This place is not only a waiting area for passengers, but also a great place for nearby residents to relax.

Several children chased after a ball, while adults sat on chairs chatting idly, creating a lively and peaceful scene.

Occasionally, railway police officers wearing armed belts and red armbands with the word "on duty" would patrol by.

It seems the railway bureau here has also received the notification.

Just then, a loudspeaker blared through the noise: "Attention passengers traveling to Guizhou! The train is about to board, please have your tickets ready!"

The waiting area instantly erupted in commotion as passengers got up to organize their luggage.

Liu Ping'an was planning to take Li Aiguo to the platform to see the old-fashioned locomotives when he noticed that the person next to him hadn't moved. Li Aiguo was staring at a figure in the corner.

"Patriotism, what's wrong?" Liu Pingan asked subconsciously.

Li Aiguo didn't respond, but gave Zhou Ke a wink and gestured with his chin to the passengers in the corner: "Zhou Ke, call a few railway police officers and take that man under control."

These words stunned not only Zhou Ke, but also Liu Ping'an.

The passenger looked to be in his thirties, wearing a faded coarse cloth jacket, and was looking down at a small red booklet. He looked no different from the other passengers rushing to catch the train, and could easily disappear into the crowd.

But Zhou Ke reacted very quickly. He only hesitated for half a second before walking quickly toward the patrolling police officers and showing them his identification.

Upon seeing that he was a fellow railway police officer, the railway police immediately became more friendly. Following the direction Zhou Ke pointed, they looked but did not notice anything unusual, and followed him to the corner.

At this moment, Li Aiguo had already led Liu Ping'an over.

The middle-aged man looked up at the sound, a simple and honest smile spreading across his face: "Comrade, would you like to sit here? Well, it's too noisy here, so let's sit in a quiet corner."

Li Aiguo smiled at him: "That won't be necessary. Where are you from and where are you going?"

"Comrade, is there really no need to ask this? I'm just waiting for a bus, I'm not bothering anyone, am I?" The middle-aged man put on an impatient look, as if he had been disturbed.

"Patriotism, is that him?" Zhou Ke arrived with the railway police, led by Captain Chen from the police station.

The middle-aged man's expression changed almost imperceptibly, but he quickly stuffed the red booklet into his canvas bag, stood up abruptly, pointed at Li Aiguo, and shouted, "Police officers! You've finally arrived! This man is a thug who's deliberately trying to cause me trouble!"

His expression was angry and his tone was fierce; anyone who saw him would think he was an innocent passenger.

Little did he know that Captain Chen had already found out Li Aiguo's and his companion's identities from Zhou Ke.

"Show your ticket and ID!"
The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, muttering something under his breath, before taking out a train ticket, a work ID, and a letter of introduction from his bag and handing them over.

Captain Chen took it and examined it carefully, but found nothing unusual. He then turned and handed it to Li Aiguo.

"Tickets from Jijie Station to Guizhou Station."

Liu Huang, an employee of the Changning County Black Tea Factory.

There was nothing unusual about the ticket and documents, so Li Aiguo picked up the letter of introduction again.

"Due to unsuitable local climate conditions, the health of our employee Liu Huang has deteriorated, making it impossible for him to continue working. Therefore, we hereby approve his resignation. All procedures at our factory have been completed. Liu Huang has now moved to Jichun Province. We earnestly request the relevant departments to assist him in settling down and starting a new job."

"Liu Huang, is that you?"

The middle-aged man nodded in response.

"Who forged these documents and letters of introduction?" Li Aiguo's voice suddenly turned cold.

"What forgery? Don't make false accusations!" A flicker of panic flashed in Liu Huang's eyes, so quick it was almost impossible to catch.

He was puzzled: for this infiltration, the island had asked Langley's experts to make a complete set of credentials, even aging the paper. How could this kid possibly tell the difference?
He then turned to Captain Chen and protested his innocence: "Officer, I'm just an ordinary passenger. He clearly doesn't like me and is deliberately picking a fight with me!"

Captain Chen also felt that Li Aiguo was being somewhat reckless. He had checked the materials repeatedly and they were indeed flawless.

"Sir, could there be a mistake? This comrade seems perfectly normal to me."

"Is that so?" Li Aiguo suddenly smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

The next second, he suddenly raised his right foot and kicked Liu Huang's knee. The movement was as fast as the wind, and even Captain Chen didn't have time to react.

Just as the kick was about to land, Liu Huang suddenly jumped up on one foot and narrowly dodged it.

He had just breathed a sigh of relief when his face suddenly turned deathly pale. The moment he landed on one foot, he turned around and tried to squeeze into the crowd.

