Chapter 16: Zhang Anping's Ruthlessness!

Morning.

Zhang Anping, the mattress-sleeper, woke up and briskly tidied away his makeshift bedding.

After washing up, he headed downstairs to buy breakfast for two, taking the opportunity to pick up three newspapers as well. In future generations, one could simply swipe a phone on the toilet to catch up on current events, but in this era, newspapers were the sole medium for finding out what was happening around you.

Returning home, he left one portion for Zeng Mengyi on the table, then sat down to eat while reading the newspaper.

[Shootout at the East Asia Tongwen Scholastic Institute in Xujiahui Last Night!]

A news headline immediately caught Zhang Anping's eye.

"The Shanghai Branch is making its move already?"

Zhang Anping was speechless. Couldn't you guys have waited a couple more days?

I'm in no rush!

He began to read the article carefully.

The gist of the report was that last night, unidentified armed personnel attacked the East Asia Tongwen Scholastic Institute, engaging in a firefight with the campus guards. The unidentified militants ultimately set fire to one of the academic buildings.

However, towards the end of the report, it mentioned:

As the firefight concluded, a total of four unidentified armed individuals were captured by the campus guards. Yet, just as the guards were preparing to escort the prisoners away, another faction of armed militants ambushed the guards. This final assault resulted in the deaths of multiple campus guards, and the four captured militants were caught in the crossfire and killed.

The phrasing in this newspaper was acceptable enough, but another newspaper directly labeled the final firefight as a silencing operation.

After finishing the articles, Zhang Anping couldn't help but sigh.

People in later generations always complained about foreign pawns and traitors, but 500 silver dollars in this era was actually an even greater sum. Just look at this newspaper—you are supposed to be a Chinese newspaper, yet simply because the East Asia Tongwen Scholastic Institute was a so-called "university," you went ahead and characterized the attackers as the bad guys?

You even stated in print that the final operation was a silencing operation, so why don't you use your brains for a moment? Why would anyone attack a "university" for no reason at all?

Done cursing the politically compromised newspapers, Zhang Anping turned his frustration onto the Shanghai Branch.

As the saying goes, an incompetent general exhausts three armies. Sometimes, an incompetent general doesn't mean the commander lacks ability; rather, it means the commander's judgment is blinded by personal greed!

Chen Moqun was a prime example of this!

For the sake of his own status, he disregarded the lives of his subordinates and rushed into a premature operation—anyone could tell with their eyes closed that this operation was carried out in haste. If only they had given themselves a bit more time to prepare on domestic soil, things wouldn't have come to this!

How could it have come to this!

What left Zhang Anping most speechless was the silencing of the captives.

He could guess with his eyes closed that the ones executing the silencing operation must have been the headquarters elite brought along by his maternal uncle.

He had long been aware of his uncle's ruthlessness, but actually seeing four operational agents from the Shanghai Branch fall under the gunfire of their own people still sent a chill down his spine.

Granted, he himself was the instigator behind the scenes, but still...

Zhang Anping let out a long sigh. Some things were simply inevitable; thinking about them was a waste of time!

Zeng Mengyi woke up at some point. Seeing Zhang Anping let out a heavy sigh, she asked, "Anping, what happened?"

"The Shanghai Branch couldn't hold back last night. They launched an attack on the East Asia Tongwen Scholastic Institute. The travel reports were probably all burned, but four men were captured alive in the end. That man took advantage of the chaos to send people in to silence them, and all four captives were shot dead."

Zeng Mengyi fell silent.

Hearing about one's own side silencing their own people instinctively sent a chill through her.

Composing his thoughts, Zhang Anping said, "Get ready! That man is likely going to perform major surgery on the Shanghai Branch today, and we'll probably have to be there."

Zhang Anping's guess was spot on. The moment the two stepped outside, they ran into Chen Ming, who was waiting for them.

Chen Ming hurried over, reporting as they walked and recounting everything that had happened at the East Asia Tongwen Scholastic Institute the night before. As a rookie, his words were filled with a reverence for his instructor that flowed like the Yellow River.

