What's Your Name? I Didn't Make a Sound!

"To risk our lives for the party and the nation, to fight to the death on the battlefield-that is the lifelong wish of soldiers like us."

"But I have a problem right now."

"I've been undercover in Shanghai these past few months, and my current identity is already out in the open."

"If I do things like tailing people again, it'll be easy for someone to dig up my background."

"Major Lin, I need some information."

Lin Su frowned slightly, but she did not object.

As a member of the covert front, she knew prolonged testing and screening were the rules.

Naturally, she also knew everything Chen Fan had endured. After a moment of silence, Lin Su said calmly, "What do you want?"

Chen Fan said seriously, "If I just run off to the consulate to snoop around, even ten lives wouldn't be enough."

"I have a way to use my current identity to approach people in the consulate's Logistics Department."

"I need you to find out who's in charge of the Logistics Department, along with some basic information about their logistics operations."

"I won't ask what methods you use or what connections you call on. I'm only giving you two days."

"I still have some things to prepare on my end. Any problems?"

Lin Su froze for a moment. This fellow sounded so self-assured. Where did a mere lieutenant get the nerve?

Lin Su had previously investigated Chen Fan as well. No matter which aspect the assessments covered, they all said he was loyal to his friends and valued relationships over profit...

So in her mind, Chen Fan should have been a smooth, worldly businessman.

Now, however, she felt that the Chen Fan before her seemed more like a decision-maker than someone carrying out orders.

As though he were the one in charge.

She really had no idea what had happened to bring about such a drastic change in him.

Still, Lin Su did not dwell on it. After all, Chen Fan's argument was well-founded.

With his current identity, tailing people really could easily lead to his entire network being rooted out.

Lin Su took a slip of paper she had prepared beforehand from her inner pocket and handed it over...

"All right, two days. No, I only need one. Once I have the information you need, I'll leave it in the dead drop on Wusong Road."

"This is the location of the dead drop. Abandon it after one use."

"I'll notify you separately of the next dead drop's location."

Chen Fan took the slip, glanced at it, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into his mouth. He took a sip of tea and swallowed the paper.

"All right, there's one last question. How much funding is command allocating for the mission?"

"Funding? What funding?"

Chen Fan suddenly laughed. "Ma'am, if I'm going to get goods into the Logistics Department, surely you don't expect me to pay out of my own pocket?"

"What, I have to pay to work?"

Lin Su frowned slightly. "You don't need to worry about funding. Investigate Lin Maosheng first. I'll speak to our superiors about the rest..."

"All right, then..." Chen Fan rose and saluted. "Ma'am, sorry for the trouble."

Lin Su returned the salute and said, "Be careful."

It had to be said that Lin Su moved faster than Chen Fan had expected.

By the following afternoon, Chen Fan had retrieved the information he needed from the dead drop.

Chen Fan destroyed it immediately after reading it. Others needed to memorize everything by rote; he simply entered the information into the system.

Back at the trading company, Chen Fan went into his office and called for Long Wu to bring the latest inventory information.

After looking through it for a while, Chen Fan picked out information on several alcoholic drinks among the imported goods and had Long Wu organize it.

After a night had passed, Chen Fan arrived at the trading company early in the morning.

The information he had asked Long Wu to organize yesterday was already neatly laid out on his desk.

Chen Fan put the information into his briefcase, went to the second floor to find Xiao Ding, a salesman responsible for promoting their goods, and headed out with him.

Xiao Ding's full name was Ding Zongshu. He had been a salesman at the Sincere Department Store, and his performance had remained good since Wang Ping recruited him.

The two each hired a rickshaw and traveled to the Japan Consulate in Shanghai at 106 Huangpu Road on the North Bund.

The rickshaws stopped outside the consulate. Chen Fan got out, his eyes discreetly sweeping the surroundings.

The consulate had been designed in 1911 by the architect Hirano Isamu, with Shanghai's Xiesheng Construction Company overseeing its construction.

The building was classical in style, with exquisite carvings on the lintel above the main entrance. Its exterior had red walls and black roof tiles, hence its name, the Red Building.

Opposite the Red Building was an empty foundation piled with various things. This was the future site of another consulate building, the Gray Building.

