Chapter 1: The Showdown

October 1, 1925 of the Republic Era.

Zhang Anping and Zeng Moyi arrived in Shanghai.

Compared to the ancient capital of Nanjing with its six dynasties, the vast metropolis of Shanghai, spanning five hundred square kilometers, possessed a much stronger modern atmosphere (well, the modern atmosphere of the Republic period). Zeng Moyi, visiting Shanghai for the first time, could not help but exclaim:

"Is this the legendary Great Shanghai? When will the cities of our country all become like this!"

Shanghai, with its forest of high-rise buildings, had such a massive impact on her that she could not help but daydream.

Perhaps her murmurs sounded too much like a daydream, as someone nearby sneered: "In your dreams! Other places will never become like Shanghai."

Zhang Anping glanced at the person who had mocked her.

He was dressed like an ordinary urban citizen, exuding an inexplicable sense of pride.

Zhang Anping responded to the mockery with a triple affirmation: "Right, right, right."

Zeng Moyi did not catch the hidden sarcasm in Zhang Anping's triple affirmation, but she was displeased to see someone speak so ill of her own country. Just as she was about to snap back angrily, Zhang Anping pulled her away.

She shook off Zhang Anping's hand and demanded: "Do you also think our country can never get better?"

"Never argue with a fool, because they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with their wealth of experience."

Zeng Moyi's anger vanished instantly. The man who had been called a fool grew furious and wanted to argue with Zhang Anping, only to find that Zhang Anping had already led Zeng Moyi away and disappeared.

Having played a trick on that annoying fellow, Zeng Moyi felt immensely cheerful. She looked at Zhang Anping and said with a smile: "I didn't expect you to be such a person!"

Zhang Anping smiled and said: "This era is full of people lacking self-confidence; you simply can't argue with them!"

"By the way, to answer your question from earlier—"

"If nothing goes wrong, you will definitely live to see every city in our country become like this!"

"No, even better than what you see now!"

In the eyes of people today, modern Shanghai already appeared exceptionally grand and magnificent, but they could never imagine that in the future, Shanghai's area would be more than twelve and a half times larger than it was right now!

The people of today certainly could not imagine that even a small county town in future China would be lined with towering skyscrapers and bustling with traffic—occasionally even having license plate number restrictions for its overflowing vehicles!

Zeng Moyi could not help but let her imagination run wild, murmuring softly: "Really?"

Zhang Anping did not answer.

Because it was real!

He had witnessed and experienced it with his own eyes.

The reason such a prosperous era of the future could emerge was because there were tens of thousands of revolutionary martyrs just like the young woman before him, who faced death unflinchingly for the sake of their faith!

However, before witnessing that kind of prosperous era, their suffering yet great motherland still had to endure several trials of baptism by fire.

Zhang Anping thought to himself:

It is my utmost honor to fight shoulder to shoulder with you.

...

Zhang Anping brought Zeng Moyi to the rented apartment his parents had purchased.

Some of the familiar neighbors were gone once again, and the familiar faces were becoming increasingly scarce. Zhang Anping sighed inwardly. At a time like this, bustling Shanghai ultimately did not belong to the common people!

Returning home, he pushed open the door and looked at the room he had tidied up before leaving over two months ago. A nostalgic smile appeared on Zhang Anping's face, and then he said to Zeng Moyi:

"Find a place to sit first, I'll clean up."

Zeng Moyi looked at Zhang Anping in astonishment. Weren't these words supposed to be the other way around?

However, Zhang Anping had already rolled up his sleeves and busied himself. Zeng Moyi dropped her luggage and took the initiative to help, which caused Zhang Anping to sigh emotionally.

He had almost forgotten that this was the Republic era, not later generations, and a "wife" did not need to be pampered quite like that.

The items around the house were put back into their proper places one by one, but when it came to making the bed, Zeng Moyi's pretty face blushed.

Seeing Zhang Anping calmly making the bed, she whispered, "You sleep on the bed from now on, and I'll sleep on the floor."

Zhang Anping chuckled upon hearing this.

He remembered back in college when a fellow from Sichuan proudly boasted that his family had a very tough tradition, and if his wife ever pissed him off, he would make her sleep on the couch—only for Zhang Anping to discover when he visited his roommate's home during a vacation that the poor guy had already been sleeping on the couch for three days looking utterly aggrieved.

