Chapter Sixteen: The Royal Bell

  At eight o'clock, Huai Jin arrived late, she deliberately came later, and on the way, she was careful to see if she was being followed, but no suspicious phenomena were found. However, whether there is an ambush in this nightclub tonight is unknown.

  As soon as she entered the door, she saw Dong Zhiyu sitting alone at the bar, Fu Qiu Sheng not far from her, chatting with a customer while tasting wine. The people in this room were all shapes and sizes, and it was impossible to tell at a glance. She had not intended to attend this appointment tonight, as it was too risky. Now that this book had passed from Dong Zhiyu's hands to hers, she didn't know how many people had handled it, and she couldn't ask questions. But if someone became curious or suspicious, all they had to do was open the book and see the words on the first page. After much deliberation, she decided that she had to come, but she didn't know whether there would be any urgent news, and even if someone saw her, not showing up wouldn't solve anything. She had been thinking for a long time about how to attend the meeting, gather information, and cleverly cover up this matter.

  She walked straight up to Dong Zhiyu and sat down beside him: "Dong translator, I'm here."

  Dong Zhiyu turned her head, and the other party's expression and tone made her feel a bit suspicious. She stared at Huai Jin's eyes for a while, feeling somewhat vigilant and uncertain about how to respond, so she replied: "Huai strategist, hello."

  "Thanks for the book, looks like I'm benefiting from Ye Ming's presence." Huai Jin smiled slightly.

  "What's the point of being lucky or not, I originally planned to give each of you a copy anyway. When Hua Shenwei has some free time, he can use it to pass the time."

  "Thanks for your kindness." Huai Jin said after finishing this sentence and didn't say more, turning her head to beckon the little brother at the counter: "The usual."

  Fu Qiu Sheng noticed Hua Jin's arrival and walked over to greet him, "Hua Advisor, long time no see, how have you been lately?"

  Huai Jin nodded: "Boss Fu, I'm still the same, how's business here?"

  "It's not as lively as it used to be," Fu Qiu Sheng said, walking over with his wine cup, "Before, I had your military officers coming here every day, but recently it's been strange, did you guys issue a ban on drinking?"

  "Where," Huai Jin took the Irish coffee handed over by Xiao Ge, refreshing, and the concentration of whiskey was just right, "Recently they have all concentrated on the suburbs of Shanghai, that side needs to be rectified."

  "I see. I was just telling Miss Dong that there are more and more young and handsome officers on my side recently." After finishing, he burst out laughing.

  The other two also smiled, and Fu Qiusheng seemed to suddenly remember something: "Right, a few days ago I got a bottle of fine Irish whiskey, and I've been keeping it to let you taste it when you come," he said to the bartender, "Bring me that bottle of Bell's Royal from my cabinet." He also said to Dong Zhiyu, "Please, Miss Dong, do us the honor, this way please." And with that, he led them to a private room.

  She sat down, took a sip of her coffee, and said, "Miss Dong, you have quite a nerve."

  When he finished, the other two were stunned and didn't know how to respond. Huai Jin continued: "Do you know if that book was handed over to the confidential secretary, would she be curious to flip through it? If she doesn't look at it, on her way to my office, will she run into someone who will see it? Or have I already been monitored, and everything coming in and out of here has been checked?"

  Fu Qiusheng didn't quite understand, but he had a general idea, and turned his head to look at Dong Zhiyu.

  On the other side, Dong Zhiyu's face was a bit flushed with anger and she felt wronged. The antique dealer's matter was something she had thought about for several sleepless nights, wanting to discuss and learn from them. As for sending the book, she had also carefully planned it out beforehand. If there were any mistakes, she had backup plans in place. It was just that the contact method with the Xuan Tong Temple hadn't been well designed, and recently, due to Qian Xinmin's betrayal, many things had changed, and she had adjusted accordingly. Originally, while accompanying him in Chongqing, she had been in contact with Old Chen for over a year without any mistakes. Now, after putting in so much effort, she was being scolded. Thinking this way, she looked at the cup in her hand and said softly: "Hua Canmou, I originally wanted to send that book to you personally, but the confidential secretary insisted on taking care of it. If I had persisted, wouldn't that have been suspicious? I had thought it through beforehand - if the secretary sent it incorrectly, I would just turn the tables and meet with Ye Mingtian instead. And if it wasn't sent incorrectly but someone else saw it, I would just say it was a mistake, that the message was meant for Ye."

