Chapter 081: A Prophecy That Came True

At the very least, that was good news.

This band of ronin had been sent to Shanghai by the president of the shipyard, Kojiro Hiramatsu, to do “work.” As for what sort of work it was, it was not easy to keep asking. But one thing could be confirmed: their leader, Naotada Togo, had gone out yesterday to receive an assignment and still had not returned.

Over the next few days, Chen Jiehua went about the proper and orderly business of searching the whole city for a suitable storefront while also acquainting himself with the roads of Greater Shanghai.

On the evening of November 18, Year 18 of the Republic, the day appointed for their regular accounting, when Chen Jiehua arrived at the shop, it had already closed. With a complicated look on his face, Zhaoshiyu led the owner, Aoki Qiao, into the secret room.

“Old Chen, that day was my fault. I didn’t listen to you. I thought you were making a mountain out of a molehill, and I never passed your warning on to the comrades.”

Chen Jiehua’s heart lurched. “Old Zhao, don’t tell me something really happened! I’m not a jinx!”

Zhaoshiyu closed his eyes, bitter, pained, and self-reproachful, then nodded.

Damn it—had his words come true?

“What happened?”

“Yesterday, at an enlarged meeting of the Jiangsu-Shanghai Provincial Communist Youth League, the meeting place was in Jiye Lane on Huade Road in the British Concession. It’s still unclear why the location was exposed. The other comrades had all received the signal in advance and withdrawn in time.”

“But there was an important leading comrade there who lived far away and arrived late. By the time he got there, the police were already lying in ambush inside. At first the questioning seemed to have been passed, but inside there was a female comrade stationed there, carrying a three-year-old child...”

“What else can I say?”

“The child was, after all, the orphan of a martyr.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Get them out as quickly as possible.”

“Killing traitors and rooting out scum is my specialty, but here in Shanghai, in the British Concession, I’m not familiar with the place. And the British and the Japanese already dislike each other. Even if I found a pretext and went there as a Japanese major, it might only make things worse.”

“I can provide financial support.”

“Money will do as well.”

“Later, when I go back, I’ll have Mieko deliver it to the designated place.”

“Old Zhao, have any Western-looking people come looking for me lately?”

“No. Definitely not.”

Had Comrade Johnson taken the money and run? It couldn’t be that he still hadn’t managed to find a house after all these days, could it? Chen Jiehua thought of Sorge; perhaps that fellow could be of some help.

“All right. If any Westerner comes looking, notify me at once. His name is Alexander Johnson, and he may be able to help rescue people.”

After speaking with Old Zhao, Chen Jiehua slipped out quietly and returned home to arrange for Fujiwara Mieko to deliver the funds to the organization.

That night, Chen Jiehua thought it over and decided it was not safe to let Mieko drag a suitcase around outside by herself. Better to drive her to the corner and let her go in on her own from there.

At the corner, Mieko got out of the car. After Chen Jiehua took her suitcase from the trunk and closed it, he turned his head—and, just as he had thought, there it was.

Far away, by the roadside in the opposite direction, beneath a streetlamp, a figure stood quietly watching him.

Only after confirming the area was safe did Chen Jiehua go into the room rented by Sorge.

“Respected Comrade Alexander Sorge, your efficiency is a bit low!” The moment Chen Jiehua saw this fellow, he could never resist trading barbs with him.

“Please address me correctly as Mr. Alexander Johnson.”

“I refuse to believe that the place you rent would still be at risk of wiretapping.”

“Caution never hurts. That is my rule.”

“Fair enough. Right now, though, there’s a comrade who was careless and has been arrested by the British Concession police. Do you have any connections?”

Sorge’s hand, pouring water, paused for a moment.

“I understand.”

“If I need to find you in a hurry later, where would be convenient?”

“Across the street, fourth tree from the corner. If the bark is loose, slip a leaf into it.”

“Do you have a telegraph frequency? Use mine and my cipher. The codebook is Pingjiang Bushiaosheng’s Tales of the Rivers and Lakes and Heroic Knights.”

“You don’t look like an agent at all in the way you do things, but your methods are even more like an agent than an agent’s. Sigh.”

Chen Jiehua could not stay here long. Before leaving, he left Sorge two more bundles of dollars. The old man was rich, and rich people could be willful.

When Chen Jiehua returned to the car, Mieko had just come back as well. It showed the corner was about the same distance from both sides.

Taken together with Sorge’s slight pause when he mentioned rescuing people, Chen Jiehua more or less understood: the Special Section had dealings with him, and someone had already come to him before Chen Jiehua did.

In that case, the procedures and the connections would not require much of his own attention. As long as he supplied the funds, he could step back.

Sorge had chosen this location with some care too. He had likely put a great deal of thought into it; it was also fairly close to Chen Jiehua’s shop.

When he got home, Mieko went to wash up and prepare for bed, while Chen Jiehua stood by the window looking at the moon outside. Tonight there really was a moon, though it was not full.

At this time in Shanghai, everything was truly sensitive and troublesome. What, exactly, was his own position? In truth, he had never really thought it through.

From the beginning, from reuniting with Zhaoshiyu, to that shipload of medicine, to the reckless charge into the little building, to the latest act of rooting out a traitor, and now this rescue of a comrade—he had taken part in all of it.

But he had never confirmed his identity.

The organization had never assigned him any specific task.

Mieko was a member of the Red Team. Though she had withdrawn publicly for the time being, once she entered the Special Section, she would be a member of the Special Section for life.

What, then, was his own position? Just as Sorge had said, his way of doing things did not resemble an agent’s, yet his methods were even more agent-like than an agent’s.

The reason for the situation he was in now was entirely that he had failed to find his place. He had been striking east with one hammer and west with another, going wherever he pleased; when the road failed him, he would revise and make up for it afterward.

After Fujiwara Mieko finished bathing and came over from behind, she saw Chen Jiehua in that posture and immediately thought of the moon question from last time. First, look at the moon outside. This time there was a moon—ha!

“Aoki, what are you looking at this time?”

“The moon.”

“The moon isn’t full.”

“The moon isn’t full! If the moon isn’t full, then it’s my job to make it full again!”

“Yes. My role is to fill the gap! I don’t need to worry about rank, or identity, or assignments. All I need to do is run the business well, build the network well. If the organization lacks funds, I’ll supply the funds. If it lacks channels, I’ll supply the channels. If it lacks assassins, then I’ll become the assassin myself!”

“Once the pharmacy and the fast-run network are in place, I won’t need the organization to arrange tasks for me, and I won’t need to ask it for help. My network will know everything!”

“So what if Shanghai is complicated? The police of the concessions, the Municipal Council—buy them off with money. If money won’t handle it, use guns!”

“So what if the Green Gang exists? Money plus force, and I’ll make you submit all the same!”

Just one sentence from Fujiwara Mieko had opened Chen Jiehua’s mind wide. The future suddenly seemed broad and clear. All he needed to do was throw himself into it!

“Mieko, you should go to sleep first. I’m going to bathe. Tomorrow I’ll make a trip back to Japan and bring the people over ahead of time. You stay here and keep looking for storefronts, and work with Old Zhao to figure out the rules!”

“You’ve thought it through? No more misgivings?”

“Yes, I’ve thought it through! Go forward without hesitation! If there is no road, then we’ll cut one ourselves. The road I walk was never meant to have any model to follow!”