And the reason was simply that he hadn't taken his wife's fierce threats seriously...

Seeing Zhang Anping snicker secretly, Zeng Moyi grew vigilant, thinking he was up to no good, and instinctively took a step back toward her luggage, where she had hidden a dagger inside the suitcase.

Noticing Zeng Moyi's small movement, Zhang Anping chuckled inwardly, but kept a completely straight face as he said:

"I used to have a small cot right over there. Later, after my uncle came to stay, my dad took the cot away, and every day my uncle and I slept on floor mats together. Therefore, please don't rob me of the wonderful privilege of sleeping on the floor. If not for the camaraderie we forged sleeping on the floor back then, I might still be a trainee at the Special Training Class, just like Xu Zhongyi and the others."

Zeng Moyi never expected such a backstory and could not help but secretly admire Zhang Guanfu—not everyone could pull off something like that.

She had never heard a single person at headquarters mention that Zhang Guanfu had the grace of sheltering the director.

Taking advantage of Zeng Moyi's momentary distraction, Zhang Anping had already finished making the bed. He lowered his voice and said, "These floor mats are usually stored separately in the cabinet, and we just lay them out when needed. My quilt will just have to go together with yours."

Zeng Moyi felt a bit ashamed, as this should have been entirely her duty.

Recovering from her daze, she hurriedly said, "I'll go to the kitchen and cook."

She had to show her worth, otherwise she would really just be a kept lady of leisure...

Zhang Anping stopped her, gesturing for Zeng Moyi to sit down first, and then seated himself directly across from her.

He had to lay his cards on the table. If he kept hiding things, there would be far too many restrictions in the future.

Without a doubt, among the three candidate liaisons, he could only choose Zeng Moyi.

Firstly, they were publicly playing the role of a married couple, making her much more convenient and safer as his liaison. As for betrayal?

That was impossible. The brutal tortures of the Military Statistics Bureau hadn't managed to pry a single syllable out of Zeng Moyi; how could she possibly betray them?

Secondly, if all went well, the Special Action Group would continue operating actively on the enemy's front lines in Shanghai until the end of the War of Resistance—over such a long period of time, too many constraints would arise without complete honesty and transparency.

Zeng Moyi assumed Zhang Anping wanted to talk about work-related matters, so she straightened her posture and waited for him to speak.

However, when Zhang Anping finally spoke, she was completely dumbfounded.

Because Zhang Anping said:

"The weather looks fine today; I suppose it won't rain, especially not a heavy rain."

This was the code phrase for her to make contact with her new superior!

Hearing these words come out of Zhang Anping's mouth, her very first reaction was:

It's over, her superior had been arrested by him!

Zeng Moyi's brain raced frantically as she desperately brainstormed countermeasures.

Zhang Anping stared at Zeng Moyi with a calm gaze, knowing full well that the young woman must be utterly bewildered right now.

Within just a few seconds, Zeng Moyi had formulated several different contingency plans, yet Zhang Anping's serene gaze gave her an inexplicable surge of courage. Gritting her teeth, she replied:

"I saw the morning glow this early morning. I remember old folks often say that morning glow means you shouldn't go out, while evening glow means traveling a thousand miles; seeing morning glow definitely means heavy rain is coming."

Zhang Anping immediately countered: "Morning glow shouldn't make you go out, evening glow means traveling a thousand miles? Shouldn't the second half be 'rain if the mountains wear hats, no rain halfway up the hillside'? Though I doubt that saying is always accurate."

Zeng Moyi retorted: "Things passed down by our ancestors are definitely not wrong."

"That's not very scientific; for weather forecasts, we still have to listen to the Air Force's meteorological reconnaissance."

"How about we make a bet? Whoever wins gets to treat the other to a meal." After saying this, Zeng Moyi held her breath, awaiting the final verdict.

She had wondered if her superior might be someone else within the Special Group—because "Old Bai" hadn't specified a meeting place, only giving her the code phrase, making it clear that the other party would come looking for her.

And the fact that someone could find her in Shanghai meant it was highly likely to be a member of the Special Group.

Yet she never could have imagined that this exact code phrase would come out of the mouth of her fake husband!

Remembering "Old Bai's" assessment of Zhang Anping, how could she not feel anxious?

