Chapter 9: Starting the Job

I have to admit, Daya really knows how to focus on the key points.

When Zhao Xuan shook his head outright, if he hadn’t still been chewing on the rice cake, Daya would have lunged at him and bitten him hard. This guy was just too infuriating.

If you’re not coming with me, then why ask?

In truth, Zhao Xuan was deeply grateful to Daya—this girl was like an angel sent from heaven to help him.

Heading toward Fuzhou Road, they happened to pass by the dead letterbox Zhao Xuan used to contact Li Mingzhu.

On the way, Zhao Xuan took the opportunity to “buy cigarettes” and successfully slipped the intelligence into the dead letterbox.

Now, all Zhao Xuan hoped was that Li Mingzhu would notice it. Beyond this, he had no other way to reach her.

In the winding alleys of Fuzhou Road, the disguised Li Mingzhu boarded a rickshaw, planning to scout around the nearby Huamei stronghold.

The flower shop had been compromised, and so had she. Li Mingzhu thought it impossible, no matter how much she pondered. The only explanation was that on that night, when she was receiving a telegram from headquarters, Zhou Mei must have come to find her.

Thus, the reason for her exposure likely lay with Zhou Mei.

After successfully escaping the flower shop, Li Mingzhu did not return to the Huamei stronghold but came instead to the safe house she used when she was Tiger Girl.

Due to ingrained habits, Li Mingzhu always passed by the dead letterbox area whenever she went out.

This unused dead letterbox belonged to Tiger Girl and Little Tiger. Li Mingzhu had thought it would never be of use again.

But tonight, she saw that someone had tampered with the dead letterbox, and even Little Tiger’s secret code appeared.

Though Li Mingzhu didn’t believe Little Tiger had betrayed them—she could have gone directly to retrieve the intelligence—her professional caution made her observe the surroundings for a while. Only after confirming it was not a trap did she take the intelligence back to the safe house.

“Zhou Mei has betrayed us.”

“Purge Plan...”

Reading these two pieces of intelligence, Li Mingzhu’s teeth nearly ground to pieces in fury.

She had once held great respect for Senior Zhou Mei, yet this person not only betrayed them but also sold her out, nearly dragging Little Tiger into an abyss of no return.

“Damn it!”

Taking a deep breath, Li Mingzhu stared blankly at the intelligence in her hand for a long moment.

...

In Mountain City, Military Intelligence Headquarters.

Just after Boss Dai instructed Mao Shu to relay his orders to the Magic City, Director Shen Xing hurriedly arrived.

“Third Brother, what’s going on?”

Without a word, Shen Xing handed the newly received intelligence to Boss Dai.

“Zhou Mei has betrayed us?”

Boss Dai’s expression was calm as he mentioned it lightly.

“The Purge Plan!!!”

This time, Boss Dai lost his composure.

Even Feng Weilan had not obtained the specific contents of the Purge Plan—how did Shen Xing know?

As far as they knew, only Ding Moqun and the traitor Zhou Mei were privy to the Purge Plan’s details.

“Third Brother, what exactly is going on?”

Standing straight and handsome in his uniform, Shen Xing radiated a sense of justice and righteousness.

“Director, it’s Tiger Girl—the present-day Magpie.”

“The telegram was sent using Tiger Girl’s codename, so I believe this intelligence came from Little Tiger.”

Boss Dai tapped his finger on the table, pondering briefly before urgently saying:

“Quick, get Mao Shu back here!”

Watching Shen Xing leave, Boss Dai reviewed the Purge Plan once more.

It matched his suspicions, but now that he had the concrete details, arranging the response was easier.

“Little Tiger howling in the forest?”

“Seems he’s truly grown, but how did he get hold of this plan?”

Boss Dai shook his head, unable to understand.

The next day, Zhao Xuan began work at Intelligence Division 76.

Ding Moqun personally guided Zhao Xuan through the procedures, causing the division staff to treat him with considerable courtesy—or at least on the surface.

Though he had Ding Moqun’s backing, Zhao Xuan had just joined and started as a low-level clerk.

No private office; he had to squeeze in with the other clerks in the intelligence room. Of course, Zhao Xuan had no intention of slacking off.

With Edith’s透析 mode and now working in intelligence, this was heaven’s way of letting Zhao Xuan probe the intelligence—slacking off would be a betrayal of the original self, who had died suddenly, weighed down by guilt and self-reproach.

Yet to others, Zhao Xuan did seem to be idling.

All morning, he sat at his desk, sipping tea while reading newspapers. After finishing those, he casually picked up a book to read—no work at all.

But it wasn’t that Zhao Xuan was shirking duties.

Being new and a “connection,” not only were the regular clerks reluctant to engage with him, but even the division chief, Sun Ping’an, had only exchanged a few words with Zhao Xuan during his onboarding.

[透析 mode: viewing file processing...]

[Purge Plan, personnel bank accounts of Division 76, financial reports, logistics plans, supply requests...]

All morning, Zhao Xuan scanned every file within透析 mode’s range.

And indeed, there was a surprising find—the Purge Plan.

This was a joint operation by the Japanese and collaborators to encircle and annihilate the Red Party guerrillas.

As a Red Party interloper, Zhao Xuan naturally intended to find a chance to join this family.

But now, he had no way in!

Sighing helplessly, Zhao Xuan decided to get up and stretch; sitting still was no good.

After all,透析 mode had a range of only ten meters; he thought to wander and see if he could still find valuable intelligence.

“Hello, are you Su Jian?”

Having identified his target, Zhao Xuan approached Su Jian’s workstation.

Su Jian looked rather shabby, greasy-haired, wearing thick glasses. His uniform sleeves were so dirty they gleamed.

But Zhao Xuan hadn’t chosen randomly—he noticed that files delivered from outside basically always went to Su Jian first.

So Zhao Xuan decided to strike up a conversation and subtly透析 the files on Su Jian’s desk.

Su Jian, who had always kept his head down, was surprised someone in the intelligence division would even greet him. He wasn’t well-liked, mainly because of his slovenliness.

Looking at the cigarette hard pass Su Jian, he was momentarily stunned before raising a hand to accept it.

“Thanks. I’m Su Jian. You’re Zhao Xuan, the new guy. I remember you.”

Zhao Xuan offered a friendly smile, pulled a chair, and sat down.

“Oh, it’s an honor.”

“It’s my first day, and I don’t know what to do. I’ve been idle all morning—it’s really boring. I wanted to ask if there’s any work I can do?”

Su Jian seemed sincere; his words matched his heart.

“Work is assigned by the chief. If the chief hasn’t given you anything yet, then just rest for now. Isn’t resting good? I’m so busy I don’t even get to rest.”

(The division chief wouldn’t dare dump menial tasks on someone brought in personally by the director—that would be a slap in the director’s face. Well, lucky me.)