Near noon, there was a knock on the door, "Tuk-tuk, Tuk-tuk!"
Jiang Xinyu walked to the door and took a look through the door mirror. Outside the door was a young man wearing a gray tunic suit, with a shrewd and capable look on his brows.
Opening the door, the young man said: "Excuse me, are you Captain Jiang Xinyu Jiang?"
Jiang Xinyu said: "It's me."
"I am Director Li's secretary, my last name is Li. Director Li asked me to come and pick you up."
"Okay, wait for me."
Jiang Xinyu simply tidied up, locked the door, and followed Secretary Li downstairs.
There was a black car parked outside the hotel door. Secretary Li took a few steps, reached out to open the rear door, and said respectfully: "Captain Jiang, please."
Jiang Xinyu got into the car. Secretary Li closed the door, got into the passenger seat, and said to the driver: "Drive."
The car walked along the street and headed east.
During the Japanese-Puppet period, Jiang Xinyu always stayed at the Sanhe Hotel every time he went on a business trip to Peiping, and he was very familiar with the nearby geographical environment.
He looked out of the car window and saw that the direction of the car was not Gongxian Hutong, so he asked: "Secretary Li, where are we going?"
Secretary Li said: "Donghai Tower, Director Li is waiting for you there."
Ten minutes later, the car slowly stopped in front of the Donghai Tower.
After walking up the stairs to the second floor and arriving at the door of a private room, Secretary Li reached out and knocked twice, then opened the door and said, "Captain Jiang, please come in."
In the private room, a middle-aged man with a somewhat fat figure and a mediocre appearance stood up and looked at Jiang Xinyu with a smile.
"Director, this is Captain Jiang Xinyu." Secretary Li introduced.
The middle-aged man Li Xicheng, the judicial director of the Secrecy Bureau, said with a smile: "In those days, the intelligence agent Wu Wu was so famous that the Japanese invaders and traitors were frightened by it. I am lucky to meet you today!"
Jiang Xinyu bowed and said: "Director Li, thank you for your praise. Your humble position is just for fame and reputation. I relied on Director Dai's strategizing to achieve some achievements."
"Humility is a virtue. No wonder Director Dai always spoke highly of you when he was alive! Captain Jiang, please sit down!"
"After you."
After sitting down, Li Xicheng said to Secretary Li: "You go out first."
"Yes." Secretary Li withdrew.
Jiang Xinyu said: "I came here this time to supervise the stolen goods seized by Director Dai during his lifetime. I also hope that Director Li will be more convenient."
Li Xicheng waved his hand and said: "As the saying goes, people are like iron rice or steel. Let's eat first and talk about business later."
After a while, the waiter came in with a tray, and while placing the fragrant food on the table, he announced the names of the dishes: "Sauce-fried chicken cubes, dry croquettes, burnt pork slices, fried tofu with almonds, all dishes."
Okay, you two eat slowly and use it slowly."
Li Xicheng introduced it and said: "Donghailou is the best Shandong cuisine restaurant in Peiping, especially the fried chicken with soy sauce and Emei's Kung Pao Chicken! You can eat more later."
Jiang Xinyu said: "Unexpectedly, Director Li is also a gourmet."
Li Xicheng laughed and said: "Don't be a gourmet, at best you are a glutton!"
As he spoke, he picked up the wine bottle on the table and said, "I heard that Captain Jiang has a lot of alcohol. As a person who is not bad at drinking, I will make an exception today and have two drinks with you."
"Thank you, Director Li."
"What's there to thank you for...You're still too polite to me. To be honest, when I first saw you, I felt that we were particularly in tune with each other!"
After chatting for a while, Jiang Xinyu said: "Director Li, is Director Mao arriving soon? Let's not delay the pick-up."
"I've called. The train is late. It will be good to arrive in Peiping at six o'clock." Li Xicheng raised his glass and clinked his glass with Jiang Xinyu.
"Why don't Director Mao come by plane? It's more convenient to fly for such a long distance."
"Since Director Dai was killed, Director Mao has tried his best not to take a plane every time he travels..."
In the midst of casual chatting, the meal came to an end.
From beginning to end, Li Xicheng didn't even mention a word about supervising the batch of stolen goods. It seemed that he just wanted to treat Jiang Xinyu to dinner.
"Captain Jiang, I heard that you have a lot of research on antique calligraphy and painting?"
“Research is not really a hobby, it’s just a hobby to relieve boredom and pass the time.”
"you are too humble."
Li Xicheng turned around and took the briefcase, took out a silver metal box from it, placed it gently on the table, and said, "This is a gift from a friend. Captain Jiang will help me take a look at it. What is this object?"
Jiang Xinyu picked up the box and felt it didn't weigh much. He looked at it carefully for a while and said, "Director Li, this is a dressing box."
Li Xicheng said in surprise: "A dressing box for women?"
Jiang Xinyu turned the box over, pointed to a line of small words at the bottom, and said, "Look, it was made by the Hangzhou Arts and Crafts Factory in April of the 20th year of the Republic of China... In total, it is quite old."
Li Xicheng slapped his thigh, looking very discouraged, and said: "I thought it was an antique, but after a long time of fussing, it turned out to be just a dressing box! I am a grown man, what do you want it for... Well, just think of it as a meeting gift for my younger siblings.
, just keep it."
"How can this be so embarrassing..."
"A dressing box isn't worth much. If you dislike it, just pretend I didn't say anything!"
"Then I'd rather be respectful than obey."
"That's right, it's just an empty box..."
After coming out of Donghai Tower and standing at the door of the restaurant, Li Xicheng thought for a while and said, "Captain Jiang, if you want me to tell you, don't stay in the hotel. I have an office at No. 14 Gongxian Hutong. You can move here too."
"Sanhe Hotel is very close to Gongxian Hutong. It can only be walked for ten minutes at most. Besides, I'm used to living there."
"Well, I won't force you to do anything. It's up to you... Oh, by the way, at five o'clock, I will send a car to pick you up. Let's go to the train to pick up Director Mao."
"OK."
…………
Back at the Sanhe Hotel, Jiang Xinyu sat on a chair and thought for a while. He took out the dressing box from his briefcase and shook it by his ear a few times. He felt that there was something inside.
The dressing box has a spring lock, which opens with a light press. It is filled with a ball of cotton cloth. There is no gap between the cotton cloth and the box. No wonder it feels like an empty box when picked up.
Jiang Xinyu took out the cotton cloth. Among the three layers of cotton cloth, there was a pure gold bracelet wrapped in it!
Nowadays, the price of precious metals changes almost every day, especially gold, which rises the fastest. This gold bracelet can at least be exchanged for a courtyard house!
Jiang Xinyu understood that Li Xicheng was taking the opportunity to bribe him with such empty boxes and worthless meeting gifts!
There is no reason for a dignified major general of the national army and the director of the judicial department of the headquarters to bribe a lieutenant colonel. There is no explanation for this.
There can only be one reasonable explanation. In handling that batch of stolen goods, Li Xicheng was corrupt and perverted the law. He must have reaped huge benefits from it!