1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 541 Hunter and Prey

Natasha's food and clothing problems were quickly solved.

Four hours after Vladimir arrived at the Far Eastern Bank,

That afternoon, Zhai Yuan took the initiative to call her and invite her, the director of the Ministry of Culture, to have dinner together to discuss the work of 'cultural relic protection' again.

"If I could meet Natasha in person, I would be able to tell whether she is a KGB member or not just by observing her words and actions."

Ural Hotel
Natasha applied lipstick in front of the mirror and, mimicking Vladimir's tone from the earphones, repeated a sentence in a gruff voice to her reflection.

She pursed her lips, then clicked her tongue softly, showing no sign of worry about the impending treacherous banquet.

I was also curious to see what kind of background this super agent Zhai Yuan was talking about.

Right now, all of the other party's plans are under our watchful eyes. This game of hunter and prey has already been divided into roles from the very beginning.

"At least we can have a full meal now!"

Natasha ran her fingers through the slightly curled hair at her temples, picked up her handbag, deftly cleaned up all traces of eavesdropping, and pushed open the door to leave.

A minute later, the door opened again.

Natasha walked to the bedside and sat down. With a grim expression, she took off her suit and changed into a pair of trousers that would never be easily lifted again. She tightened her belt and walked out of the room again.

…………

The Far Eastern Bank's private restaurant, open only to VIPs with large deposits.

The table was laden with dishes. Although most of the ingredients were pre-made frozen products, each dish was freshly cooked by the chefs and still had the aroma of a wok.

This was Natasha's second meeting with Zhai Yuan. Upon entering, she couldn't help but sniff when she saw the banquet table set up with a level of formality even higher than a state banquet.

A faint rumble of thunder sounded in my stomach again.

"Miss Natasha, please have a seat."

Zhai Yuan proactively and enthusiastically pulled out the chair for the woman.

Natasha calmly took her seat, glancing around but finding no one else present.

Where is that super agent who wants to test me?
Natasha's mind raced, but she still maintained a polite smile: "Mr. Zhai is truly capable, managing to put on such a lavish banquet in these times."

"We don't usually spend this much."

Zhai Yuan said with a smile, sitting down next to her. He then said apologetically, "That night in my room, I couldn't help myself and did something a little rude. After Miss Natasha left, I felt so guilty that I couldn't sleep for several nights. I really had insomnia, so I specially prepared this banquet to apologize."

Natasha clenched her fists tightly, first recalling the image of being pinned down on the sofa by Zhai Yuan, then thinking of the decadent music she overheard every night, her eyelids trembled slightly.

Are you unable to sleep because of guilt, or are you just bursting with energy? I don't want to spell it out for you!
Natasha forced a smile and said in a relaxed manner, "I am a rather traditional Orthodox Christian, so Mr. Zhai has misunderstood."

Zhai Yuan gave a drawn-out "oh," and then asked, "And what about after we get married?"

Natasha paused for a moment, then chuckled softly, picked up her wine glass and swirled it gently: "That depends on who the man is. If he's a good man, of course I'll fulfill my duties as a wife, but if he's a self-proclaimed playboy, then I'm afraid I'll have to live with God for the rest of my life."

Zhai Yuan nodded thoughtfully, looked at her and asked, "So what do you think of me?"

Natasha nearly spat out her drink, quickly covering her mouth with a napkin and coughing lightly as if nothing was wrong.

"Mr. Zhai asked about something... never mind, let's not talk about that now!"

Natasha asked half a question, then waved her hand repeatedly, giving President Zhai no chance to take advantage of the situation.

She quickly changed the subject, asking, "What's your opinion on that movie prop topic we talked about last time?"

…………

Click——

With a soft click of the lock, the room on the corner of the Ural Hotel was easily opened.

Vladimir pushed open the door and strolled in, glancing briefly at Natasha's living quarters.

The room furnishings are no different from those of a regular guest room.
A faint scent of perfume lingered in the living room, and simple toiletries were laid out next to the bathroom.

Two pages of the Moscow Culture newspaper were open on the bedside table, the bed was wrinkled and messy, and a skirt suit was casually tossed aside, indicating that the person had left in a hurry.

You have half an hour.

Finding nothing unusual, Vladimir walked back to the door and spoke to the nine-person technical team outside.

The technical team members immediately followed them into the room, each carrying their respective equipment, and quietly but quickly began their work.

A bedside lamp was disassembled; a tiny microphone and a receiver were gently placed into the lampshade base.
The power strip connecting the television to the old-fashioned socket was removed, and a thin wire was tucked into an unseen gap inside the socket.

