My spy diary

Chapter 691 Arresting People (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Chen Qingzhai left the deputy director's office and immediately went into a conference room downstairs, where several trusted subordinates were waiting in ambush.

"Arrests!"

Chen Qingzhai placed the household registration cards of Liu Qisheng, Zhao Deshun, and Li Zhihui on the table, and several of his subordinates immediately gathered around to examine them carefully.

Chen Qingzhai instructed, "Look carefully and remember them. Old Liu, you take men to arrest Zhao Deshun. Old Wang, you go and arrest Li Zhihui. As for Liu Qisheng, I will go and meet him myself. Old Yang and Old Ding, come with me."

"Yes," the group replied sternly.

A moment later, the group looked up one after another, indicating that they were ready.

Chen Qingzhai checked the time: "It's 5:40 now. Set your watches and try to arrive by 6:00. We'll start the operation at 6:10. Bring the sketches. Tell them we're arresting a murderer and bring back the target and all related people."

"Everyone check your weapons, bring extra ammunition, just in case—let's go."

"Yes." The men responded, while the plainclothes officer who had called for Lao Liu stood there, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Chen Qingzhai noticed his expression and gestured to him:
"Speak. Speak without reservation."

Old Liu thought for a moment and said, "Should we first get detailed information about these people before we take action?" At this point, he glanced at Chen Qingzhai's expression and cautiously added, "My idea is to first find out from the village head or the head of security."

"No need," Chen Qingzhai said impatiently. "The Red Party is everywhere. What if the news leaks out? Arrest people first. Once we catch one, we can implicate many others. Let's go."

"Yes."

Liu's Tailor Shop.

The shopkeeper, Liu Qisheng, was a thin man. He was standing behind the counter organizing the accounts—he nimbly manipulated the abacus in his hand, and then picked up his pen to make two entries in the ledger.

Nearby, a young man who looked like a shop assistant was taking measurements for a female customer while chatting softly with her.

"You are better suited to silk, it fits well, is soft, and is breathable."

"But silk is expensive!"

"Miss, you're joking. With your attire and appearance, why would you be short of money?"

"Everyone has money to spare, you're just trying to fool me. But since you've said so, then I'll choose silk."

"Okay, this way please!" The waiter led her to the counter.

"A silk cheongsam with a stand-up collar." Liu Qisheng wrote in the ledger, glanced at the shop assistant, who understood immediately, picked up a broom and went out.

The young lady placed a few banknotes on the counter and said softly:
"Comrade Xinya has arrived safely in northern Shaanxi." It turns out her identity wasn't so simple; coming here to order a cheongsam was just a convenient excuse to make contact.

Liu Qisheng nodded, put away the money, and handed her a receipt:
"Okay, here's the pickup slip. Come pick it up in three days from this afternoon."

The young lady glanced at the delivery slip and put it into her handbag:
"Are your new documents ready?"

“One more book is missing. We should have all of them by tomorrow. Keep an eye on the sign outside.” Liu Qisheng said in a low voice. His line of work mainly connected key departments, including the police headquarters and various branches. He was mainly responsible for making identification documents and ensuring the safe evacuation of comrades whose identities were exposed.

Just as the young lady was about to speak, a sharp screech of brakes came from outside the window, and the waiter rushed in in a panic.
"They seem to be spies."

Liu Qisheng and his companion were startled and quickly looked out the window, only to see two cars already parked at the intersection. Chen Qingzhai and several menacing plainclothes officers got out of the cars and walked towards the tailor shop.

Liu Qisheng's heart sank: "Chen Qingzhai of the Yuzhong Special District of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics."

He decisively grabbed the abacus, resuming his accounting routine, and said, "Hurry up and leave through the back door! Get out of here!"

The spy's figure drew closer, and the man was already sweating profusely with nervousness. Liu Qisheng glanced at him:
"Xiao Liu, you go too, cover Xiao Chen's escape."

“Come with me!” Xiao Chen said firmly.

“The spies are probably after me. I’ll deal with them. You haven’t been exposed. We must split up!” Liu Qisheng didn’t have time to think about how the tailor shop was exposed, and he said just as firmly.

