Chapter 75: Screening The Insider Traitor
Zheng Chaoyang’s arrival broke the awkward atmosphere. Cao Weida felt like he had seen a savior.
“Oh, Chaoyang, why are you here? Come in and sit.”
“I won’t sit. Cao Ye, what is this?”
“Hey, the pavilion was eaten by termites and accidentally collapsed.”
“Termites?” Zheng Chaoyang was stunned. Were there termites at this time?
Didn’t they appear a bit later?
Cao Weida rubbed his nose and hastily changed the subject: “Chaoyang, what do you need me for?”
Zheng Chaoyang was indeed distracted, his gaze drifting towards Xinghong. “I do have something.”
Xinghong was perceptive. She gently tidied Cao Weida’s messy hair and said softly, “I’ll go boil water for you. Mr. Zheng, you two talk.”
Zheng Chaoyang looked on with envy. Every man liked women who were gentle as water, young, beautiful, and well-figured. Xinghong possessed all these qualities.
He teased with a hint of sourness, “Whoa, Cao Ye, you truly have a lot of luck with women. Du Shiniang is beautiful and charming, that’s one thing, but Miss Xinghong is even more stunningly beautiful. Truly enviable.”
“You only see the wealth, not the suffering,” Cao Weida said, rubbing his waist and sighing.
Zheng Chaoyang couldn’t help but roll his eyes. If this was suffering, many people would probably be quite happy about it.
Not wanting to listen to his humblebragging, Zheng Chaoyang looked around and said in a low voice, “I need you to do me a favor.”
“What favor?”
“It’s like this, there’s a traitor in the organization. Based on various clues, we’ve narrowed it down to a few people, but to avoid alerting the traitor, we’ve included some others. I want to ask you…”
“???”
Cao Weida’s eyes widened, a flock of crows flying over his head.
What the heck? You want me to screen for an informant?!
Cao Weida found it amusing, “You’re something else. You trust me this much? Aren’t you afraid I’ll betray you and take you all down?”
“Cao Ye, you jest. If I truly intended to betray you, could I still be standing here talking to you? I’d have been in the Japanese interrogation room long ago.”
“What if I want to play the long game?”
“The supplies you sold us are worth far more than our lives.”
“…” Cao Weida fell silent. The answer was sad, but it was the truth.
Later generations always say life is sacred and priceless, but in this era, a person’s life has a price, and sometimes it’s very cheap.
Let’s put it this way, if someone told a comrade from the underground that a life could be exchanged for a box of penicillin, many comrades would be willing to trade their lives!
The supplies Cao Weida sold to the Communist Party were so valuable that even sacrificing the lives of an entire underground cell would have been worth it!
After a moment of silence, Cao Weida nodded and agreed:
“Alright, I agree.”
He was bound to align himself with the Communist Party. If the Communist Party needed his help, he should do his best to assist.
After Liberation, he would depend on Zheng Chaoyang and his colleagues for protection.
Only when their relationship became more familiar would he have the opportunity to meet the people behind Zheng Chaoyang, and even the people behind them.
As long as their relationship was solid, there would be no worries after Liberation.
If one doesn’t plan for the future, they will be in distress in the future; one must have long-term vision.
Seeing that Cao Weida didn’t refuse, Zheng Chaoyang rejoiced. He knew Cao Weida was a good comrade worth winning over!
His heart was with the organization!
“Let’s talk somewhere else.”
In the study, Zheng Chaoyang took out a stack of photographs and a list and pushed them over. “The list contains people who need to be screened, and the photographs are of some past comrades. Familiarize yourself with them first.”
“Are we exterminating traitors?”
Cao Weida took the photos and list, looking at them one by one, firmly memorizing the faces and information of these people.
“No, we just need to identify the traitor.” If extermination was required, the risk would increase tenfold, and Zheng Chaoyang would absolutely not let Cao Weida step into danger.
Not only would he not agree, but the organization wouldn’t either. Cao Weida’s role was too important.
After a while, Cao Weida put down the photos. “I’ve seen them. What do you need me to do?”
“It’s like this, the Leader has invited these people to the Yangzi Dance Hall. They haven’t met the Leader, but just in case, I suggest the Leader find an unfamiliar face to scout.”
“My face is considered unfamiliar?” Cao Weida pointed to his face, speechless.
In Beiping, who didn’t know that Cao Weida was a newly rising figure? These special agents were all skilled at gathering intelligence; wouldn’t they recognize his face?
“Uh, I didn’t express myself clearly. What I mean is, although we have single-line contact, it’s possible they’ve seen us near the meeting point.”
“Originally, I told the Leader I’d go, but the Leader said I’m from the Confidential Section, many people know me, and I don’t usually go to those places to have fun, nor do I have the means. If I were to go rashly, it would easily arouse suspicion.”
“You, Cao Weida, are a new noble in Beiping. You often frequent various high-end establishments with Ono Shiota. If you go, no one will suspect anything.”
Cao Weida accepted this explanation. Zheng Chaoyang was right; he had indeed been frequenting various high-end places lately.
It couldn’t be helped. To maintain good relationships, one had to spend money lavishly; one couldn’t expect to rely solely on friendship.
It could be said that he had been to almost every high-end establishment in Beiping.