It turned out that the kick was a feint! As Li Aiguo retracted his foot, his left foot kicked out like a cannonball, landing solidly on Liu Huang's shin.

The kick was powerful and heavy; with a "thud," Liu Huang, who was running away, was kicked to the ground.

Captain Chen and the railway police then realized that the speed and force of that feint were something even they, as veteran police officers, might not have been able to dodge. This ordinary passenger's skills were too abnormal!
"There's something wrong with this kid."

"Arrest him!" Captain Chen shouted.

Several men rushed forward, and Liu Huang struggled to lift his head before being pinned to the ground and handcuffs snapped onto his wrists.

When Captain Chen was handcuffing Liu Huang, he noticed that the man's muscles were bulging, indicating that he was a trained fighter. Not feeling reassured, he had someone put another rope over Liu Huang before clapping his hands and standing up.

"Boss, how did you figure out this person has a problem?"

Upon hearing this, the railway police and Zhou Ke all turned to look at Li Aiguo, which was also something they couldn't understand.

“This man does look no different from any other passenger, but,” Li Aiguo stepped forward, pointed to Liu Huang who was struggling, and asked, “Do you know where that white short-sleeved shirt he’s wearing is made?”

Captain Chen scratched his head: "How could I know?"

Li Aiguo smiled and said, "This shirt was produced by the Shanghai Workers and Peasants Clothing Factory, and his pants are work pants produced by the Jiangnan Clothing Factory. Only this factory can produce such a perfect blue color for its pants."

"The shoes he was wearing were yellow clay shoes made by the Second Shoe Factory of Sichuan Province, which were genuine products."

The Zhongshan suit he was wearing was produced by the Beijing No. 2 Cotton Mill. It was a favorite among many workers, as it had inner pockets for carrying money and food coupons.

These clothes look normal, and they are all clothes that employees usually wear, but when they are put together, something is not right.

The clothes issued by a company or factory are usually complete sets and come from one factory. How could they possibly come from all over the country?
If I were to buy it myself, that would be even more impossible. These days, clothing is sold regionally; clothes from the south are rarely displayed on northern shelves.

After he finished speaking, the scene fell silent.

Captain Chen is a veteran who has seen countless people, but even he couldn't tell where these clothes came from.

That's not the key point. The key point is that this young man was able to instantly realize the absurdity of the situation.

"Comrade, where exactly are you from?" Captain Chen's gaze towards Li Aiguo suddenly changed.

Before Li Aiguo could answer, Zhou Ke stepped forward and whispered a few words in Captain Chen's ear. Captain Chen's expression instantly changed: "Investigation team."

"Take the person back first!" Li Aiguo pointed to the people who had gathered around.

Captain Chen then realized that, without him noticing, the passengers had gathered around them, all looking at them with curious eyes.

"Take them away!" After learning Li Aiguo and Zhou Ke's identities, Captain Chen realized the seriousness of the situation.

Fearing something might happen, they quickly ordered someone to drag Liu Huang up from the ground and escort him away.

"Did they catch Dieter?"

"Absolutely! That leader spotted the problem at a glance, it was amazing!"

"Wow, that was amazing! It's the first time I've ever seen someone catch a Dieter."

"Old Zhou, it seems the train we were supposed to take has already left."

"."

******
Old Cat has already contacted the weather station and plans to lead the team back to Beijing tomorrow.

Upon learning that Li Aiguo had apprehended a suspect, he immediately spoke into the microphone: "Let's put the matter of going back aside for now; it seems the train driver has made a discovery."

Old Cat hung up the phone and quickly walked out of the office. By then, Li Aiguo had already escorted Liu Huang to the detention room.

How did Aiguo realize that this person was suspicious?

"Master, you've arrived!" Zhou Ke hurriedly stepped forward and quickly recounted how Li Aiguo had seen through the disguise by observing the details of the clothing and subdued the enemy with a single kick.

Finally, scratching the back of his head with a look of frustration, he said, "I stared at that person for a long time, but I couldn't find the slightest flaw."

Old Cat's eyes flashed with approval: "That's the skill of a train driver. The more ordinary the detail, the less it escapes his notice. Learn from him."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Li Aiguo was seen in the detention cell having two meteorologists check Liu Huang's belongings.

The bamboo box was open, and the clothes inside were neatly folded.

A red booklet, an enamel mug, an iron lunchbox, a sewing kit, two packs of Daqianmen cigarettes, and fifteen yuan and thirty cents in change were laid out on the table.

"Report: The items are all common household items; nothing unusual was found," the meteorologist reported.

Old Cat's heart sank. If they couldn't find the radio or the codebook, they wouldn't be able to convict him based solely on his unusual physical abilities.

