The story of Rose starts with being a brother

Chapter 485 Internet Disconnection (Final) - An O. Henry-esque Ending
After the rainy weather in Shanghai a few days ago, the sky finally cleared up again after the cold snap.

The afternoon sun hung above the roof of the Shanghai World Expo, adding warmth to the concrete ground of the rooftop.

Mr. Yi, who always travels with bodyguards by his side, appeared alone from the stairwell and walked unhurriedly from the shade into the sunlight.

Standing on the roof of this building, you can take in the entire view of Shanghai Beach.

A gentle breeze blew by, and Mr. Yi took a deep breath, as if to expel all the stale air from his chest.

He certainly didn't want to come alone, but if Zhang Xiaowei told the Japanese army that he was the protector behind the fraud park, he would be in big trouble.

After all, there are so many Japanese people in the park.

How did Zhang Xiaowei find out?

As Mr. Yi was pondering something and walking forward, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head and saw that there were actually two people standing in a pavilion not far away.

Guan Gu Miracle and Tang Xiaoyou!

At this moment, the two men also saw Mr. Yi, and their faces were also full of surprise.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Yi!" Guan Gu Qi Ji greeted him, still bleeding from his body.

There was a drawing board in front of him, and he looked like he was painting.

Tang Xiaoyou, standing to the side, was holding up an IV stand, but instead of an IV drip, she was holding a blood bag.

"Nephew, what are you doing here?" Just two days later, Tang Xiaoyou changed her previous righteous indignation and greeted her traitorous nephew in the same way.

"That's what I should be asking you," Mr. Yi said, his brow furrowed. "What are you doing here?"

"Drawing, can't you tell?"

Guan Gu Qi Ji explained for a moment, then said sincerely, "Mr. Yi, after that assassination attempt, I've realized that my dream is still to draw comics, rather than to commit fraud. So, I've already told Xiao You about it."

"What?! You told your aunt?!"

Mr. Yi was shocked, but Tang Youyou said casually, "What's the big deal? Anyway, the ones being scammed are those ruthless Japanese invaders and foreigners entrenched in our country. It just so happens that some of them have the same blood type as Guan Gu, so they can play a role in the end."

At this point, populist Tang Xiaoyou smiled and said, "Nephew, in this respect, you did do something decent."

"..."

Mr. Yi never expected things to develop this way, but then he realized something and quickly asked, "So you also told Zhang Xiaowei about this?"

"Who is Zhang Xiaowei?" Guan Gu Qi Ji was taken aback. "None of us told him."

"Zhang Xiaowei is the one who shot you!"

Mr. Yi immediately frowned: "If you didn't tell me, how did Zhang Xiaowei know? Could it be..."

Just as the answer was about to be revealed, a pistol was pressed against Mr. Yi's lower back.

The atmosphere suddenly froze. Mr. Yi did not turn around. Behind him, Zhang Xiaowei, dressed in a Zhongshan suit, walked out.

After swiftly removing the gun from his body, Zhang Xiaowei took out handcuffs and cuffed his hands.

"Quite efficient."

"I'm also an underground member."

Mr. Yi offered no resistance whatsoever, allowing them to handcuff his hands before chuckling, "You undercover agents are really interesting, always meeting on the rooftop."

“I’m not like you; I’m upright and honest,” Zhang Xiaowei said with a smile as he walked up to him.

Only then did Mr. Yi exclaim in surprise, "So you're not a one-eyed man after all."

"If I were one-eyed, would you still use my name to pick up girls?"

Zhang Xiaowei's eyes narrowed slightly, and he asked again, "Where is what I asked for?"

"You might not even bring what I need!"

In yesterday's phone call, the two agreed that one of them would bring the list of spies, and the other would bring evidence of fraud to make the deal.

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaowei smiled and said, "What do you mean? Did you come up here to sunbathe?"

"Give me a chance," Mr. Yi said after a second of silence.

"How can I give you a chance?"

"I didn't have a choice before, but now I want to be a good person."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaowei sneered and said, "A good person? Tell the people, and see if they'll let you be a good person?"

