Hidden Radiance

The night rain had just stopped.

The French Concession, the Wan Mansion.

Wan Molin slammed the letter of appointment for acting president of Lita Bank face down on the table. He then chased several Green Gang leaders out.

The tea has gone cold.

Two soft knocks came from outside the door. One loud, one soft.

Wan Molin stood up, walked to the door, and opened it. Lu Xuzhang, wearing a black raincoat, slipped into the room.

"Congratulations, Master Wan." Lu Xuzhang took off his raincoat and shook off the water.

"Mr. Lu, you're making fun of me." Wan Molin pointed to the paper on the table. "Following Director Lu, I've already been branded a traitor. Now, as the president of Litai Bank, I'll have to add the word 'big' to it. If the Military Intelligence Bureau's anti-traitor squad is ever unhappy, they can send me back to my hometown with a single bullet."

Lu Xuzhang walked to the table, poured himself a cup of cold tea, and took a sip.

"Comrade Rouge made an extremely risky but also brilliant move." Lu Xuzhang put down his teacup. "Once you become the bank president, you will be able to mobilize the money and resources of Litai Bank."

Wan Molin's brows furrowed.

"I don't understand," Wan Molin said in a low voice. "Wang Shijin caused a run on the company, and the Shan Project has clearly failed. Why is Comrade Rouge still insisting on propping it up? Isn't that helping the Japanese?"

Lu Xuzhang looked at him.

"Wang Shijin messed it up, and Tokyo will just replace him with someone else to continue pushing things. If a Japanese person sits in that chair, the four million mouths of Shanghai will have to depend on them for even a single grain of rice."

He paused for a moment.

"If you're in that position, you can lower the grain price by even a penny."

Wan Merlin fell silent.

He picked up the walnuts on the table, rubbed them a couple of times, and then put them down.

"And what about the infamy?" Wan Molin looked at Lu Xuzhang. "The common people don't know what we're doing. They only know that I, Wan Molin, am helping the Japanese promote the Central Reserve Bank notes."

Lu Xuzhang walked to the window, turning his back to him.

"Master Wan, you've been in Shanghai for twenty years. When have you ever cared what others say?" Lu Xuzhang didn't turn around. "What you're really afraid of isn't your reputation. It's dying on the street one day and not even having anyone to collect your body."

Wan Molin tapped his fingers on the appointment letter.

"Done." Wan Molin gritted his teeth. "My head will be choked with a scar the size of a bowl."

Lu Xuzhang turned around and patted him on the shoulder.

"You'll be taking office tomorrow. Follow the rules. The Special Higher Police have sent Takeda to monitor you; he's a ruthless character. Don't let him find anything against you."

"Don't worry. The Japanese are too green to play tricks in Shanghai."

8 PM.

The underground bar of the International Hotel.

The saxophone melody lingered in the smoke.

Lu Minghui sat in a corner booth. A glass of whiskey on the rocks sat in front of him.

Wang Puchen, dressed in a dark gray suit and smoking a cigar, walked over and sat down.

"Director Lu, well done." Wang Puchen exhaled a smoke ring. "He used Ding Mocun to force Li Shiqun to leave, and then used Zhongdao's knife to kill Wang Shijin. He even managed to gain a good reputation."

Lu Minghui picked up his wine glass and took a sip.

"The station manager didn't come back to Shanghai just to praise me, did he?"

Wang Puchen placed the cigar on the edge of the ashtray.

"Boss Dai is very dissatisfied with your performance this time." Wang Puchen's smile faded. "You uprooted Li Shiqun's smuggling line, cutting off half of the Military Intelligence Bureau's supply channels in Shanghai. You made such a big fuss, but not only did it not bring Chongqing any benefit, it also made the Japanese hold onto the supplies even tighter."

Lu Minghui put down his wine glass. The bottom of the glass hit the wooden table with a dull thud.

"Didn't get any benefits?" Lu Minghui looked at Wang Puchen. "Doesn't Station Chief Wang know how much Wu Dazhi's line skimmed off the top? Out of a hundred bottles of penicillin, how many would be left by the time they reached the front lines in Chongqing?"

Wang Puchen paused for a moment, the fingers holding the cigar between his fingers.

"The Black Dragon Society is taking over, and they're doing it openly," Lu Minghui said without mincing words. "They've lowered the price by 30% while doubling the quantity. If that's not a benefit, what is?"

"But the goods are in the hands of the Japanese," Wang Puchen retorted.

"The goods are in my hands," Lu Minghui corrected him. "Litai Bank is now under my control."

Wang Puchen stared at Lu Minghui.

"Director Lu, don't forget your identity. You're a member of the Military Intelligence Bureau."

"I know, I'm a Kuomintang intelligence agent infiltrated into the Japanese puppet regime, codenamed Paper Kite." Lu Minghui leaned back on the sofa. "I'm a military spy, not a commercial spy."

He picked up his glass and took a small sip. "Is it Boss Dai who's dissatisfied, or are there certain other people who are dissatisfied?"

Wang Puchen picked up a cigar and took a puff. "I need a shipment: two hundred boxes of cotton yarn and fifty boxes of penicillin. Delivery in three days."

"Fifty boxes of penicillin?" Lu Minghui stood up. "You might as well just kill me."

Lu Minghui turned and left the booth. "There aren't even fifty cases in all of Shanghai."

"We have cotton yarn, but not penicillin."

