The train driver in the courtyard

Linxi Garden is a very special place in Linxi, full of Western-style houses, surrounded by churches, staff quarters, and bowling alleys.

This place was built by foreign workers at the mine before liberation for their leisure.

After liberation, the coal mine returned to the hands of the people, and the facilities in Linxi Garden were opened to all miners.

On the east side, there is a movie theater that has been converted.

It's not a large cinema, only able to accommodate two or three hundred people, but it has the best facilities in Linxi and also the highest ticket price, costing a full two cents.

Even so, the cinema entrance is still packed with people every day.

Before each movie screening, there are always young people who couldn't get tickets squatting on the steps, smoking cigarettes and chatting about everything under the sun, a scene unique to Linxi.

When Section Chief Wu and Li Aiguo arrived in their jeep, a young man who was smoking threw away his cigarette butt and walked up to them, his face looking rather grim.

"Reporting, Section Chief! The person...the person is missing!"

"What do you mean by 'the person is missing'?" Section Chief Wu's hand paused on the car door, his brows instantly furrowing.

He had deployed two groups of people inside and outside the cinema beforehand. In such a small place, it would be difficult to escape even if one had wings. How could someone have disappeared?
"It's Pan Jinyue and Deputy Section Chief Chen! They've both disappeared without a trace!"

Upon hearing this, not only was Section Chief Wu startled, but his pupils also contracted.

Even Li Aiguo in the passenger seat perked up, slowly withdrawing his hand from the car window.

"Comrade, don't worry, explain the situation clearly."

The security officer spoke quickly: "We split into two groups as instructed by the section chief. Xiao Zhao and I went in to keep watch, while Xiao Liu and Xiao Wang stayed outside to provide support."

The movie theater was packed with people, so we didn't dare get too close and just followed the two of them from a distance.

Who knew that just after turning the corner around the ticket gate, in the blink of an eye, the person was gone!

He spoke with a blank expression on his face, as if he had stumbled upon something eerie.

"Does this cinema have a back door?" Li Aiguo took out a cigarette from his pocket and offered one to the security officer.

The security officer took the cigarette, took a deep drag, and his tense nerves relaxed slightly. He shook his head and said, "We asked the cinema manager beforehand, and this place only has one main entrance. They've never built a back door!"

"No back door? Do you mean they can fly out?"

Li Aiguo never expected that Pan Jinyue could escape the security officer's sight twice in a row.

Sure enough, women with the surname Pan are all extraordinary.

"Section Chief, should I take some men and clear the area now? Bring everyone out and check them one by one!" The security officer was so anxious that sweat was pouring down his forehead.

Their security department has lost face in front of the comrades from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot this time.

"No, that would definitely alert them. Whatever Pan Jinyue is up to, she'll eventually target the mine. As long as we keep a close eye on the mine, we'll be fine."

Section Chief Wu waved his hand, lit a cigarette, and looked at Li Aiguo: "Aiguo, what do you think?"

“Brother Wu, I agree with your idea. Instead of following the enemy, we should go around to the front of the enemy.” Li Aiguo nodded.

Having made up his mind, Section Chief Wu immediately drove back to the mine to deploy manpower and keep a close watch on all the entrances and exits of the mine.

Li Aiguo, along with Zhou Ke and two security officers, stood guard at the cinema entrance, quietly waiting for the evening movie to end.

He wanted to see how this young lady Pan would sprout wings and fly away.

Only after the movie ended and audience members began to emerge in twos and threes did Li Aiguo lead his group into the theater.

The administrator, Old Chen, had already received a notification from the security department. Upon seeing them enter, he quickly closed the main gate and turned on all the lights.

However, this cinema was converted from an old warehouse, with a ceiling height of over ten feet. The light from the overhead lights could not penetrate the huge space, and the corners remained dim.

"What are you looking for, leaders?" Old Chen approached. He was about sixty years old and his back was slightly hunched.

Before liberation, he worked as a servant in Linxi Garden, serving both foreigners and Japanese soldiers.

After liberation, his sons all went to work in the mines. He should have been enjoying his retirement at home, but he couldn't stay idle and took the initiative to stay at the cinema to take charge of management.

As for showing movies, that was the job of the projectionist at the No. 1 Club in the mining area.

Zhou Ke rolled up his sleeves, revealing his empty wrist, pointed at it and said, "Grandpa, I lost my Plum Blossom brand watch here. Come and look for it."

