My spy diary

Chapter 673 Recording (Part 2)

"Stop!" Zhang Yi pretended to think for a moment: "Why does that voice sound so familiar? It sounds like Guo Xinya!"

"Guo Xinya, the defector from the confidential office?"

Yang Rong and He Zhiyuan exchanged a glance, their expressions turning serious. Who was she meeting at the brothel?
"It should be her, but we'll need to have the people in the confidential office verify it." Zhang Yi nodded, indicating that the recording should continue playing.

This time, a man's voice came from the tape recorder.

"Times have changed. Now that your identity has been exposed and you are wanted by the Military Intelligence Bureau, the most dangerous place is actually the safest place."

"."

How exactly did I get exposed?

“We learned through special channels that this so-called ‘Thunderbolt’ plan is actually a bait, a trap, designed to lure you into revealing your identity.”

"Bait?"

"Yes, the so-called 'Thunderbolt Plan' is meant to intimidate us, divert our attention, uncover the spies, and simultaneously cover up the real plan, buying time for their next move."

"Stop!" This time it was Yang Rong who spoke. He frowned, first telling Shen Linfeng to leave, then pressed the stop button and said thoughtfully:
"Who is this man? Guo's supplier? What special channels is he referring to?"

Zhang Yi and He Zhiyuan exchanged a glance, but neither of them had an answer.

Yang Rong didn't answer his own question, but instead changed the subject:
"So it seems the contents of that meeting were leaked after all. Who could it be?"

He Zhiyuan sneered: "I think it's all just a charade. Wasn't the intelligence leaked by that traitor Guo Xinya?"

"You mean he deliberately misled people?" Yang Rong raised an eyebrow, then immediately shook his head in denial. "It shouldn't be. Judging from their conversation, Guo Xinya didn't know she had been exposed at first." He paused, then added, "As far as I know, Guo Xinya was about to be caught, but because of a phone call, she suddenly changed her rendezvous plan. Later, during her escape, her accomplices deliberately created chaos, which allowed her to escape by chance."

This surprised He Zhiyuan. He glanced at Zhang Yi, who also looked confused, then suddenly realized what he meant and whispered to Yang Rong:
"That's what the people from the Inspection Office said?"

Yang Rong smiled enigmatically: "That's not it."

He Zhiyuan eagerly awaited Yang Rong's continuation, but after a long while, Yang Rong showed no sign of continuing. He snorted, pulled out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes, lit one for himself, offered one to Zhang Yi, and then pulled one out and handed it to Yang Rong.

"Old Yang, were you still keeping this from us?"

Yang Rong still had a smile on his face: "I've only heard a little bit about it."

He Zhiyuan took back the cigarette he had half-handed over:
"I'm afraid they don't want to tell us."

Zhang Yi also looked at Yang Rong.

Yang Rong coughed lightly: "Hehe, don't misunderstand."

"Yunyi, Director Yang is truly a man of few words, as expected of someone who works in intelligence." He Zhiyuan lit a cigarette, exhaled a puff, and said with a somewhat unpleasant tone.

Zhang Yi chimed in with a self-deprecating laugh: "Yeah, they're keeping it a secret from us. Oh well, if they don't want to talk about it, they don't have to. It's just confusing. How did the Red Party find out about Operation Thunderclap? Through special channels? There were only a few people present. Their abilities are really too great, aren't they?"

"How else could we know?" Yang Rong smiled meaningfully. "It must be an old acquaintance of ours."

He Zhiyuan frowned: "You mean that mysterious 031?"

Zhang Yi feigned sudden realization: "So the person who contacted Guo Xinya was 031, or his liaison?" He took a drag of his cigarette, pondered for a moment, and then added, "Every cloud has a silver lining. At least now we have information on someone who is directly or indirectly in contact with 031. If we catch him, won't the problem that has been bothering us for so long be solved?"

"I hope so!" He Zhiyuan exhaled a puff of smoke in frustration. "I thought so too when I first heard this code name a few years ago. But so much time has passed, and we still don't even know if he's a man or a woman, a human or a ghost. How easy is it to catch him?"

“At least we finally have a lead now, right?” Zhang Yi said, as if he had remembered something. “He went to a brothel, so quite a few people should have seen him. We can have someone draw his portrait.”

He Zhiyuan immediately perked up: "That's right, Liu Ningxue should have the deepest impression of him. It seems we need to speed up the interrogation process."

At this moment, Yang Rong suddenly said:
"Maybe it won't be so troublesome."

"What do you mean?" Zhang Yi and He Zhiyuan looked at him.

Yang Rong had nothing to say. He rewound the recording and listened to it repeatedly several times, then picked up the phone on the table and dialed:
"Listen to this recording. Is that the voice of that traitor from your department? What do you mean by 'seems like'? Listen to it carefully again. Are you sure it's him? Okay."

