My spy diary

Chapter 678 Qian Xiaosan (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Li Dawei carried the noodles back to the safe house, only to find that a pebble had somehow fallen into one of the bowls. He cursed his bad luck under his breath, but was also somewhat glad that he had ordered two bowls of noodles. He quickly placed the bowl with the pebble on the table in the living room and handed the other bowl to Lai Guomin.

Lai Guomin and another plainclothes officer removed Liu Ningxue's handcuffs and placed noodles on the table in front of her.
"It's not as good as what your top courtesan usually eats, so please make do with this."

Liu Ningxue completely ignored Lai Guomin's actions. She neither ate nor spoke, her eyes were vacant, her expression was indifferent, and it was unknown what she was thinking.

Seeing this, Lai Guomin pushed the noodles on the table toward her.

Seeing that she still ignored him, Lai Guomin smiled and said:

Is this a hunger strike?

Liu Ningxue closed her eyes and remained silent.

Lai Guomin wanted to persuade him further, but then the door opened and Zhang Yi came in.

"Director."

"How about it?"

Lai Guomin shook his head in frustration.

Zhang Yi glanced at the bowl of noodles, circled it in front of Liu Ningxue, and asked:

"Really not eating? Is this a hunger strike? Is it for dieting or martyrdom? Have you ever seen people on hunger strikes? Do you know what happens to them in the end?"

Liu Ningxue remained unmoved, not even blinking.

Zhang Yi tapped the table and continued:
"If you want to commit suicide, not eating is the least painful way. The only numbness is that it will be very slow. Counting from today, you still have to hold on for about 29 days. Oh, this number was obtained by the Japanese Kwantung Army's water supply unit through experiments on living people. Don't even mention 30 days, after three days, you will start to lose consciousness. You won't recognize me, your accomplices, or even your family."

The word "family" was like a finger, tugging at Liu Ningxue's heartstrings. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, but she still didn't open her eyes.

Zhang Yi's hypothesis continues:
"This is numbing. What if—I mean, what if—you starve to death and lose your usefulness? Will they still treat your family well? You should know that Japan is currently experiencing extreme shortages of supplies. The government has implemented a nationwide rationing system; food and cloth require coupons to purchase. Private factories have been largely converted to military production, and workers are being forcibly conscripted for military labor. To compensate for the manpower shortage, Japan has begun to expand its conscription scope, sending large numbers of young men from the mainland, Korea, and Taiwan to the battlefield, and women to work as comfort women. Do you think your family will…?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Ningxue's eyes snapped open, and she abruptly raised her hand, knocking the noodles off the table and onto the floor.

Zhang Yi wasn't annoyed: "Wasting food is not a good habit."

As he spoke, he picked up his chopsticks and began to collect the noodles that had spilled on the table and floor into his bowl. But as he did so, he suddenly stopped, sniffed the noodles, and his expression changed drastically.

Why does the lard noodles taste like bitter almonds?

Bitter almond flavor? Lai Guomin was startled, as if he had realized something:
"What does the Director mean?"

As he spoke, he immediately looked at Li Dawei, "What happened?"

Li Dawei was completely confused: "Huh, what's wrong?"

Zhang Yi said expressionlessly, "Someone poisoned the noodles! It's probably potassium cyanide!"

Li Dawei shuddered, staring at the noodles in horror, speechless, and swallowing hard.
"This, this is impossible!"

Suddenly, a pistol was pressed against the back of his head.

The owner of the pistol was Lai Guomin. He pointed the gun at Li Dawei and asked directly:

"Think carefully before you speak. If you say one wrong word, you're dead. What's going on? You're the one who bought the noodles; only you handled them."

Li Dawei's face turned deathly pale. He opened his mouth as if to explain, but hesitated before Zhang Yi interrupted him:
"Tell me about what happened when you bought the noodles, the more detailed the better."

Li Dawei, however, persisted with the previous question, asking tremblingly, "Potassium cyanide? How is that possible! Chief, you must believe me, I don't have the guts."

Zhang Yi didn't answer, and continued to ask:

"Where did you buy the noodles? After buying the noodles, what did you do on your way back? Who did you meet?"

Li Dawei's thoughts were immediately drawn back by these questions. He looked at Zhang Yi, paused, and then recounted his experience in detail.

"A person wearing a raincoat brushed past you? Why didn't you verify their identity? Why didn't you report it?"

"Your subordinate," Li Dawei's lips trembled slightly as he cautiously spoke, his eyes glazed over.

"Sir, it was too dark at the time, and I only brushed past him without paying much attention."

