My spy diary

Chapter 577 The Mysterious Man (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
The Ford sedan drove slowly and laboriously along the bumpy road, with only a patch of wild grass outside the window.

The further you go, the more uneven the road becomes.

The car had no air conditioning, and even with the windows open, it was still stuffy and unbearable. Zhang Yi was alright, after all, he was young and his physical condition was good.

But Deputy Director Yu was already drenched in sweat. His face was pale from several sleepless nights, and he kept wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Young Master Song, the road ahead isn’t finished yet. Shall we walk there? It’s not far, just a few minutes’ walk.”

“Alright, it’s good to get some fresh air and enjoy the scenery.” Zhang Yi readily agreed. After getting out of the car, he gazed intently and found that the so-called residential area was not far away. The environment was beautiful, but only a few rows of uneven two-story brick and wood buildings had been developed, without any supporting facilities.

Deputy Director Yu was somewhat exhausted and almost tripped when he got out of the car. Fortunately, his secretary was quick-witted and helped him up. He stood in the shade and drank a can of tea before he gradually recovered.

"Have you no sense at all? Didn't you even offer Young Master Song some water?"

When Deputy Director Yu came to his senses, he realized that he had drunk the only bottle of water. He was immediately embarrassed and gave his secretary a perfunctory scolding. Just as he was about to say a few words of apology, he saw that "Young Master Song's" follower had already taken out a bottle of soda from his bag.

He recognized it at a glance as the most fashionable Coca-Cola on the market, which was said to be exclusively supplied to the Air Force and was unaffordable for ordinary people. He had only seen it at a buffet in the city government and had secretly tasted it once. It had a caramel flavor and was hard to swallow. He really couldn't understand how anyone could like such a thing.

Could it be that a starving pig can't eat fine bran?
"Pah!" Deputy Director Yu wiped his sweat, and seeing that Zhang Yi had finished his soda, he quickly came over, pointing out directions and explaining:
"Not bad, right? Although it was built for ordinary people, the environment is particularly elegant, even comparable to government staff dormitories."

Zhang Yi remained noncommittal, smiled, and continued walking forward.

The environment is indeed quite nice. On a hot summer day, walking inside offers a cool respite from the shady trees. The flowers and plants are simple yet stylish.

“This residential area has a total of 200 houses, all of which are two-story buildings. The plan is to sell them to middle-class families in the city. The total investment is ten million yuan,” Deputy Director Yu said as he walked.

"Ten million! That's a big spender," Zhang Yi said casually. Who knew how much of that ten million was inflated?
Although the currency has depreciated severely and prices have soared, with building materials such as timber, bricks, and lime remaining expensive due to transportation restrictions—for example, the price of a thousand ordinary bricks has risen to 100 yuan, and timber is even more expensive—it shouldn't cost 5 yuan for every two-story house, right?
Are they willing to invest so much in housing for ordinary people?

Not far along, Bao Butong, the logistics director of the Construction Bureau, came running up to us with a few people.

"Director, it's hot. I've prepared tea in the temporary office. Would you and your distinguished guests like to take a rest?"

"Young Master Song, what do you think?"

"Let's look at apartments first."

"Alright, alright, this way please!" Deputy Director Yu was now quite calm and gestured for Bao Butong to lead the way.

Bao Butong forced a smile and bowed as he led the way.

But the further they went in, the more unnatural Bao Butong's expression became, but Zhang Yi and the others were chatting and didn't notice his expression.

The buildings behind them are noticeably different from the ones at the entrance; the plaster on the exterior walls is starting to peel off in some places.

Deputy Director Yu saw this and his face darkened.

"Tangjiatuo is close to the Jialing River, and its walls are more susceptible to erosion due to rain and river breezes," Bao Butong quickly explained, observing the situation.

However, no one responded to his comment.

After turning a corner, several workers wearing tattered coarse cloth vests were suspended in mid-air like Spider-Man. The building in front of us had several cracks on its side, which had been filled with sand and mortar. The workers were now painting the exterior walls white.

Deputy Director Yu's face was so gloomy it could drip water. The ten million budget was just a figure used for public announcements; in reality, only one million was spent at most.

The reason there are so few is that the bricks and timber were all pulled from the ruins, and the cement was replaced with sand and lime. As for the workers, they were naturally recruited temporarily from the refugees. As long as they were provided with food, there were plenty of people vying to work. As for wages? They didn't exist at all!

