Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 206 Night Talk
After waiting for news at the teahouse for several hours, Gu Yansheng returned to the vicinity of his residence at midnight.

Passing by Minister Zhou's residence, Gu Yansheng stopped the car and knocked on the door.

Although knocking on the door in the middle of the night is a bit immoral, even if the lights inside were off, Gu Yansheng would still break down the door.

You should let people know how hard you work, otherwise how will your superiors know that you've done something?

The Japanese soldiers dared not stop them and immediately went to report.

Minister Zhou, still in his pajamas, came out to greet me. "I was taking a shower. Why are you so late? What happened?"

Gu Yansheng showed the documents in his hand, "The investigation has yielded results."

Minister Zhou immediately became serious and said, "Let's go inside and talk."

"We're not going in," Gu Yansheng warned. "This matter involves the Japanese; be careful, they might be overheard."

Minister Zhou glanced around and his concerns were not unfounded; indeed, everyone had been arranged by the Japanese.

"Let's find somewhere else to live as soon as possible. What do you suggest we do now?"

"Come to my place."

"Okay, I'll change my clothes. You sit down and wait a moment."

"Ok."

Minister Zhou's commotion going up and down the stairs was quite loud, which attracted Zhou Shuhai's attention.

"Mr. Gu, you've arrived."

Gu Yansheng looked up and saw Zhou Shuhai, wearing a nightgown, standing on the second-floor railing, laughing.

"Good evening, Miss Zhou. Why are you still up so late?" Gu Yansheng asked with a polite smile.

"I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd read a book before bed, but reading made it even harder to fall asleep."

"Haha, that means this book isn't good for falling asleep. I'll try a different one."

"For example? Does Mr. Gu have any recommendations?"

"Hmm, criminal law and procedural law might help you sleep."

Zhou Shuhai leaned against the railing, resting her chin on her hand, thinking that Mr. Gu would introduce some good books. Who knew that Mr. Gu would be so extraordinary.

He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "I'll definitely take a look at Mr. Gu's recommendation, but I'll have to see if it's available here."

"I don't have any. If you want to see it, I'll have someone bring it to you later."

"Okay."

"What should I give you?" Minister Zhou walked out, dressed in a sharp suit.

Gu Yansheng said frankly, "I plan to send a copy of the Litigation Law to Miss Zhou to take a look at."

"Huh?" Minister Zhou hesitated. Sending a dress to a woman was a good approach, but sending a lawsuit law was unheard of.

He couldn't help but glance at Zhou Shuhai and asked curiously, "Are you interested in law?"

Zhou Shuhai smiled. "I might not have been interested before, but I am quite interested now. You guys are busy. Goodbye, Dad. Goodbye, Mr. Gu."

"Goodbye, good night."

After driving back to his own home, Gu Yansheng found a copy of the Criminal Law and the Procedural Law and had his subordinates deliver it to Zhou Shuhai.

Minister Zhou joked, "She was just joking. You took it seriously. She's only enthusiastic for three minutes. How could she possibly understand these legal matters?"

"Even if it's just a fleeting interest, it's not a waste of time. Minister, please have some tea."

"Hmm." Minister Zhou took a sip of tea. "What exactly is the situation?"

Gu Yansheng took out the document and handed it over. "The Chen Junhui in the document is the Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Nanjing Reformed Government."

"Nanjing?" Minister Zhou was just as surprised as Gu Yansheng was when he first heard the news; it was somewhat different from their initial prediction.

However, the result was the same: Japanese people were involved.

Gu Yansheng nodded, "Yes, it's Nanjing, but someone from Shanghai is also involved. I found out that Chen Junhui was in Shanghai a few days ago. I've already obtained his call records, and there's a name in them that I think is key: Takeo Imai, the head of the China Section of the General Staff Headquarters."

"Is Takeo Imai involved? Are you sure?" Minister Zhou's voice suddenly rose.

Their negotiations with the Japanese were initially orchestrated by Takeo Imai. It can be said that it was Imai's presence that brought them to the current state of negotiations, which began in Chongqing. Regarding the progress of the negotiations, aside from high-ranking officials in Japan, the people in China who knew best were Kageyama Yoshiaki and Takeo Imai.

Someone who knows the whole story is now preparing to open a bank that shouldn't exist.

