My spy diary

Chapter 568 Helpless (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

"crash"

Captain Cui was awakened by a bucket of cold water. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a simple interrogation room, handcuffed and strapped to a chair.

Li Weizhang and Shen Zhongnian sat opposite him, staring at him intently.

Captain Cui cursed, "You two bastards, are you trying to rebel? Release me right now!"

Li Weizhang ignored him and said to himself, "Captain Cui, I'm sorry, we brothers are also forced into this situation. If you know what's good for you, just say it yourself and don't force us to use force. We're all on the same side, you should know what we're capable of."

"say what?"

"Who killed Miss Xia?"

"How should I know? It wasn't me anyway."

"So that's Station Chief Cui?" Li Weizhang stared at him with a furrowed brow, as if trying to see right through him.

Captain Cui grinned slightly: "So this is what you were after? That bastard surnamed Li sent you here?"

Li Weizhang was very sincere: "This matter has nothing to do with Deputy Station Chief Li."

As he spoke, he glanced at his watch and stared intently at Captain Cui, "Don't force us to take action."

Captain Cui shook his head indifferently: "Do whatever you want with me, I won't say anything."

Hearing this, Li Weizhang sighed and said, "If you had told the truth, I might have let you off the hook, but it's a pity."

Captain Cui gave him a disdainful look and then closed his eyes.

Li Weizhang chuckled self-deprecatingly, walked up, pulled open Captain Cui's clothes, then tore off his own belt, dipped it in the water, and whipped it hard.

Military Intelligence Bureau Yuzhou Station.

At that moment, Station Chief Cui was holding the phone receiver, answering a call: "What did you say? Captain Cui received a call in the middle of the night and went out? Didn't he tell you where he went?"

His words betrayed a barely suppressed anxiety:
"I understand. Don't worry, I'll send someone to find him right now."

After saying that, he hung up the phone, his face looking particularly gloomy.

Where did Captain Cui go in the middle of the night?
As he pondered, he picked up the phone and dialed the telephone exchange. The person on the other end told him that the phone number to Captain Cui's house was a public phone booth.

This is not right. Something must have happened to Captain Cui. We must find him as soon as possible.

He picked up the phone again and dialed several of Captain Cui's men, but they all told him that they did not know Captain Cui's whereabouts.

In an instant, Cui Fangping felt a chill run down his spine—his captain had gone out alone without a mission and disappeared without a trace; he was most likely being controlled.

So who is controlling him?

Li Mulin?
Is he already itching to make his move?
After a moment of internal struggle, Cui Fangping pulled out Li Weizhang's and Shen Zhongnian's phone numbers from the drawer.

In the abandoned factory, Captain Cui's clothes were now tattered and stained with blood, but he remained silent.

After all that commotion, Li Weizhang was exhausted. Panting heavily, he grabbed Captain Cui's hair and demanded:

"Tell me, who killed Miss Xia?"

"I already said I don't know."

"Is it Cui Fangping?"

"Do you have any evidence?" Captain Cui asked provocatively.

Li Weizhang remained silent for a moment, then released him and murmured, "It really is Cui Fangping."

"You and I are both pawns crossing the river. If you want to frame Cui Cui, don't drag me down with you."

After a moment of silence, Li Weizhang gestured for Shen Zhongnian to begin giving his statement, then drew his pistol and pointed it at Captain Cui:
"I'll ask you one last time, are you going to tell me or not?"

Captain Cui sneered, "Go ahead and try if you dare."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Weizhang took a step back, and with a "snap," a bullet struck Captain Cui's shoulder.

Shen Zhongnian was stunned, and suddenly stood up: "Old Li, how could you just shoot like that? If he dies, how are we going to get a statement?"

Li Weizhang nonchalantly put away his pistol: "Don't worry, you won't die. Keep writing your statement; write whatever they require in the confession."

With that, he turned around and said with a smile, "You watch him, and once he's finished writing, just have him sign it. I'm going out for a smoke." With that, he strode away.

Shen Zhongnian had been staring at Captain Cui, but for a few moments, his gaze shifted to Li Weizhang.

Li Weizhang left the interrogation room without smoking a cigarette. He stood at the door with a gloomy face, lost in thought.

After a while, light footsteps came from inside the room, and Shen Zhongnian said, "Come in and give me a hand." He knew that Shen Zhongnian had prepared his statement.

He held the captured pistol in his hand without expression, then walked to the door, gently pushed it open, and saw Shen Zhongnian standing in front of Captain Cui with a confession in his hand, bending down to pull his hand to press his fingerprint.

