Chapter 21 The Intermediary

  "Mr. Zhao, we've arrived at the Liu Guo Restaurant." The driver's gentle call woke up Zhao Zhi who was deep in thought. "Ah, thank you," Zhao Zhi handed over a large silver coin and got out of the taxi with his suitcase. At that time, taxis were still scarce in old Beijing, and the prices were relatively high. If Zhao Zhi had chosen a rickshaw instead, it would have probably cost only 50 cents to get to the Liu Guo Restaurant.

  "I am Daniel Boller from Switzerland, I have booked a room here." Zhao Zhi casually threw a large sum of money to the doorman and handed over his leather shoes, walking up to the front desk to inquire about his reserved room in standard German. It was a room that Han Te had booked in Zhao Zhi's name a few days ago, using his current Swiss identity as jeweler Daniel Boller.

  The slightly bald front desk manager flipped through the registration book, found Zhao Zhi's name, "Hello, Mr. Daniel, this is your room key. As you requested, it's a sunny room 405." The front desk manager also spoke to Zhao Zhi in German. It's worth noting that in Switzerland, people who use German are mostly from old families or nobility, and Zhao Zhi's Swiss name "Daniel" translates to "son of God" in Chinese.

  Zhao Zhi, imitating the arrogance of a German, nodded slightly with his neck held high and turned to walk towards the elevator. The porter, who had been following him all along, took over the key handed over by the manager and hastily followed Zhao Zhi into the elevator. "He looks like a Chinese person, how can he be Swiss?" The front desk manager stroked his thick chin, deep in thought as he watched Zhao Zhi's back disappear.

  The six-nation hotel was a mixed bag of foreigners from all over the world, and almost everyone working here was an informant for the police or various factions. As soon as something happened at the six-nation hotel, these informants would take the information they had gathered to their employers in exchange for money. Zhao Zhi's high-profile arrival naturally caught the attention of some of these informants, but since he had registered with a genuine Swiss passport, they only took note and didn't pay much attention to him.

  "Alright, just put the trunk by the bed." Zhao Zhi tossed another big dollar to the bellboy and had him order a lunch to be sent up to his room. The bellboy, who had received tips twice in a row, was overjoyed, his eyes narrowing with pleasure as he thanked Zhao Zhi repeatedly before leaving his room feeling satisfied.

  The sunny room booked by Zhao Zhi was a suite, decorated in the overall style of British Victorian, with a strong aristocratic atmosphere, which is quite consistent with Zhao Zhi's current Swiss identity. After taking off his suit, Zhao Zhi wore a black silk shirt and walked onto the balcony, gazing into the distance. Unfortunately, after searching all over Shanghai, he couldn't find a tailor who could make the kind of fitted shirts from his previous life. Zhao Zhi had to buy several British-style shirts from a store specializing in British goods to temporarily dress up his appearance.

  "Knock, knock, knock!" Zhao Zhi's door was knocked on, and lunch had arrived. It seemed that the doorman had already spread the word about Zhao Zhi's generosity in the restaurant, so the lunch delivered was exceptionally sumptuous. There were seven mature steaks, mutton chops, caviar, borscht, champagne, a large pot of coffee, and a box of cigars.

  He threw a big ocean to each of the attendants, Zhao Zhi drove out the two attendants who sent lunch from the room. He was still not used to having people standing next to him when he ate. After a hearty meal, Zhao Zhi lay on the sofa, smoking cigars and thinking about this mission. No large weapons were brought, so Zhao Zhi only carried a military knife and an M1911 pistol.

  Hunter only said that someone would come to meet him, but didn't say who the person was. Judging from Hunter's expression at the time, I estimate that even he himself didn't know what kind of person Zhao Zhi was meeting with. After all, it wasn't long since Hunter had been promoted to head of intelligence in the Chinese district, and he wasn't very familiar with the intelligence agents under him yet.

  After smoking half a cigar and drinking two cups of coffee, Zhao Zhi changed into a dark-colored plaid suit and went to the bar on the first floor underground. It was still daytime, so there were only about ten people scattered around the bar, mostly residents of the Liu Guo Hotel who would only visit the bar at night. Zhao Zhi came looking for what he needed and the person he wanted to find.

  The Liuguo Restaurant wasn't actually an inn in the true sense of the word. In reality, it had long since become a gathering place for foreigners who came to China to strike it rich to exchange resources and information. Zhao Zhi's target this time, Straus, had been missing for several days, and the two batches of rescue personnel sent by Hunter had lost contact. The CIA still didn't know who their opponent was. All that Zhao Zhi, armed with a handgun, needed to do now was find an arms dealer to get some heavy firepower equipment, or else he would end up on the list of missing persons himself.

  "Sir, are you a human being? Can I invite you for a drink?" Zhao Zhigang sat at the bar and immediately had a blonde woman come to chat him up. The Liu Guo Hotel was not only home to wealthy foreigners but also some long-term resident courtesans. They were all descendants of Russian aristocrats who, after losing their status and wealth in Russia, fled to China.

  After fleeing to China, wealthy descendants of the Russian aristocracy indulged in a life of luxury and extravagance. Some Russian women who couldn't support themselves would often rent rooms here and secretly engage in prostitution. As time went on and there were more and more prostitutes, it gradually became more open. Anyway, it was all consensual, and the restaurants didn't care either.

  Zhao Zhi didn't respond, only gesturing to the bartender to give a glass of wine to the blonde woman beside him. Seeing Zhao Zhi not speaking, the blonde woman giggled and, in a half-awake state, took the pack of cigarettes that Zhao Zhi had placed on the bar. Before Zhao Zhi could raise an eyebrow, the blonde woman pulled out a cigarette, broke it in half, and pressed one half under Zhao Zhi's lighter, putting the other half back into the pack.

  Zhao Zhi's eyes narrowed, the blonde's action was exactly the pre-arranged signal that Han Te had mentioned. She broke a cigarette in half, pressing one half under the lighter and putting the other half back into the pack. Could it be that this blonde in front of him was actually an intelligence agent working for Han Te, his contact person?

  "My name is Betty, I'm your contact." The blonde's hand played with the wine glass on the bar, her eyes gazed at Zhao Zhi in a petrified state with some amusement, and scarlet lips spat out the words.

  Zhao Zhi sneaked a few glances into the bar, but no one was paying attention to him. It was quite common for the hostesses in the restaurant to solicit customers in the bar, and most of the male customers had encountered such situations before, so no one paid much attention. Only a very small number of people couldn't help but admire the blonde's beautiful appearance, thinking about when she would approach them, and some impatient men were already asking the bartender for the blonde's room number.