My spy diary

Chapter 612 Faith (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Dai Chunfeng glanced at him, pondered for a moment, and said, "You have the courage to intercept Japanese spies, which shows you have some strength. Have you ever thought about joining the Military Intelligence Bureau?"

Lu Shuer looked up blankly, his face filled with disbelief. He thought to himself, those in their line of work, though they call themselves "Rongmen," it's just a facade to comfort themselves. In reality, they are the petty thieves and scoundrels that others despise, people who are universally hated. How could someone like him join the Military Intelligence Bureau?

Lu Shu'er was flattered and overwhelmed, and having never seen such a distinguished person before, he stammered for a long time before finally saying, "I..."

Dai Chunfeng, however, remained amiable: "Unwilling?"

“No, I’m willing. I--” Lu Shu’er nodded vigorously, wishing she could kneel down and kowtow on the spot.

Zhang Yi hadn't expected that this thief, whom he'd encountered by chance, would actually do so well. Seeing that he was so nervous he couldn't speak coherently, he called out from the side:

"Stop talking nonsense, just tell me if you're willing or not?"

“Yes, yes,” Lu Shu’er nodded and bowed with a smile. “I am willing. This is a blessing I have accumulated over eight lifetimes. I am willing to serve you like a dog or a horse.”

Suddenly, a thief started uttering some flowery, literary phrases, which made everyone burst into laughter.

Zhang Yi said irritably, "That's called 'attaching oneself to someone's coattails.' 'Ji' means a thoroughbred horse."

“Yes, yes, yes, I’m willing to follow in your footsteps and serve you like a dog or a horse,” Lu Shu’er echoed repeatedly.

Dai Chunfeng chuckled, looked at him with interest, and asked, "Have you ever been to school?"

"I attended a private school for two years."

Dai Chunfeng nodded and looked at Zhang Yi: "Yunyi, what do you think is the best way to settle him?"

“The Director’s decision is final, and I have no right to comment.” Zhang Yi said humbly. Seeing that Dai Chunfeng shook his head, he suggested, “Although he has made meritorious contributions and has a skill, his overall quality still needs to be improved if he wants to be a special agent. He can first enter the police station for training or go to a training course for systematic training.”

"Then let him go to the police station. You can decide the details yourself."

"Yes." Zhang Yi nodded. He knew very well that Dai Chunfeng wouldn't really care about a petty thief. The reason he met with him was partly out of curiosity, and partly to save face for himself and do him a favor.

After dealing with the matter, Dai Chunfeng rubbed his temples wearily, closed his eyes to rest, and remained silent.

Zhang Yi understood and immediately waved for Lu Shu'er and the others to leave. Just then, there was a knock on the door. Jia, the adjutant, with sharp ears, immediately asked the person outside:
"Who's out there?"

"It's me," a man answered, pushing open the door and standing at attention to salute. "Chief, telegram."

The visitor was Zhou Zaihong, Dai Chunfeng's personal telegraph operator.

"Who sent the telegram?" Dai Chunfeng asked.

"Director Mao."

Dai Chunfeng took the telegram, glanced at it quickly, and his expression immediately changed. He handed the telegram to Zhang Yi and said in a gloomy tone, "You take a look too."

Zhang Yi pretended to avoid suspicion: "How about I not watch it?"

Dai Chunfeng said irritably, "Just look when I tell you to."

Helpless, Zhang Yi had no choice but to take the telegram and read it. The paper contained only a few words—"Shoehead" is suspected of being out of contact. It turned out that "Shoehead," who had been reporting military intelligence to headquarters just a few hours earlier, was now unreachable.

"It was indeed a series of elaborate schemes. Mao Shanyu was incompetent and failed to see through the Japanese spy's plot. He bears full responsibility for this."

Zhang Yi pretended not to understand the implied meaning: "Director, please calm down. Who is this shoe-head?"

“He was a top-level intelligence agent planted in the occupied area,” Dai Chunfeng explained in a muffled voice, then added, “Now it seems he’s in grave danger.”

Zhang Yi pretended to suddenly realize something, then looked troubled again: "What do we do now?"

Station Chief Tong, who had been standing quietly to the side, stepped forward and said, "He wouldn't have betrayed us, would he?"

Dai Chunfeng was taken aback, then said firmly, "Probably not. Can't you think of something positive?"

His confidence in making such a guarantee stemmed from his understanding of the shoe-wearing enthusiasts, or rather, the people from his hometown. Originally, Dai Chunfeng did not discriminate based on region when hiring people, especially in the early days of the Special Service Department. He did his best to search for talent everywhere, but unfortunately, his status was low at the time, and people held prejudices against espionage work. The only talent he could find were his classmates from the Whampoa Military Academy and his classmates from Wenxi Elementary School in Jiangshan County.

