My spy diary

Chapter 613 A Hot Potato (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
"Search!"

As Station Chief Tong gave the order, the ravenous agents drew their guns and rushed toward the brothel, while the prostitutes and maids screamed.

Just then, a maidservant ran out from inside in a panic, shouting, "Quick, someone come quick! Madam Pan is dead!"

Lady Pan is naturally the younger concubine Pan Qiaolan.

Station Master Tong immediately sensed something was wrong and rushed into the fireworks room where Pan Qiaolan was.

A pool of blood lay on the ground, a bloody gash on her neck a horrifying sight. Her hands gripped the chair leg tightly, her wide eyes still reflecting the terror of her impending death.

Station Chief Tong stood there, motionless. He couldn't believe that just a few hours ago, the smiling young Consort Pan had been standing before him, and now she was a cold corpse. It seemed the wars in this land of women were no less brutal than those between men. Spring flowers and autumn moons, the changing of the years—how many beautiful women had become eternally wronged, their eyes never finding peace?

Yang Neng, the action team leader following behind him, was a little puzzled to see Station Chief Tong standing there motionless and silent. He tentatively called out:
"Webmaster?"

Station Chief Tong then came to his senses and turned to Yang Neng, saying, "Immediately call the forensic doctor and trace evidence experts to conduct further examinations of the body and the scene. Also, bring all the prostitutes, maids, and clients downstairs and rigorously check their identities. See who is missing, who is missing, what they did after entering the brothel, and who can testify to their actions."

"Yes."

Yang Neng accepted the order with a stern expression. After finishing the call amidst the commotion of things being smashed and turned over, he lit a cigarette and slowly smoked it while scanning the prostitutes and their clients who were being inspected and questioned by the secret agents.

Just then, a waiter saw him and hurried over, muttering in a low voice:

"Captain Yang, what exactly are you up to today?"

Before he could finish speaking, he received a solid slap across the face.

Yang Neng's tone was icy: "Did I tell you to speak? Enough with the nonsense, tell me honestly, where are the Japanese spy's accomplices?"

The man stumbled and fell to the ground after being slapped, trembling and crying out, "Where are the Japanese spies here? There are no Japanese spies at all!"

The madam was terrified and rushed over, saying, "Captain Yang, we..."

"Do Japanese spies have markings on their faces? You dare to say no? Do you know that your top courtesan, Su Jingyi, is a Japanese spy? You've been hiding a Japanese spy here for so long and you didn't even know. For that alone, you deserve to die!"

Yang Neng scolded her, grabbed a teacup, and smashed it at the madam. Shards flew everywhere, and a bloody mark instantly appeared on the madam's forehead.

The crowd fell silent, trembling as they lowered their heads, no longer daring to look at Yang Neng. Officials have two mouths; they never imagined that Captain Yang, a frequent visitor to the brothel, could turn on them so suddenly.

At this moment, Station Chief Tong walked down the stairs with a gloomy expression, and a plainclothes leader immediately came over to report:
"Stationmaster, we've searched every floor and all floors, but apart from finding a burnt document under Su Jingyi's bed, we've found nothing." He sighed dejectedly.

Another squad leader, who had already checked the documents, came over and reported in a low voice.

"Stationmaster, the brothel is missing one person, Xiao Huan, the maid of Consort Pan. Apart from that, there's no one suspicious. A few are merchants from the city, a few are members of the Green Gang, and a few are opium addicts and gossips who hang around here year-round."

Station Chief Tong cursed, then expressionlessly ordered, "Bring everyone from the brothel back to the station and interrogate them severely! Don't miss a single item they have! Find out Xiao Huan's background! Search all the rooms again to see if there are any secret passages or anything like that. Also, immediately draw a portrait of Xiao Huan and issue an arrest warrant."

"Yes." Yang Neng agreed and turned to leave, but Station Chief Tong waved for him to come back.

"Bring that madam here; I want to interrogate her myself."

"Yes."

Accompanied by his secretary and adjutant, Station Chief Tong found a clean brothel. He sat down in a chair, dejected, without saying a word.

The secretary also looked dejected and dared not say anything.

"I had made a promise to Boss Dai, but I was too late and didn't get to touch anything."

Station Master Tong's tone was tinged with an indescribable weariness.

“Although we haven’t caught her, at least we have a target. It’s curfew now, so she definitely can’t leave the city. As long as we search house to house, we’ll definitely find her.” The secretary wasn’t discouraged.

