Spy Wars: Return of the Red Luan

Chapter 121 Who I Want, You Know

"It seems our Mr. Sorge has been out of sorts lately? Not only are his reactions a bit slow, but he was also just being held up by two policemen?"

"Qingmu Chain Pharmacy is your intelligence agency? I see! What a brilliant design! How did you come up with this?!" Sorge ignored Chen Jiehua's teasing and was extremely shocked. This guy is too amazing!
“I am delighted to see Mr. Sorge’s surprised expression again. It’s not easy to find something that has caught Mr. Sorge’s eye.

"Stop talking nonsense and tell me how you did it!" Sorge realized that the Aoki chain pharmacies that were all over Shanghai were an intelligence agency. Each of the "fast runners" was a tentacle and an eye. Tens of thousands of "fast runners" were tens of thousands of eyes. What activity could be kept from them?
Sorge asked, "How did you do that?" On the surface, he was asking how the entire network was established so quickly. But the deeper question was how you were able to deal with Japan, who was located in the rear, without exposing the organization's activities.

"Nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it. We are intertwined, sharing each other's essence. While yours becomes mine, mine still belongs to me."
When Chen Jiehua said this in English, it confused both Sorge and Ms. Smedley.

"Your way of doing things doesn't seem like that of a secret agent, but sometimes, you really are more of a secret agent than a secret agent."

"It seems Mr. Johnson has said this before."

"That's the impression you give me. You act boldly and unrestrainedly, leaving no trace, which is not what an agent should do. But thinking about it carefully, this way of doing things actually overshadows your true role, making people not believe that you are an agent."

"This may be determined by our status, at least our public status. For example, you, Mr. Sorge, and Ms. Smedley, are ordinary people. You can use your identity as a newspaper reporter as a cover, and the profession of a reporter gives you social status, income, and flexibility in your actions."

“But I can’t. I’m a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Army University. I’ll be a soldier as soon as I enter society. In Japan, I also have various social connections and status. If I were to take on the identity of a newspaper reporter, it would be very strange and abnormal. And abnormality means that I can attract attention. With attention, my behavior will be exposed.”

"Therefore, my position prevents me from doing many things on my own. I need an assistant, a reliable assistant." The true intention is revealed; they're asking for help!
"Do you want me to be your assistant? Or do you want Ms. Smedley to be your assistant?"

“Mr. Johnson, I think this Mr. Aoki from Japan doesn’t want you, nor does he want me, right? Just think about this vast network of pharmacies that spans the entire city of Shanghai—it’s terrifying!”

Ms. Smedley couldn't stand it anymore. She felt that Sorge and Aoki were going around in circles. Since the two were so familiar with each other and clearly considered each other's friends, why not be more sincere?

In fact, Sorge knew that he had most likely discovered Ozaki and that he wanted Ozaki, but I was just unwilling to accept it and took the opportunity to have a verbal argument.

“Beautiful Ms. Smedley, you don’t need to remind him. He’s a smart man. He knows in his heart who I want. It’s just that we’re used to bickering.”

"It's unbelievable that a communist fighter was good friends with a Japanese colonel."

“Beautiful lady, you will soon find that nothing that happens to me is surprising.”

"Alright, Zoroku-nii, I've been here long enough. Come on, arrange for me to meet with Mr. Ozaki. I think he'll be happy to be my assistant."

Haha, that's really true.

The following morning, Hidemi Ozaki, a special correspondent for the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun in Shanghai, visited the main store of Aoki Chain Pharmacy, wanting to conduct an exclusive interview with the pharmacy's manager.

After receiving a notification from the temporary manager of the main store, Colonel Aoki Qiao rushed to the store, warmly received the reporter, and gave an exclusive interview. The two had a pleasant conversation and even had lunch together at a Western restaurant.

On the evening of the 28th, Zhao Shiyu, who had gone to Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, to conduct research on pharmacies, returned and met with Chen Jiehua in a secret room at the main pharmacy. "After testing him, Chen Lanfeng was unwilling to work for the Japanese. Considering confidentiality and organizational discipline, I did not tell him my true identity."

"If he doesn't want to come, he doesn't have to. You can't force a relationship. He's in the KMT now, so it's really not good for him to know his identity."

"Oh, by the way, Aoki, I saw Zhao Yiyue in Jinling!"

"Zhao Yiyue?"

Chen Jiehua was a little stunned, but quickly came to her senses. "Oh, him! He's in Nanjing? Do you know what he does?"

"I only saw Chen Lanfeng pass by when I was in a coffee shop. He was with a few young people, all dressed casually."

"What time? Day or night?"

"Around 3 p.m.

"If a graduate of the Army Academy returns to the Republic of China and is in Nanjing, he will most likely join the army. But it's interesting that he's not wearing a uniform at this time."

"You mean he's in the same line of work as us?"

"Yes, most likely. You didn't attract his attention, did you?"

"Probably not. I didn't make eye contact with him. After leaving the coffee shop, I used counter-surveillance techniques, and there was no tail following me."

"Don't think it's that simple. You're all graduates of the Army Academy, and he's a year ahead of you. He knows everything you know. The most important point, which I often say, is that there aren't that many coincidences in the world, especially for us special workers. We can't just arbitrarily determine what a coincidence is. More than 90% of coincidences are deliberate arrangements."

"So, it's either Chen Lanfeng or you who's been watching us."

“I’ll handle this. You don’t need to worry about it. What you need to do now is to avoid contact with the organization as much as possible and only do the pharmacy’s work every day. I suspect that you have a very powerful expert following you to Shanghai. This expert is most likely affiliated with the KMT’s Party Affairs Investigation Department.”

Chen Jiehua's judgment was not based on unfounded guesswork, but rather stemmed from a stirring within his heart. This intuition, which came with his time travel, had not surfaced for a long time.

The early Kuomintang party affairs investigation department had quite a few capable people, and the organization suffered a lot of losses. This time, no one knows who this outsider is.

Assuming this person is Zhao Yiyue, and it is confirmed that he is in the Party Affairs Investigation Department, it is highly likely that he received the telegram in plain text. By tracing this, we can find out that Aoki Seigen came to Shanghai and opened a large pharmacy, and we can also find out that Zhao Shiyu is serving Aoki Seigen!

So he deliberately showed it to Zhao Shiyu!

(End of this chapter)