Later, these people introduced each other, and naturally many became relatives or friends. The Jiangzhe Police Academy also specifically recruited students from Jiangshan County. He himself was extremely concerned about his reputation, and having finally made a name for himself, he was naturally willing to bring his fellow townsmen along to share in his success. As a result, the number of people from Jiangshan in the Military Intelligence Bureau increased. However, once these people joined the Military Intelligence Bureau, they were used according to their abilities and were not specially assigned to important positions.

However, after the Kuomintang's Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) discovered the corruption case involving Zhang Weilin and other members of the Communist Party, Chang Yusheng reprimanded him sternly: "When appointing people for important positions, it is essential to know their background thoroughly and conduct rigorous investigations. Appointing the wrong person could lead to complete failure."

This statement was undoubtedly a wake-up call for Dai Chunfeng, a sudden realization. He recalled how the old man's personnel choices were largely influenced by the Whampoa Military Academy and the Jiangsu-Zhejiang clique, especially his bodyguards and adjutants, many of whom were from his hometown of Fenghua, and some even related to him. This changed Dai Chunfeng's personnel management approach. He began cultivating the "Jiangshan clique" within the core department of the Military Intelligence Bureau—the Telecommunications Department. The radio operators were gradually replaced with exclusively Jiangshan natives. Whether conversing or making phone calls, they all used the local Jiangshan dialect, which outsiders couldn't understand and couldn't integrate into.

Apart from the Telecommunications Department, other departments were much the same, extensively promoting and employing agents from Jiangshan.

Of course, these people did not disappoint him. Holding the idea that "a scholar will die for one who understands him", from the beginning of the War of Resistance against Japan to the present day, many of them, even if they fell into the hands of the Japanese puppet regime and suffered severe torture, either died for their country or remained silent, have not betrayed and surrendered to the enemy.

Station Chief Tong fell silent and shrank back into his seat. He had already said and done the wrong thing several times that evening, and had been reprimanded by Boss Dai several times. Meeting Dai Chunfeng's gloomy gaze, he panicked and dared not look directly at him, hastily lowering his head to stare at the cracks in the brick floor, wishing he could disappear into them. One wrong move, and all his previous efforts were in vain. Thinking of his uncertain future, he felt utterly dejected.

"The most important thing now is to rescue Shoehead and his family, and handle the aftermath." Seeing the atmosphere was somewhat gloomy, Zhang Yi spoke up to ease the tension.

"rescue?"

Dai Chunfeng sighed helplessly. When the Special Service Department was first established, he also served as a frontline agent, going to the front lines to scout enemy positions and gather intelligence. He was captured twice and only gained his freedom through connections. From this, he concluded that when agents were captured by the enemy, official rescue efforts would be counterproductive and more likely to harm the captured agents.

Moreover, according to the usual practice in the intelligence community, those arrested are never admitted to being one of their own.

Of course, if there were a way to rescue them, wouldn't he also want to rescue them? He had brought these impoverished young people out of the mountains and rivers, found them jobs and a way out, and their families were extremely grateful to him. Now that he was returning home in glory, if other people's parents found out that he had led their sons into a dead end, where would he put his face?

Dai Chunfeng pondered, while Zhang Yi sat quietly, waiting for his gaze to turn to him.

A moment later, Dai Chunfeng indeed looked at him:

"Yunyi, you just mentioned a rescue, do you have any good ideas?"

Zhang Yi pretended to think for a moment: "Then it depends on whether you, Director, are willing to part with it."

"what?"

"exchange!"

"You mean that female spy?" Dai Chunfeng suddenly realized, slapped his forehead, and stood up. "She's just a woman, what's there to be reluctant about? Do you think I'm that kind of lecherous man? Exchange her, why not? As the saying goes, when the country is in trouble, it thinks of good generals. As long as we can get Xie Tou and the others back, it's all worth it." At this point, he sighed helplessly, "It's a pity that the Japanese spy named Su Wenjing is dead. He might have been a big fish. If he were alive, we might have been able to extract something valuable from him."

"You've misunderstood, that's not what I meant," Zhang Yi quickly explained, realizing his mistake.

Dai Chunfeng didn't take it seriously and waved his hand, saying, "It's settled then. A secret exchange. As for the specifics..." He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the people in the room. Station Chief Tong, who had been huddled in the corner looking listless, saw an opportunity to try and take the rare task to redeem himself. But Dai Chunfeng's gaze quickly passed over him and turned to Deputy Officer Jia. "Give it to Jiang Shaomo of the Second District of Shanghai. If he can't handle it, ask Zhou Dahai to help smooth things over. Send him a telegram immediately."

"Yes, sir." Lieutenant Jia accepted the order and left.

Dai Chunfeng sat down again, her mood improving. She urged Zhang Yi to go to the hospital to treat his wound, but Zhang Yi didn't leave immediately, looking like he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Dai Chunfeng gestured to him: "Anything else? Tell me everything you know."