Because everything last night had played out precisely according to the script Zhang Anping had predicted, the Shanghai Branch had used as many as 13 lives to prove his instructor's brilliance!

At the end, Chen Ming couldn't help but boast a little about Xu Zhongyi.

Listening to Chen Ming describe how Xu Zhongyi had brazenly "pulled the wool over the eyes" of the Director, Zeng Mengyi couldn't help but admire Xu Zhongyi's courage—currently, ninety-nine percent of the personnel in the Secret Service wouldn't dare fabricate reports in front of the Director. She never expected Xu Zhongyi to tell such blatant "tall tales" purely for his instructor's sake.

Zhang Anping, however, didn't find it strange at all.

Just how formidable was Xu Zhongyi?

He was Li Weigong's student and subordinate, yet he had teamed up with Qi Siyuan and Qi Gongzi to drive his own teacher to his death—cough, cough, together they drove Li Weigong to his demise. The twists and turns of that drama were probably something only Li Weigong, who had been forced to swallow poison at the time, could truly appreciate.

Therefore, this was naturally standard operating procedure for Xu Zhongyi, nothing worth praising—if anyone deserved praise, it was his teacher for training him so well.

Finally, Chen Ming conveyed Director Dai's orders.

"Alright, I understand. Over the next few days, focus on gathering intelligence regarding the East Asia Tongwen Scholastic Institute, and make sure not to wander into the Japanese sector of the International Settlement."

...

At the Shanghai Branch, Wang Shi'an stood before the desk sweating profusely, keeping his head lowered and not daring to look up.

For no other reason than because the person sitting behind the desk was the founder of the Secret Service, Director Dai, who had just ousted Chen Moqun.

Behind Wang Shi'an stood a group of mid-level officers from the Shanghai Branch. Their situation was no better; every single one of them hung their heads low, terrified that the Director's wrath might fall upon them the very next second.

And what one fears the most always happens.

Bang!

Director Dai slammed his palm onto the desk, causing everyone in the station chief's office to shiver in unison.

"With a monthly budget close to ten thousand dollars, is this a nest of good-for-nothing parasites I've been feeding? You can't catch the Communists, and when you burn down a single Japanese building, you manage to get six of your own men captured!"

"Tell me, is there even any reason for a Shanghai Branch like this to continue existing?!"

Director Dai's words terrified everyone from the Shanghai Branch. Were they about to have their branch dissolved?

The trace of secret delight in Wang Shi'an's heart vanished without a trace at this statement.

He had originally thought he would naturally step up to succeed the position, but he never expected the Director to start questioning whether the Shanghai Branch even needed to exist.

Just as the middle and upper management of the Shanghai Branch were trembling with anxiety, Director Dai suddenly shouted:

"Wang Shi'an!"

"Sir, present," Wang Shi'an snapped his heels together, though he still dared not raise his bowed head.

Director Dai looked at Wang Shi'an, whose attitude was dripping with extreme subservience, and said coldly:

"From now on, the Shanghai Branch is dissolved and reorganized into a station! You will temporarily act as the station chief in the capacity of deputy station chief, taking charge of all operations for the Shanghai Station!"

"Four months!"

"Within four months, I want to see results in anti-Communist or anti-Japanese operations! If there are no results, pack your bags and get lost in the logistics department!"

Wang Shi'an was startled. Results expected in four months?

Wasn't this going to cost him his old life!

Yet facing the stern-faced Director, he dared not voice any objections and could only gingerly accept this hot potato—he had dreamed of this for years, but now that the branch had been reorganized into a station, he, the deputy station chief, had truly become just a deputy station chief.

Previously, the Shanghai Branch was an organization equivalent to a provincial branch of the Secret Service. Although the top official was called the station chief, he enjoyed the treatment of a branch director (a provincial branch of the Secret Service being a "branch").

