Chapter 31 Chapter 31: Deadly Clues in the Ballroom

Li Zizhong was stunned for a while, and then said: "You should thank me, otherwise you have already arrived in another world!" "You are wrong. To use our words to ask to see Marx. For us Communists, it is an honorable thing to dedicate ourselves to a noble cause. Frankly speaking, I will not thank you if because of my absence And I will be disturbed for the rest of my life if the operation is not successful." The light in the basement was very dark, regardless of day or night, Liang Tianshu knew that a new day had begun when he heard the officers and soldiers' passwords from outside.

Suddenly, there were several gunshots mixed with the password, and Liang Tianshu was startled. He knew that it was his comrades who were taking action... After the gunshots, everything returned to silence, but Liang Tianshu's heart was hard to calm down. Success, because it involves the safety of Comrade Primrose, he cares about the safety of his comrades-in-arms, because he knows the danger of assassinating during the day... He got up from the bed, turned on the light, and the basement immediately became completely transparent.Li Zizhong was very thoughtful. He prepared all kinds of fruit snacks, books for recreation, and temporarily added a small bathroom—obviously, Li Zizhong planned to let him stay for a long time.Looking at all this, Liang Tianshu felt relieved, if Li Zizhong was hostile, he would never treat him preferentially like this.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, and a hearty breakfast was handed in through a small pane on the door.After Liang Tianshu finished his breakfast, he handed the bowls and chopsticks outside. It was about 8:30 in the morning, and there was another sound of steady footsteps outside the door. He was familiar with this sound and had heard it for many years. He adjusted his mentality. Li Zizhong opened the door and came in, his inner world could not be seen from the expression on his face. "Adjutant Liang is still used to living here?" This was Li Zizhong's opening remarks.

"It's not a habit, if you come here, you will be at ease." Liang Tianshu said. "It's good that you understand, how do you feel after staying for one night?" "I have a lot of feelings, teacher, don't beat around the bush, I like to be more direct. If you are not direct, then I will not be polite-I heard the gunshots this morning, and I want to know if the assassination was successful?" "What assassination?" Li Zizhong thought deeply, but was surprised inside. "Was Zhu Yongxiao's assassination of Su Zitong successful?" Liang Tianshu finished speaking without hesitation, "I am very concerned about this matter, because I discussed with him that we acted together at 12 o'clock last night, but now I am in here."

Li Zizhong was stunned for a while, and then said: "You should thank me, otherwise you have already arrived in another world!" "You are wrong, to use our words to ask to see Marx. For us Communists, it is an honorable thing to dedicate ourselves to a noble cause. Frankly speaking, I will not thank you if because of me I will be disturbed for the rest of my life that the operation was not successful due to his absence." "So, are you really a Communist?" Li Zizhong asked. "I've told you the truth, there's no need to repeat it." "Liang Tianshu, you are so courageous. I am the commander of the Kuomintang Independent Division. Aren't you afraid that I will hand you over to Zhang Zui?!" Li Zizhong said with rounded eyes.

"That's your business, Mr. Li. I've already said that I'm not afraid of death." "You don't have to be afraid of death, aren't you afraid that you won't be able to complete your mission?" "In Jiangnan City, our central task is to do your job. There is no other more important mission than this. If you insist on being stubborn and let millions of people in Jiangnan City fall into a brutal war, you will be punished!" "You are threatening me." Li Zizhong said. "This is the truth." Liang Tianshu said relentlessly. There was another silence, and Li Zizhong's heart was overwhelmed. Finally, he calmed down and said softly, "Can you tell me why you insist on killing Su Zitong?"

"This is the secret of our organization, can I not tell you?" "I know this is your secret, but I also hope to gain your trust." Li Zizhong said seriously. Liang Tianshu's heart that has been hanging has finally landed. He stretched out his right hand and said with a smile on his face: "Welcome to be a friend of our party. Here, on behalf of the organization, I would like to express my most sincere welcome to you." "You're welcome. In fact, I have been looking for you all the time. I didn't expect the Communist Party, which I have been thinking about day and night, to be by my side." Li Zizhong excitedly squeezed Liang Tianshu's hand.

