My spy diary

Chapter 514 I can’t leave
"Director Zhang, the boss is waiting for you."

More than ten minutes later, He Shangyou, who was the first to report, came out of Dai Chunfeng's office. His previous decadence was gone, and he looked full of energy and vigor.

Zhang Yi suspected that he might have accepted some new task. He stared at his back for a few seconds, then turned around and knocked on the office door.

"Commander, I am here to plead guilty."

At this moment, Zhang Yi, who entered the office, lowered his head and looked at his feet, like a child who had done something wrong, with his eyebrows lowered and his eyes submissive.

Opposite him, Mr. Dai stared at him fiercely. Zhang Yi avoided his gaze and turned to look at a calligraphy on the wall: "The world belongs to all." Below the plaque was a photo of Mr. Sun Yat-sen and a photo of Chang in military uniform. To the right was the Guomindang flag, and below it sat Dai Chunfeng.

Dai Chunfeng snorted and finally couldn't help it: "What did you do wrong? Why didn't you look at me?"

"Ah? Director, you are silent, so I don't dare to disturb you!"

"Stop playing dumb in front of me." Dai Chunfeng slapped the table, then stood up suddenly, his eyes gloomy, pointing at Zhang Yi's nose and cursing, "Executing a Red Party criminal is such an important matter, why didn't you ask for instructions and report it in advance? The phone couldn't get through, so why didn't you call a few more times? Why didn't you send someone to report? Humph, I think you are simply arrogant and ignore military discipline and family rules. What, do you think you have grown wings and want to run your own business?"

Zhang Yi was horrified and explained hurriedly: "Commander, I was forced to do that. It happened suddenly and I was worried about the spread of the infection, so I took a gamble."

"Think about it, there was no sign of this happening beforehand. The three cleaners suddenly started foaming at the mouth, convulsing all over and falling to the ground. I thought everything would be fine once I dealt with them, but who would have thought that after returning to the detention center, all the prisoners in Room A were infected. I was panicked and at a loss. I just wanted to deal with the problem quickly and didn't care about anything else." Zhang Yi explained anxiously, with a lingering fear on his face.

Dai Chunfeng put his hands on his hips and looked at him calmly.

Zhang Yi continued, "That day, the director told his subordinates that a patient suspected of being infected with the plague had recently fled to the mountain city. When I saw that scene, my mind went blank."

Dai Chunfeng didn't say anything else, as if he had been convinced by Zhang Yi.

"Don't worry, Director. The prisoners were treated very well. They were all covered with sacks, covered with lime, and buried firmly. They must have died long ago. I had only one thought at the time: I must not let the disease spread. I was completely public-spirited." Zhang Yi leaned forward. "I almost got infected, but fortunately it was just a false alarm. Otherwise, I would never be able to serve the Party, the country, and you again."

Dai Chunfeng straightened himself up: "All your reasons are reasonable, but they violated military discipline and family rules and must be severely punished."

Zhang Yi was choked by these words and said with a frustrated look: "I am willing to accept the punishment."

Dai Chunfeng sat down, but did not say how to punish him. Instead, he changed the subject:
"Have you heard of a reporter named Gu Jingzhe?"

On the other side, He Shangyou's car finally stopped on the roadside near the shop he had searched before. He took the binoculars handed to him by the front-row agent and looked outside.

On the roadside, there was a shoe repairman and a candied haws seller. Both of them were intelligence agents in disguise.

It was already past half past nine. He Shangyou looked at his watch and said in a low, chilling voice, "Has he been silent all this time?"

"Since the day before yesterday, he has taken down the sign that says 'Newly Arrived Foreign Liquor' at the door. He must have discovered our people a long time ago. Last night we cut off all the telephone lines in the vicinity, but he remained unmoved. No contact person showed up either. Director, how about we take action now?"

"How should I put it? Although the cards are clear now, I still feel a little unwilling to give up. A meat bun is here. I still want to wait for that dog to come. With my handover to the Red Party, they will not give up this person." He Shangyou shook his head and raised the telescope to look for a while. "Wait another hour."

On the other side of the intersection, Zheng Huhe got on a rickshaw and immediately recognized the plainclothes officers from the Intelligence Department. Since the people here were from the Party and Government Intelligence Department, it meant that He Shangyou was the one hiding in the dark and directing the operation. If he appeared near the shop, he would definitely become a suspect and would be taken for investigation immediately. Even a gesture or a look would be noticed.