If this person has received professional training, it will definitely take some effort.

Liu Huang, standing to the side, suddenly felt emboldened and struggled to sit up straight: "I told you you're framing me! What's wrong with wearing clothes from different places? I saved up money to buy these! Why are you deducting from my clothes?" "Sit down!" Li Aiguo walked over and slapped him on the shoulder.

Liu Huang tried to straighten up, but found that the guy was too strong. He swayed and then plopped down on the chair.

Li Aiguo walked over, put on cotton gloves, picked up the items and looked at them for a moment, then picked up the iron-waisted lunchbox and held it in his hand.

"Is there something wrong with this lunchbox?" Zhou Ke leaned closer, looking puzzled. He had just checked it and found nothing unusual.

Li Aiguo didn't answer him, but opened the lunchbox. Zhou Ke's expression changed instantly: "This lunchbox is much shallower than a normal lunchbox!"

“There should be a hidden compartment inside.” Li Aiguo felt the middle of the lunchbox with his hand, but there was no gap. He then felt the edge of the lunchbox and found something wrong.

With a gentle effort, he managed to remove a partition from the lunchbox.

The meteorologists were stunned by what they saw.

"This design is so ingenious that you can't discover it at all without handling it."

Li Aiguo raised his hand and tossed the stacks of banknotes onto the table with a "clatter".

Zhou Ke picked it up; it was full of brand-new 5-yuan bills, a total of two hundred bills, amounting to one thousand yuan.

These banknotes are all from 1956.

Keep in mind that back then, a worker's monthly wage was only a dozen or so yuan. The fact that this amount of money appeared here speaks volumes.

"This is money I've saved by scrimping and saving! It's for my mother's medical treatment!" Liu Huang's voice trembled, but he dared not be as arrogant as before.

Li Aiguo ignored Liu Huang, gestured for Zhou Ke to put the money into the file folder, and then turned around and pointed at Liu Huang.

"Search them! Strip them all off!"

Liu Huang's expression changed drastically. Just as he was about to struggle, Old Cat gave him a signal, and two meteorologists immediately stepped forward and skillfully restrained him.

A moment later, a meteorologist came over holding a glass rod: "Report! We found it in his collar lining!"

There was nothing else but the glass rod.

Old Cat put on gloves and picked up the glass rod: "Patriot, what's this for?"

The glass rod was crystal clear, with smooth ends, slightly thinner than a thumb, about three centimeters long, and exquisitely crafted.

Old Cat took it and examined it for a while, then turned to Li Aiguo and asked, "What's this? A coded magnifying glass? But I didn't find the coded paper."

Old Cat knew that the equipment department at the weather station had developed some secret equipment, including this type of tool.

“It’s not that we don’t have paper, it’s that we haven’t found it.” Li Aiguo recalled the first time he met Liu Huang, who was holding a red booklet in his hand.

These red certificates are very common, and no one would suspect anything if you held one in your hand.

He stood up, found the red booklet, opened it, and ran his hand over it, page after page. When he finally reached the last page, Li Aiguo smiled and said, "Found it!"

Seeing the red certificate in Li Aiguo's hands, Liu Huang slumped into his chair. Upon hearing this, he said with a wry smile, "I really didn't expect that our disguise, which we had planned for several months, would be so easily defeated."

Li Aiguo put the red booklet back, walked up to Liu Huang, and smiled, "Are you willing to cooperate voluntarily, or do you want us to follow the rules step by step?"

"What's the point of cooperating voluntarily? What's the point of following the rules?"

"Proactive cooperation means you answer whatever I ask, and we can have a pleasant conversation. If we follow the rules, you should understand how we deal with people like you."

"I'm willing to cooperate." Liu Huang agreed without hesitation, just with a sigh.

Li Aiguo was not surprised. Such a high-ranking Dieter was very wise and knew very well that escape was impossible.

"Dress him and take him to the interrogation room!"

Liu Huang was neither the most cunning nor the most ruthless Dieter that Li Aiguo had ever met, but he was the best equipped.

Take that glass rod for example; it's technically very difficult to manufacture a glass rod with such high light transmittance.

He also carried a thousand dollars with him, which exceeded most of Dieter's budget.

Don't be fooled by their impressive propaganda that you can live a life of luxury by helping them; it's all just empty promises.

Most of the Dieters only received a few dozen dollars in funding, and some even went hungry.

The militiamen in the commune caught several Dieters stealing sweet potatoes.

The dim light in the interrogation room cast long shadows.

Li Aiguo gestured for Zhou Ke to prepare to take notes, then stared at Liu Huang and said, "Speak up, name, contact, mission, explain everything clearly."