Even if it's a million, that's real money, and his 180,000 yuan is part of it. He was already worried enough about not being able to sell the houses, but now seeing his money turned into a shoddy construction project, Deputy Director Yu felt like he could eat someone alive.

He wasn't angry about the shoddy construction, but rather that it was exposed in front of the investors. As for the building quality, it was utterly irrelevant; no matter how sturdy it was, could it withstand Japanese bombing?
Zhang Yi's face was also somewhat serious at this moment. He walked around the building and reached the corner. There was a gap about two fingers wide between the top of the wall and the ground on the first floor.

"Deputy Director Yu, may I go in and take a look?"

Deputy Director Yu hesitated. As long as the surface of the donkey dung ball looks good, it can be fooled. But in the current state, if the outside is like this, will the inside be even worse?

He stared intently at Bao Butong, who gave him an affirming look.

Deputy Director Yu was somewhat surprised, and managed a forced smile:
"Didn't you hear what Young Master Song said? Open the door now!"

Bao Butong quickly found the key from his subordinate and opened the door.

Deputy Director Yu went in first, looked around the room. Although there was still some construction waste on the ground, the walls had been whitewashed and looked very clean.

He breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Not bad, right? Better than I expected. The outer wall was probably just an accident."

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Yi picked up a piece of wood from the ground and scraped it off the paint on the wall. With just one stroke, a piece of paint fell off. He peeled it off along the edge, and most of the paint on the entire wall came off, revealing the dark bricks underneath.

Deputy Director Yu's face darkened, and his voice abruptly stopped!

Zhang Yi pursed his lips, scraped some mortar from between the bricks, examined it a few times, and stared meaningfully at Deputy Director Yu:
“Deputy Director Yu, wasn’t the budget for each household 50,000 yuan, with the use of top-quality timber, bricks, and cement? Old bricks are one thing, but why is there only sand and mortar? Just now from the outside, the foundation was severely subsiding, indicating that the foundation has serious problems.”

"Director Bao, what exactly happened? Didn't you pat your chest and guarantee that there would be no problem? After the building was completed, your logistics department did not inspect it?" Deputy Director Yu's expression was gloomy as he quickly turned his attention to Bao Butong.

Bao Butong was sweating profusely at this moment, and hurriedly defended himself:
"The houses were built with government funding. Only after they passed the completion and acceptance inspection were they taken over by our logistics department for rental and sale. I'm not very clear about these details."

"You idiot, are you blind or deaf? The house has such obvious problems, how can you assume it has passed inspection?"
These houses are meant to be sold to citizens. If something happens, can you take responsibility? I ask you, Bao Butong, just because you don't live here yourself, does that mean you can be so indifferent to the safety of ordinary people? Do you have any conscience? How can you be so cold-blooded? It's outrageous!

Deputy Director Yu was so angry that he almost spat on Bao Datong's face, and he couldn't let Bao Butong shirk responsibility.

The people below him were embezzling the project funds, but he turned a blind eye, thinking that too much purity would leave no fish in the pond. At first, he thought it was just a minor problem, so he turned a blind eye, figuring that as long as he could get the house out of the house, everything would be fine. But he didn't expect the problem to be so serious, and he was completely unaware of it beforehand.

He had barely finished speaking when his secretary angrily followed up:

"Director, it must have been those unscrupulous merchants who did it. It's outrageous! We must investigate this thoroughly. If there are any quality issues, these illegal merchants must be made to pay the price."

A middle-aged man following behind Deputy Director Yu, who appeared to be a section chief, continued:

“Deputy Director, I suggest that the bureau immediately form an investigation team, led by you personally, with the assistance of the bureau office, general affairs and logistics, accounting department, etc., to conduct a thorough re-inspection of the house, strictly audit the accounts, and calculate the construction costs. In order to ensure that the data does not have major discrepancies, we should ask several accountants from other departments to cooperate. If there are really quality problems with the house, it is a serious dereliction of duty on our part as officials. How can we face the folks of this mountain city?”

"Alright, Section Chief Zhao, since it was your suggestion, you'll have to take on this responsibility. The Bureau Office will fully support you. If there is any transfer of benefits during the investigation, we will investigate thoroughly and show no leniency!" Deputy Director Yu said menacingly.

Zhang Yi, watching from the sidelines, understood perfectly. Just from the title "Deputy Director," he could tell that this Section Chief Zhao was not part of Deputy Director Yu's faction. He righteously handed over the case-handling authority to Deputy Director Yu, seemingly acting in the public interest, but in reality, he was harboring trouble. He probably enjoyed watching Deputy Director Yu fight against the mastermind behind the scenes.

