Spy game? Stop guessing, I really am an undercover agent!

Chapter 143: More people, right?

Rui Qingrong's gaze sharpened, and he said to Song Zushan in a deep voice, "Boss Song, when did Fengming Pavilion become your territory?"

"I've heard that Xiao A Qiao is quite skilled in martial arts; I'm sure Mr. Song has already experienced it firsthand."

"We're all men, so why not share?"

"Hahaha." Upon hearing this, Rui Qingrong's henchmen burst into laughter.
Song Zushan shook his head and said, "Old Fire Crow, everyone in the underworld says you're just a toad that climbs onto shoes. You don't bite, but you're disgusting. They're really right. You really are spewing filth."

Rui Qingrong's face turned cold, and he said sharply, "Boss Song, what do you mean?"

"What do you mean? It means I don't like you and want to mess with you."

"Hahaha, just you few?" Rui Qingrong laughed loudly. "Boss Song, I heard you're quite a fighter. I only have about fifty people here. If each of you can take on ten, then I'll be done with you."

"Is that so?" Song Zushan snapped his fingers lightly.
With a whoosh, a group of men dressed in black short jackets with red ribbons tied around their right arms rushed in.

"Old Crow, have you been smoking too much opium and it's made you stupid?"

"This is the French Concession. You have more people than me here."

“I have two hundred people here. If you think that’s not enough, I have several hundred more outside.”

Rui Qingrong's expression changed drastically: "Boss Song, Xiao Aqiao is not under your protection, so don't meddle in other people's business."

“I like to interfere, what can you do about it?” Song Zushan sneered. “Let me tell you the truth, I came here today specifically for you, and you won’t be leaving the French Concession alive today.”

"Wait a minute," Rui Qingrong said quickly upon seeing this, "Boss Song, we are from the same sect. It is a taboo for the Green Gang to kill each other."

“Hahaha,” Song Zushan laughed loudly, “You old crow, you still care about this? Everyone in the underworld knows that you were taken in as a disciple by Boss Ji Yunqing when you drifted from Ningbo to Shanghai. He even gave you opportunities and promoted you.”

"As soon as you gained some power, you turned around and followed Boss Du, and even helped Boss Du swallow up Boss Ji's opium business."

"You, a traitor who turns on his comrades after eating a bowl of noodles, want to talk to me about loyalty? You're not worthy."

"What are you waiting for? Charge!"

"Kill!" Song Zushan's henchman shouted, grabbing his axe and charging forward.

Song Zushan bowed respectfully to Chen Yang, who was sitting to the side, and said, "Boss, you go and do your thing. I'll take care of things here."

Chen Yang nodded slightly and walked up to Xiao A Qiao: "Big sister, there's nothing to see when men fight. I am Chen Yang, and I hope you don't mind that I came uninvited."

"Is there a quiet place here? I have some business to discuss with you."

Xiao Aqiao bowed slightly and said, "Mr. Chen, please follow me."

The two walked up the stairs one after the other, completely oblivious to the blood-soaked scene below.
The innermost secret room on the third floor of Fengming Pavilion has excellent soundproofing; once the door is closed, it is completely isolated from the noise of the outside world.

Xiao Aqiao locked the door from the inside, then gently pressed a spot on the door frame with her finger. The hidden compartment popped open, revealing a brass switch.

She rotated it half a circle, and several wall lamps in the room immediately lit up with a soft orange light.

Chen Yang sat at a mahogany round table, wiping his glasses with a silk handkerchief.

Without the glasses obscuring his vision, his eyes appeared exceptionally sharp.

“Rui Qingrong acted a little earlier than I expected.” Chen Yang put his glasses back on, his voice as calm as if he were discussing the weather.
"I thought this guy could at least hold out for a few more days, but I didn't expect him to make a move so quickly."

"Don't worry, I'll cover all the losses tonight."

Xiao Aqiao took out a bottle of brandy and two crystal glasses from the hidden cabinet, and the liquor made a crisp sound as it was poured into the glasses.

"Mr. Chen, you're too kind. Although Fengming Pavilion isn't very wealthy, I can still afford the renovation costs."

As she spoke, Xiao Aqiao pushed one of the cups in front of Chen Yang and said without any attempt to hide her intentions, "Mr. Chen, you've been eyeing Old Fire Crow for quite some time now, haven't you? Are you eyeing his territory in Zhabei?"

"You've really made a big move. You just took over Boss Zhang's territory, and now you've swallowed up Old Fire Crow's territory in Zhabei. You now have two-thirds of the territory in Shanghai. You're much more powerful than any of the three tycoons."

Chen Yang took the glass but didn't drink it immediately. He slowly circled his fingertips along the rim of the glass and said, "You handled things very well downstairs. You saved face and didn't let things get out of control."

"Based on your performance just now, I think we should be able to cooperate."

"Ten years of experience in the underworld didn't come for nothing." Xiao Aqiao took a sip of wine, then suddenly changed the subject, "Mr. Chen, let's not beat around the bush. You didn't come here today just to help me out of this predicament, did you?"

Chen Yang chuckled, took a brown paper envelope from his inner pocket, and pushed it in front of her: "Open it and take a look."

Xiao Aqiao pulled out the document inside, her pupils suddenly contracting.

It was a yellowed newspaper clipping from the 1918 Fengtian Daily. The headline read, "Anti-Japanese fighters Mr. and Mrs. Lin were murdered." The accompanying picture showed a man and woman lying in a pool of blood, just like her parents in her memory.

"You're investigating me?" Her voice suddenly turned cold.

