Anti-Japanese War Espionage: I Have an Omniscient Perspective

After leaving the secret hideout, Lin Rui was led by Team Leader Li, who deliberately took two turns in the alley before removing his hood.

"Go out this way, and you'll be on Avenue Joffre. Remember what I said."

Lin Rui nodded. "I'll remember everything."

He turned and walked out of the alley, into Xiafei Road, while Team Leader Li behind him disappeared into a tailor shop in the alley.

An hour later, Lin Rui returned to the Lianhua Film Studio on Belle Street.

Over the next two days, Lin Rui, following instructions from the Shanghai station, ceased reconnaissance of Yongfeng Village and focused all his energy on arranging the operation.

Actions must have a foothold, and also a safe haven to hide in case of problems.

Lin Rui was preparing all of this, at least he felt that this arrangement was more appropriate.

Therefore, he found two residences in the old alleyway on the southern section of Lüban Road.

One was a side room in a Shikumen alley, a one-bedroom apartment. The neighbors were ordinary people who ran small businesses. It was a place with people coming and going, but it was also the most secluded. So it was chosen as the place to stay.

The other location is at the entrance of Danshui Road, consisting of a small stilted house with a narrow alley behind the door, which is used as a safe house for emergency escape.

He didn't say much when renting the room and paid a month's worth of silver dollars directly. The landlord saw that he was quick to pay and, since there were refugees everywhere in the concession, he didn't ask about his identity.

Both houses were simply tidied up, with bedding and mattresses brought in, and some clean water and dry food hidden away. That was enough.

With everything arranged, Lin Rui spent his days at Lianhua Film Studio, chatting with Zhao Erzhu and Chen Shan about trivial matters at the studio, never mentioning the stronghold or the operation, and revealing no clue whatsoever.

That noon, he went out to buy something. Just as he reached the street corner opposite the film studio, he saw a vendor wearing a short jacket and carrying a cigarette box leaning against a sycamore tree, glancing at the entrance of the film studio out of the corner of his eye.

The man looked familiar. Lin Rui used his supernatural ability to see through the disguise and immediately realized that he was one of Team Leader Li's men, the same man who had come to make contact with him last time.

Lin Rui strolled over, and the cigarette vendor stood up and walked towards him: "Sir, would you like to buy a pack of cigarettes?"

"Give me a pack of Hademen." Lin Rui took out his money.

During the payment process, the two parties exchanged secret signals.

This time, Team Leader Li's men weren't as panicked as they were last time.

After exchanging the code, the vendor bent down to get his cigarette, then quickly slipped a folded piece of paper under the cigarette and into his palm, whispering, "At Shenshi (3-5 PM), look for the person wearing a felt hat and holding a black umbrella on the sycamore-lined path outside Gujiazhai Park. Your code for meeting him is on this paper." With that, he picked up his cigarette case and slowly walked towards the other end of Beile Street, as if he had just done an ordinary business transaction.

Lin Rui put away his cigarette, held the piece of paper in his palm, went back to his office at the film studio, took out his codebook, and deciphered the numerical code on it—it was the rendezvous code.

When it was late afternoon, he changed into a plain long gown, tucked a pistol into his pocket, and headed straight for Gu Family Residence Park.

Outside Gujiazhai Park, the plane tree path was covered with a layer of withered yellow leaves. Several refugees huddled under the trees, while French Concession police officers strolled slowly, occasionally shouting a few words of reprimand.

Lin Rui's gaze swept across the area and he quickly spotted the man, who was leaning against the thickest sycamore tree, wearing a gray felt hat and holding a folded black umbrella—the very symbol of the rendezvous.

The man was tall and straight. Although he was wearing an ordinary blue cotton jacket, he could not hide his capable air and his eyes and brows revealed a sharp edge.

Lin Rui walked slowly over and stopped three steps away from him, pretending to look at the patrol officers in the distance, and whispered the code: "Autumn leaves fall, where can we find our roots?"