"You really have no manners at all. Fine, fine." Liu Huang gave a wry smile, knowing the consequences of not cooperating.

He sighed and said, "I come from the island."

"Are you one of Comrade Jianfeng's men?" Old Cat was somewhat surprised. After the work done recently, the rats in the southeast had been almost completely wiped out. He didn't expect that rats would still dare to be sent over from the island.

“You’ve misunderstood. Although I come from the island, I’m not from the Anquan Bureau, nor am I from the island. I’m from Japan.” Liu Huang’s words fell silent in the interrogation room.

Generally speaking, even if an interrogator learns shocking news from Dieter, he will try to control his emotions to avoid being noticed by Dieter.

However, this news was truly shocking.

This means that some people on the island may have been connected to the Little Notebooks.

"Ahem." Li Aiguo coughed lightly twice to remind Lao Mao and Zhou Ke, then asked with a normal expression, "Continue."

Liu Huang no longer cared about the other party's reaction and continued, "My real name is Koizumi Jiro. I was originally an outer member of the Black Dragon Society. Because my father had been here before and liked the culture here, I have spoken fluent Chinese since I was a child and am quite familiar with the situation here."

I thought I'd never be able to come here in my life, but three months ago, the Black Dragon Society received a mission from Langley.”

Old Cat's expression changed slightly. Langley had also gotten involved?

This time, however, he didn't make a sound, but let Liu Huang continue speaking.

Liu Huang spoke at length, detailing everything from saying goodbye to his girlfriend to meeting with senior officials in Langley, and then arriving on the island.

Li Aiguo quickly figured out the situation.

This story begins with Langley's several failures.

Xiao Mei's family has always suspected that something good has been coming out of this place, and wondered if there's some special reason behind it.

In addition, they also suspected that the giant mushrooms here were almost ripe, but because they wanted to compete with the Russians, they were unwilling to completely offend them at this critical juncture.

So they thought of sending someone in to investigate.

This task should have been assigned to Comrade Jianfeng.

However, Langley was extremely disappointed by Comrade Jianfeng's previous failures.

They were also worried that some people on the island might have leaked the news, so they thought of drawing people from the small notebook.

The bereaved families received their master's order and excitedly agreed. After careful selection, they chose Liu Huang.

Although Liu Huang is not the most skilled Dieter, he graduated from the Department of Economics at the University of Tokyo and had worked as an economic investigator for many years, making him very suitable for investigating situations.

However, the Japanese family no longer has a way to send people in here, so they still need help from the island.

Just as Langley was hesitating about whether to give Comrade Jianfeng another chance.

Liu Xingli, who controlled the telecommunications development office on the island, took the initiative to contact Lan Li and offered to provide a channel.

This telecommunications development office is an old institution, established in the 1920s. It was once personally directed by a micro-management master before being handed over to Liu Xingli.

Liu Xingli was a close confidant of the Smiling Yama, and he and Comrade Jianfeng were never on the same page. He also helped with the kidnapping of Comrade Jianfeng.

After Jianfeng dealt with Smiling Yama, Liu Xingli was worried that Jianfeng would hold him accountable, so he kept looking for another powerful and influential person to rely on.

For the island, Langley was the most powerful figure.

Therefore, Liu Xingli joined forces with the bereaved families to carry out this mission with Lan Li.

If it succeeds, it will not only annoy Comrade Jianfeng, but also help him keep his position.

The three parties jointly carried out this mission.

Hearing this, Li Aiguo smiled and shook his head.

The island is indeed rife with factions, conflicting policies, and constant infighting, truly a place where "shallow waters breed many turtles, and big shots are everywhere."

No wonder things are getting worse and worse.

"So what is the purpose of your visit this time?" Li Aiguo asked.

"There are two main objectives. One is to investigate each region one by one, and to record the economic situation, the progress of the rectification, and even what people eat at night and what time they go to bed."

"The second thing is to go to the Northwest and record everything I see and hear along the way," Liu Huang replied.

Li Aiguo did not ask any further questions.

Because there are specialized analysis departments in the weather stations, they can analyze the local situation to identify major events that are taking place.

Last year, news came from Russia that corn production had decreased. The weather station judged that the "Corn Emperor" was going to be anxious and might complain about us or even have a fight with the US.

Unexpectedly, the Corn Emperor did both things.

First they started gossiping about us, and then they got punished.

Now they're arguing with Xiaomei's family again.

Zhou Ke felt a chill run down his spine.

This seemingly harmless guy in front of me is even more terrifying than the fiercest Dieter.

(End of this chapter)