Chapter 2353: Old Friend Li Huamei (Part 5)

"Transparent." Guo Yi nodded slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Damn, why do these people all sound the same? Xu Yanliang couldn't help but complain to himself. Expressionless faces, emotionless tones, bureaucratic speech...

"Yes, transparent," Xu Yanliang repeated with emphasis.

"How exactly transparent?"

He's asking me to make an offer. Xu Yanliang thought. Fine, there's a way forward.

"How about this: the director of this Internal Security Department within the company will be held concurrently by me or a Director-level Senator of the Nanyang Company. You send a Senator or naturalized cadre to serve as the executive deputy director. The specific operations would naturally be managed by the executive deputy director, but all relevant work must be approved and audited by the director. No concealment whatsoever."

"And?"

"As director, I guarantee the company won't interfere with the Security Department's daily work."

"Then I'd like to know—what benefits does the Bureau gain?"

For a moment, Xu Yanliang thought he had misheard. "What did you say?"

"I said, what benefits does the Bureau gain?"

This he genuinely hadn't considered. In the Nanyang Company leadership's view, the Political Security Bureau would inevitably establish a branch within the company. Even if they were unwilling, the Bureau would try every means to "infiltrate." Allowing them to exist openly and send someone to manage was already a generous concession.

"Isn't establishing PSB branches your job?"

"That requires Senate approval. So far, we haven't received any such authorization."

"Even if there isn't one now, there will be eventually."

"In that case, what kind of deal is this?" Guo Yi smiled. "You're selling me something that already belongs to me."

Xu Yanliang was stunned, then realized this was indeed true.

"Then the Nanyang Company could also refuse entry to a PSB agency..."

Guo Yi smiled. "If the Senate issues authorization, that's no problem. But based on my years of experience at the Guangzhou Station, that's not very realistic."

Xu Yanliang thought it through and understood—the other party wasn't satisfied with merely "not interfering in daily work." He said: "Then tell me your conditions."

"I think the conditions you've proposed are quite reasonable—not excessive at all. The Bureau can also offer more goodwill: we can provide you with a list of all hidden cadres who will work in the Nanyang Company in the future, guaranteeing their reports are 'controllable.'" Guo Yi said.

This was even better than Xu Yanliang had hoped. But he knew that the better the conditions, the higher the price would be.

"What must we pay?"

"Support the Bureau's work," Guo Yi said. "Not just in Nanyang."

Good heavens! Xu Yanliang thought this was no small ask. He pondered for a moment, looked up, and asked: "Is this your meaning, or...?"

"This is the Bureau's position, of course," Guo Yi said. "You don't need to answer immediately."

Watching Xu Yanliang's figure disappear through the courtyard gate from his window, Guo Yi returned to his desk, picked up the green telephone receiver, gave instructions softly, then bent over to write something on official paper. He slipped the draft into a kraft paper envelope, stamped it with a small square seal, and casually pulled the bell rope.

The doorknob turned, and his secretary appeared.

"I'll dictate; you draft the memo." Guo Yi raised his hand toward a small table piled with bound documents.

"Yes, Comrade Chief." The female secretary immediately sat down at the small table, pen and paper ready. "I'm prepared."

"First, draft a memo in the name of the Political Security Bureau to the State Council, with copies to the Ministry of the Navy, Ministry of Colonization and Trade, General Office, Foreign Intelligence Bureau, and Nanyang Company. Content as follows: First, the Bureau has decided to take active measures to thoroughly eliminate the threat posed by the Li Siya group. The preliminary plan utilizes the current Southeast Asia Company shareholder, Navy Reserve Lieutenant Li Huamei, as a channel. Second, it has been established that Li Huamei had contact with the Li Siya group in her personal history. The Bureau intends to use this operation to clarify her true background. Third, for this purpose, the Political Security Bureau will establish a special team within the Nanyang Company to execute this mission. That's all."

As he spoke, the female secretary noted down each key point. Then she began writing.

Guo Yi picked up his teacup and took several sips. His temples were throbbing, and he massaged them with his fingers. Since joining the Political Security Bureau as division chief, he'd been reading files until midnight for many days in order to familiarize himself with the situation. Working until midnight wasn't unusual among Senators—every department had offices and workshops with lights burning at two or three in the morning. If not for the Ministry of Health and General Office repeatedly warning Senators about increased risk of sudden death and launching "mandatory rest" patrols at night, plenty of people would have pulled all-nighters for days on end.

However, he was no longer accustomed to such intense work. In Guangzhou, no matter how busy he was, he had always been in bed by ten. He'd lived at that slow, measured medieval rhythm for almost ten years, and now, returning to his old profession, he found the adjustment difficult.

