My spy diary

Chapter 539 I trust you to do things
After shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with everyone, Zhang Yi, accompanied by Cui Fangping and Deputy Station Chief Li Mulin, arrived at a small conference room.

After the group entered the conference room, Monkey Qian Xiaosan immediately closed the door and stood guard at the entrance.

Zhang Yi took the seat of honor without hesitation and got straight to the point:
"I came to Yuzhou for two reasons: to eliminate the bandits and to eradicate the traitors."

"Director Zhang truly lives up to his reputation as a veteran of the Military Intelligence Bureau, a master of operations. He took care of Yoshikawa Teisuke and the others without lifting a finger. It's unbelievable." Cui Fangping complimented with a smile, but there was a hint of sourness in his words.

The promised guidance for the operation resulted in you taking all the credit for it. How is Yuzhou Station supposed to explain this?
Deputy Station Chief Li Mulin, however, saw it differently and seized the opportunity to flatter him, saying, "Director Zhang truly is a master of action, strategizing and winning battles from afar, eliminating the Japanese invaders' leader in one fell swoop. Our station is also honored to have done so."

Cui Fangping snorted softly, then thought about it and felt relieved. After all, the case occurred within the jurisdiction of the Chongqing station, and he, as the station chief, also benefited from it; the outcome was good. Officials value stability and avoiding mistakes rather than seeking merit. Besides, now that the elimination of the bandits was over, the focus should be on eradicating the traitors.

What kind of traitors are we talking about? They're obviously internal traitors.

Thinking of this, he sighed helplessly, "Who would have thought that Niu Zidao was actually a member of the Communist Party? I was new here and completely clueless. I didn't even notice his true colors. He deceived all of us, and now we're in a very passive position." He spoke with a sense of helplessness and even a hint of indignation, as if he had never known anything about it.

Then he changed the subject and looked at Deputy Station Chief Li Mulin:

“Deputy Station Chief Li, you’ve known Niu Zidao for years, haven’t you noticed anything wrong with him?”

Li Mulin looked displeased, cursing the old fox inwardly, but had no choice but to stand up and express his opinion:
“Although Niu Zidao was promoted by the former station chief Yue, and Li has a clear conscience, he is still culpable. Director Zhang, I am willing to accept the investigation.”

Zhang Yi waved his hand and said with a stern face, "Let's put the accountability matter aside for now. Speaking of Niu Zidao, where is he? I didn't see him just now."

"It's said he's sick." Cui Fangping smiled sarcastically, then turned to look at Deputy Station Chief Li Mulin, asking meaningfully:
"Deputy Station Chief Li, did you infect him?"

"How should I know?" Li Mulin snorted coldly, his face expressionless.

Zhang Yi frowned and said, "The timing of the illness is quite perfect. Where is the person? Are they under surveillance?"

"Everything is under control," Cui Fangping said confidently, taking a sip of his tea.

"Oh." Zhang Yi remained noncommittal, then asked curiously, "Logically speaking, Niu Zidao must have some skills to have dared to break in. How did he get exposed?"

"He has his brilliant plan, but I have my own way out," Cui Fangping said with a smug smile, recounting the story in detail.

The former station chief, Yue, was dismissed for "having made contributions to the War of Resistance but failing to effectively oppose the Red Party," which is why Cui Fangping was able to take over the position. Therefore, his work mainly focuses on the Red Party.

After failing to achieve a breakthrough internally for a long time, he came up with a plan.

Two weeks ago, Cui Fangping planted a spy in the newspaper as a reporter, who deliberately wrote articles about anti-Japanese sentiment and dissatisfaction with the Party and the state.

When the time was right, he ordered the arrest of some progressive cultural figures on charges of "rapist and harboring suspects," deliberately including the spy's name on the arrest list.

Sure enough, Niu Zidao passed the list out.

A waiter at a teahouse promptly notified these progressive cultural figures to relocate. The spy then began to target the waiter and, following the clues, found the transportation station based at the teahouse.

Under plainclothes surveillance, Niu Zidao was found to be a frequent visitor to this teahouse.

As a result, not only was Niu Zidao exposed, but the transportation station behind him was also exposed.

Just then, Cui Fangping's secretary knocked and entered, bowed respectfully, handed him a document, and reported in a low voice:

"Station chief, today is the day for surveillance."

Cui Fangping glanced at the document, nodded in satisfaction, and handed it to Zhang Yi: "Director Zhang, take a look too. Should we continue surveillance or take action?"

"Oh, what does Station Chief Cui mean?" Zhang Yi took the document but didn't rush to read it. Instead, he threw the question back at him.

"Naturally, it's a long-term strategy to catch big fish. Intelligence indicates that yesterday afternoon, Niu Zidao and the teahouse owner were out of our sight for half an hour each. I suspect they were making contact."