Wang Puchen watched his retreating figure, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

At the end of the bar, a man in a gray suit walked over with a wine glass in his hand.

"Station Master."

"Go check on the new president of Lita Bank." Wang Puchen stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray, twisting the butt twice before extinguishing it. "How did a member of the Green Gang end up in a Japanese bank? The waters here are deeper than Lu Minghui made it out to be."

the next day.

76 Jessfield Road.

Ding Mocun sat in the director's office, drinking pre-Qingming Longjing tea.

A car horn sounded outside the door.

Ding Mocun frowned. He walked to the window and opened it.

A black, bulletproof Buick sedan was parked in front of the office building. The license plate was a special pass issued by the Nanjing government.

The car door opened.

Li Shiqun got out of the car.

He was wearing a brand-new black trench coat, his hair neatly combed. Behind him followed Lin Zhijiang and several unfamiliar bodyguards.

Ding Mocun's teacup wobbled slightly. Tea splashed onto the back of his hand, but he didn't feel the heat.

Li Shiqun looked up and saw Ding Mocun through the second-floor window.

He smiled, raised his right hand, and waved it twice.

Confidential Office.

Gu Yunqiu pushed open the door and came in, speaking very quickly.

"Li Shiqun is back."

Lu Minghui was reviewing documents when his pen stopped.

"So fast?" Lu Minghui looked up.

"I brought a new appointment from Nanjing." Gu Yunqiu placed a copy on the table. "Director of the Special Economic Investigation Committee No. 76. Ranked the same as Ding Mocun, reporting directly to Zhou Fohai."

Lu Minghui picked up the copy.

Special Economic Investigation Committee. His thumb traced the words "flow of goods" and "financial order" and stopped.

"He came here because of Lita Bank," Gu Yunqiu said.

Lu Minghui put down the copy.

"He only knows that Nakajima has stepped down, but he doesn't know that my old classmate is still the supreme ruler of Shanghai." Lu Minghui stood up and walked to the window. "Li Shiqun's money in Nanjing has probably been wasted."

In the courtyard, Li Shiqun was leading his men upstairs.

"What's Nanzo Yunzi's reaction?" Lu Minghui asked.

"The Special Higher Police haven't made a move yet," Gu Yunqiu replied. "Takeda took over Lita Bank this morning and went head-to-head with Wan Molin."

Lu Minghui looked out the window.

"That viper Li Shiqun, even with his spine broken, can still crawl back." Lu Minghui turned around. "The first thing he'll do when he gets back is settle accounts with me."

No sooner had he finished speaking than footsteps echoed down the corridor.

It's heavy and very stable.

The door was pushed open.

Li Shiqun stood in the doorway, his hands in his trench coat pockets. Lin Zhijiang followed behind him, carrying a briefcase.

"Director Lu, how have you been?" Li Shiqun walked into the office and glanced around the room.

"Director Li," Lu Minghui said, standing behind his desk instead of going up to greet him, "How's the scenery in Nanjing?"

"The scenery is beautiful. It's just a bit windy, giving me a headache." Li Shiqun walked to the sofa and sat down. "However, Mr. Zhou prescribed me some medicine. It's quite effective."

He gestured to Lin Zhijiang.

Lin Zhijiang opened his briefcase, took out a document, and placed it on Lu Minghui's desk.

"Special Economic Investigation Committee." Li Shiqun looked at Lu Minghui. "From today onwards, all material transfers in the Shanghai market exceeding 10,000 Central Reserve Bank notes must be approved by me."

Lu Minghui glanced at the document but didn't take it.

"Director Li, the Lita Bank was personally approved by Advisor Nakajima," Lu Minghui said calmly. "You're also going to investigate the accounts of the Mei Agency?"

"Shinichi Nakajima is just an advisor now," Li Shiqun laughed. "The order from Nanjing came from Mr. Zhou. Director Lu, you're a smart man. Nakajima can't protect you forever."

Lu Minghui placed his hands on the table and leaned forward.

"Director Li, does it still hurt to have handed over half of your family's wealth?"

The smile on Li Shiqun's face froze.

"It hurts." Li Shiqun stood up, walked to his desk, and stared at Lu Minghui across the table. "It hurts so much that I can't sleep every night. So, I came back this time to take back what I lost, with interest."

He extended his index finger and tapped it on the table.

"Your Lita Bank... no, that was originally my Lita Bank." Li Shiqun's voice was very low. "It's time to return it to its rightful owner."

Lu Minghui looked directly into his eyes.

"Director Li has such a big appetite, be careful not to overeat."

"Better to overeat than starve." Li Shiqun withdrew his hand. "Tomorrow morning, the Special Investigation Committee will be stationed at Litai Bank to audit the accounts. Director Lu, we'll see."

Li Shiqun turned and walked out of the office. Lin Zhijiang quickly followed.

The door closed.

Lu Minghui looked at the document on the table.

"We'll audit the accounts tomorrow." Gu Yunqiu stepped forward. "Wan Molin just took over, and Wu Tian is still keeping an eye on things. If Li Shiqun gets involved, the accounts could easily run into problems."

Lu Minghui picked up the document, folded it twice, and threw it into the wastepaper basket.

"If he wants to check the accounts, let him." Lu Minghui sat back down in his chair. "Go prepare the car."

"Where to?"

"Go to the Special Higher Police." Lu Minghui took out an old-fashioned sword. "Go meet our new head of the Special Higher Police."