"Your benefits and treatment will temporarily remain unchanged." Director Dai looked toward the shivering group of mid-level officers from the Shanghai Station, his tone softening slightly: "In the past, it was Chen Moqun who was incompetent, but now the duties of station chief are temporarily being handled by Wang Shi'an. I hope that under Wang Shi'an's leadership, you can all submit a satisfactory answer to headquarters."

"Yes!"

"Dismissed—Wang Shi'an, stay behind!"

Wang Shi'an, who had thought he was temporarily off the hook, froze in place, thinking to himself: *I'm not about to get beaten up, am I? Surely not! Surely not!*

Once the middle managers had cleared the room, Director Dai turned his gaze to Wang Shi'an:

"Wang Shi'an, Chen Moqun will take the blame for his own actions; I won't implicate others. But can you deliver a passing grade to me?"

Wang Shi'an answered cautiously, "This subordinate... will certainly do his utmost, and will gladly sacrifice his life if necessary."

"I'm giving you a chance!"

Director Dai tossed a file onto the desk and said, "'Basalt' is a senior spy planted in our service by the Communists! Yet his true identity is actually a high-level deep-cover agent of our own! He was reactivated by the Communists yesterday—this is his file. I'm handing him over to you. Four months! If I don't see results in four months, you can figure out a more dignified outcome for yourself!"

Wang Shi'an, who had nearly been driven to despair, was suddenly overwhelmed with wild joy.

The Director actually had such a thick nail driven into the enemy's ranks!

"Report to the Director! This subordinate is willing to die in the line of duty for you, and will shatter bones and scatter brains without hesitation!" This time, Wang Shi'an's declaration of loyalty was exceptionally resolute.

Director Dai, however, merely waved his hand.

"I don't want to hear what I want to hear; I want to see results. Alright, you are dismissed."

Suppressing his excitement, Wang Shi'an bowed respectfully and backed out of the office.

Watching Wang Shi'an retreat, Director Dai revealed a subtle, hard-to-detect smile.

This was Director Dai's art of subordination; he hoped Wang Shi'an would bring him a massive surprise.

At that moment, his secretary stepped in and said in a low voice, "Director, Section Chief Zhang is here."

"Send him in."

When Zhang Anping entered with the secretary's permission, he was met with his maternal uncle's half-smiling gaze.

Zhang Anping's shoulders slumped immediately, and he said listlessly:

"Uncle, you didn't happen to come all this way just to watch me make a fool of myself, did you?"

"What do you think?"

Zhang Anping slumped dejectedly onto the sofa and muttered, "I've disappointed you."

"You can't even handle a little setback like this?" His uncle put away his smile and looked at Zhang Anping sternly: "In this line of work, failure is a common occurrence. If everyone reacted like you and lost their fighting spirit after a single failure, how would anything ever get done?"

"It's easy for you to say. You weren't the one who had someone else blindly barge in and hijack your operation," Zhang Anping said resentfully. "I just don't understand why they had to muscle in on my assignment in the first place? And even if I concede a thousand steps and accept that they took over, they could at least have taken the job seriously!"

"Just to snatch the credit, they completely disregarded basic operational risks! Why? A dozen human lives, just thrown away like that?"

Zhang Anping's anger matched the emotional reaction of a young man encountering such a situation, and his uncle could understand—after all, his nephew had studied abroad and ultimately only learned how to play dirty against the enemy, never realizing that when dealing with one's own people, the methods often needed to be even dirtier.

However, he didn't plan to spell it out, because certain realizations had to be experienced slowly over time; having others teach you was useless!

"Alright, stop complaining. You did a fantastic job this time. I'm recording a top-tier merit for the Special Section!"

Zhang Anping shook his head. "Uncle, merits and rewards are whatever they are; I'm just upset in my heart."

"I'm taking all the people away anyway, what are you still upset about?"

"That was just him getting what he deserved!" Zhang Anping retorted bitterly.

Director Dai chuckled, then said, "Seeing my boy looking so dejected, as your uncle, I suppose I'd better think of a way to console you."

