Chapter 94: The Servant

After laughing for a long while, Kayo Kawano’s expression suddenly changed. His eyes bulged, and he looked like a demon.

He thrust Li Wensheng’s photograph toward the two men and ground out, “Take it. Make sure everyone in the unit memorizes this face. Then split up, change into plain clothes, go into the French Concession, and find this man for me. As soon as you find him, report to me at once.”

“Yes!” “Yes!” the two men replied, bowing their heads.

While a large number of officers from the Special Higher Police were entering the French Concession in separate groups, Li Wensheng was working furiously back and forth.

Grind, grind, grind...

The sound went on for a long time. Then, with a sharp snap, Li Wensheng stopped.

“No cutting machine, and this is such a pain. It took me forever to saw through just one,” he muttered.

He crouched down to inspect the safe he had just cut open.

After returning home earlier, he had not stayed long before heading out again.

He had bought two hacksaws outside, and after coming back, had spent the whole time sawing safes.

But the safes were too hard to cut. After several hours, he had only managed to open one.

Bad luck. Inside this safe were not the records of a local station chief, but the files of covert operatives stationed all over the country that the Intelligence Bureau headquarters had in its possession. There was nothing on him.

Although it was already ten o’clock at night, Li Wensheng kept sawing. Tomorrow, Zuo Ban would bring the servants and the cook, and then it would be inconvenient to work on the safes.

It was not until three in the morning that he finally sawed open the last safe and found the files. After putting everything away, Li Wensheng, already exhausted beyond measure, climbed into bed and went straight to sleep.

The next morning, a little after seven, Li Wensheng got up and saw Zuo Ban standing outside the iron gate with three women.

After stepping out and leading the four of them into the first-floor hall, Li Wensheng sat down on the sofa and studied the three women Zuo Ban had brought.

Their clothes were all very worn, but their skin was fair and their hands smooth, without a single callus. They were clearly not from poor families, but from households of wealth and comfort.

Two of them looked very young, perhaps only seventeen or eighteen. The other was in her thirties, with a trace of lingering charm.

The three shared strikingly similar features, especially the two younger women, whose faces were so alike they must have been twins.

After studying them for a few moments, Li Wensheng looked at Zuo Ban.

He said nothing, but Zuo Ban understood what he meant. He stepped forward two paces, sat down beside Li Wensheng, and leaned close to his ear.

“Brother Li, those three are mother and daughters. The two younger ones are twins.

They used to come from a wealthy family, but they ended up having to go out as servants because half a year ago, the man of the house died in that war in Shanghai.

They still had some property back in their hometown, enough for them to live on. But in these times, without power, property is just meat on someone else’s plate.

Less than two months after the head of the family died, the local police chief took all their property and even accused them of stealing police firearms.

Luckily, the man of the house had quite a few friends there, and several of them worked at the police bureau. When they realized the chief was going to arrest the women, they warned them in advance.

Later, those friends of the family sent them here to the French Concession.

They also pooled some money for them, hoping they could settle down here in peace. But before long, that money was stolen, so they had no choice but to come out and work.

The problem is, they don’t know how to do anything, and they couldn’t find work. So they came to me and said that any job would do, as long as they had food to eat.

Brother Li, you can rest assured. They’re honest. They live just across from me, and I’ve known them for a few months now. I know what kind of people they are.”

Zuo Ban let out a soft sigh. “I felt sorry for them, which is why I brought them to you.

They’ve never worked as servants before, so if they went to serve someone else, they’d probably do a bad job.

And since they’re all so pretty, if they went to someone else’s place, something bad might happen to them. They might be forced into things they don’t want.

Brother Li, in a way you and their man were colleagues. Please do me this favor and help them out. Give them a mouthful of food.”

Looking at the three women, stiff with nervousness, Li Wensheng sighed to himself. What a damned world.

“Four French francs a month each. Room and board are included.

You don’t need to do much. Just clean the house, buy groceries, and cook.”

The woman immediately relaxed. She bowed at once and said, “Thank you, sir.”

“Thank you, sir.” “Thank you, sir.”

The two younger women bowed as well and thanked him.

“Brother Li, thank you,” Zuo Ban said quietly from the side.

Li Wensheng took out two one-dollar bills from his pocket and handed them to Zuo Ban.

“Help me find a small car. I want to buy one.

And find me a factory that’s up for sale too. Any kind of factory will do, just not too big.”

Zuo Ban accepted the money and said in a low voice, “Brother Li, a car will be easy to find. So many people are running overseas these days that houses and cars are being sold off everywhere.

As for finding a factory, that may take a bit of time.

There are plenty of factories listed for transfer right now. The big ones are usually fine, but the small ones almost all have traps. Either they’re buried in debt, or the workers inside are gangsters and thugs.”

“I’m not in a rush. Take your time. In any case, the factory must not be too large.”

“All right, Brother Li. I’ll come back to you once I find something.”

Zuo Ban worked quickly and decisively. He took on the job of finding a car and a factory, gave the three women a reminder to work hard, and left.

After Zuo Ban was gone, Li Wensheng asked the three women their names, then handed them the spare key and more than ten francs. He told them to go home now, move their belongings over, clean the rooms and yard, and then buy groceries and prepare lunch. He would be back to eat at noon.

After the three left, Li Wensheng went upstairs, took a large leather suitcase from the system space, packed the documents from the three safes inside, and carried the case out the door.

Before the Japanese attacked Shanghai, the Shanghai station of the Intelligence Bureau had already relocated to the French Concession, and the station had also gone underground. Outwardly, it was Huaxing Trading Company.

At ten in the morning, Li Wensheng arrived at the entrance of Huaxing Trading Company.

Although it was in the French Concession, the Intelligence Bureau did not dare to relax its vigilance. There were many hidden sentries around Huaxing Trading Company. As soon as Li Wensheng entered the street, one of them spotted him and immediately ran to report back to the company.

Li Wensheng saw the sentry leave, but he did not stop him.

After all, his identity was still that of a section chief from the Second Bureau, and the Intelligence Bureau people were not going to do anything to him. Besides, on this visit, aside from delivering the suitcase, he had no intention of doing anything else.

Stepping into Huaxing Trading Company, Li Wensheng saw that everyone in the lobby had turned to look at him, while Chen Moqun was coming down the staircase with a group of old acquaintances.

“Section Chief Li, welcome, welcome. May I ask what instructions you have for us?” Chen Moqun asked with a broad smile as he came over.

“Station Chief Chen, I...”

Suddenly, he stopped speaking. The smile on Li Wensheng’s face vanished in an instant, and he turned sharply toward the entrance.