Chapter 37: Leave It to Zhang Anping—Rest Easy

Zhang Anping brought Zeng Moyi to a Western restaurant on Taiping Road. Before entering, he stood under the restaurant's sign, staring at the words "Western Flavors" for half a minute. Zeng Moyi, confused, could only stand there foolishly with him.

"Let's go in." Zhang Anping snapped out of it, put on a smile, and gestured with gentlemanly grace for her to enter. Zeng Moyi stepped inside, looking slightly constrained.

After ordering, Zhang Anping’s gaze involuntarily fell upon Zeng Moyi’s face, and he drifted off into a trance for a long while. His mind was filled with memories from the beginning of "The Kite": Amidst the hurried footsteps of secret agents, she pasted the list of names onto the fan blades of the ventilation fan and, in those final moments, ignited a newspaper to fill the room with dense smoke. The scene shifted, and she, who had been slightly flustered just moments before, appeared in the Military Bureau’s torture chamber, screaming in agony. From beginning to end, she didn't have many lines, but after the gunshot, she left an indelible mark on his heart.

Facing Zhang Anping’s vacant stare, Zeng Moyi was initially somewhat alarmed, but she gradually realized that there was no appreciation, fervor, or the usual greed in his eyes—only an inexplicable sorrow and pity. This left her deeply puzzled. Finally, she forced herself to remain calm and said, "Don't you know it is very impolite to stare at a woman like that?"

Her voice brought Zhang Anping back to reality. Realizing he had been behaving inappropriately, he immediately bantered, "My apologies. I suddenly thought of an idiom."

"What idiom?" Zeng Moyi asked, curious.

Zhang Anping pretended to rack his brain and said deliberately, "What was it... something about 'beauty'? I can't seem to recall it for a moment! My brain!"

"Are you talking about 'beauty that is feast for the eyes'?" After saying it, Zeng Moyi realized what it meant and felt both embarrassed and angry, instinctively glaring at Zhang Anping. Just as she was about to label him a lecher, Zhang Anping said with a perfectly straight face, "Could it have been 'beautiful on the outside and intelligent on the inside'?"

Both are idioms used to compliment someone, but the latter was clearly more polite than the former. Zeng Moyi knew he was doing it on purpose; though she was less angry after his explanation, she still said with annoyance, "Section Chief Zhang, please have some self-respect."

"I only weigh about 140 pounds; that’s not particularly heavy."

Although it was a non-sequitur, the humorous response made Zeng Moyi, who was feigning annoyance, burst into a giggle. Once her composure broke, she could no longer pretend to be angry and said, "Section Chief Zhang, why are you so annoying when you talk?"

Zhang Anping said with a wronged expression, "I was just trying to ease your tension."

"Who said I was tense?" she retorted stubbornly.

"Alright, alright, it was me who was tense. My mistake," Zhang Anping immediately took the blame.

"That's more like it," Zeng Moyi said triumphantly, but then she suddenly realized that with just a few sentences, the man had made her drop her guard and reveal her true self. She instinctively raised her defenses again, but it was difficult to maintain that initial sense of caution.

Sensing the moment was right, Zhang Anping said, "I was just joking earlier, don't mind it. The Director wants us to pose as lovers. If I offend you in the near future, please be forgiving."

"This is my first time in the field. If I do anything wrong, please forgive me, Section Chief Zhang."

After they both spoke with forced formality, they couldn't help but laugh. Clearly, the previous atmosphere was better.

"Don't call me Section Chief Zhang anymore. Just call me Shijie. I'll call you Moyi, is that alright?"

"Shi... Jie?" Zeng Moyi felt uncomfortable saying it the first time, but she quickly grew accustomed to it.

By the end of the meal, they had gone from strangers to familiar friends—though they were still far from the requirement of being lovers. Seeing this, Zhang Anping invited her to a movie. After the film, seeing that it was still "early," Zeng Moyi suggested taking a stroll along Taiping Road. Zhang Anping had no objections, so they consciously broke the 70-centimeter safety distance and wandered down the street side by side.

Since his soul had transmigrated into this era during the September 18th Incident, Zhang Anping had never really taken a leisurely walk through the streets of this time. Walking shoulder to shoulder with Zeng Moyi, he felt a rare sense of relaxation. Perhaps it was because he knew the person beside him was his comrade.