Hearing this, Zhang Anping maintained his weary, lazy posture.

Knowing that his nephew was all ears, Director Dai didn't scold him, but instead said:

"I have two clues in my hands. The first one should be related to a mole planted inside the Shanghai Branch—er, the Shanghai Station. The second one is related to a wealthy tycoon who sympathizes with the Communists. Do you want to hear them?"

"I'm all ears!" Zhang Anping instantly perked up.

"Which one do you want to hear?" His uncle smiled, looking at him.

"Children only make multiple-choice questions! Adults naturally want both! Uncle, stop leaving me in suspense, let's hear them! The bullet production line intelligence you tossed my way last time has only yielded the tiniest sliver of a lead so far. Who knows, these two clues of yours might bring me some unexpected harvests!"

Seeing Zhang Anping full of enthusiasm, his uncle continued:

"It has been confirmed that there is a mole with the codename 'Postman' inside the Shanghai Station. I've handed the case over to Wang Shi'an to investigate, but I'm not sure if he'll actually find anything—I'm giving this case to you to investigate as well."

Hearing this, Zhang Anping turned his head away in dissatisfaction and said, "There's no way to investigate this! The Shanghai Branch—uh, the Shanghai Station is completely off-limits for me to investigate! I only have seven little rookies in my hands; the odds of us sniffing out the Postman are pitifully small! Uncle, you aren't giving me a helping hand here, you're kicking me down a well!"

His uncle laughed in amusement, then dropped a bombshell out of nowhere: "Li Ya—he is a Communist."

"Impossible!" Zhang Anping immediately leaped to his feet:

"During the special training class vetting process, the background check section was under my command! Li Ya's file had some minor doubts, and I sent it back to have the Jiangxi Station investigate. They replied that they had checked it three rounds and confirmed everything was fine!"

"Don't get excited, let me finish!" His uncle glared at the fiercely reactive Zhang Anping and said slowly:

"To be precise, Li Ya is our man! He is an undercover agent we planted inside the Communist ranks, and because of his outstanding performance, he was sent by the Communists to infiltrate our training class as a mole!"

"Huh?" Zhang Anping's eyes widened, and it took him a moment to squeeze out a single word: "Damn."

"His codename on the Communist side is Basalt—and I've currently handed him over to Wang Shi'an."

"Uncle! My dearest uncle, Li Ya is my nearest and dearest student. As his teacher, I feel I'm the most suitable person to be his handler!"

Zhang Anping put on a show of acting cute.

"Stop!" His uncle was utterly speechless at Zhang Anping's antics. After halting him, he said, "I'll give you a written order. Li Ya will be under your direct command. You will use Li Ya's position to investigate the Shanghai Station! I want to see what kind of waves that monster hiding in the Shanghai Station stirs up after Chen Moqun leaves!"

"Uncle, you mean that on the surface Li Ya takes orders from Wang Shi'an, but his actual handler is me—and I will use the opportunity of Wang Shi'an heavily employing Li Ya to see the true situation inside the Shanghai Station through him? And incidentally root out the Postman?"

Zhang Anping asked rhetorically.

His uncle nodded, expressing approval of Zhang Anping's comprehension skills.

"This job is no problem."

After giving his guarantee, Zhang Anping turned solemn and said, "I also want to see just who is stirring up trouble inside the Shanghai Station!"

His uncle was even more satisfied.

His nephew held an attitude of absolute zero tolerance toward the Communists, and this stance gave him the greatest peace of mind.

"Let me tell you about the second clue." His uncle's expression grew heavy, and his voice dropped a few degrees as he said:

"According to reliable intelligence, over the past few years, someone has been consistently funding the underground party."

"Old Uncle, what kind of intelligence is that?" Zhang Anping asked with a bitter smile, though his heart skipped a beat.

"Shut up! Let me finish!"

After reprimanding him, his uncle said with a solemn expression:

"According to my intelligence, over the past few years, a wealthy merchant with the codename 'The Masses' has provided no less than 200,000 US dollars in funding to the underground party!"