"Don't worry, don't worry!" Old Chen patted his chest and assured him, "Anything you left in this movie theater, I'll find it for you!"

As he spoke, he took out his flashlight, bent over, and began to shine it on each seat one by one.

Li Aiguo and Zhou Ke also turned on their flashlights and followed behind Lao Chen, but their eyes did not stay on their seats. Instead, they looked around at the structure of the cinema.

"Uncle Chen, I heard this movie theater used to be a warehouse," Li Aiguo asked.

"That's right! The earliest one was the antique warehouse of Ma Kefei, the foreign manager of the mining area. It was full of bottles and jars that he had collected from all over the place."

Later, when World War II broke out, Mark C. F. was a reserve major general in the John Bull family. He left the warehouse and went back to the United States to fight against Sanders.

The mine got a new foreign manager, a former sailor, and the warehouse became empty.

Later, when the Japanese invaded, they saw that the place was spacious and turned it into a small cinema, specifically for the use of a few managers and the administrators from the small notebook office.

Now that we are liberated, the people are the masters of their own destiny.

Before liberation, I would only be allowed to come in and sweep the floor; I wouldn't even have the right to stay for a minute longer.

Old Chen has worked in Linxi Garden for decades and is very familiar with the area.

Upon hearing this, Li Aiguo stopped and asked, "Was this movie theater modified by the Japanese themselves?"

"Of course! Even the projection room was built by the Japanese according to their style. Originally, there were just a few rows of leather sofas here, exclusively for the use of Japanese officers."

After liberation, we moved all the sofas out and replaced them with long wooden benches, and only then could we miners come in to watch movies.” Old Chen nodded.

Li Aiguo didn't say anything more, and turned to walk towards the projection room in the corner.

He noticed something was wrong as soon as he reached the door.

The computer room had two doors: one leading to the cinema lobby, and the other standing alone on the side, looking quite out of place.

"Don't be surprised, boss. The Japanese have a lot of rules! They said the projector room and the film storage room must be separate, in case the film catches fire and damages the projector, so they opened this extra door," Old Chen explained as he followed.

Li Aiguo nodded, pushed open a door and went inside. Inside were more than a dozen metal cabinets, all filled with film reels.

The labels read "Iron Warrior," "The White-Haired Girl," and "The Story of Liubao."

There are three rows of metal cabinets, but the last row has always been empty because there aren't enough film sheets.

Li Aiguo frowned as the beam of his flashlight swept across the ground.

"Brother Aiguo, what's wrong?" Zhou Ke came closer and looked in the direction of his flashlight beam, then gasped in shock, "This...this is a footprint?"

In the aisle at the very back, dust was trampled into a messy pattern of varying shades, clearly indicating that more than one person had been there.

"Oh dear! It must be the cleaning staff who are slacking off! I'll definitely give them a good talking to later!" Old Chen's face turned bright red as he quickly explained.

Li Aiguo waved his hand, ignoring Lao Chen's words, and, holding the flashlight, followed the footprints step by step to the leftmost metal cabinet.

Li Aiguo suddenly pushed open the metal cabinet, and a hidden crack popped open at the bottom of the cabinet with a "click".

Li Aiguo took out the flashlight from his waist, and the beam swept across, revealing a downward stone staircase.

This scene left everyone present speechless with astonishment.

Zhou Ke opened his mouth, but the questions he wanted to ask were stuck in his throat.

Old Chen's eyes widened, and after a long while he murmured, "This... how come there's a secret passage under this movie theater?"

Li Aiguo turned around and winked at the security officer behind him.

The security officer immediately understood, stepped forward, and showed his work ID to Old Chen: "Comrade Chen, could you please come outside with me for a moment? There are some things I'd like to ask you about."

After the two figures disappeared through the door, Li Aiguo turned to Zhou Ke and another security officer, and said in a low voice, "Come down with me and take a look."

The three of them stepped onto the stone steps one after the other. The damp, musty smell, the rotten smell of old wood, and a faint fishy smell wafted over, making their noses itch.

The wall was covered with reddish-brown stains, which had long since dried and turned black.

Zhou Ke leaned closer and sniffed it, his expression changing drastically: "It's bloodstains."

"Judging by the color, it's been around for quite a while." Li Aiguo's voice was calm, but his hand had already reached for the pistol at his waist, chambered a bullet, and released the safety.

The tunnel was much longer than expected, winding and full of forks. The three of them walked for more than ten minutes, stumbling along the way, before finally reaching the end.

A mottled wooden door blocked our way.

