Chapter 392: A Big Catch

On the black and white photograph, the faces of the man and two women were clearly visible. Zuo Yamei was even making a V-sign, her smile could be described as “bewitching.” Liu Fuqing wasn’t a fan of this “style” that the Elders seemed to like, but that wasn’t the point. The surveillance on Zuo Yamei had been a wide net, cast without any real expectation of catching anything. He hadn’t expected to actually find a fish in it!

Now, he had to see how big this fish was. Liu Fuqing stared at the native man in the center. From his appearance, he seemed to be the young master of some wealthy family. Although the black and white photograph didn’t show the color of his clothes, the texture, pattern, and the fan in his hand all indicated that he had arrived recently—these were all the latest “Suzhou style.”

The so-called “Suzhou style” was the fashion of Suzhou, which at the time was synonymous with the latest trends. In the 17th century, the Ming Dynasty had two fashion centers: one was Beijing, and the other was Suzhou. The Foreign Intelligence Bureau reported the latest trends from both cities to Lingao every six months, with pictures and actual samples.

This information wasn’t collected for commercial purposes, although it did help them develop new products. The main purpose was to provide convincing cover for the Foreign Intelligence Bureau’s field agents, and secondly, for the Political Security Bureau to determine the origin and approximate time of arrival of suspicious individuals in Lingao.

Judging by this young man’s appearance, he must have arrived in Lingao recently. If he were a local wealthy young master, even if he hadn’t switched to the “Song style” and still wore Ming attire, he wouldn’t be wearing this “Suzhou style.”

As Liu Fuqing was considering whether to look up this young man’s file, his assistant knocked and entered. “First-Class Commander, Director Wu is looking for you.”

Liu Fuqing quickly straightened his clothes. Could Director Wu be asking about the progress of the Umbrella Case? The thought made him nervous. So far, the only progress was this one, possibly useless, photograph.

Although Director Wu had said “no time limit,” a leader’s patience was finite.

Wu Mu didn’t waste any words. He handed him a file folder and said, “Here’s some new material. Take it back and study it.”

“Yes, Regional Commander.” Liu Fuqing was secretly puzzled. What new material?

“The new lead is related to the cultural festival,” Wu Mu said, looking out the window. “Generally speaking, there’s not much to it. But there will be many Elders at the cultural festival. You need to investigate carefully and make sure there are no slip-ups.”

“Understood, Chief.” Liu Fuqing’s heart skipped a beat. Another lead related to the cultural festival! Could it be that suspicious wealthy young man?

He returned to his office and immediately opened the file folder. The material confirmed his suspicions, but there was a new lead: the wealthy young master who had come to the stadium with Lian Nishang and Zuo Yamei was skilled in martial arts!

A wealthy young master who was also skilled in martial arts and was intimate with a woman from the Senate’s police system—in Liu Fuqing’s eyes, this was practically a “sordid affair.” The situation itself was already highly suspicious.

He immediately called his assistant and handed him the photograph. “Find out this person’s identity immediately. I want his complete file and recent activities! Put him under 24-hour surveillance as soon as you locate him!”

“Yes, First-Class Commander.”

“And this Lian Nishang, go and inform General Affairs Section 9 that we are putting her under 24-hour surveillance.”

After giving the orders, Liu Fuqing asked his secretary, “Any new information from Ke Yun?” Ke Yun was responsible for directly monitoring Li Yongxun herself. The answer was: “No new developments for now.”

Liu Fuqing had expected it would take at least 24 hours to get any new information. Verifying a person’s identity took a lot of time: checking archives, visiting customs, the police station… To his surprise, his assistant returned in less than an hour with a thick file folder in his hand.

“What?” Liu Fuqing was startled. “Does this person have a case file?”

The assistant placed the folder on his desk. “This person is named Zhuo Yifan. Investigator Yang Cao is currently handling his case.”

Bairen City, Elder Dormitory Area.

The sun gradually set, and the clock pointed to seven.

This prefabricated housing area, built shortly after D-Day, was now almost deserted. Most of the dormitories had been demolished, their materials repurposed. Only a few buildings, still occupied by Elders, remained, looking lonely.

Because it was still under the jurisdiction of the General Office, there were still gate guards and streetlights, and the grounds were regularly cleaned. Although it looked a bit deserted, it was not dilapidated.

Okamoto and Nangong Hao strolled through this forgotten dormitory area, feeling a little sentimental as they recalled the eventful years of the past.

“I feel like this place is a bit creepy,” Nangong Hao said, looking around. “It used to be so lively…”

“Yeah, you see, this used to be the female Elders’ dormitory area,” Okamoto said, pointing to an empty foundation. “When it was hot, they wouldn’t close their windows. A few of the foreign women would walk around in just their bras and panties, thongs even… It was quite a sight…” he said, lost in fond memories.