"Now I can tell you why Su Zitong was assassinated—under Zhang Zui's nose, there was one of our comrades, Yunni Silk Village. He sent the information in time. If Su Zitong fell into Zhang Zui's hands, he would The truth will be told, and our comrades' lives will be in danger." "I understand." Li Zizhong suddenly realized, and then regretted: "...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have agreed to hand over Su Zitong to Zhang Zui, causing your party to suffer huge losses..." "Has Su Zitong fallen into Zhang Zui's hands?" Liang Tianshu turned pale with shock.

"He's dead, but your comrades..." "I understand..." Liang Tianshu suppressed the grief in his heart and said, "It's not your fault, because you don't know the inside story... If it weren't for their sacrifices, you wouldn't have believed me so quickly... We have already succeeded halfway, and we have paid No amount of sacrifice is worth it. Really, it's not your responsibility." "Can you tell me what happened to half the success?" "I have already said that the central task of the underground party in Jiangnan City is to win over you. Today we have officially taken over the task. Even if half of the task has been completed, the next task is even more difficult - that is to ensure your safety!"

"Thank you, thank your party for valuing me so much!" Li Zizhong said emotionally. "We know that the Kuomintang has never relaxed its surveillance on you, so we sent people into the military command organization very early. With him, we can keep track of every move of the spy organization in time. He is your patron saint!" "No wonder you protect him at all costs!" Li Zizhong said with deep emotion. "I am very happy that my mission can finally be completed, and the heavy burden will fall on him from now on." Speaking of this, Liang Tianshu paused, and said to Li Zizhong very cautiously, "This comrade is called 'Baochun'. Bird, 'If anything happens to me in the future, he will contact you.'