"That means I'll die."

"I'm sorry, I'm a good person."

"who knows?"

As soon as Mr. Yi finished speaking, Zhang Xiaowei raised his pistol and pointed it at his forehead.

On the rooftop of the Shanghai World Expo, the head of Shanghai's secret service was held at gunpoint by his former subordinate.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment. Guan Gu Qi Ji, who was watching this scene from the sidelines, was deeply shocked and couldn't help but sketch the scene.

"We're all just trying to make a living, why go to such extremes?"

Mr. Yi, with a gun pointed at his head, spoke calmly.

Zhang Xiaowei said without changing his expression, "Since you're in this business, you should know that this day would come sooner or later."

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Just when the atmosphere here was extremely tense, the group suddenly heard a strange sound.

Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw a section of the rooftop paving stones arching upwards. Then, they heard a loud crash as the arching stone suddenly collapsed.

A hole suddenly appeared on the rooftop.

Before anyone could think about it, a person with a face covered in dust suddenly emerged from the hole.

The other person shook the dust off their head, then used their hands to support themselves on the edge of the hole and climbed out.

"I knew it! I knew I could see the light of day again! Hahahaha!"

After digging for several days, Zeng Xian'er couldn't help but cry tears of joy when he saw the light, but he soon realized that something was wrong.

"Hey, how did digging a tunnel end up on the rooftop?"

“Dude, this isn’t just a simple matter of digging up to the rooftop.” Mr. Yi, who recognized Zeng Xian’er, spoke up at this moment, “How did you manage to dig from my headquarters’ prison to the Shanghai World Expo?”

"Hiss! I knew it! We had to go through several sewers while we were digging."

After careful consideration, Zeng Xian'er answered subconsciously.

Then he turned his head and immediately saw the situation in front of him.

At this moment, he remembered that he was still carrying out the plan to assassinate Mr. Yi, and immediately took out several throwing knives from his waistband, which he had sharpened from iron sheets on the way to the site.

As a Kuomintang assassin, he couldn't kill with a mere flick of a flower or a leaf, but with a little skill, certain tools could still be deadly weapons.

"Heaven rewards those who persevere. Mr. Yi, you will eventually die at the hands of our Military Intelligence Bureau."

"What? You, surnamed Zeng, are actually a member of the Military Intelligence Bureau?"

Just then, a voice came from the side. Zeng Xian'er turned her head and was so frightened that she dropped the throwing knife in her hand.

"Xiao Fei?"

Hu Xiaofei, dressed in an intellectual style with two braids, a painter's hat, and carrying something wrapped in a coat, walked out of the stairwell, raised her eyebrows, looked Zeng Xian'er up and down, and then smiled:
"Hey, what kind of show are you putting on? The story of the mole?"

Zeng Xian'er, her legs instinctively going weak, asked in fear, "Weren't you dead?"

"You're allowed to dig a tunnel all the way to the rooftop, but you're not allowed to crawl out of the grave?"

Hu Xiaofei's answer makes a lot of sense; the two of them are about the same level of absurdity.

At this moment, Hu Xiaofei returned to the main topic, squinting her eyes as she asked, "You just said you're a member of the Military Intelligence Bureau?"

“That’s right, I am Jellyfish, the top assassin of the Military Intelligence Bureau.” Zeng Xian’er picked up the throwing knife from the ground and said with great pride.

"Jellyfish? I think yeast is more like it!"

Hu Xiaofei scoffed disdainfully and said, "You call yourself the vice president of the student council, pretending to be a progressive youth, but behind the scenes you're actually a member of the Military Intelligence Bureau!"

"Then aren't you one of the Axe Gang's assassins too?"

"..."

A slight silence fell over the air as the two players tied again.

At this moment, Zeng Xian'er looked at Zhang Xiaowei, who was holding Mr. Yi hostage, and laughed loudly, "No matter what, Mr. Yi is now in the hands of our Military Intelligence Bureau. Brother, which group are you in?"

