Chapter 56: Capturing the Enemy Agent (2)

Chapter 56: Capturing Enemy Spies (Part 2)

After heading out, Zhou Jianye walked straight into the deputy director’s office. Seeing Lao Wang busy writing, Zhou Jianye spoke up immediately, "Lao Wang, busy? I need to step out for a bit. Keep an eye on the station."

Lao Wang put down his pen. "Sure, go ahead."

Leaving Deputy Director Wang’s office, Zhou Jianye returned to his own and called out to He Yuzhu, "Zhuzi, come with me."

Hearing this, He Yuzhu stood up and followed Zhou Jianye outside.

Once out of the police station, the two mounted their bicycles. He Yuzhu noticed Zhou Jianye heading in the opposite direction and called out, "Brother-in-law, you're going the wrong way. It's that way."

Zhou Jianye replied, "I'm not. Just follow me."

He Yuzhu had no choice but to turn his bike around and catch up. Before long, Zhou Jianye led him to the district sub-bureau.

Upon entering, Zhou Jianye told He Yuzhu to wait in the reception room. "I'm going in first. Wait for me here until I come out to get you."

"All right, go ahead," He Yuzhu said.

Zhou Jianye left the reception room and headed straight for the director's office to report the situation.

Director Li asked, "Have you confirmed it?"

"No, that area isn't our jurisdiction, and I wasn't familiar with the terrain, so I didn't dare to act rashly."

"I see. That area falls under the Haidian Sub-bureau. I'll give Liu Feng a call. You take some men over there and follow his arrangements."

"Understood."

Right in front of Zhou Jianye, Director Li called Director Liu of Haidian. "That's the situation. It's under your jurisdiction, so I'm sending Zhou Jianye and his men over. Arrange things as you see fit."

Director Liu responded, "There's a high probability they're enemy spies. Have little Zhou bring his men over as quickly as possible. I'll owe you a favor."

Director Li laughed, "Fine, I'm sending them over now. Just don't try to steal all the credit."

"Of course not, I'm not that kind of person."

Hanging up the phone, Director Li said to Zhou Jianye, "You heard him. Hurry over there."

Zhou Jianye left the office, gathered He Yuzhu, and said, "We're heading to the Haidian Sub-bureau."

By the time they arrived at the Haidian Sub-bureau and found Director Liu, the sky was already beginning to darken.

Zhou Jianye saluted Director Liu. "Director Liu, Zhou Jianye reporting for duty."

Director Liu chuckled and scolded good-naturedly, "Look at you, punk. When you stumble upon good news, you don't come straight to your Uncle Liu, you go to old Li first, making me owe a favor."

"Alright, this is Zhang Wei, one of our bureau's top operatives. He'll lead some men to go with you and reconnoiter the situation."

"Hello," the two men greeted each other.

"Hurry up and get going. Report any developments promptly and do not take unauthorized action."

"Yes, sir!"

After stepping outside, Zhang Wei called three more men to join Zhou Jianye and He Yuzhu. "Let's move out."

This time they had three bicycles, carrying two people each. He Yuzhu rode ahead with Zhou Jianye to lead the way, Zhang Wei rode Zhou Jianye's bicycle with another man, and the remaining two officers followed behind on the last bike.

When they reached a spot not far from the enemy spies' location, He Yuzhu stopped.

Zhang Wei asked, "Are we here?"

"Not yet, there's still a bit further to go," He Yuzhu replied. "If we ride all the way there, wouldn't it draw too much attention? That person is extremely cautious."

Zhang Wei made a swift decision. "Little Wang, stay here and watch the bikes. We'll walk the rest of the way."

"Yes, sir!" The officer named Little Wang stayed behind to guard the bicycles.

He Yuzhu led the rest of the group to the entrance of a hutong. "The fifth courtyard. That man went into this courtyard during the day."

Zhang Wei glanced at it and instructed, "I'll go check it out. The rest of you secure this alley entrance, the other end of the hutong, and the back alley."

He Yuzhu reminded him, "That person should be familiar with the people in this hutong."

"Right, I know," Zhang Wei acknowledged.

