harleyscars Chapter 78: The safest approach is to stop when you've made your point!
Chapter 78: The safest approach is to stop when you've made your point!
Zhou Xiao calmly strolled to the tea table, picked up the purple clay teapot, warmed the cups, poured water, and brewed the tea with graceful and unhurried movements. Finally, he raised his hand to indicate, "Come, sit down. Have some hot tea to calm your nerves."
Lan Yanzhi took a deep breath and sat down opposite her.
That one glance from the rooftop gave her a clue—either it was someone from the Military Intelligence Bureau, or it was someone from the underground Communist Party. Either way, they were fighting the Japanese.
Ultimately, we're all in the same boat.
As soon as this thought arose, the tension in my shoulders eased considerably.
Otherwise, she should be sitting on the iron chair in the interrogation room right now, instead of holding a cup of scalding hot Longjing tea.
She lowered her head to take a sip of tea, then looked up through the rising steam, her tone calming: "Director Zhou, may I ask—which side do you belong to? The Military Intelligence Bureau? Or… the underground Communist Party?"
"I just pulled you out of the fire, aren't you going to thank me first?" Zhou Xiao's lips curled up slightly.
Saving lives is an indisputable fact.
Lan Yanzhi lowered her eyes and said solemnly, "Thank you. I will remember this kindness."
It was sincere and genuine, without the slightest perfunctoriness.
Zhou Xiao suddenly changed the subject, throwing out a question she hadn't expected at all: "When you touched Feng Manna's safe, did the lock pick have any fingerprints on it?"
Lan Yanzhi was taken aback, then answered truthfully, "I tried, but there wasn't enough time, so I couldn't pry it open."
Zhou Xiao picked up his teacup and blew on the hot air: "She applied fluorescent powder to the lock—it's not visible under normal light, but the fingerprints will immediately show up when you shine a blue light on it."
"Moreover, this powder is extremely sticky. Without special solvents, it cannot be washed off for ten days or half a month and will remain on your fingertips."
"If you don't want to give yourself away, quickly clean the fluorescent powder off your ears and hands."
Lan Yanzhi froze, abruptly raising her eyes to stare at Zhou Xiao, her pupils suddenly contracting—shock, astonishment, and disbelief were all written on her face. But in her heart, it felt like being struck by a heavy hammer: Feng Manna's move was truly ruthless, cunning, and meticulous!
Feng Manna hasn't noticed the safe has been tampered with yet; the window has been closed in an instant. The fluorescent powder must be wiped off before she checks the security footage and finds any traces. But if they do, their identities will likely be exposed.
She abruptly stood up, and just as she took a step, Zhou Xiao's voice came down: "There are developing agents and UV lamps on the table. Treat it here."
Lan Yanzhi glanced at him quickly, then turned and rushed to the desk. She grabbed a UV lamp and shone it into the mirror—the midday sun was blinding, but the faint blue-green light still flickered like a viper's tongue between her ears and fingers.
Sure enough, it was exactly the same.
If it weren't for his reminder, she would have simply stepped out of that door, stood right under Feng Manna's nose, flicked her sleeve, and adjusted her ear, instantly revealing her true identity.
Without the slightest hesitation, she grabbed the medicine bottle, unscrewed the cap, dipped a cotton swab in the solution, and deftly wiped behind her ears, her fingertips, and the creases of her fingertips. Her movements were so fast they seemed to fly, and she even suppressed her breathing.
In less than three minutes, the last glimmer of light disappeared completely.
She sat back down opposite Zhou Xiao, her clothes still slightly askew, when he picked up the purple clay teapot and poured half a cup of hot tea into her cup. The tea was clear and bright, steaming with warm vapor. A slight smile played on his lips: "You owe me another life."
These words were hurtful, but Lan Yanzhi couldn't refute them with a single word.
She had always been proud and arrogant. Song Mian praised her for being "sharp-eared and sharp-eyed, with a photographic memory," and Wan Zhichao lauded her for being "bold yet meticulous, and calm under pressure." Even within the Military Intelligence Bureau, she was known as "the sharpest dagger in Shanghai." She believed him and truly considered herself an unpolished gem.
But today, in front of Zhou Xiao, she was like a walnut that had been peeled—crisp, thin, and completely exposed.
They're both secret agents, so why can he see what she can't, think what she can't think, and do what she can't do?
Impressed.
It wasn't just empty talk; my spine was completely swayed by their submission.
I admire his timely rescue, but even more so his unfathomable skill: anticipation, planning, concealment, and finishing move, all executed flawlessly in one go.
Her gaze was intense as she looked directly into his eyes. Her voice was very low, yet deep and burning: "Director Zhou, thank you for saving me again."
Before meeting Zhou Xiao, no one had ever truly convinced her.
Now there is one. And there is only one such person.
After thanking him, she swallowed hard and blurted out, "Director Zhou, whose side are you...?"
"Do you really have to dig to the bottom of things?" Zhou Xiao picked up his teacup, took a sip, and tapped the bottom of the cup against the rim of the saucer with a crisp sound. "Isn't it enough that you know we're on your side?"
Lan Yanzhi didn't look away, her gaze sharp as nails: "I want to know where you came from."
"Whether you believe it or not, I'll only tell you three things, and you'll understand everything."
"The note on your cuff, with its messy handwriting and ink stains on the edges—I slipped it in there."
At the time, Feng Manna had just taken over as a radio operator for the Military Intelligence Bureau, and through this connection, she obtained the codebook and contact codes. She immediately set up a "fishing" scheme, using a captured 0-0 radio, posing as a captive, to lure the undercover station in Shanghai. However, before the radio waves could even be transmitted, Lan Yanzhi had already swiftly relayed the intelligence back to headquarters. As a result, the bait was thrown in vain, the fish scattered, and Feng Manna's efforts were in vain.
