novelaction Chapter 1086 It wasn't Du Jianguo and his men who did it.
Chapter 1086 It wasn't Du Jianguo and his men who did it.
“Let’s do it your way.” Gui’er heard Wu Mingqiang’s detailed explanation and knew that he had already made a plan, so he should be quite reliable. “It just means that Brother Wu will have to send people to Macau a few more times to keep an eye on things. We also need to check the character of the guy again so that nothing goes wrong.”
Wu Mingqiang nodded in agreement, a barely perceptible smile appearing on his lips as he put away the map. He wanted more than just a pawnshop; he wanted to create a safe haven for Gui'er in Macau, a place to call home even if the situation became chaotic in the future.
The next day, when Gui'er returned to school, she noticed that Lin Peishan was not there. She found it a bit strange, but she didn't want to ask, since the two of them needed to keep their distance. So she deliberately sat closer to Lin Peishan's group so she could eavesdrop on their conversation.
Why didn't Lin Peishan come to school today? Is something wrong at home?
"I don't know. She's hard to get an appointment with during her holidays. She always says she has to spend time with her fiancé. Lately, she's even turned down invitations to go shopping after school. I guess she's really into her fiancé."
Just then, the teacher came in and started class. She took attendance, and when she called Lin Peishan's name, she looked around and said, "Isn't Lin Peishan here?"
Gui'er knew that Lin Peishan definitely hadn't asked for leave. If she had, the teacher would know but wouldn't ask. Gui'er couldn't help but feel a little worried.
After class, Gui'er sat alone, thinking about how to contact Chen Zhongyu or Lin Peishan.
Liu Lanfang walked over: "Gui'er, why didn't Lin Peishan come to school today?"
"I don't know, do you know? Don't you live near her house?" Gui'er suddenly remembered that Liu Lanfang had said before that she lived very close to Lin Peishan's house.
"Well... how would I know? I didn't run into her when I went out this morning. I thought you two were so close, you would definitely know."
"No way, you guys are clearly better."
For some reason, Gui'er's heart suddenly started pounding very fast. Losing contact in this silent state was actually very dangerous, but she didn't know any other comrades besides Liang Ping.
Liangping was just a transportation station responsible for transferring supplies. Chen Zhongyu hadn't been in contact with them for many days, so there probably wasn't any news from them.
Gui'er couldn't help but recall the lesson she learned in Nanjing, and felt even more uneasy.
"Oh right, Du Jianbang," Gui'er suddenly thought of him. "Could it be related to them?" She quickly excused herself to go to the restroom, then left the classroom, hurriedly went down the teaching building, turned back to check if she was being followed, and then ran all the way to the Literature Department.
She didn't know if Du Jianbang had classes today, or which classroom he was in. So she randomly picked a friendly-looking person on the street and asked, "Excuse me, have you seen Du Jianbang from the Literature Department?"
"Du Jianbang, come with me. He's in that classroom. Du Jianbang, come here, someone's looking for you."
Du Jianbang was standing in a classroom, chatting and laughing with a few students in a very ordinary manner.
When he saw that it was Gui'er who was looking for him, he quickly walked over and turned back to the person who had directed him, saying, "Thank you, this is my cousin's sister-in-law's younger sister."
Then he led Gui'er to a corner of the academy, looked around warily, and only asked after confirming that no one was following them, "What happened?"
"Lin Peishan and Chen Zhongyu, have you made your move?"
"What? What are you doing?"
Gui'er clenched her fists, suppressing her emotions: "Lin Peishan didn't come to school today, and we can't get in touch with Chen Zhongyu either. Professor Xu and Professor Meng went missing a while ago, weren't you keeping an eye on them? Did you do something to them?"
Du Jianbang raised an eyebrow, took two steps back into the shadows of the teaching building, and said in a cold voice, "What do you mean by that, Miss Sha? We are monitoring progressives, not messing with the Lin family's daughter. Who does she think her father is? He's the head of a Portuguese-owned trading company, and even the Hong Kong British authorities have to give him some face. Why would we risk offending him?"
"You really didn't do anything? Are you involved in Professor Xu and Professor Meng's recent affairs?" At this critical juncture, Gui'er was determined to get to the bottom of things and make everything clear at once.
“Now is the time for cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Actually, without orders from above, we don’t really want to do anything unnecessary. Fighting the Japanese is our top priority.” Du Jianbang interrupted her, glancing warily around. “To tell you the truth, we can’t even protect ourselves. Last week, the ‘Special Commissioner’s Office’ was being followed. Three brothers were ambushed as soon as they stepped out of the alley. Although they broke free, those people were ruthless. They didn’t seem like Hong Kong police, but rather like…” He paused, lowering his voice, “…professionally trained spies. To put it simply, the most likely candidates are Japanese spies.”
Gui'er's heart sank: "Japanese?"
“Otherwise, why do you think we’ve been keeping a low profile lately?” Du Jianbang glanced around. “Boss Dai has ordered us to stay low-key for now, avoid trouble, and especially avoid direct conflict with the Japanese. If Lin Peishan and Chen Zhongyu really get into trouble, it’s probably related to the Japanese—they’ve been making more and more moves in Hong Kong lately. A few days ago, they even kidnapped a Chinese manager at HSBC, claiming that the other party was ‘resisting the Japanese.’”
He looked at Gui'er's tense face and softened his tone: "Don't worry too much. Lin Peishan is a rich girl. If she's really being targeted, it's probably because they want to use her to blackmail the Lin family for money. As for Chen Zhongyu... that kid is very slippery. Maybe he's hiding himself."
"But they lost contact, and there hasn't been a single word from them..."
“Cutting off contact now is the smart thing to do.” Du Jianbang smirked. “The air in Hong Kong is thick with informants these days. You could lose your head if you say one more word. People in our department use code words when they meet, and we don’t dare make too many phone calls. You’re a student, so don’t get involved in these things. Focus on your studies and don’t cause trouble for yourself.”
The school bell rang, and the sound of students' footsteps drifted in the distance. Du Jianbang patted Gui'er's arm: "Go back. Don't get involved in this anymore. Your brother told me you were young and naive. Back in Jiangcheng, you were misled by those revolutionaries, and he even asked me to advise you. I didn't know you were so close to Chen Zhongyu. Although we both know about each other now, with the country in crisis, we won't fight amongst ourselves. I can assure you, it wasn't us who did it. Don't even think about doing anything. In this environment, it's hard enough to even protect yourself. We're prepared to sacrifice ourselves at any moment. Don't come looking for me unless it's absolutely necessary. Go back." With that, he turned and strode into the teaching building, the hem of his long robe sweeping across the stone steps before disappearing into the crowd.