The telephone handset was disassembled, and a coupler was cleverly placed inside the handset's rubber cover...

Vladimir leaned against the door for a few minutes, then walked out of the room into the corridor, took out a cigarette, and lit it.

At the entrance to the corridor, the owner of the Ural Hotel and several waiters stood in a row, all with cautious expressions on their faces.

"Mr. Victor."

Vladimir, with a cigarette between his fingers, glanced at the waiters before his gaze landed on the hotel owner, and he called out the man's name accurately.

He said calmly, "If even a single word of what happened today leaks out, your daughter will be expelled from school immediately, understand?"

The hotel owner's eyes betrayed his unease, but he steadied his trembling voice: "Understood, sir."

Twenty minutes later,
The technical team quietly packed up their tools, restored everything in the room to its original state, and walked out of the room, nodding to Vladimir.

Vladimir finished his last puff of cigarette in the corridor, dusted off his clothes, and stood at the door, looking around the room.

"I can't see any flaws."

He uttered a single sentence, his gaze fixed on the team leader: "Have the mail openers keep an eye on all the mail in the mailboxes in the nearby neighborhood, and carefully check every single letter before sending it out..."

…………

"If I had the chance, I would like to make a film about the Stasi and the KGB, set in East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall."

In the restaurant, Zhai Yuan picked up a piece of beef tenderloin with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and asked with a smile, "What does Miss Natasha think?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow and smiled, "It doesn't sound like a good idea. Although the Stasi have disbanded, the KGB is still a very sensitive topic. Unless Mr. Zhai wants his film company to be blacklisted, I don't recommend you touch this subject."

Zhai Yuan nodded knowingly and asked, "Miss Natasha is very familiar with the KGB's way of doing things?"

Natasha's eyes crinkled into a knowing smile: "In the Soviet Union, who doesn't understand them?"

Zhai Yuan laughed. Regardless of whether this woman had a KGB affiliation or not, she was quite adept at telling Soviet-style jokes.

"What you're saying reminds me of a joke I heard the other day," Zhai Yuan said with interest. "It's about two high school classmates who met on the street. One, classmate A, asked where I work now, and classmate B replied that he's a high school teacher. Then he asked A what he does, and A said he works for the KGB. Classmate B was curious and asked what exactly he does in the KGB. Classmate A replied that he's responsible for finding out those who are dissatisfied with the Soviet Union. Classmate B was shocked and asked, 'You mean there are still people who are satisfied with the Soviet Union?' Classmate A said nonchalantly, 'Of course, but those who are satisfied are not under our jurisdiction; the disciplinary committee is in charge of them.'"

Natasha didn't react much after hearing this, and shook her head with a light laugh: "Mr. Zhai, this joke came from East Germany, and it's been there for at least ten years."

Zhai Yuan asked in surprise, "Really?"

Natasha nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

She felt that Zhai Yuan was trying to test her with this joke, but she didn't take it seriously at all. She then said with a mischievous smile, "How about I tell you a new one?"

Zhai Yuan smiled and said, "Okay~"

Then, Natasha told a Soviet-style joke that was specifically designed to mock the KGB, without any hesitation or awkwardness.

Immediately afterwards, a cold voice rang out from behind.

"Name, rank, department!"

Natasha shuddered, her smile vanished instantly, and she slowly turned to look back.
Behind her, Vladimir was staring at her with a stern face, looking like he was about to interrogate her.

Natasha quickly stood up, a polite but awkward smile on her face: "This... sir, I was just sharing some folk jokes with the guests, there was absolutely no offense intended."

As she spoke, she gave Zhai Yuan a pleading look.

For a fleeting moment, Zhai Yuan thought this woman probably wasn't some kind of intelligence agent; otherwise, her acting skills were just too good.

Even Brigitte Lin and Maggie Cheung pale in comparison to her.

"Absolutely no offense?"

Vladimir's voice remained low and calm as his gaze swept over the young woman before him.
He said slowly, "Don't think that just because I didn't hear anything, I don't know what you're talking about!"

Natasha looked surprised: "Huh?"

Zhai Yuan chuckled, and a smile also appeared on Vladimir's stern face.

"Just kidding, Miss Natasha."

Zhai Yuan pointed to Vladimir and introduced him: "This is Comrade Vladimir, a KGB major, but now we should add the word 'former'."

Natasha's eyes flickered, and her fearful expression gradually faded.

She let out a long sigh of relief, slapped Zhai Yuan hard, and said coquettishly, "You scared me to death!"

…………

"Does this clear the other party of suspicion?"

