Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 183 Entering the Water
Back at the teahouse, the policeman on guard at the door reported: "Director Gu, Captain Wu from the Special Agent Headquarters came looking for you just now. I told him you were out on business, and he said he wanted you to come see him."

"okay, I get it."

Gu Yansheng went upstairs and made a phone call to Wu Sibao, "Hey, Sibao, what's up?"

Wu Sibao said, "It's all about the dealer's business. That family isn't very obedient. Do you have time? Come over here. Your sister-in-law is here too. I'll talk to you in person."

Gu Yansheng went to the Special Agent Headquarters, where Ye Jiqing and Wu Sibao were already waiting.

Ye Jiqing grinded coffee and greeted him with a smile, "Thank you for making the trip, Director Gu. Please have a seat."

"It's just a short distance." Gu Yansheng looked at Wu Sibao. "What's wrong? You can't even handle a businessman?"

Wu Sibao frowned and said, "It's troublesome. It's not that I'm not trying, but he's not an ordinary businessman. Yong'an Department Store is a large enterprise with assets of over 20 million. His family is a celebrity in the concession. They live in villas, have bodyguards, pay taxes to the concession, and also to the Japanese. They have a deep network of connections. I've been watching them for several days, but I haven't had a chance to make a move."

Gu Yansheng raised an eyebrow, surprised, "Attack? Attack what? I sent you to negotiate, it was for business, why are you attacking? No, you want to kidnap me?"

"It's not that I wanted to kidnap him, it's that that family was so tactless!" Wu Sibao was furious when he thought about it. "The first time we met, I tried to talk to him nicely. I went to his shopping mall to find him and said I wanted to cooperate with him and buy his shares. No matter how much I pleaded, he just wouldn't agree. He even had someone kick me out and said he would call the police if I didn't leave."

If this were anywhere else, I would have killed him long ago.

Even so, I wasn't angry. I did what Liu Bei did, visiting him three times at his thatched cottage. I waited for him at the entrance of the mall, and when he came out after get off work, I went up to talk to him. He glanced at me, and his bodyguard actually pushed me away.

Damn it, I lost my temper right then and there. I said if you don't want to talk things out properly, don't blame me for being polite first and then resorting to force.

They still left.

All I've done is talk the talk, I haven't taken any action. My son is in charge now, and if he won't talk, I'll go find his father.

He came in, drank the tea, and then pretended to be hard of hearing, repeating the same sentence seven or eight times before saying, "Oh, what did you say? I'm hard of hearing, I can't hear you."

Wu Sibao's imitation was so lifelike that it made Gu Yansheng laugh. Wu Sibao said angrily, "Don't you think this family is tactless!"

Gu Yansheng thought for a moment and said, "Did you introduce yourself?"

"Yes, I've submitted it."

"No wonder then." Gu Yansheng sneered, "Don't you know how bad the reputation of No. 76 is? With your name attached to his department store, do you expect the store's business to be good?"

Wu Sibao was wronged. "He wouldn't even see me the first time I didn't introduce myself. What could I do?"

Gu Yansheng sighed.

Upon seeing this, Ye Jiqing said, "Mr. Gu, I've actually noticed that too. But putting aside our identities, he really doesn't see outsiders. If it weren't for the fact that No. 76 has some deterrent power, we wouldn't even be able to see him. Even if we wanted to ask someone to act as a go-between, we wouldn't know who to ask."

Later, I went to see him in person and told him that I wouldn't disclose our shareholding, but he still wouldn't sell.

"This isn't about whether to sell or not; it's about stance." Gu Yansheng looked at Wu Sibao and accused him, "I asked you to investigate, but what did you investigate? You only investigated which chambers of commerce Yong'an Department Store belongs to and how much it's worth. Did you investigate its stance?"
As a businessman in the foreign concessions, he was either a centrist or pro-Chongqing. Was he a pro-Japanese businessman? Probably not. If he was a centrist, then he was more pro-Chongqing.

"If you try to sell shares to a so-called patriotic businessman by showing him a sign that says he's from the Secret Service, there's no way he'll actually do it. If he did, you'd be worried the company would go bankrupt."

"If I don't say that, I won't be able to see him," Wu Sibao said, spreading his hands in protest.

Gu Yansheng said with exasperation, "You think you can't see him if you don't say it this way? Believe me or not, I can send anyone over and they'll still see him."

"Impossible," Wu Sibao scoffed. "With his security, ordinary people can't even get close. How could such a big boss meet just anyone?"

Ye Jiqing trusted Gu Yansheng. "Mr. Gu, do you have any ideas?"