Conversely, Deputy Director Yu, a seasoned veteran, casually shifted the blame with a few words.

It's said that wherever there are people, there's a power struggle. The Construction Bureau isn't a monolithic entity either; power struggles and conflicts of interest make it a complex and murky place.

With a government investment of one million, but publicized as ten million, how much shady business is involved? Everyone probably knows the answer to that question.

Whether it's the government or individuals, anyone involved in any activity or project can make money off of it. If this were to be investigated further, who knows how many people would be implicated.

Section Chief Zhao clearly understood this principle. Seeing this hot potato about to fall on his head, his face was more like a grimace, and he hurriedly said, "Deputy Director, shouldn't we go back to the bureau and discuss this with the director first?"

"It's settled then. I'll talk to the director." Deputy Director Yu interrupted him, waving his hand impatiently, his voice stern:
"Alright, go and carry it out. Can't you see the guests are still here? You're making a fool of yourselves, get out, all of you get out!"

Upon hearing this, no one dared to say anything more. With long faces and tails between their legs, they slunk away.

"Alas, I'm sorry to have troubled you, Young Master Song. Who would have thought that a government project would turn out to be such a shoddy mess? It's unbelievable! It must have been done behind our backs by those unscrupulous businessmen. These scoundrels, they've only brought this upon themselves, and now they've put me in such a passive position!" Deputy Director Yu said with great distress and helplessness, as if he had never known anything about it.

Zhang Yi looked displeased and sneered:

"This is truly unbelievable, Deputy Director Yu. You sent me here just to see this? Are you trying to fool me like a three-year-old?"

"Young Master Song, you've misunderstood." Deputy Director Yu said awkwardly. "Don't worry, we'll rectify the situation quickly. Please come again next time."

"There will be a next time?" Zhang Yi sneered. "Do you really think I'm a fool? It's one thing that this godforsaken place lacks transportation infrastructure, but what about commercial, medical, educational, financial, and administrative facilities? We can build those slowly, but now your grand project, which you so confidently promised to invest tens of millions of dollars, has turned into a shoddy construction. What's the point of me buying it? If you don't give me an explanation today, even if I'm willing to let you go, my colleagues in the Military Intelligence Bureau won't."

"We said we'd hurry up and rectify things, but Young Master Song is involved with the Military Intelligence Bureau?" Hearing Zhang Yi's somewhat veiled threat, Deputy Director Yu became impatient. As he was speaking, he suddenly came to his senses and remembered the words "Military Intelligence Bureau." His heart skipped a beat, and he stared wide-eyed at Zhang Yi. Wasn't he Young Master Song? How did he suddenly get involved with the Military Intelligence Bureau?
Zhang Yi's change surprised and puzzled him. He knew the Song family had strict rules, and if Young Master Song was truly a member of the Song family, it was unlikely he would be involved with spies. Was this person really a member of the Song family? He pondered this repeatedly.

"It seems we need to get to know each other again."

As soon as Zhang Yi finished speaking, Monkey introduced, "This is Director Zhang of the Judicial Division of the Investigation and Statistics Bureau of the Military Commission."

As he spoke, he swiftly pulled out his identification: "Lieutenant Colonel, Judicial Department."

Deputy Director Yu was startled. How did we attract the Kuomintang secret police?

He accepted the documents with both hands, looking at them hastily before quickly returning them. He was filled with a mixture of fear and trepidation; after a moment of stunned silence, his fear transformed into obsequiousness.
"Director Zhang, I was blind to your greatness; it was all a misunderstanding."

Before Zhang Yi could even speak, Monkey and Qian Xiaosan, who were standing on his left and right, had already slammed their fists on the table and stood up.

First, Qian Xiaosan pulled out a pistol from his briefcase and cocked it with a click: "Misunderstanding? I think you're clearly harboring malicious intentions and have ulterior motives. Do you know that we rented this house for people from the Military Intelligence Bureau? You're making us live in a dangerous building?"

Then the monkey on the right said indignantly, "You're just crocodile tears, hypocritical and heartless. Do you know how serious this matter is?"

Deputy Director Yu, trembling with fear, faced the dark muzzle of the guns and almost wanted to kneel down before them, saying with a mournful face:

"It's a misunderstanding, a real misunderstanding, Director Zhang, esteemed officers. I really didn't know you were from the Military Intelligence Bureau, otherwise, I would never have dared to do this even if you killed me."

"The fact is, you did it."