"200,000 US dollars?"

Zhang Anping's eyes bulged, and after a few seconds, he said, "200,000 dollars to fund the Communists? Just how filthy rich must this bastard be! Uncle, are there any other clues? This person must be taken down! Make an example of them!"

His determination was absolute, but the greed in his eyes was equally obvious.

His uncle wasn't surprised; his nephew had never been interested in small money—he had long guessed that what interested his nephew was the big money.

Without a doubt, Zhang Anping's current reaction fit his expectations perfectly.

"There are none."

His uncle spread his hands. If there were any other clues, would I have bothered dumping this intelligence on you?

"None?" Zhang Anping wore a dumbfounded expression. "Uncle, how on earth are we supposed to investigate this!"

"Figure out a way to investigate! If you can root him out, I'll promote you to deputy station chief of the Shanghai Station!"

"Yes!"

Zhang Anping snapped to attention and saluted.

"Such a title-chaser!" His uncle scoffed playfully, while Zhang Anping just flashed a sheepish smile beside him.

...

Stepping out of the Shanghai Branch—now the Shanghai Station—Zhang Anping wore an expression of suppressed joy, yet his back was completely soaked in sweat.

He never expected that the alter ego "The Masses" would actually be exposed!

From the intelligence provided by his uncle, it could be determined that the problem didn't stem from Cen Anyan and the entire direct line under Old Cen; otherwise, the sum wouldn't just be over 200,000 US dollars!

This matter would simply have to be handed over to Sister Qian to investigate.

Pushing the exposure of his previous alias aside, Zhang Anping began to ponder over Li Ya.

It was quite a surprise that he had ended up becoming Li Ya's handler—his uncle's operational maneuver of letting him use Li Ya to investigate the Shanghai Station was truly brilliant!

So brilliant, in fact, that his original contingency plan couldn't be executed at all!

As an underground operative, getting involved in framing others was something one could never afford to touch.

Because once you touch it, even if you succeed temporarily, the moment the enemy catches on, you become a fully exposed wolf!

Therefore, the maneuver of turning himself into Li Ya's handler completely shattered Zhang Anping's plan to use Li Ya to frame a high-ranking official of the Shanghai Branch.

Unless he wanted to expose himself, he could never do such a thing.

Just give up like this, then?

Zhang Anping was unwilling.

Li Ya's overt line should not be allowed to maintain contact with the underground party indefinitely; he had to be eliminated—not necessarily through Li Ya's death, but potentially through Li Ya's exposure.

Yet if he exposed Li Ya's identity right now, the suspicion falling on him would simply be too heavy.

As an undercover agent, one must never enter the list of suspects. Once you enter it, unless you do nothing at all, any future suspicion will nail your identity as a mole into absolute certainty—in the secret service trade, being suspected once might be considered a coincidence, but being suspected twice means even if you are innocent, you are guilty.

Could he just give up such a golden opportunity?

Naturally, Zhang Anping was unwilling, so he racked his brains for a way to break the deadlock.

After pondering for a long time, a "flash of lightning" struck his mind, and an idea bubbled to the surface.

He couldn't actively frame others, but... what if someone else framed *him*?

What if, through Li Ya, Wang Shi'an discovered that *he* was the mole?

Once this thought surfaced in his mind, his inspiration flowed like an unstoppable flood, ideas continuously emerging.

Soon, a crude plan took shape in his mind, and he continuously ran simulations of the plan, refining it step by step.

The more refined it became, the more excited he grew.

It was viable!

Completely viable!

Suppressing his excitement, Zhang Anping reviewed his plan one more time.

If this plan went according to his design, the Shanghai Station would completely lose his uncle's trust!

And Wang Shi'an would meet a horrific end with no place to bury his bones!

"It's doable!"

Zhang Anping couldn't help clapping his hands together.

[I'll use myself as bait!]

[Let's pull off something big!]