In the afternoon, as the sun had just set and people were still trying to make a living on the streets, the dance hall had already opened for business.
It couldn’t be helped. Lately, there had been a capable individual who had secretly eliminated many notorious Japanese devils and Chinese collaborators. Although the Japanese tried their best to conceal it, as more and more corpses were found, the matter could no longer be kept under wraps.
The Japanese, feeling greatly humiliated, went completely mad, and many innocent civilians suffered unintended disasters.
Some admired him, calling him a national hero.
Others despised him, even hating him. These were either traitors or selfish individuals.
Still others believed it was the work of ghosts and spirits, specifically seeking revenge on the Japanese and traitors.
In short, there were all sorts of opinions.
Regardless of what was said, fewer and fewer people dared to go out at night, especially the traitors.
And in Beiping at this time, at least one-third of the wealthy were traitors or people who had done evil deeds, and these were the primary targets for disappearance.
As a result, all entertainment venues were significantly affected.
As soon as it got dark, people didn’t dare to come out. Who would spend money?
Consequently, various entertainment venues were forced to advance their opening hours, similar to the situation in Bada Hutong before.
In front of the Yangzi Dance Hall, Cao Weida glanced at the sign above and calmly stepped into a place of debauchery that ordinary people couldn’t afford.
“In the ends of the earth,
Searching for a kindred spirit,
Little sister sings, I play the zither,
Oh, we are of one heart.
My love, my love, my dear,
We are of one heart.
Looking north to my homeland,
Tears, tears soak my collar.”
Cao Weida walked in, and a refreshing coolness washed over him. It was the air conditioning of the dance hall.
You heard that right, central air conditioning existed in this era, didn’t expect that, did you?
The singer on stage wore revealing clothing, swaying her hips alluringly, passionately singing Zhou Xuan’s 《Song of the Wanderer》.
The people below had shed their shirts and were dancing on the dance floor, sweating profusely.
“Yo, Cao Ye, greetings! Please come in, your private room is ready!”
Receptionists were sharp-eyed people; they could quickly recognize most guests who had visited before.
The salary of reception staff in this era was not cheap, much higher than that of patrolmen. They made their living with their words.
“No need, I’m alone today. I’ll just sit in the main hall. Find me a seat.”
“Certainly, Cao Ye. I’ll arrange a good seat for you so you can enjoy yourself with the people!”
Cao Weida chuckled in amusement. No wonder they were professionals, look at their eloquent speech.
Enjoy myself with the people, indeed. I’m not the emperor.
On the way to his seat, Cao Weida subtly scanned the crowd. He saw some people from the photographs, but others were missing.
He sat down subtly, ordered a bottle of foreign liquor, gave a Union bond as a tip to dismiss the receptionist, and leaned back on the sofa comfortably, holding his drink with a half-smile on his face.
His eyes darted around from time to time but didn’t linger, as if he were just idly stretching his neck. Everything appeared normal.
Suddenly, a chill ran down the back of his neck, instantly alerting him. He felt a malicious gaze sweep over him.
Ever since he became a Northern Fist Grandmaster, he had developed an almost metaphysical instinct.
It was like sensing the cicada before the autumn wind; as soon as someone harbored malice towards him, he could immediately sense it.
In fact, it wasn’t just those who had reached a certain level in martial arts; some sensitive individuals also possessed this ability, always having a vague sense of unease before danger arrived.
He didn’t look around to find the source; the malicious gaze wasn’t directed at him. He could only say he was ‘accidentally hit’ because not far from him, at a scattered table, sat another member of the underground party!
After a while, he pretended to stretch his arms and, seizing the opportunity, glanced sideways in the direction the malice had come from.
The Yangzi Dance Hall had a dance floor on the first floor and individual private rooms on the second floor. The windows connected to the dance hall, allowing a clear view of the hall when opened.
When the windows were closed, they became independent and secluded small rooms.
This way, wealthy patrons could satisfy their preferences, whether they liked lively atmospheres or a more private setting to find tranquility amidst the hustle.
These private rooms were not cheap; a month’s salary for an ordinary worker was barely enough to rent one, not including drinks ordered.
At this moment, a gap in the door of a private room on the second floor revealed a pair of sinister eyes scanning the dance hall, seemingly searching for something.
Because he had to scan the entire hall, the gap was inevitably wider, which also exposed his face completely to Cao Weida’s view. Cao Weida immediately memorized his face.
Especially when he saw the person standing behind him, he immediately confirmed it: the traitor was this person!
However, what puzzled him was that before coming, Zheng Chaoyang had given him a list and photos, and this person’s face was not on Zheng Chaoyang’s screening list, but he was indeed in the photos.
Obviously, there were only two possibilities: either there was more than one informant, or the underground party had the wrong target!
He only glanced sideways for a moment before shifting his gaze. Those involved in underground work lived in a state of constant tension, and many had an intuition that if they were particularly stared at, they would feel it.
Some sensitive individuals, even in their sleep, would wake up if someone stared at them maliciously.
Cao Weida wasn’t sure how strong this person’s intuition was. The best approach was not to pay attention; he couldn’t alert the snake.
In fact, many people could try it. If someone stares at you, you’ll have a faint sense of it, just varying in intensity.
If there’s no feeling at all… then it can only mean your nerves are pretty thick.