This is very problematic!
Upon closer examination, one might even suspect that the whole thing was a conspiracy!
Gu Yansheng nodded, "There's no mistake. Judging from the clues, Chen Junhui called the heads of several Japanese conglomerates in Shanghai. The funds for the establishment of the bank came from Japanese companies, so it's normal for them to have connections."

But why did he talk to Takeo Imai?

Aside from this matter, I can't think of any other reason why a director of the Nanjing Administration for Industry and Commerce would need to come to Shanghai to make this phone call.

Minister Zhou remained silent. This matter was extremely important. He had sensed something was wrong at the time, and sure enough, there was a big problem.

"Give Mr. Wang a call and ask him to come over. We need to discuss this matter immediately!"

"I don't know the phone number. What's the phone number?" Gu Yansheng picked up the phone.

Minister Zhou and Gu Yansheng stared at each other, "I don't know either."

I just moved here, so who knows what the phone number is? Besides, these things used to be written down by secretaries, but I don't have secretaries now.

"Then I'll send someone to pick them up directly."

Gu Yansheng sent someone to fetch Wang Ni.

I dragged him out of his sleep, and he arrived about twenty minutes later.

"What's the emergency?" Being woken up in the middle of the night, Wang Ni, with his status, wasn't exactly known for his good temper.

"Take a look at this." Minister Zhou handed over the document. "The Japanese may not be sincere in their negotiations."

These words struck Wang Ni like a thunderbolt, causing him to calm down and immediately sit down to examine the scene.

He watched as Minister Zhou explained the whole incident.

"Fortunately, we discovered it early, otherwise we would still be in the dark," Minister Zhou emphasized the seriousness of the matter.

Wang Ni frowned deeply. "What's your take on this now?"

“Yansheng, an outsider’s perspective is clearer. Share your thoughts so we don’t interfere with your comments,” Minister Zhou said.

“Okay,” Gu Yansheng said. “What we know so far is that Takeo Imai is supporting the director of the Nanjing Bureau of Industry and Commerce in opening a bank.”

Therefore, the initial speculation that this bank was merely a transfer of reparations between Japanese trading companies and the military is no longer tenable.

Given Takeo Imai's position, his involvement suggests that the Japanese must have other political motives behind this matter.

Takeo Imai participated in the negotiations between Mr. Wang and the Japanese side, and he was clear about the overall situation, which can be judged from this point.

Takeo Imai genuinely didn't expect the negotiations to be completed quickly, which is why this new military bank came into being.

The presence of a bank only indicates that some people in Japan are not optimistic about the negotiations, but the fact that this pessimistic person is none other than Takeo Imai, who is in charge of the negotiations, means that this is a very serious matter.

For example, if the situation at the Shanghai Military Police Command is not optimistic, then so be it; who cares about them?

If the person in charge of the negotiations doesn't think things are going well, then needless to say, all the reports submitted to the Japanese cabinet will definitely be negative.

Wang couldn't help but ask, "There's nothing wrong with the negotiation content reported by Gao Zhongwu and Mei Siping. Although we haven't reached an agreement with Japan on some issues, the overall progress is still going forward, and there haven't been any irreconcilable conflicts, right?"

Even if there were problems, they could have been discussed openly. However, Gao Zhongwu and Mei Siping's reports did not mention any instance of the Japanese representative taking a particularly hard line on any particular issue.

Minister Zhou nodded thoughtfully, "This is also what I can't understand. Takeo Imai and Yoshiaki Kagesa should be the ones who most want the negotiations to be completed. For them, completing the negotiations would be a great achievement. Why would they want to cause trouble for themselves? Why are they so pessimistic? This is simply unreasonable."

Unless they were just putting on an act from beginning to end, never intending to talk, and completely deceiving us.

They lured us out of Chongqing with the intention of weakening Chongqing's strength so that we could then attack Chongqing.

But I think it's impossible.

Since they want us to strike at Chongqing, then we need to talk even more. Dragging it out and refusing to talk...

"Is dragging things out, pretending to want to talk but not actually wanting to finish the discussion, also a strategy?" Wang continued, finishing his unfinished sentence.

Of course, this is a question.

Minister Zhou remained silent. The situation was very unclear, and it was impossible to say that it was not possible.

"Then let's not talk! What's the point of talking if we're not sincere!" Wang stood up, furious.

(End of this chapter)