Compared to Li Siya or Li Huamei, he knew the Nanyang Company was the trickier entity. In some ways, it would inevitably become something like the British East India Company. The British government had also expended considerable effort and cost dealing with the East India Company in its day. But they couldn't help allowing its existence and growth; realistic needs outweighed countless rational objections.

Actually, neither Zhao Manxiong nor he was particularly eager to establish a branch in the Nanyang Company. The reason was simple: the vast ocean and the breadth of Southeast Asia. Dropping a mere handful of "Committees of Ten" and reconnaissance teams into that expanse would be like scattering sesame seeds. Without radios—only mail sent back by regular ships to transmit news and orders—the PSB's management and command over them would exist in name only.

To carry out work in such an environment required the Nanyang Company's full cooperation. This was precisely why Director Zhao had been so "generous" on the matter.

"...Comrade Chief, the report is finished!" The secretary interrupted his contemplation. "Please review it."

Guo Yi quickly scanned the lines of precise, almost printed characters, nodded, and picked up his pen to change "utilizing the special relationship between Li Huamei and Senator Qi" to "leveraging the recent change in Li Huamei's ideological tendency."

"Make a copy for the files, then take it to be mimeographed." Guo Yi added: "Also, the summary of the Two Li Special Case file materials I asked you to prepare yesterday should be photocopied in the same number and attached. By the way, send one copy to Senator Wu Nanhai as well."

"Should we send the memo to Chief Wu? He's not on the copy list."

"Don't send it. Only send him the summary attachment."

"Understood." The female secretary repeated: "Six memos total and seven summary appendices. Senator Wu Nanhai only receives the summary appendix."

"Correct. Here's the Top Secret document copy permission slip." Guo Yi signed his name in the lower right corner of a pale yellow form. "Both the memo and attachments are classified Top Secret."

Shortly after the secretary left, she knocked and entered again, reporting that two trainee commanders had arrived as ordered.

"Please show them in."

The door opened, and two young men in black uniforms marched in with standard strides. Their faces still retained the softness of adolescence, but their expressions were intensely serious. Their lean bodies maintained precise attention posture, bright eyes fixed on Guo Yi at the desk.

"Comrade Chief! Trainee Commanders Lin Zhijian and Zheng Yicheng reporting for duty!" The Mandarin carried a faint Southern Fujian accent.

As students of the PSB training class, Lin Zhijian and Zheng Yicheng represented the type of "cadres the Senate preferred to cultivate." Both came from fishing families in Southern Fujian, both were eighteen years old, and their backgrounds were remarkably similar. Most of their parents and family members had died in natural and man-made disasters; they had ultimately been taken in by the Senate.

Unlike ordinary children with "bitter histories," they weren't orphans. The Political Security Bureau actually didn't favor selecting orphans. What distinguished these two was that each still had relatives: one had a younger brother, the other a disabled grandmother. Both had gone out to make a living and support their families at very young ages.

In Zhao Manxiong's view, people with such family ties were more resilient and more loyal.

Each year, the Political Security Bureau selected suitable training candidates from children admitted to the Military and Political Training School. Wu Mu had noticed that both teenagers' files contained comments from Senator teachers: "quiet, calm, intelligent, and agile." After interviews and a series of tests, they were formally admitted to the PSB training class.

The PSB training class was no longer the abbreviated program that Ke Yun and Lu Cheng had undergone years ago. It was now a rigorous two-year curriculum. Whether in cultural education or professional knowledge, it represented a quantum leap compared to earlier graduates. They were newcomers in whom Zhao Manxiong placed high hopes.

"Lin Zhijian, you will personally deliver this letter to Senator Qi Feng at the General Construction Company. Yes, he's the Chief Planner. Ask him to open and read it in your presence, then destroy it. Bring back his reply verbally."

"Yes!" Lin Zhijian took the envelope, clicked his heels, and turned to leave.

"Zheng Yicheng, I have another task for you. Sit down first..."

When Lin Zhijian stepped through the gate of the General Construction Company, Qi Feng was in his office drawing as usual—or rather, constructing the perfect city in his mind on paper.

This artistic idealist wasn't as simple as many people thought. He never banged on tables or argued loudly about design concepts with General Construction Company Manager Mei Wan the way Ji Runzhi did. Instead, he silently completed whatever design tasks were assigned to him—assignments that basically required no creative thinking or artistic imagination, just the application of relevant standards. Countless plans could be directly borrowed or, rather, "simplified." He devoted most of his spare time to the "noble cause of art." The reason it was only most was that he was also rather keen on managing his personal life—a man full of zest for living.

(End of Chapter)