Chapter 37: Steampunk

Dabao Wanzi is actually a very obedient Japanese woman.

Her previous ferocity was purely a disguise to protect herself.

She is willing to confess everything she knows. Unfortunately, she really doesn't know much.

Meng Chaowei had a special relationship with this woman that went beyond that of colleagues. Moreover, Dabao Maruko was the one being forced. Meng Chaowei had tortured her every time in the dark nunnery.

Now the Lixingshe had rescued her. She felt relieved instead.

The previous gunshot wound had not injured the vital organs. She was basically unharmed now.

'Go!'

'Me again?'

'Then you deal with Lou Qicheng's goods.'

'I'll go right away!'

Zhang Yong immediately changed his tone.

Just kidding. Gift-giving is also a big deal.

I'm just a newbie, what do I know? The best way is to go catch the spy.

He arrived at the cell where Dabao WanZi was being held.

A single room. The conditions were good.

Since the other party was willing to cooperate, there was naturally no need to mistreat them.

As long as the other party confessed a little bit of valuable information, they would be in profit.

'Hello...'

Seeing Zhang Yong arrive, Dabao WanZi got up and bowed.

Japanese women are generally very obedient.

Except for Lin Xiaoyan.

She's like a child who won't behave unless she's beaten.

'Are you used to this?'

'I'm fine. Thanks!'

'You can write letters. We'll pass them on.'

'I already have. Thanks!'

'Did you want to talk to me about something?'

'Yes. Meng Chaowei mentioned Baoqing Middle School once before. He mentioned a name called Lin Xiaoya.'

'Is it Lin Xiaoyan or Lin Xiaoya?'

'I can't tell. I heard it all jumbled up. He tormented me from behind. He said I was like a living dead person, no fun at all.'

'Baoying Middle School?'

'Yes.'

'Thank you!'

Zhang Yong nodded.

It seems that it is necessary to go and see Meng Chaowei.

In fact, since Meng Chaowei was arrested, he has never visited the other party.

Go and see Meng Chaowei.

Meng Chaowei was not in the torture chamber. He had been dragged back to his cell.

He was already dying from the torture. He was lying on the ground, motionless. It felt as if he were dead.

Of course, he was not dead. His value had not yet been squeezed dry. He could not die even if he wanted to.

But under the current circumstances, it seemed impossible to interrogate him.

So they came to Cao Mengqi.

'On a mission.'

'Great!'

Cao Mengqi immediately set off.

Three minutes later, Zhang Yong, Cao Mengqi and Wei Yong set off.

The target was Baoqing Middle School.

Baoqing Middle School was quite famous. It was also quite large. There were probably 3,000 to 4,000 students.

At that time, schools of this size were relatively rare. Because there were so many students, there were also a lot of staff. There were more than 200 teachers alone.

At that time, a teacher could only teach an average of ten students. It was not like later generations, when teachers could teach so many.

'There's no Lin Xiaoyan. There's no Lin Xiaoya either.' Cao Mengqi arranged for someone to look up the relevant information. There was nothing in the registered records.

There was no student.

There was no teacher either.

'Could it be that Da Bao Wan Zi heard it wrong?'

'Go in and take a look.'

'It's not appropriate for us to just barge in like this.'

'Change your identity.'

'Okay!'

A few minutes later, Zhang Yong and Cao Mengqi entered the school dressed as repairmen.

The two men carried a ladder. They had tool bags slung over their shoulders. They wore suspenders. They said they had been sent by the Edison Light Company to repair the lights. They easily gained entry to the school grounds.

They walked along, silently probing.

No red dots.

No red dots...

After circling the school three times, Zhang Yong didn't find anything.

It was strange.

Could it be that Da Bao Wan Guo really had heard wrong? Could it be that Meng Chaowei hadn't actually said Baoqing Middle School?

'Ding-a-ling!'

Suddenly, the bell rang.

Zhang Yong looked at his watch. Oh, 5:00 p.m. School was over.

In this era, there was no evening study hall. After school, all students would go home. Unless they were boarding at school.