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaowei curled his lip and snorted: "Who's in cahoots with your Military Intelligence Bureau and gangsters? I'm a good person, an underground agent!"

"Underground elements?"

Xianfei, Yi, and the other two, along with Mr. Yi, all exclaimed in surprise.

Immediately afterwards, Mr. Yi frowned and said, "So you mean the three groups of people who came to kill me belong to different factions?"

He paused, then looked at Zhang Xiaowei: "So, Wen Richeng is an underground agent?"

After much thought, Zhang Xiaowei's knowledge of the Guangu Miracle fraud park could only have come from either Guangu Miracle himself or Wen Richeng.

He had suspected Wen Richeng before, but the other party not only accepted Qin Xiaomo but was also assassinated. Where would he find the time to deal with him?
Moreover, since the other party accepted Qin Xiaomo, it means there is room for negotiation. Otherwise, if they had just told the Japanese army, wouldn't they have been able to deal with him long ago?
Only now did he realize that the other party was actually an underground agent, no wonder he hadn't rushed to tell the Japanese army.

Zhang Xiaowei glanced at the people around him. He wasn't out of his mind yet, and he couldn't just expose Wen Richeng's identity like that.

However, although Zhang Xiaowei hadn't lost his mind, the other person couldn't care less. Zeng Xian'er, who was also shocked, frowned and said, "Wen Richeng is clearly the head of the intelligence section of our Military Intelligence Bureau's Shanghai station. How could he be an underground agent?"

"..."

A strange atmosphere suddenly filled the air.

After a few seconds of silence, Zhang Xiaowei immediately retorted, "Impossible! Team Leader Wen is the leader of the CCP's Shanghai intelligence group, how could he be one of your Military Intelligence Bureau's people!"

"How could it not be? He was the one who gave me the order to go to jail and assassinate Mr. Yi. Otherwise, how could I have dug the tunnel!"

People from two different camps started arguing about the matter, and Zhang Xiaowei also revealed Wen Richeng's true identity.

Hearing their words, Mr. Yi's lips twitched. So, both groups of people who came to kill him were arranged by Wen Richeng!

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from the stairwell. The people who heard the noise turned around and saw another person running out of the stairwell.

"Don't move!"

Qin Xiaomo first pointed the gun at Zeng Xian'er in front of him, then noticed the other side and turned the gun to point it at Mr. Yi.

After watching the show for a while, Hu Xiaofei raised an eyebrow: "Who is this again?"

"Moon Il-sung's lover."

Mr. Yi answered for her, then asked Qin Xiaomo, "Why are you here?"

"Come to kill you."

"..."

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaowei, who was holding Mr. Yi hostage, couldn't help but remark, "You have so many enemies."

"When you're out in the world of martial arts, you're bound to get hurt."

Mr. Yi then looked at Qin Xiaomo: "What grudge do we have? Could it be that Wen Richeng also sent you to kill me?"

"Of course not!" Qin Xiaomo looked at these people warily and said, "I already know that you were planning to use the Green Gang to get rid of Wen Richeng, which almost caused me to harm him. These past two days, I've been torn between love and righteousness. After thinking it over, killing you is my only way out."

"..."

Everyone else looked confused, but Mr. Yi understood.

"How did you know?"

"Never mind that, you're dead today."

"..."

Seeing this spectacle unfold one after another, Guan Gu Miracle didn't even notice that his paintbrush had created a large smudge on the paper.

"Xiao You, so many people want to kill your nephew!"

"Yeah, let alone them, I want to kill him too."

Seeing that more and more people were gathering, Hu Xiaofei, who had been watching the show, became too lazy to continue observing.

"Alright, all of you stop arguing. Today, Mr. Yi will definitely die by my hand!"

Zeng Xian'er, standing to the side, said speechlessly, "Why are you meddling in this again? Mr. Yi has been taken into custody. No matter which side wants to kill him, he's doomed."

“That’s different. As the White Impermanence of the Axe Gang with a 100% success rate in missions, even if Mr. Yi is to die, he should die by my hand.”