There is only one way to ensure the safe evacuation of Shopkeeper Yang.

Zheng Huhe thought about it and without stopping, turned and came to a street behind the shop. He pretended to pick and choose at a stall and soon found two suspicious people.

A man was leaning against a telephone pole and reading a newspaper as if nothing had happened, but his eyes kept glancing towards the window on the second floor of the shop. There was another breakfast vendor not far away who was doing the same.

Zheng Huhe was thoughtful. It seemed that the enemy had set up a tight net to surround Manager Yang.

He thought for a while, bought a top hat, and then walked straight to the breakfast stall.

The breakfast stall was busiest in the morning. The agent disguised as the stall owner was sweating profusely. Fortunately, before he joined the Military Control Commission, his family made breakfast, so he was not so busy.

At this moment, he was taking out a dozen steaming buns from the steamer, placing them in the dustpan in front of him and covering them with a white cloth when Zheng Huhe came over and said, "Boss."

"Coming." The boss responded subconsciously, wiped his hands on his apron, and walked over.

Zheng Huhe stood in front of the stall, looking at the steamed buns on the table.

The boss said attentively, "Sir, it's better to come at the right time than to come early. They are all freshly baked and hot as hell. Would you like some?"

Zheng Huhe glanced at the steamed buns and said, "I don't like white flour buns. Do you have brown sugar buns?"

The boss smiled and said, "Women and children love to eat brown sugar buns. We men still have to eat white flour."

Zheng Huhe hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay, let's use white flour."

"How many you want?"

"Four, maybe."

"Okay, I'll wrap it in newspaper for you."

While the boss was bending down to get the newspaper, Zheng Huhe glanced around and quickly rubbed the chopping board next to him with his sleeve.

The boss was completely unaware of all this.

He took out a piece of newspaper, wrapped the steaming bun, and handed it to Zheng Huhe:
"Come again next time."

Zheng Huhe smiled, took out a banknote with his left hand and handed it to the boss, holding the steamed bun:

“I will definitely patronize it if it’s delicious.”

After seeing Zheng Huhe off, the boss went back to kneading the dough patiently.

After a while, Zheng Huhe came over again with a slap mark on his face. The boss asked in confusion: "What's wrong with you?"

Zheng Huhe looked unhappy and complained, "Hey, the tigress at home insists on eating brown sugar buns."

"So you're also a henpecked man." The boss said with amusement, "Beating is love and scolding is love. It would be strange if you didn't bet and didn't love. But I don't have brown sugar here. How about you look somewhere else?"

"Wu Laosan used to sell breakfast on this street. It's strange, why hasn't he set up his stall these days?"

After hearing this, the boss's suspicion was gone. He knew exactly why Wu Laosan didn't set up his stall. He borrowed the stall from Wu Laosan. If he was a resident nearby, he would not have been unaware of Wu Laosan. "Okay." Zheng Huhe looked depressed and rubbed his face. "There must be buns with brown sugar filling, right?"

"We have this, how many do you want?"

"Four more."

"Okay, I'll pack it for you right away." The boss just pulled over a piece of newspaper when he saw Zheng Huhe waving his hand, pointing at the steamer and saying, "I want it fresh out of the pot, otherwise you'll get beaten when you go back." As he said that, he handed over the money first.

The boss sneered, took the money and threw it into the iron box on the small stool, looking Zheng Huhe up and down, "Brother, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but how can a seven-foot-tall man be so afraid of a woman? Women should be spoiled, but they should still be beaten when necessary, otherwise there will be a big uproar."

In response, Zheng Huhe just smiled bitterly.

Seeing his timid look, the boss sneered in his heart. He snorted and turned around to get the buns.

Soon, Zheng Huhe left with the buns again.

After he left, the spy who was reading a newspaper not far away walked over and asked in a low voice while staring at Zheng Huhe's departing back:
"What should I talk to him about? Is there something wrong with this person?"

"No problem, he's just a henpecked resident nearby."

"Oh." After hearing what he said, the spy stopped paying attention and moved to another place with the newspaper.

However, a problem arose immediately. After a while, the patrol officer in charge of this area, along with several of his men and a man in a suit and gold-rimmed glasses, came to the stall.

Seeing that the men came with bad intentions, the boss frowned and asked, "What happened?"

"It's nothing serious, I just came to understand the situation." The police officer stared at him and pointed at the man with gold-rimmed glasses. "This is Section Chief Liu from the municipal government. He was robbed on his way to a teahouse to keep an appointment. He was hit on the back of his neck and his gold watch was taken away. The robber didn't leave any traces, but there is some flour on his neck."