As luck would have it, while they were strolling, Zhang Anping bumped into his mother. His mother knew what his disguised face looked like, so she recognized her "second son" in the crowd at a glance. Seeing her son out on a date with a woman, Wang Chunlian was so excited she nearly jumped; she had always said that if her son kept acting the way he did, it would be a miracle if he ever found a wife! But to avoid disturbing him, she kept quiet. However, curiosity eventually got the better of her, and she sneakily followed them, wanting to see how far their relationship had progressed.

Facing his mother's clumsy tailing, Zhang Anping found it difficult to act as if nothing was wrong. In the end, he had no choice but to intentionally cross paths with her three times while with Zeng Moyi. Wang Chunlian cursed her son as an ingrate under her breath, and although she was unwilling, she eventually gave up the chase. As for Zeng Moyi, she never noticed anything unusual the entire time.

*She really is still very green,* Zhang Anping thought, feeling an impulse to send Zeng Moyi to the special training class for a while.

Over the next three days, Zhang Anping arrived at headquarters after work as promised, picked up Zeng Moyi, and they would eat, watch movies, and stroll the streets. After four days of contact, they were finally able to walk leisurely on the street like a married couple.

...

On the fifth day, after Zhang Anping finished his lecture, he headed to headquarters as usual, but was stopped at the door by a guard: "Section Chief Zhang, the Director wants you to go directly to his office when you arrive."

Zhang Anping felt a jolt. Was it finally time to go to Shanghai? He adjusted his mood and told the guard, "If Zeng Moyi comes out, ask her to wait for me for a while."

"Got it," the guard said with a knowing smile. Zhang Anping tossed him a pack of cigarettes and stepped into the headquarters.

In the Director's office, Zhang Anping knocked and was given permission to enter. The Director was looking at several files—Zhang Anping had sharp eyes and immediately recognized them as the files of the special training class students—the ones he had handed to Chen Moqun.

Seeing Zhang Anping slump into the sofa lethargically without even pouring himself a glass of water, the Director snorted and said, "Do you know why I called you here?"

"To ship me off to Shanghai, I suppose."

Seeing Zhang Anping’s lazy demeanor, the Director said angrily, "Do you still look like a soldier?"

Zhang Anping immediately sat up straight, striking the pose of a model soldier. The Director felt helpless; if this guy wasn't satisfied, he would make sure you knew it in every way possible. He had been so sensible when he first arrived—how did he turn into such an old fox?

He stopped looking at Zhang Anping and said to himself, "The Shanghai district has had almost no results in counter-communism in recent years. Not long ago, they captured a Communist courier; even though only a few people knew about it in a limited circle, the target still managed to escape calmly during the arrest."

"Why do you think that is?"

Facing the question, Zhang Anping answered without a second thought: "A mole, obviously. No results for years—even a fool would know there's a mole!"

"A few days ago, the Inspection Department found a suspicious individual at the capital's railway station. After interrogation, it was confirmed that he was the Communist courier who had escaped from the Shanghai district. Chen Moqun from the Shanghai district came to me a few days ago, demanding the man, saying they had been tracking this line for a long time. Anping, do you think I should give him the man?"

Zhang Anping felt a chill inside. If a courier is arrested and the line they know isn't cut off quickly, a defection would cause serious losses. Since this courier had escaped from the Shanghai district, they must have been arranged to evacuate. Because the evacuation was already planned, the Party wouldn't have abandoned the lines the courier knew. Now that they were captured, a defection would inevitably lead to the destruction of both the upstream and downstream links.

This intelligence was vital! Zhang Anping was anxious, but he put on a look of disdain and said, "They've been tracking him for a long time and still let him slip through their fingers? And they've known there was a mole for so long but couldn't dig him out? Handing him over to them won't be of any use."

"Wait, Director, you don't mean to have me take over, do you?"

The Director ignored his question and asked, "If I let you take over, what would you do?"

"I think the Shanghai district should take over. Don't they have a mole? This is a great piece of bait; let them use it as an opportunity to investigate the mole! What would it look like for me to take over? The Shanghai district might think we don't trust them and start causing trouble." Zhang Anping changed his tone, acting as if he didn't want the trouble.

The Director was so amused by this that he laughed. "What if the Shanghai district can't root out the mole?"

Zhang Anping stared at the ceiling in silence.

"What did you say when you returned home? Didn't you say you wanted to help me? Is this your attitude toward helping? Can't bear to leave your training class?"

