Hidden Radiance

Southeast Trading Company, second floor, finance office.

Gu Yunqiu sat behind her desk, watching Lu Minghui push the door open and come in.

Lu Minghui pulled out a chair and sat down, pushing a letter of appointment stamped with the official seal of the Mei Agency to the center of the table.

"Sakata has stepped down." Lu Minghui's voice was calm. "Nakajima has given me full control of Chengda Company and the Sugi Project."

Gu Yunqiu's gaze fell on the letter of appointment. The red ink was glaring.

She suddenly stood up and placed her hands on the table.

"With Chengda Company in hand, all supply channels are open." Gu Yunqiu spoke faster, "The special raw materials for Unit 1644 are now right under your nose. We can cut them off at any time."

Lu Minghui did not laugh.

He raised his hand, pulled the letter of appointment back, folded it twice, and stuffed it into his pocket.

"You think Nakajima is an idiot?" Lu Minghui leaned back in his chair. "Why should he hand over the entire power to allocate resources in Shanghai to a Chinese person like me?"

Gu Yunqiu froze.

"He's still fishing." Lu Minghui tapped the table. "These past few days have been when Nakajima has been watching me the most closely. Chengda Company is a bottomless pit now, and the 1644 drug is the trap at the bottom. If I just reach out and touch it, or if your South Manchuria Railway Company specialist checks those ampoules again, the two of us won't even know how we died."

Gu Yunqiu sat back down in her chair, her back straight.

"So we're just going to watch?"

"Look." Lu Minghui stood up. "Not only do we have to look, we have to make him feel that we don't even want to look."

He turned and walked towards the door.

"Come with me to Chengda Company. Let's see the mess left behind by Sakata."

Gu Yunqiu didn't move.

"And then what?" Her voice trailed off from behind, low and menacing. "Will you watch the tragedy of Changde repeat itself?"

Lu Minghui stopped at the door frame. He didn't turn around.

"Live first."

Gu Yunqiu grabbed the briefcase from the table and followed him out.

14 Broadway Road. Chengda Company.

The general manager's office is on the third floor.

Sakata left in a hurry; the documents on the table were scattered and piled up, and half of the drawer was still open.

Lu Minghui stood in front of his desk, casually flipping through several inventory entry and exit registers. They were filled with alterations, falsified accounts, and blank receipts.

Gu Yunqiu stood to the side and glanced at the account pages.

"It's a complete mess," Gu Yunqiu said. "Not a single account in the three months' worth of books matches the actual goods. Nakajima wants to pin all these bad debts on Sakata, but he'll have to find someone to cover the actual losses."

Lu Minghui didn't reply. He picked up the phone receiver on the table and dialed.

After a few beeps, the call was connected.

"Mei Agency, Nakajima Advisor's Office."

"I am Lu Minghui." Lu Minghui's tone was slightly anxious. "Please speak to Section Chief Nakajima."

The call was transferred. Nakajima's voice came through.

"Minghui, how's your first day in office?"

"Section Chief," Lu Minghui sighed, "I can't handle Chengda Company's business."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"How so?" Nakajima asked.

"Colonel Sakata left behind a huge mess." Lu Minghui spoke quickly. "It involves all aspects of material allocation, warehousing, and transportation. When I was at No. 76, I was only in charge of confidential matters and intelligence. I could keep an eye on the issuance of counterfeit money, but I was completely clueless about the inflow and outflow of these military supplies. The accounts were full of holes, and I couldn't make sense of it at all."

Lu Minghui paused for a moment before revealing his trump card.

"Section Chief, I request that the Mei Agency send someone knowledgeable to assist me. Ideally, someone who can directly manage resource allocation. I'm only in charge of the economic warfare aspect of the Sugi Project."

Only a faint static could be heard on the other end of the phone.

Gu Yunqiu stood three steps away. She bit the inside of her lip, but didn't make a sound.

"Minghui, you're too modest," Nakajima finally spoke, his tone slightly more relaxed than before. "However, the allocation of supplies is indeed complicated and shouldn't take up too much of your energy. Your focus should be on issuing counterfeit currency."

