Espionage: You're tasked with spying, but you'll blow up the Special Higher Police?

"Sasuke-kun, you've arrived? We came here on a whim. Isn't this young lady your sister? Please forgive us for not informing you beforehand, Sasuke-kun."

Hasegawa and Zhou Hongyi have grown quite close, and before they could even exchange words, they started joking around.

Zhou Hongyi first bowed to Shimazu and Hasegawa, then looked at the last person and asked in a questioning tone, "And this gentleman is?"

Seeing that Zhou Hongyi had noticed Mr. Su, Shimazu introduced him, "This is Mr. Su, a mutual friend of ours. He is also one of the judges for this Miss Rose competition, just like you, Sasuke."

"Oh, it's Mr. Su. I've heard so much about you. You're also one of the judges. What are your thoughts on Miss Elizabeth's performance just now?"

Zhou Hongyi deliberately stared at the other person and even sat down next to him, acting as if he were no outsider.

Mr. Su coughed awkwardly and said in a low voice, "Mr. Zhou, please don't flatter me. I've heard a lot about your deeds from Colonel Shimazu and Mr. Hasegawa these past few days. You are a man of both literary and military talent. This Miss Elizabeth is your woman, isn't she?"

Zhou Hongyi neither admitted nor denied it. What these guys thought was irrelevant; all that mattered was that they knew Elizabeth was his woman.

"Hehehe, Mr. Su, you flatter me. Since you are also one of the judges, then I shall dare to bribe you in front of my teacher and the president. Here, let me toast you, Mr. Su."

Zhou Hongyi saw the sake on the table, picked up an upside-down cup, poured himself a drink, held the cup in one hand and supported the bottom with the other, tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp. His movements were elegant and nimble, with a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

Seeing this, Mr. Su also picked up his wine glass, covered it with his sleeve, and drank it down.

"Mr. Zhou, you're quite the joker. Take that song just now, for example. Which of the ladies here can rival Princess Elizabeth? Your attempt at bribery is probably a waste of effort."

His implication was that Elizabeth's ability made it easy for her to stand out, and there was absolutely no need for Zhou Hongyi to bribe him.

"Hey, Mr. Su, you only know one side of the story. My sister isn't just here to win; more importantly, she's here to gain fame and outshine everyone in Shanghai. After all... her goal is to become a star."

Mr. Su said "Oh," quite surprised, "Miss Elizabeth wants to be a star? But I heard she's a princess from some small country, and she's only here for the prize money. Some people even say she saved her country and wants to take the prize money back to help her father, the king, restore his kingdom."

After Mr. Su finished speaking, Zhou Hongyi was stunned for a moment, then he looked at Shimazu and Hasegawa next to him and burst into laughter.

"Teacher, President, please forgive my rudeness. I really didn't expect Mr. Su to be so naive. He even believed such an outrageous lie. Come, come, Mr. Su and I hit it off today. Not because we are both judges, but because of Mr. Su's naivety and purity, I must offer another toast!"

Zhou Hongyi's words, seemingly a joke, were actually a double entendre. He emphasized words like "simple" and "clean," implicitly implying that the other person had become a traitor to the Communist Party. Of course, the latter was unaware of Zhou Hongyi's true identity and thoughts, taking it as a joke, and raised his glass for a second drink.

Shimazu held a small folding fan in his hand, fanned himself twice, and said, "Sasuke-kun, Mr. Su will be embarrassed if you say that. But the princess background you made up for Miss Elizabeth is indeed a big plus for her. Look at the audience below, they're all going crazy for her. How are the ladies who haven't gone on stage yet supposed to cope?"

Zhou Hongyi cast his gaze down from upstairs, and sure enough, although Elizabeth's performance had ended, the atmosphere was still immersed in her heavenly song. Everyone was talking about it, and the atmosphere was lively, leaving the other contestants who were scheduled to perform after her completely ignored, making the scene extremely awkward.

Zhou Hongyi raised his hand and said, "This is not my fault. You can only blame them for being less skilled."

Hasegawa nodded and said, "They can only blame themselves for not having such a good brother and a good family background."

"Hahahaha~~"

Laughter and cheerful voices frequently emanated from the VIP room, creating an exceptionally lively atmosphere that left Chen Gong, who was guarding the door, somewhat bewildered.

Although he knew Zhou Hongyi was acting, he would sometimes feel disoriented, wondering if he had been tricked. In fact, this young master Zhou was in cahoots with the Japanese, and all those things he had said before were lies to him.

However, he quickly relaxed when he thought of Zhou Hongyi's extravagant gesture of handing over a gold bar and what he was currently doing. Yes, yes, it wasn't that his new brother was playing a trick on him; rather, his acting was so good that it was almost unbelievable, making it impossible to tell which side of him was real and which was fake.

Several hearty laughs echoed from inside. A moment later, Zhou Hongyi tactfully withdrew and led Chen Gong back to his own private room.

Chen Gong had a hard time suppressing his curiosity. He wanted to ask Zhou Hongyi what they had talked about inside, but there were too many people around, and he had to play his role as a bodyguard. The bearded man could only pinch his thigh hard to remind himself to suppress his damned curiosity.

Finally, the first day of the preliminary rounds came to an end. Princess Elizabeth, making her debut, amazed everyone, securing second place in the preliminary round thanks to her cool and holy demeanor and unparalleled popularity.

First place goes to Vivian from Cinque Terre. This woman is of mixed race, beautiful, with a captivating voice, and most importantly, she's a ballet dancer. She's been famous in Russia for some time and has a strong network of friends and fans. In addition, while Elizabeth is popular, she wore a mask throughout the entire performance, obscuring her face, which was her biggest drawback.

Although they came in second, they secured a spot in the semi-finals. The semi-finals would be held on a larger stage, with several separate stages. One segment was a swimsuit fashion show within the Great World amusement park, where participants would wear swimsuits imported from the West and freely showcase their figures.

Of course, Zhou Hongyi had reason to believe that this idea was strongly proposed by Gu Tianbo to satisfy his own selfish desires. However, these scoundrels actually approved his suggestion unanimously, and the swimsuit show accounted for one-third of the total score.

The third performance was still a talent showcase, but this time, in addition to singing and dancing, there were more opportunities to demonstrate other talents. For example, Gu Tianbo had given Zhou Hongyi a heads-up beforehand that some contestants were good at brewing tea, some at playing the zither, and some at calligraphy. In short, everyone was showing off their unique skills.

As for the talent aspect, Zhou Hongyi let Xiao Bei perform freely, since he was confident that he could bring the latter into the final competition, and it wouldn't have much of an impact if the talent was a little ordinary.