The man turned his head, his gaze quickly sweeping over Lin Rui's body. Confirming that nothing was amiss, he replied in a deep voice, "The alley is deep and the road is long; one can find one's way by using an umbrella."

After exchanging the password, Lin Rui looked up at him and said, "There are too many people here, it's not a good place to talk. Come with me."

Zhou Zhitang nodded, tucked the black umbrella under his arm, raised his hand to press down his felt hat, and glanced around warily, following Lin Rui at a distance.

The two walked along Wutong Road towards the southern section of Lüban Road, then turned into a narrow old alley, and finally settled into the shikumen alley room where they stayed.

Lin Rui breathed a sigh of relief after closing the door and locking it, then turned to look at Zhou Zhitang. Zhou Zhitang first took off his felt hat, revealing his angular face, and went straight to the point: "Zhou Zhitang, district captain of the Shanghai Action Team of the Special Service Department, and former first company commander of the seventh brigade of the third detachment of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Action Committee."

"My surname is now Chen, but I can't reveal my specific identity according to station regulations." Lin Rui paused, sizing up the somewhat familiar-looking person in front of him, and added, "I used to work in vehicle management at the Qingpu training camp. You look familiar; didn't you come from the Qingpu training camp?"

Upon hearing this, the aloofness in Zhou Zhitang's eyes lessened, and he suddenly realized, "So it was you! Manager Lin from the Qingpu training camp, you used to drive for Deputy Director Yu, but then you suddenly disappeared."

"Later I was transferred to the Shanghai station of the Special Service. Let's sit down and talk slowly," Lin Rui replied, pulling out a stool and handing it to Zhou Zhitang.

The connection to the Qingpu training camp instantly dispelled the initial awkwardness and wariness between the two.

Zhou Zhitang pulled over a wooden chair and sat down, then took a sip of the bowl of water that Lin Rui had poured for him.

"I never expected to run into an acquaintance from the Qingpu training camp here. Not long after you left, I was transferred to the Third Detachment and ordered to block the Japanese army. However, we were quickly scattered. I led a few brothers across the Suzhou River and were incorporated into the action team. This time, I came here on orders from the station headquarters to carry out Lu Bohong's elimination mission."

When asked about business, Lin Rui recounted all the information he had gathered over the past few days without holding anything back: "Lu Bohong lives in apartment number 17 in Yongfeng Estate, a four-story building. There are Indian police officers and a Chinese doorman at the entrance of the alley. Every morning at 11:00 AM, a maid from the apartment goes out to buy groceries, walking through the alley to the nearby market. She goes alone, without any guards. At 4:00 PM, the police officers at the alley entrance change shifts, creating a three-minute gap, which is when security is at its lowest. In addition, there is a Japanese-owned grocery store diagonally opposite the entrance of Yongfeng Estate. It looks like a business, but in reality, there are Japanese informants there, always watching the alley entrance. I have seen Lu Bohong in person twice. He always comes and goes in a private car and never gets out. The guards clear the area first, so there is no chance for him to get close."

As he spoke, he used his finger to draw the general layout of Wing Fung Estate on the wooden table, his movements clear and organized.

Zhou Zhitang listened attentively, and after listening, he said in a deep voice, "I brought six men with me for this matter. They are all old brothers from the special operations team, and they are all capable and trustworthy. I think it's better not to go through all that trouble. We'll just disguise ourselves as vendors, stake out the alley entrance, and when his car comes, we'll stop it and shoot."

Lin Rui nodded: "If you have more people and more guns, it might not be impossible to succeed this way."

Zhou Zhitang nodded in agreement: "Yes. But we can't act now; we have to wait for orders from above. How about this, I'll go see my men tomorrow and sort out the weapons issue while I'm at it."

He didn't let Lin Rui come along, clearly still wary.

Lin Rui wasn't entirely at ease with him either, and was thinking of finding an opportunity to follow Zhou Zhitang to see if he was actually going to see his subordinates or if he had gone somewhere else.