Li Aiguo leaned against the wall, holding a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other, and suddenly kicked open the wooden door.

The flashlight beam swept across the space behind the door in an instant.

It was a basement of about ten square meters, filled with many empty wooden crates. The straw inside the crates had long since turned yellow and brittle. Judging from the size of the crates and the wear on the edges, they were probably filled with weapons.

"This place... why is it so creepy?" Zhou Ke's voice trembled slightly.

Even the security officer standing nearby couldn't help but shrink back, his flashlight beam trembling slightly.

"What are those Japanese devils trying to do by digging such a long tunnel?" the security officer muttered to himself.

"You'll find out soon," Li Aiguo said, already walking to the other exit of the basement.

There was also a dilapidated wooden door there.

He reached out and gently pushed, and the wooden door opened a crack.

A blinding ray of light pierced through the crack, causing the group to instinctively squint.

It took a while for me to get used to it before I could slowly see the scene outside the door.

It was an abandoned house, with tables, chairs and benches lying haphazardly on the ground, broken windowpanes everywhere, and a few blurry slogans written in red ink on the wall, the words "Down with **" barely legible.

"This is... the Special Defense Division!" The security officer exclaimed in surprise as he saw the words on the wall.

"What is the Defense Department?" Zhou Ke asked, puzzled.

"I've only heard about it, I don't know the specifics. I was transferred here from another place." The security officer shook his head.

"Let me tell you."

The moment a familiar voice rang out from behind him, Li Aiguo raised his pistol, pointing it at the newcomer.

Section Chief Wu instinctively raised his hand.

"It's Brother Wu." Li Aiguo put away his pistol.

Section Chief Wu wiped his sweat; this guy's reaction speed was too fast. He looked around and said, "Since its construction, the Linxi Mine has always been maintained by the mine police. However, during the Japanese occupation, our people frequently attacked the mine."

The Japanese built many pillboxes and various defensive fortifications in this area. They also distrusted the mine police, so they established a special defense unit under their direct command.

The junior officers and sergeants were all Japanese soldiers. The soldiers were all recruited thugs and hooligans.

"Back then, the miners surrounded Linxi Garden, intending to take care of the Japanese soldiers."

When they rushed in, the Japanese soldiers were nowhere to be seen. Soon after, the Japanese defense force arrived.

The workers suffered heavy losses, and everyone was puzzled as to where the Japanese managers had gone. It seems that this tunnel is the answer.

After the Japanese troops entered the mining area, they were constantly worried about safety, so they secretly dug this tunnel.

"So... Pan Jinyue and Deputy Section Chief Chen escaped through this tunnel just now?"

Zhou Ke suddenly realized, and then frowned.

"But even if we know their escape route, it doesn't seem to help solve the case. We've been busy for most of the day..."

Li Aiguo laughed: "No, it's a huge help. Think about it carefully, how could Pan Jinyue know about this secret passage that even the old miners didn't know about? Also, why did she insist on taking Deputy Section Chief Chen with her through this passage?"

Li Aiguo's words were like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirring up a thousand waves in everyone's hearts.

Section Chief Wu's expression turned serious: "Pan Jinyue must have some connection with the Japanese. As for Deputy Section Chief Chen, Pan Jinyue wants to drive him to a dead end. They're going to join forces with several big ones."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a thunderclap suddenly resounded in the sky.

"Rumble"

A deafening clap of thunder boomed, and the whole room seemed to tremble.

A chill ran through them as a strange coldness crept up their spines.

"This lightning is terrifying... Darling, are you scared?" At this moment, in a house on the outskirts of the mining area, the atmosphere inside was very ambiguous under the dim yellow light.

Deputy Section Chief Chen, shirtless and sweaty, wrapped his arms around Pan Jinyue, who was wearing a silk nightgown. He brushed his nose against her hair, smelling her sweet fragrance, and felt as if he had been electrocuted, his whole body trembling.

He originally thought that Pan Jinyue had climbed up the social ladder and would no longer pay attention to him.

Unexpectedly, she took the initiative to come to him, allowing him to taste her warm and soft body again.

"Hey, don't get handsy. If you really want to get aroused, you don't have the ability. Are you going to let me just watch?" Pan Jinyue raised her hand and slapped his hand away, her pretty face suddenly covered with a layer of frost.