Station Chief Tong remained silent, an inscrutable expression appearing on his gloomy and weary face as he gently tapped the table.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Yang Neng, dressed in a Zhongshan suit, walked in. Behind him was a woman who looked to be around thirty years old. She was somewhat attractive, but her skin was dark and her face was covered with thick powder, like a thick layer of frost on a donkey dung ball, making her look rather mean.

The woman was the madam who had just been beaten. She was crying with tears streaming down her face, and her once bright and beautiful cheongsam was now covered in dust, making her look extremely disheveled.

The woman followed Yang Neng carefully, step by step. When she reached the group, she rubbed her red eyes, forced a stiff smile, and lowered her gaze, nodding to each of them as she spoke earnestly:
"Good morning, sirs."

The secretary looked at her curiously and asked, "Are you Madam Liu?"

"Uh, we usually call her 'Mom' or 'Godmother' here." The other woman waved her hand awkwardly and said with a fawning smile, "Sir, you can just call me by my name, Liu Xiaohua." She carefully looked up at the young plainclothes officer who called her "Madam Liu" and found that he was actually a greenhorn with a pretty boy face.

Yang Neng cautiously closed the door, walked to Madam Liu's side, glanced at Station Chief Tong's expression, and then said to her:
“Raise your head, our stationmaster has something to ask you.”

Madam Liu nodded in agreement, nervously rubbing her hands together.

Station Chief Tong nodded to his secretary, who immediately put on a stern face and asked, "Do you know why we're looking for you?"

Madam Liu quickly replied, "I know."

"Alright, let me remind you one more time. I hope you will answer the questions I'm about to ask truthfully. Otherwise, the police station usually manages you, but we are the Military Intelligence Bureau. I can tell you clearly that our methods are different. Not only you, but your family members will also be imprisoned."

Madam Liu shuddered, her "donkey dung ball" twitched a few times, and it took several seconds for it to calm down before she forced a fawning smile again and said:

"I understand what you mean, sir. I promise I will answer whatever you ask me without reservation. Brother Neng has already explained the implications to me, and I promise to cooperate!"

"Brother Neng?" Station Master Tong frowned, scrutinized Yang Neng and Madam Liu for a few moments, and asked:

"Do you know?"

Madam Liu hurriedly waved her hand: "I don't know her, I've never seen her before."

"You know his name even though you don't know him?"

"Yes, how did you know my name?" Yang Neng suddenly flew into a rage, his hand on the butt of his gun, and demanded sharply.

"Yes, how could I possibly know your name?" Madam Liu's voice trailed off, her eyes darting around, unsure how to respond.

Yang decided to give her a hint:
"Did I just show you my ID, and you remembered it?"

"Yes, yes, you showed me your ID just now, and I remembered it when I saw it."

Yang Neng breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Station Chief Tong to explain, "Station Chief, you see, people in their line of work greet and see off people every day, so they usually have very good memories. No wonder, no wonder, haha."

Station Chief Tong snorted, smacked his lips, and gave Yang Neng a meaningful look. Yang Neng lowered his head guiltily. Station Chief Tong smiled knowingly and turned to instruct his secretary: "Continue!"

Secretary: "Did you see Xiao Huan tonight?"

After thinking for a while, Madam Liu shook her head and said, "I didn't pay much attention. Tonight, a regular customer got drunk and kept asking me to keep him company. I made an excuse that I was on my period and couldn't feel well, so I stayed in my room."

The secretary looked surprised: "Aren't you a madam? You also entertain guests?"

"Yes, what can I do?" said Madam Liu, tears welling up in her eyes.

Seeing this, Station Chief Tong coughed lightly and glared at his secretary: "Let's get down to business."

"Yes." The secretary smiled sheepishly and continued to ask:
"When did Su Jingyi and Xiao Huan enter the brothel? Who introduced them?"

“Su Fei, that’s Su Jingyi, came last year. She transferred from the brothel next door, she switched jobs. As for that slut Xiao Huan,” Madam Liu recalled for a while before finally saying, “she should have come last year too. At that time, Madam Pan’s personal maid died of syphilis, so the manager bought her in.”

"Manager?"

"Yes, Steward Zhou, he has been arrested by you."

"Oh, what's this Manager Zhou's name? Does he have any connections?"

"It is said that he is Commander Li."

Upon hearing this, Station Chief Tong felt a chill run down his spine and interrupted her sharply: "Commander Li Jue? What's his relationship with Commander Li?"

"It's alright, I was referring to Commander Li's brother-in-law."

"Oh, what's the relationship between his brother-in-law and this Manager Zhou?"