"Director, it's not that I can't bear to leave! To be honest, if you want to get things done, you need capable subordinates. Isn't that why I'm holed up in the training class, trying to cultivate a group of capable people? Give me some time to build a reliable team!"

Zhang Anping complained bitterly, "There are two systems in the training class: the retraining system and the training system. The field agents in the retraining system are supposed to be old hands—surely they shouldn't be clueless? Ha! It turns out they have a mountain of bad habits. They're just like me—they listen with an open mind to everything, but absolutely refuse to change!"

"You want me to take soldiers like that to catch Communists and handle Japanese spies? You might be at ease, but I certainly am not!"

"The recruits in the training system, although they've only been training for a month, are the ones who act like professional intelligence officers. Once they graduate and gain some experience, they'll be elite!"

"You tell me, with such a stark contrast, would I have water in my brain to lead a group of old foxes?"

The Director was speechless. So, you're finally telling the truth! But is the Secret Service really as bad as you say? He coughed and said, "You know, we grew by absorbing the Investigation Section of the Nanchang Field Headquarters. Most of these old foxes are veterans from the Investigation Section; their professional ability is indeed a bit lacking."

"The others aren't necessarily like that."

Zhang Anping hummed and hawed, looking as if he didn't trust them. The Director was also speechless. He had the same feeling—from the early secret investigation teams to the initial Secret Service, even though there were fewer people, they were highly efficient. Now that the agency had grown, it was less efficient. The most shameful thing was that a Japanese spy had blocked the door to take photos, and hardly anyone noticed!

"How about this: you form a special unit. You can pick any members you want. After you go to Shanghai, you report directly to headquarters. How's that?"

The Director had actually seen it for a long time: his nephew didn't like working under others. Looking at how he worked when he was in the preparatory office versus how he worked when teaching, one could see the difference in his attitude.

Zhang Anping still didn't look excited. "Who will be the team leader? Director, you have to assign a more mature senior."

"Let Xu Baichuan act as the team leader for now. Well, he's currently in charge of the training class and can't go to Shanghai yet. You will have full authority over the affairs of the Shanghai Special Unit for the time being. How's that?"

Zhang Anping could no longer hide his excitement. He shook off his lethargy and said in a resonant voice, "Yes!"

The Director shook his head, speechless. As expected, this kid just wanted to call his own shots. But he didn't really mind. Since Zhang Anping joined the Secret Service, he had been observing him. He could calmly serve as a guard and discover a Japanese spy taking photos during his shift; he had been diligent in establishing the training class and worked tirelessly once it started; he had helped him with several major tasks; and most importantly, he could withstand torture and handled the Jixing Photo Studio incident flawlessly. Well, although the Jixing Photo Studio incident didn't lead to a wider victory, the files were handled impeccably.

His only flaw was that he was becoming less and less like a subordinate in front of him—but that was something he had spoiled him into. After all, he was his nephew. When he was down on his luck in Shanghai, the nephew's family had taken him in, and they often slept together. If he became distant now, he wouldn't like it.

In short, he was one of his own, reliable, trustworthy, well-liked, and not arrogant. After observing him for over two months, it was time to give his nephew more responsibility. That was why he decided to let Zhang Anping lead a special unit.

Of course, there was another reason: the Director was very dissatisfied with the Shanghai district's performance in counter-communism over the past few years. In nearly four years, the number of Communists captured by the Shanghai district was extremely limited, and not a single important figure had been caught. Although the Shanghai district had been trying its best, they were now openly admitting they suspected a mole in the high-level ranks of the station.

The Director believed there was a "ghost" in the Shanghai district, but he suspected there was more than one—otherwise, how could they have had nothing to show for their efforts in four years? So, he planned to investigate the Shanghai district thoroughly. Sending someone directly there would easily provoke resistance, and due to the complex web of relationships, it might not yield results. After much thought, he decided to send Zhang Anping.

Firstly, Zhang Anping had no complex entanglements there. Secondly, his ability was no less than that of the veterans in the Secret Service. He wouldn't be interfered with by the Shanghai district, and being an outsider made it easier to see things clearly. Finally, his nephew needed to climb the ladder, and there was nothing more convenient than going into the field and achieving results.

Most importantly, regarding the bullet production line, he didn't trust the Shanghai district—which was good at nothing but asking for funds—to investigate it. His nephew's attitude toward anti-communism was resolute; leaving it to him was a relief.