"Missing their post?" Zhang Yi raised an eyebrow. "Did they discover your men?"

"No, my men are all veterans."

Even an old horse can slip up sometimes; otherwise, how do you explain shirking duty?

"Impossible, they reappeared half an hour later." Cui Fangping's attitude was unusually firm. After a moment's hesitation, he continued:
"As for what they did during their disappearance, we don't know. The Red Party has always been cunning, and I think this was a test before their operation."

Li Mulin shook his head and said quietly, "Is this just a routine action, or has some commotion alerted them?"

"What's that noise?" Cui Fangping glared at him unhappily.

"I'm just speculating."

As the two were talking, Zhang Yi opened the document and read through it page by page. His face gradually darkened, and suddenly he slammed the document shut, questioning Cui Fangping:
"Station Chief Cui, is this what you call impossible?"

The two were taken aback, looking at each other in confusion, wondering why Zhang Yi had suddenly become angry.

Zhang Yi snorted coldly: "Deputy Station Chief Li, you should take a look too."

Li Mulin glanced at Station Chief Cui with schadenfreude, took the document and looked at it carefully. It turned out that Station Chief Cui's men had started monitoring Niu Zidao a week ago, and today's surveillance log showed that Niu Zidao went out to buy breakfast early in the morning, then went home, and then went out again. He rode a rickshaw around the teahouse area but did not go in.

Li Mulin deduced that Niu Zidao must have discovered the spy following him, and thus abandoned his plan to meet with his contact.

but.
But since you know you've been exposed and going back will inevitably lead to disaster, why go home?

Was it for his family?

Li Mulin coughed and stood up respectfully: "Director Zhang, after Niu Zidao returned home for the second time, he started washing up, shaving, and watering the flowers, deliberately exposing himself to the surveillance. This shows that he had already discovered that he was being followed."

But he didn't run away, nor did he panic; instead, he returned as if nothing had happened. Therefore, he must have had a reason to return, which is very unusual. Could it be to protect his family? Or was he trying to send a dangerous signal to his accomplices?

Hearing this, Cui Fangping's face immediately darkened, and he said through gritted teeth, "This person is too cunning. Since that's the case, no other fish will get in. We must close the net immediately." He gave Li Mulin a cold look, then turned to the side to make a phone call.

Li Mulin returned his gaze with a hint of barely perceptible disdain.

Zhang Yi ignored her and glanced at his watch: "Who are you meeting behind me?"

Li Mulin whispered, "The heads of several departments are waiting in the main conference room, but I bet they're all just giving me official jargon. Why don't you have something to eat first, Director Zhang?"

Zhang Yi thought for a moment, picked up the file and flipped through a few pages: "How about this, have Fu Xiaodong, the head of the general affairs section, come over. He's one of Director Shen's men, and I have a good relationship with Director Shen, so I should meet him."

General Affairs Department.

Zhou Entai, the head of the General Affairs Section, sat behind his desk, holding a teacup. He pretended to drink tea, but his mind was replaying the phone call from last night.

"Kill Zhang Yi at all costs? That still doesn't show my true abilities."

He gave a sinister smile, put down his teacup, and took out a box of tea from the cabinet.

After opening it, I felt around inside and took out an oil paper package.

This wasn't some traditional Chinese medicine mentioned on the phone; it was the highly toxic aconitine. Zhang Yi was in the conference room listening to reports from the two station chiefs. He had no idea what they were having for lunch; he would find out as soon as possible.

With that thought in mind, he went out, turned the doorknob of the office next door, and went inside.

Several clerks from the general affairs department turned to look at the person who had entered when they heard the door open. A junior agent, carrying a freshly brewed cup of hot tea, greeted Zhou Entai warmly upon seeing him: "Section Chief Zhou, would you like a cup?"

Zhou Entai went straight to the point: "The section chief hasn't come back yet?"

"They're probably still waiting for Director Zhang to summon them."

"Sigh, I wonder when this will end."

A junior agent looked at the others, who all looked completely bewildered: "How would we know? Do you need to speak with the section chief?"

"Nonsense, it's almost noon, and we still don't know what the commander wants to eat? This is our responsibility in general affairs, so we have to make sure it's arranged properly. If the commander eats well, we'll look good too."

After saying that, he turned to leave, just as a series of thumping footsteps came from outside the door.

A few seconds later, Fu Xiaodong, the head of the general affairs department, walked in from outside:

"Director Zhang wants to eat spicy soup, go and buy a few servings and send them over right away."

"I'll go," Zhou Entai readily agreed, then, after a moment's thought, asked:
"Section Chief, does Director Zhang have any dietary restrictions?"

Seeing his thoughtfulness, Fu Xiaodong nodded approvingly: "Director Zhang doesn't have any dietary restrictions, but he likes spicy food. As for Station Chief Cui..."