"They seem to be cousins."

After listening to Madam Liu's long and winding explanation, Station Chief Tong finally revealed this connection. He breathed a sigh of relief, but also sneered disdainfully, thinking, "He's just a fly on a tiger's tail." He glanced at Yang Neng and said, "Call the station and interrogate this Manager Zhou first. We must pry his mouth open."

"Yes." Yang turned and went out to make a phone call. Station Chief Tong gestured for his secretary to continue asking questions.

The secretary said, "Going back to the previous question, you said Su Jingyi switched jobs from the brothel next door. Is it that simple? Is the owner there willing to let her go?"

In the current slang of brothels, "job hopping" refers to a client abandoning their original prostitute for a new one, or a prostitute seeking a better position. "Turnaround," on the other hand, specifically refers to a prostitute changing workplaces, a difficult process that requires both paying a price to get the original employer to let her go and getting a more popular prostitute willing to take her on.

Upon hearing this question, Madam Liu was visibly taken aback, but quickly regained her composure.

"Speak!" the secretary urged.

Madam Liu glanced up at Station Chief Tong, then lowered her head again, remaining silent.

Seeing this, Station Chief Tong smiled. After working most of the night, he had finally made some progress. He felt that as long as he kept digging into this clue, he would surely reap great rewards. He gave Madam Liu a cold look:

"You're not going to talk, huh? Looks like I'll have to send you to the interrogation room."

As he spoke, he stood up, his previous fatigue vanished, and his eyes immediately changed. He decisively instructed his adjutant:

"Take her away and torture her!"

"Yes."

Just as the adjutant grabbed the trembling madam Liu, Station Chief Tong continued, "Women in this filthy place are tough and have a tougher tongue than most people. How you pry them is your business. I don't care if she's crippled or disabled, just don't let her die. Also, you only have two hours at most. If you drag this out any longer, her accomplices might escape once the city gates open."

"Understood!" The adjutant grinned, a sinister smile spreading across his face.

Upon hearing this, the madam turned ashen-faced and trembled as she said:
I said, "He's my boss."

Station Master Tong suddenly stopped in his tracks, becoming excited: "What's your boss's name?"

"Yes, yes," the madam hesitated, "I don't know who the boss is either."

"Nonsense, still not being honest, huh?" Station Chief Tong sneered, giving his adjutant a wink. The adjutant suddenly grabbed the madam's hair and kicked her in the shin. The madam screamed and knelt on the ground, a pistol pressed against the back of her head, and said in terror:

“I’m telling the truth. The boss contacted me by phone. I… I’ve never met him.”

The secretary slammed her hand on the table: "You bitch, you're asking for it, aren't you? I already told you, we have plenty of methods, so don't try anything funny. We can find out everything about your boss's phone call—when he made it, the phone number. If you confess after we've found everything, it'll be too late. Tell me, who is your boss!"

The madam, Liu, trembled with fear: "My boss is Mr. Dai."

"Mr. Dai?"

Upon hearing this, the three people in the fireworks room were all dumbfounded and looked at each other in disbelief.

"You mean that Mr. Dai?" Station Chief Tong paused for a moment, then asked a second time, seemingly unconvinced:
"Tell me quickly, are you talking about Mr. Dai?"

“It’s Mr. Dai.” Madam Liu looked at the group with a puzzled expression, then mumbled, “Everyone calls him Mr. Lanfang.”

The secretary and adjutant were completely confused, but Station Chief Tong understood in an instant and couldn't help but gasp.

Dai Chunbang, also known as Yunlin, courtesy name Weiping, pen name Lanfang, was the younger brother of Boss Dai.

He was actually the boss behind Yicui Tower?

He personally lured the female Japanese spy who was plotting to assassinate the boss over, providing her with the convenience of infiltration.
How should I report this to Boss Dai?
Station Chief Tong never expected to uncover such a hot potato during the investigation, leaving him momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Seeing him standing there dumbfounded, the adjutant and secretary were puzzled. The secretary cautiously asked, "Station Chief?"

Station Master Tong: "Shut up!"

The secretary remained silent, looking rather sullen.

The adjutant realized something was wrong and slowly released the madam: "Stationmaster?"

Station Chief Tong glared at him angrily and waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away a fly: "Take her away and lock her up in solitary confinement. No one is allowed to approach her without my order."

After the others left, Station Chief Tong rubbed his gaunt face, took a deep breath, picked up the phone, dialed a few numbers, and said in a rather respectful tone:
"Hello, Lieutenant Jia."

(End of this chapter)