Just as he stepped inside and raised his pistol, Shen Zhongnian suddenly turned around and coldly pulled the trigger.

Li Weizhang was stunned.

A gunshot rang out, echoing throughout the interrogation room.

Li Weizhang, shot between the eyebrows, stared in disbelief at everything before him. He fell backward and crashed heavily to the ground.

Shen Zhongnian slowly walked over, looked down at Li Weizhang's body, and said:

“Old Li, I’m sorry, you’re right, we were all forced into this situation. I saved your life, I considered you a brother, you were my only friend in the Military Intelligence Bureau, and the only person in the Bureau I could tell the truth to.” He put away his pistol. “Once upon a time.”

In the dimly lit interrogation room, Li Weizhang lay on the floor with his eyes wide open, staring blankly at Shen Zhongnian above him.

Shen Zhongnian, on the other hand, remained calm.

"But why did you attack me?"

He muttered to himself as he picked up the pistol from the ground, then reached for the pistol tucked behind Li Weizhang's waist. He glanced at the serial number, calmly fired two shots into Li Weizhang's chest with Captain Cui's gun, then picked up Li Weizhang's gun and looked at the weakened Captain Cui.

"Captain Cui, I'm sorry, everyone is caught up in this situation."

After saying that, he suddenly pulled the trigger.

"Hey?"

Is Captain Li home?

He didn't go home tonight. Who are you?

Cui Fangping hung up the phone and called Shen Zhongnian's house again, only to receive the same response.

In just a few words, Cui Fangping had deduced that Captain Cui's disappearance was closely related to these two men. Suppressing his unease, he wondered to himself, why were these two controlling Captain Cui?

Acting under orders?

He glanced at his watch. Captain Cui had been missing for most of the night, enough time for an interrogation and for him to reveal many secrets he had kept hidden.

With that in mind, Cui Fangping dialed Li Mulin's number.

As soon as the call connected, he immediately said, "This is Cui Fangping. Are you free now?"

"Station Chief, you have time, go ahead." Li Mulin's tone was light and cheerful. Tonight's operation went very smoothly, wiping out the remaining Japanese spies lurking in Luoyang in one fell swoop, which put him in a great mood.

Such a casual answer made Cui Fangping realize that Captain Cui's disappearance had nothing to do with Li Mulin.

He looked out at the pitch-black night and said, feigning calmness:
"Mu Lin, I heard you had a great haul tonight. Even I, the station chief, got a share of the credit, which is truly shameful. Well, putting aside such a joyous occasion as eliminating Japanese spies, Director Zhang has been here for so many days, and as the hosts, we haven't even treated him to a meal. That's so impolite. How about this, let's celebrate today at the Luoyang Hotel. I'll treat you out of my own pocket. I couldn't get through to Director Zhang on the phone, so I called you. Could you invite him for me?"

"Oh," Li Mulin said. "Okay, stationmaster, I'll go and fetch him when it's light."

"Okay, that's it."

Li Mulin hung up the phone, thought for a moment, then found the phone number for the Luoyang Hotel and dialed it. After a while, the call connected.

"Hello, this is Luoyang Hotel."

"Help me get Director Zhang's room."

"OK, just a second."

A moment later, the call connected, and a clear voice rang out. Li Mulin's expression immediately became intriguing.

Suppressing his doubts, he exchanged a few pleasantries with Zhang Yi and informed him of Station Chief Cui's invitation to dinner. Just as he hung up the phone, the secretary and Shen Zhongnian's voices rang out from outside the door.

"I need to see the deputy stationmaster."

"Is it urgent? If not, come during the day. The director has been working hard all night."

"It's urgent, it concerns Captain Cui," Shen Zhongnian said, sounding quite anxious.

Li Mulin, who was inside, overheard this and instantly understood the true purpose of Station Chief Cui's feigned phone call. A sudden realization struck him:
"Let him in."

"Director, is this a convenient time for you?" Shen Zhongnian walked in timidly.

Li Mulin had a pretty good idea of ​​why he had come. Originally, he planned to deal with the Japanese spy, and then deal with Shen Zhongnian and Li Weizhang, those two traitors, but he never expected that he would come to him on his own initiative.

Recalling what this person had just said, and now that he held the upper hand, he remained silent, simply staring coldly at him.

