Period drama: Old Cao's carefree life

Chapter 76 Traitor Located
In the short time it took to get up, Cao Weida glanced around the second floor and various hidden corners.

Sure enough, he noticed many abnormal things. People come to nightclubs to have fun, but these people had tense faces the whole time, their hands were intentionally or unintentionally placed on their waists as if they could pull something out at any time, and their eyes were constantly scanning the room like lightning.

After the song ended, the person in the center of the stage changed to a scantily clad dancer who gracefully performed a sexy dance.

After finishing another song and drinking more than half of the wine, he finally got up and left, swaying slightly.

After confirming that no one was following him, Cao Weida turned left and right until he arrived near a residential building. He knocked on the door in the agreed-upon rhythm of three long knocks, three short knocks, and two long knocks, muttering to himself, "I must say, it really does have that spy rendezvous feel to it."

The door was quickly opened, and Zheng Chaoyang poured him a glass of water, asking eagerly, "How did it go? Did you have any contact with those comrades?"

Cao Weida took a sip of water and shook his head, saying, "I have not had any contact with them."

"This..." Zheng Chaoyang was anxious. What he needed to do was to identify the traitor. How could he identify him without even having made contact with him?

“Don’t rush, listen to me,” Cao Weida gestured for him to calm down and continued:
"After I went in, I looked around and did see several people on the list. I was planning to find a suitable reason to contact them."

"However, I saw someone in the photo but not on the list, and this person was in a private room upstairs with people from the East Asian Academic Research Association."

"Who is it!" Zheng Chaoyang frowned immediately. He knew exactly what the East Asian Academic Research Association was.

It can be said that they were old rivals. The East Asian Academic Research Association had persecuted countless of their comrades, and his hatred for them was at least intense.

If he could, he would want to bite them to death, one bite at a time!
Now, a person from the photo has appeared in the private room and is staying with people from the East Asian Academic Research Association. He's not stupid; how could he not realize the reason?
"What about those photos?"

"here."

Cao Weida pulled out one of the photos and pushed it to him: "After I found him, I didn't dare to contact anyone on the list you gave me."

"It's him." Zheng Chaoyang was initially incredulous, then his expression turned grim, and his hands unconsciously clenched.

Cao Wei Da witnessed all of this and knew that Zheng Chaoyang should know this person, or at least be familiar with him. He seemed quite shocked by this outcome.

He sighed inwardly, fully understanding the other person's reaction. Putting himself in their shoes, if someone he knew well and shared the same ideals suddenly turned traitor and became a collaborator, he wouldn't be able to accept it either.

For example, if Duomen were to become a heinous traitor, working for the Japanese and persecuting his former comrades, just thinking about it would make him want to smash everything in front of him to pieces.

He felt sorry for this traitor who defected to the enemy. At this time, abandoning ideals and beliefs to betray the country and become a collaborator, what difference is there between him and joining the Kuomintang in 49?
He patted him silently on the shoulder. "I guess you might know him, but now is not the time to hate him. He was on the second floor observing the surroundings, and there were quite a few people watching."

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, I didn't dare use the method you taught me to contact them, nor did I dare give the signal of giving up contact, those comrades.

Zheng Chaoyang looked dejected. He did recognize the person in the photo, or rather, he knew the man's wife. His mole's wife had studied at the same place, and they were quite familiar with each other.

"It's alright. Once the contact time is up, they will retreat on their own if no one contacts them."

The people contacted this time were all veteran underground party members who knew the rules. If the rendezvous was not successful by the appointed time, they would leave without cause.

At the same time, he was extremely relieved and understood why Chief Zhou had decided on a single-line contact method.

Although there were many inconveniences and it might prevent a lot of intelligence from being transmitted to the higher authorities in a timely manner, this method of communication undoubtedly ensured the safety of the underground party members to the greatest extent possible.

If it weren't for the one-way communication relationship, this traitor could very well have wiped out a large number of their underground Communist Party members!
"That's good. I was worried about that too." Cao Weida nodded.

"By the way, may I make a small suggestion?"

"What advice?"

"I think you guys should stop using dance halls like the Yangtze Dance Hall as your meeting place in the future. I see that the comrades there are all... well... strapped for cash."

Reality is not like a popular online drama; very few people who joined the underground Communist Party were willing to spend money.

Even if they had some money at home or a decent-paying job, they were reluctant to spend it and mostly donated it to the organization.

Alternatively, whenever they had a little money, they would stockpile supplies and then find an opportunity to send these supplies to the rear to alleviate the organization's difficulties in various aspects.