"Primula bird, primrose bird..." Li Zizhong chanted repeatedly. "I don't think about anything these days, I just think I'm a fool and don't know anything. I didn't expect the effect to be surprisingly good. When I think about the problem again, my thinking is very clear. I found that our contest with the Jiangnan underground party is like two boxers. In the competition. Although I had the upper hand in several rounds in a row, the opponent was also consumed a lot, and even suffered serious damage. Commander Chu, did you understand what I said?" Zhang Zui looked at Chu Liyan and asked. "You mean the Communist Party has run out of tricks?" "That's almost what it means," Zhang Zui nodded, "I seriously recalled the details from when I came to Jiangnan City until now, and found that the modus operandi of the underground party around us has changed a lot. What I came up with The conclusion is this: Before I came to Jiangnan City, he sent the information directly to Yunni Silk Village. After I came, his traffic officer Jiang Fangxiang handed it over; after Jiang Fangxiang was exposed, he changed two people—— —a rag collector and a small fishmonger; now neither of them dare to show his face, so it is more and more difficult for him to communicate with his superiors." "Could it be that they haven't contacted yet?" Chu Liyan opened his eyes wide. "No, they have definitely contacted them. With their shrewdness, they will design several sets of plans in advance, and immediately use the next one after one set of plans is scrapped—I think they are using the last set of plans now!" "What is the last plan?" Chu Liyan couldn't keep up with his thinking. "In layman's terms, this is the case—this Communist Party has attracted our attention and even suspicion because of its repeated crimes, so it is impossible for him to act freely. If he is not an internal member of the Gendarmerie, his intelligence cannot be sent to the superiors!" "Team leader, your analysis is so incisive!" Chu Liyan sincerely admired, "Chu really has to accept, has to accept!" "So, the top priority is to focus on finding this traffic officer!" "Team leader, I know you already have a way to find this traffic officer." "Old Chu, you overestimate me. I'm not as amazing as you imagined. We have to figure out the solution together!" Zhang Zui sighed and said, "There are more than a thousand people in the group, can you recognize me at once? Who is the communist traffic officer?" "As the saying goes, snakes have their way, and rats have their way. Communist traffic officers must have their own rules of action." Chu Liyan said. "Old Chu is so right. After you reminded me, I really came up with a stupid way. This communist trafficman will inevitably go out to meet with friends, and the places to meet must be places such as teahouses, hotels, and dance halls. Hidden places! Which one of these places do you think is more likely!" "I think the ballroom is the most likely place. There are many people with complicated identities, and they don't know each other. More importantly, the sound of music can cover up private conversations. This method is used by the Communist Party the most. Once it is exposed, a new face will appear. , and can continue to connect in the same way.” "Old Chu, your analysis is so incisive! Alright, let's start with the ballroom and check him out!" Zhang Zui said excitedly. "There are more than a dozen dance halls in the city, check every one?" Chu Liyan asked. "Let's start with the nearest and largest one. Since it is to transmit information, it is impossible to choose a very remote dance hall as a connection point. This is not convenient, and it is easy to cause suspicion if you go too many times." "Then let's start the investigation from the Juyuan Ballroom. I'll call the boss there, Li Yonghong, tomorrow." "No, let's go to Boss Li's place. This matter must not be publicized." Zhang Zui warned. Ever since Xiao Ma was called away by Zhu Yongxiao late at night, there was no news for several days in a row. Luo Su's mood could not be described as "living like a year" at all.Before leaving, Xiao Ma said that no matter what, he will come back the next day, if not, then something went wrong, and the organization should stop thinking about him. It is certain that something has happened to the pony.Luo Su, Jiang Fangxiang, and Zhong Hualai all reached a consensus on this point, but what exactly happened?Did he die, or was he captured?No one can predict.Not only that, they are also concerned about whether the mission is completed and whether the Primrose is safe.For several days, Zhong Hua came out early and returned late to inquire about the situation, but there was no result. Luo Su opened the door very late and closed early every day because he was not in the mood.The sun had just set on the western mountain that day, and Luo Su was about to close the door. At this time, Zhong Hua came back with a peddler—his current public identity is the takeaway peddler of Jiang Kee grocery store. After Zhong Hua came into the room, Luo Su didn't dare to ask any more questions, fearing that he would get nothing.When Luo Su closed the shop door and came to the backyard, Zhong Hualai and Jiang Fangxiang were already sitting in the house. Zhong Hualai quickly spoke. "Old Luo, your guess is correct. Nightingale, Xiao Zhu, and Xiao Ma haven't had a chance to send information these days." "Have they all been arrested?" Luo Su's heart hung up. He wanted to know the result as soon as possible, but he was also afraid of a bad result. "You can get news today, which means that they are free—at least one person is Free." "Yes, I got in touch with 'Nightingale' today. There are good and bad news. I don't know which kind of news Lao Luo wants to know first." "Let's talk about