“Station Chief, I’m not a bad person, I’m just a bit of a coward. That Cui guy is a real scoundrel. He threatened me, saying he’d kill my wife and children if I didn’t give him any information. And that Li Weizhang, he wanted to harm me too. First, he tried to persuade me to join the Red Party, but I refused, so he threatened me with my family. Later, I suggested arresting Captain Cui and forcing him to confess to assassinating Miss Xia. Everything was fine until I got his confession, and then he tried to harm me.” Shen Zhongnian became more and more flustered as he spoke, almost crying. “Station Chief, you don’t know, if I hadn’t been careful, I probably would never have seen you again.”

"You arrested Station Chief Cui?" Even though Li Mulin was extremely shrewd, he still looked incredulous after hearing Shen Zhongnian's account. "Where is he? And where is Deputy Captain Li?"

"Station Chief Cui was fine at first, but after my persuasion, Captain Cui had come to his senses and confessed that he had been secretly instructed by Cui Fangping to murder Miss Xia. I wanted to bring him back to the station so that he could testify in person, and Captain Cui agreed. But Li Weizhang disagreed. He was afraid that Captain Cui would recant his confession in front of Station Chief Cui, so he actually shot and wounded him."

"and then?"

"Then, the two started fighting. I don't know how, but Captain Cui somehow managed to grab a pistol and fire at Captain Li. Captain Li, in a bloodthirsty rage, killed him. After killing Captain Cui, he even tried to attack me."

"Captain Cui actually managed to snatch the pistol? Why would Captain Li target you?" Li Mulin was engrossed in listening to a story, his eyes wide open as he stared at Shen Zhongnian.

"It's obvious that he wants to take all the credit for himself."

Li Mulin's secretary handed him a cup of hot tea, looked at Li Mulin, then at Shen Zhongnian, and waited anxiously for them to continue their analysis and reasoning.

Shen Zhongnian lowered his head and stole a glance at Li Mulin.

Li Mulin lowered his head to drink his tea, lost in thought. In his view, Shen Zhongnian was clearly lying. But none of that mattered anymore; what mattered was the confession in his hand.

"What about your statement?"

"Here it is. But now that Captain Cui is dead, there's no way to verify anything, so I don't know if it's still of any use?"

Shen Zhongnian pulled a paper bag from his lower back, looking very unconfident.

Li Mulin gave him a playful look: "That's not something you need to worry about."

As he spoke, he took the paper bag from his secretary. It was heavy, and inside were ten gold bars.

They then pulled out the interrogation records.

Li Mulin carefully reviewed the interrogation record and finally showed a look of delight: "This is outrageous! What kind of hatred could drive someone to attack a defenseless woman? Just because someone cheated on him? It turns out it was for the gold bars. Since the evidence is conclusive, I'll go see Director Zhang now."

Secretary: "Doesn't Li Weizhang still have ten gold bars? Should I take some people over there?"

Li Mulin thought for a moment, glanced at his watch, and said, "We'll raid the house. It'll be dawn in an hour. Once you have the stuff, go straight to the Luoyang Hotel."

The secretary understood and left.

Shen Zhongnian followed up, saying, "Stationmaster, I'll head back too." With that, he turned to leave.

"Aren't you coming with me to see Director Zhang? This is all thanks to you." Li Mulin looked at him meaningfully.

“I went astray and violated military and family rules. I deserve to die. It’s already very kind of you not to pursue the matter.”

"Not everyone gets the chance to meet Director Zhang. Think it through."

“Station Chief, it’s important to know your own limitations. I’m just a lowly pawn crossing the river. I’m far from qualified to stand before Director Zhang.” Shen Zhongnian smiled sheepishly. “Besides, you are my superior and my benefactor. If there’s anything I can do for you in the future, I’ll go through fire and water for you.”

As he spoke, he bowed respectfully.

"Alright." Li Mulin waved for him to stand up and said meaningfully, "Captain Shen, now I understand why you survived, and not Li Weizhang."

Shen Zhongnian looked at him in fear: "Station Master, your words are... I, your humble servant..."

Li Mulin smiled, a somewhat subtle smile, and placed two gold bars in front of him:

"Keep it."

Shen Zhongnian was taken aback and quickly declined, "Station Chief, this was bribed by that Cui fellow. It should have been confiscated, I can't accept it!"

"This is the rule of procedure. Merit is merit, and fault is fault. You provided the statement promptly, and that's what you deserve."

Shen Zhongnian hesitated for a moment before finally putting the gold bars into his pocket: "I hope you will continue to help me in the future. I will never forget your kindness."

After saying that, he left.

Li Mulin watched him until his figure disappeared through the doorway. He thought for a moment, then picked up the phone and dialed a few numbers:

"Me? The Telegraph Office? Get the radio ready immediately, I need to send a message!"

(End of this chapter)