Cao Weida greatly admired this. Many people thought that such a person was stupid, and that people should all be selfish.

But it is precisely because of these admirable stupidities, these lovable fools, that a new world was built where the people are the masters!

Many people in later generations have made various nitpicking and inappropriate remarks online, but Cao Wei Da will not comment on them.

He just wanted to say that although there may be some flaws in some places, no matter which dynasty or place, there are always some bad apples. Looking back on the history of the nation and the various countries in the country, is there any other country with the stability and peace of China?

If the Red Party had not unified the country and the Kuomintang had not ruled, what kind of environment would the people of China have lived in?
Will there be future prosperity, or the energy to stand up straight and nitpick online?
Uh... I digress. Let's get back to the main point. Underground party members with strong beliefs were reluctant to spend money. Most of them took low-paying jobs to conceal their identities. So, what kind of place was the Yangtze Dance Hall?
That seems to be a place where people respect the clothes before they respect the person!

Clothes and money—if you're missing either, people won't even give you a second glance.

For them, who used all the extra money to hand over to the organization, this was obviously a considerable burden.

Tonight, he noticed that the clothes worn by several comrades didn't fit well, and they were probably borrowed from others.

If the puppet government's agents weren't trying to catch a big fish tonight and instead focused all their attention on the underground party leaders, these people, while not necessarily in danger, would at least be a significant weakness.

Hearing this, Zheng Chaoyang smiled bitterly, "We usually communicate through a single line and wouldn't normally appear in such a situation."

"We had no choice but to resort to this tactic today. In the whole of Beiping, only places like dance halls are the most mixed and the least likely to be discovered, allowing comrades to hide more deeply."

Cao Wei Da was stunned for a moment, then laughed at his own stupidity.

These are all veteran underground party members who have been doing underground work for so many years. How could they make such a basic mistake? The main problem is that they had no other options.

If the location were elsewhere, with fewer people, the sheer number of extra people would easily attract attention.

Even if the leader doesn't come, those agents only need to give an order to take control of everyone on site, and this screening operation will become a major achievement for them.

Having obtained the information he wanted, Zheng Chaoyang hurriedly left and eventually arrived at another location.

After entering using a specific knocking method, Zheng Chaoyang reported everything to his superior, Lao Luo.

"It's him." Old Luo's face was full of disappointment as he stared blankly at the photo in his hand, sinking into deep pain.

He personally recruited this person into the organization, and even introduced a promising young female comrade from the organization to him in order to coordinate the operation.

But now.
"Old Luo, should we tell Comrade Suqing about this?" Zheng Chaoyang asked tentatively.

Subaru is the wife of this traitor. The two have a son who is four years old this year.

Luo fell into deep thought, his expression conflicted and pained.

After a long while, he sighed, but his expression was unusually firm: "I cannot deprive our comrades of their right to know, and I also believe in Comrade Suqing's loyalty to the organization and the Party."

“I told her about this personally, and the screening of the remaining people must continue.”

Although one mole has been identified, it doesn't mean there aren't any moles among the remaining people; the investigation must continue.

Luo looked out at the dark night and closed his eyes in anguish. Although he had decided to tell Su Qing the news, he was too ashamed to face her pain.

What a sin!
Although he didn't want to face it, Lao Luo still gritted his teeth and quickly found Comrade Su Qing. With a traitor by his side, every second wasted increased the danger.

If the traitor knew he had been exposed, no one knew what crazy things he might do.

Inside a secluded tile-roofed house.

"Comrade Suqing, hasn't Lao Sun returned yet?"

"Not yet. He's been working the night shift these past few days and won't be back until the daytime. Lao Luo, why are you contacting me so urgently? Is there some mission you're on?"

Faced with Comrade Suqing's bewildered gaze, Lao Luo looked away with a complicated expression. "Our group's intelligence has been frequently leaked. Last time, we almost got Comrade Echo arrested. Fortunately, we received the intelligence in time, otherwise, something really bad would have happened."

"Therefore, I suspect there is a traitor within our group, and I have conducted a screening of the group members."

"What was the result? Did you find it?" Su Qing asked with resentment. She hadn't been in a group with Lao Sun before; she had been with another comrade.

If it weren't for the betrayal of a traitor, perhaps the person she would be building a revolutionary friendship with now would be him, not Old Sun.

Therefore, she especially hated traitors.

"It's been identified, he is... he is..." At the last moment, Lao Luo suddenly didn't know how to say it.

Su Qing could easily see through Lao Luo's hesitation. In an instant, she suddenly realized something, clenched her hands on her lap into fists, and her knuckles turned pale from the force.

(End of this chapter)