Hidden Radiance

The coin in Lu Minghui's hand stopped spinning and fell onto the table with a thud.

"Seventy percent." Lu Minghui looked at the coins on the table. "Where did the medicine go?"

Gu Yunqiu stood in front of the table without replying.

"Lu Xuzhang's supplies first entered the Mei Agency, then Matsui's transportation company, and finally flowed into Chengda Company." Lu Minghui raised his head. "Either Nakajima intercepted them, Matsui embezzled them, or Sakata lied."

He collected the coins and threw them into the drawer.

"If we had Matsui's receipt, we could find out where the medicine went."

"I'll go get it," Gu Yunqiu said.

"Make up an excuse." Lu Minghui pushed the drawer shut. "Just say I think the dividends are too low."

Gu Yunqiu waited.

"Chengda's batch of Western medicine has high profit margins. I'm envious and want to see the invoices to see if there's any profit to be made." Lu Minghui took out an old-fashioned brand, didn't count it, and twirled it between his fingers. "Greedy face, so convincing."

Gu Yunqiu nodded, turned around and opened the office door.

3 PM. Hongkou District, Southeast Trading Company.

Matsui sat behind a large desk on the second floor, holding a freshly brewed cup of Shizuoka sencha. Yamada stood beside him, holding several dispatch forms that had just been signed.

There was a knock on the door, and Gu Yunqiu pushed it open and walked in.

Yamada immediately shut up and took a half step back. Matsui put down his teacup, a smile spreading across his face.

"Ms. Gu, what brings you to my office?" Matsui gestured to the chair opposite him. "Sit down."

Gu Yunqiu did not sit down. She walked to the desk and placed her hands on the edge of the desk.

"President Matsui," Gu Yunqiu said in a cold tone, with a hint of businesslike stiffness, "Director Lu asked me to pick up something."

"Oh?" Matsui leaned back in his chair. "What does Akihiro-kun need? If I have it, I'll never refuse."

"Chengda Company's drug list." Gu Yunqiu stared into Matsui's eyes. "The batch of goods that was put into storage last week. Director Lu heard that the profits from that batch of drugs were substantial, and he wants to see the original invoice."

Matsui picked up his teacup and blew away the foam.

Chengda Company. Located in Sakata.

He took a sip of tea but didn't put the cup down. His finger circled halfway along the side of the cup.

"Miss Gu." Matsui's smile remained unchanged, but his speech slowed slightly. "Chengda Company's business is not under the jurisdiction of Southeast Trading Company. Why don't you ask Colonel Sakata directly, Minghui-kun?"

"Director Lu said he's not familiar with Colonel Sakata." Gu Yunqiu didn't back down. "He's familiar with President Matsui."

Matsui stared at Gu Yunqiu for two seconds.

The woman didn't even blink.

He put the teacup back on the table.

Lu Minghui was short of money; this was a fact he had long confirmed. Instead of investigating the money-printing machine of the Shan Project, he came to inquire about a batch of smuggled Western medicine. It seems this kid is truly envious of the exorbitant profits of the black market for pharmaceuticals.

As long as you don't touch the printing press, what's a little extra money?

Matsui opened the drawer on his right, rummaged through it a few times, and pulled out a sheet of carbon paper.

Only the product name and quantity are listed. There is no fleet number or destination.

He placed the paper on the table, holding it down with two fingers, without immediately pushing it over.

"Here's the list. Consider it a personal favor I'm doing for Minghui-kun." Matsui loosened his grip and pushed the paper in front of Gu Yunqiu. "But please tell Minghui-kun for me that some of the soups are hot enough to burn your mouth."

Gu Yunqiu picked up the list, folded it twice, and stuffed it into her briefcase.

"Thank you, President Matsui." Gu Yunqiu turned and walked out of the office.

The door closed. Yamada approached.

"President, are we just going to give her this order like that?" Yamada asked in a low voice. "What about Colonel Sakata...?"

"Who does Sakata think he is?" Matsui sneered. "If Lu Minghui wants to get involved in drug smuggling, let him fight Sakata. The fiercer he fights, the less attention will be paid to our Southeast Trading Company."

Yamada nodded and withdrew.

Matsui picked up his teacup but didn't drink it.

He glanced at the complete list in the drawer. It included the fleet numbers, destinations, and the names of several medications he didn't want to think about.

