The Spy

Chapter 387: Thoughtful Hospitality
Xu Xiaoer went to the conference room. When he arrived, Cao Xiangwen was bending over and talking to Takeda.

There were twelve ragged men standing in the conference room, most of them with obvious scars on their bodies. These were the people Xiao Fan mentioned, and they arrived so quickly.

"Xiaoer, you've come just in time. The section chief is asking for a group of people for us. I've already talked to Captain Cao about this. You can choose first."

When he saw Xu Xiaoer, Takeda immediately smiled and stood up and waved to Xu Xiaoer.

The twelve people standing looked at Xu Xiaoer curiously.

When Cao Xiangwen came just now, they already knew that Cao Xiangwen was the captain of the detective brigade. In the future, they would be assigned to the detective brigade, and Cao Xiangwen would be their leader.

Many people are still thinking about how to please this new leader so that they can live more comfortably in the future.

There is no possibility of sending money. They are all paupers now and no one has any money.

If you want money, you have to make it yourself.

They are familiar with the ways to make money, but now they are working under the Japanese. They don't know how to make money or what they can make. It will take at least some time for them to become familiar with it before they can start.

The only way to please someone nowadays is to flatter them.

Many people were thinking about how to behave, but unexpectedly a younger captain came. Judging from Takeda's attitude, he obviously had a different attitude towards Captain Xu Xiaoer and Captain Cao Xiangwen.

After Captain Cao arrived, Takeda never stood up, let alone smiled.

Why does Takeda have a different attitude towards Xu Xiaoer?
"Thank you, Master Takeda. Captain Cao is here. Let him choose first."

Xu Xiaer lowered his head, but Takeda waved his hand: "You choose first, and there will be other tasks for you after you choose."

The two people escorting the Chinese agents were still waiting. Takeda didn't have the time and didn't want to take them out to play personally. What fun would it be to be with two men? He might as well go find his woman.

Such a smooth woman is rare, and he likes her very much.

"Yes."

After Takeda said this, Xu Xiaoer did not refuse anymore. He immediately came to the twelve people and asked them what they were good at.

The twelve people were a little confused, but since Takeda was there, they answered Xu Xiaoer's questions honestly.

After asking, Xu Xiaoer selected four and would notify Xiao Fan to come and pick them up later.

"Captain Cao, please talk to them slowly."

After seeing Xu Xiaoer finish selecting the people, Takeda stood up and took Xiaoer out of the meeting room. Cao Xiangwen looked at Xu Xiaoer with envy, jealousy, and more of helplessness.

He bought this official position with money, and he himself knew nothing about spy work and needed to rely on his subordinates to accomplish anything.

As a result, among the three captains, Xu Xiaoer was the only one whom he could not ask questions or manage, and yet he had to serve them like a boss. It must be said that this was a very uncomfortable feeling.

But he really didn't have the courage to go against Xu Xiaoer.

Xu Xiaoer is more favored by Takeda and Kamei than him. If Xu Xiaoer reports him, he will be in big trouble.

He understood that all his power was given by the Japanese and he must not do anything that would make the Japanese unhappy.

He needs to wait until the day when Xu Xiaoer falls out of favor. That will be his chance to punish Xu Xiaoer.

"Captain Harada, this is Xu Xiaoer. He knows Shanghai very well and can show you around."

Takeda brought Xu Xiaoer to Harada and the others, made some brief arrangements, and then left.

It is indeed simple. Just let Xu Xiaoer take them to have fun. However, he had already hinted on the way here that as long as they have fun, there is no need to spend too much money.

These two Japanese were not superiors, so it was just a courtesy reception and there was no need to try to please them.

"Would you like to smoke, ladies? I have some top-quality cigars."

As soon as Takeda left, Xu Xiaoer immediately said, the two Japanese eyes suddenly lit up, cigars are not cheap in modern times, and it is difficult for them to smoke them normally.

"You have?"

Harada asked in Chinese. His Chinese was not very standard, but it was understandable.

"Of course. The Empire is China's best friend. You are our most distinguished guests. I will definitely treat you with the best things."

Xu Xiaoer replied with a smile, but he felt extremely disgusted in his heart.

"Great, sure."

Harada and the other man were very happy. Xu Xiaoer asked them to wait for a moment while he went to the car to get the cigars.

When he took out the cigar, he secretly added something disgusting into it.

It is mainly applied to the nozzle and cannot be seen with the naked eye.

The price of the two cigars was indeed not low. Thinking about making the Japanese eat something disgusting, Xu Xiaoer felt that the two cigars were still worth it.

"My two great lords, I'll light it for you."