"But."

“You’re just a courier. You’re not allowed to get involved in the operation without orders from your superiors! That’s the rule! Go now!” Liu Qisheng deliberately emphasized the word “just,” almost as a warning to Xiao Chen not to overstep her authority. Then he pushed her and gestured to his assistant to take her away.

The guy's eyes were red, and he gritted his teeth, pulling Xiao Chen along as they ran towards the back door.

The curtain was lifted, and the secret agents had already surrounded the tailor shop. Chen Qingzhai walked in with a smile.

Hearing the soft sound of the back door closing, Liu Qisheng confirmed that the waiter and Xiao Chen had left, and pretended to be flustered as he looked at Chen Qingzhai:
"What are you doing?"

Chen Qingzhai stared at him for a few moments with a half-smile, then nodded to his subordinate, Lao Yang.

Old Yang pulled out his ID and waved it:
"The police are looking for a murderer. Please cooperate and show your identification."

The identification was handed over promptly; it read "Liu Qisheng." Old Yang casually flipped through it, glanced at Liu Qisheng, then pulled a portrait from his pocket and sneered.
"Look, does it look familiar?"

Liu Qisheng curiously leaned closer, examined it for a while, and chuckled:
"The more I look at him, the more he looks like me, sir. I didn't kill anyone, I don't have the guts."

Old Yang chuckled: "Stop acting, it's either you or me! I just don't know whether to address you as Mr. Guan or Mr. Liu."

Liu Qisheng looked at him quietly, neither confirming nor denying. Although he appeared natural on the surface, he was filled with doubts in his heart, silently calculating in his mind who might be able to reveal his background.

Unable to handle the situation, he could only remain silent and wait for the inevitable to unfold.

Before Old Yang could say anything more, Chen Qingzhai, who had been silently surveying the shop's layout with his hands behind his back, suddenly let out a cold snort:
"Aren't you talking too much?"

Old Yang trembled with fright and immediately vented his anger on Liu Qisheng, grabbing Liu Qisheng by the collar:
"Cuff him, search him!"

"Yes!" Two plainclothes officers immediately stepped forward and handcuffed Liu Qisheng.

Just then, a loud shouting came from the back room: "Let me go! Who are you people?"

"Behave yourself!" The shout was mixed with the sounds of punches and kicks.

Soon, a plainclothes officer rushed in from the back door, carrying Miss Chen's handbag. He whispered something in Chen Qingzhai's ear.

In that instant, Liu Qisheng's heart sank to the bottom.

Sure enough, the secret agents pushed and shoved Miss Chen, who was handcuffed, and her assistant over.

One looked utterly desperate, the other stubbornly defiant.

Chen Qingzhai stared at the two of them with a smile for a moment, excited yet unhurried:

"What a coincidence! Looks like I'm still the better one. I caught three fish at once, haha!"

Before the operation, he had already secretly sent people to control the alleys in front of and behind the tailor shop. His grand entrance just now was just a deliberate attempt to alert the enemy.

He smiled as he examined Miss Chen's handbag:

"It's made of high-quality leather, it must be expensive, right? Would you mind if I opened it and took a look?"

"What good would it do to say I mind?" Miss Chen stared directly at him without fear.

Chen Qingzhai smiled meaningfully, slowly opened his handbag, then suddenly stopped, placed the bag on the counter next to Miss Chen, and while flipping through Miss Chen's ID card, said:

"Chen Xiaoting, you're a college student, why are you dressed like a rich lady? Students should focus on their studies. Out of respect for ladies, Ms. Chen, please carry your own bag."

After a moment of silence, Chen Xiaoting took out the items from her bag one by one and arranged them neatly on the counter, as if awaiting a final verdict. Finally, there was a delivery slip.

Chen Qingzhai picked up the delivery slip: "Oh, the silk is of very high quality!"

As he spoke, he grabbed the ledger from the counter, compared it to the records, and then changed the subject, "What are you doing here?"

"Is this considered an interrogation? Is it illegal for me to order a cheongsam?"