Hearing Hu Xiaofei's confident words, Zeng Xian'er couldn't help but say, "Mr. Yi is currently in the hands of underground elements. How can you kill him?"

"Tch, what's the big deal?"

Hu Xiaofei chuckled, lifted the coat draped over her arm, and in her hand was a ticking bomb.

……

Sitting in the car, Director Wen rolled up his sleeves to check the time on his watch and parked the car on the street outside the Shanghai World Expo.

"What's going on? Why hasn't Zhang Xiaowei come down yet? Has something gone wrong up there?"

Director Wen frowned and waited for a while before finally getting out of the car and walking into the building, which was inhabited by either traitors or pro-Japanese celebrities.

He couldn't understand why neither of the two assassins, Zeng Xian'er and Zhang Xiaowei, could successfully complete the plan.

If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have preferred to let Hu Xiaofei do it.

Moon Il-sung took the elevator all the way up, and finally the elevator stopped on the floor below the rooftop. This last floor had to be reached by stairs.

Just as he reached the corner of the stairs, he heard an unusual noise, so he drew his pistol and cautiously began to walk upstairs.

"Bang bang bang-"

Suddenly, a series of gunshots rang out. Moon Il-sung's expression tensed up instantly, knowing that something had happened above. He rushed forward, but after turning a corner, he froze.

Behind the iron gate at the top of the stairs, a group of people were slumped there, looking utterly hopeless.

"Awen?"

"Director Wen?"

"Team Leader Wen?"

"Section Chief Wen?"

"Gang leader?"

"..."

A chorus of greetings erupted instantly, and the air fell silent.

When Moon Il-sung saw this scene, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily. What a small world this is.

However, upon seeing Qin Xiaomo there, he asked curiously, "Xiaomo, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be boarding the ship now?"

"I'm not leaving." Qin Xiaomo's eyes suddenly lit up after she had just looked utterly hopeless. "If you don't want to come with me, then I'll leave alone and have nothing left."

If one abandons both love and righteousness, one will live the rest of one's life in pain.

"Hey, can you guys wait a bit before you continue your reminiscing? The bomb's about to explode!"

At this moment, Mr. Yi spoke up and interrupted them.

Upon hearing this, Qin Xiaomo said urgently, "Awen, run! There's a bomb here!"

"bomb?"

Wen Richeng's pupils contracted as he saw Hu Xiaofei holding an oversized time bomb.

"Damn it, what's going on? There's another bomb?" Moon Il-sung exclaimed in shock. "How much longer until it explodes?"

"Not long, just three minutes."

"..."

Hu Xiaofei smiled. Just now, when Zeng Xian'er grabbed the bomb to disarm it, she came over first and locked the iron gate. When they realized they couldn't disarm it, she took it back.

"Hu Xiaofei, what are you doing? Did I waste my breath by saying all that before?"

"It wasn't for nothing. You said we needed to unite the masses, and now so many people are willing to die together with Mr. Yi. Isn't that enough unity?"

"..."

Wen Richeng raised an eyebrow; he was now certain that Hu Xiaofei's brain had been damaged in the explosion last time.

Without a second thought, he grabbed his gun and reached his arm through the iron gate bars to shoot the lock, but the next second—

click!
A piece of metal shot out and deformed the gun barrel.

Hu Xiaofei blew on her fingers and said smugly, "Hey Zeng, your throwing knife is actually quite useful!"

"..."

With their hopes of escape dashed once again, the people inside were on the verge of collapse.

"Don't worry, I know how to defuse the bomb!"

Wen Richeng spoke calmly, rekindling hope in their hearts, but he first addressed Hu Xiaofei, saying, "What are you doing? Apart from Mr. Yi, everyone else here is innocent."

"What if the iron gate is opened and Mr. Yi escapes?"

Hu Xiaofei first spoke confidently, then asked, "Boss, I'm starting to have serious doubts about your identity. You're not some undercover agent infiltrating the Axe Gang, are you?"

Have you ever seen an undercover agent become the boss?

"Then what is your true identity?!"

"Can I defuse the bomb first?"