it first." Jiang Fangxiang interjected. "Listen to the good news first, this is great news - half of our central task has been completed!" Zhong Hua said. "Have Nightingale established a relationship with Li Zizhong?" Luo Su and Jiang Fangxiang almost spoke in unison. Zhong Hualai nodded: "As we expected, Li Zizhong had this intention a long time ago, but he was too suspicious and afraid of being fooled, so he never dared to trust anyone easily. This time, 'Nightingale' found the right opportunity and finally got it." His trust." "Great! We must report to our superiors and ask for credit for Comrade Nightingale!" Luo Su said excitedly. "What's the bad news? Is it Xiao Zhu, Comrade Xiao Ma..." Jiang Fangxiang asked impatiently. "You all guessed it..." Zhong Hualai's expression immediately became sad, "Xiao Zhu and Xiao Ma are the most loyal fighters of our party. They tried to assassinate Su Zitong at night in order to ensure that Comrade Primrose would not be exposed. He resolutely risked his life and beat Su Zitong to death the next morning before Zhang got drunk." Luo Suhong said with eyes: "They are the heroes of our party. The party will never forget them, and neither will the people..." "So," Zhong Hualai looked at Luo Su and said, "Comrade Nightingale has made a request to the organization that if credits are to be credited, it must not be credited to him, but to Xiao Zhu and Xiao Ma. Comrade Primula's safety, and because of their sacrifices contributed to Li Zizhong's trust in Nightingale." "They are all heroes and heroes! Now let us observe three minutes of silence for Xiao Zhu and Xiao Ma!" Luo Su announced. The three took off their hats and bowed their heads in silence towards the Independent Division... Three minutes later, everyone put on their hats, and Zhong Hua said, "Old Luo, there is one more thing that Comrade Nightingale wants me to report to you. Many middle and upper-level officers in the Independent Division are very concerned about the current situation. What they can see It is limited to "Voice of the Party and State", this kind of newspaper is pure nonsense, and there are few real things. Therefore, they miss our "Voice of Spring" very much, and hope that we can resume the publication of "Voice of Spring" as soon as possible." "Propagating public opinion is very important. It can be said that without the preparation work of "Chunsheng Bao" for so many years, Li Zizhong would never have changed so quickly. Now is a critical moment. Of course, I hope that the publication of "Chunsheng Bao" will resume as soon as possible work, but our latent comrades have almost died or been exposed, who will do this work?" "Comrade Nightingale said, I will give him the newspaper directly for the time being, and he will be in charge of this work." Zhong Hua said. "No, it's too dangerous for Comrade Nightingale to do this job!" Luo Su disagreed. "I said the same thing, but he said that his mission has been completed and his personal safety is not very important to the organization, so he insisted on doing this job." "What an excellent comrade!" Luo Su was so moved that he was almost in tears, and he said after a long time, "That's the only way to go. Also, there has been no news from Primo Bird for a long time, and he should know that the organization is concerned about him. If he has time You go to meet Comrade Skylark at the meeting place for a while, and it is best that Comrade Jiang Fangxiang go with you, and he can cover you in case of accidents. Now our organization can no longer afford losses." Li Yonghong, the owner of Juyuan Ballroom, was sitting in the manager's room. A welcoming gentleman bowed to him, and then reported, "Boss, there are two gentlemen outside who want to see you." "Who are they?" Li Yonghong asked with a straight face. "One is the head of the gendarmerie, and the other is unknown," Mr. Yingbin replied. "Invite them to the VIP room, and I'll come over right away." Li Yonghong ordered. Li Yonghong tidied up her clothes and left the office.The VIP room is on the third floor, where the environment is quiet and the settings are luxurious, and it is specially used to receive the upper-level political leaders of Jiangnan City. When Li Yonghong arrived at the VIP room, Chu Liyan and a stranger were already sitting on the sofa, and the waiter was making tea for them. "Rare guest, rare guest, why don't Head Chu say hello when he comes over, so I can send someone to greet him, offend, offend!" Li Yonghong exaggeratedly polite, and then looked at Zhang Zui, "This distinguished guest is..." "Yo, this is Director Liang, the newcomer." Chu Liyan turned to Zhang Zui, "Director Liang, this is the Boss Li that I often tell you about. He is an amazing businessman!" "I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed. Director Liang will take care of him more in the future. He became the chief director at a young age. He will definitely have a bright future in the future. I wonder if I, Li, will be blessed to recognize Director Liang as a brother..." Li Yonghong said almost. "Boss Li, you don't have to be polite. We have something to talk to you about today, so let's sit down first." Zhang Zui said nonchalantly. "Close the door!" Li Yonghong said to his waiter with another face.The waiter left the VIP room early and closed the door behind him.Li Yonghong immediately put on a flattering smile and sat down opposite Zhang Zui, "I don't know if Director Liang wants to talk about business or private matters?" "It's the army's working hours, so of course I'm here on business," Zhang Zui said. Li Yonghong rolled his eyes, and immediately changed into a pitiful expression: "Director, business is difficult these days, especially in a shop like ours that has never violated laws and disciplines. Director