My spy diary

Chapter 664 Acting (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Mao Zhongxin rushed into Mao Qiwu's office without even knocking.

Mao Qiwu looked displeased and asked in a deep voice:
"What happened again?"

The hurried pace and surging emotions left Mao Zhongxin a little out of breath:

"Uncle, no, Director Mao, Zhu Hua just called!"

"Him?" Mao Qiwu looked surprised. "What did he say?"

"He proposed a deal."

"trade?"

"Yes. He said he knows who the mole is that our Military Intelligence Bureau is looking for!"

"Are you sure?" Mao Qiwu stood up in surprise, then, as if remembering something, he slowly sat down again, scoffed, and said, "You believe such nonsense? He's just a driver; how could he possibly have access to such confidential information?"

"What if?" Mao Zhongxin seemed very cautious. Although the office door was closed and only he and his nephew were in the room, he still leaned close to Mao Qiwu and told him in a very low voice what Zhu Hua had said on the phone.

"Twenty small yellow croakers? You've got quite the nerve, aren't you afraid of choking on them?" Mao Qiwu sneered, frowning as he pondered. He found the whole thing strange and absurd, feeling it was either a scam or hiding some unknown conspiracy.

"We also need a car with a full tank of gas, passes, a pistol, and food," Mao Zhongxin added from the side.

Mao Qiwu looked at him as if he were a fool:
"This is a scam!"

Mao Zhongxin couldn't stand the look in his eyes, and explained to himself, "Uncle, I'm also a bit skeptical, but he is, after all, that person's driver, so maybe he really knows something."

"Perhaps? Maybe? An intelligence agent would have to say something definite." Mao Qiwu snorted, angrily pointing to his head, "Open your head and think about it carefully. Even if he knows something, how can someone under quarantine and investigation still run out and make phone calls? Isn't that a contradiction?"

“Maybe he can escape. By the way, I just checked the location of his phone call, it was at the train station.” Mao Zhongxin glanced at Mao Qiwu, and seeing his noncommittal expression, continued, “Uncle, right, don’t we have people monitoring the Eighth Route Army office? Why don’t we just make a call and ask? Also, I remember Zhu Hua has a girlfriend, if he runs away he will definitely take his girlfriend with him, we can send someone to check on him too.”

“This is a gamble!” Mao Qiwu said irritably. “Even if Zhu Hua really is a defector, can you guarantee that what he says is true? Maybe he’s trying to make a quick buck before he leaves. Or perhaps he’s putting on an act, and this is a conspiracy by the Red Party!”

"A conspiracy?" Mao Zhongxin was completely bewildered.

"Don't look at me, I don't know either, but it's definitely related to the chain reaction of last night's performance."

"A chain reaction?" Mao Zhongxin was even more puzzled.

Mao Qiwu was annoyed by his slowness and glared at him:
“I just received a call from my boss. Guo Xinya, the radio operator in the confidential office, has defected. Now the whole city is searching for her.”

"Ah!" Mao Zhongxin was a little confused, his face full of disbelief. Guo Xinya was also a member of the Red Party? He had even pursued her, but she had never given him any attention.

At that moment, he was both shocked and relieved.

Just as I was lost in thought, I heard Mao Qi slam his hand heavily on the table:
"Hmph, consider yourself lucky. Do you know that just now, if it weren't for Boss Dai's call, you would probably have been arrested by Zhang Yi already?"

He spoke with a stern expression, and Mao Zhongxin was completely stunned: "Why?"

"He had Feng Wenrao do a handwriting analysis."

"That Zhang guy is really insidious, so aggressive!" Mao Zhongxin gritted his teeth. He suddenly remembered Zhang Yi's previous actions, ordering him to go out and fetch water and clean, clearly to get rid of him and keep him in the dark about his next plans. Thinking of Boss Dai's words about "arresting him on the spot," he felt both scared and relieved. He quickly asked, "Uncle, he won't have someone else do the authentication, will he?" After all, his handwritten manuscript and the letter of complaint were still in Zhang Yi's hands, which was a ticking time bomb.

Mao Qiwu said irritably, "Does he have to be so bored!" He thought to himself that it's dignified for people to understand each other without saying anything. If you insist on digging into the details and holding on to it, then you are too ignorant of human relationships and too ungrateful.

Mao Zhongxin breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, that's good. Thank you, Mr. Dai, thank you, Uncle!" He then glanced at Mao Qiwu and said reluctantly:

"Uncle, are we just going to call off this deal?"

Mao Qiwu glared at him for a few moments, then said somewhat displeasedly, "Is this never going to end? It's obviously a trap, and you insist on walking into it?"