Deputy Section Chief Chen's face flushed red and then paled, his tone full of guilt: "Little beauty, I really wasn't in the mood today. Don't worry, I'll have someone buy a tiger penis to make soup later. Next time we meet, I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"

Pan Jinyue didn't reply, but took out a cigarette from her pajama pocket, and Deputy Section Chief Chen hurriedly offered her a match.

The flame flickered, illuminating a cold glint in the corner of her eye.

She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled a smoke ring, which drifted leisurely towards the roof.

"Old Chen, there's something you need to do for me."

Deputy Section Chief Chen thumped his chest loudly: "Just give the order! Is there another relative who wants to get into the mine? It's just a matter of saying one word, and I guarantee I'll arrange everything perfectly for you."

Pan Jinyue flicked her cigarette ash, not even raising her eyelids: "Aren't you and Captain Sun of the Fifth Mine practically inseparable? I need you to arrange for someone to go into the mine. Also, you need to get the Sixth Mine back to production as soon as possible, and it would be best if that Li Aiguo could also go into the mine."

Deputy Section Chief Chen sensed something was amiss: "Go into Mine No. 5? There's nothing but rocks and coal down there, what would we do there? And what's the connection between you getting Mine No. 6? Li Aiguo is from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot."

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. You'll get your share of the benefits once it's done." Pan Jinyue's voice turned colder.

As soon as he said that, the hairs on the back of Deputy Section Chief Chen's neck stood on end.

Even if he's stupid, he could tell something was wrong.

He sat bolt upright: "Jin Yue, this really can't be done! You know, the mine's security has been incredibly tight lately, with sentries everywhere, both overt and covert. Even miners have to register if they want to sneak into a mine tunnel, let alone outsiders. If I dared to show favoritism, I'd be throwing my head in the sand!"

As he spoke, he hurriedly put on his pants, and before he had even properly put on his shoes, he ran towards the door.

"Oh right, I have to inspect the mine tunnels first thing tomorrow morning, so I'll call it a day..."

Before he could finish speaking, a light, airy voice came from behind him.

"Old Chen, do you think you can leave now?"

Deputy Section Chief Chen's feet seemed to be nailed to the ground as he slowly turned his head: "What...what do you mean by that?"

Pan Jinyue slowly got off the bed, her bare feet stepping on the cold cement floor. She walked up to him and blew a puff of smoke in his face.

"Aren't you curious how I found out about the secret passage in the movie theater?"

Upon hearing the mention of the secret passage, Deputy Section Chief Chen's expression changed drastically.

As evening fell, he followed Pan Jinyue into the movie theater. He originally planned to leave after watching the movie, but Pan Jinyue suddenly pulled him into a room and opened a secret passage with a push of her hand.

He was so scared that his legs went weak, but Pan Jinyue laughed and patted his face, saying that she had discovered it by accident and that he was the only one in the world who knew about it.

I told Deputy Section Chief Chen because I trusted him.

"You...you lied to me back then!" Deputy Section Chief Chen's face was so gloomy it could drip water.

Pan Jinyue suddenly laughed, her laughter clear and crisp: "So what if I lied to you? That secret passage was told to me by my mother."

"Your mother? The movie theater used to be a place for pornography. Your mother is..." Deputy Section Chief Chen said, only halfway through his sentence.

The thought of this possibility sent a chill down his spine, and he dared not speak further, nor even think about it.

Pan Jinyue's smile vanished, her eyes sharp as knives: "That's right. My mother was Japanese, my father was Japanese, and so am I."

Pan Jinyue walked up to Deputy Section Chief Chen, grabbed his collar, and said coldly, "Sleeping with a woman who only has a notebook, what do you think the consequences will be if this gets out?"

"I don't know! I don't know anything! You seduced me! You came to me willingly!" Deputy Section Chief Chen never expected that the usually charming Pan Jinyue would turn into a beautiful snake, the kind that had already coiled around her neck.

Pan Jinyue scoffed, "Then what about all the things you did for me? My cousin got into the mining team, it was you who approved the application, and now you're saying you didn't know about it?"

Upon hearing this, Deputy Section Chief Chen trembled.

"Did you commit the bombing in Mine No. 6?"

"No, we did it together. Old Chen, we've been in the same boat for a long time."

Deputy Section Chief Chen trembled, his legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud, clutching his head in his hands.

"It's over, it's all over. I'm just waiting to be shot. Pan Jinyue, you're going to get me killed."

Seeing his expression, Pan Jinyue knew the time was right, so she said, "I'm helping you. If you help me accomplish this, I can take you away."

