A Republic-era tycoon started as a secretary at Tianjin Railway Station

The Tianjin Merchants' Guild Hall, built in the late Qing Dynasty, was originally a meeting place for merchants and financial professionals from the south.

After the Japanese devils arrived, this place became their property, a place where they plundered China's resources.

Following the victory in the War of Resistance against Japan, this place was seized by the Military Intelligence Bureau and converted into the Military Mediation Office at the beginning of this year.

At that moment, sunlight streamed through the window into a room in the west wing, shining directly on a pair of fingers whose knuckles had turned white from being clenched so tightly.

These hands belong to Zuo Lan!

Dressed in military uniform, she should have looked dashing and heroic, but at this moment her face showed an inappropriate sadness.

Facing the adventure that night, Zuo Lan was making her final plans.

She knew this meeting was a trap, but she had no other choice but to protect Yu Zecheng.

However, she had already made up her mind that she would only take a glimpse from afar and then leave, without having any contact with Mrs. Ma.

In this way, the enemy will only think that they have discovered something, and will not suspect Yu Zecheng.

"Ring ring..."

Just as she was repeatedly planning her actions for the evening, the phone in front of her suddenly rang, interrupting Zuo Lan's thoughts.

"Feed?"

Zuo Lan answered the phone casually.

"Left Blue?"

"I am who you are?"

Nowadays, telephones have a lot of static, which easily causes sound distortion, making people sound like they are talking inside a jar.

Therefore, Zuo Lan could only hear a deep male voice on the other end. Since the other person could call her name, she subconsciously assumed it was someone she knew.

"You've forced me to hide here and there now, so who do you think I am?"

"Ma Kui?"

Zuo Lan had only harmed Ma Kui during this period, so she immediately guessed the other party's identity.

"Haha, good that you remember. While I'm hiding here and there, you're still catching up with your old flame, living a very leisurely life!"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Zuo Lan remained silent, her mind in turmoil: How did Ma Kui know that Yu Zecheng had been here?

At the same time, he looked up and around, but all he could see was the Military Mediation Office's courtyard; he couldn't see anything else.

She immediately realized that Ma Kui must have been monitoring her near the Military Mediation Office and had seen Yu Zecheng come in.

But why is he spying on me? Is he planning to take revenge on me?

"Your life is mine. You'd better live well and wait for me to come and take it!"

Sure enough, Ma Kui's voice rang out again the next second, proving Zuo Lan's judgment correct.

When Ma Kui threatened her, Zuo Lan's first reaction was not to worry about her life, but to worry about what would happen if her phone call was being tapped.

She had already realized: it was normal for Ma Kui to want revenge on her, but if he really wanted revenge, why would he call in advance?

The only explanation is: the other party is recording!

If she says something wrong, her words will become the best evidence to clear Ma Kui of suspicion of being "Emei Peak".

Although it was a clumsy thing to do, since the people who wanted to kill him didn't care whether he was from "Emei Peak" or not, Ma Kui's brain circuits weren't normal, and he actually did something like this!

After all, Mrs. Ma knew that the station chief was taking bribes, but Ma Kui thought that the station chief was a briber!

This also explains the reason for the phone call.

Thinking of this, she immediately said seriously, "I understand, Comrade Ma Kui... I'll wait for you to come back!"

"Beep...beep..."

Sure enough, before Zuo Lan could finish speaking, the call was disconnected.

Looking at the phone that had been hung up, Zuo Lan breathed a sigh of relief, which further solidified her judgment.

When Ma Kui realized that he hadn't received the answer he wanted, he hung up the phone.

But what will Ma Kui do next now that he hasn't succeeded? Especially since Ma Kui is still watching him from all sides!

Thinking about this, Zuo Lan suddenly realized that she had underestimated the risks of her actions tonight.

She not only had to guard against the trap Li Ya had set for her, but also against Ma Kui, who was monitoring her from the vicinity!

As for not going at night, that's impossible!

To cover for Yu Zecheng, no matter what difficulties he encounters, he must go!

-----------------

At the same time, Hong Zhong walked out of a public telephone booth near the military mediation office.

In 46, Tianjin had very few telephone lines; they were generally reserved for the government, large companies, or wealthy individuals.

As for public telephone booths, they are extremely rare.

Most of these phone booths are simply telephone booths with dedicated staff on duty; coin-operated phone booths like the one Hong Zhong just used are very rare.

Fortunately, this area used to be the French Concession, which is why Hong Zhong found a phone booth in a short time.

Seeing that no one was paying attention, he quickly blended into the crowd. He had learned anti-tracking techniques in a training course years ago, and now he finally had a rare opportunity to put them into practice.

He coughed a few times, and speaking in a low voice made his throat a little uncomfortable.

It was clear that the person who had just called Zuo Lan was not Ma Kui, but Hong Zhong.

After realizing that he could not trust Zuo Lan, Hong Zhong thought of impersonating Ma Kui to make the threatening phone call.

This way, Zuo Lan would realize that Ma Kui was spying on her, while she could also hide herself, killing two birds with one stone.

Moreover, the surveillance equipment at the Military Mediation Office has already been removed by the BL Army, so my phone call will at most be monitored by the BL Army, but not by the Security Bureau.

Even if the BL army sensed something was wrong, they wouldn't ask Ma Kui to verify it!

After all, Ma Kui isn't actually "Emei Peak"!

Having resolved these matters, he went to the roadside and continued to hail a rickshaw to prepare for his departure.

However, at that moment, a familiar figure appeared in front of him again.

"Sir, where are you going? Shall I give you a ride?"

"Ali, what are you doing here?"

Hong Zhong recognized the man as Ali, the rickshaw puller who had just pulled him, and was surprised.

"You gave me so much extra money, I felt guilty taking it, so I thought you might need the car, and that's why I waited nearby!"

Ali scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly.

Looking at Ali, who had a somewhat simple and honest smile, Hong Zhong was startled.

Since there are very few telephone booths in Tianjin, if the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics knew that the call was made by Ma Kui, they would definitely be able to find out which telephone booth it was.

However, there are no surveillance cameras these days, so as long as you avoid people, the secret service won't find you.

However, Ali's good intentions backfired; he complained that the money he was given was too much and deliberately waited nearby.

If they are investigated in the future, this will be a living witness!

"Really? Thank you for your hard work, let's go!"

Hong Zhong suppressed his unease and calmly got into Ali's rickshaw.

"Are you still going to Racecourse Road, sir?"

Seeing that Hong Zhong hadn't refused him, Ali asked happily.

"yes!"

Hong Zhong said in a kind tone.

The other party is only suspicious at the moment, but doesn't know what they did.

In this situation, it would be too deliberate for me to go and silence them!

Moreover, he himself is not professional enough and cannot do this kind of thing.

Rather than doing that, I might as well get in the car first and find out what he saw before making a decision.