Lan Yanzhi froze on the spot, her mind exploding with a buzz—it turned out that the note wasn't a gift from heaven, but a knife secretly handed to her by someone.
She stared at the small print, filled with questions: Who sent it? How was it sent? Why me of all people?
Zhou Xiao looked at her expression, his tone unchanged: "And that time, the top-secret currency war plan that you 'snatched' from my drawer—that was also something I personally put into your sight."
Lan Yanzhi gasped, her fingertips instinctively gripping the cup.
That plan... was actually planted by him?
Did he anticipate that she would take action? Did he anticipate that she would steal, believe, and pass on the message?
Thinking hard.
She was smug about it for days, thinking she had broken through the ironclad defenses. It turned out they had already removed the lock, just waiting for her to reach in.
Impressed.
This time, I was completely convinced and utterly convinced.
Her voice tightened: "You...are you from the Military Intelligence Bureau?"
Zhou Xiao smiled, neither nodding nor shaking his head: "You already know the answer."
Based on these clues, Lan Yanzhi naturally concluded that he was a Kuomintang agent. In fact, he did belong to the Kuomintang, but he also had another identity: a member of the underground Communist Party.
He didn't make it explicit, not to cover it up, but to maintain a sense of propriety—some things are safest when left unsaid.
But his willingness to bring up these two old stories actually hides two deeper meanings.
Firstly, it was to pave the way for their future. Only by making her certain that they belonged to the same camp would she instinctively send any intelligence she intercepted to him without needing to be wary or test him.
Secondly, it was for future cooperation. After this incident, she would know his identity, and if they encountered danger again, the two could cooperate tacitly—after all, agents who fight alone will eventually run out of strength.
Lan Yanzhi stared at him, her eyes surging with admiration and shock: "I never expected that Director Zhou could hide his true identity so well, and so carefully."
She lay dormant for so long that she even fooled the air. She herself was deceived for months.
Previously, she had even concluded that he was Feng Manna's most capable henchman.
Impressed.
Lan Yanzhi, who had never bowed her head before, finally lowered it.
She sincerely admitted: Zhou Xiao is the real trump card.
He was able to sneak into Feng Manna's office silently and walk on the roof ridge as if it were flat ground—which shows that he had long since figured out the blind spots and rhythm of the entire building.
She also sneaked in, but didn't even notice the fluorescent powder sprinkled on the safe; when she retreated, she could only awkwardly climb out of the window, and with his help, she barely managed to jump onto the roof.
The difference between superior and inferior lies not in words, but in actions, in steps, and in every life-or-death decision.
This wasn't luck at all; it was sheer skill that crushed the opponent.
Lan Yanzhi's lingering resentment completely dissipated.
"Thanks." This time she spoke first, her voice a few decibels deeper than before, her eyes shining with genuine respect, not just politeness. "You could have stood by and watched—my exposure would have made you safer. But you insisted on getting involved and dragging yourself into this mess."
Zhou Xiao raised his eyes, his tone calm yet carrying undeniable weight: "I never do anything without a clear objective. Once I've made a move, I've already planned out my escape route, cover, and cleanup."
He paused, then lowered his voice: "But you have to agree to one thing: not a single word about my identity can be revealed, not even to your Kuomintang agents in Shanghai. I'm a single-line undercover agent; losing contact means certain death."
He believed in Lan Yanzhi's loyalty, but people's hearts cannot withstand testing. The Military Intelligence Bureau was full of gossips, and even a single slip of the tongue or a single misspoken remark could ignite a prairie fire.
Lan Yanzhi nodded decisively: "I understand. I'll keep it to myself and never say it out loud."
"By the way, did you find anything crucial in Feng Manna's safe? For example—who exactly is her mole in the Military Intelligence Bureau's Shanghai station?"
"I've seen it." Zhou Xiao tapped his fingertip lightly on the edge of the table. "The secret report from the undercover agent is clear: Song Mian and Wan Zhichao are to meet with a 'covert agent' at a secret liaison point tomorrow."
His gaze fell directly on Lan Yanzhi's face: "That person is you."
"As for the informant's name, it wasn't written in the confidential report. But it shouldn't be difficult to find out."
"They use mailboxes to send messages. As long as you keep an eye on the mailboxes—who goes to mail, who picks up, and who is sneaking around—the truth will naturally come out."
Lan Yanzhi nodded. Indeed, that meeting was arranged by her personally.
Zhou Xiao's lips curled slightly, but there was no real smile: "Feng Manna has quite an appetite. Once you're all here, she'll take you all in one fell swoop."
Lan Yanzhi abruptly stood up: "No, I have to go back to the station immediately to report!"
"Wait." Zhou Xiao raised his hand to stop them, his voice low but like an iron gate, "Rouge, hold on. Now that we have the intelligence, let's turn it into bait—we'll use it against them."
This intelligence shouldn't be taken for nothing; we must make it incredibly valuable.
Turning the tables on Zhou Xiao—that was the real scheme he had set up.
Lan Yanzhi was taken aback: "Who is the target?"
Zhou Xiao's eyes suddenly turned cold: "The new head of the Special Higher Police Section, Xian Daofeng."
Sendoh Kaede?!
He had just been transferred from the three northeastern provinces and hadn't even settled in when Zhou Xiao targeted him.
Lan Yanzhi froze, staring at him: "You... have a plan?"
"Reschedule." Zhou Xiao said decisively. "When you get back, just say there was a traitor within the organization, but you can't find out who it is—don't alert anyone."
"Right now we only know there's a mole, but we don't know who it is. Once the time and place of the meeting change, that viper will definitely bite and rush to send out new information."