These words were like a lifeline, and Deputy Section Chief Chen raised his head and asked, "Really?"

"of course."

Pan Jinyue helped Deputy Section Chief Chen to the bed, offered a few words of comfort, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Old Chen, I'll only ever love you in this life. Even though you're much older than me, I feel very safe with you. When we get there, I'll have a few kids for you, okay?"

Deputy Section Chief Chen didn't know whether he should believe Pan Jinyue's words.

However, he had heard that some women prefer older men.

"Jin Yue, I promise you."

Faced with a bottomless abyss on one side and a wonderful life on the other, Deputy Section Chief Chen easily made his choice.

He didn't see that Pan Jinyue's lips curled up slightly.

*****
The farmer once told Li Aiguo that a meteorologist, like an old hunter, must be patient and calm.

The best time to act is only after the prey has fallen into the trap.

Li Aiguo has always deeply agreed with this.

In the following days, the security department of Linxi Coal Mine sent people to seal off the tunnel under the Linxi Garden Cinema, without revealing any information.

All off-duty security officers were urgently called to their posts, and the defenses of each mine were secretly reinforced layer by layer.

Li Aiguo remained calm and collected, spending his days with Engineer Liu inspecting and repairing the coal cutter in the mine.
The cutterhead of this machine needed to be sent to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot for repair. Fortunately, the two places are not far apart, and the repaired cutterhead was delivered in time, just two days later.

By this time, the outer casing of the coal cutter had been polished and repaired, and all the damaged pipelines had been reconnected.
The rock walls of Mine No. 6 have been reinforced a second time. Everything is ready, just waiting for the right opportunity.

On Monday morning, Li Aiguo had just stepped into Mine No. 6 when he received a notification from the production increase team, instructing him to go to the conference room immediately for a meeting.

Li Aiguo turned and walked out of the mine. He looked up at the dark clouds gathering and pressing down low in the distance and muttered to himself, "It seems the other side is about to lose patience."

Upon entering the conference room, Li Aiguo immediately took in the situation inside.

In addition to Liu, the deputy leader of the production increase team, Chen, the deputy head of the production department, several mine leaders were also present, and Wu, the head of the security department, sat to one side.

"Comrade Aiguo, please have a seat." Deputy Team Leader Liu immediately stood up to greet him as he entered, showing exceptional enthusiasm.

After Li Aiguo sat down, Deputy Team Leader Liu spoke first: "Comrade Aiguo, this time our mine had oversights in safety precautions, which affected the testing progress of the coal cutter. On behalf of the mine, I apologize to you."

He paused, then changed the subject: "But right now, the labor competitions in various mining areas are in full swing. Mine No. 6 is our main high-yield mine, and it's not a good idea to keep stopping work. Don't you agree?"

Deputy Section Chief Chen immediately chimed in, his gaze sweeping over Section Chief Wu: "Yes, since no substantial problems have been found, I think we should resume coal mining operations as soon as possible. Old Wu, is there anything unusual at the coal cutting team in Mine No. 6?"

"No problems have been found so far," Section Chief Wu replied truthfully.

“If nothing was found, then there’s no problem! I think we can get the coal cutting team back to their posts and catch up on the schedule,” said Deputy Section Chief Chen.

“Those miners are all our brothers. It’s not right to keep them locked up all the time, is it?”

Several mine leaders nearby also expressed their support, unanimously standing with the production increase team and advocating for a swift resumption of work.

Finally, all eyes fell on Li Aiguo, and Deputy Team Leader Liu asked, "Comrade Aiguo, what do you think?"

“I agree with the mine’s decision,” Li Aiguo nodded.

"Our coal cutter has just been repaired, and I plan to continue testing it tomorrow."

Deputy Team Leader Liu initially thought Li Aiguo was going to stop him, but upon hearing this, he was clearly taken aback. After realizing what was happening, he excitedly said, "Great! Comrade Aiguo is indeed worthy of being from Beijing; his ideological awareness is truly proactive."

Deputy Section Chief Chen also said, "I suggest that our mining area should call on all workers to learn from our patriotic comrades."

After the meeting ended, Li Aiguo walked out of the conference room and found that it had already started raining outside.

Large raindrops pounded on the coal dust-covered ground, splashing up murky black sprays.

As night fell, a torrential downpour completely enveloped the entire Linxi Mine, leaving only the roar of the rain in the air.

A figure wearing a raincoat appeared silently at the entrance of Mine No. 5, his rain hat covering most of his face.

(End of this chapter)