"Of course it's not illegal, but why did you try to escape through the back door? Isn't that just like trying to hide something obvious?"

silence.

Chen Qingzhai smiled and gestured to several ruthless agents:
"Search carefully, don't miss a single detail."

"Yes."

Soon, the sounds of rummaging through drawers and cabinets filled the room.

A moment later, a plainclothes officer ran over and handed Chen Qingzhai several blank ID cards: "Found on the roof beam. Five in total, all new."

Chen Qingzhai looked through it and said, "Looks like there are rats in the police station."

"You mean someone is stealing identification documents from the police station? What's the motive?"

"What do you think?"

"money?"

"If they're after money, that's easy to handle. The real problem is that some people aren't just after money. After all, they have beliefs, hehe!" Chen Qingzhai sneered. "Take them back first. Leave a few people to watch over this place. The rest of you come with me to the police station."

Police Headquarters Household Registration Section.

The head of the household registration department was a middle-aged man with graying hair. He was drinking tea and reading a newspaper when a subordinate in front of him complained:

"Section Chief Diao, aren't you going to do anything about this? These people from the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics are too lawless! Not only have they taken over our household registration section, but they're also restricting our departure. Aren't they treating us like prisoners?"

Section Chief Diao glared at him:
"How am I supposed to manage this? Who do I think I am? Deputy Director Xu of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics personally called Director Tang, and even Director Li of the Central Police Academy called, demanding our unconditional cooperation. What can I do?"

The subordinate gave a sheepish smile, paused, and lowered his voice:
"In my opinion, checking documents is just a pretext. What are 500 people doing gathered together? Section Chief, something big has happened!"

Section Chief Diao scoffed, "I don't care. Let them do whatever they want. Alright, get back to your own work."

"Yes." The subordinate saluted and left, but stopped as soon as he opened the door. Standing in front of him was Chen Qingzhai, followed by four armed agents.

"Go back!" Chen Qingzhai said coldly.

"District Chief Chen, what are you doing?"

"No one in this house may leave without my permission."

Upon hearing this, Section Chief Diao became enraged:
"District Chief Chen, what do you mean by that?"

Chen Qingzhai slammed several ID cards onto the table:
"This was just found at a Red Party liaison point; it's all blank."

Section Chief Diao looked at the books with an incredulous expression and asked, "You suspect that these were leaked from our household registration department?"

"Go up and get the official seal of the Household Registration Section of the Shancheng City Police Department stamped on it. What do you think? I'm not talking about you, but there's definitely someone in this office who's up to no good and has done something they shouldn't have."

Upon hearing this, all the police officers in the room, including Section Chief Diao, looked embarrassed.

Chen Qingzhai sneered:
"I'm sorry, Section Chief Diao, but I need to search everyone here today. Please understand."

As soon as he finished speaking, four secret agents began searching the household registration officers.

Section Chief Diao's face darkened:
"Okay, I'm going to the bathroom. Do whatever you want."

After saying that, he prepared to leave.

But Chen Qingzhai clearly wasn't going to let him off so easily. He blocked his path and said with a forced smile:

"Old Diao, I'm talking about everyone, including you. Just so people won't say I'm not treating everyone equally."

"Hey Chen, what do you mean by that? Are you doubting me?" Section Chief Diao's face changed, and he said angrily, "I'm going to call Director Tang!"

"Suit yourself, I'm doing this for your own good. After the search, you can leave here with a clean slate. It's all for the Party and the country, so please understand!"

As he spoke, he gestured for the agents to come forward and search Section Chief Diao, whose expression shifted between anger and uncertainty.

Just then, a police officer from the household registration department suddenly pushed aside the plainclothes officers and rushed out, and two plainclothes officers immediately pounced on him to stop him.

Just as the police officers were about to rush to the door, a gunshot rang out. It was Chen Qingzhai.

The bullet struck the officer in the thigh, and he staggered, screaming as he fell to the ground.

Section Chief Diao trembled, his face turning ashen:
"Chen Qingzhai, how dare you openly fire a gun in the police headquarters?"

Chen Qingzhai sneered: "So what if it's the Police Headquarters? I've even been to the Executive Yuan."