"No, I don't believe you anymore."

"..."

Zeng Xian'er couldn't sit still any longer and quickly said, "How about we discuss this issue while we're dismantling it?"

Hu Xiaofei glanced at him, thought for a moment, and then handed the bomb to Qin Xiaomo: "Okay, you defuse it."

"Me?" Qin Xiaomo looked at the bomb that had been forcibly shoved into her face in fear. "I don't know how to defuse it!"

"It's alright, Xiao Mo, I'll dictate it to you, you just need to cut the wires under the bomb." Seeing that time was running out, Wen Richeng quickly said.

At this moment, Guan Gu Qi Ji asked, "But who among us has scissors?"

"..."

Despair was about to spread again, but just then, Qin Xiaomo pulled a pair of scissors out of her bag.

Is it strange for a woman to carry odd things in her bag?

So Moon Il-sung began to carefully examine the densely intertwined wires on the time bomb.

At this moment, Hu Xiaofei asked, "Are you the leader of the Shanghai Beach Axe Gang?"

“Yes.” Wen Richeng nodded. “This time bomb has a sequential parallel detonation circuit. Several wires need to be cut, and in order. Xiao Mo, cut the blue wire first. The solder joint on it is the main switch.”

Qin Xiaomo's throat bobbed, and everyone else held their breath, watching her tremblingly extend the scissors towards the blue power line—

Click!

The group closed their eyes simultaneously, and only after two seconds did they open them and let out a long sigh of relief.

"It didn't explode, it didn't explode..."

Tang Xiaoyou forced a smile. At this moment, Mr. Yi looked at Wen Richeng and said, "You are the director of the intelligence department of the new government's special affairs committee, and also the person the Japanese army planted to monitor me?"

“Yes, my teacher when I was studying in Japan is now the head of the Japanese military’s intelligence agency in Shanghai.” Wen Richeng admitted again, and then added, “Xiao Mo, cut the green line this time.”

"it is good."

The wire was cut again, but the bomb still didn't explode.

Zeng Xian'er: "You, you're the head of the intelligence section of the Military Intelligence Bureau's Shanghai station?"

"Yes, Xiao Mo, cut the yellow line this time."

Zhang Xiaowei: "Are you the leader of the CCP's Shanghai intelligence group?"

"Yes, Xiao Mo, cut the red thread this time."

Hearing about the man behind the door's many identities, even in this life-or-death situation, everyone was still shocked.

Standing to the side, Guan Gu Qi Ji couldn't help but exclaim, "Si Guo Yi! He actually has so many identities!"

At this moment, Qin Xiaomo had already cut four wires, but the bomb still hadn't exploded, and her tense mood eased a little.

Now, only a black line and a white line remain.

Seeing how capable her man was, Qin Xiaomo, who had been sweating profusely from nervousness, couldn't help but smile.

Not choosing to board the ship was definitely the right decision!

Seeing this, Hu Xiaofei pressed further, "What other identities do you have that you're hiding from others?"

"..." Moon Il-sung opened his mouth, but this time he didn't say anything.

Upon seeing this scene, the group was startled. These were the only major factions in the country, but it seemed that he had some hidden identity.
"Speak quickly," Hu Xiaofei urged. "There's only half a minute left. If you don't speak, I won't let you demolish it."

"Xiao Mo, this time, for cutting the black thread, I..."

Wen Richeng's Adam's apple bobbed, and he looked at Qin Xiaomo with a soft gaze, saying, "I was married once abroad. Her name was Nuo Xiaolan."

"..."

Qin Xiaomo, who was about to cut the black thread, stopped in her tracks. She stared blankly at the man behind the door, her smile frozen.

Images of the past few days together suddenly flashed through her mind, from hostility to affection. On the middle finger of her right hand, she still wore that pigeon-egg diamond ring.

Just a few days ago, she had told him that she had no desire to be Mr. Yi's mistress, but now, it seemed she couldn't escape this fate.

The next second, she moved the scissors away and cut the white thread.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Clean up the screen, achieve global nuclear peace.

(End of this chapter)