However, since Zhang Anping had already spoken the code phrase, after weighing her options multiple times, she chose to follow through with it.

Zhang Anping knew the young woman was nervous. After completing the code phrase, he whispered, "Comrade Zeng Moyi, quite a surprise, isn't it? You didn't expect your superior to be me, did you?"

Saying this, Zhang Anping suddenly thought of Ming Tai.

The kid only realized his eldest brother was his superior *after* trying to "assassinate" him, and met his underground superior on the rooftop only to discover that his superior was also his eldest brother!

That was a quintessential drama of "your big brother will always be your big brother"!

Zeng Moyi did not face the grim blade of betrayal as she had feared; her hanging heart finally dropped back into place. Looking at the handsome face before her, she stammered incoherently: "What a surprise, I never expected you to be a comrade of our own! Comrade Zhang Anping, I am so excited! You hide your identity so deeply!"

"Remember, the face an exceptional intelligence agent presents to the world will never be their true self."

Zhang Anping took the opportunity to lecture Zeng Moyi a little—the girl had come to his house last night yet failed to recognize that his mother was the middle-aged auntie he had bumped into several times over the past few days; her vigilance was simply too poor!

Zeng Moyi didn't really absorb Zhang Anping's words; she was still floating on a wave of excitement.

She thought to herself: Uncle Yuan, I suggested to you whether we could develop Zhang Shihao into one of our own, but after investigating him, you told me he was a die-hard secret agent! You could never have imagined he's actually one of us!

Ah, the surname Yuan was indeed the real surname of her superior "Old Bai."

Seeing that Zeng Moyi was still somewhat worked up, Zhang Anping smiled and said, "It actually seemed to rain on the road today. Looks like I lost the bet—isn't it your turn to treat?"

"My treat, my treat." Zeng Moyi beamed with a brilliantly radiant smile.

There is no greater happiness during a life of undercover work than discovering that your partner shares the exact same unwavering faith!

If Zhang Anping knew what she was thinking, he certainly would have told her that there was something even happier than this:

Being in a life of undercover work and fighting shoulder to shoulder with a whole group of your own comrades.

Zhang Anping's ultimate goal was to attend a meeting of the Military Statistics Bureau's Shanghai Special Group one day and announce: There is a Nationalist among us...

...

Compared to the wonderful moods of Zeng Moyi and Zhang Anping, Chen Moqun was currently driven to absolute distraction.

He had taken custody of the captured liaison Wang Zhi from the Nanjing Inspectorate. On the drive back to Shanghai, the rookie he had brought along from the Special Training Class used crude interrogation methods to easily crack Wang Zhi's mouth.

A huge fish was thus revealed right before Chen Moqun's eyes:

The Shanghai underground sector's mole codenamed "The Postman," along with the Postman's sole contact "A Mu."

There was also the contact point for "A Mu" (Li Muqing), which was Xinyuan Bookstore located on Fuyou Road.

The Postman, who had tormented and eluded him for four whole years, was closer to being caught than ever before!

For the sake of secrecy and security, Chen Moqun did not notify the Shanghai sector, choosing instead to make the capture himself—he drove like a madman, speeding all the way from Nanjing to Shanghai before nightfall, and took his car straight to Xinyuan Bookstore on Fuyou Road.

What drove Chen Moqun insane, however, was that upon arrival, the bookstore was actually closed!

After making inquiries with the neighbors, he learned that the bookstore had been closed for three full days.

Chen Moqun calculated the timeline: didn't this mean the Communists had received word just one day after Wang Zhi was arrested?

He gritted his teeth and squeezed out five words from between his lips:

"The Nanjing Inspectorate!"

He firmly believed that something had gone wrong at the Nanjing Inspectorate, causing the intelligence about Wang Zhi's arrest to leak out.

He wished he could rush back to Nanjing right this second and beat the bunch of good-for-nothings at the Inspectorate to a pulp. If not for the intelligence leak, he would have caught the Postman who had been making a fool of the Shanghai sector for four whole years!

After the wave of anger subsided, Chen Moqun remembered the guarantees he had made right in front of the Director.

He was in deep trouble...

Only then did Chen Moqun realize that having failed to catch the big fish, once the higher-ups started holding people accountable, his troubles would be massive.