Zhang Wei entered through the back alley, pretending to be an ordinary passerby. Coupled with the gathering darkness and the fact that people were busy cooking dinner inside their homes, the alley was deserted. He walked past the spies' house, approached the neighboring dwelling, listened for a moment to gauge the situation, and then cautiously climbed over the wall.

After a short while, he climbed back out and returned to the alley entrance. "It's definitely enemy spies. There are three people inside. I recognize one of them—we've had our eyes on him for a while, but he managed to escape during a previous arrest attempt."

Looking at Zhou Jianye, Zhang Wei said, "Director Zhou, I'll have to trouble you and this young brother to take Little Wang and go back to inform our bureau director. I'll stay here with the others to keep watch."

Zhou Jianye figured that since this was someone else's territory and it wasn't appropriate for him to overstep, he readily agreed. "All right, I'll go back and brief Director Liu."

He Yuzhu and Zhou Jianye took Little Wang and returned to the Haidian Sub-bureau.

When Zhou Jianye reported the details, Director Liu turned serious. He had initially thought it was just a wounded enemy agent, not realizing it involved the mastermind behind the recent granary arson case—a deeply cunning individual who had slipped through their fingers during a prior raid.

"Little Zhou, the situation is urgent, so I won't keep you." Director Liu immediately began making phone calls, and the entire sub-bureau sprang into action.

Seeing this, Zhou Jianye left the office and found He Yuzhu. "Let's go. There's nothing left for us to do here."

Hearing that they were being dismissed without even being offered a meal, He Yuzhu complained, "Wait a minute, you guys at the police station are stingy. I've been busy until now, I'm starving, and you're not even going to keep us for dinner?"

Zhou Jianye retorted with a smile, "How about I treat you to a meal back at my place?"

"If I go back with you, I'll still be the one cooking. Forget it, I'd rather go back and cook myself. Yushui is still waiting for me at my master's place." He Yuzhu hopped onto his bicycle and rode off.

Zhou Jianye mounted his bike and followed closely behind. "Wait up, I'm coming over to cadge a meal at your place."

He Yuzhu pretended not to hear and just pedaled faster.

Eventually, Zhou Jianye caught up to him right outside his master's front door. "Hey, why are you riding so fast? It's just a meal, do you have to be like this?"

He Yuzhu had never seen anyone so shameless—he had just handed him a major contribution, and now the guy expected to be fed too. "Yes, I do!"

Hearing their exchange from inside, the master's wife walked out. "What's this about a meal? You two haven't eaten yet? I'll go make something for you." She made to get up and head to the kitchen.

He Yuzhu quickly stopped her. "Master's wife, don't bother. It's so late, I'll just go home and whip something up myself."

Zhou Jianye chimed in, "That's right, I'll just go over to Zhuzi's place and grab a bite."

Glancing sideways at Zhou Jianye, He Yuzhu didn't say anything further.

The two picked up Yushui and returned home. He Yuzhu shooed Yushui off to play by herself.

Then he turned to Zhou Jianye and asked, "What do you want to eat?"

"Just whip up whatever. I'm not picky."

He Yuzhu went into the kitchen to start cooking, while Zhou Jianye wandered into the east wing room.

He Yuzhu had converted the east wing into his woodworking and carving workshop, where his finished pieces were proudly displayed.

The last time Zhou Jianye had come to pick up a decorative piece for a superior, he had spotted several completed works and wanted one then, but He Yuzhu hadn't budged. Today, he was determined to take one home.

He Yuzhu quickly stir-fried a few dishes and carried them out to the living room. Not seeing Zhou Jianye, he asked Yushui, "Yushui, where is Uncle Zhou?"

"I saw him go into the east wing room."

Realizing trouble was brewing, He Yuzhu rushed over and found Zhou Jianye holding up his newly finished wooden sailing ship model. "Be careful! Put that down slowly."

Only when Zhou Jianye set the model back down did He Yuzhu breathe a sigh of relief.

"Are you really this uptight? This sailing ship is gorgeous. Just give it to me."

"In your dreams! This is my very first finished woodworking piece. It took me months, piecing it together bit by bit. I'm not giving it to anyone."

"Alright, alright, let's go eat," He Yuzhu said, pushing Zhou Jianye out of the room.

After dinner, despite He Yuzhu's protests, Zhou Jianye brazenly walked away with a carved wooden galloping horse.