He closed the drawer.

Late at night. French Concession, safe house.

The curtains were drawn tightly shut. A desk lamp was lit on the desk.

Lu Xuzhang sat at the table, wearing gold-rimmed glasses. To his left was the original shipping manifest he had brought with him, and to his right was the transport manifest that Gu Yunqiu had obtained from Matsui.

Lu Minghui stood by the window smoking. Gu Yunqiu stood behind Lu Xuzhang.

The only sounds in the room were the clicking of abacus beads and the scratching of pencils on paper.

Ten minutes later, Lu Xuzhang stopped. He put the pencil on the table, took off his glasses, and rubbed his temples.

"Director Lu." Lu Xuzhang turned around.

Lu Minghui stubbed out his cigarette, walked to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

"It matches up?" Lu Minghui asked.

"It matches. But it doesn't match either." Lu Xuzhang pushed the two lists side by side in front of Lu Minghui. "The quantities match. Chengda Company did indeed keep only 30% of the goods I delivered. The remaining 70% were all transported elsewhere by the Shanghai Transportation Company's fleet."

Lu Xuzhang's finger pointed at Matsui's list.

"But the product category is wrong."

Lu Minghui looked down at the list.

"The bulk of the medicine I sent in was anti-inflammatory drugs, hemostatic bandages, penicillin, and morphine. These are the most urgently needed supplies on the front lines." Lu Xuzhang picked up a pencil and circled a few names on the list. "The 30% that Chengda Company kept was all of these."

Move the pen tip down, emphasizing the remaining entries.

"The seventy percent that disappeared—" Lu Xuzhang paused for a moment, "...sulfonamides, antiserum, cholera-specific drugs, typhoid-specific drugs."

The pencil stopped. Lu Xuzhang stared at the last line of text, his brows furrowing even deeper.

Plague serum.

The light cast a yellowish halo around the table. None of the three spoke.

Lu Minghui looked at the list but didn't touch it.

Gu Yunqiu stood behind Lu Xuzhang. Her hands hung at her sides, her five fingers pressed together, the knuckles white.

Lu Minghui looked up from the list and his gaze met Gu Yunqiu's. They only touched briefly before looking away.

Lu Xuzhang, oblivious to the strangeness between the two, continued talking.

"These things aren't used much in frontline field hospitals. There's only one scenario for large-scale, concentrated use—an infectious disease outbreak." Lu Xuzhang shook his head. "But there's no news of any plague anywhere. The whereabouts of this batch of medicine are unknown; it's very suspicious."

Lu Minghui looked away. He picked up the two lists on the table, folded them, and put them into his suit pocket.

"Boss Lu, thank you for your hard work." Lu Minghui's tone was calm and without any fluctuation. "Let's leave it at that. There are many ways the Japanese army sells military supplies, we won't delve into that."

Lu Xuzhang nodded. He stood up and picked up his briefcase.

"However," Lu Minghui looked at Lu Xuzhang, "if any more medicines are delivered to Chengda Company or any Japanese-owned trading company in the future, you must secretly leave me a copy of the original list. Don't let anyone know."

"Understood." Lu Xuzhang stood up. "Director Lu, farewell."

Gu Yunqiu saw Lu Xuzhang off at the door.

The door closed. It was locked.

Only Lu Minghui and Gu Yunqiu remained in the room.

Lu Minghui opened the drawer, took out the Colt, ejected the magazine, glanced at the brass bullets inside, and clicked it back in.

"1644." Lu Minghui slammed the gun on the table.

Gu Yunqiu walked back and stood on the opposite side of the table.

"That's why I came to Shanghai from the South Manchuria Railway Company." Her voice was low. "And now, it's also your mission."

Lu Minghui walked to the wall and pulled down the map of Shanghai city.

"Sakata is a colonel in the logistics department. Chengda Company is the logistics warehouse." Lu Minghui picked up a red and blue pencil. "The medicine didn't go into Chengda Company's warehouse. Was this Nakajima's idea, or Matsui's? Matsui—"

Lu Minghui paused, pencil in hand, and looked at Gu Yunqiu in astonishment.

"We might have been exposed." Lu Minghui lowered his voice. "Matsui studied medicine. Lu Xuzhang could see it, so Matsui naturally can too."