After hanging up the phone, Yang Rong smiled:
"When I was listening to the recording just now, I felt he looked like that person. But after all, it's been a long time since I've seen him, so I just felt he looked like him. Until just now, I called his former colleague to listen to it, and now I can say with certainty that this person is Zheng Huhe!"

"Who? Zheng Huhe?" Zhang Yi blurted out, then asked a second time in disbelief, "Director Yang, are you sure it's him?"

Yang Rong nodded confidently:

Yes, I'm sure.

Zhang Yi's expression was grim: "He's still in Shancheng? I thought that traitor had already fled to Baota Mountain."

“It’s a bit unbelievable,” He Zhiyuan said, smacking his lips. “I’m getting more and more curious about the recording to come.”

"Shall we continue?" Yang Rong smiled and pressed play.

Recording continues.

"Have you received the list?"

"No. The organization is trying to find a solution."

"What about 031?"

Upon hearing the code name "031", Zhang Yi and the others focused their attention and listened intently, eager for the mystery to be revealed.
The man's voice came through the earpiece clearly: "Actually, there is no 031 at all. It's all a smokescreen we released to confuse the enemy."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yi and the others exchanged bewildered glances, speechless.

Then, an incredulous voice came from the radio:
"A smokescreen? You mean to deceive everyone and fish in troubled waters?"

Then came the man's enigmatic laughter: "The Military Intelligence Bureau is an impregnable fortress; it's not easy to infiltrate it. We've chosen Zhang Yi."

Zhang Yi was stunned. It was as if Zheng Huhe's words had hit him like a blunt object, leaving him dazed and his eyes glazed over.

He Zhiyuan and Yang Rong shifted uncomfortably, glancing at the tape recorder and then at Zhang Yi, utterly shocked and unable to calm down for a long time.

After a moment, the two exchanged a glance. Seeing that Zhang Yi remained silent for a long time, Yang Rong said with a forced smile:

"Deputy Director Zhang, what are you thinking about?"

Zhang Yi looked exhausted and depressed. He opened his mouth and said with difficulty:

"So that's how it is. It was all a frame-up, a conspiracy by the Red Party." He then looked at He Zhiyuan and Yang Rong, "Directors, did you already know that you suspected me all along?"

In that instant, were you shocked, stunned, suddenly realized, overjoyed, or ashamed?
Zhang Yi's expression was complex, as if too many complex emotions had exceeded his comprehension, to the point that he appeared dazed and could no longer conceal them. His performance was flawless.

Yang Rong had been staring at Zhang Yi, but now he frowned and glanced at He Zhiyuan.

He Zhiyuan frowned and didn't speak, but the cigarette in his mouth was deformed from being bitten so hard that his knuckles were so tight that they turned white, and the sparks flickered more and more rapidly. Anyone with eyes could see the turmoil churning in his heart.

Seeing that the two remained silent, Zhang Yi stared blankly with his eyes wide open and said somewhat hysterically:

"You've been suspecting me all along, haven't you? Stupid! Stupid! I'm such a fucking stupid person! But why is that?"

Zhang Yi kept pounding the table and cursing repeatedly. Eventually, his voice became hoarse and strained, sending chills down one's spine.

Seeing that he couldn't refuse, He Zhiyuan smiled awkwardly, patted Zhang Yi on the shoulder, and comforted him, saying:
"Brother, calm down! It's a misunderstanding. This is clearly a conspiracy by the Red Party. As for why, let's continue listening?"

"Yes, it's a conspiracy, a shocking conspiracy!" Zhang Yi muttered to himself as he walked out, looking completely disoriented. "Zheng Huhe, yes, I have to find this bastard, he's ruined me." As he spoke, veins bulged on his forehead, and his blood vessels throbbed. He gritted his teeth, drew his sidearm from his waist, and walked towards the door.

Just as his hand grasped the doorknob, a pair of hands suddenly hugged him from behind.

It is He Zhiyuan.

"Brother, calm down, listen to me, listen to me first!" He Zhiyuan said in a low voice.

Zhang Yi's eyes were bloodshot, and he gritted his teeth:
"Let go!"

He Zhiyuan still held Zhang Yi tightly, and said in a low voice, "That traitor Zheng Huhe has long since fled. In this vast sea of ​​people, where are you going to find him? Listen to the recording first, and the truth will be revealed!"

Zhang Yi struggled to break free of one hand and flung open the door. The plainclothes officers outside looked at each other, wondering what had happened in the office.

He Zhiyuan was terrified that people outside would find out and make a fool of themselves, so he used all his strength to pull Zhang Yi back inside and slammed the door shut. He only let go of Zhang Yi after dragging him to a chair and pressing him down, panting.