The sound of Nakajima's fingers tapping on the table could be faintly heard through the telephone line.

"In that case, I'll send Major Ishihara over. He used to work in the logistics department of the Kwantung Army and knows about supplies. He'll be the deputy general manager of Chengda Company, specifically in charge of warehousing and transshipment. You'll oversee the overall situation."

"Thank you for your understanding, Section Chief." Lu Minghui's tone relaxed. "When will Major Ishihara arrive?"

"afternoon."

hang up the phone.

Lu Minghui put down the receiver.

Afternoon. The candidates were ready, the arrangements were ready. Nakajima handled that phone call perfectly smoothly.

Gu Yunqiu stepped forward.

"You're asking for people willingly?" Gu Yunqiu asked, "To hand over control of the supplies?"

"Instead of having Nakajima secretly send people to keep a close eye on me, it's better for him to openly send a trusted confidant." Lu Minghui took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and said, "Major Ishihara will be in charge of supplies. From now on, all supplies for 1644 will pass through Ishihara's hands. We won't touch them. Wherever Ishihara goes, the supplies will be there. If anything goes wrong, it will be Ishihara's problem."

Gu Yunqiu looked at him, loosening the strap of her briefcase slightly.

Lu Minghui exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Go and seal up the ledgers in the finance office. Wait until Shi Yuan takes over. You just need to manage the accounts."

One o'clock in the afternoon.

Lu Minghui walked to the printing workshop in the backyard of Chengda Company.

The machines roared. Stacks of counterfeit banknotes emerged from the assembly line, emitting a pungent smell of ink.

In the corner, a man in a long robe was recording data in a notebook.

Song Qingyuan.

Sakata collapsed too quickly, but Chengda's Chinese employees hadn't had time to be laid off. Song Qingyuan, wearing a technical consultant's badge, stayed behind along with the machines.

Lu Minghui walked over.

Song Qingyuan looked up and adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses.

"Director Lu." Song Qingyuan closed his notebook.

"You've got the steel mold, and you're still not gone?" Lu Minghui's voice drowned out the roar of the machines.

"The whole city is investigating the theft of the steel molds. If I leave the city now, I'll be courting death." Song Qingyuan smiled. "I might as well stay at Chengda Company and continue being my consultant."

Lu Minghui didn't move.

Song Qingyuan took out a newly printed counterfeit banknote from his pocket, held it between two fingers, and flicked it. The paper made a crisp sound.

"Director Lu has taken over Chengda." Song Qingyuan stepped closer. "The core of Project Shan now has two inside agents. It's time to wrap this up."

Lu Minghui took the counterfeit bill and rubbed the paper with his fingertips.

"How should we receive it?"

"Pull it out." Song Qingyuan's tone turned cold. "I found out the addresses of three counterfeit currency printing factories in Shanghai. Director Lu provided the security loopholes, and the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics sent an action team. In one night, they all went up in flames."

He paused for a moment.

"The higher-ups are pressing us urgently. Only when the steel mold is complete, along with the blown-up printing line, can the report be considered a complete victory."

Lu Minghui held the counterfeit banknote up to the light and examined it for a few seconds.

"Mr. Song, do you think Project Sugi will stop just because a few printing presses have been blown up?"

Song Qingyuan did not respond.

"The master copy is at the Noborito Research Institute in Kanagawa Prefecture. The specialty inks and paper are all imported from Japan." Lu Minghui put down the counterfeit money. "If you blow up the factory in Shanghai, Nakajima can open ten more in Nanjing and Hangzhou tomorrow."

Lu Minghui pinched the edge of the banknote with his fingers.

"Within a month, hundreds of millions of dollars in counterfeit currency flowed into the Kuomintang-controlled areas. Checkpoints, black markets, and banks along the way all allowed it to pass. Could it have been so smooth without inside cooperation?"

