Chapter 36: How to Transport the Medicine Back

The third person listening in on Chen Jiehua’s transoceanic phone call was Neji Gangmura at the General Staff Headquarters. Strictly speaking, Gangmura was the first to intercept the call; any overseas call routed to Manchuria had to pass through Japan’s domestic lines, with the primary line always going through the General Staff Headquarters.

Gangmura had suspected Qiao Aoki from the moment the first shipment of medicine arrived in Tokyo. In Gangmura’s eyes, he was quite familiar with Qiao Aoki—an aloof, taciturn man, whose only notable talent was kendo. Aside from that, his abilities were limited. He had studied at the military academy for just one semester before venturing to America. He barely attended classes at the university, yet somehow, with his limited means, managed to procure a shipload of medicine from distant America—a feat beyond his capability and resources.

As for the reasons Qiao Aoki gave—chance encounters, overproduction, saving the factory manager’s son—Gangmura dismissed them as nonsense. This young man couldn’t even lie convincingly! The key point was that Qiao Aoki sent two more shipments to the Northeast.

Thus, Gangmura kept a secret watch. When he learned that Qiao Aoki and his brother opened a pharmacy and applied for a phone line, Gangmura arranged for constant surveillance of that telephone from the moment it was installed.

Gangmura didn’t suspect Qiao Aoki’s identity. In his eyes, the later Qiao Aoki was no different from the Qiao Aoki who stayed at the Miyazaki household for ten days. What concerned Gangmura was Qiao Aoki’s financial backing in America—who was supporting him?

“At school, I offered to apply for funds for you, but you never came to claim them. You didn’t even care about such a large sum—how wealthy are you, really?” (Chapter 014)

After listening to the call, Gangmura quickly contacted the Kwantung Army Headquarters, instructing them to investigate who was interfering with Qiao Aoki. The investigation wasn’t difficult; soon it was discovered that it was the Fengtian Special Agency’s Tubby investigating Qiao Aoki, but Tubby had returned to Japan at the end of last month for a report.

The headquarters relayed the news back to Gangmura. He mused, almost amused—so many inquiries, all leading back to internal strife among the Aoki faction?

When Gangmura met Rihachiro Sakanishi, Tubby had just returned from Miyazaki Prefecture. The three giants of the Aoki faction gathered, and, surprisingly, their thoughts aligned—they all harbored doubts regarding Qiao Aoki’s financial sources.

As for Qiao Aoki’s identity, the three agreed not to oppose Aoki Ichiro verifying Qiao Aoki’s identity. After all, caution never hurt.

“Let Gangmura notify Zhou Yongsu, the manager of Aoki Pharmacy. The next time Qiao Aoki calls, inform him that the family has matters to discuss and the clan leader requests his immediate return.”

At the end of November 1928, Chen Jiehua returned to his base in Washington, D.C., and once again contacted Zhou Yongsu via transoceanic telephone.

“Mr. Zhou, I haven’t yet found a pharmaceutical factory willing to cooperate. I may need to stay here another month or so. Are all our pharmacies closed?”

“Mr. Aoki, the pharmacies have been closed for some time. We had hoped to hold out longer, but many common medicines are out of stock—even those for treating nausea. Only two central pharmacies remain open, but I fear they won’t last much longer.”

“Mr. Aoki, at the start of the month, several managers at the Fengtian pharmacy were dismissed. Recently things have been unstable; I plan to dismiss managers from other locations after the unrest subsides, leaving only Liu Junze.”

“Oh, Mr. Aoki, someone claiming to be your uncle called, asking me to inform you that the clan leader requests you return home for family matters.”

“Understood, Mr. Aoki will comply. I’ll change my itinerary and return to the family as soon as possible. Thank you, Mr. Zhou, for your hard work.”

As written previously in Chapter 033, throughout November, Chen Jiehua kept changing identities and locations in the eastern United States, dealing in stocks and cash.

Originally, after completing this phase of work, Chen Jiehua planned to travel to Germany to find the sulfanilamide research team and invest in continued research and production.

But now, he truly had to change plans: first return west, escort the medicine, then make a trip back to Miyazaki Prefecture, the Aoki family home.

The information Zhou Yongsu conveyed:

(1) Only Liu Junze remains as manager, hinting that Zhao Shiyu is absent—where did he go? To Ning (unstable) Bo (wave of unrest)! The organization’s contact point for shipments was Ningbo Port. Another signal: Chen Jiehua could telegram Zhao Shiyu directly.

(2) Tu (nausea) Er (two central pharmacies) Hui (this time) Ri (some days) Ben (originally)—Tubby returned to Japan. Uncle Gangmura notified, the clan leader demands my return! There’s a trap—proceed with caution!

Chen Jiehua bought a train ticket to return west, a journey of three days.

First consideration: Zhou Yongsu’s warning that Tubby returned to Japan, combined with Gangmura’s notice and the summons from Aoki Ichiro, made things clear—they suspected his identity.

Aoki Ichiro’s summons itself was suspicious; obviously, the family had their snare set. Once it was confirmed he wasn’t the real Aoki Qingen, a lethal strike would follow.

This brought him back to the scene on the train: Was the mark left by Aoki Qingen unique? He had asked the system to confirm, and it was indeed the only one.

That mark was no longer an issue. Next, he had to confirm from Aoki Qingen’s memories whether there were any special, complex linguistic or physical verification rituals in the family. Apparently not. Thankfully, he had the system then.

Having clarified this, he would return as usual, without any sign of defensiveness. But he could always hide a bomb in his space; if it came to the final moment, he could perish together.

The second issue was escorting the medicine back to the country, then returning from there to Japan.

Arranging this journey was another headache. The shipment to Ningbo Port couldn’t go without escort. At Ningbo Port, the organization would surely use small fishing boats for collection, so the ship couldn’t dock at the main port, and the transfer had to happen at night. Without someone coordinating on board, the captain wouldn’t agree to dock at a small port or even a shoal. The first mate, crew, and stevedores were all potential problems.

Then, sailing from Ningbo to Japan? That would be asking for trouble. Sailing from Shanghai wouldn’t work either. He was supposed to be sourcing pharmaceuticals in America—how could he suddenly return from the Republic?

A freighter passing through Japan without docking? Wishful thinking!

Chen Jiehua’s head throbbed as he pondered all this on the train.

Meanwhile, Zhao Shiyu’s sleep was tormented by discomfort in a safe house in Shanghai. He had already been in Shanghai for more than twenty days, and there had been no telegram from Chen Jiehua.

Last night, Zhou Yongsu had finally telegraphed, telling him to be patient—contact with Chen Jiehua had been reestablished, and the code had been sent.

Now, again, the long wait began.