Xu Xiaoer helped them roast it, so that there would be no sign of anything unusual. Seeing them excitedly sucking on the cigars with their mouths, Xu Xiaoer laughed secretly in his heart.

"Not bad, not bad, it's powerful enough."

Harada took a puff first and kept praising the strong smell of the cigar. Araki next to him took a puff and kept coughing.

But he couldn't bear to put down the cigar in front of him, so he held back his cough and took another big puff.

"Take your time. Don't be in a hurry to smoke the cigar. This thing tastes like a god, but you need to savor it slowly."

Xu Xiaoer said with a smile, and the two of them kept nodding. They lay on the sofa and smoked slowly, one puff at a time, as Xu Xiaoer said.

Whatever Xu Xiaoer added to their food basically went into their mouths.

"This cigar is good."

After Meimei finished smoking the cigar, Harada gave a thumbs up and praised him, saying that he and Araki did not waste any of the cigar and only a little was left at the end.

The room was filled with the smell of their cigars.

"Harada-taijun, as long as you like it, come on, I'll take you out for something delicious."

Xu Xiaoer's task was to receive the two of them, so he didn't need a very good place. With the two of them, Xu Xiaoer went straight to the concession and found a small restaurant to eat.

The food in the restaurant is really good. Xu Xiaoer didn’t add any extra toppings to them this time. He wanted to eat together, so if there was extra toppings, wouldn’t he have to eat too?

After eating and drinking, Xu Xiaoer took them to the most prosperous place in Shanghai.

The two of them looked around like country bumpkins. It was prosperous, indeed prosperous.

"Such a good place, when will it be occupied by the Empire?"

Araki suddenly said something, and Harada smiled and replied: "Don't worry, soon the empire will be invincible."

The two spoke Japanese, but Xu Xiaoer could understand it. Like Zhao San, he had a good talent for languages.

Having been held by the Special High Police for so long, he has been learning Japanese. He had also learned some in the previous training class, so he had a solid foundation and learned faster.

These two Japanese devils still want to concession?
It should be better, so that they will fight with Britain, the United States, France and other countries, and the pressure on China will not be so great.

I really hope to see them fight each other.

Xu Xiaoer was the guide. He could talk and made the two of them very happy. He took them around everywhere, occasionally bought them some snacks and chatted with them. This allowed Xu Xiaoer to learn a lot about the Japanese.

Although they were all trivial matters, Xu Xiaoer was able to discover useful information from them.

Harada and Araki were both in the Nanjing gendarmerie. The Central Bureau of Investigation agents who were captured this time first gathered in Nanjing and then were sent to Shanghai.

The military police are mainly responsible for military law and discipline. Simply put, they are in charge of military personnel.

Since they are in charge of military personnel, they know a lot about military affairs.

Xu Xiaoer could talk and took them to see many beautiful sights, bought them a lot of delicious food, and went to some places they had never been to before.

The two soon regarded Xu Xiaoer as the best Chinese and as a friend.

In return, they told some interesting stories they knew. The Japanese army was not as good as they advertised. In fact, there were many people who opposed the war, and there were even Red Party members in it.

Not all Japanese are fools.

Although there are not many of these people, the gendarmerie will deal with them once they are discovered.

In minor cases, the punishment is imprisonment and trial, while in serious cases, the punishment is direct execution.

Japan has always had strict control over ideology in the military.

Recently they found out that there are bad thoughts in the army, and it seems that someone is deliberately promoting anti-war ideas. As soon as they return from Shanghai, they will immediately launch an investigation in this regard.

This was important information, and Xu Xiaoer kept it in mind.

"Xu Sang, thank you for your hospitality for the day. We will go back early tomorrow morning. If we have the chance to go to Nanjing, we will treat you well."

In the evening, Xu Xiaoer rarely went home, but he called Bai Xu and told her that he had something to do today.

And arranged for someone to deliver meals to the home.

Nothing is more important than my wife’s food. I must ensure that she has enough food to eat and eats well.

"You're too polite, Harada-sama. It's a pity that you have to go back tomorrow. There are still many fun places in Shanghai that I haven't taken you to."

Xu Xiaoer smiled and said that this was a guesthouse. Xu Xiaoer sent them here after dinner.

"We'll come again next time we have a chance."

Araki took the initiative to say that they had a lot of fun today and that Xu Xiaoer was a good guy and had left a very good impression on them.

"Must come."

Xu Xiaoer sent the two back to their room, left them some fruits, snacks and cigarettes, and only went home after arranging the staff of the guesthouse.

"Bai Xu, I'm back."