"It's just a routine background check by the Jinling Special Service Committee." Chen Yang's tone softened. "Miss Lin, everyone says you grew up in Shanghai and were sold to a brothel by your opium-addicted father when you were underage. Fortunately, you were taken in by Master Fusheng, a senior member of the Green Gang." "Later, she died in a gang fight, and you saved Fengming Pavilion with your extraordinary wisdom."

"However, I don't believe that a father who smokes opium could have such an outstanding child as you. These things might fool the Green Gang thugs, but it would be difficult to evade the investigation of the Nanjing Special Affairs Committee."

“I had the intelligence department thoroughly investigate your background.”

"The intelligence officers started their investigation with your opium-addicted father and it took them several days to confirm that you were abducted from the train station when you were twelve years old."

"Based on this clue, along with your clothing and accent from back then, we've determined that you must have fled from the north,"

"Of course, we couldn't pinpoint your identity right away until we found someone, Jinshui, the rickshaw driver who lived next door to you back then."

"Do you remember when you told him that your father was Lin Shiwei in the photo?"

"Of course I remember. If it weren't for Brother Jinshui, I might have starved to death long ago." Xiao Aqiao's fingers unconsciously traced the blurry outline on the newspaper: "Mr. Chen, you are indeed very resourceful. That's right, my father is Lin Shiwei, an intelligence liaison for the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army."

"So, are you going to arrest me now?"

"Arrest? Why would I arrest you?"

“Sato Kenichi, head of the Kwantung Army’s Special Service Agency.” Chen Yang leaned forward and said slowly, “He is the murderer who killed your parents, but besides him, there is another important figure.”

"It's Zhou Mingqi, the intelligence agent who betrayed your parents back then, codenamed Wild Boar."

"When we were investigating your background, we accidentally discovered that this person surnamed Zhou has now changed his name to Zhou Lang and is currently in Shanghai."

Chen Yang took out an operation log from his pocket and spread it on the table. It was filled with records of the time, place and people. "Every Wednesday and Saturday night, he would go to a Japanese bathhouse called 'Sakura no Yu' in the HK district."

He was accompanied only by two bodyguards, and he would usually stay there for three hours, leaving before one o'clock.

"Thank you for this generous gift, Mr. Chen," Xiao A said with a charming smile, instantly transforming back into the shrewd and sophisticated proprietress. "How about telling me about your 'Moonlit Sand Club'? How exactly can I cooperate with you?"

Chen Yang was slightly taken aback: "How did you know?"

Xiao Aqiao picked up her wine glass and clinked it with Chen Yang's: "Shanghai is not a very big city, but it's not a small one either. In our line of work, we have ways of knowing where things have become unusual."

"Mr. Chen has put so much effort into setting up this clubhouse and made such a big fuss, it's hard to escape our notice."

Chen Yang immediately realized that it was a decorator from Yuelongsha.
It wasn't that he didn't keep things secret, but rather that the renovation team Lin Xueyi hired all had intricate connections with these people.

Generally, the renovation of such clubhouses is handled by local people with renovation experience.

Top-tier and experienced decorators typically work for upscale entertainment venues like Fengming Pavilion, Night Shanghai, and Paramount.

Therefore, Xiao Aqiao naturally knew what Chen Yang wanted to talk to her about.
"Miss Lin is indeed quite capable."

“Since that’s the case, I won’t hide anything from you anymore.” Chen Yang took out a blueprint from his briefcase and spread it out on the table.

The drawing is a detailed floor plan of a three-story Western-style building, with corrections marked in red pen on each floor.

“Nos. 1288-1293 North Sichuan Road, HK District, a total of six houses. I have purchased the houses through a shell company, and you are nominally in charge of operating them.”

He pointed to several circled areas on the blueprint, saying, "These places need to be renovated. A hidden room should be built behind the second-floor restrooms, the walls of the third-floor private rooms should be made into rotating hidden doors, and soundproofing facilities should be installed in the basement."

Xiao Aqiao studied the blueprints carefully, then suddenly picked up a pencil and drew an X at a certain spot: "This spot is too obvious. It's better to put it in the fireplace flue. Shanghai winters are cold and damp, so using a fireplace won't arouse suspicion."

"Furthermore, the secret passage should ideally connect to the kitchen, as the smell of cooking oil can mask many traces."

A hint of surprise flashed in Chen Yang's eyes: "You can understand architectural structures?"

“I’ve learned a little.” Xiao Aqiao brushed it off lightly, then pressed on, “As for personnel, after doing so much, your target audience shouldn’t be ordinary people. Ordinary women probably won’t attract your customers.”

Xiao Aqiao emphasized the words "guest" in a deliberate way, clearly knowing what Chen Yang's purpose was.

With both a secret room and a secret passage, this was clearly not prepared for ordinary guests.

Chen Yang nodded slightly and said, "The personnel arrangements are already underway. In addition to selecting people from Japan, we have also recruited a group of leading dancers from various Japanese-style dance halls in the Japanese community of Shanghai. Now it depends on whether you, the eldest sister of Fengming Pavilion, have the ability to train these people to be the ones I need."

“That’s not a big problem,” Xiao Aqiao nodded and said, “Then, let’s talk about how to split the money.”

Chen Yang looked at Xiao Aqiao with interest and said, "Miss Lin should know the answer. Why don't you tell me yourself?"

Xiao Aqiao said, "First of all, we are just partners. If anything goes wrong, I can withdraw at any time."

"Secondly, you cannot interfere with my management. If you do, I will withdraw immediately."

"Third, I want a share in your business. I don't want much, just a base salary of one hundred silver dollars. If the monthly business volume is less than ten thousand silver dollars, I won't take a penny, but if it exceeds ten thousand silver dollars..."

"However, for every additional zero in the business volume, my salary also increases by one zero."

(End of this chapter)