Zhang Yi seemed not to have recovered from his earlier outburst of rage. He stared intently at He Zhiyuan and said fiercely:

"If we can't catch that bastard Zheng Huhe, can't I at least interrogate the female spy?"

He Zhiyuan was also exhausted and anxious, panting as he said:
“Fine, you’re the head of the judicial department, you can try the case however you want.”

Zhang Yi remained silent, his face grim, and dragged his heavy steps to the interrogation room. The plainclothes officers outside were completely bewildered by what had just happened, whispering among themselves. When they saw Zhang Yi emerge with a gun, they all fell silent in fear.

Watching Zhang Yi's figure disappear from sight, Yang Rong, while smoking and pondering something, suddenly said:

"Should we send a few people to keep an eye on things?"

Yang Rong suddenly brought this up, which didn't surprise He Zhiyuan at all. He pretended to be a little resentful and said:

"You still doubt him? Hasn't the truth come out?"

Yang Rong smiled meaningfully: "Didn't you just say that the Red Party might be deliberately trying to confuse the public? What if this is just a smokescreen?"

He Zhiyuan frowned, silently lit another cigarette, and said nothing.

Yang Rong glanced at him, seemingly talking to himself:

"Oh, it just so happens that Zheng Huhe and this Guo Xinya are with the Japanese spy we're looking for. Hehe, that's quite a coincidence."

He Zhiyuan was silent for a moment before saying, "Listen to the recording first."

Recording continues!

"why?"

"Because he was too outstanding. Being outstanding is not a crime, but in the Military Intelligence Bureau, a cesspool of deceit and intrigue, his sharpness pierced through the mediocrity of others and threatened their vested interests. Like a knife that is too sharp, it will make the person wielding it wary, and it will also make those hiding in the shadows want to break it first."

Then came the woman's puzzled voice:

"But he's not one of ours after all. One time is fine, but why does the enemy keep suspecting him?"

This was also a question in the minds of He Zhiyuan and Yang Rong.

The man said with a hint of sarcasm, "Who cares if he is or not! People always believe in the truth of what they see, but ignore the limitations of their senses and the influence of prejudice. Little do they know that what they see with their own eyes is often the very thing that obscures the truth."

"."

"What about Dai Yunong? He's the most cunning and treacherous old fox I've ever met."

"I have said that an extremely intelligent person is often an extremely arrogant person. Arrogance can make a person stubborn and self-willed, even looking down on everyone and not listening to any dissenting opinions."

"Therefore, we throw out Zhang Yi, proceeding cautiously and realistically at every step, at least on the surface. Then we estimate leaving behind some faint clues. Sometimes, damaged evidence is more attractive and believable than actual evidence. This way, they will spend more time searching for those clues until they are exhausted and find nothing."

He Zhiyuan and Yang Rong finally listened to the recording in its entirety. Throughout the process, the two of them frowned, and then they were overwhelmed with shock, unable to calm down for a long time.

The two men were slumped in their chairs, deep in thought, while the floor was littered with cigarette butts.

The office was silent except for the buzzing of the radio.

After a long while, Yang Rong pinched his forehead to calm himself down, then got up and turned off the radio.
"That damned Zheng Huhe, he's so eccentric. Just from his voice I can imagine his smug face. I underestimated this traitor."

He Zhiyuan's face darkened: "A petty person who has gained power. He only dares to shout on the radio!"

Yang Rong snorted and steered the conversation back to what it was before:
"Are you saying this recording was intentional, or was it made without their knowledge?"

He Zhiyuan thought for a moment and said, "I tend to think the latter. Our Military Intelligence Bureau only recently brought back this kind of recording device hidden inside a record player from the United States. The Japanese might have it, but the Communists couldn't possibly have seen it. What do you think?"

Faced with He Zhiyuan's question, Yang Rong smiled wryly. He didn't want to take responsibility for the answer and simply said dejectedly:

"Let's report this to Boss Dai now."

On the other side, the Dai Mansion.

At this very moment, a heart-to-heart talk that was causing Mao Qiwu great distress was taking place.

"Is it painful to see Mao Zhongxin dead? I am too, but what can we do? He was more trouble than he was worth. Fine, we'll give him 500 yuan for burial expenses and 2000 yuan for family support."

Mao Qiwu gave a wry smile.

Dai Chunfeng noticed the obvious bitterness in his expression and was about to offer a few more words of comfort when the phone on the table suddenly rang.

After receiving the call, Dai Chunfeng's expression darkened further: "That little bastard Xu Zeng'en submitted a confession of Mao Qiwu to Tang Heng, claiming that he was a double agent, and the evidence is conclusive!"

(End of this chapter)