Unless he dies, the boss can't sleep

Yuexiang Restaurant stood midway along Avenue Edward VII. Its frontage was small, but it was an old establishment that had been open for twenty years.

There was general seating downstairs and a few private dining rooms upstairs. Most of its patrons were regulars.

As agreed, Chen Fan arrived at Yuexiang Restaurant at seven.

As a man with a system, he possessed an advantage ordinary people could not match.

Just by looking at the colors of the dots on the system panel, he could easily determine whether anyone was following him...

At present, everything looked calm...

Chen Fan lifted the curtain hanging over the entrance and went straight upstairs.

There were three private rooms on the second floor. Without having to ask at each one, Chen Fan walked to the innermost room, pushed open the door, and stepped inside.

The room was small, with just one round table. An unopened set of tableware sat on it, along with a plate of freshly served barbecued pork buns.

A woman sat beside the table, a woman with a distinctive charm.

She was in her twenties and wore a gray-blue qipao with a subtle woven pattern,

with a somewhat worn dark wool cardigan over it. Her hair was tucked behind her ears, and she wore little makeup.

Chen Fan recognized her at once. On opening day, she had worn a dusty pink coat and a small beige dress hat, and had stood in front of the medicinal herb counter for a long time.

His contact was none other than Lin Su...

On opening day, Chen Fan had personally handed her a cup of tea. She had not drunk it, then had left without a word.

After that, she had visited four times, staying less than ten minutes each time and buying something only once.

"Open the door to welcome good fortune..."

"The God of Wealth reporting in."

The two exchanged the challenge and response, ever so naturally...

With the passwords confirmed, Lin Su picked up the hot-water flask by her feet and poured Chen Fan a cup of tea.

Chen Fan sat down beside her, his expression perfectly natural...

Lin Su pushed the teacup toward him and smiled. "It seems you still remember me, Boss Chen?"

"I've always had a good memory. You didn't even have a cup of tea on your last visit to my shop, miss. I must have been remiss as a host."

Lin Su smiled. "You do have a good memory, Boss Chen."

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm your liaison, Major Lin Su. Codename: Autumn Cicada."

Chen Fan gave an inward snort. That's probably not all, Miss Brocade Zither.

But he did not say it aloud,

She actually held the rank of major-a female liaison, and a major at that.

Could this woman be some sort of royalty?

Chen Fan instantly adopted a respectful expression, rose, and saluted.

"Second Lieutenant Chen Fan, Third Group, Second Squad, Special Service Squadron, Second Department, Party Affairs Investigation Section, saluting you."

"Major Lin, my undercover codename in Shanghai is Buddy."

Lin Su's next words stunned Chen Fan. "Buddy is already dead."

"Your death report has been submitted to our superiors for review. Your codename is now God of Wealth."

"The department chief chose that codename for you. The Special Operations Research Office has opened a separate top-secret file for us."

"Its classification is high-level, with Lin Zhao, director of the Special Operations Research Office, in charge."

"I will serve as your sole contact."

Chen Fan paused, then immediately understood his superiors' approach. They were afraid his background might not be clean. If it really came out later that he was the traitor responsible for everyone's deaths, Boss Dai feared being saddled with the charge of poor judgment.

Now that he was a dead man, if anything went wrong, there would be no such person on record.

But if nothing was wrong and he successfully completed his mission, then his actions would be part of an undercover operation painstakingly devised by Boss Dai.

His death had merely been announced out of necessity to prevent his exposure.

They benefited either way. Who said sugarcane couldn't be sweet at both ends...?

Chen Fan asked cautiously, "Major Lin, does your reactivating me this time mean I've passed your test?"

Lin Su remained pleasant. "I've observed you for a long time. You're clever, and your methods are good."

"I've reactivated you because headquarters has given me a difficult assignment. After much consideration, I need your assistance."

She finally got to the point. In plain terms, I'm still useful.

"Please go ahead, Major Lin."

Lin Su fell silent for a moment before saying slowly, "Do you know Nanyang?"

Of course Chen Fan did. In this era, who knew how many people had been forced to leave the country in search of a way to survive.

How many Chinese had put down roots in the countries of Nanyang, and how many had left and never returned?

People said it was hard to leave one's homeland. If not to keep their families fed, who would willingly leave home?

"Yes. I had some dealings with people there when I was in business."

Lin Su nodded and continued, "Last autumn, the Battle of Shanghai broke out, and our country suffered a calamity."

"The Chinese living in Nanyang, from Malaya to Singapore, from Kuala Lumpur to Penang."

"Countless Chinese donated from their meager wages, one dollar or two at a time. Over three full months, the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce raised a total of three hundred thousand US dollars,"

"That money was meant to buy arms and medicine for our countrymen and support our resistance against Japan."

"On January twenty-sixth this year, the Chaoshan Chamber of Commerce sent its representative, Wu Bingsheng, to bring the money back into the country via Hong Kong Island."

"For safety, Wu Bingsheng took a circuitous route and lay low on Hong Kong Island for a time. After confirming it was safe, he arrived in Shanghai three days ago."

"But the moment he arrived in Shanghai and stepped off the ship, the Tokkō's Action Team arrested him."

"An insider?" Chen Fan voiced his conclusion without a second thought.

"That's right. After investigating, our people at Shanghai Station identified a target."

"Lin Maosheng, originally from Tainan, a Taiwanese man with Japanese nationality who studied in Japan in his early years."

"He's fluent in Hokkien, Cantonese, and Malay. He worked as a consular interpreter in Malaya for many years and is well acquainted with members of the local overseas Chinese chamber of commerce."

"While Wu Bingsheng was on Hong Kong Island, Lin Maosheng was there too. He has old ties with several people in the chamber of commerce on Hong Kong Island,"

"We suspect he leaked Wu Bingsheng's itinerary to the Japanese."

"The Japanese are determined to get that money. As soon as they detained Wu, Lin Maosheng disappeared from Hong Kong Island,"

"Our people on Hong Kong Island followed him to Shanghai, but the moment he disembarked, a car picked him up and took him straight into hiding at the Japanese consulate. He hasn't come out since."

"You mean you want to go after him?" Chen Fan frowned. "Major Lin, the consulate in Shanghai isn't somewhere we can enter whenever we please."

"Do you have any more detailed information?"

Lin Su frowned. "There's an unconfirmed report that a secret intelligence organization called the Iwai Agency operates inside the consulate."

"They're responsible for Lin Maosheng's safety. We don't have any detailed information on the specific arrangements yet."

Well, that was as good as saying nothing. How was he supposed to investigate with nothing but the name 'Iwai Agency'?

Was he supposed to barge into the consulate and tell the staff, 'Hello, I'm a Fuxing Society operative. I'd like to know where Lin Maosheng is'?

If they didn't beat the shit out of him, it would only be because he'd already emptied his bowels...

Lin Su took a sip of tea. "Shanghai Station will find a way to rescue Wu Bingsheng."

"Our mission is to kill Lin Maosheng. Unless he dies, Boss Dai won't sleep soundly at night..."

"Oh, and there's some good news. Because of your outstanding performance last time, the higher-ups will promote you to first lieutenant."

First lieutenant. Hah...

Well, those people had felt bad enough at the last moment to reward him with a rank to die in...