"What if we just make do with it?"

Mao Qiwu frowned slightly, looking at him without saying a word.

Mao Zhongxin quickly said, "Uncle, if you say it's a conspiracy, it must be a conspiracy. After all, the Red Party has always been cunning. But what if it is? Guo Xinya has already escaped. This is our only chance to dig out the mole. Even if we can't get any useful information from him, we can turn the tables on him. We can lay an ambush in advance and invite some media reporters to participate. As long as he dares to come, we can arrest him directly and say that he tried to bribe me, deliberately sabotaged the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Red Party, and disrupted the overall situation of the War of Resistance. Once the media exposes it, and with us fanning the flames behind the scenes—no, fueling the flames—public opinion will definitely be simmering. That will be enough to make them suffer." He became more and more excited as he spoke, "Uncle, what do you call this? This is called trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead."

Hearing him say that, Mao Qiwu raised his eyelids and looked at him in surprise, as if he had become interested.

Seeing that Mao Qiwu was finally moved, Mao Zhongxin's tone became even more earnest:
"As for the risks, they are completely controllable. We can tamper with cars and documents in advance, and even with gold."

Mao Qiwu interrupted him: "Counterfeit gold?"

"Yes, Uncle, you may not know what's going on outside. As long as you have money, you can buy anything you can think of on the black market."

"Alright." Mao Qiwu pondered for a moment, and finally made a decision:

"Go ahead and do it. I'll go ask Director Dai for instructions right away."

"Yes." Mao Zhongxin stood up and bowed, full of vigor.

Meanwhile, at Xinghua Elementary School in Jiudaomen, the headquarters of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) was located.

The office phone rang.

Office Director Pu Mengjiu picked up the phone and had barely said "hello" when the person on the other end spoke first:
"Is Director Xu here?"

Upon hearing an unfamiliar voice, Pu Mengjiu became alert and, instead of answering, asked:

"who are you?"

There was silence on the other end. He said "hello" twice, but still received no response. Just as he was hesitating to hang up, he heard the other end say:
"I know who the mole is who's infiltrated the Military Intelligence Bureau headquarters!"

Pu Mengjiu was startled and subconsciously asked:
"Who?"

"Let Xu Zeng'en answer the phone."

"What nonsense! Playing tricks! You think you can just see the Director like that? And you even call him by his first name!" Pu Mengjiu thought to himself, but sat up straight and said seriously.

"I am Pu Mengjiu, the director of the bureau's office. You can speak to me and I will relay your message." As he spoke, he subtly covered the receiver, beckoned to a female office worker, pointed to the phone, then to his ear. The office worker understood and immediately turned and left.

"It's you! You can represent him? I only deal with Xu Zeng'en." A sneer came from the other end of the phone. "No wonder people say the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics are all incompetent. They can see the whole picture from a small part. You don't even care about intelligence about the meeting between the Red Party and the Military Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. I guess I've made a fool of myself. Fine, I'll give you a chance. Three minutes. If you don't hear Xu Zeng'en's voice after three minutes, I'll sell the intelligence to someone else."

As he was speaking, the phone abruptly cut off.

"Hello?" Pu Mengjiu, holding the phone, was both curious and annoyed. He quickly called in the female office worker:

"how?"

"It's a public telephone at the Yuzhong vegetable market."

"Yuzhong vegetable market?" Pu Mengjiu seemed to understand something. After thinking for a moment, he quickly knocked on Xu Zeng'en's office door and reported the situation in detail.

Xu Zeng looked puzzled. Had a windfall fallen from the sky? He frowned slightly and asked:
What kind of person do you think he is?

"I don't know!" Pu Mengjiu shook his head, then suddenly remembered something and said, "When I introduced myself, he said, 'Oh, it's you,' as if he knew me, but his voice was muffled, so he must have been disguising himself. I really can't remember who he is."

“‘It’s you.’” Xu Zeng murmured to himself. “He knows you, knows me, and knows that there are Communist Party spies in the Military Intelligence Bureau. He must be an expert.” After a moment’s thought, he immediately said, “Take the phone over right away.” “Yes.”

Time passed minute by minute.

three minutes.

five minutes.

Just as Xu Zeng'en was getting impatient, the phone rang again. He had barely picked it up when he heard a breathless voice on the other end say:

"Is that Director Xu?"

Xu Zeng glanced at Pu Mengjiu, signaling him to listen in, then asked in a light but serious voice:
"It's me, and who are you?"

