Spy game? Stop guessing, I really am an undercover agent!

Chapter 54 Should We Believe It?
Dingxiangji Restaurant in Shanghai.

This is a restaurant located in a lane in Zhabei District. It is in a remote location and therefore not well-known, but the restaurant does a really good job.

The owner is a local from Shanghai. He started learning to cook at a young age and his Shanghainese cuisine is extremely authentic.

Of course, the fact that such a good business can be achieved in such an inconspicuous location is really thanks to the support of these long-time neighbors.

Whenever guests or relatives come to visit, everyone will come here to order a few of their signature dishes to entertain them.

As lunchtime approached, the kitchen began to bustle with activity. The restaurant owner stood behind the counter, fiddling with the abacus beads in his hand, his old reading glasses drooping on his nose, occasionally glancing up at his surroundings.

The Western clock on the wall pointed to 11:40. A young man wearing a blue robe and black-rimmed glasses walked into the restaurant with a newspaper tucked under his arm.

The young man walked up to the counter and knocked on it.

The innkeeper looked up at the sound, glanced at the young man, and then put on a smiling face: "Would you like to eat, sir?"

The young man laughed and said, "If we don't eat, do we stay overnight? The innkeeper is really joking."

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper picked up the abacus, shook it up and down to clear the numbers, placed it on the counter, and then gently tapped the counter with his fingers.

As if receiving some signal, the young man smiled and said, "I heard from a friend that your family's braised eel with scallion oil is very authentic."

"I came here specifically to try it today."

"If it's not tasty, I'm going to flip the table!"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Guest, you've come to the right place. Our boss has been in the business since he was a child and has been learning local Shanghai cuisine for decades."

"If you can find any fault with it, even if you throw the food in my face, I won't say a word against it."

The young man nodded in satisfaction: "Shopkeeper, that's enough. Find me a quiet seat; I like it by the window."

The innkeeper waved and called out, "A-Gui, we have a guest. Take him upstairs."

"Alright," the waiter replied, leading the young man straight up to the second floor.

At this moment, a middle-aged man, dressed somewhat shabbily but exuding a scholarly air, sat by the window on the second floor.

He was eating very ordinary plain noodles, but he was holding a book in his hand, reading while eating.

After asking the young man what he wanted, the waiter named A-Gui led him to a seat by the window.

The poor-looking middle-aged man across from him showed a hint of displeasure when he saw someone coming over, even though they were separated by a table. He seemed to be blaming the waiter for bringing someone over at this time to disturb his reading.

The young man seemed to notice the other's dissatisfaction, his gaze falling on the books, and said with some surprise, "Sir, you also like Zhang Henshui's works?"

"I wouldn't say I like it. In times of chaos, writing can't escape the mundane." The middle-aged man picked up the tea on the table, took a sip, and shook his head, saying, "It's hard to find integrity; in the end, it still falls short."

The young man shook his head and replied, "Sir, you are mistaken. From ancient times to the present, integrity lies in the heart, not in paper and ink."

The middle-aged man seemed to be taken aback for a moment, pondered for a while, and then clapped his hands and said, "That makes sense, that makes sense."

"As the old saying goes, 'Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me,' which is indeed a profound truth."

The code words matched perfectly. The middle-aged man stood up and stepped forward, took out a tin box containing cigarettes from his pocket, took one out for himself, and then extended the tin box to the other person.

"Hey buddy, wanna have a cigarette?"

The young man smiled, reached out and took one, and then the middle-aged man took out a match and lit it for him.

While the other person was smoking, the middle-aged man lowered his voice and spoke slightly faster: "Pier number three, there's a dog in the warehouse, and the ladder against the west wall is unstable..."

This means that the intelligence was placed at Pier 3, but that place is very likely being watched by the Japanese, so the location needs to be changed next time.

The young man took a drag of his cigarette, exhaled a puff of pale blue smoke, and praised, "This cigarette is quite good." "By the way, when I came up here, the shopkeeper said it looked like it was going to rain."

"Sir, you need to get a sturdier umbrella."

This means that upon receiving instructions, one can request permission from superiors to change to a backup location, preferably a more concealed one.

The middle-aged man nodded and said, "Thank you for the reminder, young man. I'll be going now. Hope we meet again someday."

The two men's brief conversation went unnoticed by others. The middle-aged man picked up the books on the table and hurriedly went downstairs.

The young man remained seated by the window, a cigarette dangling from his lips, puffing out smoke.
No. 622 Xilin South Road, French Concession, Shanghai.

This is an ordinary house, a two-story low building with brick and wood structure. The exposed red bricks are covered with some powder mixed with lime, which looks extremely glaring.

The creaking old-fashioned pine staircase is only wide enough for one person to pass at a time, and the steps are covered with soot stains from coal ash.

A young man carefully climbed the pine wood stairs to the second floor, his expression suggesting he was afraid that if he pressed any harder, the stairs would collapse.

There were four rooms on the second floor. The man walked to the innermost room and knocked on the door.

A series of knocks, one short and two long, sounded on the door. With a creak, the door opened, revealing the figure of a middle-aged man.

"Come in."

The young man slipped inside, while the middle-aged man glanced warily at the outside environment before quickly closing the door.

"Hanzhu, what brings you here? Is there some instruction from the organization?"

Hanzhu was the code name of the young man from earlier, and he was also the liaison officer called Qingdeng in front of him.

Several years ago, Gu Shunzhang, Xiang Zhongfa, and others successively betrayed the revolution.

After being reorganized, the intelligence stations in Shanghai became more covert, and many comrades acted with greater caution.

To prevent one person from affecting the normal operation of the intelligence agency.

Field operations mostly rely on vertical communication; horizontal communication between agents is not permitted.

Although it has become more complicated, the security has been greatly improved. Even if you catch someone, you can only catch them on one line.

It's difficult to pinpoint someone based on a single line of reasoning.

"We have received intelligence from the organization that the Nanjing Reformed Government, under the direction of the Japanese, will launch a 'mopping-up' operation against the guerrillas in the Taihu Lake area on the 3rd of next month."

"Besides this, I have another piece of information to pass on to you."

"The authenticity of this information has not yet been verified, but you can use it as a reference."

As he spoke, Hanzhu handed the intelligence he had obtained from Pier No. 3 to Qingdeng.

Qingdeng spread out the intelligence report, which was densely packed with details about the personnel and weaponry of the guerrillas in this sweep of the Taihu Lake region.

In addition to these, even the figures for supply and logistics were very detailed.

This doesn't seem like a normal intelligence report; it's more like a report. It looks like they just copied the report directly.

"Comrade Hanzhu, this intelligence report?"

After hesitating for a long time, Qingdeng finally said, "Isn't this a bit too detailed?"

"Comrade Hanzhu, do you think this intelligence is credible?"

(End of this chapter)