Republic of China, 1922: Rise from the Post-Zhili-Fengtian War

The doctor nodded quickly: "Miss Wang, rest assured, I have been practicing medicine for decades. I will say what I should say and I will never utter a word about what I shouldn't say."

He closed his medicine box, stood up, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Gu Cheng, and said, "Commander Gu, please rest assured and recover. I'll take my leave now." With that, he left, his steps steady, without lingering for a moment.

The room quickly quieted down.

Gu Cheng sat back down in his chair, picked up the cup of tea on the table that had gone cold, took a sip, and then put it down: "The welcome dinner for Brother Chao Liu tonight is canceled. He arrived and we hadn't even had a chance to eat before this happened."

He looked at Jiang Dengxuan, "Brother Chao Liu, I'm sorry to trouble you for a few days."

Jiang Dengxuan had already bandaged Zhang Tingshu's wound and was rolling up the remaining gauze to put it back on the table when he heard Gu Cheng's words. He turned his head and said, "We're all family, you don't need to say things like that... Let's sort things out first. Even if you drink Luzhou Laojiao right now, nobody's in the mood!"

After saying that, he thought for a moment, "We need to check the old road area. The fact that they were able to follow you two so accurately wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. They must have been staking out the area for at least a day or two, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to pinpoint your location so precisely."

Gu Cheng nodded thoughtfully, and Jiang Dengxuan added, "Jingchuan, I'm a new face. I think it would be better if I and the people in the brigade investigated me thoroughly, both openly and secretly."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tingshu objected immediately: "How can this be? We haven't even had a welcome dinner for you, and you're already asking me to work? No way, no way, besides, this is too dangerous."

Jiang Dengxuan glanced at his sister, then smiled and said, "I've already said I'm not in the mood for drinking right now—if you really considered me a brother, you wouldn't need to say such things."

…………

After a quick lunch, Jiang Dengxuan changed into some neat casual clothes and went out with two of his brothers.

The two men, one named Ma Jinlong and the other Ding Feng, were fully armed and headed towards the old road.

The three walked at a leisurely pace, as if they had just finished eating and were taking a stroll.

Their first stop was the tea shop diagonally opposite Yufengzhai.

The storefront is small, with two half-person-high tin cans placed at the entrance, their mouths open, releasing a faint aroma of tea.

As Jiang Dengxuan entered, the shopkeeper was busy packing a packet of loose tea. He looked up and saw a stranger but didn't ask any questions. He simply greeted him casually, "Feel free to look around. It's newly arrived Longjing tea, but there's not much stock."

Jiang Dengxuan didn't look at the tea leaves, but leaned against the counter: "Shopkeeper, I have a question for you. Have you seen a man in a gray jacket loitering around here these past few days? He's in his early thirties, has a long face, a scar on his chin, and doesn't buy anything or leave, like he's waiting for someone."

The shopkeeper stopped packing the tea and was about to make up some excuses when Jiang Dengxuan slammed two silver dollars onto the counter.

"Sir, this is..."

"I just wanted to ask you something. There's someone in the manor who's been up to no good, and the master has sent people to investigate."

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper feigned sudden realization, grinning as he stared at the two silver coins: "Now that you mention it, I understand! Yesterday afternoon, there was indeed a man in a gray jacket standing at my door for a while. He wasn't buying tea, nor did he seem to be waiting for anyone; he just stood there looking across the street. I immediately thought he was a bit strange."

He pointed towards the doorway, "I stood by that pillar for about fifteen minutes."

Jiang Dengxuan nodded, thanked him, and left.

The second one was a grain depot.

Several bags of newly arrived rice were piled up at the door, and a worker was squatting on the threshold rolling a cigarette.

Jiang Dengxuan walked over, squatted down to be at eye level with him, and said, "Brother, I want to ask you about someone. He wears a gray jacket, is in his thirties, and has been hanging around the old main road area these past few days. Have you seen him?"

This time he took out a pack of cigarettes, and the young shopkeeper took the cigarettes, thought for a while, and replied, "I did see one when I opened the door yesterday. He was wearing a gray jacket, squatted across the street for a while, and then got up and walked east."

He pointed in that direction, "Over there, at the east end of the old road."

Ma Jinlong and Ding Feng returned from either side.

Ma Jinlong spoke first, his voice low, his gaze still sweeping across the street: "The owner of the general store at the east end said that yesterday afternoon she saw a man in a gray jacket standing at her door for a while, without anything in his hand, and not looking like he was going to enter the store. He just stood there looking across the street. She felt something was wrong at the time."

Ding Feng also joined in, as if he had just run a distance and his breathing hadn't fully calmed down: "The old shoe repairman at the west end also said that yesterday evening, that person walked past his stall without stopping, but walked slowly, as if he was memorizing the route." After the two finished speaking, they both turned their gazes to Jiang Dengxuan.

Jiang Dengxuan nodded: "See? The guys we caught today, everyone on the ground has seen them—that means they really were active in the area; and the direction matches up. The east end of Old Road."

As the three were talking, the sound of orderly footsteps suddenly rang out from both ends of the street.

Yang Song led a dozen soldiers out from the end of the street, their steps quick and quiet. The soldiers had already changed into their uniforms, holding guns, and stood in a loose line along the street, blocking the eastern section of the old road.

Several people who were walking on the street were stopped, taken to the side of the road, asked a few questions, and then released.

This was Gu Cheng's order, intended to alert the enemy forces operating in the surrounding area and make them realize that the situation had changed.

As long as they make a move, Jiang Dengxuan and his team, who are conducting undercover investigations, can discover their whereabouts in the fastest possible time.

When they left the old road, there were far fewer people on the street, and several shops had already started to put up their storefronts.

The scene at the east end of the old road is quite different from that at the west end—the road is narrower, the shops are sparser, and there are a few closed courtyard gates and some semi-abandoned warehouses scattered around.

The doors of several shops had been removed, revealing dark, empty entrances, as if they hadn't been maintained for a long time.

Several scattered wooden planks leaned against the door of one of the shops, the edges of which were blackened, as if they had been repeatedly soaked by rain.

They had just followed the information they received into the alley when they soon discovered movement in an old courtyard with its door half-open not far ahead.

The door opened and closed again, and it seemed as if a figure flickered through the crack before retreating.

A moment later, the door suddenly slammed shut, followed by the faint sound of something being moved, mixed with a few whispers.

Jiang Dengxuan's heart skipped a beat: What's all this commotion in the middle of the day? And it's so quiet all around, it looks like nobody's here. There must be something wrong with this place!

Ding Feng took a half-step closer, his voice almost inaudible: "Mr. Jiang, should we hold him down?"

Jiang Dengxuan also lowered his voice: "These are small fish. Follow them, the bigger fish are behind them... Let them run first, and we can catch them all at once when they lower their guard! Go and quickly notify Lao Yang to send a few men over to help us keep watch!"