Chapter 141 Contents of the Surveillance Logs

Hearing Shen Guohua's words, Wen Xiaowan could not help but freeze in place. She had never expected Bai Zeshao to be a secret agent, and a surge of instinctive revulsion flashed through her heart.

After all, the reputation of the Special Service Branch was far from stellar, and given Wen Xiaowan's background, she was privy to certain inside information unknown to ordinary people.

Consequently, her aversion toward Bai Zeshao grew instantly, an animosity that arose entirely without reason.

Immediately afterward, she recalled Bai Zeshao's appearance at her banquet the other night. Without a doubt, the way he managed to enter was certainly not through legitimate means.

Since Bai Zeshao was a secret agent who had sneaked into her banquet, he undoubtedly had an ulterior motive.

Lost in these thoughts, Wen Xiaowan drifted into a daze for a moment.

Outside the hospital.

With his left arm in a sling, Bai Zeshao strolled leisurely down the street. After wandering casually through a few blocks, he stopped beside a public telephone booth.

Scanning his surroundings to ensure safety, he picked up the receiver and dialed a number.

"Hello, the custom cake you ordered is ready and will be delivered to you right away. Sorry for keeping you waiting," Bai Zeshao said into the handset.

After hearing the person on the other end acknowledge the message, Bai Zeshao hung up the phone.

Leaving the telephone booth, he hailed a rickshaw and headed toward Number One, Chunhe Road.

Arriving with familiar ease at Secretary He's residence, Secretary He was startled upon seeing Bai Zeshao's injured left arm. "What happened? How did you get hurt?"

"You must already know about the commotion caused by the Special Service Branch this morning, Secretary He. I was the commander for this operation. There was a little accident, but it's nothing to worry about. Besides, this gunshot wound was self-inflicted," Bai Zeshao explained as he sat down.

"What on earth is going on? The Special Service Branch made such a huge stir today. I was actually planning to contact you when you called just now to say you were coming over," Secretary He said in a deep voice.

Subsequently, Bai Zeshao recounted the precise sequence of events to Secretary He in detail.

"Are you saying the Party Affairs Branch personnel actually grew suspicious of Sister Wang?" After listening to Bai Zeshao's account, Secretary He said with a cautious expression.

"Pretty much. That file was clearly marked with the word 'suspicious.' Fortunately, it was a close call, and I managed to discover that document just in time," Bai Zeshao said, a lingering fear evident in his tone.

"Indeed. But Xiao Bai, are you certain that surveillance record wasn't leaked by anyone from the Party Affairs Branch?" Secretary He asked, seeking confirmation.

"No. For one thing, their telephone lines were wiretapped by the telephone bureau before our operation even began; no calls were made outward, and no calls came in. Secondly, everyone who saw that record is now dead, including the two agents from the Special Service Branch," Bai Zeshao answered with absolute certainty.

"That's a relief. Still, your move to shoot and kill the Special Service Branch personnel was far too reckless. If the slightest thing had gone wrong, your undercover mission would have come to an abrupt end," Secretary He remarked with a grave expression.

"At the time, I wasn't sure whether that secret agent had memorized Sister Wang's file, so I had no other choice. However, Secretary He, you should still notify Sister Wang to scale back her activities for a while," Bai Zeshao said, his tone turning heavier toward the end.

"I will relay the message. In fact, just before you arrived, Sister Wang left this very place precisely because she came to monitor this situation," Secretary He explained.

"I see," Bai Zeshao nodded, then continued, "Secretary He, the reason I came today, aside from discussing this morning's operation, is primarily because of the surveillance records."

"You surely didn't memorize the contents of that file, did you?" Secretary He was a sharp-witted person; as soon as Bai Zeshao brought it up, she guessed the gist of it.

"That's right. Didn't Mr. Li often say my memory is exceptional, almost reaching the level of photographic memory?" Bai Zeshao said with a smile.

"It seems you gained something valuable from those surveillance records," Secretary He said, looking at Bai Zeshao's cheerful expression.

"Precisely," Bai Zeshao nodded.

He then smiled and said, "Most of those records were trivial matters, but there were a few major pieces of intelligence. For instance, Wu Zhengke has recently been in contact with a black market merchant from Shanning. Furthermore, Liu Peiru has an undisclosed quantity of firearms and weaponry preparing to be shipped out of Shanning."

"Xiao Bai, are you saying Liu Peiru is running guns?" Secretary He asked.

"That's right. Liu Peiru's position provides immense convenience for his arms trafficking. My idea is to have our people follow the trail and see if we can intercept the shipment. Even if Liu Peiru finds out in the end, he probably wouldn't dare to make a fuss about it," Bai Zeshao said with a smile.

"You really... Do you have any idea that this disrupts cooperation? The higher-ups have already reached a consensus on cooperation with the authorities," Secretary He said sternly.

"Secretary He, as long as we handle it discreetly, who would ever know? Besides, the authorities' manhunt against us hasn't decreased in the slightest—it's just not as blatant as before," Bai Zeshao said nonchalantly.

"I can transmit this piece of intelligence upward; as for the specifics, we'll leave it to the troops to resolve."

Secretary He wasn't inflexible. Speaking that way earlier was simply to prevent Bai Zeshao from becoming too loose, undisciplined, and unorganized.

"By the way, we cannot sever Wu Zhengke's line either. I think we can have the Shanning underground party follow up on it, because I happen to know a bit about the black market merchant he is in contact with—that man deals in the pharmaceutical business."

"The pharmaceutical business? Are you certain?" Secretary He's voice sounded somewhat urgent.

"Absolutely. He primarily deals in pharmaceuticals. The organization should know that I conduct business with Sun Yanjie from the police department, Wu Yangbing from the garrison headquarters, and Wu Jian, a Shanning black market merchant. Wu Jian is the one who told me about this black market merchant's identity, and we've even helped transport goods for him before." Although Bai Zeshao did not quite understand why Secretary He reacted so strongly upon hearing about the pharmaceutical business, he explained it nonetheless.

"Xiao Bai, recently, the ranks have seen an influx of wounded personnel, and we are in urgent need of large quantities of anti-inflammatory drugs like penicillin," Secretary He explained. "Tell me, can the organization establish a connection with this black market merchant so we can purchase medicine from him?"

"Does the organization need a very large quantity?" Bai Zeshao asked.

"Demand far exceeds supply," Secretary He said with a wry smile. "Furthermore, this type of medicine is currently tightly controlled by the authorities. Even with money, we simply cannot buy it; we need special permits to acquire such drugs, and even then, the allocated amounts are minuscule."

"If we actually source medicine from this merchant, I'm afraid it will require a massive sum of capital," Bai Zeshao said with some concern.

"You don't need to worry about that. The organization will figure something out regarding the funds. What we need to do right now is confirm whether this black market merchant you mentioned has a way to secure penicillin," Secretary He instructed Bai Zeshao.

"That won't be a problem. Leave it to me; it's quite simple," Bai Zeshao readily agreed.

"Clarify this matter as soon as possible, and then I'll arrange for someone to make contact with this individual."