Chapter 101: A Conversation

Entering a quiet private room, Wang Feng addressed the waiter, “Just bring me the same coffee as before.”

“Sir, what kind of coffee would you like?” the waiter turned to Li Wensheng and asked.

“Milk coffee, with a little less milk,” Li replied.

After the waiter left, Wang Feng smiled and said, “I’m not sure how to address you, hero.”

“My name is Li Yeye,” Li answered.

Wang Feng, unlike that island spy, immediately grasped the meaning behind Li Yeye’s name. His face fell as he said, “If you weren’t going to say it, why try to take advantage of me?”

“Then why ask if you knew I wouldn’t say?” Li retorted.

Wang Feng babbled on, and combined with his earlier reaction in the alley, Li Wensheng realized that Wang Feng’s rise as Mr. Gao’s disciple was due not to bravery, but to brains.

Wang Feng gave an awkward smile and praised, “You really are clever, hero.”

“Enough talk. I don’t have time to chat with you here,” Li said curtly.

Wang Feng immediately sobered, his expression serious as he said, “Hero, since you’re with the Anti-Treachery Squad, I won’t hide anything from you. I’ll tell you the truth.

“Since the establishment of the Iwai Mansion, they’ve been recruiting influential and reputable people everywhere.

“Mr. Gao, who holds considerable prestige within the Qing Gang, became one of their targets.

“Mr. Gao didn’t want to be a traitor, but he couldn’t afford to offend the Iwai Mansion.

“To deal with their solicitations, he kept dodging and evading.

“But constant evasion wasn’t a solution. So, half a month ago, Mr. Gao moved to the French Concession to avoid the Iwai Mansion.

“As soon as Mr. Gao moved away, the Iwai Mansion got angry—and I was the one who got unlucky.

“When Mr. Gao relocated to the French Concession, he entrusted me with managing the Lido Dance Hall. The Iwai Mansion assumed I was his confidant and approached me repeatedly.

“At first, they only came asking where Mr. Gao was.

“All I knew was that he had gone to the French Concession, but I didn’t know exactly where.

“I kept saying I didn’t know where Mr. Gao had gone. After a while, they grew impatient.

“The day before yesterday, they came to me and gave me an ultimatum: either Mr. Gao comes to the Iwai Mansion today, or I go there instead. Otherwise, they'd ‘relocate’ me permanently.”

“I couldn’t reach Mr. Gao, and even if I did, he certainly wouldn’t go. So…” Wang Feng's voice trailed off.

A knock on the door made Wang Feng immediately fall silent.

The door opened, and the waiter brought in two cups of coffee.

After the waiter left, Wang Feng sipped his coffee, his face clouded with worry as he continued, “To save my own skin, I have to go.

“I’m afraid that if I go, I won’t come back. So I tried to find out the layout of the Iwai Mansion.

“Although I know that if the Iwai Mansion really wanted to get rid of me, even if I had their architectural plans, I wouldn’t escape.

“But to have even a slim chance at survival, I’ve been gathering information everywhere.

“And I actually uncovered something.

“About three months ago—just half a month after the Iwai Mansion was established—they suddenly hired a group of construction workers.

“I found one of those workers and learned that the Iwai Mansion sent them to make a door out of the wall.

“Later, I went to observe outside the mansion. The door the workers talked about blends seamlessly with the wall, completely invisible.

“I feared the worker was lying, so I stationed people outside to keep watch day and night.

“By luck, at three in the morning last night, one of my men saw Luo Junchao entering and exiting through that door. That’s when I confirmed it was really a door.”

Li Wensheng put down his coffee. “Who is Luo Junchao?”

Wang Feng gave a disdainful laugh. “Luo Junchao is a disciple of that scoundrel Zhang Xiaolin from our Qing Gang, responsible for Zhang’s opium business.”

Li’s pupils constricted slightly.

Zhang Xiaolin, a senior figure of the Qing Gang and head of one of its three major factions, had betrayed Shanghai after it fell, siding with the island nation and becoming a traitor.

It was normal for Zhang’s men to meet with island representatives, but going to the Iwai Mansion surprised Li.

After all, Zhang had pledged loyalty to the island’s army, and the army’s relationship with the foreign affairs ministry wasn’t exactly friendly.

“Could that old bastard be trying to switch from the army to the foreign affairs ministry?” Li muttered inwardly, then asked Wang Feng, “If they let you out safely through the front door, what use is that? Before Mr. Gao moved to the French Concession, did he secretly send someone to watch over you?”

Wang Feng’s eyes took on a strange look. “I don’t know if Mr. Gao assigned anyone to watch me.

“But there’s definitely a reason for letting me out through the front door.

“If I hadn’t come out safely that way, you wouldn’t have found me, nor would you have considered me a traitor.”

Li was momentarily stunned, then smiled. “True, it does have some use. But if Mr. Gao fled to the French Concession to avoid the Iwai Mansion, then even if you die, he shouldn’t return there.”

Wang Feng’s round face instantly fell. “Yeah, even if I die, Mr. Gao won’t come back.

“The Iwai Mansion lets me out the front door without harm because they want Mr. Gao to know I visited—and came out safe and sound.”

He raised his coffee cup and took a sip before continuing, “Hero, since you operate in Shanghai, you probably know that no matter who occupies Shanghai, nothing happens without the Qing Gang’s ears and eyes.

“News of me coming out safely through the front door will soon reach Mr. Gao.

“He’s naturally suspicious, especially about money, trusting nobody.

“If I were killed as a traitor, he’d send someone to manage the Lido Dance Hall.

“If I survive, he’d suspect I had sided with the Iwai Mansion. Since the Lido Dance Hall is his money source, he’d still send someone to replace me.

“In any case, Mr. Gao will send someone new to take over the Lido Dance Hall.

“I don’t know where Mr. Gao is, but whoever he sends will.

“As soon as that person shows up, the Iwai Mansion will come after him.”

Li’s eyes gleamed. “If the Lido Dance Hall is Mr. Gao’s money source, then you must be his confidant. Otherwise, why would he entrust it to you?

“But as a confidant, it doesn’t make sense that you don’t know where Mr. Gao is.”

“I’m not really Mr. Gao’s confidant. The real confidants went with him to the French Concession.

“He entrusted me with the Lido Dance Hall because… because…” Wang Feng hesitated before continuing, “I’m timid and afraid of trouble. Mr. Gao knows I wouldn’t embezzle his money.

“The Iwai Mansion also verified this, which is why they played their trick and let me out the front door.

“Otherwise, they’d have no need for tricks. They’d torture me directly to find out where Mr. Gao is.”

Admitting to his own cowardice earned Li’s grudging respect; at least Wang Feng knew himself well.

Then a sudden thought struck Li Wensheng.