"Careless? That explanation is far too weak." Zhang Yi snorted coldly, glancing casually at Liu Ningxue. She remained silent, her brows furrowed slightly, as if deep in thought. He then looked at Lai Guomin:

"your people?"

Lai Guomin was jolted awake. At any time, in any place, Zhang Yi always instilled a sense of fear and pressure in his subordinates. He quickly denied it:

"No, he's one of Deputy Director Ruan's men."

"Regardless of whose person you are, follow the rules!"

"Yes!" Lai Guomin said solemnly. As soon as he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and two plainclothes officers rushed forward and pinned Li Dawei down.

"Director--Director--It really wasn't me!" Li Dawei cried out hysterically, struggling, but he was no match for the crowd and was quickly dragged into a room.

"Find a few rats to clean up this place and keep an eye on her." Zhang Yi glanced at Liu Ningxue, said this, and turned to leave the room.

"Yes." After this incident, Lai Guomin dared not be careless and immediately ordered someone to put Liu Ningxue's handcuffs back on and cuff her to the chair.

Soon, he caught a mouse from somewhere and held it in his hand. Zhang Yi frowned as he looked at it.

"There really are rats in this house?"

"No one has lived here for a long time, so it's become a rat's den. They're not afraid of people. As long as you put some food at the entrance of their burrows, they'll scurry out on their own."

Zhang Yi glanced at the rat in his hand again. The rat looked at the person holding it in terror. He nodded to Lai Guomin and then turned his face away.

Lai Guomin put the rat into a cardboard box, then put noodles in it. Smelling the food, he completely forgot that he was now trapped and excitedly squeaked as he pounced on the noodles. However, after only a few bites, he collapsed, convulsing all over.

Seeing this, Lai Guomin's face turned almost pale, and he muttered to himself with lingering fear:

"It really is poisonous!"

Are you questioning my judgment?

"You've misunderstood," Lai Guomin quickly explained, realizing his mistake. "I just can't understand how Li Dawei got the audacity to poison the food. Could it be that mysterious person he encountered?"

Zhang Yi lit a cigarette, seemingly ignoring his question, and after taking a few puffs, said:

"The prisoners were transferred secretly, and there were only a few people who knew about it. How did the other party find out about this place? Where exactly did the problem lie? Have you thought about that?"

Lai Guomin became wary: "You mean, an inside man?"

"Although I don't want to believe it, I really can't find any other explanation." Lai Guomin thought for a moment: "Then what's next?"

Zhang Yi interrupted him: "Since things have come to this, we might as well turn the tables on them." Lai Guomin understood and immediately moved closer to Zhang Yi, whose voice gradually lowered.

Soon, the dead rat was thrown next to Liu Ningxue, and Lai Guomin said with a sneer:
"See? For a secret agent, identity is more important than life. If his identity is exposed, he's doomed. He almost died at the hands of his own people. And now he still won't talk?"

Liu Ningxue was speechless for a moment, feeling a chill run down her spine.

Lai Guomin said nothing more. He walked over and suddenly struck her unconscious with a knife, then turned and shouted at the stunned plainclothes officer:

"Call someone! Quickly call the hospital and get a doctor!"

The plainclothes officer paused for a moment, then, after receiving a signal from Lai Guomin, he realized what was happening and immediately rushed out.

Immediately, the anxious voice of a plainclothes officer rang out from inside the room:

"Someone, call a doctor!"

Amidst the commotion, a makeshift stretcher was carried out of the room. Liu Ningxue on the stretcher was foaming at the mouth. Then, the roar of a car engine sounded, and it sped to the front of the house. The stretcher was loaded into the car and drove away.

Not far away, Zhao Deshan finished eating the noodles in his bowl and turned to leave.

But he didn't go far; instead, he hid in a corner and began to observe.

Soon, a group of menacing plainclothes officers rushed towards the couple who were setting up their stall. Without saying a word, they pinned them down, ransacked their place, punched and kicked them, and took the couple away, leaving behind a mess.

Seeing this, Zhao Deshan was overjoyed and revealed a smug smile.

Then he took off the coat with the rickshaw sign, turned it inside out, and put it back on; it was a reversible coat. He then found a top hat under the rickshaw seat, put it on his head, abandoned the rickshaw, and disappeared into the darkness.

However, what he didn't realize was that all of this was being watched by the monkey in the shadows.

At this moment, the monkey had changed his clothes and specially put on a pair of cloth shoes. He hid in the darkness, recalling what Zhang Yi had just said to him.

"Your job is to keep an eye on him and see where he goes. Once we figure out his identity, we can follow the trail."

"All available personnel and vehicles are ready, and a segmented tracking mode will be adopted. The distance between vehicles will be controlled at 200 meters, and each vehicle is equipped with a state-of-the-art walkie-talkie and binoculars. The Special Operations Unit of the Operations Department has also been contacted, and they can provide support at any time if needed."

