Chapter Twenty-Two Handwritten Menu

  The uneasy night finally passed, and Matthew let Dong Zhiyu leave, but he didn't know when he would come back. He hoped that this group of Americans would leave as soon as possible. Ye Mingtian thought it wasn't a big deal, and it was normal for people to be unhappy about such things. After the guests left, they finally had the opportunity to do something serious. Huai Jin followed Fu Qiu Sheng to the third floor attic, which was a hidden space with a commercial radio station inside. It was usually used to receive and send some business bond information, and very few people came here.

  Huaijin adjusted the potassium iodide and tartaric acid mixture, and Fu Qiusheng opened the calendar that Dong Zhiyu had given him. He dipped a brush in the solution and carefully brushed it on the back of the page with the butterfly picture. Gradually, a blue, neatly written list appeared. It was an inventory of cultural relics, two columns, each with ten items from top to bottom. The names of these cultural relics were complex and difficult to pronounce, such as "Pre-Qin Dynasty Military Boat", "Purple Sandalwood Incense Burner", "Fisherman's Retreat in the Mountains" and so on. If one didn't have special skills, it would be impossible for anyone to memorize all twenty items in just a few minutes.

  Huai Jin nodded in satisfaction, "This is good, it must be sent out without a single word missing. Dong Zhiyu only borrowed it from the machine room for a few minutes, and her suspicion will be greatly reduced at that time."

  The calendar page of Li Xianglan was found again, with a list of names in both Chinese and English, like a French recipe. The main list only had four people, and below that, another person was added, who was Matthew? Hansen, with a question mark behind him, and a comment saying: This person is not on the official roster.

  Huaijin put down the name list and walked a few steps. How to announce this list, she wanted to minimize Dong Zhiyu's suspicion.

  "Has this antique dealer's name list been obtained in written form?" Huai Jin asked Fu Qiu Sheng.

  "The roster was given to her in writing by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the list of artifacts had never been given to her in written form."

  "My point is, remove two of the longer surnames, don't use the English version, and add Matthew as well," she paused, "translate the names, make some slight adjustments, for example this one," she pointed to a place on the roster, "'Arthur' changed to 'Arther', making it seem like the person who leaked the information only overheard the name, rather than seeing the official roster."

  Fu Qiusheng nodded after a moment of thought, "This is a clever move. By arranging the food and lodging for these Americans, it will inevitably involve many unrelated people. If we do this, when the matter comes to light, it will be able to disrupt the judgment of the Japanese puppet regime."

  "In addition, this intelligence is not just for us to announce, but also for the Red Party to announce."

  "What...?" Fu Qiusheng was somewhat perplexed.

  "We are making this information public in order to strike at the Wang Jingwei government. This intelligence can be shared with the Red Gang Party, and it's best not to let them lock onto Yubei as their target for investigation later on. We will release this news together with the Anping side, and Wang's scope of investigation will expand a lot."

  "This is a good idea, but how can we get this intelligence to Anping?"

  "I have a channel for this," Huai Jin took out a folded paper from his pocket, with a handwritten menu on it. "I've already prepared everything, now I just need to secretly write these intelligence on the back of this in the same way, and tonight I can let Anping know."

  Fu Qiu Sheng hesitated, firstly because this was a big deal and he hadn't gotten approval from Duan Yunong, so he wasn't entirely at ease. Although Duan Yunong had entrusted him that when it came to Huai Jin, some things could be given special privileges, and in the outside world, there were certain orders that didn't need to be followed; secondly, he was worried about Huai Jin's safety. He knew that Huai Jin had been able to get this far on this path because she must have her own channels. Now was a time for cooperation, grasping a certain baseline, and communicating with An Ping, so this matter could be handled beautifully, but it was also dangerous.

  "Ah Jin, be careful, I'm afraid something will happen to you." His voice was very low, as if it had fallen into the dust.

  Fu Qiusheng was aware of her own feelings, but apart from gratitude, she had nothing to repay with. In a chaotic world, discussing emotions was a luxury, let alone the nightmare of her youth that made her uninterested in romance, fearing it like a noose.

  "I'm fine, don't worry," he paused, "you should also be careful when sending the message tonight." After finishing speaking, he packed up his things and walked out the door.

  All the way to the banks of the Yi Qin River, it was already night, but the Yi Qin River was different from other places. The more night fell, the more prosperous it became. However, that prosperity was deeply hidden, not in the bustling crowds or music, but in the seemingly calm boat galleries, with layers of lantern shadows, inside which were countless merchants' worries and scholars' concerns.

  Suddenly, I remembered the stage of Yejinling's performance of "Night Qin", which had a phrase that seemed to say "Do you know, this river water filled with lanterns, where will it flow tomorrow?" Where will it flow? Huai Jin unconsciously hummed out loud, and was somewhat melancholic. Upon further reflection, this was such an inappropriate sentiment, for this world could not tolerate her sadness.

  Walking along the riverbank, the breath she exhaled turned into wisps of white smoke. On such a night, her figure seemed so lonely and forlorn, yet also revealed a layer of fatigue. Nevertheless, she still kept her back straight, never allowing her shoulders to slump at any time.

  The tofu boat hasn't closed yet, but it looks like it won't be long before it does.

  "She told the young man who came forward to greet her, 'I'm looking for your shopkeeper.'"

  Before long, the middle-aged man wearing glasses came out and saw that it was Huai Jin. He hurriedly bowed his head and said, "Officer Huai, it's so late, let me prepare some easily digestible night snacks for you?"

  Huai Jin often came to the Dou Huang Fang to spend a night after completing her tasks late, and now that it was getting into the night, Tu Zhanggui thought she had come for a midnight snack.

  "No, Mr. Zhuo. I came here because someone from my hometown has arrived, and I have a menu," he said, taking out the handwritten menu from his pocket, "same as last time, old rules, please deliver the dishes to my humble abode according to this menu tomorrow, the earlier the better."

  Zhuo's heart sank, and he realized that Huaijin had come to deliver a message.

  The author has something to say: When I want to write an article, writing is a pleasure. If one day I have to write for some task, it must be painful.

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