Zhou Entai quickly added, "The stationmaster doesn't eat spicy food, and the deputy stationmaster doesn't eat scallions."

"It's good that you remember. Go now, you'll have a hard time."

Zhou Entai saluted: "It is my duty, there is no need for hardship. Section Chief, I'm leaving."

"Yes, I trust you to handle things!" Fu Xiaodong said with a satisfied expression.

He was satisfied, Zhang Yi was not satisfied, and Station Chief Cui was even more dissatisfied.

In the office, a capable agent with a serious expression strode quickly across the building's corridor, walked to the conference room door, handed over his service weapon, and then pushed the door open and went in without even knocking.

Seeing his expression, Station Chief Cui immediately sensed something was wrong and stood up:
"How about it?"

The agent looked at Zhang Yi and Station Chief Cui and said, "Niu Zidao, surrender."

Upon hearing this news, Station Chief Cui instantly felt relieved, but the spy's expression was grim. He continued:
"But his family has disappeared."

"What's going on? Don't you say you have everything under control?" Station Chief Cui was furious.

Zhang Yi knew that Zheng Huhe must have planned this all along. He frowned as he looked at the agent, pretending to be anxious as he waited for him to continue.

Li Mulin also frowned, seemingly lost in thought.

Under the watchful eyes of the group, the agent sighed and recounted the arrest operation that had just taken place.

First up was Niu Zidao's house. When several plainclothes officers burst in, Niu Zidao was sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, drinking tea, looking completely calm, as if he had been waiting for them.

After arresting him, they searched through his belongings thoroughly, but found no clues.

Next was the transportation hub—the teahouse. They went in under the guise of having tea to arrest people, only to find the manager had changed. Upon questioning, they learned it was the landlord. Mentioning the former manager, the landlord, looking distressed, said the manager had called last night saying his nephew back home had had an accident and asked him to look after the shop for a few days. When he arrived, he found even the staff had run away, realizing he'd been tricked. But what could he do? Life had to go on. So he simply took over as manager himself.

As Station Chief Cui listened to the spy's report, his face grew increasingly grim. Zhang Yi remained expressionless, while Li Mulin sipped his tea incessantly.

The agent looked at the group with a deflated expression: "Station Chief, I request to be punished."

"Didn't the surveillance log say that the manager and the waiter were still here this morning?" Li Mulin looked at him in confusion.

The agent nodded.

"They slipped away right under your noses?"

The agent took a breath: "The Red Party is too cunning. They dug a secret room inside the teahouse. We only found out that the other end led to another street by breaking down the door."

"Could it be that the operation has been leaked?" Li Mulin's face was very grim.

The spy remained silent, but Station Chief Cui understood the unspoken meaning and glared at Li Mulin, saying:

"What do you mean by that? They all came to Yuzhou with me and are utterly loyal to the Party and the State."

"Enough!" Zhang Yi slammed his hand on the table, feigning helplessness and annoyance as he concluded the matter: "You can run away, but you can't hide. Two things: first, report to headquarters immediately; second, interrogate Niu Zidao immediately."

As he spoke, his gaze swept across Cui Fangping's face, then fell on Li Mulin's face, and finally returned to Cui Fangping's face:
"Station Chief Cui, since you're the one who arrested him, I'll leave the interrogation of Niu Zidao to you. I'll be a good spectator."

"Yes." Cui Fangping nodded and led the agents outside.

As soon as the door was opened, Fu Xiaodong, the head of the general affairs department, walked over with a big smile on his face, followed by Zhou Entai carrying a food box.

"Gentlemen, would you like to order some food first?"

"Let Director Zhang have some, let him try our Yuzhou specialty." Station Chief Cui waved his hand and was about to leave when Zhang Yi called him back:

"Station Chief Cui, please wait a moment."

Cui Fangping turned around in confusion and saw Zhang Yi beckoning for Fu Xiaodong to bring his men in, saying with a half-smile:

"Don't let your subordinate's good intentions go to waste."

Cui Fangping frowned: "Spicy soup isn't anything special, so I won't disturb Director Zhang's meal."

"That's not how you say it," Zhang Yi said with a smile, opening the food box.

“Yes, stationmaster, have some. I know your taste, so I specially asked the owner to make a dish without chili peppers,” Fu Xiaodong added from the side.

"No need," Cui Fangping had barely finished speaking when Zhang Yi pointed at Zhou Entai and asked:
"Who is this?"

Fu Xiaodong introduced: "This is Captain Zhou Entai from the General Affairs Section of our General Affairs Department."

"Captain Zhou, you look familiar. Are you from Japan?"

Zhang Yi suddenly started speaking Japanese, which startled Zhou Entai.

(End of this chapter)