Deputy Director Yu smiled apologetically: "It's a misunderstanding. We've all served the Party and the country. We're all family, so we can talk things over. I'm willing to atone for my mistake."

"One family?" Zhang Yi gave him a disdainful look. "According to your logic, you are the deputy director, and Boss Dai is also the deputy director, so you mean you can be on equal footing?"

I dare not say such a thing.

Deputy Director Yu was drenched in sweat; his white shirt under his standard Zhongshan suit was completely soaked and clung tightly to his back. His position as deputy director was nominally deputy division chief, but in reality, it was equivalent to a section chief. But Mr. Dai's deputy director position was nominally deputy department head, but in practice, he wielded more power than a vice minister—they were not comparable.

He coughed twice, looking embarrassed: "It's different, of course it's different."

Zhang Yi snorted: "It's good that you know your place! Tell me, how do you plan to atone for your sins?"

"I...I will definitely order the rectification of the housing quality." Deputy Director Yu wiped the sweat from his brow, observing Zhang Yi's noncommittal expression, and bit his lip:

"Although I am penniless and have nothing of value at home, I do possess a flower-and-bird painting by Zhu Da, the Bada Shanren. If Director Zhang is interested, I am willing to part with it." Fearing Zhang Yi might not know who Zhu Da was, he explained softly, "Director Zhang, this Zhu Da was the son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhang Yi stopped him: "The seventeenth son, Prince Ning, Zhu Quan, was a ninth-generation descendant. He first shaved his head to become a monk, then converted to Taoism, and finally returned to secular life, right?"

"Yes, yes, Director Zhang is truly knowledgeable!" Deputy Director Yu flattered, thinking to himself, "It's good that you know his worth. Zhu Da is skilled in calligraphy and painting, especially flowers and birds. His paintings are now extremely rare and valuable on the market. Director Zhang, what do you think of this?"

Zhang Yi nodded reservedly: "Then I will accept your offer. Now that the matter of being deceived is resolved, let's talk about other things."

Is there anything else? Is this never going to end? Deputy Director Yu cursed their shamelessness inwardly, but had no choice but to force a smile.

"Your command."

"Since you're in charge of renting and selling houses here, you should know who handled the properties here for the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS), right?"

"The Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics?" Deputy Director Yu was momentarily dazed, then quickly said, "It was I who handled it. Deputy Director Xu of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics called the government directly. The director instructed me to cooperate with them. I was just a gofer."

"Oh, are the people from the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics still around?"

"They've long since disbanded. Their cooperative went bankrupt, most of them left, leaving a mess behind, and we're left to clean up their mess."

Zhang Yi nodded: "Most of them have been evacuated. Does that mean there are still some left? Have any suspicious people been spotted coming over recently?"

"A suspicious person?" Deputy Director Yu racked his brains, thought for a moment, and said, "Should I go and ask?"

Seeing Zhang Yi nod, it ran out as fast as a rabbit.

A few minutes later, he returned and reported: "I just asked Bao Butong. He has been staying here. According to his recollection, a person came last night. He was wearing sunglasses and a mask late at night, wrapped up tightly, and surrounded by several people. He seemed very mysterious, so he paid close attention to him."

"Where do you live?"

"It's right next to building number 018."

Zhang Yi then smiled slightly, walked up to Deputy Director Yu, and patted him on the shoulder:

"Deputy Director Yu, is that it? You've tried to absolve yourself of all responsibility regarding the shoddy construction project, but I think everyone knows the truth. Heh, if I wanted to investigate further, no matter what your background is, I guarantee you'll never leave prison. Someone as insignificant as you, I guarantee no one in the government will say a word for you. I'll let you off the hook for a few years, but remember what you said, I'll be watching you closely."

Deputy Director Yu almost knelt down on the spot: "Thank you, Director Zhang. I swear to God that I will definitely keep my promise."

"Also, I don't want anyone else to know what we said today, understand?"

“I understand. Heaven and earth know, but apart from the three officers and me, I promise I won’t let anyone else know.”

“You’re wrong. Heaven and earth don’t know, and neither do you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind visiting your home in person.”

"Understood." Deputy Director Yu understood the meaning behind those words, and felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at Zhang Yi cautiously. Fortunately, Zhang Yi didn't continue the topic; instead, he asked in a gentle tone:
"Do you have anything else?"

"That's all, I'll take my leave now." Deputy Director Yu said, holding his breath, and hurriedly left.

Zhang Yi stared at his retreating figure for a few moments, then waved and said, "Let's go, let's pay a visit to this mysterious person."

(End of this chapter)