Xu Xiaoer arrived home, changed his shoes, looked at the leftover food on the table, and shouted into the room.

There was a lot of leftover food, and Bai Xu didn’t finish it, probably because he wanted to leave some for him.

"you've been drinking?"

Bai Xu came out quickly. Xu Xiaoer hadn't come back, so she hadn't slept.

"I drank a little, not much. Today, someone was escorted over from Nanjing, and Takeda asked me to accompany the people from Nanjing for a walk."

Xu Xiaoer didn't say much to Bai Xu. Bai Xu was a student, so there was no need for her to know so much. Besides, knowing too much was not a good thing. If she let it slip, it would be a big trouble for both Bai Xu and him.

"You didn't drink too much, did you?"

Bai Xu asked with concern, Xu Xiaoer smiled and said, "No, don't worry."

He had already submitted the intelligence about the Japanese gendarmerie in Nanjing. This information was not that urgent, and it was estimated that the master would come to pick it up the next day.

Zhao San did obtain the information the next day and quickly delivered it to Xu Qingyun.

"Anti-war Japanese soldiers?"

After reading the intelligence, Xu Qingyun was thoughtful. In fact, there has always been anti-war sentiment in the Japanese army, but because of the way they launched the war, they deliberately made the Japanese soldiers hate the Chinese soldiers, so there is not much anti-war sentiment now.

This was the early stage of the war, and the anti-war sentiment in the Japanese army really started in the later stage.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t do something now.

However, according to the nature of the Kuomintang, if there are anti-war people, they will only take advantage of them and find ways to create chaos in the Japanese army, rather than develop them.

This matter needs to be provided to the comrades of the Red Party.

However, he has not yet been able to establish contact with people within the organization in Shanghai.

"Don't let him ask about this again."

Xu Qingyun said softly that the Nanjing incident had little to do with Xu Xiaoer, it was enough to just know about it by chance, there was no need to follow up.

"Yes, should we report it?"

Zhao San asked, Xu Qingyun looked up at him and said, "Go report it."

"I?"

Zhao San was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood what the district chief meant.

The waiter only reported that the Nanjing Japanese gendarmerie was conducting an investigation into the military. He had no information on who was being investigated, which unit they were in, what their positions were, or what their current situation was.

How to report this situation?

"I'm sorry, Mayor. I understand."

Zhao San took the initiative to apologize. He understood what the district chief meant. This matter could not be reported. If it was reported and the headquarters asked them to conduct a detailed investigation, it would cause trouble for himself and the waiter.

Besides, the two men had left Shanghai early this morning, so even the waiter would not be able to continue tracking them.

After Zhao San left, Xu Qingyun came to the window and looked outside.

After the fall of Anqing, the Japanese had been mobilizing troops and preparing to attack Wuhan.

The battle of Wuhan will definitely be a tough one.

As long as there is a war, the people will suffer. Now many wealthy families in Wuhan have begun to evacuate. Those who can go to Chongqing go to Chongqing, and those who cannot go to Chongqing have to go to other places to avoid the war.

Only in this era can one truly experience the harm caused by war.

There is a very true saying in later generations: the country protects its people so well that they don’t know how cruel the world is.

In places where there is real war, their lives are unimaginable to people in our country who are used to living a peaceful life.

That's why there are scenes where people use forehead thermometers as pistols and keep begging for mercy.

For Chinese people, such things are unimaginable unless they see them with their own eyes.

It is the same now. The Chinese people are living in dire straits. The people of Wuhan have not all evacuated. Xu Qingyun has worked in Wuhan for a year and is very familiar with the situation there.

Most people living at the bottom of society have nowhere to run.

No money, no food, where to go?
I'm afraid I'll starve to death on the way.

In future generations, someone might ask, can’t we just fish in the wild or hunt some game to eat?

In this era, the mountains and forests near the city are all bare, and as for the few wild rabbits and the like, they have long been targeted by hungry people.

It is impossible for ordinary people to find food.

As for fish, there is no need to even think about it. If there were really fish to eat, so many people would not starve to death.

Faced with the war, they had no choice but to stay and gamble their lives rather than go out and starve to death.

No matter where they go, their lives are hard.

"District Chief, this is all the recent intelligence."

In the afternoon, Yan Ming came to the office and brought all the intelligence recently collected by the Shanghai District.

There are all sizes.

This information will first reach Yan Ming, Fu Wenzhen and Zhao San.

Unimportant or worthless information will not come to Xu Qingyun.

This time, it was Xu Qingyun who took the initiative to ask for all the intelligence that had been collected recently to be brought over so that he could personally go through it to see if there was anything missing.

(End of this chapter)