Chapter 165 Puppet Government

Under the bright moonlight, everything was clearly visible. Just as Li Wensheng reached the large iron gates, he saw a patrol squad of municipal police officers walking toward him from not far away.

He clearly heard one of them say, "To dare to open fire near the Municipal Council, could it be some foreign agent?" Another replied, "Sigh, those damn foreigners always get their way. Whenever gunfire breaks out around here, we're the ones who have to come investigate."

Li Wensheng immediately turned around and ran back.

Arriving at the back courtyard wall, he leaped up, grabbed the top, and vaulted over the wall of the western-style mansion.

Following the alleyways and taking numerous turns, he put a safe distance between himself and the Municipal Council before finally stepping out onto a major thoroughfare.

The street was still bustling with pedestrians, many of whom were sitting at roadside food stalls that stayed open all night, enjoying food and admiring the moon.

Unflustered, Li Wensheng made his way to Pétain Road and arrived at the bridal photography studio.

He knocked on the door. Receiving no response, he pressed the doorbell.

For an agent, being in a state of half-sleep even while resting was a basic skill. While a knock might not be heard from too far away, the sound of the doorbell rang out clearly in their ears.

Before long, footsteps could be heard coming down from upstairs, followed by a voice:

"Who is it?"

"A customer from today's photo shoot. Open the door."

The door swung open instantly, revealing a woman draped in a coat over a white silk nightgown.

The moment the door opened, the woman hurriedly gestured for Li Wensheng to step inside.

As soon as he entered, Li Wensheng saw Guo Qiyun coming down from the second floor.

"Qiyun, tell the instructor that there is a traitor within headquarters. The Japanese already know he has come to Shanghai to execute the 'Bat' Plan."

Both Guo Qiyun and the woman turned pale with shock.

"Wensheng, how did you find out?" Guo Qiyun asked anxiously.

"I overheard it. Notify the instructor as soon as possible."

With that, Li Wensheng turned and walked back out.

Leaving the bridal photography studio and returning home, Chen Wenqi had not yet fallen asleep. Seeing Li Wensheng return, she immediately sat up in bed.

"Is everything all right?"

"Nothing's wrong. Go back to sleep."

Early the next morning, after finishing the breakfast Chen Wenqi had prepared and glancing at the newspaper he had picked up while buying groceries earlier that morning, Li Wensheng grabbed his briefcase at eight-thirty and headed off to work.

He arrived at the Stone Company at eight-fifty. In the main lobby, the receptionists were already at their desks.

Ascending to the second floor, Li Wensheng searched for his office.

Before he could even locate it, Boyin, dressed in a long black dress, emerged from the office at the very end of the hallway on the left.

"Mr. Harling, I need to see you about something. Please come over here."

"Certainly."

As he walked over, Li Wensheng noticed that the office directly opposite Boyin's bore a plaque designating it as the office of the deputy manager.

While other Chinese employees acted like groveling servants around them, Li Wensheng had displayed an assertive attitude during his interview, acting as if he didn't care about them at all. This had left Boyin deeply uncomfortable, and she had viewed him as an eyesore ever since. Consequently, she had no interest in exchanging polite pleasantries and cut straight to the point as soon as they entered her office:

"Mr. Harling, there are still many matters the company has not yet prepared. For the next half month, you do not need to come to the company. Go to the stock exchange instead and familiarize yourself with the trading rules and various commodity prices."

This suited him just fine, offering even greater freedom. Li Wensheng smiled slightly and said, "Very well, Manager. Is there anything else?"

"No. You may leave."

Li Wensheng nodded, stood up, and left.

With no need to remain at the company, Li Wensheng didn't even bother to look at his own office. He immediately left the building and headed for the stock exchange.

He spent the entire morning at the exchange. In the afternoon, in the backyard of his home, he tested and practiced with his saber.

The katana belonging to the Japanese woman was exceptionally sharp. During his intense battle with the ten men in the alley earlier, several samurai swords had been hacked apart by his blade, yet his own katana remained completely free of any nicks.

It was precisely because of its extraordinary sharpness that he had taken the sword with him.

However, testing the blade's cutting power still astounded Li Wensheng; it could slice through solid rock as easily as a tree trunk.

"Where did this sword come from?" Chen Wenqi, who had been watching from beneath the grape arbor in the back courtyard, was also astonished by the weapon and stood up to walk over.

