"Also, ask around to see if anyone saw people going in and out of Anggong's place over the past few days," Fang Jibai said.
"Understood," Tang Yan replied, nodding.
...
"If you understand, why aren't you on it yet?" Fang Jibai glared at Tang Yan.
"Doesn't Fourth Brother have anything else to tell me?" Tang Yan asked, scratching his head.
"Nothing else. Off with you," Fang Jibai chuckled, clapping Tang Yan on the shoulder. "And don't limit yourself to what I asked. If anything else comes to mind, ask about whatever you think is relevant."
"Understood!" Tang Yan answered cheerfully.
Tang Yan headed out to gather information.
Fang Jibai didn't sit idle either.
He opened the back door, picked up a toppled bench from the floor, and sat by the doorway, leaning against the frame.
Was the codebook at Anggong's house?
That was the foremost question.
Fang Jibai leaned toward the codebook being right here.
His raid with Chen Xiuqi to capture Ji Mingshuo had been swift and abrupt. There had been no time to move the radio, so by all logic, the codebook could not have been relocated in advance either.
Earlier, he and Chen Xiuqi had discussed where the codebook could have gone. At the time, they had considered the possibility that the radio and codebook were kept separately—namely, that the radio was here while the codebook was stored elsewhere.
Such an arrangement was entirely plausible.
However, that method had a drawback, or rather a glaring flaw: either Ji Mingshuo had to take the radio to wherever the codebook was kept, or whoever held the codebook had to come to Ji Mingshuo before any transmission could be sent.
At first, Fang Jibai had also suspected the enemy might have used that approach.
Yet once he had seen Third Sister off on her wedding day and had time on his hands, he had lain in bed mulling over the matter.
The more he turned it over in his mind, the more convinced he became that the codebook was right in Anggong's home.
And sending Tang Yan out to ask questions was precisely to verify this hunch.
...
"Fourth Brother, I'm back!" Tang Yan jogged into the yard.
"Tell me what you found." Fang Jibai tossed Tang Yan a cigarette.
Tang Yan caught it with a smile and tucked it behind his ear.
"Fourth Brother, I asked around. Over the past few days, no one saw smoke coming from Anggong's chimney," Tang Yan said. "And I made a point to ask about his habits too—the neighbors all say Anggong is lazy to the bone and rarely cooked at home even before."
Fang Jibai gave a slight nod and signaled for Tang Yan to continue.
"I also asked if anyone saw people going in and out of Anggong's house lately, and no one did," Tang Yan said. "I even asked if they found it odd that they hadn't seen Anggong for days."
"And what did the neighbors say?" Fang Jibai asked.
He was quite satisfied with Tang Yan's performance; the kid had shown some real wits this time.
"Everyone said, who would bother paying attention to a scoundrel like Anggong?" Tang Yan replied. "There was one fellow who used to hang around him pretty closely, but after his wife gave him an earful, he stopped associating with Anggong altogether."
"Because of Right Widow?" Fang Jibai asked.
"Right, on account of Right Widow." Tang Yan nodded. "His wife scolded him, saying that hanging out with Anggong was just an excuse to fool around with Right Widow."
He looked at Fang Jibai. "Fourth Brother, what else do you need me to do?"
"I need to think quietly for a bit." Fang Jibai waved his hand. Seeing the expectant look in Tang Yan's eyes, he smiled and added, "Keep watch at the door. Don't let anyone disturb my train of thought."
"Understood!" Tang Yan said happily.
Fang Jibai lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and paced slowly around the room.
He was now ninety percent sure the codebook was in this very room.
In his mind's eye, Fang Jibai could already picture the Japanese spy Ji Mingshuo's movements here.
Ji Mingshuo must have lived like a hermit, avoiding going outside at all costs. Even if forced to venture out, it would have been deep in the dead of night... No, he would have avoided going out altogether.
Ji Mingshuo was an unfamiliar face. The time Xiwa spotted him was likely his only public appearance in town. After that, he had holed up inside Anggong's home.
Since the neighbors hadn't seen anyone coming or going from Anggong's house, that also tentatively ruled out the possibility of visitors meeting Ji Mingshuo here.
In other words, no one had brought a codebook here to rendezvous with Ji Mingshuo.
After all, having one stranger hiding here while another secretly visited would only multiply the risks—an appalling situation that any deep-cover agent would strive to avoid.
Besides, this deduction could be verified:
"Tang Yan," Fang Jibai called out.
"Fourth Brother."
"Do many neighbors keep dogs?" he asked. "Would they bark fiercely if strangers came and went?"
"Quite a few households have watchdogs," Tang Yan said. "The night of the raid, if we hadn't brought Ma Po along, the barking alone would have blown our cover before we even started."
Fang Jibai nodded. Ma Po was one of Chen Xiuqi's men, a man in his early thirties with a soft, grandmotherly face. Being surnamed Ma, he had earned the nickname Ma Po.
Ma Po's greatest talent was making dogs obedient; whenever he stepped in, even the most vicious dog would tuck its tail and not dare utter a peep.
Fang Jibai thought for a moment, then instructed, "Tang Yan, go out and ask around to see if Feng the Third had a regular meal delivery subscription lately, or if he frequently had leftover food packed up after eating out."
"Understood, Fourth Brother."
Fang Jibai stood beside the stove, then crouched down and stared into the firebox, which was filled with firewood ashes.
A cold smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. The ashes in the hearth were enough to reveal plenty:
The more one tried to conceal, the more obvious it became; the more one did, the more mistakes one made.
Fang Jibai turned his gaze back toward the chimney.
The house had already been turned upside down during the search. There simply wasn't a place left to hide anything—more precisely, nowhere that could conceal texts such as books, dictionaries, or magazines.
The bowls and chopsticks showed signs of use—because they were far too clean.
He didn't believe a scoundrel like Anggong would promptly wash his tableware after eating, let alone scrub it so thoroughly.
Even if Feng the Third had come here to see Ji Mingshuo and used the dishes, he wouldn't have been the one washing them—on the night of the raid, Feng the Third was arrested at Right Widow's house.
Therefore, whoever washed the bowls and chopsticks was either Ji Mingshuo or that other man.
Moreover, in all likelihood, one of them was a neat freak or exceptionally fastidious about cleanliness. When Fang Jibai examined the porcelain shards on the floor, he had discovered that all the tableware was spotless:
Even if there were two people, they would have used two or three bowls at most. Yet all seven or eight bowls in Anggong's home were immaculate. Now, though the porcelain shards were strewn across the floor and covered in dust, wiping away the surface dirt still revealed how clean the fragments were beneath.
"Fourth Brother, I'm back!" Tang Yan reentered the room, scooped up a ladle of water from the vat, and gulped down several mouthfuls before continuing, "I found out! Fourth Brother, you're amazing! Feng the Third really did have regular meal deliveries over the past few days, and whenever he ate at restaurants, he always had the waiters pack up the leftovers."
He said to Fang Jibai, "Fourth Brother, I noticed something else too."
"Let's hear it." Fang Jibai glanced at the eager and slightly nervous young man, nodded slightly, and said.
Chapter 35