He walked silently to the school gate. Standing among the crowd of parents picking up their children.

No sign of the Japanese.

Until the crowd dispersed. There was no hint.

'Dabao Wonton...'

'She had no reason to lie to us.'

'Then...'

'Let's go! Let's find somewhere to eat!'

'Okay!'

Cao Mengqi wasn't really in the mood to eat.

He was intent on catching someone. Lately, he had been very idle indeed. So idle that he felt his skills were going rusty.

The three of them found a small restaurant nearby to eat.

Suddenly, the map prompt showed a red dot slowly entering. It was coming from the west.

Zhang Yong immediately tilted his head. He saw a black sedan slowly approaching.

At first, he didn't recognise the car. It looked very high-end and luxurious.

'Steppenwolf!'

'It's very expensive. It costs tens of thousands of dollars,'

Cao Mengqi whispered.

He thought Zhang Yong was interested in the car.

Steppenwolf?

Zhang Yong's mind immediately started racing.

What? You don't know this? It's the kind of car that Chen Nai-de drove...

First to Xianyang...

Watching silently.

Unfortunately, they couldn't see the people inside the car.

The windows were closed. And there were curtains. He had to remember the licence plate number.

When the car slowly drove past, Zhang Yong said to Cao Mengqi, 'Check the licence plate number later. See if there are any clues.'

'Okay,' Cao Mengqi immediately went to find a public phone nearby. He would come back in a while to report the result.

'The owner of the car is called Wang Defa. He has become the owner of a sugar factory.'

'A sugar factory? What's the story?'

'We'll have to go back and check to find out.'

'Okay. Go back and check.'

Zhang Yong nodded. He didn't follow immediately.

There was no rush. As long as the person was targeted, they couldn't escape. These Japanese spies were not the kind that could easily run away.

The few Japanese spies he had captured so far had all been in hiding for a long time. They would not run away easily. Otherwise, all the foundations they had laid before would have to be scrapped. That was the lifeblood of the Japanese spies.

The Japanese invaders were actually very short on funds. They could not afford to give a lot of money to the secret service agencies.

However, the Japanese secret service had a lot of agencies. There were many names, from plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, to paulownia work, and they were not subordinate to each other.

Apart from the Special High School and the Military Police Command, all the others were self-financing.

In fact, it was just a matter of saying: if you have your own money, you can do it. The military department doesn't care.

So, where did their funding come from?

I couldn't figure it out before. Now I realise that it was still plundered from China.

It was disguised as Chinese people setting up businesses to make money. And then it was used for espionage activities. With the covert help of the Japanese invaders, these businesses were relatively profitable.

Meng Chaowei was the manager of a yarn factory...

Lou Qingsheng was the manager of a Ming Sheng import and export trading company...

Could it be that the other Japanese spies were in charge of a sugar factory or flour mill?

That possibility cannot be ruled out.

After dinner, I immediately returned to the group. I happened to see Li Boqi.

Zhang Yong: 'Team leader.'

Li Boqi: 'I seem to recall ordering you to be placed in solitary confinement...'

Cao Mengqi (very excited): 'Team leader, we may have made a big discovery. We'll report back to you once we've clarified the situation.'

Li Boqi: "Zhang Yong, your detention is temporarily postponed!'

Zhang Yong: "Yes!'

Li Boqi turned and walked away.

Cao Mengqi immediately arranged for someone to secretly investigate Rongsheng Sugar Factory.

Zhang Yong was temporarily free. He returned to his office. He noticed that there were many more bags. They were full of all kinds of goods.

There were lots of silver dollars. None of them had been bundled into tubes. They were all loose.

This is the latest batch of the big split. Li Boqi is in charge.

Except for the ones that have been handed in, the rest will be divided and distributed as soon as possible, and delivered to everyone's hands as soon as possible.

This way everyone will have morale!

You see how everyone runs faster than a rabbit when Cao Mengqi gives instructions.

So motivated!

It's as if there is a sea of gold and silver in front of them.

Then he suddenly saw Wang Shu. He immediately thought of the auction house. So he went up to him.

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