Seeing his arrogant and domineering attitude, Section Chief Diao felt extremely frustrated, but he could only silently endure it as his subordinate police officer was dragged over like a dead dog.

"Let me go! I didn't do anything!"

The agents quickly found several identification documents on him.

Just as everyone's attention was drawn to that, Chen Qingzhai's hawk-like eyes caught sight of a calm and composed police officer secretly clutching something and hiding it in his pocket.

The police officer in charge of household registration collapsed to the ground, trembling all over, wailing and begging:

"I was blinded by greed. I didn't actually make much money reselling household registration documents! I have elderly parents and young children to support, and with soaring prices, my salary wasn't enough to feed them, so I secretly did it twice."

Chen Qingzhai looked regretful:

"Send him to the interrogation room and see what else he's been up to besides his identification." As he spoke, he glanced at the composed police officer, seemingly unintentionally. "It's all about money again. During the War of Resistance, everyone was struggling financially. Is that an excuse? Alright, everyone get back to work. Don't let this traitor influence you."

Section Chief Diao gritted his teeth:
"District Chief Chen, may I go to the restroom now?"

Chen Qingzhai pretended to just remember and asked the spy:
"Hey, have you checked on Section Chief Diao?"

Agent: "District Chief, we've caught the man. Should we continue searching?"

Chen Qingzhai glanced at the police officer who had previously hidden the items and said casually:
"I said I treated everyone equally; I searched all the ones that weren't searched before."

The plainclothes officers had no choice but to continue the body search. Chief Diao found nothing. The composed officer, somewhat guilty, put his hands back into his pockets.

"You! What's your name?" Chen Qingzhai suddenly shouted sharply, "Take your hand out."

"Liu Wenzhe, what's wrong?" the police officer asked innocently.

Chen Qingzhai rushed over in three quick steps and grabbed his hand.

Liu Wenzhe was dumbfounded.

Chen Qingzhai grabbed his neck with one hand and reached into his pocket with the other, pulling out a ZIP lighter.

Section Chief Diao cursed, "Fuck your mother! How did my lighter end up with you?"

Liu Wenzhe blushed and felt incredibly embarrassed, forcing a smile. People around him whispered among themselves, thinking he had also stolen the documents, but it turned out he had taken the section chief's lighter.

Chen Qingzhai was very annoyed:
How did Section Chief Diao's lighter end up with you?

Liu Wenzhe stammered, "I thought it looked nice, so I borrowed it to play with."

Section Chief Diao angrily interrupted him:
"You bastard, what do you mean by borrowing? You stole it! Give me back my lighter!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Liu Wenzhe nodded obsequiously, returning the lighter with a sheepish look on his face.

"Get out of here, and don't let me see you again." Section Chief Diao kicked him, still not satisfied.

Liu Wenzhe stumbled and fell to the ground, then scrambled to his feet, looking disheveled and dejected, and left.

Chen Qingzhai stared at his retreating figure and said to Section Chief Diao:

"I'm sorry, Brother Diao, there are so many messy things going on in the police station, I'll pretend it has nothing to do with you for now and not pursue your responsibility, but we need to strengthen management in the future. People like Liu Wenzhe who have dirty hands should be fired."

Section Chief Diao was uneasy: "Yes, yes, I will definitely pay attention in the future."

Chen Qingzhai stared at him a few more times, then turned and left.

Liu Wenzhe rushed into the restroom after leaving the office, still feeling lingering fear.

His true identity was that of an underground Communist Party member infiltrated into the police station, and the documents Liu Qisheng possessed were forged by him. The new document he secretly stamped today was hidden in his trouser leg. If he hadn't used the lighter to distract Chen Qingzhai, and if Chen Qingzhai had continued searching, they would have been completely exposed.

What worried him even more was the documents Chen Qingzhai brought; he thought of a possibility—something had happened to the intelligence team.

But if something really goes wrong online, he becomes like a kite with a broken string. How can he then pass on the intelligence?

At this moment, Liu Wenzhe was filled with worry and was extremely anxious.

(End of this chapter)