Chen Fan stepped down from the rickshaw and looked around, his brow tightening slightly. The layout around the consulate did not seem suitable for an ambush.

It was not just the many tall buildings and the complicated flow of pedestrians. The key problem was the lack of hiding places...

Once the operation succeeded, their retreat route would have no cover whatsoever, making capture easy, unless they traded one life for another...

"Boss, what are we doing here?" Xiao Ding asked, standing beside Chen Fan.

"There's still a batch of premium liquor in the warehouse. I heard Mr. Yamazaki at the consulate is very interested in liquor..."

Xiao Ding paused. "Boss, this is Japanese territory. You and them..."

"Nonsense. There are five crates of sake in that batch. If we don't sell it to the Japanese, are you going to buy it?" Chen Fan said impatiently. "Let's go in and try our luck..."

Xiao Ding thought it over. That made sense. The consulate was a high-level institution, after all. Perhaps they really could make a deal...

Since they were trying their luck, neither of them was certain, of course. No one knew whether they could actually close the deal.

However, Chen Fan's luck did not seem very good. The two were thrown out by the Logistics Department's staff without even getting to see its head, Yamazaki.

Less than three minutes had passed before the two stood awkwardly on the stone steps outside the entrance.

Chen Fan tugged at his tie, took out a cigarette in frustration, and lit it.

Beside him, Ding Zongshu muttered indignantly.

"They really fucking look down on people."

"How do they know it's unsuitable without even seeing the goods? Everything we have is top quality."

"All of Hongkou is using this stuff, and they won't even look at it. They really don't fucking know a good thing when they see it."

Chen Fan blew a smoke ring. Just as he was about to tell Xiao Ding to quiet down, footsteps sounded behind him.

The newcomer was a woman wearing a plain white light wool coat, its fabric crisp and its tailoring clean.

A section of a dark gray turtleneck showed at her collar. She wore no jewelry.

She wore no makeup, her complexion fair and clear, her features cool. In the overcast light, she looked like an ink painting that had yet to dry.

Two men in black wool coats followed behind her, one on either side, their steps half a pace behind hers as their eyes swept the surroundings warily.

Chen Fan glanced over at the sound. As though possessed, he immediately turned away, throwing away his cigarette while feeling around all over himself, pretending to search for something...

The woman paused when she saw Chen Fan, then slowly walked up behind him.

Xiao Ding looked at the woman, then at the two bodyguards behind her, and a trace of fear entered his eyes.

The woman was beautiful, but one look told him she was not someone to provoke.

The woman simply stood behind Chen Fan, watching him pat himself down in search of who knew what, a hint of teasing seemingly on her face.

She seemed puzzled, yet also pleasantly surprised.

Chen Fan searched for a while. Seeing that she still had no intention of leaving, he could no longer keep up the act. He turned around and looked at Fujiwara Kyoka.

Fujiwara looked at Chen Fan's face and suddenly asked, "What are you called?"

"Huh? I didn't call out..." The moment the words left his mouth, Chen Fan knew he had said the wrong thing.

Fujiwara seemed not to mind. "I'm asking what your name is."

Damn, is she pretending we're strangers here?

Chen Fan put on a smile. "My surname is Chen. I own a small trading company."

"I have some sake on hand. Mr. Inoue of Inoue Cuisine told me that Mr. Yamazaki at the consulate really likes this kind of sake, so I thought..."

"A trading company owner?" Fujiwara Kyoka said slowly. "Which trading company are you with?"

Chen Fan hurriedly took a business card from his inner pocket and handed it over. "Chen Trading Company, on Wusong Road."

"Chen Trading Company." Fujiwara examined the business card for a while. Rather than throwing it away, she put it in her pocket.

She looked up at Chen Fan and said gently, "All procurement for the consulate's logistics office goes through Mitsui Trading Company, under Mitsui & Co. You've come to the wrong place."

"But your timing is good. Mr. Yamazaki is indeed at the consulate this afternoon."

"If you want to see him, I'll have Mr. Sugita take you through the side entrance. Register at the duty office and say Fujiwara from the Cipher Section referred you."

"He should do me that favor."

"Would that work for you?"