Nangong Hao didn’t respond. He only remembered the days of road construction, when he would return to his dorm too exhausted to even speak, and taking a shower required a great deal of courage.

Okamoto stopped. “This is it. This dormitory is empty now, except for him. His reason is that it’s close to work and he’s not afraid of oversleeping… But I think he just really likes to be alone.”

Okamoto told Nangong Hao about the time he had invited Dongfang Ke to dinner before the art troupe was formed. Now, the two of them were standing outside Dongfang’s dormitory.

Earlier that day, the folk orchestra’s performance of “Good News from Lingao Reaches the Li Villages” had finally been a success in rehearsal. Deputy Director Dongfang, contrary to his usual self, had suggested treating his colleagues to dinner to celebrate. But the restaurants in Dongmen Market were too noisy and the food monotonous, and the South China Sea Farm was too far. Considering the small number of people, he decided to cook for them at his place.

“Liu Shuixin said she’ll be a little late. The Grid Skirt Club is having some trouble with their rehearsal. Let’s go up first,” Nangong Hao said. He wasn’t very sociable and this was his first time having dinner at an Elder’s home.

The two pushed open the door and happened to run into two uniformed naturalized citizen workers coming out of Dongfang’s room. The one in the lead immediately greeted them:

“Good evening, Chiefs. You’ve come at the right time. The shop has just delivered the cognac Chief Dongfang ordered! Enjoy your meal!” he said, bending his right arm in a perfect gentleman’s bow before leaving.

“Well, well, this Dongfang is quite generous! I heard this batch of brandy just arrived from Goa last month!” Okamoto, who had been exhausted for days, looked excited. The two entered the slightly cramped Elder dormitory. The old piano had been moved to the art troupe’s rehearsal hall and replaced with a simple little electronic keyboard, so Dongfang Ke’s living room could finally fit a standard dining table. On the table were fresh seasonal fruits and a small, newly delivered wooden wine barrel, but the host was nowhere to be seen.

“Your timing is perfect! The lamb chops will be ready in 5 minutes!” Dongfang Ke’s voice came from the kitchen next door.

The dormitories originally didn’t have kitchens. Dongfang Ke had privately occupied the room next door and converted it into a kitchen himself. He had slowly accumulated all sorts of cookware and tableware, either by ordering them custom-made or by buying spoils of war. It was fully equipped, except for the stove, which burned coal briquettes and didn’t have enough firepower. Everything else was perfect.

The two guests followed the sound into the kitchen and were hit by a wave of heat and aroma.

The oven exuded the scent of roasted meat mixed with the unique aroma of rosemary and other spices. The borscht on the stove was bubbling, and Dongfang Ke, his long hair tied back behind his ears, was tossing a cast-iron skillet with his left hand and sprinkling something from a small bottle into the pan with his right.

“On the menu: rosemary roasted lamb chops, borscht, pan-seared salmon, and corn salad. I didn’t have time to make a cake, so we only have cookies for dessert. You two go sit outside. The wine just arrived. The glasses are in the cabinet next to the stereo. Help yourselves,” Dongfang said without turning his head.

“We have salmon here?” Nangong Hao asked doubtfully. “Didn’t some Elder ask the General Office for it last time, and they said it was an Atlantic specialty…”

“Salmon is Atlantic salmon, of course we don’t have that here. But Asia has Pacific salmon. Old Huang got this from the Northeast. It’s commonly known as chum salmon. The fish isn’t very expensive, the ice is.”

“Damn, this smells so good. Were you a chef before you transmigrated?” Okamoto was already drooling.

“Just particularly picky about food…” Dongfang arranged the fish and side dishes on a plate and started stirring the soup pot.

“I should have come here to freeload after every rehearsal! This is practically a Western restaurant!” Nangong was also excited. He had been eating takeout bento boxes from the Elder’s canteen in the rehearsal hall or studio for over a week.

“You’re thinking too much. For lamb chops and the like, you have to talk to the canteen manager in advance to have them saved. The fish needs to be marinated beforehand. As for that imported brandy, I only happened to find it yesterday when I went to Shop 82 to order clothes from Minister Hong. Normally, if you come to my place, you’ll only get home-cooked food. And I haven’t been in the kitchen for a long time with all the busy rehearsals.”

As Dongfang placed the last plate on the table, he took out three carved glass cups from the cabinet. The PHS phone fixed to a corner of the table rang.

“Hmm? Okay… so that’s how it is. Well, you’re busy then.” Dongfang Ke hung up the phone and looked at his two colleagues at the table. “You two can eat to your heart’s content. Liu Shuixin said that because of a last-minute change in the personnel for the Grid Skirt dance program, the rehearsal will be delayed. To save time, she won’t be coming over for dinner. What a pity…”

“So we can start eating?” Okamoto seemed impatient.

“Yes, let’s dig in. For the Senatus!” Dongfang raised his glass and said the toast with a smile. After putting down his glass, he turned to switch on the stereo.