Chapter Twenty: Beiping

  Straw is a German who opened a Western medical clinic in Beiping, mainly treating European expatriates. On the surface, he was a gentle and helpful doctor, friendly to European expatriates in Beiping. In fact, he was a secret agent sent by the US CIA to China, as he was a Sino-German mixed-blood, his father being an American.

  Strauss looked around the room he was in, a typical old Beijing civilian house, with a kang, a square table, and a large water tank. On the kang, there was even an old cat sleeping. His forehead still hurt, Strauss couldn't help but touch his forehead with his hand, fortunately it had been bandaged, probably from being hit hard that time, don't know if there would be any aftereffects.

  Strauss was attacked two nights ago when he was on his way back to the clinic after making a house call. He was suddenly wrapped in a sack from behind and struggled desperately, but was hit on the forehead with a stick or something similar and immediately fainted. When did he arrive at this room? Who bandaged his wound? All these things are unknown to him.

  Just as Strou was lying on the kang, indulging in wild fancies, the old door creaked suddenly. Strou hastened to close his eyes, carefully opening a slit and stealing a glance towards the doorway. But the result was very disappointing - no one came in; only an old withered hand stretched in from under the door curtain, left a bamboo basket on the ground, then closed the door again, accompanied by the sound of locking.

  After exercising his limbs, it seemed that there was no discomfort anywhere. Strou strode quietly down from the kang, pricked up his ears to listen for any noise, tiptoed a few steps and hid behind the broken door, sticking his eyes to the gap in the door to look outside. It was a siheyuan, and in the courtyard, he could just see an osmanthus tree, which happened to be one of the Chinese trees that Strou knew.

  Strauss let out a sigh and left the broken door, from which only the Osmanthus tree in the courtyard could be seen through the gap, and nothing else was visible. "Ah, it smells so good!" He lifted the lid of the bamboo basket, inside which was a large bowl of braised assorted dishes, several pieces of crispy fried dough sticks with meat fillings, and a pot of cool tea.

  Regardless of his dirty hands, Strou squatted on the ground and wolfed down the food, finishing off the basket in no time. He picked up the jug of cool tea and directly poured half of it into his mouth. "Ah, this is so comfortable, the feeling of being full is great!" Lying on the earthen bed, Strou contentedly rubbed his belly, occasionally letting out a satisfied belch, truly happy like a pig.

  He plucked a thin twig from the kang and, with his legs crossed, began to pick at his teeth, looking relaxed. In reality, he was thinking about why he had been brought here. Was it for money? Probably not, if it were just robbery or kidnapping, they wouldn't have targeted him, a foreigner. But if it wasn't for money, then what? On the surface, he was just a doctor, did his captors have some other purpose in mind?

  Just as Dr. Straus was still in the residential area, unable to think of a solution, Zhao Zhi arrived in Beiping, dusty and exhausted. The main purpose of Zhao Zhi's trip to Beiping was for Straus, not only to find him but also to safely send him to Chongqing, where according to Hahn's arrangement, Straus would take a plane leaving China from Chongqing.

  Why must he find Strau, Zhao Zhi was not interested at all, what he was interested in was the second order of Hunter, which must ensure that Strau is alive, if he cannot be kept alive, then kill Strau, and cannot let him fall into any force other than Zhao Zhi.

  Zhao Zhi didn't know why this Strout made Hunter so serious, according to the information shown, the cover identity of this German-American agent was a doctor. What could a doctor who wandered around in 49 City every day do? Or what kind of secrets could he come into contact with that would make Hunter seek his help, and still be so anxious about it.

  At this time, Zhao Zhi was dressed in a Western-style attire, with a three-button single-breasted black suit that accentuated his waist, and on his feet were pure leather black shoes made in Shanghai. His hair was slicked back with pomade, giving off an oily sheen, and on the middle finger of his left hand he wore a ruby ring, while on the index finger of his right hand he wore a sapphire ring. To others, Zhao Zhi looked like a rich young master from a wealthy family, the kind that was particularly well-off.

  As the saying goes, "it's dark under the lamp," Zhao Zhi is trying to give people an image of a rich and lazy young master. This way, even if something happens, others won't associate him with such a rich young master. For his own sake, Zhao Zhi has run around many places in Shanghai, wearing shoes made of cowhide with steel plates added inside, one piece on the toe and another on the heel.

  Zhao Zhi's belt also had a hidden compartment, inside which was stuffed 200 US dollars. This was Zhao Zhi's precautionary measure in case of an emergency. The back of the buckle and the heel of his leather shoes each hid several small gadgets that could open locks, handcuffs, and shackles. When he first went to order these items, Hunter had looked at him with a confused expression. But after Zhao Zhi demonstrated their use when they were delivered, Hunter exclaimed that he also wanted to get a set for himself.

  Carrying his suitcase with only a few clothes, Zhao Zhi hailed a taxi and headed to the Six Nations Hotel located on Dongjiaominxiang in Beiping.

  The Six Nations Hotel was originally a two-story brick and concrete Western-style hotel built by Belgians in 1901. In 1905, it was demolished and rebuilt as a four-story building, jointly invested by Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Japan, and Russia, hence its name. The hotel has four floors above ground and one floor underground, with over 200 rooms, making it one of the tallest Western-style buildings in Beijing at that time. The hotel mainly accommodated foreign envoys, officials, and upper-class people for lodging, dining, and entertainment, forming a gathering place for high-ranking officials and nobles. Additionally, this was also a refuge for military and political figures who had fallen out of favor.

  In 1925, with the rise of the Rokumeikan's status, the original building could no longer meet the needs, and an expansion was carried out; this expansion was very conservative, almost completely retaining the original shape, only adding one more floor on the basis of the original. The final Rokumeikan had a total area of about 20,000 square meters, with five floors, a building area of about 8,000 square meters, approximately 300 suites, restaurants serving exotic cuisine, conference halls, game rooms, movie theaters, billiard rooms, table tennis rooms and swimming pools. The rooftop was equipped with gardens that could hold rooftop parties for hundreds of people.

  Zhao Zhi chose to live in the Six Nations Hotel mainly because the CIA agent who was going to meet with him was also a big-nosed foreigner, and now the place with the most foreigners in Beiping is this Six Nations Hotel. Not only can Zhao Zhi enjoy himself inside, but he has also perfectly disguised his identity and that of his contact, which is a win-win situation that Zhao Zhi always actively responds to.