The person on the other end of the phone was still breathing heavily, and their voice was very soft.
"Who I am is not important. All I know is that in half an hour, the Red Party undercover agent will be handing over intelligence to his courier."

Xu Zeng was half-believing and half-doubting, but pretended to be interested and asked eagerly:
"Is it accurate? Time and place?"

"Absolutely true. Don't rush, I have conditions."

"What conditions?"

"Twenty small yellow croakers!"

"Oh, why should I believe you?"

"Hehe, you'll find out when you get there."

Aren't you afraid I'll change my mind?

"Of course I'm afraid! But I have other information that might interest you. I don't believe Mr. Xu won't be tempted."

"For example?"

"Are you interested in the Red Party spy who has been lurking within your ranks for four years?"

Xu Zeng'en's heart tightened, but he said calmly, "Alright then, deal! Now you can tell me the time and place, right?"

"Yuzhong Ruihe Teahouse, noon."

After saying that, he slammed down the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Xu Zeng'en immediately looked at Pu Mengjiu.

Pu Mengjiu understood and immediately left the office.

A moment later, he walked in looking dejected.

"It's still a public phone, three kilometers from the last public phone address. I've already sent our people there to see if we can find any witnesses."

Xu Zeng waved his hand, seemingly not holding out much hope. He frowned, pondering, his fingers rhythmically tapping the table.

Deep down, he didn't trust this mysterious whistleblower; who knew if he was a real person or a scoundrel? But the information the whistleblower revealed was so tempting, it had captivated him in just a few words. He didn't want to miss out, even if it ultimately proved the guy was lying, he was determined to get to the bottom of things.

Thinking this, he immediately stood up and said with a serious expression, "Send the action team there right away. Remember to bring a camera. If it's true, make sure to solidify the evidence."

"Yes."

11:55.

Mao Zhongxin sat in a private room at Ruihe Teahouse and glanced at his watch.

At this moment, Ruihe Teahouse was under the control of his men, and Zhu Hua would be arrested immediately if he dared to show himself.

On the other side, the dock.

The sun hung high in the sky above the mountain city, its golden rays pouring down without obstruction, and the river surface shimmered with white light, so bright that people couldn't open their eyes.

In an inconspicuous warehouse at the dock, Nightingale Guo Xinya had been staying.

After being evacuated under the cover of Zheng Huhe, she did not go home. According to organizational discipline, she could not return to her fixed residence or evacuate on her own without confirmation of her safety. Whether to go or stay, change her identity and continue operating in the mountain city, retreat to the base area, or go to another city to start anew under an assumed name, everything depended on instructions from her superiors.

Guo Xinya stood behind the window, restless. The fishy-smelling river wind ruffled her hair.

She was still carrying that handbag, and the bottom of the rouge box inside held the intelligence she hadn't been able to hand over.

She instinctively shrank back and hugged her arms tightly.

Just then, she heard footsteps in the distance. She became alert and quickly recognized the sound as one person's footsteps.

The footsteps grew closer, and to her surprise, she recognized the man as Zheng Huhe. Although Zheng Huhe had saved her life that morning, he hadn't said a word. Even though she knew his identity, they weren't on the same side, and logically, they shouldn't have any contact. So, she held back, waiting for Zheng Huhe to speak and give the code word. She wasn't willing to take any risks.

Zheng Huhe stopped and looked at her, asking, "The wind is strong on the river today. Are there any boats available to take shelter from the wind?"

Guo Xinya said, "The No. 3 covered boat is stable next to the old locust tree on the north bank."

"thimble."

"nightingale."

The two hands were clasped together.

"The organization has arranged for us to evacuate tonight, and the route has already been planned."

"Obey orders!" Guo Xinya replied, but a sense of inexplicable disappointment lingered in her heart. After a moment of silence, she finally asked, "How exactly was I exposed?"

"Because Project Thunder itself is a decoy."

Guo Xinya suddenly realized, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "What about the real plan? Have you received it?"

“You shouldn’t have asked,” Zheng Huhe replied bluntly and without any leniency.

Guo Xinya said "Oh," as she expected. She knew she shouldn't have asked, but she still wanted to do her part and contribute her own strength.

The two gazed at the river, each lost in their own thoughts, and remained silent for a long while.

Guo Xinya tactfully put away her thoughts and reverted to her professional nightingale persona: "Does the organization have any more tasks for me to complete?"

"Of course!" Zheng Huhe smiled and said, enunciating each word clearly, "To put on a show!"

"acting?"

Zheng Huhe smiled and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket: "This is the script, we need to familiarize ourselves with it first."

(End of this chapter)