Gu Yansheng glanced at the two of them. "What if I said I'm from Chongqing, representing President Jiang? Would I be able to meet with him?"

Wu Sibao's head jutted out, and his mouth formed an "oh" shape.

Ye Jiqing was filled with respect. "Brilliant idea, absolutely brilliant, Mr. Gu. This way, we can pretend to be from Chongqing and buy his shares?"

Gu Yansheng thought for a moment, then chuckled and shook his head. "That's not necessarily true. They might not sell, but at least you won't be kicked out. It's definitely easier to negotiate than being from No. 76. You might even get a discount."

Ye Jiqing nodded: "That's for sure." Wu Sibao thought of something, "Wait a minute, he'll believe you just because you say so, he'll believe you just because you say you were sent by Chiang Kai-shek, how could he be so naive?"

"Then how can he prove it false?" Gu Yansheng countered. "Is he able to meet with Chiang Kai-shek, or is he a member of the Military Intelligence Bureau who can send a telegram to verify it?"

"But you can't prove you're from Chongqing."

"Who said that?" Gu Yansheng scoffed, blinking as he said, "You can't even produce a letter of appointment from Chairman Chiang Kai-shek, can you?"

Wu Sibao clapped his hands, suddenly realizing his mistake, and was extremely annoyed. "Damn it, how come I never thought of this trick?"

Ye Jiqing glanced at him and sneered.

Wu Sibao perked up, "Then I'll make one right away and arrange for someone to come to my door."

"It's too late." Gu Yansheng rolled his eyes at him. "He might have believed you the first time you did this, but now that both of you from the 76th Division have come to his door, how can he not be wary? He'll definitely think you're lying to him."

"What should we do then?" Wu Sibao was stunned.

"This is going to be difficult."

Gu Yansheng remained silent, lost in thought.

Ye Jiqing said irritably, "Sibao, look at you, acting so recklessly. You've wasted such a good opportunity. You should consult Mr. Gu more often."

"I didn't expect it to be this troublesome," Wu Sibao said, not wanting to disturb Gu Yansheng's thoughts.

Gu Yansheng sipped his coffee. It was difficult to turn Li Shiqun against him, but this might be an opportunity to drag his wife into the mess.

I wonder if the owner of Wing On Department Store will be so cooperative.

Gu Yansheng thought for a moment and said, "Using my method, we should still be able to meet them, but they probably won't believe us unless we have a way to let them see something with their own eyes to prove that we are from Chongqing."

Ye Jiqing asked, "How can you prove it?"

Gu Yansheng thought for a moment, then looked at Ye Jiqing: "If I were President Jiang, why would I contact him? What would I do with his shares? Speculate on stocks? And what would be the purpose of speculating on stocks?"

"Making money." Ye Jiqing said without thinking, "Old Chiang likes to speculate in stocks, which is perfectly reasonable."

"Such a large department store, just turning a blind eye?" Gu Yansheng raised an eyebrow and said, "If you were President Jiang, wouldn't you have him cooperate in transporting some goods to the Kuomintang-controlled areas, and then transporting some goods from the Kuomintang-controlled areas to Shanghai to sell?"

Ye Jiqing understood. "You mean, we'll help him open up a route to transport goods to the Kuomintang-controlled areas to prove that he's from Chongqing?"

Gu Yansheng nodded, "Only in this way, when he sees the goods enter the Kuomintang-controlled area with his own eyes, can your identity as the 76th Division be cleared to him, making him believe that you are someone from Chongqing who was planted in the 76th Division with a special mission."

“What’s so difficult about that? I’ll give him a pass right away.” Wu Sibao was completely indifferent; it’s smuggling, after all.

Ye Jiqing nodded in agreement. "I think it's a good idea. Besides, his department store has a lot of stock. We can make another profit by selling to the Kuomintang-controlled areas. Sibao, what do you think?"

“That’s right,” Wu Sibao laughed. “It’s not just Western medicine. Yong’an Department Store has a lot of imported goods from all over the world. High-ranking officials in Chongqing have plenty of money. We can sell them everything, such as red wine, pianos, and Simmons beds.”

Ye Jiqing also became interested and started talking to Wu Sibao about what else they could sell.

Gu Yansheng was dumbfounded.

I had prepared some statements to prove that the matter was safe.

For example, if something goes wrong, how can they make it unrelated to themselves and prevent the Japanese from causing them trouble?

Judging from their behavior, they really don't care.

Li Shiqun is such a third wheel; these two are clearly a perfect match.

(End of this chapter)