Back when they had been in a rush to move, Chen Wenqi hadn't bothered to ask why Li Wensheng had brought a katana home. Afterward, between the scramble to find a place and settling into the new home, she simply hadn't gotten around to asking.

Li Wensheng raised the blade, gazing at its gleaming, frost-like surface, and replied, "Didn't I mention before that the Japanese developed a drug to enhance human physical capabilities? On the day those six men were executed, I ran into another group of Japanese who had taken the drug. These men were far stronger than the ones I encountered at the International Settlement police station. This katana was taken from their leader."

Chen Wenqi frowned. "Even stronger? Have the Japanese enhanced that drug further?"

"It would appear so."

Li Wensheng shifted his gaze from the katana to Chen Wenqi, noticing the furrow in her brow and the worry in her eyes.

"Don't worry, they won't be able to track our movements."

His words of comfort failed to set Chen Wenqi's mind at ease. She was deeply afraid that the next time the Japanese tracked him down, even Li Wensheng might not be able to defeat them.

"From now on, stop making such a spectacle of yourself. If you want to kill a traitor, just kill them directly."

"Alright, I won't do it anymore. Rest assured."

Only then did Chen Wenqi relax slightly. As long as Li Wensheng didn't draw attention to himself the way he had before, it would be very difficult for the Japanese to trace their whereabouts.

Afterward, Chen Wenqi sat back down under the grape arbor and watched Li Wensheng practice his saber techniques.

For the next half month—except for one day when he spent a dozen minutes stopping by the bridal studio to pick up their photographs—Li Wensheng spent every morning accompanying Chen Wenqi to buy groceries, his mornings at the stock market, his afternoons practicing with the saber, and his evenings reading financial texts. It was a very fulfilling routine.

As for the death of Wang Shi'an, Li Wensheng had staged it to look like a botched home invasion, and the municipal police department had closed the case accordingly. Within the Military Statistics Bureau, Chen Moqun knew this was Li Wensheng completing the task he had entrusted him with. Although some within the Shanghai Station of the Military Statistics Bureau privately suspected how an experienced agent like Wang Shi'an could have fallen victim to a routine burglar, under Chen Moqun's suppression, no one dared to investigate further.

As for the headquarters of the Military Statistics Bureau, they couldn't be bothered to care about Wang Shi'an's death. With Wang Tianfeng about to hand the entire Shanghai Station over, the loss of a deputy station chief was of little consequence—if he was dead, so be it.

For nearly a full month, Li Wensheng caused no stirs, and the townspeople long ago stopped gossiping about him.

Various intelligence agencies continuously failed to turn up any clues regarding Li Wensheng's whereabouts, and several of them eventually abandoned the pursuit altogether.

On October 11th, the sun was still blazing, but the air lacked its previous oppressive heat. Wearing a western suit no longer felt stifling.

Just past six o'clock in the morning, Li Wensheng and Chen Wenqi went out to buy groceries.

Chatting casually, they walked toward the vegetable market.

"What do you think if I also went out to find a job? Staying cooped up at home every day, I feel like I'm going to go crazy from boredom."

"Alright. But don't look for anything too far away—just find something right here on Pétain Road."

Without a moment's hesitation, Li Wensheng agreed readily, leaving Chen Wenqi quite pleased.

"I saw earlier that the Anfeng Bank on Pétain Road is hiring staff. After you head off to work later, I'll go take a look."

"Mm."

At that moment, a cry rang out: "Extra! Extra! On the twentieth of this month, a new government will be established in Jinling, with Wang Ji as acting chairman!"

The newsboy's hawking caused Li Wensheng and Chen Wenqi to halt in their tracks.

Although Wang Tianfeng had previously mentioned the matter of a new government to them, hearing that it was actually being established still left a bitter taste in both of their mouths.

"Ah, what's bound to come has finally come. Let's buy a paper and read it," Li Wensheng sighed.

"Alright," Chen Wenqi nodded faintly.

Though the news of the new government's establishment was eye-catching, compared to the sensational reports about Li Wensheng previously, far fewer ordinary citizens were willing to spend money on a newspaper.

In this day and age, earning a living was difficult, and people cut corners wherever they could.

Without any crowds rushing to buy copies, the two of them simply walked over and purchased a newspaper directly from the newsboy.