Before the police officer could finish his words, the boss said with disdain: "What does this have to do with me?"

Police officer: "I didn't say it was you. There are only a few shops on this street that use flour for breakfast, so we have to ask them one by one." As he said that, he carefully looked at the boss a few times, his eyes became suspicious, "Hey, you look a little unfamiliar, when did you come here? Let me see your ID card."

Section Chief Liu crossed his arms, looking impatient: "Why are you nagging him? If it's him, wouldn't you know if you just searched him?"

The boss's face froze. He had come here to perform a task, so he had done his homework in advance and had prepared the fake documents long ago, so he was naturally not afraid of being checked. In order to keep it secret, he had already slapped him in the face. He had been working hard here from dawn to dusk, and now he was suspected of being a thief. Suddenly, a nameless fire rose up and he said angrily:
"You want to search, right? Search now. I have done nothing wrong, so I am afraid of nothing. Humph, if you can't find anything, I will make you pay."

He thought to himself that after completing the mission, he would definitely revisit the old place, show his ID and reveal his identity in a dignified manner, and then see what these bastards would have to say. If they didn't apologize to him, he would make them pay for it.

Seeing this, the police officer was no longer polite and immediately waved his hand to let his men check. The white cloths containing the steamed buns were lifted up one by one. When the third piece of white cloth was lifted up, Chief Liu's gold watch suddenly appeared.

"Hey, what's going on?" The boss was stunned.

"We caught the criminal red-handed, are you still acting? Arrest him!" The police officer sneered and waved his hand. Several of his men immediately rushed over to hold the boss down. The boss' face turned red and he struggled: "It's a misunderstanding. Listen to me."

"Stop!" The man who was reading a newspaper on the other side saw his companion in trouble and ran over in a hurry.

Everyone's attention was drawn to it, and they didn't notice that an agile figure slid neatly from the roof above their heads into the window of the shop where Manager Yang was.

Shopkeeper Yang had spotted a suspicious person outside the store a few days ago, but apart from taking down the "Newly Arrived Foreign Liquor" sign at the door and warning his companions that it was no longer safe here, he did nothing and continued to open and close the store as usual.

At this moment he was sitting at the counter counting the bills. Hearing the noise coming from upstairs, he frowned slightly, stood up calmly, walked to the stove in the middle of the shop, picked up the iron kettle that was bubbling with steam, added charcoal to the stove, and watched carefully.

"Lao Yang."

"Who?"

"It's me, Lao Zheng!" Zheng Huhe crouched down and quietly came down the wooden ladder.

"There are spies outside. Why are you here?"

"I'm here to cover your evacuation."

Old Yang was silent for a moment, then he took the kettle and filled it with water while asking in a low voice:

"We have lost contact with the outside world these days. I wonder what has happened to those 24 comrades?"

“They are all safe.”

"Robbery of watches? Theft and framing others?" On the other side, He Shangyou heard the report from his subordinates with an incredible look on his face. He could not have imagined that a robbery had happened right under his nose.

"Yes, fortunately Wang Wu showed his ID in time and controlled the situation."

"There is no coincidence in the world." He Shangyou seemed not to hear his subordinates' words, muttering to himself. As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately thought of something and shouted in a low voice: "Quick! This is a plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain. Don't wait, act now!"

The plainclothes officer immediately jumped out of the car, loaded his gun, and ran towards the shop where Manager Yang was.

In the shop, Shopkeeper Yang smiled with satisfaction, "That's great."

Suddenly, there were screams and chaotic footsteps from passers-by outside. Zheng Huhe's heart sank: "They're taking action. Come on, I'll cover you and leave."

Shopkeeper Yang calmly put down the iron kettle, plugged the kettle, straightened his clothes, and looked determined:
"I can't leave. If I leave, wouldn't it be a cover-up? Leave from the roof. Go!"

The footsteps are getting closer.

"You come with me!" Zheng Huhe was very determined.

"The spies are coming for me. The others have not been exposed. Don't worry, I won't say anything." Lao Yang was also very determined.

"My mission is to cover your transfer."

"For the country and for his beliefs, Yang risked his life. My life can be exchanged for the safety of 24 comrades. It's worth it!"

Old Yang saluted solemnly and firmly, urged Zheng Huhe to hurry up, then picked up the fire tongs and turned to walk outside.

(End of this chapter)