Chapter 085: News Brought by Old Zhou

Chen Jiehua was momentarily baffled when he heard Zhou Yongsu. This was the telegram I asked Mio to send. Nothing wrong with that!

But, Old Zhou, aren’t you misunderstanding something? Does “departing in a few days” mean that?

“That’s how you took it?”

“Of course. Old Liu and I hurried to finish two more pieces and even put together more than half a crate of ammunition, just afraid we’d delay your business. We bought the tickets and rushed to bring it back to you. In the end, we got back to Shanghai the day before yesterday and sent you five or six telegrams, but you never answered!”

At that, Fujiwara Mio covered her mouth. This time she was not stifling a laugh, but offering a silent apology.

“I’ve been receiving telegrams from the organization these past two days and have been in touch with them a lot. I forgot to switch the receiving frequency!”

Mio’s mistake could have been either minor or serious, and she absolutely needed a warning.

“Old Zhou, I’m sorry. Aoki, I’m sorry. I know I was wrong!”

“Ah, Mio, even if you know you were wrong, I still have to remind you: work behind enemy lines can’t tolerate even the slightest carelessness or error. One tiny slip or omission can lead to the sacrifice of one comrade, or even a whole group of them!”

“All right, all right, Mio knows she was wrong. Stop scolding her.”

“Don’t defend her!”

“Mio, reflect on it yourself. From here on, we’ll have to receive and send even more telegrams every day, and switch frequencies several times a day. Any mistake could lead to unforeseeably serious consequences!”

Mio had wanted to explain herself again, but then decided against it. She really had been wrong. Any explanation would only sound like an excuse, making the mistake worse. These past two days, while trying to rescue that comrade who had been arrested, she really had been careless!

“Old Zhou, then how did you find this place? I didn’t tell you where I bought the house, did I?”

“But you told me you’d reopened Aoki Pharmacy!”

“You ran into Old Zhao?”

“No. There were two Japanese agents outside the pharmacy, and two other petty spies from somewhere or other keeping watch. I didn’t dare go in to find him.”

“What did you say? There are other little spies watching the pharmacy too? Old Zhao has been targeted? The Japanese agents can be ignored, but those two small-time informants are a problem!”

“No, you still haven’t said how you found this place!”

“I followed the taxi you hailed here.”

“Old Zhou, not bad at all! Your surveillance skills have improved by leaps and bounds. Looks like you really do need to be sent abroad for training!”

“Come on, let me see what treasure you brought me.”

At last Zhou Yongsu let out a breath of relief. Chen Jiehua had finally stopped asking questions. If he kept pressing, there would be no way to make the story hold together.

He had seen Fujiwara Mio outside the pharmacy and followed her all the way to Jisifeier Road. Mio had clearly had other things on her mind and hadn’t even bothered to watch for a tail. Could he say that? If he did, Mio would be scolded again!

Being a good person really was hard.

“Hey! It really is a sniper rifle. Old Zhou, nice work! You actually made this by hand!” Chen Jiehua said as he examined it, running his hand over the barrel, checking the scope, then the magazine, unable to let it go.

This was truly a perfect weapon for killing and looting.

“What kind of rifle is it? Are the rounds standard or special?”

“It’s been modified from a Lee-Enfield Mark III rifle. It uses standard .303 British ammunition, has a ten-round magazine, and is bolt-action. But once you’re skilled with it, you can still fire it at a rate like a burst weapon!”

“Damn. If we’d had this in Warsaw back then, Mio wouldn’t have had to take a bullet in the leg again! Old Zhou, come here, give me another hug!”

Zhou Yongsu dodged Chen Jiehua’s embrace with obvious disgust.

“This is too damn awesome. Old Zhou, you really are a treasure! Let me put it away first!”

Chen Jiehua dragged the suitcase upstairs, set it down in the bedroom, then went back down to help Mio arrange Old Zhou’s room. There was no question Zhou would be staying here tonight.

After Zhou had been settled in, the two returned to the bedroom. Chen Jiehua stored the rifle and ammunition away in his spatial cache, then pulled Fujiwara Mio onto the bed and looked into her eyes.

“Mio, has something happened in the organization recently? You’ve been distracted these last two days, out of sorts and absent-minded. Not only did you forget to make contact during your routine frequency check-ins, you didn’t even notice you were being followed!”

Chen Jiehua kept his voice very low, afraid Old Zhou downstairs might hear. Mio was not stupid either. Her mind had indeed been unsettled, but as soon as Chen Jiehua said that, she immediately understood: Old Zhou had followed her home.

“You get it now? Old Zhou meant to help cover for you, but he’s a technical man. He doesn’t even know how to lie. Today I took a taxi straight back from the dock. At most, he could have seen me get out at the door, but he could never have followed me all the way here!”

Mio nodded.

“The comrade our organization was trying to rescue was my teacher, and also the person who introduced me into the Party! Only a few days ago, I learned that they had used electric-shock torture on him in there. He’s almost dead! It’s all my fault for being useless and not coming up with a good way to get him out quickly!”

“Mio, you see? When you care too much, your judgment goes crooked. I understand how you feel, but this is clearly another mistake. When working behind enemy lines, you have to keep a mind as steady as stone and as unshakable as a mountain. Once your mind wavers, your movements will go wrong, your actions will lose balance, and your performance will fall apart. In the end, you’ll most likely fail to rescue the comrade you wanted to save, and drag yourself down with him. It’s not worth it.”

Chen Jiehua held Mio’s head in his arms and comforted her while speaking to her in a low voice. What else could he do? His own woman could only be cherished and guided gently.

“The police in the British Concession still haven’t managed to get the person out? I’ll think of something. Tomorrow I’ll first find them something to keep them busy and distract them.”

“Also, as Old Zhou just said, there are two other petty spies outside the pharmacy. We have to deal with them quickly tomorrow. If they happen to be from the Nationalist Party’s Party Affairs Investigation Section, that will be troublesome. I’m afraid Old Zhao may already be under their watch. At a time like this, we can’t afford any more surprises!”

“What exactly is that Party Affairs Investigation Section?”

“It’s normal if you’ve never heard of it. It’s a special intelligence agency the Nationalists set up specifically to deal with our organization.”

That was hard to say. The forerunner of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, Xu Enzeng’s Party Affairs Investigation Section, should be about to arrive in Shanghai by now.

He had watched quite a few spy dramas in his past life, but very few were set this early. The Nationalists were hopeless at almost everything, but when it came to turning on their own people, they were first-rate.

After being so thoroughly disrupted by Old Zhou, neither of them felt any lingering newlywed tenderness. The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, Chen Jiehua drove Mio and Zhou Yongsu out to find breakfast. After eating, they went to the park beside Aoki Pharmacy, parked the car, and each took up a hidden position.

Before long, Zhao Shiyu came to open the shop as usual. The agents arranged by the General Staff Headquarters had not yet appeared, but the two petty spies Old Zhou had mentioned followed along again.

Still, it was obvious from Old Zhao’s movements that he had already noticed the two tails. He was alert enough.

Chen Jiehua exchanged a glance with Mio and Zhou Yongsu, then walked into the pharmacy on foot.

“Boss, you’re back!”

“How’s business lately? Is there still enough stock in the storeroom? Take me to see it.”