Chapter 64: The Chongqing Liaison Officer Has Arrived
Iwai Koichi let out a long sigh: “Mr. Kagesa, we’ve always been mocking the Chinese people for liking infighting.”
“But it’s the same within the Empire.”
“If there weren’t so many prejudices, so much infighting, our expansion plan against China would go much more smoothly.”
Kagesa could only give a wry smile upon hearing this.
The discord between the Empire’s navy and army was no secret at all.
If there was anyone who wanted to see the Japanese Army fail more than the Chinese people, no doubt it would be the Japanese Navy.
These two oddball troops had been despising each other for more than a day or two.
It could even be traced back as far as the struggle between the Choshu Domain and the Satsuma Domain hundreds of years ago.
This was infighting that even the heavens couldn’t stop; when they went mad, they even sailed their fleet into Tokyo Bay, let alone a consul and a military affairs section chief.
Iwai Koichi was silent for a long time, looking at the scenery outside the window and saying leisurely: “Mr. Kagesa, what do you think the Empire’s future would be like if someone could quell the struggle between the navy and army?”
Kagesa smiled: “Unless it’s Amaterasu reborn with supreme divine power to soothe the conflict between the two sides, a person, heh, where is there such a person?”
Shanghai, Director of the Economic Department’s Office.
This internal investigation incident had caused a stir for two or three days, but in the end, it just fizzled out.
However, Nanjing still had no intention of letting the Economic Department off the hook.
Early in the morning, Chen Yang looked at the newspaper headline in his hand and almost laughed out of anger.
The front page of Shanghai Declaration boldly read: “Frequent good news from the bandit suppression front lines; troops have achieved expected goals and are temporarily resting in Liyang.”
Below it was a lengthy piece about how successful the frontline bandit suppression was, how heroic the troops were in killing the enemy.
At the end, it added: “Bandits are rampant; the troops have suffered some casualties, but morale remains high, all officers and soldiers have the heart to kill the enemy and serve the country; due to untimely material replenishment, they are now temporarily staying in Liyang for rest.”
“Once rest is complete, they will surely regroup and definitely sweep away the Taihu Lake bandit problem, clarifying the universe.”
Walter Fa, I shorted you half a portion of materials, and you’re still saying it’s untimely material replenishment? That’s not how you pass the buck.
After reading the entire report, Chen Yang could only sum it up with two words: “Shameless.”
Really so shameless…
He casually flipped to the Declaration’s finance section, and suddenly, Chen Yang’s mind jolted; the long-missing Chongqing contact signal had finally appeared.
Chen Yang looked at the financial analysis commentary in the newspaper, and the program in his mind had already begun decoding the information above in a special way.
With the system, the cipher book had long been destroyed by Chen Yang; whatever information he needed, the system in his mind would naturally match it, so why keep the cipher book? Waiting for others to discover it?
The entire commentary was about three hundred words; after decoding the key information, a line of information prompt appeared in his mind.
“7 PM, Wutong Road White Rose Coffee Shop, black suit, two steel pens in the upper pocket of the jacket, upside down.”
So many tricks. Chen Yang put down the newspaper, picked up the tea cup on the table, stood by the window, and took a small sip.
Shanghai, Wutong Road.
This road was named Wutong Road because French people planted sycamores here in the 19th century; in summer and autumn, the branches and leaves are lush, shading the entire street.
This is the narrowest road in all of Shanghai, only wide enough for three people to walk side by side.
And the two most famous buildings on this road are the Xu family’s old Catholic church and the Pan family mansion known as Half Pan City in the previous dynasty, Shichun Hall.
However, neither of these places was Chen Yang’s target today.
“White Rose Coffee Shop.” Chen Yang walked to the middle of Wutong Road and looked up at the slightly worn coffee shop sign above.
Then he confirmed the position of the two steel pens in the upper pocket of his suit once more; everything checked out, so Chen Yang stepped forward and pushed open the coffee shop door.
Ding-a-ling, a crisp bell rang from above the door.
“Sir, one?” The waitress in an ink-green qipao came forward, her white rose brooch on her chest flashing a glint of cold light.
“Mm, one.” Chen Yang smiled and responded, his gaze quickly sweeping over the entire coffee shop.
“Please follow me.” The waitress politely led Chen Yang inside, but he declined the offer, heading straight to the second booth by the window and sitting down; this spot could observe the entire coffee shop while backed by a solid wall, a natural vantage point.
“Sir, what would you like to drink?” The waitress didn’t say much else but leaned down politely to ask what Chen Yang wanted.
Chen Yang picked up the menu, looked at it, and said: “One Blue Mountain coffee.”
The waitress nodded politely and said: “Sir, please wait a moment.”
Chen Yang nodded slightly, his gaze turning to the window outside.
Zhou Xuan’s Night Shanghai was playing in the coffee shop 《Night Shanghai》; the gramophone’s copper horn was a bit distorted, producing a faint buzzing electrical noise at key moments.
He took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket; while lighting one, Chen Yang’s gaze swept over every face, trying to figure out who this contact target was.
The mustached man in the left corner reading the newspaper had calluses on his knuckles from long-term gun handling, but he didn’t seem likely; he had a knife scar running to the corner of his eye, making him too conspicuous—not suitable as a contact.
Could it be the flirting couple by the bar? The woman’s handbag opening was always facing the door, as if she could pull out a weapon from the bag at the fastest speed if anyone entered.
Uh, overthinking it; this woman was frivolous and loose, her gaze still wandering while talking to the man, seemingly looking for the next target—this was clearly an outsider.
Hmm, the most suspicious was that waiter wiping the glass; his gaze seemed fixed on him, could it be…
“Sir, your coffee.”
When the coffee was served, the waitress’s finger intentionally or unintentionally tapped lightly on the saucer.
Chen Yang’s pupils contracted slightly; he looked up and carefully examined this unfamiliar face: early twenties, willow-leaf eyebrows under which were a pair of big eyes with clear black and white, a straight nose bridge, and a small mole at the corner of her mouth.
Could it be her?
“Sir, what’s wrong?” The waitress saw Chen Yang staring at her so unabashedly and couldn’t help blushing a little.
But given how handsome and dashing Chen Yang was, this blush quickly turned into a fluttering heartbeat.
Heaven opens its eyes; has this Republic-era young master falling for the working girl trope finally come to me?
The waitress suppressed her excited mood and asked in a low voice: “Sir, would you like to order a piano piece?”
“Sure.” Chen Yang didn’t know if this was her confirming his identity but agreed without hesitation.
The waitress nodded to the waiter, who immediately lifted the gramophone crank; the coffee shop fell into brief silence.
Click click click, the sound of high heels stepping on the floor slowly rang out, and a graceful figure appeared before everyone’s eyes.