  "You think you're so clever!" Huai Jin suppressed her anger, "If it was just a mistake in sending the gift, that's one thing. But if someone else saw it, do you think they'll come to you for confirmation? Ask you why Dong Zhiyu made an appointment with me and then wait for you to prepare your words to explain to them? I'm afraid they've already set a trap waiting to catch us off guard, and who knows, maybe there's someone watching us right now!"

  Dong Zhiyu fell silent, and Huai Jin's words were like a loud bell that rang through her entire being, revealing an unforgivable logical flaw in her own thinking. Indeed, all her ideas had been theoretically sound, but they were based on the premise that others would give her the opportunity to explain herself. What if someone discovered her note and pretended not to see it, without asking her about it or letting Huai Jin know that it had been found?

  Fu Qiusheng finally understood, and just then the young man brought over the whiskey. He put on a smiling face: "Come on, come on, let's all try some and see how it is." As he spoke, he opened the bottle and poured a small cup for each person.

  Huai Jin took over the cup and drank it all in one gulp. Fu Qiu Sheng intercepted her cup: "A Jin, slow down."

  Dong Zhiyu glanced at Fu Qiusheng, and although the previous sentence was brief, it contained infinite tenderness and care. The affection was so obvious that even someone like her, who had a blank emotional experience, could hear it.

  Huai Jin only looked at Dong Zhiyu, half a beat, "Doing intelligence work, relying on eyes, ears, mouth, brain... unless absolutely necessary, can't move pen, white paper and black characters are the taboos of intelligence personnel. You want to make an appointment with me, move your brain a bit, there are opportunities for verbal communication, why must you take this step of moving your pen."

  This last sentence is like a question, but it doesn't seem to be waiting for an answer; any answer would just be an excuse.

  "Is there a way to make up for it?" Fu Qiusheng asked Huaijin.

  "There's only one way, tomorrow at the office, I'll spread the word that you want to make an appointment with Ye Mingtian. Also, I'll tell him that you'll be waiting for him here tonight at 8 o'clock, and you must dress up nicely. If someone is curious and wants to pry into gossip, I can only secretly say that you passed on a wrong note, putting the note meant for him in my book." As she said this, she glanced at Dong Zhiyu, whose neck had turned bright red. "Miss Dong, I originally thought that as a girl, you should be more reserved and give them opportunities to encourage him to pursue you first. Now, it seems like you might have to sacrifice some of your reputation. However, in today's society, it's not uncommon for girls to take the initiative either."

  Fu Qiusheng was slightly surprised in his heart, he had never seen Huai Yin comment on men and women's affairs, never saw Huai Yin get so angry, even with a hint of sarcasm towards the other party. He hadn't seen her say so many words at once, it was like all the words she said in the past half year added up, not as many as this. Although it was so, he thought about it and felt that this was the only foolproof plan, so he said to Huai Yin: "Zhi Yu, although this countermeasure is a bit difficult for you, there's no other way."

  "Good." Dong Zhiyu only uttered a single word, tilting his head back and downing the entire glass of whiskey.

  Huai Jin saw her like this, and in his heart, that inexplicable pang of guilt rose again, just like last time when she somehow managed to deceive Fu Qiu Sheng into thinking it was her own carelessness that exposed her identity. This time, mixed with the intense aftertaste of Irish whiskey, it burned fiercely in his chest.

  "Zhi Yu, you asked us to meet up tonight, what's going on?" Fu Qiu Sheng asked again.

  Dong Zhiyu adjusted his mood, anyway, work had to go on. "It's like this, I'm 90% sure that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send our department's Wu Naijun to pick up those American antique dealers, and it's scheduled for this Saturday."

  "Really? Is there a way to confirm?"

  "I've thought of a way to confirm this matter and also get our hands on that list of cultural relics." Dong Zhiyu then went on to explain his plan.

  After listening, both of them fell into deep thought, repeatedly weighing her plan. Huai Jin spoke up: "Your plan isn't without its flaws, but even if it fails, following your method won't put you in danger, so go ahead and do it."

  Fu Qiusheng nodded, "I mean the same thing."

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