Stopping a Thousand

Moonlight spilled across the earth, its faint glow rendering the streets dimly visible. Wang Yan wore a fedora pulled low over his head, a trench coat around him, and leather shoes on his feet. Click, click, click—he walked with measured rhythm, as though every step had been precisely calculated.

This was Petain Road, and his destination was the Eternal Harmony Hotel. The Shanghai underground Party organization had moved again. It had to—there could not be the slightest risk.

At the back door, he knocked twice short, twice long, then twice short as usual. Before long, the door opened. Naturally, it was Liu Qiulan who answered it. She asked quietly, "Did you go to Foch Road?"

Wang Yan nodded. "It looks like that place is being watched."

"There was no choice. Luckily, we left early and covered our tracks well. Come in. We've been waiting for you for ages."

It was a three-story building. Through the back door were the kitchen and the hotel owners' private living quarters. The place was spacious, with two additional mezzanine levels built inside, making it seem like a world of its own.

In the study on the first floor facing the back street, Wang Yan found Lu Boda seated behind a desk. On the desk was still that dim, yellow little lamp. He sat there smoking, and the ashtray before him seemed perpetually crammed with cigarette butts.

Seeing Wang Yan enter, he pointed at the single sofa opposite the desk, hidden in the shadows beyond the lamp. "I know you're used to sitting there, so I specifically brought it along when we moved."

Wang Yan smiled, walked over, and sat down. "I went to Foch Road earlier. How did that place get watched?"

"For the past month or so, the Japanese have kept making an