Thinking of this, the monkey's lips curled into a slightly smug smile.

He glanced at his watch, guessing that Zhao Deshan had already gone far away, and stepped out of the darkness.

Compared to the monkey's brimming with confidence, the judicial office was shrouded in gloom.

Because Zhang Yi was furious, all the office staff who participated in the operation and were on duty today were gathered together. Looking at his livid face, they all fell silent.

"One good news, one bad news. We captured a Japanese female spy, but she's dead. Alright, everyone disperse. Those who deserve punishment, receive your dues. That's all."

The office door slammed shut, and Zhang Yi returned to his office.

Everyone looked at each other, filled with fear and unease.

On the other side, in the interrogation room of Wanglongmen Detention Center.

A bowl of noodles was placed on the interrogation table.

Deputy Director Ruan had been dealing with the Japanese spy, Xiao Huan, for several hours. Just as he was about to doze off, the phone on his desk suddenly rang.

Xiao Huan was also startled awake. She watched as Deputy Director Ruan answered the phone with a panicked expression, listened for a few words, and then hung up in astonishment. Xiao Huan felt even more uneasy. She quickly sensed Deputy Director Ruan's fluctuating emotions and cautiously asked:
"What happened?"

Deputy Director Ruan stared blankly, as if he hadn't heard her at all, which made Xiao Die a little uneasy. Was he putting on an act? Was he putting on an act for her?
Could my earlier behavior have been a bait to lure me into speaking?
If so, was this his own idea, or was it instructed by his superior, Zhang Yi?

Did Zhang Yi ever test Liu Ningxue in this way? And where was she transferred to?
Did she confess?
A multitude of thoughts suddenly flooded Xiaodie's mind.

After a long while, Deputy Director Ruan finally came to her senses and looked at her, saying:

"Liu Ningxue is dead."

As he spoke, he walked out absentmindedly, muttering to himself, "How could he have died? Li Dawei, Li Dawei."

After Deputy Director Ruan left, a sense of unease swept through Xiaodie's heart, and she felt a chill run down her spine.
"She's got connections everywhere. She was killed right after she was moved out? Is that possible? Could it be a trap? And who is Li Dawei? A mole? On the surface, my identity hasn't been exposed yet; I'm just a maid. But if they find out that my identity has aroused Zhang Yi's suspicion, will they kill me too?"

Xiaodie seemed to be deep in thought as well, but she made a decision in her heart.

The night is deep.

In the light drizzle, Qian Xiaosan walked along the street, his steps uneven.

His raincoat was gone, he was soaking wet, and his whole body looked disheveled.

He tightened his collar and hunched his shoulders as he walked toward the phone booth in the distance.

After entering the phone booth, he looked around, dialed Mao Qiwu's number, and waited a long time before the call was answered. Once he confirmed it was Mao Qiwu on the other end, he immediately said:

"Director Mao, it's me, Qian Xiaosan. Everything went smoothly; that woman has been sent away."

Mao Qiwu on the other end of the phone seemed quite bewildered:
"What woman?"

"It's Liu Ningxue. Didn't your people say that if she spoke up, it would implicate you?"

"You bastard, when did I give you this? When did I have anyone give you instructions? What did you do to her?" Mao Qiwu's stern voice came from the phone, his tone anxious.

"What? Wasn't it your people who ordered me to silence her? I was just unsure, so I called you an hour ago to verify. You told me to have the maid tell me to do my job well—"

"Nonsense! I meant for you to keep an eye on Zhang Yi. When did I tell you to kill Liu Ningxue?" Mao Qiwu suddenly roared on the other end of the phone. "Useless trash, more trouble than you're worth. This has nothing to do with me. You'd better watch yourself."

The phone rang and the call ended with a snap. Qian Xiaosan felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He stared at the receiver in disbelief, the veins on his forehead throbbing, his face as pale as paper. He gasped for breath, forcing himself to calm down for a moment.

Then, as if he had thought of something, he picked up the phone and dialed another number.

This time, the call connected quickly. Qian Xiaosan breathed a sigh of relief and asked with wide eyes:

"anyone there?"

A female staff member's voice came from the other end of the phone: "This is the city hospital's duty room. What's the matter?"

Qian Xiaosan called out anxiously, "Something's wrong! I'm looking for my wife, she is..."

Halfway through his sentence, a car suddenly drove out from around the street corner, its two bright headlights shining directly at him. Qian Xiaosan was stunned. He saw Zhang Yi get out of the car and look at him with a smile.

(End of this chapter)