"Chief, I'm wondering if there are any Japanese spies or accomplices in Yicui Tower?" As he spoke, Zhang Yi subtly gave Station Chief Tong a wink.

Reminded by Zhang Yi, Dai Chunfeng snapped out of his daze and slammed his hand on the table:
"In a place like a brothel, which is rife with filth, there might actually be accomplices of Japanese spies, even the inspectors."

Seeing that Boss Dai still hadn't thought of him, Station Chief Tong became anxious and immediately stepped forward to volunteer:
"Chief, even the Inspector just finished a major battle and needs rest. Let me go. I will personally lead the team and guarantee to wipe out the remaining Japanese spies in one fell swoop."

Seeing his fearful and apprehensive appearance, Dai Chunfeng felt a pang of sympathy, but then, remembering the foolish things he had done, he hesitated again:

"You? You won't mess things up again this time, will you?"

"Rest assured, Director, I guarantee that I will do my utmost to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

Dai Chunfeng looked at him for a while and said, "Okay, then you can lead the team. I'll be waiting for your good news."

"I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" Station Chief Tong stood up and saluted, his earlier gloom gone. He felt invigorated and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face, radiating a sense of triumph.

At the hospital, the nurses disinfected Zhang Yi's wound and wrapped it with gauze.

Shen Ruozhu sat to the side, her eyes somewhat vacant, her face unable to conceal her loneliness, sorrow, and even despair.

When they left the restaurant, they saw the body of the young policeman Li Wei. It was dragged out and buried like a lump of mud. The ground was quickly cleaned up, as if nothing had happened.

Although Li Wei brought about his own demise and "reaped what he sowed," his death still deeply shocked Shen Ruozhu, filling her with indescribable regret and guilt.

"I didn't kill Bo Ren, but Bo Ren died because of me." If she hadn't said those provocative words, perhaps Li Wei wouldn't have driven himself to his death. Her intention was to discourage him from getting involved in the spy war, but she didn't expect it to backfire and indirectly lead Li Wei to his demise.

The scenes that had happened recently kept flashing through her mind like movie clips.

The death of Liu Lianfang, the innocent young girls caught up in it, the death of Li Yishan, Boss Dai's order to monitor Zhang Yi, and Li Wei's forced death—all of this left her terrified and bewildered.

As she thought about it, tears streamed down her face.

Zhang Yi, with his back to him, was expressionless. He didn't know what to say to her, so he could only softly comfort her:

"do not Cry."

Shen Ruozhu choked back tears and said, "I'm the one who killed him."

"Your life is your own, and everyone must be responsible for themselves. Never do things that you are not capable of being responsible for."

Seeing Zhang Yi speak so casually, Shen Ruozhu shook her head angrily and said nothing more. The two of them, silent, seemed somewhat out of place in the quiet ward.

After a long silence, Zhang Yi glanced at her and said calmly:

"Give the body to his family and leave them some money."

Shen Ruozhu didn't reply. She murmured to herself absentmindedly, "I killed him. Why did this happen?"

"It's not your fault. Blame him for walking into the line of fire."

"They shouldn't have killed him; they were too cruel."

"What, do you think any member of the Military Intelligence Bureau isn't cruel?"

"Are you the same?" Shen Ruozhu turned around and gazed at him intently.

Zhang Yi's face remained indifferent: "Of course it's different, I have faith."

"What do you believe in?" Shen Ruozhu looked at him earnestly.

"Live with faith, live with conscience."

Shen Ruozhu was initially surprised, then fell silent. Living by faith, believing in one's conscience—there seemed to be nothing wrong with that.

Zhang Yi countered, "Do you have a faith?"

Shen Ruozhu paused, speechless.

Honestly, she seemed to have no faith. At the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Police Academy, the instructors instilled in them the idea of ​​"being loyal to the country, loyal to the leader, adhering to the Three Principles of the People, and following the will of the Chairman and Boss Dai in everything." This did not seem to be a faith.

Seeing her blank expression, Zhang Yi narrowed his eyes and looked at her, saying, "Then let's start by having faith in life and faith in our conscience, hmm?"

After saying this, he turned and left.

Meanwhile, at the entrance of Yicui Tower, Station Master Tong had already led his men to completely surround the brothel.

Station Chief Tong and his men stormed in, surprising the brothel madam and the girls. Their brothel was protected by powerful figures, and ordinary people from all walks of life dared not harass them.

The brothel madam's rouge trembled three times as she approached with a fawning expression, bowing and scraping: "May I ask what this sir needs?"

Station Chief Tong said coldly, "You need to stay away from me." Then, the agent rudely pushed the madam away.

"Surround the area inside and out, search them, interrogate them. I refuse to believe we can't catch a spy," Station Chief Tong ordered sternly, his face cold.

The next moment, the ruthless agents rushed to every corner, and chaos ensued.

(End of this chapter)