Liang is here for the first time. Head Chu I know that there are gangs of hooligans in the society, they don’t give money when they enter the dance hall, and they often extort money, if it wasn’t for Captain Chu—” "Boss Li, you misunderstood." Chu Liyan interrupted Li Yonghong, "Director Liang didn't come to trouble you today, but I want to ask you for help." "It's like this, I want to ask you for a favor." Zhang Zui smiled at Li Yonghong, his smile was unpredictable. "The two officers really think highly of Li. It is the infinite honor of Juyuan Ballroom to serve you! Please tell me." Li Yonghong's expression was very stiff at this time. He is more sensitive about money. "Do you know these people?" Zhang Zui handed a stack of photos to Li Yonghong. Li Yonghong adjusted his glasses and looked at them again, then returned them to Zhang Zui, saying, "I know some of them, but I don't know some of them." "What characteristics do you think they have when you know them—for example, what kind of occupation are they engaged in?" Zhang Zui reminded. "These people I know are from your gendarmerie." Li Yonghong felt relieved when he saw that there was no talk of money. "I seldom go to the ballroom. The young man who greeted you just now knows a lot of people." "Boss Li, please invite him here." Zhang Zuixin was delighted. "What please, can he afford to 'please'!" Li Yonghong shouted to the outside, "Call Pan An!" After a while, the handsome welcome gentleman came in and bowed to Zhang Zui and Chu Liyan: "Hello, gentlemen!" "Are you worthy of calling these two sirs? If they don't wear military uniforms, you will look down on them!" Li Yonghong scolded. "Hello, two officers!" Pan An changed his words and bowed again. "Boss Li, go ahead, we won't disturb you." Zhang Zui said. "That's really embarrassing." Li Yonghong turned her smiling face to Pan An's and immediately turned into the boss's face. "You have to understand the rules. You can answer whatever the two officers ask. If you don't know, you can ask your colleagues!" After Li Yonghong left, Zhang Zui finally breathed a sigh of relief. He felt that dealing with businessmen was a life-threatening and painful thing.He handed the stack of photos to Pan An and said, "You look handsome, and your name is even more handsome." "I'm using a stage name, why does the officer want me to look at the photos?" Pan An asked puzzled. "Look carefully, there are 38 people in total, see if you recognize them." Zhang Zui looked at Pan An with a natural smile, hoping that he would relax completely. "I know these people. They are all members of the Gendarmerie." Seeing the friendly expressions of the two, Pan An really relaxed. "You are so smart, much better than your stupid pig boss, these people are indeed members of the Gendarmerie." Zhang Zui praised. "Sir, don't do this, let the boss know..." Pan An subconsciously looked at the door. "Don't worry, he doesn't dare to do anything to you with me around, otherwise I'll steal his dance hall!" Zhang Zui continued: "Recall, these 38 dancers have something special every time they come here, such as clothing, hat decorations, bustiers, jacket pockets with a few gold pens and so on." Pan An thought for a while, and said, "There is one, every time he comes, he puts a rose in his coat pocket. I thought it was weird at first, but I got used to it over time." "About how many times did he wear roses?" "I can't remember the number of times. He has been like this for more than three years." Pan An said and found a photo among the photos and handed it to Zhang Zui, "This is the one." Zhang Zui took a look at it and handed it to Chu Liyan. "Yang Ligong? Why is he wearing flowers to dance?" Chu Liyan asked in surprise. "But recently he suddenly stopped wearing flowers." Pan An said. "When exactly?" "I don't remember exactly." Pan An shook his head. "Do you know about Yunni Silk Factory?" Zhang Zui asked. "I know, it was published in the newspaper. By the way, the time he didn't wear flowers was the few days after the Silk Village incident!" Zhang Zui smiled knowingly. He glanced at Chu Liyan who was still in a daze, and said, "Old Chu, the show can end. Mr. Pan thank you, you can go." Pan An came back not long after he left, holding two red envelopes in his hand, one of which was obviously more than twice as thick as the other, "Second officers, this is a little trick from the boss." The red envelope was given to Zhang Zui, and the other to Chu Liyan. "Mr. Pan, did you make a mistake, be careful that the boss scolds you?" Zhang Zui raised the red envelope in Yang's hand. "That's right, our boss has seen countless people, and he can tell at a glance that Chief Liang has a lot of background." Pan An said truthfully. "You are very cute, I will give you this little money." Zhang Zui stuffed the red envelope into Pan An's pocket. "Sir, I...don't dare..." Pan An looked at Zhang Zui in embarrassment. "I gave it to you, you take it boldly. I have no relatives in Jiangnan City, so I recognize you as a little brother. Tell your boss that I am your cousin and I came to see you specially. I will call him when I go back." Give you a raise." Zhang Zui patted Pan An's shoulder affectionately. "Thank you." Pan An was inexplicably moved. "But you have to do something for my cousin - keep it secret, Li Yonghong asked you, just said that our brothers haven't spoken to each other for many years. Also don't forget, when the person in the photo comes to the ballroom again, we will Make this number." Zhang Zui tore out a note and wrote a phone number. "How did I find you?" Pan An looked at Zhang Zui with a note in his hand. "There are people answering the phone 24 hours a day, just say that you are Boss Liang's cousin." Zhang Zui looked at Pan An and smiled again.