Song Qingyuan held the counterfeit bill, staring at the watermark. The printing workshop was filled with the deafening noise of the machines.

"Does Director Lu mean... someone in the Kuomintang-controlled area is providing assistance?"

"You know better than I do." Lu Minghui slapped the counterfeit money onto Song Qingyuan's chest.

Song Qingyuan rubbed his thumb on the watermark twice.

"Since we need to investigate internal channels, I need Director Lu to help me find out Chengda Company's delivery routes and contact list to the Nationalist-controlled areas."

"The list isn't with me." Lu Minghui turned and walked out of the workshop. "Sakata left in a hurry and didn't hand it over."

3 PM.

Chengda Company compound.

Three covered military trucks drove into the yard, their tires leaving water marks on the stone pavement.

The truck came to a stop. The door opened, and a man dressed in the uniform of a Japanese major jumped out. He was stocky, with a scar on his cheek that ran from the corner of his eye to his chin.

Major Ishihara.

Lu Minghui stood on the steps.

Ishihara didn't greet them first, but turned and waved at the truck. Two teams of fully armed military police jumped out of the back of the truck and quickly set up a cordon around Warehouse No. 3 on the left side of the yard.

All bystanders were driven away.

Lu Minghui walked down the steps. Gu Yunqiu followed behind.

"Major Ishihara," Lu Minghui said.

Ishihara turned around and glanced at Lu Minghui. He stood at attention and bowed his head.

"Director Lu," Ishihara's voice was hoarse, "I've come to take over the supplies warehouse on the orders of Section Chief Nakajima. Warehouse No. 3 will henceforth be a military restricted area; no one is allowed to approach without my authorization."

Lu Minghui glanced at Warehouse No. 3, which was surrounded by military police.

"Of course."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Director Lu." Ishihara looked directly at Lu Minghui.

"Leave the professional matters to the professionals. As for supplies, we're relying entirely on Major Ishihara. The ledgers are in the finance office; Specialist Gu will hand them over to you."

Lu Minghui turned and walked back into the building.

Gu Yunqiu stood still.

Ishihara directed the military police to carry heavy wooden crates into Warehouse No. 3. The crates were marked with tiny red skull and crossbones symbols.

Gu Yunqiu's gaze was fixed on that sign.

Her hands hung at her sides. A gust of wind blew, and the front of her Manchukuo uniform pressed against her chest, but she didn't move.

She didn't turn and walk into the building until the last wooden crate disappeared behind the warehouse's iron gate.

Lu Minghui stood behind the window in the second-floor corridor, looking at everything in the courtyard.

The iron gate to Warehouse No. 3 closed. The military police stood at attention with their guns.

Major Ishihara stood at the door, his hands behind his back, and surveyed the courtyard. His gaze lingered on the second-floor window for half a second.

Lu Minghui neither stepped back nor looked away.

The phone on the table rang.

Lu Minghui turned around and answered the call.

"Director Lu," came Nanzo Yunzi's voice, tinged with coldness, "Li Shiqun is dead, but his subordinate Lin Zhijiang is still alive. Lin Zhijiang just reported something to the Special Higher Police."

Lu Minghui held the receiver without moving.

"He said," Nanzo Yunzi paused, "that clerk at Tongji Pharmacy, he had a scar on his face. He thought he looked familiar."

Lu Minghui's left hand rested on the table. The static in the receiver suddenly became very loud.

"Mr. Minghui often goes to that pharmacy to buy medicine," Nanzo Yunzi said casually. "What's the shop assistant's name again?"

Lu Minghui gripped the receiver tightly, his knuckles turning white.

Outside the window, the military police in front of Warehouse No. 3 had changed shifts.

"Ah Bing," Lu Minghui's voice was flat, "His appearance was a bit unusual; I've always remembered him. Is there a problem?"

There was no sound on the other end of the phone.

Three seconds. Five seconds.

"No," said Nanzo Yunko.

beep--

Blind voice.

Lu Minghui put down the receiver, but his hand remained on the telephone.

He stood there, looking at his injured left hand on the table.