No sooner had Natasha left than Zhai Yuan, Ye Zhiming, and Vladimir sat down at the dining table and began to review the events.

Upon hearing Zhai Yuan's question, Vladimir rubbed his bald head and looked thoughtful.

Finally, he shook his head and said, "It's more like a performance. I found out from the files that this woman is only in her early twenties. A cultural department head in her early twenties, unless she has a very strong family background, is indeed the case. The files say that her family is quite influential in Kyiv. Her father was once the director of the Gorky Art Museum, and her mother was the stage manager of the Ukrainian National Opera."

"Based on my understanding of the children of this background, and considering the era they were born into, the joke-telling is a thing of the past. They won't react so strongly to a Soviet-style joke. In fact, these Soviet-style jokes are already commonplace among officials; even Gorbachev can be brought up for ridicule."

"Only those of commoner origin would exhibit this kind of reaction."

Vladimir looked at Zhai Yuan and slowly said, "A person's identity file can be forged, but habits and perspectives formed from childhood take a long time to cultivate and change. In my opinion, this Miss Natasha is overdoing it."

Tsk!
Zhai Yuan gave a thumbs up, "As expected, locals understand locals best."

Ye Zhiming stepped forward and asked, "So she's Yanzi?"

'Swallow and Raven are just the lowest-ranking KGB intelligence agents. The highest-ranking KGB agents are, of course, the diplomats sent overseas. If this Miss Natasha has any problems, I think she should belong to the third category: the Security Committee's moles planted both domestically and abroad, responsible for fighting against ideological subversion...'

Vladimir shook his head again at this point: "But her resume doesn't seem to match up. She's in her early twenties, and she's not some pretty girl who relies on her looks. Why would she take on this kind of job..."

Vladimir pondered for a moment, then looked up at Zhai Yuan with an apologetic smile and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Zhai, we may not be able to get definite information for the time being, but don't worry, we have already set up equipment at the Ural Hotel. If she has any problems, she will slip up sooner or later."

Zhai Yuan gave a soft "hmm," a thoughtful smile appearing on his face.

He glanced at the other two people at the table. Alexander was not present; only Ye Zhiming and Vladimir remained.

Zhai Yuan hesitated before speaking, then asked, "I want to know, if she really is from the KGB, what will her fate be?"

Vladimir tapped the table lightly and said in a deep voice, "It depends on Comrade Ye Liqing's opinion. If necessary, it's normal to let an intelligence officer have an accident. It can also serve as a deterrent to the agents who will take on the next mission."

Zhai Yuanwang asked him, "Do you want her to disappear from the face of the earth?"

Vladimir was taken aback upon hearing this, and hesitated for a moment: "If she really is from the KGB, she might not have had a choice in many things..."

"What a coincidence, that's what I was thinking too~ If she's really innocent, let's just pretend nothing happened."

Zhai Yuan clapped his hands in agreement, leaned back in his chair, and said casually, "But if she really is a KGB agent, then she's amazing! She's bold, shrewd, and has completely outmaneuvered us. Most importantly, she's beautiful! It would be a waste to get rid of someone like that. I'm still missing a local representative in the Far East, and the more capable she is, the more I'll admire her."

…………

These last words in the restaurant, of course, did not reach Natasha's ears.

After leaving the Far Eastern Bank, I walked back to the Ural Hotel.

Natasha greeted the receptionists as usual, then went upstairs with a smug smile on her face.

Super agent? That's so-so!

She felt that she could get full marks for her performance today. At this point, Zhai Yuan and the others must have dispelled their doubts. They might be able to reveal more secrets as they loosen their grip.

Turning the corner, Natasha took out her key and opened the door.

She slipped her slender index finger through the keychain, twirling it as she walked briskly into the house.

The next second, Natasha's light steps suddenly stopped.
She crouched down gently, turned to the side, her face almost touching the edge of the carpet, her gaze sweeping across the front, her brows gradually furrowing.

On the plush carpet, the raised marks that had been rubbed by hand earlier had collapsed and loosened, as if someone had stepped on them and then cleaned them again.

Natasha was certain that she would step over that mark every time she passed by.

"Someone entered the room before I returned."

Natasha slowly stood up, walked along the corner of the wall to the bedside, and observed the surroundings of the room along the way.

As her fingertips traced the bedside table to the lamp beside it, her sapphire-like eyes narrowed slightly.

Natasha brought her delicate face closer to the lamp, observing it carefully for a moment, her eyes filled with increasing vigilance.

The only removable lampshade on the desk lamp appeared to be untouched, but the inconspicuous half-hair that had been securely fixed in the groove had vanished without a trace…

(End of this chapter)